What were the historical boundaries of the Khorasan region?

Khorasan was a historical eastern region within the Iranian Plateau whose boundaries varied significantly over time, encompassing parts of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and portions of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. First established as a Sasanian administrative division in the sixth century, the term later expanded during early Islamic and medieval times to loosely denote vast territories east of the Jibal region extending toward the Pamir Mountains and the Indus Valley. In modern times, the name survived through an Iranian province until it was split into three separate provinces in 2004.

What we know

• In its stricter historical sense, Khorasan comprised most of Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Central Asia up to the Amu Darya river, and parts of western Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. [2]
• Khorasan was first established as an administrative division in the 6th century during the Sasanian Empire by Kavad I or Khosrow I to cover its eastern and northeastern territories. [2]
• During early Islamic usage, the region was broadly defined to include everything east of Jibal or Iraq Ajami, occasionally stretching as far as the Indus Valley and the Pamir Mountains. [2]
• The former Khorasan Province of Iran, which existed until 2004, roughly encompassed only the western portion of the historical Greater Khorasan region. [2, 3]

Still open

• Sources note that the exact extent of the region referred to as Khorasan varied over time, shifting between a strict administrative definition and a loose designation for a vast interaction sphere.

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureHow did the Sasanian Empire organize its provinces?
• what followedWhat are North, South, and Razavi Khorasan provinces today?
• how we knowHow does the Greater Khorasan Civilization relate to Bronze Age history?
• compared withWhat territories did Transoxiana encompass compared to Khorasan?
• whenWhen was the Khorasan province in Iran split into three?
• an unexpected connectionWhat links Bronze Age archaeology in Central Asia to the medieval name of Khorasan?Modern scholars apply the term Greater Khorasan to an extensive Bronze Age interaction sphere dating back to the fourth and third millennia BCE, long before the region was formally organized as a Sasanian administrative territory.

Sources

• [1]Khorasan (Wikidata Q2352322) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Khorasan · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Khorasan province · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Regions of Iran · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]North Khorasan province · CC BY-SA 4.0