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Mazandaran[1] is a Caspian province in the north of Iran. Located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, it is bordered clockwise by the Golestan, Semnan and Tehran provinces (together forming Greater Mazandaran, separated from Mazandaran respectively in 1997, 1976 and 1960. ). The provinces of Qazvin and Gilan lie to the west. Mazandaran is one of the most densely populated provinces in Iran and has diverse natural resources, especially large reservoirs of oil and natural gas. The province's five largest counties are Sari, Behshahr, Babol, Amol and Qaemshahr. [2]. Founded as province in 1937, Mazandaran was declared the second modern province after neighbouring Gilan. The diverse nature of the province features plains, prairies, forests and jungles stretching from the sandy beaches of the Caspian Sea to the rugged and snowcapped Elburz sierra, including Mount Damavand, the highest peak and volcano in the Middle East and Western Asia, which at the narrowest point (Nowshahr County) narrows to 5 miles. Mazandaran is a major producer of farmed fish , and aquaculture provides an important economic addition to traditional dominance of agriculture . Another important contributor to the economy is the tourism industry, as people from all of Iran enjoy visiting the area. Mazandaran is also a fast-growing centre for biotechnology [3] and civil engineering. Human habitation in the area dates back at least 75,000 years. Recent excavations in Goher Tippe provide proof that the area has been urbanized for more than 5,000 years, and the area is considered one of the most important historical sites of Iran. It has played an important role in cultural and urban development of the region. . Mazandaran was part of the ancient Hyrcanian Kingdom [4] and the Kingdom of Tapuria . Indigenous peoples of the region include the ethnic Mazanderanis and Tapurians, speaking a Caspian language which most resembles Gilaki and Sangiseri.
History
Pre Islamic HistoryThe region is known to have been populated from early antiquity, and Mazandaran has changed hands among various dynasties from early in its history. The modern Mazanderanis could have migrated from Afghanistan and changed the old name of the country which was Gorgān. There are several fortresses remaining from Parthian and Sassanid times, and many older cemeteries scattered throughout the province. During this era, Mazandaran was part of Hyrcania Province which was one of important provinces. With the advent of the Sassanid dynasty, the King of Mazandaran (Tabaristan and Padashkhwargar) was Gushnasp , whose ancestors had reigned in the area (under the Parthian empire) since the time of Alexandar. In 529-536 Mazandarn was ruled by Sassanid prince Kawus son of Kawadh[5]. Anushirawan, the Sassanid king, put in his place Zarmihr, who claimed his ancestry from the legendary blacksmith Kaveh[5]. This dynasty ruled till 645 A.D., when Gil Gilanshah (a descendant of the Sassanid king Jamasp and a son of Piruz) joined Mazandaran to Gilan[5]. These families had descendants who ruled during the Islamic period. Post Islamic HistoryDuring the post-Islamic period the local dynasties fall into three classes: 1. local families of pre-Islamic origin, 2. the ʿAlid sayyid s, and 3. local families of secondary importance[5]. The Bawandids who claimed descent from Kawus provided three dynasties[5]. The first dynasty (665-1007) was overthrown on the conquest of Tabaristan by the Ziyarid Kabus b. Wushmgir[5]. The second dynasty reigned from 466/1073 to 606/1210 when Mazandaran was conquered by 'Ala al-Din Muhammad Khwarzamshah[5]. The third ruled from 635/1237 to 750/1349 as vassals of the Mongols[5]. The last representative of the Bawandids was killed by Afrasiyab Chulawi[5]. The Karinids claimed descent from Karin, brother of Zarmihr who was the pre-Islamic ruler under the Sassanids[5]. Their last representative Mazyar was put to death in 224/839[5]. The Paduspanids claimed descent from the Dabyuids of Gilan (their eponym was the son of Gīl Gawbāra)[5]. They came to the front about 40/660 and during the rule of the ʿAlids were their vassals. Later, they were vassals of the Buyids and Bawandids, who deposed them in 586/1190[5]. The dynasty, restored in 606/1209-10, survived till the time of Timur; one of its branches (that of Kawus the son of Kayumarth) reigned till 975/1567 and the other (that of Iskandar the son of Kayumarth) till 984/1574[5]. In 662 CE, ten years after the death of Yazdegerd III the last Sassanian Emperor, a large Muslim army under the command of Hassan ibn Ali (Imam Hassan, the second Shi'a Imam) invaded Tabarestan (Mazandaran as it was then called) only to be severely beaten, suffering heavy losses to the forces of the Zoroastrian princes of the Dabboyid house. For the next two hundred years, Tabaristan maintained an existence independent of the Umayyad Caliphate which supplanted the Persian Empire in the early seventh century, with independent Zoroastrian houses like the Bavand and Karen fighting an effective guerilla warfare against Islam. A short-lived Alid Shiite state collapsed before the subsequent take-over by the Ziyarid princes. Mazandaran, unlike much of the rest of the Iranian Plateau maintained a Zoroastrian majority until the 12th century, thanks to its isolation and hardy population which fought against the Caliph's armies for centuries. Image:Mahmoodabad.jpg|thumb|left|The resort of National Iranian Oil Company, near Mahmoodabad. During the Abbasid caliphate of Abou Jafar Al-Mansur, Tabaristan witnessed a wave of popular revolt. Ultimately, Vandad Hormoz established an independent dynasty in Tabaristan in 783. In 1034, Soltan Mahmoud Ghaznavi entered Tabarestan via Gorgan followed by the invasion of Soltan Mohammad Kharazmshah in 1209. Thereafter, the Mongols governed the region and finally were overthrown by the Timurid Dynasty. After the dissolution of the feudal government of Tabaristan, Mazandaran was incorporated into modern Persian Empire by Shah Abbas I in 1596. In the Safavid era Mazandaran was settled by Georgian migrants, whose descendants still live across Mazandaran. Still many towns, villages and neighbourhoods in Mazandaran bear the name "Gorji" (i.e. Georgian) in them, although most of the Georgians are already assimilated into the mainstream Mazandaranis. The history of Georgian settlement is described by Eskandar Beyg Monshi, the author of the 17th century Tarikh-e Alam-Ara-ye Abbasi, in addition many foreigners e.g. Chardin, and Della Valle, have written about their encounters with the Georgian Mazandaranis. Before the reign of Nadir Shah, the province was briefly occupied by Russians in the aftermath of the Russo-Persian War, 1722-1723 and peacefully returned to Persia in 1735. Research Tips
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