Nishapur

Sasanian seal with inscription in Pahlavi "Perozhormizd, son of the Kanarang", "Kanarang" being the Sasanian military commander of Abarshahr (Nishapur). The cap is decorated with a border of pearls. The title is attested from the 5th century CE. British Museum 134847.[16]

Little archaeology has been done on this vast and complicated site. George Curzon remarked that Nishapur had been destroyed and rebuilt more times than any other city in history,[17] an evocative statement whether or not it is statistically true. The Metropolitan Museum of Art undertook excavations from 1935 that were interrupted in 1940. Searching largely for museum-worthy trophies that they shared with the government of the Shah, the Metropolitan's publications were limited to its own Nishapur ceramics. The site of Nishapur has been ransacked for half a century since World War II, to feed the international market demand for early Islamic works of art.

Shadiyakh ("Palace of Happiness") was one of the main palaces of old Nishapur up to the 9th century AD, which became more important and populated after that. Some notable people like Attar lived there. Attar's tomb is nowadays in that area. This palace was perhaps completely ruined in the 13th century.

Nishapur occupies an important strategic position astride the old Silk Road that linked Anatolia and the Mediterranean Sea with China. On the Silk Road, Nishapur has often defined the flexible frontier between the Iranian plateau and Central Asia. The town derived its name from its reputed founder, the Sassanian king Shapur I, who is said to have established it in the 3rd century CE. Nearby are the turquoise mines that supplied the world with turquoise for at least two millennia.

It became an important town in the Greater Khorasan region but subsequently declined in significance until a revival in its fortunes in the 9th century under the Tahirid dynasty, when the glazed ceramics of Nishapur formed an important item of trade to the west. For a time Nishapur rivaled Baghdad or Cairo: Toghrül, the first ruler of the Seljuk dynasty, made Nishapur his residence in 1037 and proclaimed himself sultan there, but it declined thereafter, as Seljuk fortunes were concentrated in the west. In the year 1000 CE, it was among the ten largest cities on earth.[18]

In 1221, after the death of Tokuchar, the husband of Genghis Khan's daughter, the entire city of Nishapur was destroyed by the Mongols over the course of 10 days. Genghis Khan's daughter requested the death of every resident of the city as vengeance for her husband's death. Khan's troops killed and beheaded the entire population of the city and their skulls were reputedly piled in pyramids by the Mongols.[19] After the massacre a much smaller settlement was established just north of the ancient town, and the once bustling metropolis lay underground—until a team of excavators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art arrived in the mid-20th century. They worked at Nishapur between 1935 and 1940, returning for a final season in the winter of 1947–48.[10] What remains of old Nishapur is a 3500-hectare "Kohandejh (Persian: کهن دژ)" area, south of the current city of Nishapur.

Tomb of Attar of Nishapur was built during the Timurid era (Built by the order of Ali-Shir Nava'i). Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur is in the southern part of the city of Nishapur. Attar has had a profound influence on Sufism and Persian literature.

After the fall of Nishapur in 1221 by the Mongols, the structures of the city were weakened and the agricultural output of the city was reduced. Mahmud Ghazan and Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan tried to make the city flourish again and the city's population grew once more and some of the villages around the city were improved and rebuilt. Hamdallah Mustawfi had visited the city of Nishapur in the Year 1339 or 1340. During this era, the ambassador of Henry III of Castile, Ruy González de Clavijo reached Nishapur and according to him,[20] Nishapur had become a highly productive agricultural center with 40 non-stop working mills along the ''Abe Bostan'' (Mir Ab River of Nishapur). The current position of the city was formed during this era and on the North West of the older position of the city which is now home to the Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur and Shadiyakh Archeological Site and other remains of the old position of the city (the old position of the city is also now a protected archeological site by law though it is endangered). Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur and the Jame mosque of Nishapur (congregational mosque of the city) are among the examples of the buildings built during this era in Nishapur. Many poets, scholars and renowned historical figures of the city and the wider region of Abarshahr ( one of the main four regions of Greater Khorasan with the city capitals of Nishapur, Merv, Herat and Balkh) were also born in this period.

A door dating back to the Safvid Persia in Shah Abassi Caravanseray of Nishapur

Due to a conflict between the supporters of the Mohammad Khodabanda ,the Safavid Shah of Persia, and his son Abbas the Great In 1581 the castle of Nishapur went under siege. This siege became one of the events that helped the Abbas the Great to become the Ruler of Greater Khorasan and later the Shah of Persia in the Safavid Empire. In 1592 Abbas the Great took back the control of Nishapur from the Shaybanids. Shah Abbasi Caravanseri of Nishapur was also built during his reign and later on, he left his two epigraphs on Jame Mosque of Nishapur on the Ramadan of October 1612 .

Saadat Ali Khan I Nishapuri, Nawab of Awadh (the ruler who governed the state of Awadh of India), was also born in this period in an influential family in Nishapur.

A map of Greater Khorasan and Khanate of Nishapur in 1775 after the death of Nader Shah

After the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747, the area became an independent khanate under the reign of the Bayat chieftains. In 1751 Ahmad Shah Durrani captured Nishapur with the support of heavy artillery and imposed Shahrokh Shah as the ruler (Shah) of the western part of Greater Khorasan.

The city was conquered in 1800 by the Qajars. In 1828, the city came under the influence of the Zafaranlu Confederacy but was given back to the Qajars in 1829.[21] During the Revolt of Hasan Khan Salar, the city was an isolated outpost of Qajar rule led by Imamverdi Khan Bayat when most of Khorasan was under the wrath of Hasan Khan Salar. On March 21, 1849, Qajar forces entered Nishapur.[21]

A picture of the construction of the Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam, on top of the Headstone of Omar Khayyam. This mausoleum was designed by Hooshang Seyhoun in the 20th century.

The reconstruction of the Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam in Nishapur was commissioned by Reza Shah. Omar's previous tomb was separated from his tomb, and a white marble monument (Current Mausoleum), designed by the Iranian architect Hooshang Seyhoun, was erected over it. This mausoleum became one of the main symbols of the city and one of the known works of the modern Persian architecture. The influence of the architectural design of this mausoleum is visible on the coat of arms of the University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) and other public, civil and private organizations of the city. The construction of the new mausoleum was completed in the year 1963. The Tomb of Kamal-ol Molk was also built in Nishapur and designed by Seyhoun. The Wooden Mosque of Neyshabur was also built in the year 2000.

The Second Asia-Pacific Jamboree was held at Baghrud Scots Park of Nishapur in preparation for The 15th World Scout Jamboree which was scheduled to be held 15–23 July 1979 in Nishapur but due to the political uncertainty of the Iranian Revolution in the country, the event was cancelled.

On February 18, 2004, in the Nishapur train disaster, a train carrying flammable goods derailed and caught fire near the town. Five hours later, during fire fighting and rescue work, a massive explosion destroyed the train and many nearby buildings. Around 300 people were said to have been killed, mainly fire and rescue workers but also the local governor and mayor and the heads of the fire and rail services.[22] This disaster has become known as one the worst railway industry disasters of the world.

Nishapur during the Islamic Golden Age, especially the 9th and 10th centuries, was one of the great centers of pottery and related arts.[26] Most of the Ceramic artifacts discovered in Nishapur are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museums in Tehran and Mashhad. Ceramics produced at Nishapur showed links with Sassanid art and Central Asian.[27] Nowadays there are 4 Pottery workshops in Nishapur.[28]

Form and function of Nishapur pottery

"Although the decoration of pottery may only tell us a little about the people who used it, the form of a vessel is directly related to its function".[24] The Pottery of Nishapur incorporated strong colored slips and bold patterns. Common decoration included geometric and vegetal patterns, calligraphy, figures and animals.[23] The ceramic pieces uncovered at Nishapur consisted mainly of vessels and utilitarian wares. Objects such as plates, bowls, bottles, jars, pitchers, coin banks and even a toy hen were found. One decorative technique specifically utilized by Nishapur potters was the refined use of chattering, a rippled texture achieved when trimming a vessel on the wheel.[24] The polychrome ware of Nishapur indicates the significant advances in glaze technology that were being discovered during the 10th century. It also indicates how an objects aesthetic became an important part of the piece as a whole.[29]

A selection of these discoveries is shown in the gallery below:

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  Bowl painted on slip under transparent glaze (polychrome), Nishabur, 9th or 10th century. National Museum of Iran, Tehran.
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  Bowl with Kufic Inscriptions found in the archeological excavations of Nishapur. The Middle East Institute's logo has been inspired by this bowl. This bowl is currently held in the Met.
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  Pottery of Nishapur in the Islamic Golden Age (10th - 11th century)
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  Pottery of Nishapur in the Islamic Golden Age (10th - 11th century)
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  Pottery of Nishapur in the Islamic Golden Age (10th - 11th century)
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  Pottery of Nishapur in the Islamic Golden Age (10th - 11th century)
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  Cup with votive inscriptions in Kufic script. Terracotta, slipped decoration on slip, underglaze painted. 10th-11th century, Nishapur. Metropolitan Museum of Art
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  Chess set (Shatrang); Gaming pieces. 12th century, Nishapur glazed fritware

Weaving carpets and rugs common in the more than 470 villages in Nishapur County, the most important carpet Workshop located in the villages of: Shafi' Abad, Garineh Darrud Baghshan Kharv Bozghan Sayyed Abad Sar Chah Suleymani Sultan Abad and Eshgh Abad. Nishapur Carpet workshops weaved the biggest Carpets in the world, like carpets of: Sheikh Zayed Mosque,[30] Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque,[31] Armenian Presidential Palace, Embassy of Finland in Tehran, Mohammed Al-Ameen Mosque in Oman.[32]

Modern art of carpet in Nishapur began in 1946 after inauguration of a carpet-weaving workshop in a caravansary.

Turquoise of Nishapur (Madan-e Olya of Nishapur)

For at least 2,000 years, Iran, known before as Persia, has remained an important source of turquoise, which was named by Iranians initially "pirouzeh" meaning "victory" and later after Arab invasion "firouzeh". As an important source of turquoise, Nishapur has been sometimes referred to as the "city of turquoise" throughout history. In Iranian architecture, the blue turquoise was used to cover the domes of the Iranian palaces because its intense blue color was also a symbol of heaven on earth.

This deposit, which is blue naturally, and turns green when heated due to dehydration, is restricted to a mine-riddled region in Nishapur, the 2,012-metre (6,601 ft) mountain peak of Ali-mersai, which is tens of kilometers from Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan province, Iran. Nishapur's turquoise has been sold as souvenirs and jewelry in Nishapur and Mashhad. A weathered and broken trachyte is host to the turquoise, which is found both in situ between layers of limonite and sandstone, and amongst the scree at the mountain's base. These workings, together with those of the Sinai Peninsula, are the oldest known.

A selection of historical buildings and monuments of the city is shown in the city info box on the top of this article, and on the gallery below:

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  Qadamgah Shia pilgramage of Nishapur, Probably in 1960s or 50s
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  Tomb of Attar & Kamal ol Molk. Part of the national heritage list of Iran.
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  Fadhl Ibn Shazan tomb & mosque interior. Part of the national heritage list of Iran.
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  Imamzadeh Mahruq before 1900.
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  Tomb of Heydar Yaghma. Part of the national heritage list of Iran.
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  Khanate Mansion & Garden of Amin Islami. Part of the national heritage list of Iran.
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  Exterior view of Shah Abbasi Caravansarai of Nishapur. Part of the national heritage list of Iran.
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  Entrance of the Baghmeli of Neyshabur. Part of the national heritage list of Iran.
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  The interior of the Wooden Mosque of Neyshabur
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  Monuments of the city gates of Nishapur which were built in the 1980s. Nishapur (2022). Part of the national heritage list of Iran.
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  Lak Lak Ashian Castle (Qajar Iran 19th century). Part of the national heritage list of Iran.

A Simurgh sculpture in Neyshabur. Simurgh is an Iranian mythological bird that has been referenced and allusioned by the Attar of Nishapur in his poetry.

Most people speak Persian and are monolingual, however, there are several private foreign language-teaching institutions in the city that teach English and other languages.

Qadamgah, a city and a Shia pilgrimage. It is historically part of the Greater Region of the city of Nishapur. It is now legally a separated county (shahrestan) though it's people have close ties and relatives with the main bigger city of Nishapur which is geographically close to it. Qadamgah used to be a part of the adminstrative county of Nishapur.

Before the Islamization of Iran, Zoroastrianism had been the major religion of Neyshabur. Adur Burzen-Mihr a Zoroastrian fire temple of the highest grade was situated in Rivand Mountains (Binalud mountains) of Nishapur. After the rise of Islam however, the people living in and near the city of Neyshabur became Muslims. Nishapur and its people have also had an influence on Sufism (an Islamic mystic practice). Poets and Sufis such as Attar of Nishapur who had been born in this city had had a profound influence on Islamic mysticism.

Abul al-Wafa Buzjani

Abū-Sa'id Abul-Khayr

Omar Khayyam

Haji Bektash Veli

Parviz Meshkatian

Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani

Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri

Sorted by date

• Mazdak – (died c. 524 or 528) was a Zoroastrian prophet, Iranian reformer and religious activist
• Kanarang – was a unique title in the Sassanid army, given to the commander of the Sassanid Empire's northeastern most frontier province, Abarshahr (encompassing the cities of Tus, Nishapur and Abiward).
• Behafarid – was an 8th-century Persian Zoroastrian heresiarch
• Sunpadh – (died 755) cleric
• Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh – muhaddith, faqih
• Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri – 9th-century philosopher, mathematician, natural scientist, historian of religion, astronomer and author
• Ibn Khuzaymah – Muslim scholar
• Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj – Muslim scholar and one of the most prominent muhaddith in history
• Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri – (died 992) was a Muslim theologian and philosopher
• Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī – (10 June 940 – 15 July 998) was a mathematician and astronomer
• Hakim al-Nishaburi – (933–1012), was a Sunni scholar and historian
• Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Naysaburi – Isma'ili theologian and historian
• Tha'ālibī -(961–1038), Muslim philologist, writer and poet
• Ahmad ibn 'Imad al-Din – was a Persian physician and alchemist. He was probably from Nishapur in the 11th century.
• Ibn Abi Sadiq – was an 11th-century Persian physician
• Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr – (December 7, 967 – January 12, 1049) was a famous Persian Sufi and poet
• Al-Juwayni (1028–1085 CE) was a Sunni Shafi'i Faqih and Mutakallim.
• Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tha'labi – was an 11th-century Islamic scholar.
• Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin Qushayri – was born in 986 CE (376 AH), Philosopher and Sufi
• Omar Khayyám – (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) was a Persian polymath, philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet.
• Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi – (1059-1135), Persian scholar of Arabic, history and hadith
• Mu'izzi – was an 11th and 12th-centuries poet
• Haji Bektash Veli – was a Muslim mystic
• Attar of Nishapur – (c. 1145 – c. 1221), was a Muslim poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer.
• Abu al-Qasim al-Habib Neishapuri – physician mid-15th century.
• Saadat Ali Khan I – (b. c. 1680 – d. 19 March 1739) was the Subahdar Nawab of Oudh. All the rulers of Oudh State in India belonged to a Shia Muslim dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapur. They were renowned for their secularism and broad outlook. After they rebelled against the British their state was annexed to form the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.[33]
• Hamid Hussain Musavi – i (born 1830 – died 1880) was a leading Shia scholar
• Heydar Yaghma –
• Badi' –
• Abolghasem Sakhdari – wrestler
• Saeed Khani – footballer
• Yaghoub Ali Shourvarzi – wrestler
• Nur-Ali Shushtari –
• Esmail Shooshtari –
• Parviz Meshkatian –
• Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani – i (born 1939) is a Persian writer, poet, literary critic, editor, and translator.
• Hossein Vahid Khorasani‍—‌(born January 1, 1921) is an Iranian Twelver Shia Marja
• Abdolreza Kahani‍—‌ Director
• Hamed Behdad‍—‌(1973–) Actor

Gate of Omar Khayyam High School. Part of the national heritage of Iran.

There are several high schools in the city and the county. The most famous and the oldest of which is Omar Khayyam High School.

The University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), the Islamic Azad University of Neyshabur (IAUN), the Payame Noor University of Neyshabur and the Technical and Vocational University of Neyshabur, are the main universities of the city along with several other public and private technical, vocational, and part-time colleges and schools.

Enghelab Sports Complex is an indoor arena in Nishapur. The arena houses Nishapur's basketball, volleyball, and futsal teams. Nishapur has one professional football team, Jahan Electric Nishapur, that competes in the Razavi Khorasan's Provincial Leagues.

Road 44

Road 44, an major national expressway that connects the two major cities of Tehran and Mashhad, is connected to the city of Nishapur and it passes through it.

A passenger train in Nishapur train station

Nishapur is connected to the Trans-Iranian Railway System which is a UNESCO world heritage. The Nishapur train station became operational during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and it is located on the southern part of the city.

On 18 February 2004, runaway train wagons crashed into the village of Khayyam near Nishapur. This accident caused several major explosions and it kill over 300. The entire village of Khayyam was destroyed due to the explosions.

The intercity bus terminal of the city is located at the eastern part of the city close to the road 44. Several public bus lines and stations are also active within the city.

Currently there is only one airport near the north of the city that is only authorized to be used for gliders and small aircraft however, there are plans for building a proper airport near the south of the city of Nishapur.[34]

Many agricultural products such as saffron, cotton, herbs, plums, walnut, wheat, corn, apples, cherries and pistachio are exported from the county of Nishapur.

Most of the water supply of the city is provided from the Binalud Mountain Range's mostly seasonal rivers, qanats, dams and modern wells. The city is also a dairy and sugar exporter.

Natural recourses such as turquoise and salt are mined from around the city.

The electrical power supply of the city is provided from Neyshabur Combined Cycle Power Plant and Binalood Wind Farm. The excessive electrical energy of the city is mostly exported from the city's public power grid.

Khorasan Steel Complex and two main industrial parks called the Khayyam Industrial Park and the Attar Industrial Park are near the city of Nishapur. Many industrial products such as sugar, cooking oils and gas heaters are exported from the city and its county.

A rock climber in Nishapur

Several hotels, resorts, parks, tourist hot-spots, restaurants, museums, cultural centers, mausoleums, Shia pilgrimage sites and historic mosques are in and near the city. The tourism industry of the city has a lot of protentional but it needs further development.

There are two active hospitals ( Hakim Hospital and 22 Bahman Hosptial) in the city of Nishapur and a third one is also currently under construction.

A view of Buzhan, a village and a tourist hot-spot near the east-north of the city of Nishapur, April 2019.

Nishapur generally has a warm and semi-dry climate called ''central Iranian plateau climate''. Precipitation mostly happens in spring and winter.

The city of Nishapur lies on a Holocene alluvial plain on top of the Pleistocene sediments in the southwestern part of the Binalud Mountains. The Binalud Range, running northwest–southeast, is made predominantly of Triassic and Jurassic rocks. On the southern side of the northwestern part of the range there is a section of Eocene rocks that are volcanic in origin. The well-known Nishabur turquoise comes from the weathered and broken trachytes and andesites of the Eocene volcanic rocks of this part of the mountain range. The main turquoise mines are situated about 50 kilometers northwest of the city of Nishapur in the foothills of the Binalud Range.[35]

Nishapur is located in a region with a rather high risk of earthquakes. Many earthquakes have seriously harmed the city; among the important ones are the historical earthquakes that ruined the city in the 12th and 13th centuries.

General publications in Nishapur includes the weekly and local newspapers. The first local newspaper of Khorasan province is Morning of Nishapur, published since 1989. Others include Shadiakh, published since 2000, Khayyam Nameh, since 2004, Nasim, since 2006, and Far reh Simorgh, since 2010.[36]

IRIB center of Mashhad covers the news of Nishapur.

Two book publishers working in the city are Klidar & Abar Shahr.[37][38]

The special Anthem of Nishapur was unveiled for the first time on April 14, 2011;[39] it has introduction and three parts, noted on three invasive and destructive in the history of Nishapur, delineated by frightening sounds of bells, along with sounds of percussion and wailing women represent the miseries caused by these attacks.[40][41]

A poem in Persian written in Nasaliq script. This poem is written for/about the tomb of Omar Khayyam in Nishapur.

Throughout history, Nishapur has been mentioned and praised in the Persian literature for several times (Mostly due to its prosperity and gardens). This city has been the birthplace and home of many famous Persian poets such as Omar Khayyam, Attar of Nishapur, Heydar Yaghma, Shafiei Kadkani and more. Foreign writers such as Andre Gide ( in The Fruits of the Earth) and Jorge Luis Borges have also mentioned this city in their work(s).

• Yo-Yo Ma released an instrumental track entitled "Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur" as part of the Silk Road Project.
• US band Santana released an instrumental track entitled "Incident at Neshabur" on their 1970 LP release, Abraxas. Carlos Santana says this was a reference to a place in Haiti.

• The 15th World Scout Jamboree was scheduled to be held 15–23 July 1979 and was to be hosted by Pahlavi Iran at Nishapur, but was cancelled due to the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

• Nishapur is included as a playable setting in a historical video game series called ''Crusader Kings''.
• Nishapur is included as a playable setting in a historical video game called ''Historinica''.

The most important food and drink in Nishapur are rhubarb and sharbat. Rhubarb (Persian rivaas or rivand'), a sour vegetable, grows at the foot of the eponymous Rivand Mountains (more recently, Turkified as Mount Binalud). Soft drinks made from the stems of the plant, such as sharbate rivaas (شربت ریواس) and khoshaabe rivaas (خوشاب ریواس), are sold at some Nishapur resorts. ''Aush Komay'' is also a local Aush made from a vegetable called ''کمای''. Haleem of Neyshabur is also popular in the region along with other common Iranian foods and drinks.