Salmas () is a city in the Central District of

Salmas County Salmas County () is in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Salmas. Demographics Ethnicity The county is populated largely by Kurds and a smaller minority of Azerbaijanis. Also a few hundred Assyrians live in the dis ...

West Azerbaijan West Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, provinces of Iran, whose capital and largest city is Urmia. It is in the Azerbaijan (Iran), northwest of the country, bordered by Turkey (Ağrı Province, Ağrı, Hakkâri Pr ...

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 northwest of

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in th ...

, near

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Etymology

The original name of Salmas was Dilman, which is probably related to the

Daylamites The Daylamites or Dailamites (Middle Persian: ''Daylamīgān''; ''Deylamiyān'') were an Iranian people inhabiting the Daylam—the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea, now comprising the southeastern ...

who sometimes controlled the region. In the 20th century, it was known as Shapur.

History

Salmas is located in the historic

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

region. Its archaeological relics, which date as far back as the

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushp ...

kingdom (860–590 BC), attest to its long human habitation. Salmas was part of the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

province of

Nor Shirakan Nor Shirakan (), Parskahayk () or Persarmenia, was the seventh province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, situated on the western shore of Lake Urmia, bordered on Adiabene and Atropatene, now in northwestern Iran. Zarehavan was the centre of t ...

(also known as Persarmenia), which was inhabited by

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

. A

rock relief A rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief, relief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category of rock art, and sometimes found as part of, or in conjunction ...

erected during the reign of the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

monarch

Ardashir I Ardashir I (), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire, the last empire of ancient Iran. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Par ...

() is located in the Khan-Takhti village near Salmas. This rock relief illustrates two akin scenarios in which a standing man receives a ring from a man riding a horse. The standing men's names are subject to interpretation, but the horsemen are typically considered to be Ardashir I and his son and heir,

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...

. The German orientalist

Ferdinand Justi Ferdinand Justi (2 June 1837 in Marburg, Germany – 17 February 1907 in Marburg) was a German linguist and Orientalist. He finished his studies of linguistics at the University of Marburg and the University of Göttingen. In 1861 he lived in Ma ...

(died 1907) theorized that the relief is meant to show the Armenians' gratitude to Ardashir I and Shapur I, something which some later scholars supported. The

Iranologist Iranian studies ( '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field ...

Ehsan Shavarebi considers this theory to be "logical" but stresses that "we need more investigations on the event depicted on the relief." He suggests that the rock relief is meant to illustrate the probable peace made between Ardashir I and the Kingdom of Armenia. When 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 ...

house of Armenia was abolished and the country was made a Sasanian province in 428, Nor Shirakan and

Paytakaran Paytakaran () was the easternmost province ( or ) of the Kingdom of Armenia. The province was located in the area of the lower courses of the Kura and Arax rivers, adjacent to the Caspian Sea. It corresponded to the territory known as Caspiane ...

were incorporated into the Sasanian province of

Adurbadagan Adurbadagan (Middle Persian: ''Ādurbādagān/Āδarbāyagān'', Parthian: ''Āturpātākān'') was a northwestern province in the Sasanian Empire, corresponding almost entirely to the present-day Azerbaijan region in Iran. Governed by a ''marzba ...

. Two archeological sites showing inhabitation during the Sasanian era has been found near Salmas. One of them is known as Haftan Tepe, which contains Sasanian-era pottery akin to those found in Takht-e Soleyman. The other is called Qazun Basi, located to the south of Salmas. They were likely used as military and administrative hubs. The 9th-century Muslim historian

al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...

reported that the taxes of Salmas had been long given to

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

, suggesting that during the

Arab conquest of Iran 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 was Arab armies from

Diyar Rabi'a Diyar Rabi'a () is the medieval Arabic name of the easternmost and largest of the three provinces of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), the other two being Diyar Bakr and Diyar Mudar. According to the medieval geographer al-Baladhuri, all three prov ...

that conquered Salmas. During the reign of

Marzuban ibn Muhammad Marzuban ibn Muhammad (died 957) was the Sallarid ruler of Azerbaijan (941/42–957). He was the son of Muhammad bin Musafir, the ruler of Tarum. Takeover of Azerbaijan In 941 Marzuban and his brother Wahsudan ibn Muhammad, with the tacit ap ...

() of the Daylamite

Sallarid dynasty The Sallarid dynasty (), (also known as the Musafirids or Langarids) was a Muslim dynasty of Daylami origin, which ruled in Tarom, Samiran, Daylam, Gilan and subsequently Azerbaijan, Arran, and some districts in Eastern Armenia in the 2nd half o ...

, Salmas became subjugated to his rule. In 943/44, Marzuban ibn Muhammad repelled an attack on Salmas by the

Hamdanid dynasty The Hamdanid dynasty () was a Shia Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled modern day Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib tribe of Mesopotamia and Arabia. History Origin The Hamdanids hailed ...

, and in 955/56, it was attacked by the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

military leader Daysam. By 975, Salmas was seemingly under the rule of the Kurdish

Rawadid dynasty Rawwadid, Ravvadid (also Revend or Revendi), or Banū Rawwād () (900–1071) was a Sunni Muslim Kurdish dynasty, centered in the northwestern region of Adharbayjan (Azerbaijan) between the late 8th and early 13th centuries. Originally of Ar ...

, who after 983/84 ruled all of Azerbaijan. Salmas is described by the 10th-century Islamic geographers Ibn Hawkal and

al-Istakhri Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', , i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. – d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel author and Islamic geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arabic of ...

as a tiny town in Azerbaijan with a sturdy wall in a fertile location. Another 10th-century Islamic geographer,

al-Maqdisi Shams al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr, commonly known by the ''Nisba (onomastics), nisba'' al-Maqdisi or al-Muqaddasī, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of ''The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions'' and '' ...

, considers the town to have been part of the administration of Armenia and inhabited by Kurds, which according to the modern scholar and orientalist

Clifford Edmund Bosworth Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA (29 December 1928 – 28 February 2015) was an English historian and Orientalist, specialising in Arabic and Iranian studies. Life Bosworth was born on 29 December 1928 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire (now ...

must had been part of the Hadhabani tribe. In 1054/55, 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. ...

imposed their rule on the Rawwadids, and in 1070 removed them from power resulting in Salmas being captured by the

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

. In 1064, the Seljuk sultan

Alp Arslan Alp Arslan, born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second List of sultans of the Seljuk Empire, sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk (warlord), Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty and the empire. He g ...

() made a military campaign against the Byzantines, Armenians and Georgians, in which the Kurds of Salmas took part. Salmas was in ruins during the lifetime of the Muslim scholar

Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on geography con ...

(died 1229), but according to the geographer

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini (; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, and the interregnum that followed. A native of Qazvin, Mustawfi belonged to fami ...

(died after 1339/40), it was once again thriving in the middle of the 14th-century. The

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

Khwaja Taj al-Din Ali Shah Tabrizi had rebuilt the town's 8,000-step-long wall during the reign of

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 ...

ruler

Ghazan Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes westernized as Casanus was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa K ...

(), and Salmas's revenues—presumably those of the entire district—amounted to 39,000

dinar The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...

s, a large amount. Another mention of the city was made in 1281, when its Assyrian bishop made the trip to the consecration of the

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE), sometimes called the Church of the East and officially known as the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, is an Eastern Christianity, Eastern Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian denomin ...

patriarch Yaballaha in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

.Houtsma, M. Th. ''et al''. (1993 reprint) "Salmas" ''E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936'' Volume 4, E.J. Brill, New York
page 118
In the Battle of Salmas on 17–18 September 1429, the

Kara Koyunlu The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu (, ; ), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, English Black Sheep, Turkmen tribal federation th ...

were defeated by

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370 ...

who was consolidating Timurid holdings west of

. However, the area was retaken by the Kara Koyunlu in 1447 after the death of Shah Rukh. The Lak tribe settled in the Salmas area at the end of the 16th century. It seems that at the time, the governor of Lak and Salmas was interchangeable. Today, there remains a possible final trace of the tribe in the form of a Lakestan area of the tribe which post-

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

lived dispersed across the country. In March 1915

Cevdet Bey Djevdet Bey or Cevdet Tahir BelbezSait Çetinoğlu"Bir Osmanlı Komutanının Soykırım Güncesi", ''Birikim'', 09.04.2009. (1878 – January 15, 1955)Selcuk Uzun"1915 „Van İsyanı“ ve Vali Cevdet (Belbez) Bey" ''Küyerel'', 30.12.2011. wa ...

ordered 800

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

of Salmas to be killed.'''' Mar Shimun, the Patriarch of the

was murdered by the

chieftain

Simko Shikak Ismail Agha Shikak (, ), also known as Simko (, ; 1887–1930), was a Kurds, Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak (tribe), Shekak tribe. He was a nationalist warlord who controlled significant land and led thousands of Kurdish rebels who defeated th ...

in Salmas in March 1918. Around the advent of the 1910s,

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

started to station infantry and

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

in Salmas. The Russians retreated at the time of

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

's offensive in the Iran-Caucasus region, but returned in early 1916, and stayed up to the wake of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

Demographics

Language and ethnicity

The majority of the population is composed of

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

and

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

with some

, and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 79,560 in 19,806 households. The following census in 2011 counted 88,196 people in 23,751 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 92,811 people in 27,115 households. According to the 2019 census, the city's population is 127,864.

Geography

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Salmas features a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(''BSk''), typical of northwestern Iran.

Notable people

* Stepanos V of Salmast (d. 1567) –

Catholicos A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek ( ...

of the Armenian Apostolic Church *

Yohannan Gabriel Yohannan Gabriel (or ''Jean Guriel'', 1758–1833) was bishop of Salmas (Chaldean Archdiocese), Salmas of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1795 to his death. Life Isho'yahb Gabriel was born in Khosrowabad, West Azerbaijan, Khosrowa in 1758 and ...

(1758–1833) –

Chaldean Catholic The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...

bishop of Salmas * Nicholas I Zaya (d. 1855) – Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans *

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

(1835–1888) – Armenian novelist * Paul Bedjan (1838–1920) – Chaldean Catholic priest and orientalist * Abraham Guloyan (1893–1983) – Politician * Murad Kostanyan (1902–1989) – Actor * Hossein Sadaghiani (1903–1982) – The first manager and head coach of

Iran national football team The Iran national football team (), recognised as IR Iran by FIFA since 2018, represents Iran in men's international senior Association football, football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). At the cont ...

(1941–1951) and the first Iranian soccer player to play for foreign clubs ( R. Charleroi S.C. and Fenerbahce SK) and in a European league * Ardeshir Ovanessian (c. 1905–1990) – Communist leader * Timur Lakestani (1915–2011) – aka Father of Iranian Electrical Industry * Jafar Salmasi (1918–2000) – weightlifter * Emmanuel Agassi (1930–2021) – boxer and father of

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...

* Hadi Asghari (b. 1981) – football player

Gallery

File:Salmas_Overal.jpg, Overall View of Imam St. and Shahrdari Sq. File:Salmas_Blvd.jpg, Islamic Republic Blvd., Near Panahi Technical School File:Khan Takhti-Rd top view.JPG, Khan Takhti-Rd near Salmas File:Haftvan Church 002.jpg, The Haftvan Church File:Chaldean Catholic Church in Salmas.jpg,

Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church (''sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is ...

in Salmas File:بیمارستان خاتم الانبیاء.jpg, File:Salmas -city.jpg, Salmas File:Salmas_Payer_House.jpg, An angled front view of Salmas Imam Khomeini Prayer House, 2017 File:Salmas_Nation_Park_in_a_Winter_Night.jpg, A view of Nation Park in a Winter night, 2016

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Salmas famous people"Salmas Map – Satellite Images of Salmas"
Maplandia {{Salmas County, state=collapsed Cities in West Azerbaijan province Populated places in Salmas County Mass murder in 1915 Kurdish settlements in West Azerbaijan province