Salmas ( fa, سلماس; ; ; ; syr, ܣܵܠܵܡܵܣ, Salamas) is the capital of

Salmas County Salmas County ( fa, شهرستان سلماس) is located in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. The capital of the county is Salmas. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 180,708, in 40,298 households. Retrieved 2 November 2022 At the ...

, West Azerbaijan Province in

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 ...

. It is located northwest of

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia; az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü; ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê; hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich; arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is ...

, near

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. According to the 2019 census, the city's population is 127,864. The majority of the population is composed of

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...

and

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

with some

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

, Assyrians, and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

History

Etymology and early history

According to

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

the earliest historic recognition of Salmas could be found at the time of

Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...

's reign (224–242 AD) via a petroglyph of him on horseback while receiving surrender of the

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

personage. In another contribution by Britannica, on an animated political map of

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

at the time of

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

's reign (240–270 AD), Salmas is markedly acknowledged as one of the renown and apparently important cities of the empire with the same original name as now. There is a speculation that the nickname of the city, Shapur, might be derived from the name of this king (of kings) of Persia. Salmas was held by the Kurdish

Rawadid dynasty Rawwadid or Ravvadid (also Revend or Revendi) or Banū Rawwād () (955–1071) was a Sunni Muslim Kurdish dynasty, centered in the northwestern region of Adharbayjan (Azerbaijan) between the late 8th and early 13th centuries. Originally of Az ...

and frequented by the

Hadhabani Hadhabani (also: ''Hadhbani'') ( ku, ھەزەبانی ,Hecbanî) was a large medieval Sunni Muslim Kurdish tribe divided into several groups, centered at Arbil, Ushnu and Urmia. Their dominion included surrounding areas of Maragha and Urmia to the ...

tribe in the 10-11th centuries.

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), ...

described it as a Kurdish town who had built a wall around the city. Another Mention of the city was made in 1281, when its Assyrian bishop made the trip to the consecration of the

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول� ...

patriarch Yaballaha in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

.Houtsma, M. Th. ''et al''. (1993 reprint) "Salmas" ''E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936'' Volume 4, E.J. Brill, New York
page 118
In the Battle of Salmas on 17–18 September 1429, the

Kara Koyunlu The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu ( az, Qaraqoyunlular , fa, قره قویونلو), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, En ...

were defeated by

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh ( fa, شاهرخ, ''Šāhrokh'') (20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynast ...

who was consolidating

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of C ...

holdings west of

. However, the area was retaken by the Kara Koyunlu in 1447 after the death of Shah Rukh. In March 1915

Cevdet Bey Jevdet Bey or Cevdet Tahir BelbezSait Çetinoğlu"Bir Osmanlı Komutanının Soykırım Güncesi", ''Birikim'', 09.04.2009. (1878 – January 15, 1955) Selcuk Uzun"1915 „Van İsyanı“ ve Vali Cevdet (Belbez) Bey" ''Küyerel'', 30.12.2011. wa ...

ordered 800 Assyrians of Salmas to be killed.'''' Mar Shimun, the Patriarch of the

was murdered by the

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 ...

chieftain

Simko Shikak Simko Shikak. Birth name: Ismail Agha Shikak. born 1887, was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak tribe. He was born into a prominent Kurdish feudal family based in Chihriq castle located near the Baranduz river in the Urmia region of northwestern ...

in Salmas in March 1918. Around the advent of the 1910s,

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

started to station infantry and

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

in Salmas. The Russians retreated at the time of

Enver Pasha İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha ( ota, اسماعیل انور پاشا; tr, İsmail Enver Paşa; 22 November 1881 – 4 August 1922) was an Ottoman military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who formed one-third ...

's offensive in the Iran-Caucasus region, but returned in early 1916, and stayed up to the wake of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

Geography

Salmas in early atlases

The atlases below are some of the earliest maps to have been ever sketched to show the territory and originality of the name of Salmas and are some of the strongest documents providing proofs to some basic facts about the city including its existence and identity. File:Salmas in Circa1700-Circa1720 Homann Map of "Persian Empire" - Jomann Imperium Periscum.jpg, Salmas in 1724

Homann Homann is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Heinrich Homann (1911–1994), East German politician * Johann Homann (1664–1724), German geographer and cartographer * Peter Homann (born 1960), Australian Paralympic cyclist * Th ...

Map of "

Persian Empire 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 ...

" at the Time of

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...

• Modified by Hassan Jahangiri File:Salmas in 1730 Ottens Map of the "Persian Empire" - Geographicus; RegnumPersicum - Ottens 1730.jpg, Salmas in 1730 Reiner and Joshua Ottens Map of the "

" at the Time of

• Modified by Hassan Jahangiri File:Salmas in 1747 Emanuel Bowen Map of the "Persian Empire at the Time of Afsharid Dynasty".jpg, Salmas in 1747

Bowen Bowen may refer to: Places Australia * Bowen, Queensland, a town * Bowen Hills, Queensland, a suburb ** Bowen Hills railway station, a railway station in Bowen Hills ** Bowen Park, Brisbane, a park in Bowen Hills * Bowen Bridge, crossing the Derw ...

Map of the "

" at the Time of

Afsharid dynasty The Afsharid dynasty ( fa, افشاریان) was an Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan eth ...

• Modified by Hassan Jahangiri File:Salmas in 1814 Thomson Map of the "Persian Empire".jpg, Salmas in 1814

Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson Mic ...

Map of the "

" at the Time of

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 ...

• Modified by Hassan Jahangiri File:"Salmas" Zoom-Highlighted in 1818 Pinkerton Map of "Turkey in Asia, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine" - Geographicus - TurkeyAsia-pinkerton-1818.jpg, Salmas in 1818

Pinkerton Pinkerton may refer to: Places * Pinkerton, Ontario, named after surveyor and early settler Matthew Pinkerton * Pinkerton's Landing Bridge, railroad bridge in Pennsylvania People * Allan Pinkerton (18191884), Scottish detective and spy * Bill ...

Map of "Turkey in Asia, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine" (Concurred with the Time of

) • Modified by Hassan Jahangiri

Climate

Under the

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, notabl ...

, using the isotherm, Salmas features a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

(''Dsa''), and is thus the one of the few cities in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and one of the 6 in the country with this categorization.

Notable people

* Esfandiar Imanzadeh (b. 1966) – Sculptor * Stepanos V of Salmast (d. 1567) –

Catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...

of the Armenian Apostolic Church *

Yohannan Gabriel Ishoyahb Ishaya Yohannan Gabriel (or ''Jean Guriel'', 1758–1833) was bishop of Salmas of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1795 to his death. Life Isho'yahb Gabriel was born in Khosrowa in 1758 and educated at the College of the Propaganda, wh ...

(1758–1833) –

Chaldean Catholic , native_name_lang = syc , image = Assyrian Church.png , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq , abbreviation = , type ...

bishop of Salmas *

Nicholas I Zaya Mar Nicholas I Zaya (or ''Zaya'' or ''Eshaya'') was the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1839 to 1847. He succeeded Yohannan VIII Hormizd, the last of the Mosul patriarchs who traced their descent from Eliya VI (1558–1591), and ...

(d. 1855) –

Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans This is a list of the Chaldean Catholicoi-Patriarchs of Baghdad, formerly Babylon, the leaders of the Chaldean Catholic Church and one of the Patriarchs of the east of the Catholic Church starting from 1553 following the schism of 1552 which ca ...

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian, ( hy, Րաֆֆի, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is a Canadian singer-lyricist and author of Armenian descent born in Egypt, best known for his children's music. He developed his career as a " ...

(1835–1888) – Armenian novelist *

Paul Bedjan Paul Bedjan (27 November 1838 – 9 June 1920) was an Assyrian priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church and a Syriacist and orientalist. Born in Khosrova, Persia, an ethnic Assyrian, he was born into a Chaldean Catholic family, and enrolled as ...

(1838–1920) – Chaldean Catholic priest and orientalist *

Abraham Guloyan Abraham Guloyan ( hy, Աբրահամ Գուլոյան) was an Armenians, Armenian politician. Biography Guloyan was born to an Iranian Armenians, Armenian family in 1893 in Salmas in northwestern Qajar Persia. He studied in Gevorgian Seminary ...

(1893–1983) – Politician *

Murad Kostanyan Murad Kostani Kostanyan (25 August 1902, Haftvan, Salmas, Persia - 3 January 1989, Yerevan) was an Armenian actor, People's Artist of Armenia (1956). Biography From 1920 to 1925 and from 1927 to 1928 he studied at Moscow Armenian Theatral Studio ...

(1902–1989) – Actor *

Hossein Sadaghiani Dr. Amir Hossein Sadaghiani (1 January 1903 – 1 December 1982) was an Iranian football player and manager. He was a striker during his playing career and afterwards was Iran national football team's head coach from 1941 till 1950. Playing care ...

(1903-1982) - The first ever manager and head coach of

Iran national football team ) ''(the national team)' other nicknames'' , Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg , Badge_size = 190px , Association = Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran , FIFA Trigramme = IRN , FIFA Rank ...

(1941-1951) and the first ever Iranian soccer player to play for foreign clubs (

R. Charleroi S.C. Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League and their current spell at ...

and Fenerbahce SK) and in a European league *

Ardeshir Ovanessian Ardashes "Ardeshir" Ovanessian (Persian: آرداشس آوانسیان) (1905–1990) was an Iranian communist leader of Armenian origin. Biography He was born around 1905 in Rasht, to an Armenian family originally hailing from Salmas. After compl ...

(c. 1905–1990) – Communist leader * Timur Lakestani (1915–2011) – aka Father of Iranian Electrical Industry *

Jafar Salmasi Mohammad-Jafar Salmasi ( fa, محمدجعفر سلماسی, 22 September 1918 – 31 January 2000) was an Iranian weightlifter who won Iran's first Olympic medal at 1948 Summer Olympics. Early life Jafar Salmasi was born in Kadhimiya, Iraq ...

(1918–2000) – weightlifter *

Emmanuel Agassi Emanoul Aghassian ( fa, ایمانوئل آغاسيان, anglicized as Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi; December 25, 1930 – September 24, 2021) was an Iranian Olympic boxer and the father and coach of American tennis player Andre Agassi. He represented ...

(1930–2021) – boxer and father of

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...

Hadi Asghari Hadi Asghari ( fa, هادی اصغری, born 12 May 1981) is an Iranian football striker who currently plays for Shahrdari Urmia F.C. in the Iran Football's 2nd Division. He became the top goalscorer in Iran Pro League in 2007–08 season alon ...

(b. 1981) – football player

Gallery

File:Salmas_Overal.jpg, Overall View of Imam St. and Shahrdari Sq. File:Salmas_Blvd.jpg, Islamic Republic Blvd., Near Panahi Technical School File:Khan Takhti-Rd top view.JPG, Khan Takhti-Rd near Salmas File:Haftvan Church 002.jpg, The Haftvan Church File:Chaldean Catholic Church in Salmas.jpg,

Chaldean Catholic Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = Assyrian Church.png , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq , abbreviation = , type ...

in Salmas File:بیمارستان خاتم الانبیاء.jpg, File:Salmas -city.jpg, Salmas File:Salmas_Payer_House.jpg, An angled front view of Salmas Imam Khomeini Prayer House, 2017 File:Salmas_Nation_Park_in_a_Winter_Night.jpg, A view of Nation Park in a Winter night, 2016

References

Sources

External links

Salmas famous people"Salmas Map – Satellite Images of Salmas"
Maplandia {{Salmas County Populated places in Salmas County Cities in West Azerbaijan Province Mass murder in 1915 Kurdish settlements in West Azerbaijan Province