View source for Dinavar

{{Short description|Human settlement in Iran}}
{{About||the administrative subdivision of Iran|Dinavar Rural District|the village in East Azerbaijan Province|Dinavar, East Azerbaijan}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Dinavar
|native_name = دینور
|alternate_name =
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|map_type = Iran
|map_alt =
|map_size =
|location = [[Shir Khan, Kermanshah|Shir Khan]], [[Kermanshah Province]], [[Iran]]
|region =
|type = Settlement
|part_of =
|length =
|width =
|area =
|height =
|builder =
|material =
|built =
|abandoned =
|epochs = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" -->
|cultures =
|dependency_of =
|occupants =
|event =
|excavations =
|archaeologists =
|condition = In ruins
|ownership =
|management =
|public_access =
|website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
|notes =
}}
'''Dinavar''' (also spelled '''Dinawar''' and '''Daynavar'''; {{langx|fa|دینور}}) was a major town between the 7th and 10th centuries, located to the northeast of [[Kermanshah]] in western [[Iran]]. The ruins of the town is now located near [[Shir Khan, Kermanshah|Shir Khan]], in [[Dinavar District]], [[Sahneh County]], [[Kermanshah Province]].
== History ==
Located in the centre of the ancient region of [[Media (region)|Media]], Dinavar is first attested in history as a town founded by the Greek [[Seleucid Empire]] (312 BC–63 BC), but it may have been older. Like the neighbouring town of [[Kangavar]], Dinavar also hosted a Greek population.{{sfn|Lockhart|1965|p=299}} Under the [[Sasanian Empire]] (AD 224–651), Dinavar served as an important fortified place, and was reportedly attacked by the [[Khazars]] in the early 6th-century. In 642, following the defeat of the Sasanians against the Arabs at the [[Battle of Nahavand]], Dinavar was conquered.{{sfn|Bosworth|1995|pp=416–417}} During the reign of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] [[caliph]] [[Mu'awiya I]] ({{reign|661|680}}), the town was renamed '''Mah al-Kufa''' and made one of the two districts of [[Jibal]] (Media). Dinavar consisted of the northern areas, whilst Karmisin ([[Kermanshah]]) consisted of the southern areas. Dinavar bordered [[Hulwan]] in the west; Masabadhan in the south; [[Hamadan]] in the east; and [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Adharbayjan]] in the north.{{sfn|Lockhart|1965|p=299}} The "Mah" in the Mah al-Kufa probably refers to Media.{{sfn|Lockhart|1965|p=299}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1995|pp=416–417}}
Dinavar had some importance due to its geographical location, serving as the entrance to Jibal as well as a crossroad between the culture of Iran and that of the inhabitants on the other side of the [[Zagros Mountains]].{{sfn|Pezeshk|2017}} The town flourished under the Umayyad and [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] caliphates. According to the Arab writer [[Ibn Hawqal]] (died after 978), Dinavar was only one-third less smaller than Hamadan in the 10th-century.{{sfn|Lockhart|1965|p=299}}
Dinavar historically has produced many scholars including [[Ibn Qutaybah]], [[Fakhr-un-Nisa]], and [[Abu Hanifa Dinawari]]. Dinavar was also the center of the [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] principality of the [[Hasanwayhids]]. It was sacked by [[Mardavij]] in 931. According to [[Ibn Athir]] it was plundered by [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkmen]] of the Iva tribe in 1172/73. According to the 14th-century geographer [[Hamdallah Mustawfi]] (died after 1339/40) in his ''[[Nuzhat al-Qulub]]'', Dinavar was a small town during his lifetime. However, it was later destroyed by [[Timur]] by the end of the 14th-century. Today only field of ruins are available.{{sfn|Bosworth|1995|pp=416–417}}
== Notable figures ==
*[[Ibn Qutaybah]]  (died 889), 9th-century scholar, best known for his contributions to [[Arabic literature]]
*[[Abu Hanifa Dinawari]] (died 896), 9th-century scholar who wrote the ''Kitāb al-akhbār al-ṭiwāl'', possibly the most apparent early effort to combine Iranian and Islamic history
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
* {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | volume=7 | fascicle=4 | title = Dīnavar | last = Bosworth | first = C. Edmund | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/dinavar | pages = 416–417}}
* {{EI2|last1=Lockhart|first1=L.|authorlink1=|volume=2|title=Dīnawar|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/dinawar-SIM_1867 | pages = 299–300}}
* {{Encyclopaedia Islamica|last=Pezeshk|first=Manouchehr|year=2017|title=al-Dīnawarī, Abū Ḥanīfa|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-islamica/al-dinawari-abu-hanifa-COM_036012}}
{{Kermanshah Province}}
{{Coord|34|35|N|47|26|E|display=title|source:frwiki}}
{{Portal|Iran}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Populated places in Sahneh County]]
[[Category:Former cities in Iran]]
[[Category:Destroyed populated places]]
[[Category:Ruins in Iran]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kermanshah province]]