Damghan () is a city in the Central District of

Damghan County Damghan County () is in Semnan province, Semnan Province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Damghan. History The area suffered damage in the 856 Damghan earthquake. After the 2011 National Census, the village of Kalateh was elevated to city ...

, Semnan province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is east of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

on the high-road to

Mashad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. In the Central District of Mashhad ...

, at an elevation of . Damghan is one of the oldest cities on the Iranian plateau, stretching back 7,000 years, and boasts many sites of historic interest. The oldest of these is Tappeh Hessar, lying to the southeast of the city, which holds the ruins of a castle dating from the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

. The Tarikhaneh is one of the oldest mosques in Iran, built as a

fire temple A fire temple (; ) is a place of worship for Zoroastrians. In Zoroastrian doctrine, ''atar'' and '' aban'' (fire and water) are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies sregarded as the basis of ritual lif ...

during the

Sassanid dynasty The Sasanian dynasty (also known as the Sassanids or the House of Sasan) was the house that founded the Sasanian Empire of Iran, ruling this empire from 224 to 651 AD. It began with Ardashir I, who named the dynasty in honour of his predecessor, ...

, it was converted into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

after the advent of Islam. There are also many other historical buildings belonging to the

Seljuk Empire The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a High Middle Ages, high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turco-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. ...

and other periods. Apart from its historical interest, the city today is mainly known for

pistachio The pistachio (, ; ''Pistacia vera'') is a small to medium-sized tree of the Anacardiaceae, cashew family, originating in Iran. The tree produces nut (fruit)#Culinary definition and uses, seeds that are widely consumed as food. In 2022, world ...

s and paper

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s (''kaghazi'') with very thin shells.

History

Tepe Hissar

Archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

has shown that the history of Damghan starts 4–5 thousand years BCE at Tepe Hissar in the village of Heydarabad. Tepe Hissar was inhabited in the

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

period in the fifth millennium BC.

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

in Tepe Hissar have revealed items 7,000 years old. Recently expansion of Tehran–Mashhad railway into double lanes the body of a woman along with her fetus was discovered with over 7,000 years age. Tepe Hissar, with several

layers Layer or layered may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Layers'' (Kungs album) * ''Layers'' (Les McCann album) * ''Layers'' (Royce da 5′9″ album) *“Layers”, the title track of Royce da 5′9″’s sixth studio album * Layer, a ...

of civilizations. There was metal production in its earliest period. There are also several associated sites, such as Shir Ashian Tepe, another small settlement in the area, dating to the same time. Part of the layers in the tepe belong to the Mades dynasty, which shared its civilization with

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. Another layer covers the Achaemenid Empire, the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...

and

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

. Tappeh Hessar achieved its peak of glory during the Seleucid and Parthian periods.

Ernst Herzfeld Ernst Emil Herzfeld (23 July 1879 – 20 January 1948) was a German archaeologist and Iranologist. Life Herzfeld was born in Celle, Province of Hanover. He studied architecture in Munich and Berlin, while also taking classes in Assyriology, a ...

(1931–1933) and Erich Schmidt (1933–1938) were the first

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

who explored the tepe. An archaeological dig there in 1996 revealed remains dating from the time of the

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

settlement of the

Iranian plateau The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature spanning parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. It makes up part of the Eurasian plate, and is wedged between the Arabian plate and the Indian plate. ...

(circa 4000 BCE) to the

Median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

(728-550 BCE), the

Arsacid The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...

(248-224 CE) and

Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

(224-651 CE) dynastic periods.

Hecatompylos

The remains of

Hecatompylos Qumis (; Middle Persian ''𐭪𐭥𐭬𐭩𐭮 Kōmis''), also known as Hecatompylos (, in , ''Saddarvazeh'') was an ancient city which was the capital of the Arsacid dynasty by 200 BCE. The Greek name ''Hekatompylos'' means "one hundred gates" ...

lie to the southwest of the city, extending from Forat, south of Damghan, to nearly west. After

Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 ...

, the nearby city of

("hundred gates"), now called Šahr-e Qumis () was the population centre. This name had also been given to

Thebes, Greece Thebes ( ; , ''Thíva'' ; , ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Boeotia and a major cente ...

and

Thebes, Egypt Thebes (, , ''Thēbai''), known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located along the Nile about south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor. Thebes was the main city of the fo ...

Damghan

The name Damghan comes from "''deh''", village, and "''moghan''",

Magi Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...

. This name was given by Zoroastrians, who included such people as

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

and

Darius the Great Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

. Historiographers ascribe the construction of Damghan to Hooshang,

Keyumars Keyumars or Kiomars () was the name of the first king (shah) of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to the ''Shahnameh''. The name appears in Avestan in the form of , or in medieval Zoroastrian texts as ''Gayōmard'' or ''Gayōmart''. ...

' great-grandson and the founder of the legendary Pishdadi dynasty. The historical town was called Qumis, which was located in a region of the same name, stretching from

Sabzevar Sabzevar (; ) is a city in northeastern Iran. It is located in the Central District (Sabzevar County), Central District of Sabzevar County, Razavi Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, serving as the capital of both the county and the ...

to Garmsar, from north up to the

Alborz The Alborz ( ) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs northeast and merge ...

mountain range and to the

Lut Desert The Lut Desert, widely referred to as Dasht-e Lut (, "Emptiness Plain"), is a salt desert located in the provinces of Kerman and Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran. It is the world's 33rd-largest desert, and was included in UNESCO's World Heritage List ...

in the south. Up to the first century AD, Damghan was the capital of that great province. The city was half destroyed in the

856 Damghan earthquake The Damghan earthquake or the Qumis earthquake occurred on 22 December 856 (242 Anno Hegirae, AH). The earthquake had an estimated Surface-wave magnitude, magnitude of 7.9, and a maximum intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity sca ...

. Damghan was an important city in the Middle Ages, but few remnants of that time remain; one is the ruined Tarikhaneh. The city was capital of the province of Qumis (Qoomes), but was destroyed by the Afghan

Hotak dynasty The Hotak dynasty ( ) was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful rebellion against the declining ...

in 1723.

Demographics

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 57,331 in 15,849 households. The following census in 2011 counted 58,770 people in 16,861 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 59,106 people in 18,417 households.

Historical sites

Tarikhaneh Mosque

Tarikhaneh Mosque is the oldest

in Iran, belonging to the first century after the

Muslim conquest of Persia As part of the early Muslim conquests, which were initiated by Muhammad in 622, the Rashidun Caliphate conquered the Sasanian Empire between 632 and 654. This event led to the decline of Zoroastrianism, which had been the official religion of ...

. It still preserves its original shape, with a number of massive columns and wood carvings and two

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s of the 11th century. The prefix "''Tari''", a Turkish or

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

term, means God and "''khaneh''" is the Iranian word for house, so the word means the house of God. Tarikhaneh and Na'in Mosque in

Na'in Nain () is a city in the Central District of Nain County, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Climate History The history of Nain appears to go back to pre-Islamic times, but no information ...

are the only mosques in the

Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

which resemble the

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Mosque. This mosque was built during the eighth century AD by imitating

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

and

Arabic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...

. This is an Arabic design but the building material and architecture is Sassanid. Originally it was a

during the Sassanid period, and later the mosque was built over its ruins. One column resembling Sassanian architecture at the eastern wing is a proof of this assertion. Tarikhaneh Mosque is equipped with a square yard and a gallery with 18 columns facing the

qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

and the three sides of the yard are surrounded by porticoes. The minaret rising over the mosque is said to belong to the Seljuk period and the tiled inscription over the minaret is in fact the oldest tile work in Islamic architecture.

Fortifications

Walls or fortifications and battlements have survived in many parts in Damghan, some dating from the Sasanian era. As mentioned in the history, the wall was very wide and enabled

chariots A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Ru ...

to drive over it. The remains of that wall can be seen north and south of Damghan.

Seljuk architecture

Much treasure has survived from the Seljuk period in Damghan. Peer-e Alamdar's Shrine (The Old Flagbearer's Tomb), the congregational mosque or '' Masjed Jame'' and its minaret, the Tarikhaneh Mosque, Mansourkuh, Imamzadeh Jafar Tower and Chehel Dokhtaran mausoleum, etc. are buildings in which Islamic architecture from the Seljuk period onward is notable. For the first time in Iran these buildings carry brick decorations to compensate for the monotonous and uniform rows.

Gunbad-i Chihil Dukhtaran mausoleum

Gunbad-i Chihil Dukhtaran is a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

at the centre of Damghan and behind the Imamzade Ja'far, both of which belong to the Seljuk period. It is the second-oldest tomb surviving from the reign of

Tughril Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il (), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril / Tughrul), was a Turkoman"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turkomans at the battle of Malazgirt (Manzikert) is ...

, the first of the Seljuk sultans. It was built by one Amir Abu Shuja Asfar, as recorded in the

Kufic The Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts ...

inscription, which says the vault was built in AH 466 (AD 1087). It has survived without cracks although the city is lying on the

Alpide belt The Alpide belt or Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt,K.M. Storetvedt, K. M., ''The Tethys Sea and the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt; mega-elements in a new global tectonic system,'' Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Volume 62, Issues 1 ...

. The vault is an

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate (drum) upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. They taper smoothly upwards to a point. It is a typical ...

adorned by bricks with artistic images and an inscription. The building which used to be a family vault is 14.8 m high and in its famous inscription the deceased have sought divine mercy in their lasting residence.

Imamzade Ja'far shrine-tomb

The Imamzade Ja'far and Muhammed is an

imamzadeh An imamzadeh () is a Persian term with two related meanings: a type of holy person in Shia Islam, and the shrine-tomb of such a person. Descendant An imamzadeh is an immediate descendant of a Shi'i Imam. The term is also used in Urdu and ...

of the Seljuk period.

Gunbad-i Pir-i Alamdar tomb

The Gunbad-i Pir-i Alamdar is another Seljuk-era tomb near the ''Masjid-i Jami''.

Hashshashin forts

North of the city, along the Cheshme Ali and

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

road, there are two forts built on the top of two mountains. The first one is 5 km away from the city, on the peak of

Gerdkuh Gerdkuh was a castle of the Nizari Isma'ili state located near Damghan in the region of Qumis (modern-day Semnan Province of Iran). Gerdkuh is a "fortified mountain"—a high vertical rock of 300 m in height with buildings on its summit a ...

, one of the main

Ismaili Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept ...

Hashshashin The Order of Assassins (; ) were a Nizari Isma'ili order that existed between 1090 and 1275 AD, founded by Hasan al-Sabbah. During that time, they lived in the mountains of Persia and the Levant, and held a strict subterfuge policy througho ...

fortresses once used by Hassan Sabah. It was finally conquered by the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

under

Hulagu Khan Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu; ; ; ; ( 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of ...

. Due to the circular shape of the mountain peak, it was named Gerdkuh, ''gerd'' for circular (round) and ''kuh'' for mountain. This shape made it very difficult to access by attackers. Mehrnegar Fort is on Mansourkuh, 22 km north of city, along the road. The mountain is pyramidal and the fort located at its top. This was one of the fortifications of the Ismaili esoteric sect during the Seljuk invasion, and has been named Mehrnegar because of Princess Mehrnegar's love story. Cheshmeh Ali by Hadi Karimi

Cheshmeh-Ali

Evergreen

Cheshmeh-Ali Cheshmeh Ali or Cheshmeh-ye Ali or Chashmeh Ali () may refer to: *Cheshmeh-Ali (Shahr-e-Rey) *Cheshmeh Ali, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari *Cheshmeh Ali, Golestan *Cheshmeh Ali, Hamadan *Cheshmeh-ye Ali, Khuzestan *Cheshmeh Ali, Khuzestan *Cheshmeh Ali, ...

is one of the permanent springs in Damghan, 30 km north of the city. Thanks to its verdant foliage and pleasant climate this region has been frequented by people from ancient times. During the Qajar period many buildings were constructed in Cheshmeh-Ali among which the

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...

's and

Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as Shah. Originally a chieftain of the Quwanlu branch of t ...

's palaces still stand erect. Fat'hali Shah's palace is built in the middle of an artificial pool placed between the first and second spring and Agha Mohammad Khan's palace faces the former palace opposite.

Other sites

On an eminence in the western part of the city are the ruins of a large square citadel with a small whitewashed building, called Molud Khaneh ('the house of birth'), in which Fath-Ali Shah Qajar was born (1772). Beside these, Damghan is close to the Gonbade Zangol, Toghrol's Tower, Qoosheh Amirabad Caravansary (a building from the time of

Abbas the Great Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid Iran, Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Mohammad Khodabanda, Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered ...

), historical hills and hazel-shaped castles around the city as well as Gerdkuh and Masoumzadeh Mehmandoust fortifications. Damghan's

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

contains tombs, old schools, baths and the like. Historical monuments in Damghan have interested foreign archaeologists and many items excavated there are now in British and French museums.

Climate

Notable people

* Manuchehri Damghani (11th century) - poet * Hossein Qoli Khan known as Jahnsooz (1750-1777), father of

Fath Ali Shah Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...

Qajar and ruler of Damghan assigned by

Karim Khan Mohammad Karim Khan Zand (; ) was the founder of the Zand dynasty, ruling all of Iran (Persia) except for Khorasan from 1751 to 1779. He also ruled over some of the Caucasian lands and occupied Basra for some years. While Karim was ruler, Ir ...

(1772–1834) - shah of Persia from

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

* Hossein AmirAbdollahian (1343–1403) - the minister of foreign affairs *

Ahmad Mahdavi Damghani Ahmad Mahdavi Damghani (‎; 5 September 1926 – 17 June 2022) was an Iranian scholar and university professor. Biography Born in Mashhad, Iran, on 5 September 1926, he held a Ph.D. in Persian Literature and a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology from T ...

(1927–2022) - scholar of theology and literature * Yadollah Royai (1932–2022) - poet *

The Iron Sheik Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (; March 15, 1942 – June 7, 2023), better known by his ring name the Iron Sheik, was an Iranian-American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. To date he is the only Iranian-born champion in WWE histor ...

(1942-2023) - Iranian-American professional wrestler Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri *

Hassan Sobhani Hassan Sobahni (, born 15 January 1953) is a Tehran University Professor of Economics, specifically Islamic Economy, Finance and Monetary Systems. He was a member of the lower chamber of the Iranian parliament The Islamic Consultative Assem ...

(born 1953) - politician * Ali Akbar Jalali (born 1954) - researcher of Iranian information technology sciences * Farhad Daneshjoo (born 1955) - politician *

Kamran Daneshjoo Kamran Daneshjoo (; born 2 February 1956) is an Iranian university professor who was Minister of Science from 2009 to 2013. Early life and education His web-site, ''Where?'', claims he has a Bs.C. degree from Queen Mary College (UK) and an Ms ...

(born 1956) - politician * Husayn ibn Talib al-Damghani, architect-engineer, built the tomb over the grave of

Muhammad ibn Ja'far Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar (Arabic: محمد بن جعفر) was a companion and relative of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the son of Muhammad's cousin, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, and of Asma bint Umais. His uncle Ali particularly wished that his d ...

Bastam Bastam () is a city in, and the capital of, Bastam District of Shahrud County, Semnan province, Iran. History Bastam was founded in the 6th century in the Greater Khorasan. It is north of Shahrud. The town is known for its Islamic monume ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Damghan on Iran Chamber Society (www.iranchamber.com)

Damghan website

Damghan-City website
{{Damghan County, state=collapsed Populated places in Damghan County Cities in Semnan province