Dinavar (also spelled Dinawar and Daynavar; fa, دینور) was a major town between the 7th and 10th centuries, located to the northeast of Kermanshah in western

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 ...

. The ruins of the town is now located in Dinavar District, in Sahneh County, Kermanshah Province.

History

Located in the centre of the ancient region of Media, Dinavar is first attested in history as a town founded by the Greek

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

(312 BC–363 BC), but it may have been older. Like the neighbouring town of

Kangavar Kangavar ( fa, كنگاور, ''Kangâvar''; also Romanized as Kangāvar) is a city and capital of Kangavar County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 48,901, with 12,220 families. Kangavar is located in the east ...

, Dinavar also hosted a Greek population. Under the

Sasanian 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 ...

(AD 224–651), Dinavar served as an important fortified place, and was reportedly attacked by the

Khazars The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

in the early 6th-century. In 642, following the defeat of the Sasanians against the Arabs at the

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 Yazdeg ...

, Dinavar was conquered. During the reign of the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...

(), the town was renamed Mah al-Kufa and made one of the two districts of

Jibal Jibāl ( ar, جبال), also al-Jabal ( ar, الجبل), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' (" ...

(Media). Dinavar consisted of the northern areas, whilst Karmisin ( Kermanshah) consisted of the southern areas. Dinavar bordered

Hulwan Hulwan ( fa, حلوان) was an ancient town on the Zagros Mountains in western Iran, located on the entrance of the Paytak Pass, nowadays identified with the town of Sarpol-e Zahab. History Later Arab tradition, as recorded by al-Tabari, co ...

in the west; Masabadhan in the south; Hamadan in the east; and Adharbayjan in the north. The "Mah" in the Mah al-Kufa probably refers to Media. Dinavar had some importance due to its geographical location, serving as the entrance to Jibal as well as a crossroad between the culture of Iran and that of the inhabitants on the other side of the Zagros Mountains. The town flourished under the Umayyad and

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...

caliphates. According to the Arab writer Ibn Hawqal (died after 978), Dinavar was only one-third less smaller than Hamadan in the 10th-century. Dinavar historically has produced many scholars including Ebn Qotayba, Fakhr-un-Nisa, and Abu Hanifa Dinawari. Dinavar was also the center of the Kurdish principality of the Hasanwayhids. It was sacked by

Mardavij Mardavij ( Gilaki/ fa, مرداویج, meaning "man assailant") was an Iranian prince, who established the Ziyarid dynasty, ruling from 930 to 935. Born to a Zoroastrian family native to Gilan, Mardavij sought to establish a native Iranian Zoro ...

in 931. According to Ibn Athir it was plundered by Turkmen of the Iva tribe in 1172/73. According to the 14th-century geographer

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini ( fa, حمدالله مستوفى قزوینی, Ḥamdallāh Mustawfī Qazvīnī; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, a ...

(died after 1339/40) in his ''

Nuzhat al-Qulub The ''Nuzhat al-Qulub'' (also spelled ''Nozhat al-Qolub''; fa, نزهةالقلوب, "Hearts' Bliss") is a Persian geographical treatise written in the 1340s by Hamdallah Mustawfi. It is the earliest surviving work to have a map focused on Iran. ...

'', Dinavar was a small town during his lifetime. However, it was later destroyed by

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

by the end of the 14th-century. Today only field of ruins are available.

Notable figures

* Ibn Qutaybah (died 889), 9th-century scholar, best known for his contributions to

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

* Abu Hanifa Dinawari (died 896), 9th-century scholar who wrote the ''Kitāb al-akhbār al-ṭiwāl'', possibly the most apparent early effort to combine Iranian and Islamic history

References

Sources

* * * {{Authority control Populated places in Sahneh County Former cities in Iran Destroyed cities Ruins in Iran Buildings and structures in Kermanshah Province