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Khomeynishahr

City in Isfahan province, Iran

  • 4 min read
  • 4 chapters
خانه سرتیپ سده‌ای ،این مجموعه شامل چند خانه، دیوانخانه، حمام وحسینیه می‌باشد؛ که در محله فروشان خمینی شهر (سده) اصفهان قرار گرفته‌است
Majid eslamdoust · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The town was originally known as Sedeh. In the 1930s, the name was changed to Homayunshahr. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the city was renamed again to Khomeynishahr (meaning "City of Khomeyni"), in honor of Ayatollah Khomeini. Locals have continued to refer to the city as Sedeh. There has been an ongoing effort to rename back the city's name to its historical one Mehrbin (مهربین).

History

It is commonly believed that the original name, Sedeh (Persian: سده), is derived from Se-dezh, meaning "three castles" in Persian, ("dezh" (دژ) means "castle"), and is linked to the formation of the town by the growth of three neighbouring castles. The three main castles of Kohan Dedge, Gar Dedge, and .... Dedge (locally pronounced kohan dedge, gar dar and ...).

It is commonly believed that Se-dezh was a Sassanian military base and an old fireplace (atash gah) based on top of the mountain near the town.

The three main villages of Khouzan (locally pronounced Khizoon), Foroushan (the origin of Foroushan was Parishan (pari (angel) + voshan (face))), and Varnosfaderan (Venesfohoon) remain identifiable parts of the city. However, there are in fact five former villages forming identifiable parts of the town. This has led to the argument that the name may be linked to the ancient Persian festival of Sadeh.

The name change to Homayunshahr took place during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi. The name literally means "auspicious or august city", but Homayun was also a title of the Shah and so the name was seen as being linked with the Pahlavi dynasty. Thus, after the revolution of 1979, the city was renamed again, this time to be called after Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution.

Khomeynishahr in antiquity

Many of the historical events of Khomeynishahr are influenced by the events that took place in Isfahan. However, the historical antiquity of this region dates back to the Sassanid era, the ancient fortress which is located on the way to Isfahan, seems to have been the capital of the Sassanids. In the Islamic era, this area was also very important, and the existence of a large Grand Mosque in Khozan Alley shows that it was a city in the past. Because the Grand Mosque is an urban feature and the villages do not have it. In Mohammad Afghan's invasion of Isfahan, the people of the century bravely persevered and captured a large number of Mahmoud's troops.

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