ĀŠTĪĀN, the name both of an administrative subdistrict (dehestān) and its chef-lieu in the First Province (ostān). It lies on the northeastern side of the central Zagros mountain massif in a region traditionally known as ʿErāq (modern Arāk), and the dehestān is one of three making up the district (baḵš) of Ṭarḵūrān in the subprovince (šahrastān) of Arāk or Solṭānābād; the town of Arāk lies to the southwest of Āštīān. The dehestān comprises twelve villages, with a total population (1951) of ca. 13,000 which is ethnically Persian and in faith Shiʿite. The town of Āštīān itself (34° 32’ north latitude and 50° east longitude) has a population of ca. 6,000 (1951); it lies in a fertile agricultural district, watered by surface streams and qanāts, and the whole region is a celebrated one for carpet-weaving. Its antiquities include a fortress and a Safavid caravanserai. Āštīān does not seem to have been mentioned as such by the medieval geographers, although Ḥamdallāh Mostawfī mentions the district of Tafreš, the hilly district to the north of Āštīān, and the village of Ṭarḵūrān (Nozhat al-qolūb, p. 68, tr. p. 72). Various holy and learned men have stemmed from Āštīān.
Bibliography:
Kayhān, Joḡrāfīā II, pp. 386, 388.
Razmārā, Farhang II, p. 15.
L. W. Adamec, Historical Gazetteer of Iran I: Tehran and Northwestern Iran, Graz, 1976, p. 53.
Search terms:
| آشتیان | ashtian | aashtiaan | ashtiyan |
(C. E. Bosworth)
Originally Published: December 15, 1987
Last Updated: August 17, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 8, pp. 847-848
C. E. Bosworth, “ĀŠTĪĀN,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, II/8, pp. 847-848, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/astian (accessed on 30 December 2012).
