ṬĶIJ (or Best峾), an Iranian man’s name, now obsolete, which as a result of its popularity in past centuries has become a fairly commonplace name or component of place names.
Presumably the name is derived from Old Iranian *vistaxma, though no such word is found in the Avesta and the Old Persian inscriptions, or apparently in the Sasanian inscriptions. There is general agreement with Justi’s interpretation of it (Namenbuch, p. 372b) as roughly “wielder of far-reaching power” (New Pers. setam). In Armenian it appears both as Vstam (Hübschmann, Armenische Grammatik, p. 85 no. 189) and Vēstam (probably < *Vaistaxma); in Greek as Bestám and Bestán (perhaps also earlier, in Aeschylus, as Hystáichmas); in New Persian either as Gostah(a)m with the usual change of the initial consonant (&Dz;-峾) or as Best峾, most often written Besṭ峾.
The name was borne by a considerable number of historical personalities (partial list in Justi’s Namenbuch, pp. 371f.), including even some Arabs. In the &Dz;-峾, Gostah(a)m is the name of the sons of the Pishdadid kings Nowḏar and Gaždaham, of King Bahr峾 Gōr’s 岹ū (minister), and of King Ḵosrow II Parvēz’s uncle; the latter is called Besṭ峾 in Arabic sources and in some verses of the &Dz;-峾 (see bestṟ峾 o bendōy). Also mentioned in the &Dz;-峾 is the city of Basṭ峾.
The former popularity of the personal name is reflected in its continued toponymic use today. Places called Besṭ峾 or Basṭ峾 are found mainly in western and northwestern Iran (see Razmārā, Farhang I, III-VI, VIII, s.v.). The name occurs in compound toponyms such as Māh-Besṭ峾, which apparently used to mean the entire region around Qūmes (Schwarz, Iran, pp. 445 n. 5, 821 n. 12); Basṭ峾ābād, a village in the district, now province, of Īl峾 (Razmārā, Farhang V, p. 53); Basṭ峾 Beyg, a village near the Kurdish town of Mahābād, the former Sāʾūj Bolāq (Razmārā, Farhang IV, p. 91). Particularly famous in the Middle Ages was the city of Besṭ峾 (also vocalized Bosṭ峾) in the Qūmes region, now the province of Semn and D峾ḡ (Schwarz, pp. 820ff.); poets and writers spoke of it as the “spreading (city of) Besṭ峾”—a play on words associating the name with the Arabic root ṭa “to spread.”
In some cases there has been an obvious confusion of Besṭ峾 with Dz “garden,” another word that occurs quite frequently in toponyms (see Schwarz, p. 820 n. 8), and this has sometimes caused vowel change from e or a to o (Bosṭ峾). Ṭāq-e Bost, the name of the famous grotto with rock reliefs near Kermšāh, is undoubtedly such a case. The early geographer Ebn al-Faqīh (p. 216.2, quoted by Schwarz, pp. 487f.) gives the name as Vast, and this old form has been more or less preserved by the local Kurds who call the place Ṭāq-e Vas (with the normal change of st to s or ss). The endings and 峾 are interchangeable (New Pers. normally 峾 to ), but the initial v has been retained by the Kurds, whereas the arabicized Dz (from būst “fragrant garden” < Mid. Pers. bō’ast, Arm. burastan) always had the initial b, (see W. Eilers, Geographische Namengebung in und um Iran, Munich, 1982, p. 16).
The identity of the Sasanian prince or nobleman who gave his name to Ṭāq-e Bost, in view of the number of recorded bearers of the name, probably will never be known for sure. The corruption of the original place name to Dz by folk etymology is readily intelligible, as a large and copiously watered garden adjoins the grotto. Ṭāq-e Bost is a fountainhead (, ).
Bibliography: Given in the text.
(Wilhelm Eilers)
Originally Published: December 15, 1989
Last Updated: December 15, 1989
This article is available in print.
Vol. IV, Fasc. 2, p. 175
Wilhelm Eilers, “ṬĶIJ (1),” Encyclopædia Iranica, IV/2, p. 175, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bestam-1 (accessed on 30 December 2012).
