Mashhad
(2000 pop. 2 million). Mashhad (Mashad, Meshed), a city in northeastern Iran in the province of Khorasan, is located in the Kashaf River valley near the borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The city was always an important center for travelers from India and for those moving north-south. Today, Mashhad is the provincial capital and Iran's second largest city.
Mashhad was once a small village called Sanabad, twenty-five kilometers southeast of Tus, Khorasan's urban center throughout antiquity. Following the Shiʿite Imam Reza's death in 817 CE and his burial in Sanabad, however, the village became a key pilgrimage destination for Shiʿites and was eventually known as Mashhade Moghaddas ("place of martyrdom"), or just Mashhad. Since that time locals and notables built mosques, madrasahs, (religious schools), libraries, and numerous other structures adjacent to Reza's tomb. The resulting religious complex is an impressive urban center and one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Shiʿites. Today millions visit Mashhad each year as pilgrims.
After Mongol armies razed Tus in 1220, Mashhad emerged as a true city and eventual provincial capital. Though raided or seized by invading armies of Oghuz Turks, Mongols, Uzbeks, and Afghans through the centuries, Mashhad endured and grew. In 1736, Mashhad was made capital of Persia under Nadir Shah, and his tomb and museum are important monuments in the city. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mashhad was a significant center in the Anglo-Russian struggles over Eurasia, and the shrine of Imam Reza was even bombarded by Russians in 1912. During the past two decades Mashhad has also been a major destination for thousands of Afghan refugees.
Further Reading
Cronin, Stephanie. (1997) "An Experiment in Revolutionary Nationalism: The Rebellion of Colonel Muhammad Taqi Khan Pasyan in Mashhad, April–October 1921." Middle Eastern Studies 33, 4: 693–750.
Melville, Charles Peter. (1996) "Shah ʿAbbas and the Pilgrimage to Mashhad." In Safavid Persia: The History and Politics of an Islamic Society, edited by Charles Peter Melville. London: I. B. Tauris, 191–230.
Patai, Raphael. (1997) Jadid al-Islam: The Jewish "New Muslims" of Meshhed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
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