![980622-AlvandSummit-IMG 8107-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/980622-AlvandSummit-IMG_8107-2.jpg)
Alvand is a subrange of the
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوههای زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...
in
western Iran
Western Iran consists of Armenian Highlands, Northern Zagros and the rich agricultural area of the Khuzestan Plain in the south.
It includes the provinces of Kordestan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamadan and Lorestan. Some references also count West ...
located south of the city of
Hamadan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...
in
Hamadan Province. Its summit has an elevation of .
The main body of the Alvand range extends for about 50 km from east to west, while their maximum north-south width is about 30 km.
Formed as part of the Zagros
orogeny
Orogeny is a mountain building process. An orogeny is an event that takes place at a convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An ''orogenic belt'' or ''orogen'' develops as the compressed plate crumples and is uplifted t ...
in the late
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
and early
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
, the mountains rise sharply from the surrounding plains and are scored by many deep valleys.
The mountains are mostly
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and
diorite
Diorite ( ) is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silic ...
, which are types of
intrusive rock
Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form ''Igneous intrusion, intrusions'', such as batholiths, dike (geology), dikes, Sill (geology), sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.I ...
.
The area was once covered by a light oak forest,
but extensive deforestation in historical times has reduced this to only a small area, mostly in the valleys.
Today, the higher altitudes have a sparse cover of grass, while grass cover grows more thickly around springs and streams.
One important plant that commonly grows in the Alvand valleys is the ''gavar'' or
goat's thorn, which produces the gum known as
tragacanth
Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained from the dried sap of several species of Middle Eastern legumes of the genus ''Astragalus'', including '' A. adscendens'', '' A. gummifer'', '' A. brachycalyx'', and '' A. tragacantha''. Some of these specie ...
which is used in medicine and industry.
Although no settlements exist on the mountains themselves, the valleys and surrounding plains are home to many towns and villages.
Several major cities lie at the foot of the Alvand range, including Hamadan,
Malayer
Malayer ( fa, ملایر, Malāyer), formerly Dowlatabad ( fa, دولتآباد, Doulatābād, also Romanized as Dowlatābād and Daūlatābād), is a city and capital of Malayer County, Hamadan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its populati ...
, and
Tuyserkan
Tuyserkan ( fa, تويسركان, also Romanized as Tūyserkān, Tooyserkan, Tūīsarkān, and Tūysarkān) is a city and capital of Tuyserkan County, Hamadan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 50,455, in 16,291 families.
T ...
.
These settlements are supported by a highly productive agricultural base which includes wheat growing and livestock breeding (sheep, goats, and cattle).
This agricultural prosperity comes from the combination of a favorable highland climate and an abundance of water flowing down from the Alvand mountains.
The historic site of
Ganj Nameh
Ganjnameh ( fa, گنجنامه, translit=Ganjnāme, lit=Treasure Book) is located 12 km southwest of Hamadan (ancient Ecbatana) in western Iran, at an altitude of meters across Mount Alvand. The site is home to two trilingual Achaemenid cuneif ...
, where two trilingual inscriptions were left in
Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
times, is located at the foot of the Alvand mountains, 10 km south of Hamadan.
The Alvand range forms a
language border between
Turkish,
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
,
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, and
Luri
Luri may refer to:
* Luri people or Lurs, an Iranian people
* Luri language, Western Iranian language continuum spoken by the Lurs
* Luri language (Nigeria), dialect of the Afro-Asiatic language Polci
* Luri, Haute-Corse, commune in France
* Luri ...
.
Etymology
"Alvand" is Avestan and comes from the Avestan language word "Aurvañt", which means "quick, swift, brave; a steed, horse, racer, warrior".
Climate
Mount Alvand is situated in a geographical location that has a Mediterranean climate with spring rains.
Hydrology
The Alvand range forms the main
watershed in
Hamadan Province, with most of the province's rivers arising from the
snowmelt
In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many par ...
on Mount Alvand and then flowing either north or south.
Generally, the rivers on the north side the mountain are mostly seasonal, while those on the south side flow year-round.
The main rivers on the north side of Mount Alvand are the
Talvar
''Madan's Talwar'', later known as ''The Talvar'', was an early-20th-century Indian Nationalist periodical published from Berlin.
Originally named after Madan Lal Dhingra, one of the heroes of the Indian independence movement who had been execu ...
and the
Qurichay (aka Siahrud).
The Talvar begins at Kuh-e Safid in the northwest and ultimately joins the
Sefidrud
The Sefid-Rud ( fa, سفیدرود, lit=white river, glk, اسپي بيه, ''Espī bīeh'') (also known as Sepid-Rud) is a river approximately long, rising in the Alborz mountain range of northwestern Iran and flowing generally northeast to ent ...
, the longest river in Iran, which flows to the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
.
The Qurichay, meanwhile, begins in the highlands between Hamadan and Malayer.
It passes through the northern Alvand highlands and eventually flows into
Lake Qom.
The main rivers on the south side are the
Gamasiab and the
Qelqelrud (itself a tributary of the Gamasiab).
The Gamasiab is another name for the
Karkheh River
The Karkheh or Karkhen کرخه (perhaps the river known as the Gihon—one of the four rivers of Eden/Paradise to the Bible and as the Choaspes in ancient times; also called Eulæus; Hebrew: אולי Ulai) is a river in Khūzestān Province, I ...
in its upper course.
Its headwaters, known as the Sarab-e Gamasiab, are located southeast of
Nahavand
Nahavand ( fa, نهاوند, translit=Nahāvand / Nehāvend) is a city in Hamadan Province, Iran. It is the capital of Nahavand County. At the time of the 2006 census, its population was 72,218, in 19,419 families. It is located south of the ci ...
.
The river then crosses the Nahavand plain and is joined by the Malayer River as well as the Qelqelrud.
Another river system, the
Abshineh Rud, has its source on Alvand's eastern slopes.
It flows north to the ''
kavir'' of Qom, but because a lot of its water is used for irrigation, it only actually reaches the ''kavir'' after very wet winters.
It reaches its peak flow during March and April and dries up almost completely during the summer.
Nomadism
The Alvand highlands are the traditional pastures for several nomadic tribes.
The
Torkeshvand, who speak the
Laki language
, altname =
, states = Iran and Turkey
, region = Provinces of Hamadan, Ilam, Lorestan and Kermanshah in Iran, and scatteredly elsewhere in Iran and Turkey
, ethnicity = Kurds ( Lak tribe)
, speakers ...
, have their
summer pasture on the western slopes of Alvand, while the
Yarimtoghlu have theirs on the east side.
A third group that belongs to the
Shahsevan
The Shahsevan ( az, Şahsevənlər), are a branch of the Turkic Oghuz groups, a sub-ethnic group of Azerbaijani people, located primarily in Iran and Republic of Azerbaijan. The name ''Shahsevan'' means "adherents of the Shah, a people who are lov ...
also comes to the east side, but only in small numbers.
Since the 20th century, sedentary agriculture and livestock breeding has expanded significantly into what used to be nomad territory.
Gallery
File:Alvand 2006.jpg, Alvand Summit, Summer 2006
File:Kalagh-lane.jpg, Kalagh lane (crow's nest)
File:00100dPORTRAIT 00100 BURST20190329121317458 COVER.jpg, The summit winter
File:980622-AlvandSummit-IMG 8182-2.jpg, alt=Alvand Summit, Hamedan, Iran, Alvand Summit, Hamedan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...
, 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 ...
File:980622-AlvandSummit-IMG 8144-2.jpg, Summit
See also
*
List of mountains in Iran
This is a list of mountains in the country of Iran.
''By clicking on the symbols at the head of the table the individual columns may be sorted.''
References
See also
* List of volcanoes in Iran
* List of Iranian four-thousanders
{{D ...
*
List of Ultras of West Asia
This is a list of all 101 of the ultra-prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in West Asia. It includes peaks on the islands of Cyprus and Socotra. It also includes the 10 ultras of the Caucasus (also listed under E ...
References
External links
Profile at SummitPost.Org"Kuh-e Alvand, Iran" on Peakbagger
Mountain ranges of Iran
Landforms of Hamadan Province
{{hamadan-geo-stub