Table of Contents

• GĪLĀN iv. History in the Early Islamic Period

  Wilferd Madelung

  The Gelae (Gilites) seem to have entered the region south of the Caspian coast and west of the Amardos River (later Safīdrūd) in the second or first century B.C.E.

• GĪLĀN v. History under the Safavids

  Manouchehr Kasheff

  Gīlān has traditionally been considered by its local population as a land of two distinct regions divided by the course of Safīdrūd River.

• GĪLĀN vi. History in the 18th century

  EIr and Reza Rezazadeh Langaroudi

  The rapid decline of the Safavids in the first decades of the 18th century, leading to their ultimate demise in 1722, created a general state of chaos in the country.

• GĪLĀN vii. History in the 19th century

  EIr and Reza Rezazadeh Langaroudi

  During the 19th century, Persia underwent major political, economic, and social changes which were partly instigated by the Anglo-Russian colonial interests in the country and the beginnings of the incorporation of Persia into the emerging inter national economy.

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• GĪLĀN ix. Monuments

  Manouchehr Sotoudeh

  Most buildings of historical interest in Gilān have been repeatedly repaired and rebuilt throughout their history. Some have clear records of their history, but most of them lack reliable, primary documents, and one has to rely on a variety of indirect evidence, such as the dates engraved on entrance doors or tombstones to reconstruct part of the past of a given edifice.

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• GĪLĀN x. LANGUAGES

  Donald Stilo

  In Gīlān there are three major Iranian language groups, namely Gīlakī, Rūdbārī, and Ṭālešī, and pockets of two other groups, Tātī and Kurdish.

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• GILĀN xi. Irrigation

  Christian Bromberger

  In the rice-growing regions of the Caspian hinterland, water requirements are considerable and irrigation requires careful organization. It is estimated that one hectare of rice, on average,  requires 12,400 cubic meters of water. To meet this demand various techniques are used, depending on the micro climate of the area and the resources available.

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• GILĀN xii. Rural Housing

  Christian Bromberger

  There are considerable differences among settlement and building styles according to geographic location. Roughly, one can isolate four geographic areas, each with a distinctive type of rural dwelling: the Gilān plain; the low foothills of the Alborz range; the mountains, covered with forest and capped by alpine meadows; and finally the arid slopes of the Alborz.

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• GILĀN xiii. Kinship and Marriage

  Christian Bromberger

  Kinship in Gilān displays an exceptionally low level of intermarriage between consanguineous kin, marriage “strategies” whose objectives are to diversify, through the marriage alliance, the network of relations in towns and cities.

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• GILĀN xiv. Ethnic Groups

  Christian Bromberger

  Each group living in the province is characterized by one or several specific production activities, so that an ethnonym refers as much to territorial, linguistic, and cultural roots as to any dominant professional specialization.