Dinavar

Dinavar (Persian: دینور) was a major city in the 8th-11th centuries, located to the northeast of Kermanshah in western Iran. The ruins of the city is now located in Dinavar District, in Sahneh County, Kermanshah Province.

In the early Islamic times, it was called Mah al-Kufa, the element Mah probably originating from the fact that in the Seleucid period, the city was located in the heartland of Media. Dinavar historically has produced many scholars including Ebn Qotayba and Abu Hanifa Dinvari. Dinavar was also the center of the Kurdish principality of Hasanwayhid. It was sacked by Mardavij in 931. According to Ibn Athir it was plundered by Oghuz Turkmens of Iva tribe in around 568/1172-73. According to Hamdollah Mostowfi, it was a small town in the 14th century. But it was devastated again by Timur. Today only field of ruins are available.

Famous scholars

• Ebn Qotayba
• Abū Ḥanīfa Dīnawarī (Grammarian, Lexicographer, Astronomer, Mathematician)
• Abu Muhammad Abdullah b Hamadan Mubarak Dinawari

References

• Dinavar in Encyclopedia Iranica by C.E. Bosworth

Coordinates: 34°35′N 47°26′E / 34.583°N 47.433°E / 34.583; 47.433