Hamadan: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia
{{Short description|City in Hamadan province, Iran}}
{{Short description|City in Hamadan province, Iran}}
{{redirect|Hamedan}}{{distinguish|Ramadan}}{{for multi|the administrative division of Hamadan province|Hamadan County|the administrative division of Iran|Hamadan province}}
{{redirect|Hamedan}}{{distinguish|Ramadan}}{{for multi|the administrative division of Hamadan province|Hamadan County|the administrative division of Iran|Hamadan province}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
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{{Infobox settlement
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Hamadan
| name = Hamadan
City in Hamadan province, Iran
City in Iran
Hamadan[4] or Hamedan ( HAM-ə-DAN;[5] Persian: همدان, romanized: Hamedān, pronounced [hæmeˈdɒːn]; Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is a city in the Central District of Hamadan County, Hamadan province, Iran, serving as capital of the district, the county, and the province.
At the 2006 National Census, its population was 473,149 in 127,812 households.[6] The following census in 2011 counted 525,794 people in 156,556 households.[7] The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 554,406 people in 174,731 households.[3]
Hamadan is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities. It is possible that it was occupied by the Assyrians in 1100 BCE; the Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, states that it was the capital of the Medes, around 700 BCE.
Hamadan has a green mountainous area in the foothills of the 3,574-meter Alvand Mountain, in the midwest part of Iran. The city is 1,850 meters above sea level.
The old city and its historic sites attract tourists during the summer to this city, located approximately 360 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Tehran. The major sights of this city are the Ganj Nameh inscription, the Avicenna monument and the Baba Taher monument. The main language in the city is Persian.[8][9][10]
History[edit]
According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth, “Hamadan is a very old city. It may conceivably, but improbably, be mentioned in cuneiform texts from ca. 1100 BC, the time of Assyrian King Tiglath-pilesar I, but is certainly mentioned by Herodotus who says that the king of Media Diokes built the city of Agbatana or Ekbatana in the 7th century BC.”[11]
Hamadan was established by the Medes. It then became one of several capital cities of the Achaemenid Dynasty.
Hamadan is mentioned in the biblical book of Ezra (Ezra 6:2) as the place where a scroll was found giving the Jews permission from King Darius to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Its ancient name of Ecbatana is used in the Ezra text. Because it was a mile above sea level, it was a good place to preserve leather documents.
During the Parthian era, Ctesiphon was the capital of the country, and Hamadan was the summer capital and residence of the Parthian rulers. After the Parthians, the Sassanids constructed their summer palaces in this city. In 642 the Battle of Nahavand took place and Hamadan fell into the hands of the Muslim Arabs.
During the rule of the Buyid dynasty, the city suffered much damage. However, the city regained its former glory under the rule of the Buyid ruler Fanna Khusraw. In the 11th century, the Seljuks shifted their capital from Baghdad to Hamadan. In 1220, Hamadan was destroyed by the Mongols[12] during the Mongol invasions of Georgia before the Battle of Khunan. The city of Hamadan, its fortunes following the rise and fall of regional powers, was completely destroyed during the Timurid invasions, but later thrived during the Safavid era.
Thereafter, in the 18th century, Hamadan was surrendered to the Ottomans, but due to the work of Nader Shah, Hamadan was cleared of invaders and, as a result of a peace treaty between Iran and the Ottomans, it was returned to Iran. Hamadan stands on the Silk Road, and even in recent centuries the city enjoyed strong commerce and trade as a result of its location on the main road network in the western region of Iran. In the late 19th century, American missionaries, including James W. Hawkes and Belle Sherwood Hawke,[13][14] established schools in Hamadan.
During World War I, the city was the scene of heavy fighting between Russian and Turko-German forces. It was occupied by both armies, and finally by the British, before it was returned to the control of the Iranian government at the end of the war in 1918.
Climate[edit]
Hamadan province lies in a temperate mountainous region to the east of Zagros. The vast plains of the north and northeast of the province are influenced by strong winds, that almost…
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