Persian Iraq

Map of Persian Iraq and its surroundings

Persian Iraq, also uncommonly spelled Persian Irak^[1] (Persian: عراقِ عجم‎ Erāq-e Ajam(i); Arabic: عراق العجم 'Irāq al-'Ajam or عراق عجمي 'Irāq 'Ajami), is a historical region of the western parts of Iran.

The region, originally known as Media in pre-Islamic times, became known as Jibal ("mountain, hill") by the early Islamic geographers, due its mountainous layout. The name was progressively abandoned during the Seljuk era in the 11th-12th centuries, and was called ʿIrāq(-i) ʿAjamī ("Persian Iraq") to distinguish it from ʿIrāq(-i) Arab ("Arab Iraq") in Mesopotamia.^[2]

According to the medieval historian and geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi, this course started taking place when the Seljuk sultans ruled both Iraq proper and Jibal, thus being addressed "sultan al-Iraq". However, the city of Hamadan in Jibal eventually became their capital, thus resulting in the region becoming known as Iraq, with the word Ajami ("Persian") being added.^[3] Following the Mongol invasion of Iran in the 13th-century, the name Jibal had become completely outdated. In the following century, the geographer Hamdallah Mustawfi was unaware of the name Jibal, and only knew it as 'Iraq-i Ajami'. It was regarded by him as sardsīr ("cold zone").^[3]

Later, until the beginning of the 20th century, the term Iraq in Iran was used to refer to a much smaller region south of Saveh and west of Qom. This region was centered on Soltanabad, which was renamed later as Arak.^[4]

References

Sources

• Bosworth, C. E. (1998). "ʿERĀQ-E ʿAJAM(Ī)". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 5. p. 538. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eraq-e-ajami. Retrieved 22 September 2014. 
• de Planhol, X. (1986). "ARĀK". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 3. pp. 247–248. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arak. 
• Lockhart (1965). "D̲j̲ibāl". in Lewis, B.. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume II: C–G. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 534. OCLC 495469475. https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_2068. 

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