Nishapur, or
Neyshābūr , is a city in the
Razavi Khorasan provinceRazavi Khorasan is a province located in northeastern Iran. Mashhad is the centre and capital of the province....
in northeastern
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the
Binalud MountainsMount Binālud is the highest peak in Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. It is also called Khorasan roof. This mountain is 26 km north of Neyshabur and to the west of Mashhad.-Links:**...
, near the regional capital of
MashhadMashhad is one of the largest cities in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan...
.
The region's economy is largely agricultural, based on grain and cotton,and also it is the second industrial city in Khorasan, and it is one of the most prosperous localities in Iran, although somewhat blighted by drug smuggling from nearby
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
.
Nishapur, or
Neyshābūr , is a city in the
Razavi Khorasan provinceRazavi Khorasan is a province located in northeastern Iran. Mashhad is the centre and capital of the province....
in northeastern
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the
Binalud MountainsMount Binālud is the highest peak in Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. It is also called Khorasan roof. This mountain is 26 km north of Neyshabur and to the west of Mashhad.-Links:**...
, near the regional capital of
MashhadMashhad is one of the largest cities in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan...
.
The region's economy is largely agricultural, based on grain and cotton,and also it is the second industrial city in Khorasan, and it is one of the most prosperous localities in Iran, although somewhat blighted by drug smuggling from nearby
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
. In 2005 it had an estimated population of 270,940 people.
http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/2005_world_city_populations/Iran.html The main east-west railway line through Iran passes through the town. The region is very prone to
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph...
s, with the most recent significant ones occurring in 1986 and 1997.
History
Nishapur occupies an important strategic position astride the old
Silk RoadThe Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as North and Northeast Africa and Europe...
that linked
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
and the
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
with
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. On the Silk Road, Nishapur has often defined the flexible frontier between the Iranian plateau and Central Asia. The town derived its name from its reputed founder, the Sassanian king Shapur I, who is said to have established it in the 3rd century CE. Nearby are the
turquoiseTurquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl
648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its...
mines that supplied the world with turquoise for at least two millennia. It became an important town in the Khorasan region but subsequently declined in significance until a revival in its fortunes in 9th century under the
Tahirid dynastyThe Tahirid dynasty, , was an Iranian Persian dynasty that ruled over the northeastern part of Greater Iran, in the region of Khorasan...
, when the glazed
ceramicsIn art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery, so excluding glass and also mosaic, normally made from glass tesserae...
of Nishapur formed an important item of trade to the west. For a time Nishapur rivaled
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
or
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
: Toghrül, the first ruler of the Seljuk dynasty, made Nishapur his residence in 1037 and proclaimed himself sultan there, but it declined thereafter, as Seljuk fortunes were concentrated in the west. In the year 1000CE, it was among the 10 largest cities on earth
http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201c.htm. After the husband of
Genghis KhanGenghis Khan , ; 1162–1227), born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history....
's daughter was killed at Nishapur in 1221, she ordered the death of all in the city (~1.7 million), and the skulls of men, women, and children were piled in pyramids by the
MongolsThe name Mongol specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia.-Definition:...
. This invasion and earthquakes destroyed the pottery kilns. In 1979, the 15th
World Scout JamboreeThe 15th World Scout Jamboree was scheduled to be held in July 1979 and was to be hosted by Iran at Neyshâbûr, but was cancelled due to political instability....
was scheduled to be held in Nishapur, but it was cancelled because of the Ayatollah uprising against the Shah of Iran.
Culture
Nishapur is also home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The poet
Omar KhayyámOmar Khayyám , , was a Persian polymath, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, music and was a physicist....
was born in Nishapur in 1048 and is buried a few miles outside the town, near the Imamzadeh Mahroq Mosque. The 12th century poet and mystic Farid al-Din Attar, another native of Nishapur, is also buried nearby. And Iran's greatest contemporary painter,
Kamal-ol-molkMohammad Ghaffari better known as Kamal-ol-Molk was a famous Iranian painter.Born in 1847 in Kashan, Iran, he went to Tehran and studied at Dar-ol-Fonoon...
is buried in the same place.
Also Nishapur has been the
hometownHometown is primarily used as a generic term for the city or town in which someone was born or grew up.Hometown may also refer to:-Places:*Hometown, Illinois*Hometown, Pennsylvania*Hometown, West Virginia*Homestown, Missouri-Other uses:...
of famous people including:
- Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
Abul Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Qushayri al-Nishapuri , Muslim Author of the second most widely recognized collection of Hadith in Sunni Islam, Sahih Muslim.-Biography:...
(one of Islam's greatest muhaddiths, whose collection of hadith, Sahih MuslimSahih Muslim is one of the Six major collections of the hadith in Sunni Islam, oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It is the second most authentic hadith collection according to Sunni Muslims, the most authentic book of hadith after Sahih Al-Bukhari...
, is second in authenticity only to Muhammad al-BukhariMuhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari , popularly known as Al-Bukhari or Imam Bukhari , was a famous Sunni Islamic scholar of Bukharian/Uzbek ancestry...
's Sahih al-BukhariThe Sahih of al-Bukhari , as it is commonly referred to as, is one of the Six major Hadith collections of Sunni Islam. These prophetic traditions, hadith were collected by the Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari and published during his lifetime...
)
- Imam al-Hakim
Abu Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah al-Hakim al-Nishaburi was a Sunni scholar and the leading traditionist of his age, frequently referred to as the "Imam of the Muhaddithin" or the "Muhaddith of Khorasan."-Name:...
(another one of Islam's greatest muhaddiths and scholarly giants)
- Prof. Mohammad Reza Shafiei-Kadkani
Mohammad Reza Shafiei Kadkani is a celebrated Persian writer, poet, literary critic, editor, and translator. Shafiei-Kadkani graduated from Tehran University with a doctorate degree in Persian literature...
(great contemporary Persian poet and writer and Persian literature Professor, who is famous for his literary criticismLiterary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
)
- Ostad Parviz Meshkatian
Parviz Meshkatian was a renowned Persian musician, composer, researcher and university lecturer.- Biography :...
(famous Musician, researcher, SanturThe santur is a hammered dulcimer of Iran, Iraq and India and is also found as a less popular instrument in Turkey and Syria. It is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut, with 72 or 96 strings. The name means one hundred strings in Persian...
Player and composer).
- Heydar Yaghma
Heydar Yaghma was an Iranian poet, born in 1926 in a village in Nishapur and died in March 1986 in Nishapur and buried beside the archeologic site of Shadiyakh in Nishapur. Yaghma was a simple worker and was not literate. He began telling poems while in his thirties and learned how to read and...
(an illiterate worker who began telling poems and published them.)
- Hajji Bektash Wali
Hajji Bektash Wali was an Islamic mystic, humanist and philosopher from Khorasan who lived approximately from 1209-1271 in Anatolia. The name attributed to him can be translated as "The Pilgrim Saint Bektash." He is the eponym of the Bektashi Sufi order and is considered as one of the principal...
(Muslim mystic, humanist and philosopher)
- Wakil-i-Mutlaq, Burhan ul-Mulk, Itimad ud-Daula, Nawab Sayid Sa'adat Khan Bahadur, Shaukat Jang(Circa 1680-19 March 1739), better known as Saadat Khan or Burhan-ul-mulk, was the founder of the Awadh
Awadh , also known in various British historical texts as Oudh, Oundh, or Oude, is a region in the centre of the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before Independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh...
dynasty,UP, India.
Saadat Khan hailed from a noble Saiyid family from Nishapur in
KhurasanGreater Khorasan is a modern term for a historical geographic region spanning north-eastern and east of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, western and northern Afghanistan and the North Western Areas of Pakistan...
. Born Mir Muhammad Amin, he entered the Mughal court as a camp superintendent but went on to obtain a mansab under Furrukhsiyar. He played an important role in the ascension of
Muhammad ShahMuhammad Shah also known as Roshan Akhtar was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar Jahan Shah, the 4th son of Bahadur Shah I. Ascending the throne at the age of seventeen with the help of the Syed Brothers, he later got rid of them with the help of Nizam...
to the throne and overthrow of the Saiyid Brothers. He earned the title of Saadat Khan Bahadur in 1720 and was awarded the Governorship of Awadh as reward in 1722.
At the time, Lucknow was under the influence of a Muslim community, the Shaikhzadas. Saadat Khan settled the disturbed fortunes of his territory by military force, and established his court at
FaizabadFaizabad is the headquarters of Faizabad District and a municipal board in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, situated on the banks of river Ghaghra . Faizabad has a twin city of Ayodhya, considered to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. Faizabad was the first capital of the Nawabs of Awadh...
. He was summoned to Delhi by Nadir Shah, and died there in 1739.
Popular Culture
US band Santana released an instrumental track entitled "Incident at Neshabur" on their 1970 LP release, "Abraxas".
Archaeology sites
Little
archaeologyArchaeology or archeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material culture and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, and landscapes...
has been done on this vast and complicated site. George Curzon remarked that Nishapur had been destroyed and rebuilt more times than any other city in history, an evocative statement whether or not it is statistically true. The
Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, known colloquially as The Met, is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial...
undertook excavations from 1935 that were interrupted in 1940. Searching largely for museum-worthy trophies that they shared with the government of the
ShahReza Pahlavi may refer to:*Reza Shah , aka Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Persia from 1925 until 1935 and Shah of Iran from 1935 until 1941* Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979, son of Reza Shah...
, the Metropolitan's publications were limited to its own Nishapur ceramics. The site of Nishapur has been ransacked for half a century since
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, to feed the international market demand for early Islamic works of art.
Shadiyakh
Shadiyakh (in Persian: شادیاخ, which is a contracted form of شادی کاخ 'Shadi-Kakh' or 'Palace of Happiness') was one of important palaces in old Neyshabur up to the 9th century AD (2nd century after Islam) and became more and more important and populated after that. Some notable people like Attar lived there. Attar's tomb is nowadays in that region. This palace was completely ruined in 13th century AD (?).
ٍExcavations began in 2000 there and continued for around 2 years and some buildings (which were possibly a palace), skeleton, equipments and... were found there.
Recent incidents
- In the Summer of 1987(24.7.1987), a flood
A flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
in Boojan village killed over 1,000 people and destroyed some villages.
- On February 18, 2004, in the Nishapur train disaster
The Nishapur train disaster was an immense explosion in the village of Khayyam near Nishapur in Iran on 18 February 2004. Over 300 people were killed and the entire village destroyed, when runaway train wagons crashed into the community in the middle of the night and exploded.The incident began in...
, a train carrying flammable goods derailed and caught fire near the town. Five hours later, during fire fighting and rescue work, a massive explosion destroyed the train and many nearby buildings. Around 300 people were said to have been killed, mainly fire and rescue workers but also the local governor and mayor and the heads of the fire and rail services. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3498851.stm
Souvenirs
The most important Neyshabur
souvenirA souvenir , memento or keepsake is an object a traveler brings home for the memories associated with it. Souvenirs include clothing such as T-shirts or hats, postcards, refrigerator magnets, miniature figures, household items such as mugs and bowls, ashtrays, egg timers, spoons, notepads, and many...
s include
turquoiseTurquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl
648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its...
and
rhubarbRhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular shaped with long fleshy petioles. They have small flowers grouped in large compound...
.
Neyshabur Turquoise has been used for more than 2000 years and for this turquoise it is sometimes called "the turquoise land". Neyshabur turquoise and jewellery made from it are sold as souvenirs in Neyshabur and
MashhadMashhad is one of the largest cities in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan...
resorts.
RhubarbRhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular shaped with long fleshy petioles. They have small flowers grouped in large compound...
, a sour fruit, grows at the foot of
Mount BinaludMount Binālud is the highest peak in Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. It is also called Khorasan roof. This mountain is 26 km north of Neyshabur and to the west of Mashhad.-Links:**...
. Soft drinks made from this fruit, such as "Sharbate rivaas" (in Persian:شربت ریواس) and "Khoshaabe rivaas" (in Persian:خوشاب ریواس), are sold at some Neyshabur resorts as souvenirs.
Sister cities
These cities were major cities of
Greater KhorasanGreater Khorasan is a modern term for a historical geographic region spanning north-eastern and east of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, western and northern Afghanistan and the North Western Areas of Pakistan...
:
BalkhBalkh , known as Bactra to the Greeks and Baktri or Bagdhi to the Persians, was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in Northern Afghanistan...
,
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
HeratHerāt , classically called the Aria, is a major city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan,...
,
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
MervMerv , formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria and Antiochia in Margiana , was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary in Turkmenistan...
,
TurkmenistanRepublic of Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic...
BukharaBukhara , also transliterated Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 237,900...
,
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
Samarqand,
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
KhivaKhiva ; Alternative or historical names include Khorasam, Khoresm, Khwarezm, Khwarizm, , Khwarazm, Chiwa, and Chorezm) is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva and lies in the present-day Khorezm Province of Uzbekistan...
,
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
External links
- Nishapur Mayors(In Persian)
- Nishapur governors(In Persian)
- Ceramics of Nishapur and other centers
- World Gazetteer on Nishapur
- Neyshaburian e-newspaper(In Persian)
- A useful weblog about Nishapur(In Persian)
- wooden village website
- Nishapur Mathhouse
- Neyshabur bonyad(in Persian)
- Elias Pirasteh, Neyshabur, Photo Set, flickr.
- Ardavan Ruzbeh, When National Heritage is not an equal to the Emām-Jom'eh, a reportage on the demolition of a national monument, Madreseh-ye Golshan (مدرسه گلشن), in Nishabur, in Persian
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
, Radio Zamāneh, May 29, 2008: Text, Audio.
- Hossein Davoudi, Dizbād: A Staircase to History, in Persian, Jadid Online, 2008, http://www.jadidonline.com/story/15082008/frnk/dizbad.
A Slide Show of Dizbād, by Hossein Davoudi, Jadid Online, 2008, http://www.jadidonline.com/images/stories/flash_multimedia/Dizbad_test/dizbad_high.html (5 min 39 sec).
Note: Dizbād is a small village between MashhadMashhad is one of the largest cities in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan...
and Neyshābūr, located at some 40 km distance from Mashhad.