Qom | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

About 2 pages (641 words)

Qom Summary

Qom

(2001 pop. 873,000). Approximately 130 kilometers south of Tehran, Qom is situated in a semiarid interior basin of central Iran along the Qom River, which flows down from the Zagros Mountains, through Qom, and into the large Darya-e Namak salt marsh to the city's east. Qom is bordered to the east by the western edge of the Dasht-e-Kavir (Great Salt Desert). The city depends on both ground and subterranean water sources, the latter derived from channels known as qanats; its history has included significant incidents of water shortage and drought.

The vicinity of present-day Qom has been settled since early antiquity, and it is cited by many authorities as among the oldest sites of inhabitance in Iran. The city's earliest manifestation was reportedly razed amid Alexander of Macedon's fourth century BCE advance, and it was not truly restored until the late fifth century CE during the Sasanid dynasty (224–228–651 CE). It was a regional center of Zoroastrianism prior to its incorporation into the Islamic world. Thereafter, Qom emerged as a center of Iranian Shi'ism in the seventh century and continues as such into the present.

Minarets surround the golden-tiled dome of a mosque in Qom. (CORBIS)

In 816, Fatima, the sister of Reza the Eighth Imam, died and was buried in Qom; a shrine was erected, and the city began to develop as a major Shi'ite pilgrimage site. Qom remained a religious center even when the wider region was subjugated by invading Turkic and other armies, although some destruction did occur. Its prominence as a theological center inspired the gradual development of a holy precinct in Qom through the construction of additional mosques, shrines, madrasahs (religious schools), and other religious infrastructure usually endowed by notables over the following centuries; most notable is the golden-domed shrine that covers Fatima's tomb.

While Mashhad is regarded as the holiest of cities in historic Persia and contemporary Iran, Qom has been the principal seat of both the country's ulama (religious leadership) and Islamic education for centuries, albeit with some marginal periods of relative inactivity. As such, it is not only noted for its mosques, madrasahs (in fact, the largest madrasah in Iran is located in Qom), and libraries, but Qom also stands out as a historic political rival of Tehran and its secular rulers. This was particularly true during the Qajar (1794–1925) and Pahlavi (1925–1979) dynasties, and it was in this context in Qom that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was educated and came to prominence in Iran. Qom was the location of prominent anti-Pahlavi riots during the revolution. Since the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it has retained its theological significance, and many clerical politicians commute regularly between Qom and Tehran.

Levels of food production in the vicinity of Qom have historically been marginal. However, the city has been able to thrive—although fitfully at times—due to industries other than just those oriented around religion and pilgrimage, including food and cotton processing, the production of ceramics, glasses, and tiles, the weaving of textiles—especially carpets—and facilities ancillary to the production of petroleum and chemicals. Although there have been discoveries of both of oil and natural gas in the immediate vicinity, issues of quality and accessibility have largely prevented subsequent development on a significant scale. Qom's recent development has been associated with its location in a dynamic transportation corridor including highways, railways, and pipelines from Tehran in the north, through Qom, toward other cities in the south. The related expansion in infrastructure and linkages with other areas have led to dramatic increases in the city's population over the past decades, from 637,700 in 1985 to 873,300 in 2001.