Palms and Dates of Fars in the Early Islamic Centuries from the Perspective of Historical Geography

Palm cultivation and date production were considered as the main occupations of farmers and gardeners of the tropical regions of Fars Province during the early Islamic centuries. The present study was conducted from the perspective of historical geography based on human interaction with its surroundings. Therefore, palm cultivation, date production, and various areas depending on palm-related livelihoods were studied in Fars Province during the mentioned period. This research was a descriptive-analytical study performed by referring to library resources and conducting a field study in some areas of the province cultivating palm trees with palm irrigation structures. In the early Islamic centuries, various regions of the province were regarded as tropical regions where palm trees were of great importance. Some references have considered this province, especially Khark Island, as the origin of all palm trees in the world. Persian books have reported “palm” under the name of “khormabon,” but the southern Iranian people have used to call palm trees “Mokh”, “Mogh”, and “Mog”, which are some words rooted in the Pahlavi language. Resistance against drought, adaptation to warm climate, and high fruiting rate are the important natural features of this tree. Historical and geographical sources, as well as the remaining old palm gardens, suggested interaction of people living in Fars Province with their surrounding geography and their attempts to establish many palm gardens. In old Fars Province, there were settlements called “Moghistan”, “Mokhdan”, and “Moghdan”, indicating that people planted palm trees and had palm gardens. Moreover, the rise of gardens in this region mainly meant that palm trees were planted here as well. ­­­­­­­­ In the tropical regions of Fars Province, people used all parts of a palm tree in their lives. In fact, many of the livelihood patterns of people in this area were taken from the palm tree. Palm played an important role in the architecture of houses as the trunk of this tree was used in their ceilings. In some places, people built their houses with the foliage of this tree. In the tropical regions of Fars Province, the word “pish” (or pesh) meaning palm leaf was adopted from Pahlavi language. Palm leaves had an important impact on the emergence of handicrafts and supplies needed in the people’s lives in this area. Brooms, fans, ropes, and various containers were among the items made with palm leaves. A variety of instruments made from p