Khalkhal () is a city in the Central District of

Khalkhal County Khalkhal County () is in Ardabil province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Khalkhal. Demographics Language The majority of Khalkhal County residents are Azerbaijanis, but there are many Tats and Kurds living in the southern areas of the ...

Ardabil Ardabil (, ) is a city in northwestern Iran. It is in the Central District (Ardabil County), Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The ...

province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

Demographics

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 38,521 in 9,619 households. The following census in 2011 counted 41,165 people in 11,213 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 39,304 people in 11,501 households.

Etymology and history

According to

Vladimir Minorsky Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (; – 25 March 1966) was a White Russian academic, historian, and scholar of Oriental studies, best known for his contributions to the study of history of Iran and the Iranian peoples such as Persians, Lurs, and ...

, the name ''Khalkhāl'' may indicate a connection with the ancient Kharkhar kingdom, which existed somewhere in the eastern

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

Neo-Assyrian The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...

times. The 14th-century author

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini (; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, and the interregnum that followed. A native of Qazvin, Mustawfi belonged to fami ...

listed Khalkhal in his ''

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

'' as forming part of the '' tuman'' of

. He described it as "formerly a fair-sized town" that had declined to a mere village by his time. He wrote that Khalkhal had succeeded the earlier city of Firuzabad as the capital of its province after Firuzabad itself had declined. Mustawfi wrote that the Khalkhal province comprised about 100 villages and had four districts: Khāmidah-Bīl, Sajasrūd, Anjīlābād, and Mīsjīn. It was assessed for a tax value of 30,000

dinar The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...

s. Water from a spring on a nearby mountain powered two watermills, which provided enough irrigation for the surrounding fields. Mustawfi said its pastures were "excellent" and hunting grounds were "numerous and well-stocked with game" and wrote that the district was known for producing

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

(''māst'') that was "so thick it has to be cut with a knife, as though it were cheese".

Notes

References

Cities in Ardabil province Populated places in Khalkhal County {{Khalkhal-geo-stub

Demographics

Etymology and history

See also

Notes

References