Qūmis ( ar, قومس, from fa, کومس / کومش, Kōmis / Kōmiš; grc, Κωμισηνή, Kōmisēnē; xcl, Կոմշ, Komsh), was a province in

pre-Islamic Persia The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian S ...

, lying between the southern Alborz chain watershed and the northern fringes of the Dasht-e Kavir desert. During the Sasanian period, it designated the area lying between the provinces of

Ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

and Gurgan and was part of the Padishkhwargar province. Qumis became a province of medieval Islamic Persia. Its western boundaries lay in the eastern rural districts of

, while in the east it marched with

Khurasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...

. It was bisected by the Great Khurasan Road, along which were situated the major cities of (from west to east) Khuwar (

Choarene Choara (Latin; from grc, Χόαρα ''Khóara'', from Old Iranian ''*huṷăra-'' or ''*xṷăra-'') was a town or village recorded by Greek authors, and was probably the center of the district Choarene. The "Choarene" mentioned by Strabo refers to ...

; modern Aradan), Semnan,

Shahr-i Qumis Qumis ( fa, قومس; Middle Persian ''𐭪𐭥𐭬𐭩𐭮 Kōmis''), also known as Hecatompylos ( grc, Ἑκατόμπυλος, in fa, صددروازه, ''Saddarvazeh'') was an ancient city which was the capital of the Arsacid dynasty by 200 ...

(or "Hecatompylos"; the administrative capital; modern Damghan), and

Bistam Bastam ( fa, بسطام, also romanized as Basṭām; also known as Busṭām and Bisṭām) is a city in and capital of the Bastam District of Shahrud County, Semnan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 7,382, in 1,997 families ...

, while in its southeastern extremity lay the town of Biyar (modern

Beyarjomand Beyarjomand ( fa, بيارجمند, Beyārjomand, Bīārjmand, Bīārjomand, and Bīyārjomand; also known as Beyār) is a city in and capital of Beyarjomand District, Shahrud County, Semnan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population wa ...

). In 856, an earthquake centered in Qumis killed around 200,000 people. It was one of the deadliest earthquakes in recorded history. There are remains of several

Ismaili castles List of the strongholds or dar al-hijra of the Nizari Ismaili state in Persia (Iran) and Syria. Most of the Persian Ismaili castles were in the Alborz mountains, in the regions of Daylaman (particularly, in Alamut and Rudbar; north of modern-d ...

in the region (notably Gerdkuh), most of which were captured by the invading Mongols. The name "Qumis" started to become obsolete from the beginning of the 11th century. Currently, the region is divided between the modern provinces of Mazandaran and Semnan.

References

{{wiktionary, Qumis Subdivisions of the Sasanian Empire Former subdivisions of Iran Historical regions of Iran Subdivisions of the Abbasid Caliphate