Sanabad was a village where the palace of Humayd ibn Qahtaba was located in the early 3rd century AH. When

Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...

died, he was buried in this palace. A few years later, during the caliphate of

al-Ma'mun Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

, in 202 AH,

Ali al-Rida Ali al-Rida (, 1 January 766 – 6 June 818), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan al-Thānī, was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the eighth imam in Twelver Shia Islam, succeeding his father, Musa al-Kazim. He is also part of th ...

, who was on his way to

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 ...

was poisoned in the house of the emir of Sanabad, and al-Ma'mun buried his body near Harun's grave. From then on, that spot was called "Mashhad al-Rida" , or

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

(place of martyrdom) for short. The city developed around the grave of al-Rida as the holiest site in Iran for the Shia. Gradually, many pilgrims were attracted to this place, and their number increased year by year.

References

Populated places in Iran {{Mashhad-geo-stub