Mazandaran

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Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)
Caspian Sea

Mazandaran (माजंदरीन) is an Iranian province located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range, in central-northern Iran.[1] Sari is the capital city of the province. The province's four largest counties are Sari, Amol, Nur, and Tonekabon.[2]

Variants

  • Mazandaran Province
  • Persian: استان مازندران‎ Ostān-e Māzandarān) and (Mazanderani: مازرون‎ Māzerun),

Location

Located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, it is bordered clockwise by Russia (across the sea), Golestan, Semnan, Tehran, Alborz, Qazvin, and Gilan provinces. Sari is the largest city and the capital of Mazandaran province.

History

Human habitation in the area dates back at least 75,000 years.[3] Recent excavations in Gohar Tape in Rostamkola provide proof that the area has been urbanized for more than 5,000 years, and the area is considered one of the most important historical sites of Iran.[4] It has played an important role in cultural and urban development of the region.[5] Mazandaran is one of the oldest areas without a significant nomadic heritage, thus culturally sedentary. Indigenous peoples of the region include the ethnic Mazanderanis,[6] who speak an Iranian language which most closely resembles Gilaki and Sangiseri language, but also has phono-typical similarities to several Caucasian languages, reflecting the history of the region and its peoples. In the early 20th century, Reza Shah connected northern Elbourz to the southern slopes by constructing seven new roads and railways, the provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan became known as Shomal by all Iranians (meaning "the North" in Persian). Mazandaran is a Caspian province in the north of Iran.[7]

Islamic history

Tabaristan maintained an existence independent of the Umayyad Caliphate which supplanted the Sasanian Empire in the early seventh century, with independent Zoroastrian houses like the Bavand and Karen fighting an effective guerilla warfare against Islam. A short-lived Alid Shiite state collapsed before the subsequent take-over by the Ziyarid princes. Mazandaran, unlike much of the rest of the Iranian Plateau maintained a Zoroastrian majority until the 12th century, thanks to its isolation and hardy population which fought against the Caliph's armies for centuries. During the post-Islamic period the local dynasties fell into three classes: local families of pre-Islamic origin; the ʿAlid sayyid; and local families of secondary importance.[8]

Map of the Mazandaran Alavid emirate (864-929 AD).

The Bawandids, who claimed descent from Kawus, provided three dynasties. The first dynasty (665–1007) was overthrown on the conquest of Tabaristan by the Ziyarid Kabus b. Wushmgir. The second dynasty reigned from 1073 to 1210, when Mazandaran was conquered by 'Ala al-Din Muhammad Khwarzamshah. The third ruled from 1237 to 1349 as vassals of the Mongols. The last representative of the Bawandids was killed by Afrasiyab Chulawi.[9]

The Karinids claimed descent from Karin, brother of Zarmihr who was the pre-Islamic ruler under the Sasanians. Their last representative Mazyar was put to death in 839.[10]

The Paduspanids claimed descent from the Dabuyid of northern. They came to the front about 660 and during the rule of the ʿAlids were their vassals. Later, they were vassals of the Buyids and Bawandids, who deposed them in 1190. The dynasty, restored in 1209–10, survived till the time of Timur; the branch descended from Kawus the son of Kayumarth reigned till 1567 and the other, that of Iskandar the son of Kayumarth, till 1574.[11]

In the 9th-11th century AD, there were repetitively military raids undertaken by the Rus' between 864 and 1041 on the Caspian Sea shores of Iran, Azerbaijan, and Dagestan as part of the Caspian expeditions of the Rus'.[12] Initially, the Rus' appeared in Serkland in the 9th century traveling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves. The first small-scale raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged the westernmost parts of Gorgan as well as Mazandaran and Gilan, taking slaves and goods.

In the Safavid era Mazandaran was settled by very large amounts of Georgians, Circassians, Armenians, and other Peoples of the Caucasus, whose descendants still live or linger across Mazandaran. Towns, villages and neighbourhoods in Mazandaran still bear the name "Gorji" (i.e., Georgian) in them, although most of the large amounts of Georgians Armenians, and Circassians are already assimilated into the mainstream Mazandaranis. The history of Georgian settlement is described by Iskandar Beg Munshi, the author of the 17th century Tarikh-e Alam-Ara-ye Abbasi, and both the Circassian and Georgian settlements by Pietro Della Valle, among other authors.[13]

Before the reign of Nader Shah, the province was briefly occupied by the Russian army in the aftermath of the Russo-Persian War (1722–23) and returned to Persia in 1735. Following the outcomes of the Russo-Persian War (1804–13) and the Russo-Persian War (1826–28) Russian influence in northern Iran, and especially Mazandaran and Gilan, grew.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Based on Maz or Mazan Term: Mazanderani: مازرون‎ Māzerūn, Persian: مازندران‎, Russian: Мазендеран. Based on Tapur Term: English: Tapuria, Arabic: طبرستان‎ Ṭabaristan, from Middle Persian Tapuristān Mazandarani: Tapurana. (not prevalent) Ancient Greek: Hyrcania came from local name Vergana (Persian Gorgan), Caspia from local name Kaspi, See Caspian Sea. Ferdowsi called the Caspian region Mazandaran, so people refer to Caspian provinces as Gilan. Note: It was also known as Al-Jannat by the Arabs, meaning paradise, during the 7–8th centuries
  2. ↑ Census Results, 2006: Sari: 490.830, Babel: 464.535, Amel: 343.747, Shahi: 293.721.
  3. ↑ http://www.iran-daily.com/1385/2717/html/focus.htm
  4. ↑ Parthia News, November 6, 2005.
  5. ↑ Payvand, 400 Historical Sites Discovered within 7 Days in Mazandaran
  6. ↑ CHN Page for Mazandaran".
  7. ↑ Keddie, N. R.; 1968; The Iranian villages before and after land reform. Journal of Contemporary History, 3(3), 69–78.
  8. ↑ Minorsky, V.; Vasmer, R. "Mazandaran" Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online.
  9. ↑ Minorsky, V.; Vasmer, R. "Mazandaran" Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online.
  10. ↑ Minorsky, V.; Vasmer, R. "Mazandaran" Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online.
  11. ↑ Minorsky, V.; Vasmer, R. "Mazandaran" Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online.
  12. ↑ Logan (1992), p. 201
  13. ↑ Pietro Della Valle, Viaggi, 3 vols. in 4 parts, Rome, 1658–63; tr. J. Pinkerton as Travels in Persia, London, 1811.
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