Khorasan (Persian: استان خراسان [xoɾɒːˈsɒːn] ; also transcribed as Khurasan, Xorasan and Khorassan), also called Traxiane during Hellenistic and Parthian times, was a province in northeastern Iran until September 2004, when it was divided into three new provinces: North Khorasan, South Khorasan, and Razavi Khorasan.

Khorasan Province
استان خراسان
Khurasan
Khorassan
Map of Iran with Khorasan highlighted
Location of Khorasan within Iran (pre-2004)
CountryIran
DissolvedSeptember 2004
Area
 • Total
299,231 km2 (115,534 sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+03:30 (IRST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+04:30 (IRST)
Main language(s)Persian
The domes of the Imam Reza shrine and the Goharshad Mosque, 1976, at Mashhad, a major city in the former Khorasan and now the capital of the Razavi Khorasan province

Khorasan historically referred to a much larger area, comprising the east and the northeast of the Persian Empire. The name Khorāsān is Persian and means "where the sun arrives from".[1] The name was first given to the eastern province of Persia during the Sasanian Empire[2] and was used from the Late Middle Ages in distinction to neighbouring Transoxiana.[3][4][5]

This province, whose people are mainly Shia Muslims,[6] roughly encompassed the western portion of the historical Greater Khorasan.[7] The modern boundaries of the Iranian province of Khorasan were formally defined in the late nineteenth century[2] and the province was divided into three separate administrative divisions in 2004.[8]

History

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The name Khorāsān (lit. "sunrise"; "east"; or "land of the rising sun") was originally given to the eastern province of Persia during the Sassanian period.[2] The old Iranian province of Khorasan roughly formed the western half of the historical Greater Khorasan,[7] a region which included parts that are today in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Some of the main historical cities of Persia are located in the older Khorasan: Nishapur and Tus (now in Iran); Merv and Sanjan (now in Turkmenistan); Samarkand and Bukhara (both now in Uzbekistan); Herat and Balkh (now in Afghanistan); and Khujand and Panjakent (now in Tajikistan). The term was also used from the Late Middle Ages–especially in post-Mongol (Chagatai and Timurid) times–to distinguish the region from neighbouring Transoxiana.[3][4][5] The modern Iranian boundaries of the province of Khorasan were defined and formalised in the late nineteenth century.[2]

In August 1968 and September 1978, the region was the scene of two major earthquakes that left 12,000 and 25,000 people dead, respectively. A third major earthquake, the 1997 Qayen earthquake, took place on 10 May 1997 and left 1,567 dead, 2,300 injured, and 50,000 homeless.

Modern divisions

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Khorasan was the largest province of Iran until it was divided into three separate provinces in September 2004:[8]

Some parts of the province were added to

Demographics

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The major ethnic groups in the region are Persians with Khorasani Kurds, Khorasani Turks and Turkmen as the minorities. Smaller minorities are Baloch(Khorasani Baloch), Jews, Mongols, and Roma.[9] Most of the people in the region natively speak closely related modern day dialects of Persian. The region is home to a significant Sunni Muslim minority. The largest cluster of settlements and cultivation stretches around the city of Mashhad northwestward, containing the important towns of Quchan, Shirvan, and Bojnurd.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Compare Levant and Mashriq.
  2. ^ a b c d "Khorāsān". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b Svat Soucek, A History of Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.4
  4. ^ a b C. Edmund Bosworth, (2002), 'CENTRAL ASIA iv. In the Islamic Period up to the Mongols' Encyclopaedia Iranica (online)
  5. ^ a b C. Edmund Bosworth, (2011), 'MĀ WARĀʾ AL-NAHR' Encyclopaedia Iranica (online)
  6. ^ Khorasan tasnimnews Retrieved 1 September 2020
  7. ^ a b Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236
  8. ^ a b Online edition, Al-Jazeera Satellite Network. "Iran breaks up largest province". Archived from the original on 20 May 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2006.
  9. ^ "Khorasan. Ethnic groups". Encyclopædia Iranica. 17 May 2021.
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