Early humans were present at Gilan sinceLower Paleolithic.Darband Cave is the earliest known human habitation site in Gilan province; it is located in a deep tributary canyon of theSiah Varud and contains evidence for the earliest prehistoric human cave occupation during the Lower Paleolithic in Iran.
It seems that theGelae, or Gilites, entered the region south of the Caspian coast and west of the Amardos River (now called theSefid-Rud) in the second or first century BCE,Pliny identifies them with theCadusii who were living there previously. It is more likely that they were a separate people, had come from the region ofDagestan, and taken the place of the Kadusii. That the native inhabitants of Gilan have some originating roots in theCaucasus is supported by genetics and language, as the Y-DNA ofGilaks most closely resemble that ofGeorgians and otherSouth Caucasus peoples, while their mtDNA closely resembles otherIranian groups.[17] Their languages shares typologic features with thelanguages of the Caucasus.[18]
Medieval history
Gilan province was the place of origin of theZiyarid dynasty andBuyid dynasty in the mid-10th century. Previously, the people of the province had a prominent position during theSassanid dynasty through the 7th century, so that their political power extended toMesopotamia.
The first recorded encounter between Gilak andDeylamite warlords andinvading Muslim armies was at theBattle of Jalula in 637 AD. Deylamite commander Muta led an army of Gils, Deylamites,Persians and people of theRey region. Muta was killed in the battle, and his defeated army managed to retreat in an orderly manner.
However, this appears to have been a Pyrrhic victory for the Arabs, since they did not pursue their opponents. Muslim Arabs never managed to conquer Gilan as they did with other provinces in Iran. Gilanis and Deylamites successfully repulsed all Arab attempts to occupy their land or to convert them to Islam.
In fact, it was the Deylamites under the Buyid kingMu'izz al-Dawla who finally shifted the balance of power by conqueringBaghdad in 945. Mu'izz al-Dawla, however, allowed theAbbasid caliphs to remain in comfortable, secluded captivity in their palaces.[19]
Several Deylamite commanders and soldiers of fortune who were active in the military theaters of Iran andMesopotamia were openlyZoroastrian (for example,Asfar Shiruyeh a warlord in central Iran, and Makan, son of Kaki, the warlord of Rey) or were suspected of harboring pro-Zoroastrian (for exampleMardavij) sentiments. Muslim chronicles ofVarangian (Rus', pre-Russian Norsemen) invasions of the littoral Caspian region in the 9th century record Deylamites as non-Muslim. These chronicles also show that the Deylamites were the only warriors in the Caspian region who could fight the fearsome Varangian Vikings as equals. Deylamite mercenaries served as far away asEgypt,al-Andalus, and in theKhazar Kingdom.
TheBuyids established the most successful of the Deylamite dynasties of Iran.
In the 9th–11th century AD, there were repeated military raids undertaken by the Rus' between 864 and 1041 on theCaspian Sea shores of Iran, Azerbaijan, and Dagestan as part of theCaspian expeditions of the Rus'.[21] Initially, the Rus' appeared inSerkland in the 9th century traveling as merchants along theVolga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves. The first small-scale raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged the westernmost parts ofGorgan as well as Gilan andMazandaran, taking slaves and goods.
TheTurkish invasions of the 10th and 11th centuries CE, which saw the rise ofGhaznavid andSeljuk dynasties, put an end to Deylamite states in Iran. From the 11th century CE to the rise ofSafavids, Gilan was ruled by local rulers who paid tribute to the dominant power south of theAlborz range but ruled independently.
In 1307 theIlkhanÖljeitü conquered the region.[22] This was the first time the region came under the rule of theMongols after the Ilkhanid Mongols and theirGeorgian allies failed to do it in the late 1270s.[23] After 1336, the region seemed to be independent again.
Before the introduction of silk production (date unknown but a pillar of the economy by the 15th century AD), Gilan was a poor province. There were no permanent trade routes linking Gilan to Persia. There was a small trade in smoked fish and wood products. It seems that the city ofQazvin was initially a fortress-town against marauding bands of Deylamites, another sign that the economy of the province did not produce enough on its own to support its population. This changed with the introduction of the silk worm in the late Middle Ages.
The Safavid empire became weak towards the end of the 17th century CE. By the early 18th century, the once-mighty empire was in the grips of civil war and uprisings. The ambitiousPeter I of Russia (Peter the Great) sent a force that captured Gilan and many of the Iranian territories in theNorth Caucasus,Transcaucasia, as well as other territories in northern mainland Iran, through theRusso-Persian War (1722–1723) and the resultingTreaty of Saint Petersburg (1723).[26] Gilan and its capital of Rasht,which was conquered between late 1722 and late March 1723, stayed inRussian possession for about ten years.[27]
Qajars established a central government in Persia (Iran) in the late 18th century CE. They lost a series of wars to Russia (Russo-Persian Wars1804–1813 and1826–28), resulting in an enormous gain of influence by the Russian Empire in theCaspian region, which would last up to1946. The Gilanian cities ofRasht andAnzali were all but occupied and settled byRussians and Russian forces. Most major cities in the region had Russian schools and significant traces ofRussian culture can be found today in Rasht. Russian class was mandatory in schools and the significant increase of Russian influence in the region lasted until1946 and had a major impact on Iranian history, as it directly led to thePersian Constitutional Revolution.
Gilan was a major producer of silk beginning in the 15th century CE. As a result, it was one of the wealthiest provinces in Iran. Safavid annexation in the 16th century was at least partially motivated by this revenue stream. The silk trade, though not the production, was a monopoly of the Crown and the single most important source of trade revenue for the imperial treasury. As early as the 16th century and until the mid 19th century, Gilan was the major exporter of silk in Asia. TheShah farmed out this trade toGreek andArmenian merchants and, in return, received a handsome portion of the proceeds.
In the mid-19th century, a fatal epidemic among the silk worms paralyzed Gilan's economy, causing widespread economic distress. Gilan's budding industrialists and merchants were increasingly dissatisfied with the weak and ineffective rule of theQajars. Re-orientation of Gilan's agriculture and industry from silk to production ofrice and the introduction oftea plantations were a partial answer to the decline of silk in the province.
In the late 1910s, many Gilanis gathered under the leadership ofMirza Kuchik Khan, who became the most prominent revolutionary leader in northern Iran in this period. Khan's movement, known as theJangal movement of Gilan, had sent an armed brigade to Tehran that helped depose theQajar rulerMohammad Ali Shah. However, the revolution did not progress the way the constitutionalists had strived for, and Iran came to face much internal unrest and foreign intervention, particularly from the British and Russian empires.
During and several years after theBolshevik Revolution, the region saw another massive influx of Russian settlers (the so-calledWhite émigrées). Many of the descendants of these refugees are in the region. During the same period, Anzali served as the main trading port between Iran and Europe.
The Jangalis are glorified in Iranian history and effectively secured Gilan andMazandaran against foreign invasions. However, in 1920 British forces invadedBandar-e Anzali, while being pursued by theBolsheviks. In the midst of this conflict, the Jangalis entered into an alliance with the Bolsheviks against the British. This culminated in the establishment of thePersian Socialist Soviet Republic (commonly known as the Socialist Republic of Gilan), which lasted from June 1920 until September 1921.
In February 1921 the Soviets withdrew their support for the Jangali government of Gilan and signed theRusso-Persian Treaty of Friendship (1921) with the central government of Tehran. The Jangalis continued to struggle against the central government until their final defeat in September 1921 when control of Gilan returned to Tehran.
Gilaks and Talysh form the majority of the population, while Azerbaijanis, Kurds and Persians are minorities in the province.
Gilaks live in most of the cities and villages in the province, except Astara and Talesh counties. They are the majority in most of the counties and the province is named after them.
Talysh people live in the northern districts of the province, constituting a majority in the counties ofAstara,Talesh,Rezvanshahr andMasal. Overall, in Astara county the Talysh are a slight majority, although they are a significant minority in urban areas likeAstara andLavandevil. In the other three counties, they are a clear majority.
Azerbaijanis, Turkic speakers of the province, are concentrated primarily in urban areas ofAstara county, as well as the Haviq and Lisar districts ofTalesh county. Also, there is a sizeable Azerbaijani community in the port city ofBandar-e Anzali.
There are four groups ofKurds in the province with different origins. Amarlou inRasht andRudbar, Reshvand inRasht, Jalalvand inLangroud, and Kormanj inHashtpar.[28]
Persians are concentrated in the city ofRasht and are divided into two: the immigrants fromTehran and other central Iranian cities, and the local people who have adopted thePersian language in favor of their heritage language.[28]
TheGilaki language is aCaspian language, and a member of thenorthwestern Iranian language branch, spoken in Iran's Gilan,Mazandaran andQazvin provinces.[29][30] Gilaki is the main heritage language in the province of Gilan and is divided into three dialects: Western Gilaki, Eastern Gilaki, and Galeshi (in the mountains of Gilan and Mazandaran).[31] The western and eastern dialects are separated by the Sefid Roud.[32]
Although Gilaki is the most widely spoken heritage language inGilan, theTalysh language is also spoken. There are only two counties in Gilan where Talyshi is exclusively spoken:Masal andMasuleh. In other cities Talyshi is spoken alongside other languages.
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 2,381,063 people in 669,221 households.[39] The following census in 2011 counted 2,480,874 in 777,316 households.[40] The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 2,530,696 people in 851,382 households.[2]
Administrative divisions
The population history and structural changes of Gilan province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
Gilan has ahumid subtropical climate with, by a large margin, the heaviest rainfall in Iran: reaching as high as 1,900 millimetres (75 in) in the southwestern coast and generally around 1,400 millimetres (55 in). Rasht, the capital of the province, is known internationally as the "City of Silver Rains" and in Iran as the "City of Rain".
Rainfall is heaviest between September and December because the onshore winds from theSiberian High are strongest, but it occurs throughout the year though least abundantly from April to August. Humidity is very high because of the marshy character of the coastal plains and can reach 90 percent in summer forwet bulb temperatures of over 26 °C (79 °F). TheAlborz range provides further diversity to the land in addition to the Caspian coasts.
The coastline is cooler and attracts large numbers of domestic and international tourists. Large parts of the province are mountainous, green and forested. The coastal plain along the Caspian Sea is similar to that ofMazandaran and mainly used forrice paddies. Due to successive cultivation and selection of rice by farmers, several cultivars including Gerdeh, Hashemi, Hasani, and Gharib have been bred.[45]
^abBiglari, F., V. Jahani 2011 The Pleistocene Human Settlement in Gilan, Southwest Caspian Sea: Recent Research, Eurasian Prehistory 8 (1-2): 3–28
^Falahian Y. 2006a. Evidence of Neolithic occupation at Chapalak near Nodeh-e Farab, Journal of Gilan Culture, Nos. 25–26, pp. 8–12
^Biglari, F., and H. Abdi (2003) Discovery of Two Probable Late Paleolithic Sites at Amarlou, The Gilan Province, Caspian Basin, In T. Ohtsu, J.Nokandeh, and K. Yamauchi (eds), Preliminary Report of the Iran-Japan Joint Archaeological Expedition to Gilan, First Season, 2001, pp. 92–96, ICHO, Tehran, and MECC, Tokyo.
^Charles Melville – "The Ilkhan Öljeitü's conquest of Gilan (1307): rumour and reality", in R. Amitai Preiss & D.O. Morgan (eds),The Mongol empire and its legacy, Leiden 1999, pp. 73–125
^^ Coon, "Iran:Demography and Ethnography" in Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume IV, E.J. Brill, pp. 10,8. Excerpt: "The Lurs speak an aberrant form of Archaic Persian" See maps also on page 10 for distribution of Persian languages and dialect
^Kathryn M. Coughlin, "Muslim cultures today: a reference guide", Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. p. 89: "...Iranians speak Persian or a Persian dialect such as Gilaki or Mazandarani."
Hamid-Reza Hosseini,Rural Heritage, in Persian, Jadid Online, 17 November 2008,[2]. A shortened version in English with the titleGilan's Rural Geritage Museum, Jadid Online, 22 January 2009:[3]. A slide show ofGilan's Rural Heritage Museum with English subtitles, Jadid Online, 22 January 2009:[4] (5 min 41 sec).
Mohammad-Taqi Pourahmad Jacktaji,Gilan MidsummerNowruz, in English, Jadid Online, 1 October 2009,[5] (in Persian:[6]). An audio slideshow with English subtitles:[7] (4 min 38 sec).
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