Nahavand

Nahavand (Template:Langx)Template:Efn is a city in the Central District of Nahavand County, Hamadan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is 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.

Etymology

The name Nahāvand is probably ultimately derived from Old Persian *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 (Template:Langx; Arabic Ladhiqiyya), also transliterated Laodiceia and Laodikeia, Laodicea in Media, Laodicea in Persis, Antiochia in Persis, Antiochia of Chosroes (Template:Langx), Antiochia in Media (Template:Langx), Nemavand and Niphaunda.

Prehistory

Excavations conducted in 1931/2 at Tepe Giyan by Georges Contenau and Roman Ghirshman led to the conclusion that Nahavand and its environs have been inhabited since prehistoric times.Template:Sfn It showed that the site of Tepe Giyan, which lies Template:Circa kilometers southeast of Nahavand, was occupied from at least 5,000 BC to Template:Circa BC.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

History

File:Clasp with an eagle and its prey MET DT907.jpg

Matching gold clasp with eagle in the Metropolitan Museum of Art found in Nahavand, believed by Ernst Herzfeld to originally belong to the House of Karen.Template:Sfn

File:Castle Nahavend by Eugène Flandin.jpg

Nahavand Castle by Eugène Flandin (19th century drawing)

Giyan, Nahavand, Iran

Giyan Spring

Faresban, Nahavand, Iran

Faresban Spring

During the Achaemenid period (550–330 BC), Nahavand was located in the southernmost part of Media, on the fertile Nisaean plain.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The ancient geographer and historian Strabo wrote that it was "(re-)founded" by Achaemenid King Xerxes the Great (Template:Reign BC).Template:Sfn It lay Template:Circa kilometers from Ecbatana (modern-day Hamadan), on the trunk road from Babylonia through Media to Bactria.Template:Sfn In the Seleucid period, Nahavand was turned into a Greek Template:Transliteration with magistrates and a Seleucid governor.Template:Sfn 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 (Template:Reign BC), which he had created for his wife, Queen Laodice III.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The stele, dated to 193 BC, revealed the terminus ante quem of the foundation of the Greek Template:Transliteration of Laodiceia.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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 (Template:Reign BC).Template:Sfn During the Sasanian period, the district of Nahavand was bestowed upon the House of Karen.Template:Sfn There was also a fire temple in the city.Template:Sfn

In 642, during the Arab conquest of Iran, a famous battle was fought at Nahavand.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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 ("Media of the Basrans") district.Template:Sfn Its revenues were reportedly used for the payment of the troops from Basra that were stationed in Nahavand. Medieval geographers mention Nahavand as an affluent commercial hub with two Friday mosques.Template:Sfn When the 10th-century Arab traveller Abu Dulaf travelled through Nahavand, he noted "fine remains of the [ancient] Persians".Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

In the course of the subsequent centuries, only few events in Nahavand were recorded. The Persian vizier of the Seljuk Empire, Nizam al-Mulk, was assassinated in 1092 near Nahavand.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Mustawfi added that its inhabitants were mainly Twelver Shia Kurds.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn By the Treaty of Constantinople (1590), the Safavids were forced to cede the city to the Turks.Template:Sfn In 1602/3, Nahavand's citizens revolted against the Ottoman occupiers.Template:Sfn Coinciding with the Celali revolts in Anatolia, the Safavids recaptured Nahavand and expelled the Ottomans from the city, thus restoring Iranian control.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Safavid governor of Hamadan, Hasan Khan Ustajlu, subsequently destroyed the Ottoman fort.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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; Template:Reign1736–1747).Template:Sfn Nader's death in 1747 led to instability. Over the next few years, Nahavand was exploited by local Bakhtiari chiefs.Template:Sfn In Template:Circa, Karim Khan Zand defeated the Bakhtiari chieftain Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiari at Nahavand.Template:Sfn

Demographics

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.

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 72,218 in 19,419 households. The following census in 2011 counted 75,445 people in 22,672 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 76,162 people in 23,947 households.

Geography

Location

Nahavand is situated in the west of Iran, in the northern part of the Zagros region.Template:Sfn It lies Template:Circa kilometers south of Hamadan, from which it is separated by the massif of the Alvand subrange.Template:Sfn This massif grants Nahavand and its hinterlands an abundant water supply.Template:Sfn Historically, Nahavand was located on a route that led from central Iraq through Kermanshah to northern Iran, and was therefore often crossed by armies.Template:Sfn Another historic road, coming from Kermanshah, leads towards Isfahan in central Iran and avoids the Alvand massif.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Climate

Nahavand has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification '"Csa). Template:Weather box

Music

Nahavand also gives its name to the musical mode (maqam) Nahawand in Arabic, Persian and Turkish music.Template:Sfn This mode is known for its wide variety of Western sounding melodies.

Notable people

• Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz (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
• Ali Younesi, Shia Cleric
• Ali Qoddusi, Shia Cleric

Sources

• Template:Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition
• Rougemont, G. (2016). "Que sait-on d’Antioche de Perside?" Studi Ellenistici 30, 197–215.
• Template:ODLA

External links

• Hamedan Province Cultural Heritage Website
• Persian History Website
• Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, "Laodiceia", London, (1854)
• Template:Barrington

1. REDIRECT Template:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography