Abstract
A fortress on the summit of an isolated rocky hill in the Alburz mountains, situated some 18km west of Damgan in northern Persia.
Thrust forward into a sloping plain, the hill of Gerdkuh rises about 300 metres above its base, and seen from the south, the access direction to the site, the hill appears dome-shaped; hence its name Gerdkuh (round mountain). In medieval times, Gerdkuh was also known as Dez-i Gonbadan which Islamic sources identified with the one mentioned in the “Shahnama” (ed. Vullers, III, pp. 1550, 1552, 1635, 1643, 1671;’Mujmal, p. 52; Rashidal-Din, 1959, p. 117; Mustawfi,’Nuzhat al-qulub, text p. 161, tr. P. 158; idem,’Tarikh-i guzida, p. 93).
Location and description
A fortress on the summit of an isolated rocky hill in the Alburz mountains, situated some 18km west of Damgan in northern Persia. Thrust forward into a sloping plain, the hill of Gerdkuh rises about 300 metres above its base, and seen from the south, the access direction to the site, the hill appears dome-shaped; hence its name Gerdkuh (round mountain). In medieval times, Gerdkuh was also known as Dez-i Gonbadan which Islamic sources identified with the one mentioned in theShahnama(ed. Vullers, III, pp. 1550, 1552, 1635, 1643, 1671;Mujmal, p. 52; Rashidal-Din, 1959, p. 117; Mustawfi,Nuzhat al-qulub, text p. 161, tr. P. 158; idem,Tarikh-i guzida, p. 93).
Gerdkuh in history
The date and circumstances of the construction of Gerdkuh, possibly a pre-Islamic site, remain unknown. The earliest known reference to Gerdkuh dates back to the early 4th/10th century in connection with the early Ismaili movement in theJibalNorthwest and west-central Persia.. According to this, it was the residence of the Ismaili糸温iAbd al-Malik Kawkabi, one of the immediate successors of the糸温iAbu Hatim Razi (d. 322/934; Nizam al-Mulk, p. 287; Rashidal-Din, 1959, p. 12). Later in the 5th/11th century, the fortress came into the possession of the local Saljukamirs in Damgan (Ibn al-Athir, Beirut, X, p. 38). From the end of the 5th/11th century until the middle of the 7th/13th century, the history of Gerdkuh is closely connected with the history of the Nizari Ismaili state of Persia during theAlamutperiod (Daftary, pp. 343-44, 363, 365, 367, 381, 414, 421-22, 425, 428-29).
Gerdkuh and the Nizari Ismailis
Gerdkuh was placed at the disposal of Hasan Sabbah, the founder of the Nizari Ismaili movement in Persia, by Rais Muayyadal-DinMuzaffar b. Ahmad Mustawfi, around the year 493/1100. Rais Muzaffar, a secret Ismaili convert in the service of the Saljuks, had earlier persuaded his superior Saljukamir, Amirdad Habashi, to acquire Gerdkuh from Sultan Barkiaruq granted the request in 489/1096 and Habashi appointed Rais Muzaffar as his lieutenant there, Rais Muzaffar, still posing as a loyal Saljuk officer, reconstructed Gerdkuh, making it as self-sufficient and impregnable as possible (Juwayni, ed. Qazvini, III, pp. 207-8, tr. Boyle, II, pp. 678-79; Rashidal-Din, 1959, pp. 116-20; Kashani, pp. 151- 55). It was a strongly fortified castle with ample water and food storage facilities, capable of withstanding long sieges, when it came into the possession of the Nizari IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja平far al-畊diq (d. 765), as his successor.. Rais Muzaffar served as the Nizari commandant of Gerdkuh for a long time and was succeeded by his son Sharafal-DinMuhammad.
Situated strategically along theKhurasanroad, and guarding the eastern approaches to the Alburz mountains and the Caspian highlands, Gerdkuh served as the most important Nizari stronghold in Qumis, one of the main scattered territories of the Nizari state in Persia. At various times, theNizarisalso levied rolls on travellers passing Gerdkuh (Juvayni, ed. Qazvini, III, pp. 213-14, tr. Boyle, II, pp. 681-82; Rashidal-Din, 1959, p. 123; Kashani, p. 144). Gerdkuh became the last Nizari stronghold in Persia to surrender to the Mongols. The fortress was besieged for 17 consecutive years, starting in Rabi I 651/May 1253. The garrison of Gerdkuh finally surrendered for the want of clothing in Rabi II 669/December 1270, some 13 years after the fall ofAlamutFortress of the Nizari Ismailis in northern Iran, which fell to the Mongols in 654 AH/1256 CE.. The Mongols did not demolish Gerdkuh, as in the case of some other major Nizari fortresses in Persia (Rashidal-Din,Tarikh-i ghazani, 1940, pp. 30, 56; idem,Tarikh-i ghazani, 1941, p. 29; idem,Jami al-tawarikh, Baku, III, pp. 35-36, 140, 2727, 286-87; Juzjani, II, p. 186). Gerdkuh was still in use in 786/1384 (Yazdi, I, pp. 280-82), but there is no mention of it in later sources. It seems to have been completely abandoned by the time of the earlySafavids. The ruins of the living quarters built by the besieging Mongols and the two different types of themangonelstones, used by theNizarisand the Mongols, are still scattered on the northeastern slope of the hill (visited by the present writer in 1985).
The fortress today
Of the major Nizari fortresses in Persia, Gerdkuh is the one least studied in modern times. No archaeological survey has been made of the extensive ruins and fortifications which exist on the summit and along the sides of the hill, and of the three outer walls of the site. Itimad al-Sultana, who visited Gerdkuh in 1300/1882-83, has left a brief description of its ruins (III, p. 302-7).
Author
Dr Farhad Daftary
Co-Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications
An authority in Shi’i studies, with special reference to its Ismaili tradition, Dr. Daftary has published and lectured widely in these fields of Islamic studies. In 2011 a Festschrift entitledFortresses of the Intellectwas produced to honour Dr. Daftary by a number of his colleagues and peers.
Bibliography
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G. S. Hodgson,The Order of Assassins, The Hague, 1955.
Hamd-Allah Mustawfi,Tarikh-i guzida, ed. A.-H Navai, Tehran, 1339 S./1960. W. Ivanow, Some Ismaili Strongholds in Persia,Islamic Culture12, 1938, pp. 392-96.
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額温援顎岳,油Boldan, s.v. Damgan.
Sharafal-DinAli Yazdi,Zafarnama, ed. M. Abbasi, 2 vols, Tehran, 1336 S./1957.
This article was originally published in, Vol. X, p. 499, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, New York, 2001.
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息 2001 Encyclopaedia Iranica
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Cover image:. Hayton of Corycus,Fleur des histoires d’orient. Public domain.
