Arasbaran

About

Arasbaran (Persian: ارسباران, romanized: Arasbârân, lit. 'banks of the Aras'), also known as Qaradagh (Azerbaijani: Qaradağ; قره‌داغ, lit. 'black mountain'; Armenian: Ղարադաղ), is a large mountainous area stretching from the Qūshā Dāgh massif, south of Ahar, to the Aras River in East Azerbaijan province of Iran. The region is confined to Aras River in the north, Meshgin Shahr County and Mughan plain in the east, Sarab County in the south, and Tabriz and Marand counties in the west. Since 1976, UNESCO has registered 72,460 hectares of the region, confined to 38°40' to 39°08'N and 46°39' to 47°02'E, as biosphere reserve with the following general description:

This biosphere reserve situated in the north of Iran at the border to Azerbaijan belongs to the Caucasus Iranian Highlands. In-between the Caspian, Caucasus and Mediterranean region, the area covers mountains up to 2,200 metres, high alpine meadows, semi-arid steppes, rangelands and forests, rivers and springs. Arasbaran is the territory of about 23,500 nomads who are mainly living in the buffer and transition zones (2000). Economic activities in the biosphere reserve are mainly agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture, apiculture, handicrafts and tourism, but business activities can also be found in urbanized areas. In 2023, Jolfa County in the north was designated UNESCO Aras Geopark.

In antiquity, this region was inhabited by the Alarodians and Caspian tribes.

Then this area became alternately part of the Medes and Persia. In the 2nd century B.C. the region became part of the Armenian kingdom, where the Armenian principality Parspatunik was established, which existed until the 6th century A.D. Small Armenian melikdoms of Karadagh (Arasbaran) remained until the Turkish invasion of 1918. The Armenian population is preserved in the mountains of Arasbaran (Karadagh) in modern day. There is no mention of Arasbaran as a geo-political entity in written sources dating prior to Safavid era. There is a speculation that the region referred to as Syah Kuh by the 10th-century Muslim geographer, Ibn Hawqal, corresponds to the present day Arasbaran. However, the said Syahkoh has more similarities with Manghishlaq in the eastern shores of Caspian Sea. Therefore, Arasbaran's history should be considered in the context of its two main towns, Ahar and Kaleybar. Kaleybar, formerly known as bedh, was the stronghold of Babak Khorramdin who, in 816 AD, revolted against Islamic Caliphate and was defeated in 836 AD. The events of the two decades long tumultuous times have been extensively reported by Islamic historians of the epoch. The first report is by Al-Masudi in The Meadows of Gold: Babak revolted in Bedh region with the disciples of Djavidan ... Following a series of defeats Babak was blockaded in his native town..., which even now is known as Babak's country. Ibn Athir in his book, The Complete History, has devoted many pages to the description of battles. Yaqut al-Hamawi, writing in early thirteenth century, describes Kaleybar in the following words, County between Azerbaijan and Erran.... This county produces pomegranates of incomparable beauty, excellent figs and grapes that are dried on fires (because the sun is always obscured by thick clouds). 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, describes Ahar as very flourishing despite its small extent. Both towns lost most of their importance during the rule of Ilkhanate. Hamdallah Mustawfi, writing in the-mid fourteenth century, describes Ahar as "a little town", and Kaleybar as "A village of Azerbaijan, in the woods near a mountain which comprises a fortress". Ahar was in the focus of Safavid dynasty's agenda for casting of Azerbaijan as a Safavid dominion. Thus, Shah Abbas rebuilt the tomb of Sheikh Shahab ol-Din Ahari. In 1604, as Ottoman forces threatened the area directly to the north of Arasbaran during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618), Shah Abbas ordered Maqsud Sultan to evacuate the entire population of the Nakhichevan region (including the Armenians of Jolfa, who, in the following year, were transplanted to Isfahan) to Arasbaran and Dezmar. Arasbaran region suffered enormously during Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) and Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) due to its proximity to the war zone. Western travellers in 1837–1843 period had found Ahar, a city with around 700 households, in wretched condition. Arasbaran was one of the epicentres of Persian Constitutional Revolution. Arasbaran tribes were heavily involved in armed conflicts; the revolutionary and anti-revolutionary camps were headed, respectively, by Sattar Khan and Rahimkhan Chalabianloo, both from Qaradağ region. When in 1925 Rezā Shāh deposed Ahmad Shah Qajar and founded the Pahlavi dynasty, Arasbaran's gradual decline started. The new king insisted on cultural and ethnic nationalism, and implemented a policy of cultural assimilation. He renamed Qaradağ as Arasbaran to deny the Turkic identity of the inhabitants. Consequently, Arasbaran is no longer in the focus of national politics. Still, many books and articles are being written on the contribution of Arasbaran region, and its inhabitants in the contemporary history of Iran cannot be underestimated. The interested reader may refer to the following scholarly books and articles:

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