Abarkuh ( fa, ابركوه, also

Romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

d as Abarkūh and Abar Kūh; also known as Abarghoo, Abarkū, Abar Qū, and Abarqūh) is a city and capital of

Abarkuh County Abarkuh County ( fa, شهرستان ابرکوه) is in Yazd province, Yazd province, Iran. The capital of the county is the city of Abarkuh.Yazd Province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. At the 2016 census, its population was 27,524, in 5,880 families. Abarkuh is located at an altitude of 1510 metres (4954 feet). An ancient living cypress tree, the Sarv-e-Abarqu, is located here. Abarkooh has 4 adobe ice houses which date back to

Qajar dynasty The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...

. Adobe ice houses (

yakhchāl Yakhchāl ( fa, یخچال "ice pit"; ''yakh'' meaning "ice" and ''chāl'' meaning "pit") is an ancient type of ice house that functions as an evaporative cooler. The structure had a domed shape above ground and a subterranean storage space. It ...

) are ancient buildings used to store ice and food throughout the year, commonly used prior to the invention of the refrigerator in the past.

Name

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

of the name Abarquh, related by

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini ( fa, حمدالله مستوفى قزوینی, Ḥamdallāh Mustawfī Qazvīnī; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, and ...

in 1340, is from ''bar kūh'', meaning "on the mountain". Mustawfi said that its original site was on a hill, but since then had been moved down to the plain.

History

In the 10th century CE, Abarquh was the spot where the roads from

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

, and

Yazd Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Worl ...

converged. During this period, the writer

Ibn Hawqal Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (), also known as Abū al-Qāsim b. ʻAlī Ibn Ḥawqal al-Naṣībī, born in Nisibis, Upper Mesopotamia; was a 10th-century Arab Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler who travelled during the ye ...

noted that Abarquh was the capital of the

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

Rudan Rudan ( fa, رودان, also Romanized as Rūdān; also, Dehbarez (Persian: ), also Romanized as Deh Bārez, Deh Bāriz, and Deh Dāriz; also Qal‘eh-ye Deh Bārez, Qal‘eh-ye Deh-e Bārez, and Rūgan) is a city and capital of Rudan County, H ...

, which had formerly been part of Kerman Province but, by the time of his writing, had become part of Fars under the district of

Estakhr Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', fa, اصطخر, translit=Istakhr also spelt استخر in modern literature) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Pers ...

. The accounts of Ibn Hawqal and his contemporary

al-Maqdisi Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdisī ( ar, شَمْس ٱلدِّيْن أَبُو عَبْد ٱلله مُحَمَّد ابْن أَحْمَد ابْن أَبِي بَكْر ٱلْمَقْدِسِي), ...

describe Abarquh as a prosperous and populous town, fortified with a

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

. The mishmash of narrow streets formed a compact, spontaneous network, and the houses, like those of Yazd were built of

sun-dried brick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...

in a vaulted shape. 10th-century Abarquh had a large

Friday mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

, which was a predecessor of the current one, which dates from the post-Mongol period. As the surrounding region was treeless and arid, and thus unable to support much agriculture, Abarquh imported large quantities of food from elsewhere. It exported

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

cloth. A notable feature mentioned by Ibn Hawqal is a "lofty hill of ashes" (possibly a volcanic remnant) said to be the remains of the fire where Namrud tried to burn

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

to death. In the following 11th century, Abarquh was ruled by the

Kakuyid dynasty The Kakuyids (also called Kakwayhids, Kakuwayhids or Kakuyah) ( fa, آل کاکویه) were a Shia Muslim dynasty of Daylamite origin that held power in western Persia, Jibal and Kurdistan (c. 1008–c. 1051). They later became ''atabegs'' (g ...

, who had originally been kinsmen and vassals of the

Buyid dynasty The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...

but later became independent rivals. Just before 435 AH (1043-44 CE), the Buyid ruler Abu Kalijar captured Abarquh from the Kakuyid Abu Mansur Faramarz. In 1051, however, Abarquh came back into Abu Mansur Faramarz's possession: that year, the

Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...

ruler

Tughril Bey Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il ( fa, ابوطالب محمد تغریل بن میکائیل), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril), was a Turkmen"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

conquered Faramarz's capital of Isfahan, and in compensation granted him the cities of Abarquh and Yazd. Around this time, another notable family in Abarquh was the

Firuzanids The Firuzanids (Perozanids) were an Iranian princely family of Daylamite origin which ruled Shukur, and at their greatest extent ruled all of Tabaristan. Biography The family was native to Daylam. During their early period, the family held much ...

, originally from Eshkavar in

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...

. The oldest surviving structure in Abarquh today, the Gonbad-e Ali, was built in 448 AH (1056-57 CE) for a member of this family named Amid al-Din Shams al-Dawla Abu Ali Hazarasp Firuzani. Another early monument is the Seljuk-era tomb of Pir Hamza Sabzpush. Abarquh flourished under the Seljuks, as well as under their successors, the

Ilkhanids The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

. Most surviving medieval structures in Abarquh today are from the Ilkhanid period, including the Friday mosque with its four ayvans. Abarquh served as a

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

town under the Ilkhanids and thereafter; coins minted here under them, the

Injuids The House of Inju (Injuids, Injus, or Inju'ids) was an Iranian dynasty of Persian origin that came to rule over the cities of Shiraz and Isfahan during the 14th century. Its members became de facto independent rulers following the breakup of the I ...

, the

Mozaffarids The Muzaffarid dynasty ( fa, مظفریان) was a Muslim dynasty which came to power in Iran following the breakup of the Ilkhanate in the 14th century. At their zenith, they ruled a kingdom comprising Iranian Azerbaijan, Central Persia, and Pe ...

, the

Timurids The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani ( Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Turco-Mongol empire ...

, and the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...

all survive. Writing in 1340,

describes Abarquh as small but prosperous, with grain and cotton grown here in fields irrigated by both

qanat A qanat or kārīz is a system for transporting water from an aquifer or water well to the surface, through an underground aqueduct; the system originated approximately 3,000 BC in what is now Iran. The function is essentially the same across ...

s and surface channels. He lists the revenue of Abarquh and its attached rural districts as 140,000

dinar The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread. The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin of ...

s. Mustawfi also mentions the domeless tomb of the renowned scholar Tavus al-Haramayn ("

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

of the two sanctuaries", i.e.

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

), who probably lived during the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

period. A mausoleum attributed to him still exists in Abarquh, but it is actually the tomb of one Hasan b. Kay Khosrow (d. 718 AH/1318 CE) and his wife.

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

Abarquh was part of the crown lands, or ''maḥāll-e ḵāṣṣa'', and, together with Yazd, Biabanak, and other towns in the region, constituted a governorship that was granted out to high court officials. In the early 17th century, the Taḏkerat al-molūk describes the local religious judge (''ḥākem-e šaṛʿ'') as being appointed by the spiritual leader at the royal court (''ṣadr-e ḵaṣṣa''), and the district of Abarquh, valued at 711 tomans and 5,300 dinars, was granted to the commander of guard of musketeers (''tofanġčī āḡāsī''). Abarquh was ravaged by the invasion of the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

Hotak dynasty The Hotak dynasty ( ps, fa, ) was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful revolution against t ...

in the early 1700s. Later, in 1208 AH (1793-94 CE)

Lotf Ali Khan Zand Lotf Ali Khan ( fa, لطفعلی‌خان زند; ) was the last Shah of the Zand dynasty. He ruled from 1789 to 1794. Early life Lotf Ali Khan Zand came to power after a decade of infighting among a succession of violent and inept Zand chiefs f ...

captured Abarquh's citadel and held it for a while during the war with the rising

. During the late Qajar period, Abarquh acquired a reputation for lawlessness and unrest.

Gallery

File:Panorama Icehouse Abarqu Iran.jpg, Abarkuh Icehouse File:Jameh Mosque of Abarkuh 02.jpg, Jameh Mosque of Abarkuh File:Gonbad-e Ali 03.jpg, Gonbad-e Ali File:Cypress of Abarqu - Full view with two school girls in front of it.JPG, Cypress of Abar-Kuh File:خانه صولت ابرکوه (1).JPG, Soult House File:مناره ابرکوه.JPG, Abarkuh prayer tower File:خانه سید علی آقا ابرکوه (1).JPG, Seyed Ali Agha House File:خانه سید علی آقا ابرکوه (2).JPG, Seyed Ali Agha House File:خانه صولت ابرکوه (3).JPG, Soult House File:خانه صولت ابرکوه (2).JPG, Soult House File:ماکت بادگیر دو طبقه ابرکوه.JPG, Abarkuh two-floor windscreen File:یخچال خشتی ابرکوه (2).JPG, Abarkuh Cliff refrigerator File:یخچال خشتی ابرکوه (1).JPG, Abarkuh Cliff refrigerator

References

{{Abarkuh County Populated places in Abarkuh County Cities in Yazd Province