Tus (
Persian: توس Tus), also spelled as Tous or Toos, is an ancient city in
Razavi Khorasan Province in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
near
Mashhad. To the ancient Greeks, it was known as Susia ( grc, Σούσια). It was also known as Tusa. Tus was divided into four cities,
Tabran, Radakan, Noan and Teroid. The whole area which today is only called Tus was the largest city in the whole area in the fifth century.
History
According to legend
Tous son of Nowzar
Tous son of Nowzar ( fa, توس نوذر) is a mythological Iranian prince and hero from the Pishdadian dynasty, whose deeds and adventures were told in Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh''.
Tous was a wise and brave man but also proud and pugnacious. And bec ...
founded the city of Tous in the province of
Khorassan next to today's city of
Mashhad. It is said that the city of Tous was the capital of
Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
and the residence of King
Vishtaspa, who was the first convert to
Zoroastianism. It was captured by
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
in 330 BCE.
Tus was taken by the
Umayyad caliph
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
Abd al-Malik and remained under Umayyad control until 747, when a subordinate of
Abu Muslim Khorasani
, image = Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales, Folio from the Ethics of Nasir (Akhlaq-e Nasiri) by Nasir al-Din Tusi (fol. 248r).jpg
, caption = "Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales," Folio from the '' ...
defeated the Umayyad governor during the
Abbasid Revolution
The Abbasid Revolution, also called the Movement of the Men of the Black Raiment, was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in early Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Calipha ...
. In 809, the
Abbasid Caliph
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came ...
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
fell ill and died in Tus, on his way to solve the unrest in
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
. His grave is located in the region.
In 1220, Tus was sacked by the Mongol general,
Subutai
Subutai (Classical Mongolian: ''Sübügätäi'' or ''Sübü'ätäi''; Modern Mongolian: Сүбээдэй, ''Sübeedei''. ; ; c. 1175–1248) was a Mongol general and the primary military strategist of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He directe ...
, and a year later
Tolui would kill most of its populace, and destroying the tomb of Caliph
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
in the process.
[''Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources'', Vol. 2, ed. E. Bretschneider, (Routledge, 2000), 65.] Decades later, Tus would be rebuilt under the governorship of Kuerguez.
The most famous person who has emerged from that area is the poet
Ferdowsi
, image = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus, Iran 3 (cropped).jpg
, image_size =
, caption = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus by Abolhassan Sadighi
, birth_date = 940
, birth_place = Tus, Samanid Empire
, death_date = 1019 or 1025 (87 years old)
, d ...
, author of the
Persian epic
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 5 ...
, whose mausoleum, built in 1934 in time for the millennium of his birth, dominates the town. Other notable residents of Tus include the
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, jurist, philosopher and mystic
al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...
; early
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
Jābir ibn Hayyān; the poet
Asadi Tusi; the powerful
Seljuk vizier
Nizam al-Mulk; the medieval polymath
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi; the prominent
Usooli
Usulis ( ar, اصولیون, fa, اصولیان) are the majority Twelver Shi'a Muslim group. They differ from their now much smaller rival Akhbari group in favoring the use of ''ijtihad'' (i.e., reasoning) in the creation of new rules of ''fi ...
''mujtahid'' (Twelver-Shi'a law interpreter)
Shaykh Tusi
Shaykh Tusi ( fa, شیخ طوسی), full name ''Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn Hassan Tusi'' ( ar, ابو جعفر محمد بن حسن طوسی), known as Shaykh al-Taʾifah ( ar, links=no, شيخ الطائفة) was a prominent Persian scholar of th ...
; and the noted
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
mystic and historian
Abu Nasr as-Sarraj.
Registration of Ferdowsi's Tomb in UNESCO
Ferdowsi Tomb has been
nationally registered in the
Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization
Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization ( fa, وزارت میراث فرهنگی، گردشگری و صنایع دستی ایران, ''Vâzart-e Miras-e Ferhengi-ye, Gârdâshigâri-ye vâ Sânai'-ye Dâsti-ye Iran'') is ...
and at the suggestion of the
Cultural Heritage Organization and Ferdowsi Foundation, efforts have been made to pursue the registration of Ferdowsi Tomb in the UNESCO
World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
.
See also
*
Al-Tusi Al-Tusi or Tusi is the title of several Iranian scholars who were born in the town of Tous in Khorasan. Some of the scholars with the al-Tusi title include:
*Abu Nasr as-Sarraj al-Tūsī (d. 988), Sufi sheikh and historian.
*Aḥmad al Ṭūsī (d ...
– a descriptor used for individuals associated with Tus
*
Tus citadel
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
Livius.org: Susia (Tus)
Populated places in Mashhad County
Ancient Iranian cities
Populated places along the Silk Road
Nishapur Quarter
{{Mashhad-geo-stub