EŠTEHĀRD

 

EŠTEHĀRD, a town and district (baḵš) in the province of Tehran. The town is 63 km to the southwest of Karaj. The district, crossed by the Tehran-Hamadān and Tehran-Zanjān highways, borders in the north on the central district of Sāvojbolāḡ, in the east on the rural district (dehestān) of Moḥammadābād, in the south on the central district of Šahrīār, and in the west on the Būʾīn Zahrā district of Qazvīn. Geological features include the Jārū (highest peak 2,050 m.) and the Qarāgūnī mountains (highest peak 1,925 m.) in the South and a salt marsh in the north (Jaʿfarī, p. 172). The Šūr River (Abharrūd) crosses the district in the north and east. Water is supplied from qanāts, springs, and wells. Agricultural products include wheat, barley, cotton, sugar beet, and fruits. Animal husbandry and carpet weaving are also practiced (Jehād-e Sāzandagī, pp. 24-29). Copper and manganese mines are found at the distance of 8 and 20 km from the town (Wezārat-e maʿāden, pp. 30, 33). The district houses a number of shrines, including Emāmzāda Ṣāleḥ, also known as Emāmzāda Palangābād, Emāmzāda Šāh Solaymān (locally believed to be a brother of the eight Imam), and Emāmzāda ʿAmma Ṣoḡrā wa ʿAmma Kobrā (Varjāvand, pp. 80-98). The earthquake of 10 Šahrīvar 1341 Š./1 September 1962 damaged a few historical buildings, including Emāmzāda Šāh Solaymān (Ambraseyz and Melville, tr., pp. 251, 256). According to Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana (p. 1954), the migration route of the Īnānlū and Baḡdādī tribes crossed this area, which was rich in game.

The town had 1,000 houses in 1248, inhabited by Shiʿite tribes (Šīrvānī, p. 78). Its population was reported as 6,267 people in 1949 (Razmārā, Farhang I, pp. 13-14; Markaz-e āmār, p. 36). According to Sepehr (I, pp. 110, 117), the village Eštehārd was once inhabited by the Qelīčī tribe; in 1216/1801 Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah gave it as a fief to Allāh-yār Khan Qelīja, the governor of Sabzavār. Its inhabitants speak a Tātī dialect (see EŠTEHĀRDĪ).

 

Bibliography:

N. N. Ambraseyz and C. P. Melville, A History of Persian Earthquakes, Cambridge, 1982; tr. ʿA.-Ḥ. Rada as Tārīḵ-e zamīn-larzahā-ye Īrān, Tehran, 1370 Š/1991.

ʿA. Jaʿfarī, Gītā-šenāsī I: Kūhhā wa kūh-nāma-ye Īrān, Tehran, 1368 Š./1989.

Markaz-e āmār-e Īrān, Āmār-gīrī-e jārī-e jamʿīyat, 1370 Š. natāyej-e ʿomūmī-e kešvar, Tehran, 1372 Š/1993.

Moḥammad-Ḥasan Khan Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, Merʾāt al-boldān, ed. ʿA.-Ḥ. Navāʾī and M. H. Moḥaddeṯ, Tehran, 1368 Š/1989.

Moḥammad-Taqī Sepehr, Nāseḵ al-tawārīḵ: Salāṭīn-e qājārīya, ed. M.-B. Behbūdī, Tehran, 1344-45 Š./1965-66.

Zayn-al-ʿAbedīn Šīrvānī, Bostan al-sīāḥa, Tehran, 1338 Š./1959.

P. Varjāvand, Sarzamīn-e Qazvīn, Tehran, 1349 Š./1970.

Wezārat-e jehād-e sāzandagī, Farhang-e eqteṣādī-e dehāt o mazāreʿ: Ostān-e Tehrān, Tehran, 1363 Š./1984.

Wezārat-e maʿāden o felezzāt, Fehrest-e maʿāden-e kešvar, 1363 Š., n.p., n.d.

(Mīnū Yūsof-nežād)

Originally Published: December 15, 1998

Last Updated: January 19, 2012

This article is available in print.
Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6, p. 651