Rudbar

For the administrative subdivision, see Rudbar County. For the city in Kerman Province, see Rudbar, Kerman.

Rudbar رودبار
—  city  —
Rudbar
Coordinates: 36°48′18″N 49°24′29″E / 36.805°N 49.40806°E / 36.805; 49.40806Coordinates: 36°48′18″N 49°24′29″E / 36.805°N 49.40806°E / 36.805; 49.40806
Country	Iran
Province	Gilan
County	Rudbar
Bakhsh	Central
Population (2006)
– Total	11,454
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
– Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Rudbar (Persian: رودبار, also Romanized as Rūdbār, Roodbar, and Roudbar; also known as Rūdbār-e Kūhpāyeh)^[1] is a city in and the capital of Rudbar County, Gilan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 11,454, in 3,303 families.^[2]

Rudbar is 268 kilometres (167 mi) from Tehran and with a variable climate. It is located on the fringes of a valley through which the Sefid River (Rud-e Safid) flows. Rudbar can be considered as a gateway to the Gīlān Province from central Iran.

Its name (meaning "by the river" in Persian) is a reference to the river named Sepid Rood (Sepid Roud) that passes by the town. Rudbar is also called "Roodbar Zeitoun (olive)" for the olive gardens in the area.

Rudbar's local economy notably includes olives and olive-based products. Groves of olive trees surround the city. Olive oil is produced locally. Rudbar is also known for its cream-hued, handcrafted carpets of fine quality. Despite the olive gardens that may suggest presence of a Mediterranean climate, the winters are very cold in the area. The winds in the Sepid Rood valley (Manjil) are well known in the country.

Many of the people of Rudbar are Tats and speak Tati.

History

The civilization of Rudbar and its surroundings date back to 2000 years BCE. The Marlik bowl, a famous archeological artifact and one of the oldest gold bowls in the world from 1st millennium BC, was found there. With the advent of Islam, tribes from Damascus and Halab immigrated and became settlers there. Later, Nizari Isma'ili da'wa made inroads and eventually established a Hashshashin stronghold. In the era of Nader Shah Afshar, groups from the Kurds of Quchan and areas of northern Khorassan also settled there.

Rudbar was near the epicenter of the Manjil-Rudbar earthquake of magnitude 7.3 Richter (MS=7.7, MW=7.3, mb=6.4) at 12:31am local time on June 21, 1990, that killed at least 6,000 and injured 10,000 city residents.^[3] Despite reconstruction, it has not regained its former glory.

Shahrestan Rudbar

Shahrestan Rudbar or Rubar County was formed after a meeting between some Rudbari politicians such as Ziaeddin Tavakkoli and Reza Shah.

See also

• Ziaeddin Tavakkoli

References

1. ^ Rudbar can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3081436" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
2. ^ "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006)" (Excel). Islamic Republic of Iran. http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/01.xls. 
3. ^ ReliefWeb Report of Earthquake, ReliefWeb, June 1990

• Book of Amarlu - M.M.Zand