Encyclopedia
Gilan is one of the 28
provinces of
Iran, known during ancient times as part of
Hyrcania, with a population of approximately 5 million and an area of 14,700 km². It lies just west of the province of
Mazandaran, along the
Caspian Sea. The center of the province is the city of
Rasht. Other towns in the province include Astara, Astaneh-e Ashrafiyyeh, Rudbar , Rudsar, Langrud, Souma'eh Sara, Talesh, Fuman,
Masouleh, and Lahijan.
The main harbor port of the province is Bandar-e Anzali .
History
Ancient history
Archaeological excavations reveal the antiquity of the province to date back to prior to the last
Ice Age.
The earliest evidence for human presence in Gilan are some stone tools of Lower Palaeolithic period which discovered at site of Ganj Par in Rostam Abad plain.
In the 6th century BCE, the inhabitants of Guilan allied with
Cyrus the Great and overthrew the
Medes. The province then passed from the control of one dynasty to the next. It is worth noting that people of Gilan were organized in tribes. Caspi , and Amardi were the main two tribes during the
Achaemenid dynasty era. By the time of
Sassanids, the people of the Gilan's mountains were called
Deylamites and the people of the Caspian coast were called
Gel,
Gelai,
Gil or
Gilak.
It is worth noting that due to the difficulty of terrain and resistance of the natives, Gilan was loosely allied with the
Parthian and
Sassanid empires.
Sassanid empire did not instal a royal prince, as was the custom. We do not have any records of a Gilanshah , as such a royal prince would have been called, until after the decline of the Sassanids. There is scant evidence about the relationship between local Gil and Deylami chieftains and the Sassanid empire. There is some evidence to believe that members of Ispahbadh clan ruled at least parts of Gilan during the
Sassanid era. They seem to have kept their possesions even after the collapse of
Sassanids due to the Arab invasions in the mid seventh century CE.
While we know very little about the local customs of Gils and Deylamites, we know that some of their tribes originally revered the river Sepid Rud based on the evidence presented by the Greek geographer Strabo. They were not
Zoroastrian prior to
Sassanid overlordship, as evidenced by their custom of burying their dead and making human sacrifice.
Zoroastrianism gained ground during the
Sassanid era. By the time of the Islamic invasion, Gils and Deylamites were mostly
Zoroastrian.
Deylamite mercenaries served in
Persian armies and where generally considered the best infantry in the middle east up to the time of
Mongol invasion. The typical Deylamite troopers either were skirmishers or served as heavy infantry . These soldiers probably used Sagaris-type battle axes. All Deylamite infantrymen carried a round, very large, and strikingly painted shield. Deylamite commander Vahriz was instrumental in the conquest of
Yemen during the reign of
Khosrau I . Deylamite infantry men were legendry javeliners and had a fearsome reputation in using their
battle-axes.
They were highly effective, and could easily engage Byzantine heavy infantrymen, or even Turkic cavalry.
Medieval history
Muslim Arabs never managed to conquer Gilan. Gilaks and Deylamites successfully repulsed any Arab attempt to occupy their land or to convert them to
Islam.
In 9th and 10th centuries CE, Deylamites and later Gilaks gradually converted to a heretical sect of
Shi'a Islam. It is worth noting that several Deylamite commanders and soldiers of fortune who were active in the military theatres of
Iran and
Mesopotamia were openly
Zoroastrian or were suspected of harboring pro-Zoroastrian sentiments. Muslim chronicles of
Varangian invasion of the litoral Caspian region in the 9th century record Deylamites as non-Muslim. These chronicles also show that the Deylamite were the only warriors in the Caspian region who could fight the fearsome
Varangian vikings as equals. In a way, Deylamite infantrymen had a role very similar to the
Swiss Reisläufer of the
Late Middle Ages in
Europe. Deylamite mercenaries served as far as
Egypt,
Islamic Spain, and
Khazar kingdom.
Buyids established the most successful of the Deylamite dynasties of Iran.
Turkish invasions of 10th and 11th centuries CE, which saw the rise of
Ghaznavid and
Seljuk dynasties, put an end to Deylamite states in Iran. From 11th century CE to the rise of
Safavids, Gilan was ruled by local rulers who paid tribute to the dominant power south of the
Alborz range, but ruled independently.
Before introduction of
silk production to this region , Gilan was a poor province. There were no permanent trade routes linking Gilan to Persia. There was a small trade in smoked fish and wood products. It seems that the city of
Qazvin was initially a fortress-town against marauding bands of Deylamites, another sign that the economy of the province did not produce enough. It all changed with the introduction of
silk worm sometime in the late Middle Ages.
Modern history
Safavid emperor,
Shah Abbas I ended the rule of Kia Ahmad Khan, the last semi-independent ruler of Gilan, and annexed the province directly to his empire. From this point in history onward, rulers of Gilan were appointed by the Persian Shah.
Safavid empire became weak towards the end of the 17th century CE. By the early 18th century, the once mighty
Safavid empire was in the grips of civil war.
Peter I of Russia sent an expeditionary force that occupied Gilan for a year .
Qajars established a central government in Persia in late 18th century CE. They lost s series of wars to Russia , resulting in enormous gain of influence by the Russian empire in the Caspian region. Gilanian cities of
Rasht and Anzali were all but occupied by the Russian forces. Anzali served as the main trading port of Iran and Europe.
Gilan was a major producer of
silk beginning in 15th century CE. As a result, it was one of the wealthiest provinces in Iran.
Safavid annexation in 16th century was at least partially motivated by this revenue stream. Silk trade, though not the production, was a monopoly of the Crown and the single most important source of trade revenue for the imperial treasury. As early as 16th century and until mid 19th century CE, Gilan was the major exporter of silk in
Asia. The Shah farmed out this trade to
Greek and
Armenian merchants, and would receive a portion of the proceeds.
In mid 19th century, a wide spread fatal epidemy in
silk worms paralized Gilan's economy, causing widespread economic distress. Gilan's budding industrialists and merchants were increasingly dissatisfied with the weak and ineffective rule of
Qajars. Reoreintation of Gilan's agriculture and industry from
silk to production of
rice and introduction of
tea plantations where a partial answer to decline of silk in the province.
After
World War I, Gilan came to be ruled independently of the central government of
Tehran and concern arose that the province might permanently separate at some point. Prior to the war, Guilanis had played an important role in the
Constitutional Revolution of Iran. Sepahdar Tonekaboni was a prominent figure in the early years of the revolution and was instrumental in defeating
Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar. In later years , many Gilakis gathered under the leadership of
Mirza Kouchak Khan Jangali. Mirza Kochak Kahn became the most prominent revolutionary leader in northern Iran in this period. His movement, known as the
Jangalis , had sent an armed brigade to
Tehran which helped depose the
Qajar ruler
Mohammad Ali Shah. However, the revolution did not progress the way the constitutionalists had strived for, and Iran came to face much internal unrest and foreign intervention, particularly from the
British and
Russian Empires.
Guilan's contribution to the movement of
Mirza Kouchak Khan Jangali, known as the
Constitutionalist movement of Guilan is glorified in Iranian history and effectively secured Guilan and
Mazandaran against foreign invasions. However, in 1920 British forces invaded Bandar-e Anzali, while being pursued by the
Bolsheviks. In the midst of this conflict between Britain and Russia, the Jangalis entered into an alliance with the Bolsheviks against the British. This culminated in the establishment of the Soviet Republic of Gilan, which lasted from June 1920 until September 1921. In February 1921 the Soviets withdrew their support for the Jangali government of Guilan, and signed the Soviet-Iranian Friendship Treaty with the central government of Tehran. The Jangalis continued to struggle against the central government for the rest of that year until their final defeat in September when control of Guilan returned to Tehran.
Rise of the
communist power in
Russia for the better part of the 20th century, along with severe decline in the trade between Iran and Europe through Russia, impoverished Gilan. In effect, from being the most affluent province in Iran in 17th and 19th centuries, Gilan has the highest level of unemployment in Iran right now.
Geography and climate
Guilan has a humid temperate climate with plenty of annual rainfall. The
Alborz range provides further diversity to the land in addition to the Caspian coasts.
Large parts of the province are mountainous, green and forested. The coastal plain along the Caspian Sea is similar to that of
Mazandaran, mainly used for
rice paddies.
In May 1990 large parts of the province were destroyed by a huge
earthquake, in which about 45,000 people died.
Abbas Kiarostami made his famous films
"Nothing but Life" and
"Through the Olive Trees" based upon this event.
People and culture
The majority of the population speaks Gilaki as their first language while many children, particularly in the cities, tend to use Standard
Persian amongst themselves. The
Kurdish language is used by some
kurds that has moved from
khorasan to Amarlu region. Language of Rudbar is Tati.
Gilan's position in between the
Tehran-
Baku trade route has established the cities of Bandar-e Anzali and Rasht as ranking amongst the most important commercial centers in Iran. As a result, the merchant and middle-classes comprise a significant percentage of the population.
The province has an annual average of 2 million tourists, mostly domestic. Although Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization lists 211 sites of historical and cultural significance in the province, the main tourist attraction in Guilan is the small town of
Masouleh in the hills south-east of
Rasht. The town is built not dissimilar to the
pueblo settlements, with the roof of one house being the courtyard of the next house above.
Gilan has a strong culinary tradition, from which several dishes have come to be adopted across Iran. This richness derives in part from the climate, which allows for a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the province.
Seafood is a particularly strong component of Gilani cuisine.
Sturgeon, often smoked or served as
kabab, and
caviar are delicacies along the whole Caspian littoral. Traditional Persian stews such as
ghalieh mahi and
ghalieh maygu are also featured and prepared in a uniquely Gilani fashion.
More specific to Gilan are a distinctive walnut-paste and pomegranate-juice sauce, used as a marinade for 'sour' kabab and as the basis of
fesenjun, a rich stew of duck, chicken or lamb.
Mirza ghasemi is an aubergine and egg dish with a smoky taste that is often served as a side dish or appetizer. Other such dishes include pickled garlic, olives with walnut paste, and smoked fish. The caviar and smoked fish from the region are, in particular, widely prized and sought after specialities in both domestic and foreign gourmet markets.
See also Cuisine of Iran.
Colleges and universities
- University of Gilan
...
-
- Islamic Azad University of Bandar Anzali
- Islamic Azad University of Rasht
- Islamic Azad University of Lahijan
- Gilan University of Medical Sciences
...
- Institute of Higher Education for Academic Jihad of Rasht
See also
External links
