JANDAQ

 

JANDAQ, a town and rural district (dehestān) in the Ḵor and Biābānak district (baḵš) of Nāʾin sub-province in the province of Isfahan (q.v.).

The rural district. The rural district of Jandaq is located south of Dašt-e Kavir (q.v.) and in the northern part of the Ḵor and Biābānak district. It is comprised of eleven villages and the town of Jandaq (Markaz-e āmār-e Irān, 1997, p. 6). The mountains of the rural district are part of the lone peaks of central Iran including, among others, Rašid Kuh (highest elevation 2,075 m), Zāluband (highest elevation 1,843 m), and Kalāta (highest elevation 1,726 m; Jaʿfari, I). A number of springs and natural wells are located at the foot of these mountains (Jaʿfari, I, p. 466). The seasonal Čāhgir River also passes through the rural district (Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi, LI, p. 3), which is also home to numerous stretches of sands (rigzār) and temporary farms (Ḥekmat Yaḡmāʾi, 1991, pp. 291, 293). The rural district is also home to a variety of flora, including gaz trees, tāḡ, ānḡuza, qodduma, bālangu, esparza, āvišan, par-e siāvaš, and ḵākšir, and fauna, such as foxes, jackals, mountain goats, quč, deer, rabbits, and pheasants (Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi, LI, pp. 2-10, LXI, pp. 5, 18).

Water for the rural district is obtained from subterranean channels (qanāt), deep and semi-deep wells, natural wells, and springs, while farming, gardening, herding, and rug weaving in the style of Nāʾin comprise the major economic activities (Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi, LI, p. 2). The main agricultural products include wheat, barley, cotton, senjed, and sunflower seeds as well as pomegranates, apricots, figs, grapes, almonds, pistachios, apples, berries, dates, alfalfa (yonja), and vegetables (tarabār; Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi, LI, pp. 2-3, 7).

According to the 1996 national census, the population of Jandaq’s villages comprised of 297 households (or about 1,500-1,600 persons; Markaz-e āmār-e Irān, 1997, p. 6). Its inhabitants are Persian speaking Shiʿite Muslims (Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi, LI, p. 2).

The town. At an elevation of 980 m, the town of Jandaq is located in the northwestern part of the district, approximately 110 km northwest of Ḵor. With a desert climate, it is located on the southern edge of Dašt-e Kavir, approximately 8 km east of Piškuh and 9 km southwest of Godār-e Jandaq. According to the Synoptic Station of Ḵor and Biābānak, the town’s highest temperature has been recorded at 46.6 degrees Celsius in the summer month of Mordād (July-August) and its lowest temperature has been recorded at 6.6 degree Celsius in the winter month of Esfand (February-March; Sāzmān-e hawā-šenāsi-e kešvar, 1996-97). The average annual precipitation is 45.3 mm (Sāzmān-e hawāšenāsi-e kešvar, p. 190). During rainfall, the Vāza dam, located 6 km south of the town, works to increase the level of water in the subterranean channels (Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi, LI, p. 2; Goli Zavāra, p. 32). Jandaq is also home to lead and copper mines (Asnād-e maʿāden-e Irān, pp. 89-90).

In Mehr 1374 Š./October 1995, Jandaq was officially recognized as a town, and, according to the 1996 national census, its population was 4,068 (Markaz-e āmār-e Irān, 1997, p. 74).

The monuments of Jandaq include Jandaq Castle (or Fortress of Ardbil), which seems to date back to the Sasanian period, and which is known as the prison of Anuširvān. (Ḥekmat-Yaḡmāʾi, 1974, pp. 16-19; Idem, 1991, pp. 73-80; Ḥaqiqat, p. 351).

Jandaq was a part of Yazd until the reign of Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah Qājār (r. 1797-1834, q.v.), but during the last decade of his reign it was subsumed under the province of Kumes/Qumes (approximately equivalent to the province of Semnān; ibid.; Honar Yaḡmāʾi, p. 117; Ḥakim-al-Mamālek, p. 48).

Today, despite modern renovations, the town has a traditional look and structure (for a detailed survey of Jandaq, see M. Bādanj).

 

Bibliography:

Asnād-e maʿāden-e Irān 1300-1332 Š., ed. Mahšid Laṭifiniā, Tehran, n.d. MaʿsÂuma Bādanj, “Jandaq,” in Dāneš-nāma-ye jahān-e eslām XI, 2007, pp. 29-33.

Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi-e ābādihā-ye kešvar-e jomhuri-e eslāmi-e Irān, Tehran, n.d. Ḡolām-Reżā Goli Zavāra, Simā-ye Nāʾin: gowhar-e kavir, Tehran, 1994.

ʿAlinaqi b. Esmāʿil Ḥakim-al-Mamālek, Ruz-nāma-ye safar-e Ḵorāsān, Tehran, 1977.

ʿAbd-al-Rafiʿ Ḥaqiqat, Tāriḵ-e Qumes, Tehran, 1983.

Sven Anders Hedin, tr. Parviz Rajabi, Kavirhā-ye Irān, Tehran, 1976.

ʿAbd-al-Karim Ḥekmat Yaḡmāʾi, Jandaq: Rustā-i kohan bar karān-e kavir, Tehran, 1974.

Idem, Bar sāḥel-e kavir-e namak, Tehran, 1991.

Esmāʿil Honar Yaḡmāʾi, Jandaq wa Qumes dar awāḵer-e dawra-ye Qājār, Tehran, 1984.

ʿAbbās Jaʿfari, Gitāšenāsi-e Irān, Tehran, 1989-2000.

Markaz-e āmār-e Irān, Šenās-nāma-ye ābādihā-ye kešvar, ostān-e Eṣfahān, šahrestān-e Nāʾin, Tehran, 1997.

Sāzmān-e Asnād-e Melli-e Irān, n.p., 1997.

Sāzmān-e hawā-šenāsi-e kešvar, Sāl-nāma-ye āmāri-e hawā-šenāsi 1996-1997, Tehran, 1999.

Wezārat-e Kešvar, Našriya-ye tāriḵ-e taʾsis-e ʿanāṣer-e taqsimāti ba hamrāh-e šomāra-ye moṣawwabāt-e ān, Tehran, 2003.

(M. Badanj)

Originally Published: December 15, 2008

Last Updated: April 10, 2012

This article is available in print.
Vol XIV, Fasc. 5, p. 534