Continuity and evolution of Toponym of “Kech and Makran” in historical and geographical sources from the 7-12 AH: with a focus on the Safavid era

According to historical and geographical sources, Makran province in southern Iran has a large territory. This region was linked to Sistan in the north, Kerman in the west, the sea in the south, and the Indus River basin in the east. The expansion of the Makran region in the southeast of Iran, its connection with the sea, as well as its border location with the eastern and southern neighbors of Iran, provided the basis for the creation and development of numerous cities and settlements in Makran. Communication was important and prestigious, the city of Kech was in the center of this stateAdapting the name of this city in many historical and geographical texts from the 7th century AH to the 12th century AH, especially in the sources of the Safavid era, a place named "Kech and Makran" was formed in the mental geography of historians and geographers. Based on this, how the continuation and transformation of this place name in historical and geographical sources has formed the issue of future research. The repeated reflection of the place name "Kech and Makran" in the historical and geographical sources of the 7th to 12th century AH, especially the sources of the Safavid era, raises the question of what geographical area the place name "Kech and Makran" is applied to and how its semantic load is in the historical sources and Geographical continuity and evolution? The following article is organized by the method of describing historical and geographical data and then analyzing them through matching and comparing the data available in historical texts, especially manuscripts, geographical texts, historical maps, travelogues, as well as some examples of interviews with local experts. The result of this article shows that the political and communication importance of the city of Kech in the early to middle Islamic centuries provided the context for the first time in the official reports of the historical and geographical sources of the 7th and 8th centuries A.H. to establish a link between its name and the name of  Makran And the name "Kech and Makran" should be mentioned as another name of  Makran state. Adapted from these official reports, the use of the place name "Kech and Makran" as another name of the Makran state was not only continued in the sources of the following centuries, but in the Safavid era, along with this continuity, there was also a change in it, based on which, This place was also known as another name of Kech city..