Ilam Province (Persian: استان ایلام) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Ilam. The province is in the western part of the country in Region 4 and covers 20,164.11 km2 (7,785.41 mi2). It shares 425 km (264 mi) of the border with Iraq, and also borders on the provinces of Kermanshah, Lorestan, and Khuzestan.
Etymology The name "Ilam" comes from "Elam", the prehistoric civilisation that ruled in south western Iran and south eastern Iraq from 2700 BC to 539 BC.
History
Pre-history The name "Ilam" comes from "Elam", the pre-historic civilization that ruled the area in modern southwest Iran and southeast Iraq from 2700 BC to 539 BC. Archaeological findings date human settlement of the area to around 5000 BC. Ashurbanipal, the then king of Assyria, invaded Elam in 639 BC and totally destroyed it. Although not as united as before, the Elamites survived and continued to live in the area after the invasion. Between 612 and 546 BC, Elam was incorporated into the Median kingdom and later into the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BC. During the Achaemenid era, Elam lost its independence forever and became the third province of the empire after Persis and Media.
During the Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Parthian eras the area and its settlements took on importance due to its proximity to the districts of Hamadan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Lorestan and, most notably, Susa. During the Sasanian era, present-day Ilam was composed of two states: Mehrjanqazaq in the east, which was the modern day Darreh Shahr and Masbasan in the west.
Arab reign
After the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia in 640 AD, the Arabs named the area the "Land of the Mountains," or "Jibal". During the Arabs' rule, the kingdom of Jibal, whose capital was Seymareh, was one of the territories under the control of Baghdad and Basra, and lasted until 961 CE. The Rashidun Caliphate conquered Mesopotamia by 640 CE and later the whole of the Sasanian Empire by 643 CE and kept control until their collapse in 661 CE. Prior to their collapse, civil war had taken over the caliphate, after which the Muawiyah faction won and thus established the Umayyad Caliphate. The Umayyads controlled the area until their own collapse in 750 AD, after which the Abbasid Caliphate took over and reigned for around two hundred years until 945 CE. After conquering western Iran in 945 CE, the Buyid Dynasty ruled over this area until 1055.
Kurdish reign For 270 years, between 1155 and 1424, the Kurds reigned in the Zagros Mountains, especially areas around Lorestan. Hazaraspids who are also known as Lorestan Atabegs were composed of two groups, the Little Lor, who were mostly of Lor descent and Big Lor Atabegs who were of Kurdish descent. The former controlled parts of the present-day provinces of Markazi, Hamedan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Khuzestan and Ilam. From 961 to 1015, the Ḥasanwayhid dynasty ruled over western Iran under the influence of the Buyid Dynasty. Centred at Dinawar, near present-day Kermanshah, Hasanwayhids, Kurdish Muslims with ties to the Kurdish Barzikani tribe, controlled central areas of the Zagros Mountains. At its greatest extent, the dynasty included the modern-day areas around Khorramabad, Borujerd, Nahavand, Asadabad, Borujerd, Ahwaz, Ilam, Kermanshah, Hulwan and Kirkuk. The Ḥasanwayhid dynasty was overthrown by the Annazids, who, with help of the Buyid dynasty, controlled the area until their collapse in 1116 CE.
Khorshidi dynasty
The capital of Little Lor was Shapourkhwast or the modern-day Khorramabad, especially the Falak-ol-Aflak Castle. The Little Lor Atabegs or the Khorshidi dynasty ruled over the area for over 412 years, from 1184 to 1597 CE, after which Shah Abbas the Great executed the last ruler, Shahverdi Khan, and replaced Shahverdi's nephew, Hossein Beyg/Khan, thus ending the rule of Little Lor and beginning of the Vali/Wali dynasty also known as Feyli Vali.
Qajar era (1789–1925) During the Qajar era, Lorestan was divided into two regions: Poshtkoh (present-day Ilam province) with the center of Ilam city and Pishkouh (present-day Lorestan) with the center of Khorramabad. Poshtkhouh literally means “back of mountain” and it was due to the fact that Ilam was situated at the westernmost parts of the Zagros Mountains and to the rest of the country it was plainly considered at the back of mountains. From that point on, Ilam was ruled independently from Lorestan, and the governor reported directly to the central government, thereby ending Lorestan control of Ilam and Poshtkouh. The two districts were later renamed "Deh-e Bala" and "Deh-e Pa'een", meaning the upper and lower villages respectively. During the rule of Hossein Qoli Khan over "Deh-e Bala" (1863–1900 CE), it was renamed to "Hossein-Abad Poshtkuh". The Vali Castle of Ilam was built by the next Vali, Gholamreza Khan Feyli, in 1908. The castle is now a nationally registered heritage and also the Ilam Museum of Anthropology.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
