Razavi Khorasan Province
Encyclopedia
Razavi Khorasan Province is a province
Provinces of Iran
Iran is subdivided into thirty one provinces , each governed from a local center, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital of that province...

 located in northeastern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. Mashhad
Mashhad
Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...

 is the centre and capital of the province.

Other cities and townships are Ghouchan, Dargaz
Dargaz
Dargaz is a city in and the capital of Dargaz County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 34,305, in 9,196 families....

, Chenaran
Chenaran
Chenaran is a city in and the capital of Chenaran County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 41,735, in 10,179 families....

, Sarakhs
Sarakhs
Sarakhs is a city in and capital of Sarakhs County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries and a famous school of architects. Much of the original city site is now just across the border at Saraghs...

, Fariman
Fariman
Fariman is a city in and the capital of Fariman County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 32,610, in 8,203 families....

, Torbat-e Heydarieh
Torbat-e Heydarieh
Torbat-e Heydarieh is a city in and capital of Torbat-e-Heydarieh County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 119,390, in 31,869 families....

, Torbat-e Jam, Taybad
Taybad
Taybad is a city in and the capital of Taybad County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 46,228, in 10,230 families. Taybad is near the border with Afghanistan, and there is an official crossing point to Islam Qala in Afghanistan....

, Khaf
Khaf
Khaf may refer to:* Khaf County, Iran* Khaf, Iran, the capital of Khaf County* Kaph * Half Moon Bay Airport, whose ICAO code is KHAF...

, Roshtkhar, Kashmar
Kashmar
Kashmar is a city in and the capital of Kashmar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Kashmar is located near the river Sish Taraz in the western part of the province, and south of the province's capital Mashhad, in Iran, from east to Bardaskan, west to Torbat-e Heydarieh, north to...

, Bardaskan
Bardaskan
Bardaskan is a county in Razavi Khorasan Province in Iran. The capital of the province is Mashhad. Bardaskan in sundry times called Baradaskan باردسکن or Berdaskan برداسکن, The history of Bardaskan goes to 14 century AD. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 68,392, in 18,229 families...

, Nishapur
Nishapur
Nishapur or Nishabur , is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad...

, Sabzevar
Sabzevar
Sabzevar is a city in, and the capital of Sabzevar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 208,172, in 57,024 families.It is approximately 220 kilometres west of Mashhad, the provincial capital...

, Gonabad
Gonabad
Gonabad is a city in and the capital of Gonabad County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 34,563, in 9,789 families.It is mostly well-known because of the Gonabadi Dervishes and for its qanats, also known as kareez...

, Kalat, Khalil Abad and Mahvalat.

Razavi Khorasan is one of the three provinces that were created after the division of Khorasan in 2004.

History

Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...

 has witnessed the rise and fall of many dynasties and governments in its territory throughout history. Various tribes of the Arabs, Turks, Kurds, Mongols, Turkemen and Afghans brought changes to the region time and time again.

Ancient geographers of Iran divided Iran ("Iran-Shahr") into eight segments of which the most flourishing and largest was the territory of Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...

. Esfarayen
Esfarayen
Esfarayen is a city in and the capital of Esfarayen County, North Khorasan Province in Iran. At the 2006 census its population was 51,321, in 13,376 families.Esfarayen is one of the focal points for residence of Aryan tribes after entering into Iran....

, among other cities of the province, was one of the focal points for residence of the Aryan tribes after entering Iran.

The Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

n empire was based near Merv
Merv
Merv , 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. Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of...

 in Khorasan for many years. During the Sassanid dynasty the province was governed by a Spahbod (Lieutenant General) called "Padgoosban" and four margraves, each commander of one of the four parts of the province.

Khorasan was divided into four parts during the Muslim conquest of Persia, each section being named after the four largest cities, Nishapur, Merv
Merv
Merv , 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. Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of...

, Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...

, and Balkh
Balkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...

.

In the year 651, the army of Islamic Arabs invaded Khorasan. The territory remained in the hands of the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....

 clan until 820, followed by the rule of the Iranian Taherid clan in the year 896 and the Samanid
Samanid
The Samani dynasty , also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids was a Persian state and empire in Central Asia and Greater Iran, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Sunni Islam despite being from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility...

 dynasty in 900.

Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...

 conquered Khorasan in 994 and in the year 1037 Tuğrul Beg, the first of the Seljuq empire rulers, conquered Nishapur.

Mahmud Qaznavi retaliated against the invaders several times, and finally the Qaznavi Turks defeated Sultan Sanjar
Ahmed Sanjar
Ahmad Sanjar Ahmad Sanjar Ahmad Sanjar (Mu'iz ud-Dīn Ahmad-e Sanjar; was the sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire from 1118 to 1153. He was initially the sultan of Khorasan until he gained the rest of the territory upon the death of Muhammad I....

. But there was more to come, as in 1157 Khorasan was conquered by the Khwarazmids and because of simultaneous attacks by the Mongols, Khorasan was annexed to the territories of the Mongol Ilkhanate
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...

.

In the 14th century, a flag of independence was hoisted by the Sarbedaran movement
Sarbadars
The Sarbadars were a mixture of religious dervishes and secular rulers that came to rule over part of western Khurasan in the midst of the disintegration of the Mongol Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century...

 in Sabzevar
Sabzevar
Sabzevar is a city in, and the capital of Sabzevar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 208,172, in 57,024 families.It is approximately 220 kilometres west of Mashhad, the provincial capital...

, and in 1468, Khorasan came into the hands of Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...

, the city of Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...

 being elected as its capital.

In 1507, Khorasan was occupied by Uzbek
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...

 tribes. After the death of Nader Shah
Nader Shah
Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander...

 in 1747, it was occupied by the Afghans.

During the Qajar period, Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 supported the Afghans to protect their East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

. Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...

 was thus separated from Persia, and Nasser-al-Din Shah was unable to defeat the British to take back Herat. Finally, the Paris Treaty was concluded in 1903 and Iran was compelled not to challenge the British for Herat and other parts of what is today Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

.

Finally Khorasan was divided into two parts: the eastern part, which was the most densely populated region came under British occupation, and the other western section remained part of Iran.

Khorasan was the largest province of Iran until it was divided into three provinces on September 29, 2004. The provinces approved by the parliament of Iran
Majlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...

 (on May 18, 2004) and the Council of Guardians (on May 29, 2004) were Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, and South Khorasan.

Kohandezh hills

Excavations conducted by Americans between 1935 and 1940 in Nishapur
Nishapur
Nishapur or Nishabur , is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad...

  discovered museum-worthy objects, which were shared with the government of the Shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...

. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...

's publications document its own Nishapur ceramics from those excavations. For half a century after 1945 the site of Nishapur was ransacked to feed the international market demand for early Islamic works of art. Nowadays, the Kohandezh hills reveal the remains from those excavations.

Shadiyakh

Shadiyakh was an important palace in old Nishapur up to the 7th century, and became more important and populated after that. The palace was completely ruined in the 13th century. It was the home of notables such as Farid al-Din Attar, whose tomb is found in Shadiyakh.

Khorasan today

The major ethnic group in this region are Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

s, there are other sizeable communities such as Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...

s, Khorasani Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 and Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...

s. There is also an Afghan
Demographics of Afghanistan
The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2011, which is unclear if the refugees living outside the country are included or not. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between...

 community in the province due to the influx of Afghan refugees coming from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 in recent years.

Attractions

This province envelopes many historical and natural attractions, such as mineral water springs, small lakes, recreational areas, caves and protected regions, and various hiking areas.

Besides these, Khorasan encompasses numerous religious buildings and places of pilgrimage, including the shrine of Imam Reza, Goharshad mosque
Goharshad Mosque
Goharshad Mosque is a former free standing mosque in Mashhad of the Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran, which now serves as one of the prayer halls within the Imam Reza shrine complex....

 and many other mausoleums and Imamzadehs which attract visitors to this province.

The Cultural Heritage of Iran lists 1179 sites of historical and cultural significance in all three provinces of Khorasan.

Some of the popular attractions of Razavi Khorasan are:
  • Tus, where Ferdowsi
    Ferdowsi
    Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...

    , Persia's Homer
    Homer
    In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...

     is buried.
  • Nishapur
    Nishapur
    Nishapur or Nishabur , is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad...

    , where Farid al-Din Attar, Omar Khayyám
    Omar Khayyám
    Omar Khayyám was aPersian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, climatology and theology....

    , and Kamal-ol-molk
    Kamal-ol-molk
    Mohammad Ghaffari , better known as Kamal-ol-Molk , was an Iranian painter and part of the Ghaffari Clan in Kashan.-Biography:...

     are buried.
  • Goharshad mosque
    Goharshad Mosque
    Goharshad Mosque is a former free standing mosque in Mashhad of the Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran, which now serves as one of the prayer halls within the Imam Reza shrine complex....

     and the vast shrine-complex of Imam Reza that forms the heart of Mashhad
    Mashhad
    Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...

  • Khaneh Khorshid
  • Shandiz and Torghabeh (famous for their riverside restaurants)
  • Tomb of Nadir Shah Afshar in central Mashhad
  • Akhangan (Akhanjan) tower, north of Tus
  • Haruniyeh dome in Tus, where the famous mystic Imam Mohammad Ghazali is buried.
  • Tus citadel
    Tus citadel
    The Citadel of Tus is a citadel from the Sassanid era, located in Tus, in Razavi Khorasan province of Iran. Not much remains of the structure, however its size is comparable to other large citadels of the Sassanid era of Iran....

  • Bazangan lake, in Sarakhs
    Sarakhs
    Sarakhs is a city in and capital of Sarakhs County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries and a famous school of architects. Much of the original city site is now just across the border at Saraghs...

     district
  • Kooh Sangi, a notable hill in Mashhad
  • Akhlamad
    Akhlamad
    Akhlamad is a village in the province of Razavi Khorasan in northeastern Iran. It is located 60 km west of Mashhad, the capital of the province. Akhlamad is known for its waterfall which is a popular tourist excursion....

  • Band-e-Golestan (Golestan dam)
  • Jaghargh
  • Zoshk, a country village west of Mashhad
  • Kang, a scenic stepped village
  • Noghondar
  • Kardeh Dam
  • Vakilabad and Mellat parks in Mashhad
  • Zari, Hendelabad, Mozdooran, Moghan and Kardeh caves.
  • Robat Sharaf
    Ribat-i Sharaf
    The Ribat-i Sharaf is a caravanserai, or rest place for travellers, that is located in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran between Merv and Nishapur. Built in the 12th century , the building looks like a fortified rectangle from the exterior. The courtyard and four Iwan floorplan is that of the...

     (a relatively grand caravanserai ruin in Sarakhs
    Sarakhs
    Sarakhs is a city in and capital of Sarakhs County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries and a famous school of architects. Much of the original city site is now just across the border at Saraghs...

     district)
  • Tomb of Khajeh Abasalt, Khajeh Morad, Ravi (famous Iranian Gnostics) and mausoleum of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi.
  • Yahya and Khajeh Rabi mausoleum at the northern edge of Mashhad city*Sabz (green) dome in a roundabout in Mashhad.

Colleges and universities


See also

  • Khorasan
  • Greater Khorasan
    Greater Khorasan
    Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...

  • South Khorasan
  • North Khorasan
  • History of Iran
    History of Iran
    The history of Iran has been intertwined with the history of a larger historical region, comprising the area from the Danube River in the west to the Indus River and Jaxartes in the east and from the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and Egypt...


External links

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