The southern shore of the Caspian Sea (Mazandaran Sea) is not geographically a part of the Middle East, but the southern part of the North Eurasian region (that is, European-Asian). This part, which includes Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan, unlike the Iranian plateau, which is apparently a place The birth and life of humans in the Paleolithic period was not long ago, it could have been the birth and habitat of Neanderthals in the Paleolithic period. Mild winters and heavy rains and shelter caves have made this part like the places where the remains of one of mankind's old friends, the Neanderthal man, have been found (such as the south of France, Spain, Italy, Karim and the Palestine Bank).
Today, although thousands of years have passed since the Neolithic period, there are still remnants of a Neolithic civilization that is closely related to the beginning of European civilization in the coastal areas of Mazandaran Sea, especially in Gilan. The type of rural houses, agricultural tools, the body and face of the people, which is the European type, the importance of the forest and wood and other things are all relics and signs of civilization and the Neolithic age. The natural factors that made Mazandaran land one of the industrial centers of Iran and the resort of the country's people, caused the ancient Neolithic civilization to remain open in Mazandaran land and keep its main characteristics. The large earthen mounds that can be seen today in the Mazandaran plain were apparently the sites of ancient and perhaps Neolithic settlements and settlements that could have been founded around 3000 years BC.
Many different things have been found in the different layers of the two caves that the group of American archaeologists led by Professor Carlton S. Kuhn in Mazandaran have found (for example: broken pieces of simple or painted terracotta vessels, flint tools scraps, such as ax heads, arrows, sickles and goon blades, a pair of large stone bowls, charcoal, two kinds of seeds, bones of domesticated or wild animals, such as dogs, pigs, sheep, goats, cows, sea dogs, desert rats and a species of deer, single bones and human skeletons) each of which has a special meaning and value from the point of view of archeology. From these remains and by using the modern dating method, the layers and histories of civilizations Two caves have been found in it.
Among the important centers of our prehistoric civilization in Mazandaran are the Ali Tepe Cave (with an age of about 12500 years BC), the Hutu Caves and the Belt Caves (with an age of around 9500 years BC), the Komishan Cave, the ancient hill of Kesh Castle (related to Iron Age), the ancient hill of Gordkoh (related to the Iron Age), the ruins of the city (related to the 1st and 2nd Iron Age) etc., which shows the thousands of years of civilization in this land. The works and buildings of the Sassanid, Islamic, Afshariya, Zandiya, Safavid, Qajar, and Pahlavi eras are abundantly found in Mazandaran, each of which has a special value and has made Mazandaran a collection of historical works and monuments of different eras. And also, among our prehistoric works, it is possible to mention the graves of Gebri and the crypts of Kafarkli Amel.
Rokhi considered the origin of the name Mazandaran to be a combination of Maz, which means big, as well as the middle, Indira, and its suffix Vand, and as a result, they consider the term "Mazindiran" to mean the place of the great demon, Indira. Shahnameh, in which Mazandaran is mentioned as the seat of the White Devil, and Indira is considered a mountain in the middle of this land, is considered as proof of it. Based on this topic, Malek al-Shaara Bahar wrote the following verse:
O white devil with a foot in the door
Oh Giti dome, oh Damavand
Regarding the settlement, life and civilization in Mazandaran, from the researches that have been carried out from the caves of the Belt and Hutu (in Behshahr), it has been shown that there was a history of living there before 75 thousand years ago. From these works, it appears that during these periods, in the foothills and northern slopes of Alborz, wherever the weather was more favorable, early humans hunted and gathered food, and in order to enjoy more security and peace, they lived in the mentioned caves. (including a cave that was discovered on the side of the Neka-Bahshahr road in the southwest of Kolt village as a result of excavation in 1369), the presence of Neolithic period artifacts in the east of Mazandaran tells about the changes in people's lives in this land.
Since about 10,000 years ago, the people of this land, like some people living in the northern plateau of Iran, were able to tame cattle. This development has caused a change in the lives of people in this region. Gradually, humans have been drawn to valleys and plains and fertile alluvial soils in the stage of animal husbandry. With the beginning of agriculture, life changes completely. Gradually, with the improvement of living conditions, food and favorable weather, the population increased and the first prehistoric villages were formed in this region.
The people of this country have been diligent in seeking knowledge and acquiring knowledge for a long time. Among the scientists and scholars of this region are Ibn Jarir Tabari, Marzban Bin Rostam, Sheikh Tabarsi, Allameh Mir Haider Amoli, Malik Al-Shaara Talib Amoli, Imam Fakhr Razi, Ibn Raban. Tabari and Ibn Farkhan Tabari, Seyyed Zahir al-Din Marashi, Ayatollah Mirza Hashim Amoli, Allameh Javadi Amoli and Hassanzadeh Amoli and many others, who wrote precious works in the sciences of jurisprudence, hadith, interpretation, history, Rizal, geometry, delegation, medicine and etc. have left names. In terms of customs, most of the cities of Mazandaran are very similar to other cities of Iran. In this province, there are cultural centers such as universities and technical and teacher training centers in most cities, and a large number of young people from other provinces come to Mazandaran to continue their education.
Historical buildings and monuments: Due to its climatic and regional location, Mazandaran has been the focus of various human groups since the distant past. Historical documents and the results of archaeological surveys and excavations show that Mazandaran region in the Old Stone Age (period Paleolithic) was the residence of early humans. The discovery of the skeletons of three people in Hutto Cave near Shahr, who lived around seventy-five thousand years BC, proves the truth of this claim.
Mazandaran over time
Before the arrival of Aryans to Iran and Mazandaran, the indigenous people of this region made a living by hunting and herding. Archaeological studies in the caves of Kamerband and Huto Behshahr bring the presence of humans in Mazandaran to about 9500 BC. The Aryans started their migration from the northeastern lands of the current borders of Iran around the third millennium BC, they mixed with the natives or overcame them. Current Mazandaran is a part of a wider land that is mentioned in history texts as "Farshvadgar".
Researchers generally call Mazandaran and Gilan together due to their proximity and similar natural and geographical conditions, and they consider all the areas south of the Mazandaran Sea and between Azerbaijan and Khorasan as one region. From this region, during the Achaemenid period, the name of Pateshwarish was recorded in the Biston inscription. The Tabaris and the men of Tireh living in this area are always known as the best shooters in the wars of the Achaemenid kings with other governments.
The Greek geographer Strabane called this area "Perkhafares". Tabaris and men had a significant presence in the war between Darius III and Alexander the Great in "Gogmel" and were responsible for guarding the emperor and his family. Iskandar the conqueror of Iran could not conquer Tabaristan through war.
Due to the special climatic conditions, Tabaristan was the seat and base of ruling families from ancient times. The first person who was mentioned in the writings of historians as the governor of Tabaristan is Otofaradat or Farhad Parti. Due to its proximity to the land and the Parthian government, Tabaristan was practically under the control of the Ashkan government until the extinction of the Ashkan dynasty. During the Sassanid government, the kingdom of this region was under the command of a king. When Ardeshir Babkan ascended the throne, the administration of this part of Iran was in the hands of "Gashensef Shah" or "Jasnesef Shah".
The word Mazandaran, which geographically was a large part of Tabaristan. Around the 7th century AH, it was replaced by the name of Tabaristan.
The famous dynasties that often simultaneously controlled the land of Mazandaran in the Islamic period, mentioning the kings, prominent people and the time of their rule, are:
1-Qaran family from 50 before Hijra to 224 AH, the domain of this dynasty was mostly Mazandaran mountains and its prominent people are: Qaran son of Sokhra, Vandad Hormoz son of Sokhra, Maziar son of Qaran.
2-Al Gaubare dynasty from 40 to 144 AH. The kings of this dynasty often ruled in the plains of Mazandaran and Gorgan. Its famous people are: Daboeh son of Gaubareh, Saroveh son of Farkhan Bozor, Espahbad Khurshid son of Dammehr.
3-Another branch of Al-Gaubare dynasty named Paduspanan whose territory was west of Mazandaran and Royan, Noor, Kejur and Larijaan. From 40 to 1002 AH (reign of Shah Abbas Kabir Safavid, nearly one thousand years) the famous kings of this dynasty were Padusian I, son of Gaubareh Shahriar Ibn Padusian, Malik Bahman Amli, son of Kiyomarth.
4- The kings of Bavand or Espahbadan from 45 to 397 AH Bavandians were called the kings of the mountains because of their rule in the mountains of Mazandaran, i.e. the parts of Swadkoh and Dodangeh of the present Sari (Frame).
The most famous kings of this dynasty were "Bau", the grandson of "Kios", the brother of Anushirvan Sassani, Espahbad Sherwin, the son of Sorkhab Shahriar, the son of Sherwin.
5- Al-Vashmgir or Al-Ziyar from 316 to 470 AH; The domain of this dynasty was east of Mazandaran and its famous kings were Mardawij son of Ziyar, Qaboos Ibn Vashamgir Shams al-Ma'ali, Gilan Shah son of Kikaus.
6- The second phase of the Bavandian rule, known as Espahbadan Bavand, from 466 to 606 AH; This dynasty occupied the land of Tabaristan after subduing Al-Ziyar. Its famous kings were Shahabd Hossam al-Dawlah Shahryar son of Qaran, Shah Ghazi Rostam son of Ala al-Dawlah.
7- Bawandiyyah, known as Kinkhavariyeh (the third period of Al Bawand sultans) from 647 to 750 AH; The rulers of this dynasty ruled over Amol areas, and the most prominent of them are Hossam al-Dawlah, Ardeshir Abul-Mulk, Taj al-Dawlah, Yazd Gard.
8- Sadat Hosni, Hosseini, and Marashians, unlike the representatives of the caliphs, who wanted to divide Mazandaran by the power of their swords, were able to have an emotional influence among the people of this system through the propagation of the Shia religion and religions. Until after the establishment of the foundations of power, they started to leave and dominated in different areas of Amol, Sari, and Jabal for about 750 years, and the rulers of the local dynasties also tolerated their existence and pretense due to religious interests. The most famous of this dynasty of Mazandaran Sadats are Hasan Bani Zaid (Da'i Kabir), Naser Kabir (Nasser al-Haq), Mir Qavam al-Din Marashi in Amol, who built the first Shiite center in the world, and Sadat Mortezai in Hazar Jarib.
9- Other dynasties: during the first millennium of Hijri, at the same time as the rule of several dynasties that were mentioned, other encroachments were made to Mazandaran by the rulers of other regions of Iran and outside Iran, the most important of which are:
Taherians, Saffarians, Samanians, Ghaznavids and also Timurids, whose period of dominance, war and flight was short.
10-From the Safavid period onwards, the reigns of the Al-Tawaifi kings reached their peak in Mazandaran and this land officially became subordinate to the central government of Iran. The Safavid, Afshari, Zandi and Qajar kings had Mazandaran as a province of Iran.
Studies on the historical geography of Mazandaran
Our first information about the people and the region south of the Caspian Sea (Mazandaran Sea) comes from the surviving writings of several foreign geographers, historians, and scientists, especially Greek, such as Herodotus, Strabo, Xenophon, Ptolemy, Plutarch, Diodorus, Arrian, and Kenneth Korth. it will be obtained.
Geographically, in the writings of these authors, there is no single name for all or part of the land of Mazandaran (names such as Tepuristan, Hyrkania, Germania). They have limited themselves to a brief geographical description of this region and mentioning the names of the tribes that lived there and the adjacent lands.
The origin of the word Mazandaran and the history of its origin and transformation are not known correctly, and the meaning of this name, which apparently replaced the older name "Tabarstan" from the beginning of the 7th century of the Hijri (13th AD) and the time of the Mongol invasion, and is still stable. The oldest place where the word Mazandaran is used is Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Many legendary incidents of Shahnameh have happened in Mazandaran, the most important and longest of which is Haft Khan Rostam Zal. Rostam traveled from Zabulestan to Mazandaran to find and free Ki Kavus, the king of Iran, who was imprisoned in Diwan of Mazandaran, and after going through seven prominent heroic stages (such as killing the dragon, capturing a local warrior named Olad, killing Arjang Diu and...), released Kavus and the survivors of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ferdowsi has mixed the real cities of Mazandaran such as Tamishah, Sari and Amol with his more or less legendary stories and events. For example, he says that Fereydon made Tamishe forest his seat, in this verse:
