The place of "Kura" in Muslims Geographic - Administrative system until the seventh century A.H

Kura or khura –in Pahlavi- is a term which the Arabs borrowed from the Iranians. The function of Kura- as a macro unit which embodies other units - spread rapidly in the administrative divisions of the Islamic period; So that it was used not only inthe Eastern lands but also in Egypt, North Africa and Andalusia. Kura in terms of form and meaning had the same function in Islamic lands over the centuries, but in some periods Geographer’s specially Iranian ones, employed this term with other meanings or instead of other equivalents. This study attempts to present the changes of the concepts and meanings of this term, and also to determine the place of Kura in the Administrative system until the seventh century A.H.