EVERYTHING WHAT YOU NEEDTO DREAM...
Iran >
Mashad
KNOWLEDGE OF Mashad
Mashhad (مشهد in Persian, is also spelled Meshed). It is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shi'ia world. It is located 850 kilometers East of Tehran, Iran (Persia), and the center of the province of Razavi Khorasan.
The city was founded around 823 CE, and its name derives from mashhad-e-reza, "place of martyrdom". It is a reference to the death of Imam Reza, the Eighth Imam of Shi'ite Islam, who is believed by members of the Shi'ia sect to have been poisoned there upon orders of Caliph Al Ma'mun. Before his death the place was a small village by the name of Sanabad. A shrine was built there to commemorate the Imam, and gradually the town grew around it. Among the first major buildings was a mausoleum built by Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi. Today the holy shrine and its museum hold one of the most extensive cultural and artistic treasuries of Iran, in particular manuscript books and paintings. Several important theological schools are associated with the shrine of the Eighth Imam.
As a city of great religious significance, it is also a place of pilgrimage. It is said that the rich go to Mecca but the poor journey to Mashhad. Thus, even as those who complete the pilgrimage to Mecca receive the title of Haji, those who make the pilgrimage to Mashhad – and especially to the Imam Reza shrine – are known as Mashtee, a term employed also of its inhabitants. It is thought that over 12 million Muslims a year make the pilgrimage to Mashhad.
Besides its religious significance, Mashhad has played an important political role as well. It saw its greatest glory under Nadir Shah, ruler of Iran from 1736 to 1747 and great benefactor of the Imam Reza shrine, who made the city his capital.
Though primarily a Muslim city, Mashhad has harbored a number of religious minorities over the centuries. Among these were the Jews, who were forcibly converted in 1839. After their "conversion" they were known as "Jadid al-Islam," or "New of Islam." However, in truth they lived an double life: outwardly, they conformed to Islamic ways, but inwardly they preserved a Jewish identity and Jewish traditions.
In 1912, the sanctuary of the Imam Reza was bombed by the Russian forces, causing widespread and persisting resentment in the Shiite Muslim world.
Long a center of secular as well as of religious learning, Mashhad has been a center for the arts and for the sciences. The famed Ferdowsi University[1], named after the great Iranian poet, is located here. The Madraseh of Ayatollah Al-Khooi, originally built in the seventeenth century and recently replaced with modern facilities, is the city’s foremost traditional centre for religious learning. The Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, founded in 1984, stands at the centre of town, within the shrine complex. The prestige of traditional religious education at Mashhad attracts students, known as talaba, internationally.
Mashhad is also home to one of the oldest libraries of the Middle-East called the Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi with a history of over six centuries. The Astan-e Quds Razavi Museum, which is part of the Astan-e Quds Razavi Complex, is home to over 70,000 rare manuscripts from various historical eras. There are some six million historical documents in the foundation’s central library.
In 1569 (977 H), `Imad al-Din Mas`ud Shirazi, a physician at the Mashhad hospital, wrote the earliest Islamic treatise on syphilis, one influenced by European medical thought.
The second largest holy city of the world, Mashhad attracts more than 12 million tourists and pilgrims every year, many of whom come to pay homage to the tomb of Imam Reza (the eighth Shi'ite Imam). It has been a magnet for travellers since medieval times, when the famous world traveller Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta visited the town.
Apart from a number of large beautiful parks and the tombs of historical celebrities in nearby Tus and Neyshabour, the tomb of Nadir Shah and Kooh Sangi park are also noteworthy sights. It is also home to the Mashhad Airbase (formerly Imam Reza airbase), jointly a military installation housing Mirage aircraft, and a civilian international airport.
Some points of interest lie outside the city: the tomb of Khajeh Morad, along the road to Tehran; the tomb of Khajeh Rabi' located 6 kilometers north of the city where there are some inscriptions by the renowned Safavid calligrapher Reza Abbasi; and the tomb of Khajeh Abasalt, a distance of 20 kilometers from Mashhad along the road to Neishabur. (The three were all disciples of Imam Reza).
Among the other sights are the tomb of the great poet Ferdowsi in Tus, 24 kilometers distance, and the summer resorts at Torghabeh, Torogh, Akhlamad, Zoshk, and Shandiz.
The Shah Public Bath, built in 1648 during the Safavid era and an outstanding example of the architecture of that period, was recently restored, and is to be turned into a museum.
The city was founded around 823 CE, and its name derives from mashhad-e-reza, "place of martyrdom". It is a reference to the death of Imam Reza, the Eighth Imam of Shi'ite Islam, who is believed by members of the Shi'ia sect to have been poisoned there upon orders of Caliph Al Ma'mun. Before his death the place was a small village by the name of Sanabad. A shrine was built there to commemorate the Imam, and gradually the town grew around it. Among the first major buildings was a mausoleum built by Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi. Today the holy shrine and its museum hold one of the most extensive cultural and artistic treasuries of Iran, in particular manuscript books and paintings. Several important theological schools are associated with the shrine of the Eighth Imam.
As a city of great religious significance, it is also a place of pilgrimage. It is said that the rich go to Mecca but the poor journey to Mashhad. Thus, even as those who complete the pilgrimage to Mecca receive the title of Haji, those who make the pilgrimage to Mashhad – and especially to the Imam Reza shrine – are known as Mashtee, a term employed also of its inhabitants. It is thought that over 12 million Muslims a year make the pilgrimage to Mashhad.
Besides its religious significance, Mashhad has played an important political role as well. It saw its greatest glory under Nadir Shah, ruler of Iran from 1736 to 1747 and great benefactor of the Imam Reza shrine, who made the city his capital.
Though primarily a Muslim city, Mashhad has harbored a number of religious minorities over the centuries. Among these were the Jews, who were forcibly converted in 1839. After their "conversion" they were known as "Jadid al-Islam," or "New of Islam." However, in truth they lived an double life: outwardly, they conformed to Islamic ways, but inwardly they preserved a Jewish identity and Jewish traditions.
In 1912, the sanctuary of the Imam Reza was bombed by the Russian forces, causing widespread and persisting resentment in the Shiite Muslim world.
Long a center of secular as well as of religious learning, Mashhad has been a center for the arts and for the sciences. The famed Ferdowsi University[1], named after the great Iranian poet, is located here. The Madraseh of Ayatollah Al-Khooi, originally built in the seventeenth century and recently replaced with modern facilities, is the city’s foremost traditional centre for religious learning. The Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, founded in 1984, stands at the centre of town, within the shrine complex. The prestige of traditional religious education at Mashhad attracts students, known as talaba, internationally.
Mashhad is also home to one of the oldest libraries of the Middle-East called the Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi with a history of over six centuries. The Astan-e Quds Razavi Museum, which is part of the Astan-e Quds Razavi Complex, is home to over 70,000 rare manuscripts from various historical eras. There are some six million historical documents in the foundation’s central library.
In 1569 (977 H), `Imad al-Din Mas`ud Shirazi, a physician at the Mashhad hospital, wrote the earliest Islamic treatise on syphilis, one influenced by European medical thought.
The second largest holy city of the world, Mashhad attracts more than 12 million tourists and pilgrims every year, many of whom come to pay homage to the tomb of Imam Reza (the eighth Shi'ite Imam). It has been a magnet for travellers since medieval times, when the famous world traveller Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta visited the town.
Apart from a number of large beautiful parks and the tombs of historical celebrities in nearby Tus and Neyshabour, the tomb of Nadir Shah and Kooh Sangi park are also noteworthy sights. It is also home to the Mashhad Airbase (formerly Imam Reza airbase), jointly a military installation housing Mirage aircraft, and a civilian international airport.
Some points of interest lie outside the city: the tomb of Khajeh Morad, along the road to Tehran; the tomb of Khajeh Rabi' located 6 kilometers north of the city where there are some inscriptions by the renowned Safavid calligrapher Reza Abbasi; and the tomb of Khajeh Abasalt, a distance of 20 kilometers from Mashhad along the road to Neishabur. (The three were all disciples of Imam Reza).
Among the other sights are the tomb of the great poet Ferdowsi in Tus, 24 kilometers distance, and the summer resorts at Torghabeh, Torogh, Akhlamad, Zoshk, and Shandiz.
The Shah Public Bath, built in 1648 during the Safavid era and an outstanding example of the architecture of that period, was recently restored, and is to be turned into a museum.
Chapi