Hamadan Explained
Hamedan |
Native Name: | Persian: همدان |
Settlement Type: | City |
Pushpin Map: | Iran |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Iran |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Name1: | Hamedan |
Subdivision Type2: | County |
Subdivision Name2: | Hamedan |
Subdivision Type3: | District |
Subdivision Name3: | Central |
Leader Title: | Mayor |
Leader Name: | Seyed Masoud Hosseini [1] |
Leader Title1: | Governor General |
Population As Of: | 2016 |
Population Total: | 554406 |
Population Rank: | 13th in Iran |
Timezone: | IRST |
Utc Offset: | +3:30 |
Coordinates: | 34.7983°N 48.5147°W |
Coordinates Footnotes: | [2] |
Elevation M: | 1850 |
Elevation Ft: | 6069 |
Hamedan (;[3] Persian: همدان, in Persian pronounced as /hæmeˈdɒːn/) is a city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamedan County in Hamedan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district.[4] As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a population of 554,406 people in 174,731 households.
Hamedan is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities. It was referred to in classical sources as Ecbatana (Old Persian). It is possible that it was occupied by the Assyrians in 1100BCE; the Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, states that it was the capital of the Medes, around 700BCE.
Hamedan is situated in a green mountainous area in the foothills of the 3,574-meter Alvand Mountain, in midwestern Iran. The city is 1,850meters above sea level. It is located approximately 360km (220miles) southwest of Tehran.
The old city and its historic sites attract tourists during the summer. The major sights of this city are the Ganj Nameh inscription, the Avicenna monument and the Baba Taher monument. The main language in the city is Persian.[5] [6] [7]
History
According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth, "Hamedan is a very old city. It may conceivably, but improbably, be mentioned in cuneiform texts from ca. 1100BC, the time of Assyrian King Tiglath-pilesar I, but is certainly mentioned by Herodotus who says that the king of Media Diokes built the city of Agbatana or Ekbatana in the 7th centuryBC."[8]
Hamedan was established by the Medes. It then became one of several capital cities of the Achaemenid Dynasty.
Hamedan is mentioned in the biblical book of Ezra as the place where a scroll was found giving the Jews permission from King Darius to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Its ancient name of Ecbatana is used in the Ezra text. Because it was a mile above sea level, it was a good place to preserve leather documents.
During the Parthian era, Ctesiphon was the capital of the country, and Hamedan was the summer capital and residence of the Parthian rulers. After the Parthians, the Sassanids constructed their summer palaces in this city. In 642 the Battle of Nahavand took place and Hamedan fell into the hands of the Muslim Arabs.
During the rule of the Buyid dynasty, the city suffered much damage. However, the city regained its former glory under the rule of the Buyid ruler Fanna Khusraw. The Seljuks launched campaigns to take the city in the 1040s,[9] ultimately taking the final Kakuyid fortress in 1047.[10] The Seljuks later shifted their capital from Baghdad to Hamedan. In 1220, Hamedan was destroyed by the Mongols[11] during the Mongol invasions of Georgia before the Battle of Khunan. The city of Hamedan, its fortunes following the rise and fall of regional powers, was completely destroyed during the Timurid invasions, but later thrived during the Safavid era.
Thereafter, in the 18th century, Hamedan was surrendered to the Ottomans, but due to the work of Nader Shah, Hamedan was cleared of invaders and, as a result of a peace treaty between Iran and the Ottomans, it was returned to Iran. Hamedan stands on the Silk Road, and even in recent centuries the city enjoyed strong commerce and trade as a result of its location on the main road network in the western region of Iran. In the late 19th century, American missionaries, including James W. Hawkes and Belle Sherwood Hawke,[12] [13] established schools in Hamedan.During World War I, the city was the scene of heavy fighting between Russian and Turko-German forces. It was occupied by both armies, and finally by the British, before it was returned to the control of the Iranian government at the end of the war in 1918.
Demographics
Language
A majority of the population speaks the Hamedani dialect of Persian and standard Persian, with a Turkic minority.[14]
Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 473,149 in 127,812 households.[15] The following census in 2011 counted 525,794 people in 156,556 households.[16] The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 554,406 people in 174,731 households.[17]
Climate
Hamedan has a hot-summer, Mediterranean-influenced continental climate (Köppen: Dsa, Trewartha: Dc), in transition with a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk). The city experiences hot, dry summers, and cold, snowy winters. The temperature may drop below -30°C on the coldest days. Heavy snowfall is common during winter and this can persist for periods of up to two months. During the short summer, the weather is hot, and mostly sunny.
Lowest recorded temperature: -34°C on 7 January 1964
Highest recorded temperature: 40.6°C on 14 July 1989
Sport
PAS Hamedan F.C. were founded on June 9, 2007 after the dissolution of PAS Tehran F.C. The team, along with Alvand Hamedan F.C., is in the Azadegan League.
Some sport complexes in this city include: Qods Stadium, Shahid Mofatteh Stadium, Takhti Sport Complex and the National Stadium of Hamadan.
Education
Before the Persian Constitutional Revolution, education in Hamedan was limited to some Maktab Houses and theological schools. Fakhrie Mozafari School was the first modern school of Hamedan, which was built after that revolution. Alliance and Lazarist were also the first modern schools founded by foreign institutions in Hamedan.
Some of the popular universities in Hamedan include:
Notable people
Hamedan celebrities are divided into 3 categories: pre-Islamic, post-Islamic and contemporary people.
Pre-Islamic celebrities
Among the pre-Islamic celebrities in Hamedan, we can name Mandana, the mother of Cyrus the Great and the daughter of the last king of Media, Ishtovigo.
Famous names after Islam
Famous people of Hamedan after Islam are great people such as:
- Baba Taher, Famous poets of the fourth century AH.
- Badi'alzaman Hamedani, author of the oldest book in the art of maqam writing.
- Abul Ali Hassan Attar, a great literature and famous syntax, vocabulary and hadith in the fourth century AH.
- Tomb of Esther and Mordekhai, The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai is a tomb located in Hamadan, Iran. Iranian Jews and Iranian Christians believe it houses the remains of the biblical Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai, and it is the most important pilgrimage site for Jews and Christians in Iran.
- Ibn Salah Hamedani, physician and mathematician of the fifth and sixth centuries AH.
- Khajeh Rashid al-Din Fazlullah, minister, scientist and expert physician of the sixth and seventh centuries AH.
- Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, Mystics and followers of Sirusluk of the seventh century AH.
- Mirzadeh Eshghi is one of the shining stars of poetry and prose of the play during the Constitutional Revolution.
- Bu Ali Sina, one of the rare scientists and geniuses of the time, was born in 370 AH in Khoramisin, Bukhara. He entered this city in 406 AH when Hamedan was the capital of the buyid, and after a while, Shams al-Dawla Dailami made him his minister. During his stay in Hamedan, Bu Ali Sina taught at the city's large school and had the opportunity to complete many of his writings.
- The tomb of Bu Ali Sina is now located in a square of the same name in Hamedan.
Significant Incident
In February 1990, the bank's central branch in Hamedan experienced a tragic robbery. The event resulted in the loss of life of the bank manager Abdulrahman Nafisi, his family, and a security guard. The bank manager, Abdulrahman Nafisi, displayed extraordinary courage by prioritizing the safety of the bank's funds over his own life. Despite being under torture, he pleaded with the robbers to take his personal belongings instead of the people's money."[22] .
Contemporary people
- Abolhassan Banisadr (1933–2021), economist, politician, and the first post-revolutionary elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran
- Ahmad NikTalab (1934–2020), a famous contemporary poet
- Aminollah Rezaei (1936–2004), poet, the Father of Iranian Surrealism
- Amir Nosrat'ollah Balakhanlou, born in Tehran — two-time mayor and MP for Hamadan City (1950s and early 1960s)
- Amir-Shahab Razavian (born 1965), film director, writer and producer
- Baba-Taher-e Oryan, a famous poet (1100 AD)
- Ein-Alqozat Hamadani (1098–1131), a great philosopher and sufist (1100 AD)
- Ehsan Yarshater (1920–2018), historian, scientists, and founder of Encyclopædia Iranica
- Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi, celebrated poet (1300 AD)
- Fazlollah Zahedi (1892–1963), military general
- Fereydoun Moshiri, contemporary poet (originally from Hamadan, but born in Tehran)
- Hossein Noori Hamedani (born 1925), Iranian Shia Marja
- Hanieh Tavassoli (born 1979), actress
- Joseph Emin (born 1726), a major activist in the attempts to liberate Armenia during the 18th century
- Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (1312–1384), poet and scholar
- Mirzadeh Eshghi (1893–1924), a celebrated nationalist poet
- Moshfegh Hamadani (1912–2009), writer, journalist and translator
- Abdulrahman Nafisi (1948-1990), bank manager
- Parviz Parastouei, acclaimed actor
- Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Persian statesman, historian and physician of the 13th-14th centuries
- Shirin Ebadi, lawyer and the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate
- Samuel Rahbar, scientist
- Wojtek, a bear who was born in Hamedan and would grow up to become a corporal in the Polish army during World War 2.
- Viguen, known as the king of Persian pop and jazz music
International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Iran.
Twin towns – Sister cities
Hamadan is twinned with:
See also
Bibliography
- Bibliography of the history of Hamadan
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: سیدمسعود حسینی شهردار همدان شد . Mehr News. 4 September 2021 . fa . 9 April 2024.
- ((OpenStreetMap contributors)) . Hamedan, Hamedan County . . 17 October 2023 . 17 October 2023 . fa.
- 2023-06-16.
- Web site: Approval of the organization and chain of citizenship of the elements and units of the country's divisions of Hamedan province, centered in Hamedan city . fa . Lamtakam . https://web.archive.org/web/20240211122913/https://lamtakam.com/law/council_of_ministers/113025 . Ministry of Interior, Political Defense Commission of the Government Board . Habibi . Hassan . 11 February 2024 . 21 June 1369 . 11 February 2024.
- Web site: Introduction. www.hamedan.rmto.ir. 2015-12-20. 2015-12-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222105716/http://www.hamedan.rmto.ir/English/Pages/Introduction.aspx. dead.
- Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi, Peter McDonald, Meimanat Hosseini-Chavoshi, "The Fertility Transition in Iran: Revolution and Reproduction", Springer, 2009. pp 100-101: "The first category is 'Central' where the majority of people are Persian speaking ethnic Fars (provinces of Fars, Hamedan, Isfahan, Markazi, Qazvin, Qom, Semnan, Yazd and Tehran..."
- (Parviz Aḏkāʾi and EIr, HAMEDĀN i. GEOGRAPHY in Encyclopædia Iranica:"Languages spoken. Hamedān has been a crossroads of civilizations for millennia and a mosaic of cultures and dialects live there side by side. The main language spoken, especially in the provincial capital and its surroundings, is Persian, which is also the lingua franca in other regions. In the northern parts of the province, however, the language mostly spoken is Azeri Turkish, while in the northwest and west, near the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermānšāhān, people mostly speak Kurdish, while in some other cities such as Malāyer, Nehāvand, and Sāmen most people speak Lori and Lak (Faraji, p. 1296)."
- Book: Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. Historic Cities of the Islamic World. 2008. Brill Academic Publishers. 978-90-04-15388-2. 151.
- C. E. Bosworth, “ABŪ KĀLĪJĀR GARŠĀSP (I),” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/3, p. 328; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abu-kalijar-garsasp-i-ala-al-dawla-second-son-of-the-kakuyid-amir-of-jebal-ala-al-dawla-mohammad-b (accessed on 23 January 2024).
- C. E. Bosworth, “KĀKUYIDS,” Encyclopædia Iranica,Vol. XV, Fasc. 4, pp. 359-362; an updated version is available online at https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kuyids-dynasty (accessed on 23 January 2024).
- Web site: Hamedan Iran Britannica. 2022-01-16. www.britannica.com. en.
- https://www.in.gov/library/fa_index/fa_by_letter/h/s60.html James W. Hawkes Collection
- Zirinsky. Michael P.. 1992. Harbingers of Change: Presbyterian Women in Iran, 1883—1949. American Presbyterians. 70. 3. 173–186. 23333052 . 0886-5159.
- Web site: Language distribution: Hamedan Province - Hamedān . 4 May 2023.
- Web site: Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006) . https://web.archive.org/web/20110920093712/http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/13.xls . 20 September 2011 . 25 September 2022 . AMAR . The Statistical Center of Iran . 13 . fa . Excel.
- Web site: Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1390 (2011) . https://web.archive.org/web/20230117164705/https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/Hamedan.xls . 17 January 2023 . 19 December 2022 . Syracuse University . The Statistical Center of Iran . 13 . fa . Excel.
- Web site: Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1395 (2016) . https://web.archive.org/web/20210421224006/https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_13.xlsx . 21 April 2021 . 19 December 2022 . AMAR . The Statistical Center of Iran . 13 . fa . Excel.
- Web site: صفحه اصلی - دانشگاه بوعلی سینا. basu.ac.ir.
- Web site: Hamedan Medical University Website. www.umsha.ac.ir.
- Web site: Hamedan University of Technology Website. 17 March 2007. 16 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090916040145/http://www.hut.ac.ir/. dead.
- Web site: Welcome to Website Islamic Azad University of Hamedan Branch. https://web.archive.org/web/20050311052024/http://www.iauh.ac.ir/default.htm. dead. 11 March 2005. 11 March 2005. 30 August 2020.
- Web site: بازخوانی جنایت هولناک ۲۲ بهمن ۶۸ در همدان . 9 February 2021 .
- Web site: خبرگزاری فارس - "بخارا" زادگاه و "همدان" مدفن بوعلیسینا خواهرخوانده میشوند. 23 November 2011. خبرگزاری فارس.