Kahak ( fa, كهك, 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 Kohak) is a village in
Do Dehak Rural District
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, settlement_type = Rural District
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, in the
Central District of
Delijan County,
Markazi 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 2006 census, its population was 116, in 40 families.
During
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 ...
times, the village enjoyed some importance, and was the site of a large
caravanserai
A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...
, now in ruins.
During the late medieval period, the village was the centre of the Qasim-Shahi line of
Nizari Isma'ili imams, which transferred its residence from nearby
Anjudan to Kahak during the early imamate of
Shah Nizar II Shah Nizar II was the 40th imam of the Qasim-Shahi branch of the Nizari Isma'ili community.
Shah Nizar II succeeded his father Khalil Allah II Ali when the latter died in 1680. At some point during the early part of his imamate, Shah Nizar left th ...
(1680–1722).
His mausoleum in the western end of the village survives to this day, although a restoration in 1966 destroyed many of its original elements and fixtures.
The Nizari imams abandoned Kahak for
Kerman Province in the mid-18th century, but
Shah Khalil Allah III
Shah Khalil Allah III ( fa, شاه خليل الله; 1740–1817) was the 45th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili Shia Islam community. Khalilullah Ali III was born in 1740 in the city of Kirman. His upbringing in Mahallat began under the care of hi ...
(1792–1817) re-established himself there shortly into his imamate until 1815, when he moved to
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 ...
.
Kahak was the birthplace of Shah Khalil Allah's son and successor,
Aga Khan I, in 1804.
References
Populated places in Delijan County
History of Nizari Isma'ilism
{{Delijan-geo-stub