Dargaz

For other places with the same name, see Dargaz (disambiguation).
Dargaz
درگز
Darreh Gaz
city
Dargaz
Coordinates: 37°26′40″N 59°06′29″E / 37.44444°N 59.10806°E / 37.44444; 59.10806Coordinates: 37°26′40″N 59°06′29″E / 37.44444°N 59.10806°E / 37.44444; 59.10806
Country  Iran
Province Razavi Khorasan
County Dargaz
Bakhsh Central
Elevation 479 m (1,572 ft)
Population (2016)
 • Total 70,345
Time zone IRST (UTC+3:30)
 • Summer (DST) IRDT (UTC+4:30)
Area code(s) +985146
Website http://hamemarket.ir
Dargaz at GEOnet Names Server

Dargaz (Persian: درگز‎‎, also Romanized as Dar Gaz; also known as Darreh Gaz; formerly, Moḩammadābād, Moḩammadābād Arbāb, and Muhammadābād)[1] is a city in and the capital of Dargaz County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 70,345, in 15,312 families.[2]

The town of Daregaz is situated 1,150 kilometres (710 mi) from Tehran and 255 kilometres (158 mi) from the center of Khorasan province. It is bound by Turkmenistan from the north, Mashhad from the east and southeast, Chanaran from the south, and Qoochan from the west. Daregaz, which was previously known as Abivard, an area which can doubtless be placed among the most ancient centers of Iranian culture. Excavations in this mountainous site have revealed artifacts dating back as far as the Parthian and Sasanian periods, and pre-historic times. Numerous mounds and other ancient sites have also yielded much evidence of the site's rich historical and cultural inheritance. Throughout its history, the site has been known by a variety of names: Dara, Daragyard, Pavart in pre-Islamic Persia, and Bavard, Abivard after the Islamic expansion. With its rich bazaar and access to fertile lands, the city was considerably more prosperous than neighboring Nesa and was widely known as one of the largest and most affluent cities of the Great Khorasan area.

For the period before the advent of the Safavids (r. 1501-1722), the historic city of Abivard was one of the educational centers of Islamic and Arabic scholarship in eastern Iran. Under the Saljuqids, Muhammad born Ahmad al-Abivardi (died 1114), was one of the renowned poets and litterateurs who, later in his life, settled for a while in Baghdad, but on the account of his Shi'ite proclivities was persecuted by the Abbasids. He then attended the court of the Saljuq Sultan Muhammad and was appointed to the position of Chief Accountant of the court. Another contemporary famous name from Abivard is Ali born Muhammad Anvari-Abivardi (died c. 1191), one of the great classical poets of Iran. After the Mongol invasion of Iran and Iraq, Husam al-Din Abivardi (died after 1324) is mentioned as one of the theologians attending the court of the Abbasid caliphs of Egypt.

References

  1. ↑ Dargaz can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3059663" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
  2. ↑ Template:IranCensus2016
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dargaz.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.