Guilan Province

Guilán (in Persian spelling, گیلان, Gīlān) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, with capital in Rasht, and a population of just over 2.4 million inhabitants in 14,709 km².

Geography and climate

The province of Guilán is located between 36° and 38°27' N latitude and 48°30' and 50°30' E in length. It is located on the Caspian Sea coast, just west of Mazandarán province, east of Ardebil province, and north of Zanyán and Qazvín provinces.

Guilán has a humid temperate climate with great annual rainfall. The city of Rasht which is the center of the province is known as the "City of Silver Rains" and also as the "City of Rain" in Iran. The Alborz mountain chain provides more diversity to the land than the Caspian shores.

The amount of humidity is really high in the temperate times of the year in Guilán, however, the coasts are cooler and more pleasant at the same time and thousands of tourists, national and foreign, come to the coast to swim and do camping.

Despite the abundant humidity, Guilán is known for its moderate, mild climate, similar to the Mediterranean, which makes it a suitable place for weekends and spending time.

Much of the province is mountainous, green and forested. The plain, which includes the Safi Rud delta, next to the Caspian Sea, is similar to that of Mazandarán, mainly used for rice fields.

The main port is Bandar-e Anzali (formerly Bandar-e Pahlavi). The center of the province is the city of Easht. Other cities in the province are Somasará (or Soumahé Sará), Astara, Astané-ye Ashrafiyé, Fumán, Lahiyán, Langrud, Masulé, Manyil, Rudbar, Rudsar and Talesh.

Most of the population speaks Gilaki, a northwestern Iranian language close to Persian. The northern part of the province is part of the territory of the southern or Iranian Talysh.

The province has its own television and radio.

History

Jungles of Iran, Gilan.

The first documented clash between the Gilanid and Deilamite warlords and invading Muslim Arab armies occurred at the Battle of Yalula in 647. The Deilamite commander Muta led an army of Gilanids, Deilamites, Azeri, and people of Ray's region. Muta died in battle and his defeated army managed to withdraw in order. But this victory seems to have been Pyrrhic for the Arabs, for they did not pursue their opponents. Muslim Arabs never managed to conquer Guilan. The Gilanids and Deilamites successfully repelled any Arab attempts to occupy their land or convert them to Islam. In fact, it was the Deylamites under the Buyid king Mu'izz al-Dawlah who finally seized power by conquering Baghdad in 945. Mu'izz al-Dawlah however allowed the Abbasid caliphs to remain in a comfortable but closed captivity in his palace[1] (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first and last version)..

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Deilamits and later the Gilekis gradually converted to Zaidite Shiism. It should be noted that several Deilamite commanders and soldiers of fortune who were active in the military theaters of Iran and Mesopotamia were openly Zoroastrian (for example, Asfar Shiruyeh a warlord from central Iran, and Makan son of Kaki the warlord de Rey) or were suspected of harboring pro-Zoroastrian sentiments (for example Mardavich). Muslim chronicles of the Varangian (Rus, pre-Russian Norman) invasion of the Caspian litoras in the IX century document the Deilamites as non-Muslims. These chronicles also show that the Deilamites were the only warriors in the Caspian region who could fight the terrible Varangian Vikings on an equal footing. In a sense, the Deilamite infantry had a very similar role to that of the Swiss reisläufer of the Late Middle Ages in Europe. Delamite mercenaries came to serve in Egypt, Islamic Spain and the Khazar kingdom.

The Buyids established the most successful of the Deilamite dynasties of Iran.

The Turkish invasions of the 10th and 11th centuries, which saw the Ghaznavid and Seljuk dynasties seize power, ended the Deylamite states in Iran. From the 11th century to the rise of the Safavids, Gilan was ruled by local rulers who paid tribute to the dominant power south of the chain of the Elburz, but which governed independently.

Before the introduction of silk production to this region (date unknown, but definitely a mainstay of the economy in the century) XV), Gilán 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 of Qazvín was initially a fortress-city against Deilamite bands, another sign that the province's economy was not sufficiently productive. Everything changed when the silkworm was introduced at some point in the Late Middle Ages.

The Safavid Emperor Abbas the Great ended the rule of Kia Ajmad Khan, the last semi-independent ruler of Gilan, and annexed the province directly into his empire. From this point in history onwards, the rulers of Gilan were those appointed by the Shah of Persia.

Gilán was a major silk producer from the 15th century century. As a result, it was one of the richest provinces in Iran. Annexation by the Safavids in the 16th century was at least partially motivated by this stream of income. The silk trade, though not the production, was a monopoly of the Crown and the most important source of commercial income for the imperial treasury.

The Safavid empire weakened in the late 17th century century. In the early 18th century, the once powerful Safavid empire was embroiled in civil war. Peter I the Great of Russia sent an expeditionary force that occupied Gilán for a year (1722-1723).

The Kayars established a central government in Persia (Iran) in the late 18th century century. They lost a series of wars with Russia (Russo-Persian Wars 1804-1813 and 1826-28), resulting in a huge gain in influence for the Russian Empire in the Caspian region. The Gilekis cities of Rasht and Anzali were occupied by Russian forces. Anzali served as the main trading port between Iran and Europe.

As far back as the 16th century and up to the middle of the XIX, Gilán was the main exporter of silk in Asia. The Shah granted this trade to Greek and Armenian merchants, and they would receive a percentage of the results.

In the mid-19th century, a fatal silkworm epidemic paralyzed the Gilán economy, with widespread economic disruption. Gilán's industrialists and merchants were increasingly dissatisfied with the weak and ineffective government of the Kayares. The reorientation of Gilán's agriculture and industry from silk to rice and the introduction of tea plantations were a partial response to the decline of silk in the province.

After World War I, Gilan had a government independent from Tehran and concern grew that the province could permanently secede at some point. Before the war, the Guilanites had played an important role in Iran's Constitutional Revolution. Sepahdar Tonekaboní (Rashti) was a prominent figure in the early years of the revolution and was instrumental in defeating Mohammad Ali Shah Qayar. In later years (late 1910s), many Gilekis united under the leadership of Mirzá Kuchak Khan Yangalí. Mirzá Kuchak Khan became the most prominent revolutionary leader in northern Iran in this period. His movement, known as the Jangali (foresters), had sent an armed brigade to Tehran that helped depose the Qajar ruler Mohammad Ali Shah. However, the revolution did not progress in the way the Constitutionalists intended, and Iran was faced with great internal disorder and foreign intervention, particularly by the Russian and British Empires.

Gilán's contribution to the movement of Mirzá Kuchak Khan is glorified in Iranian history and effectively secured Gilán and Mazandarán against foreign invasions. However, in 1920 British forces invaded Bandar-e Anzali while the Bolsheviks were in pursuit. In the midst of the conflict between Britain and Russia, the Yangalis entered into an alliance with the Bolsheviks against the British. This culminated in the establishment of the Persian Soviet Socialist Republic (commonly known as the Gilan Socialist Republic) which lasted from June 1920 to September 1921. In February 1921 the Soviets withdrew their support for the Gilan Yangali movement and signed the Soviet-Iranian Treaty of Friendship with the central government in Tehran. The Yangalis continued to fight the central government for the rest of that year until their final defeat in September when control of Gilan returned to Tehran.

In May 1990 large parts of the province were destroyed by a powerful earthquake, which killed around 45,000 people. Abbas Kiarostami made his famous films Zendegi va digar hich ("Life goes on" or "Life and nothing else...") and Through the olive trees based on this event.

Administrative divisions

Map	Abbreviation on map	MunicipalityShahrestan)
	A	Astara
	AA	Ashrafiyé
	BA	Bandar-e Anzali
	F	Fuman
	H	Hashtpar
	Lh	Lahiyán
	Lr	Langarud
	R	Rasht
	Rs	Rudsar
	Rb	Rudbar
	S	Someé Sará
	Sh	Shaft

Illustrious people

• Abdul Qadri Jilani, writer (1077-1166)
• List of people from Guilan. Wikipedia in English