Middle Persian Geographic Literature: the Case of the Bundahishn

Object of this paper is the study of the toponyms contained in two chapters of the Bundahishn in comparison with the list of mountains found in the first part of the Zamyad Yasht (§§ 1-8) and with the names of administrative regions, provinces and districts known to us through Sasanian administrative glyptics. The results of this analysis argue in favor of the existence of a geographical science of some sort in pre-Islamic Iran. Moreover, new data on the physical characteristics of the single areas are obtained, which may be of use in locating and defining the toponyms discussed. The paper is grounded on an edition of chapters IX, XI and Xia of the Bundahishn based on two manuscripts of the Iranian Bundahishn (TD1 and DH) and on two of the Indian Bundahishn (K20 and M51).