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Nahavand ( fa, نهاوند, translit=Nahāvand / Nehāvend) is a city in Hamadan 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 Turkm ...
. It is the capital of
Nahavand County Nahavand County ( fa, شهرستان نهاوند) is located in Hamadan province, Iran. The capital of the county is Nahavand. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 178,683, in 46,283 households. Retrieved 8 November 2022 The follo ...
. At the time of the 2006 census, its population was 72,218, in 19,419 families. It is located south of the city of Hamadan, west of Malayer and northwest of Borujerd. Inhabited continuously since prehistoric times, Nahavand was bestowed upon the House of Karen in the Sasanian period. During the Muslim conquest of Persia, it was the site of the famous
Battle of Nahavand The Battle of Nahavand ( ar, معركة نهاوند ', fa, نبرد نهاوند '), also spelled Nihavand or Nahawand, was fought in 642 between the Rashidun Muslim forces under caliph Umar and Sasanian Persian armies under King Yazdege ...
.


Name

The name ''Nahāvand'' is probably ultimately derived from
Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...
''*Niθāvanta-'', related to the Old Persian name '' Nisāya'', itself derived from the prefix ''ni-'', meaning "down" and a second element which is related to Avestan ''si'' or ''say'', meaning "to lie down". It has been spelled differently in different books and sources: Nahavand, Nahavend, Nahawand, Nahaavand, Nihavand, Nehavand, Nihavend, or Nehavend, formerly called Mah-Nahavand, and in antiquity Laodicea ( el, Λαοδίκεια;
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
Ladhiqiyya), also transliterated Laodiceia and Laodikeia, Laodicea in Media, Laodicea in Persis, Antiochia in Persis, Antiochia of Chosroes ( el, Αντιόχεια του Χοσρόη), Antiochia in Media ( el, Αντιόχεια της Μηδίας), Nemavand and Niphaunda.


Geography

Nahavand is situated in the west of Iran, in the northern part of the Zagros region. It lies kilometers south of Hamadan, from which it is separated by the massif of the Alvand subrange. This massif grants Nahavand and its hinterlands an abundant water supply. Historically, Nahavand was located on a route that led from central
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
through Kermanshah to northern Iran, and was therefore often crossed by armies. Another historic road, coming from Kermanshah, leads towards Isfahan in central Iran and avoids the Alvand massif. Nahavand also lies on the branch of the Gamasab river which comes from the southeast from the vicinity of Borujerd; from Nahavand the Gamasab river flows westwards to Mount Behistun. Given Nahavand's location, it was the site of several battles, and was considered important in Iranian history during Iran's wars with its western neighbors.


Climate

Nahavand has a dry summer humid continental climate (
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''Dsa'').


Prehistory

Excavations conducted in 1931/2 at
Tepe Giyan Tepe Gyan is an archaeological site in the highland central Zagros Mountains in Iran. Tepe Giyan contains a necropolis of 123 graves and distinctive pottery which displays some affinities with the ceramics found at another Elamite site of Tepe Sia ...
by Georges Contenau and Roman Ghirshman led to the conclusion that Nahavand and its environs have been inhabited since prehistoric times. It showed that the site of Tepe Giyan, which lies kilometers southeast of Nahavand, was occupied from at least 5,000 BC to BC.


History

During the Achaemenid period (550–330 BC), Nahavand was located in the southernmost part of Media, on the fertile Nisaean plain. The ancient geographer and historian
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
wrote that it was "(re-)founded" by Achaemenid King Xerxes the Great (486–465 BC). It lay kilometers from Ecbatana (modern-day Hamadan), on the trunk road from Babylonia through Media to Bactria. In the Seleucid period, Nahavand was turned into a Greek '' polis'' with magistrates and a Seleucid governor. In the 20th century, a stone stele was found near Nahavand. The stele bore a copy of the dynastic cult inscription of Seleucid ruler Antiochus III the Great (222–187 BC), which he had created for his wife Queen Laodice III. The stele, dated to 193 BC, revealed the '' terminus ante quem'' of the foundation of the Greek ''polis'' Laodiceia. According to the polymath Abu Hanifa Dinawari, who flourished in the 9th century, in the Parthian period, Nahavand was the seat of the Parthian prince Artabanus, who later reigned as Artabanus I of Parthia (127-124/3 BC). During the Sasanian period, the district of Nahavand was bestowed upon the House of Karen. There was also a fire temple. In 642, during the Arab conquest of Iran, a famous battle was fought at Nahavand. With heavy losses on both sides, it eventually resulted in a Sasanian defeat, and as such, opened up the doors of the Iranian plateau to the invaders. In the early Islamic period, Nahavand flourished as part of the province of Jibal. It first functioned as administrative center of the
Mah al-Basra 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 ...
("Media of the Basrans") district. Its revenues were reportedly used for the payment of the troops from
Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
that were stationed in Nahavand. Medieval geographers mention Nahavand as an affluent commercial hub with two Friday mosques. When the 10th century Arab traveller Abu Dulaf travelled through Nahavand he noted "fine remains of the ncientPersians". Abu Dulaf also wrote that during the reign of Caliph al-Ma'mun (813–833), a treasure chamber had been found, containing two gold caskets. In the course of the subsequent centuries, only few events in Nahavand were recorded. The Persian vizier of the Seljuk Empire,
Nizam al-Mulk Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk ( fa, , , Order of the Realm) was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and Vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising fro ...
, was assassinated in 1092 near Nahavand. According to the historian and geographer Hamdallah Mustawfi, who flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries, Nahavand was a town of medium size surrounded by fertile fields where corn, cotton and fruits were grown. Mustawfi added that its inhabitants were mainly
Twelver Shia Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
. In 1589, during the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1578-1590, Ottoman General Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha built a fortress at Nahavand for future campaigns against
Safavid Iran 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 ...
. By the Treaty of Constantinople (1590), the Safavids were forced to cede the city to the Turks. In 1602/3, Nahavand's citizens revolted against the Ottoman occupiers. Coinciding with the
Celali revolts The Celali rebellions ( tr, Celalî ayaklanmaları), were a series of rebellions in Anatolia of irregular troops led by bandit chiefs and provincial officials known as ''celalî'', ''celâli'', or ''jelālī'', against the authority of the Ottoma ...
in
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...
, the Safavids recaptured Nahavand and expelled the Ottomans from the city, thus restoring Iranian control. The Safavid governor of Hamadan, Hasan Khan Ustajlu, subsequently destroyed the Ottoman fort. In the wake of the collapse of the Safavids in 1722, the Turks captured Nahavand once more. In 1730, they were ousted by Nader-Qoli Beg (later known as
Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...
; 1736–1747). Nader's death in 1747 led to instability. Over the next few years, Nahavand was exploited by local Bakhtiari chiefs. In , Karim Khan Zand defeated the Bakhtiari chieftain Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiari at Nahavand.


Music

Nahavand also gives its name to the musical mode (
maqam MAQAM is a US-based production company specializing in Arabic and Middle Eastern media. The company was established by a small group of Arabic music and culture lovers, later becoming a division of 3B Media Inc. "MAQAM" is an Arabic word meaning ...
) ''Nahawand'' in Arabic, Persian and Turkish music. This mode is known for its wide variety of Western sounding melodies.


Languages

The local language of the city is the Nahavandi sub-dialect of the northern dialect of the Luri language. This dialect is one of the closest dialects to the Middle Persian language, and is occasionally considered a distinct language. Southern Kurdish is also spoken in Nahavand.


Notable figures

*
Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz Abū Luʾluʾa Fīrūz ( ar, أبو لؤلؤة فيروز; from ), also known as Bābā Shujāʿ al-Dīn ( ar, بابا شجاع الدين, label=none), was a Sassanid Persian slave known for having assassinated Umar ibn al-Khattab (), the se ...
(d. 644, Nahavandi origin uncertain), craftsman and slave who killed the second caliph Umar * Benjamin Nahawandi, a key figure in the development of Karaite Judaism in the early Middle Ages * Ahmad Nahavandi, 8th-century astronomer who worked at the Academy of Gundishapur.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * *


External links


Hamedan Province Cultural Heritage Website


* Smith, William (editor); '' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography''
"Laodiceia"
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, (1854) * * {{Authority control Populated places in Nahavand County Cities in Hamadan Province Achaemenid cities Seleucid colonies Parthian cities Sasanian cities