HAŠTRUD, a sub-province (šahrestān) in the south of Azerbaijan, situated between 36° 45’ and 37° 24’ N. and 46° 25’ and 47° 24’ E, some 134 km from Tabriz and 101 km from Miāna Sub-province. It covers 6,240 km2 with an average elevation of 1,150 m. The major river in Haštrud is Qarānqučāy, a tributary of Safidrud (Qezel-uzan). Haštrd is a well-watered sub-province with a number of streams and between 300-500 mm annual rainfall. It also possesses a number of hot springs. The mountains of Haštrud are a continuation of Sahand mountain, located west of Haštrud. Five mountains are higher than 2,000 m, the best known being Āḡdāḡ 2,950 m high. The geological strata of the mountains belong to the Tertiary Period. Mineral deposits include salt, gypsum, lime, mar-ble, and iron. Haštrud’s climate is a mountainous, temperate type, the weather varying between -3 C in January and +34 C in August (Ḵāmači, pp. 510, 518-19; Āsayeš, p. 18; Jaʿfari, pp. 35-39).
Earlier Haštrud was part of Marāḡa Sub-province. In 1948, it was separated from this sub-province and was included in Tabriz Sub-province, but in 1960 it became a separate sub-province.
Haštrud consists of four rural districts: the Central District (baḵš-e markazi), Northern Čāroymāq, Southern Čāroymāq, and Quričāy. It has 13 dehestān and 577 villages. The administrative center of Haštrud is the township of Saraskand. According to the 1966 census it had a population of 164,486 with only a miniscule growth rate between 1956 and 1966. In the 1996 census, the population has been reduced to 120,406, owing to emigration to larger towns (Sayfi, pp. 17-19; Sāzmān-e barnāma, p. 14; Markaz-e āmār-e Irān, p. 41).
According to the 1996 census 22,278 people were living in urban areas and 98,090 people in villages, with a few people carrying on a nomadic life. In the townships the number of men were 10 percent more than women, whereas, in the villages, women were about 10 percent more than men (National Census, Haštrud, 1996, p. 41).
The language of Haštrud is Azeri Turkish and the dominant religion Twelver Shiʿism. The chief basis of livelihood is agriculture, both irrigated and unirrigated (deym). Cereals, legumes, fruits, honey, butter, and animal fodder constitute its chief products. Industry is weak in Haštrud, and income from it does not amount to more than 0.02 percent; in this respect it is one of the most backward sub-provinces of Azerbaijan. There were, however, 1,856 rug-weaving looms in 151 villages with 3,712 people engaged in rug-weaving (National Census, Haštrud, 1996; Ḵāmači, p. 519; Sayfi, pp. 19-20).
Some 2 km to the east of Qara-āḡāč, a village in Čā-roymāq are found ruins of a fortification known locally as Qalʿa-ye Zaḥḥāk (Moṣāḥeb, p. 810; National Census; Haštrud, 1996, pp. 228-35).
Bibliography:
Ḥosayn Asāyeš, Barrasi-e masāʾel-e eqtesādi wa ejtemāʿi-e Haštrud, Tehran, 1968.
ʿAbbās Jaʿfari, Gitāšenāsi-e kuhhā wa kuh-nāma-ye Irān I, Tehran, 1990.
Behruz Ḵāmači, Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi-e Āzarbayjān-e Šarqi, Tehran, 1992.
Ḡolām-Ḥoṣayn Mo-ṣāḥab, Dāʾerat al-maʿāref-e Faṟsi II, Tehran, 1995.
Esmāʿil Sayfi, Tāriḵ wa joḡrāfiā-ye Haštrud, Tehran, 1997.
Sāzmān-e barnāma wa budja-ye Āzarbayjan-e Šarqi, Āmār-nāma-ye ostān-e Azarbayjān-e Šarqi, Tabriz, 1996.
(Z. Sadrolashrafi)
Originally Published: December 15, 2003
Last Updated: March 20, 2012
This article is available in print.
Vol. XII, Fasc. 1, pp. 51-52