Ahar, Iran

History

Ahar is one of the ancient cities of the Azerbaijan region, its name before Islam was "meimad". In the 12th-13th centuries, Ahar was a minor and short-lived, but prosperous emirate ruled by the Pishteginid dynasty of Georgian origin (1155—1231). Yaqut al-Hamawi, writing in early thirteenth century, describes Ahar as very flourishing despite its small extent.

The city lost most of its importance during the rule of Ilkhanate. Hamdallah Mustawfi, writing in mid fourteenth century, describes Ahar as a little town. He estimates the tax revenue of the town to be comparable to that of Mardanaqom, which presently is a medium-sized village.

Ahar was in the focus of Safavid's agenda for casting of Azerbaijan as a Safavid dominion. Thus, Shah Abbas I rebuilt the mausoleum of Sheikh Sheikh Shihab-al-din in Ahar.

Ahar suffered enormously during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 and Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828. Western travelers in 1837-1843 period had found Ahar, a city with around 700 households, in wretched condition. Their impression was that the Qajar princes, who were dispatched as the governors of Qaradagh hastened to collect as much wealth as possible before their removal.

From the History section of Ahar on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.