Ilam province
Ilam Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Ilam.
The province is in the western part of the country in Region 4 and covers. It shares of the border with Iraq, and also borders on the provinces of Kermanshah, Lorestan, and Khuzestan.
Etymology
The name "Ilam" comes from "Elam", the prehistoric civilisation that ruled in south western Iran from 2700 BC to 539 BC.History
Pre-history
The name "Ilam" comes from "Elam", the pre-historic civilization that ruled the area in modern southwest Iran from 2700 BC to 539 BC. Archaeological findings date human settlement of the area to around 5000 BC.Ashurbanipal, the then king of Assyria, invaded Elam in 639 BC and totally destroyed it. Although not as united as before, the Elamites survived and continued to live in the area after the invasion. Between 612 and 546 BC, Elam was incorporated into the Median Empire and later into the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BC. During the Achaemenid Empire, Elam lost its independence forever and became the third province of the empire after Persis and Media.
During the Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Parthian eras the area and its settlements took on importance due to its proximity to the districts of Hamadan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Lorestan and, most notably, Susa,
During the Sasanian era, present-day Ilam was composed of two states: Mehrjanqazaq in the east, which was the modern day Darreh Shahr and Masbasan in the west.
Arab reign
After the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia in 640 AD, the Arabs named the area the "Land of the Mountains," or "Jibal". During the Arabs' rule, the kingdom of Jibal, whose capital was Seymareh, was one of the territories under the control of Baghdad and Basra, and lasted until 961 CE.The Rashidun Caliphate conquered Mesopotamia by 640 CE and later the whole Sasanid Empire by 643 CE and kept control until their collapse in 661 CE. Prior to their collapse, civil war had taken over the caliphate, after which the Muawiyah faction won and thus established the Umayyad Caliphate. The Umayyads controlled the area until their own collapse in 750 AD, after which the Abbasid Caliphate took over and reigned for around two hundred years until 945 CE. After conquering western Iran in 945 CE, the Buyid Dynasty ruled over this area until 1055.
Kurdish reign
For 270 years, between 1155 and 1424, the Kurds reigned in the Zagros Mountains, especially areas around Lorestan. Hazaraspids who are also known as Lorestan Atabegs were composed of two groups, the Little Lor, who were mostly of Lor descent and Big Lor Atabegs who were of Kurdish descent. The former controlled parts of the present-day provinces of Markazi, Hamedan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Khuzestan and Ilam.From 961 to 1015, the Ḥasanwayhid dynasty ruled over western Iran under the influence of the Buyid Dynasty. Centred at Dinawar, near present-day Kermanshah, Hasanwayhids, Kurdish Muslims with ties to the Kurdish Barzikani tribe, controlled central areas of the Zagros Mountains. At its greatest extent, the dynasty included the modern-day areas around Khorramabad, Borujerd, Nahavand, Asadabad, Borujerd, Ahwaz, Ilam, Kermanshah, Hulwan and Kirkuk. The Ḥasanwayhid dynasty was overthrown by the Annazids, who, with help of the Buyid dynasty, controlled the area until their collapse in 1116 CE.
Khorshidi dynasty
The capital of Little Lor was Shapourkhwast or the modern-day Khorramabad, especially the Falak-ol-Aflak Castle. The Little Lor Atabegs or the Khorshidi dynasty ruled over the area for over 412 years, from 1184 to 1597 CE, after which Shah Abbas the Great executed the last ruler, Shahverdi Khan, and replaced Shahverdi's nephew, Hossein Beyg/Khan, thus ending the rule of Little Lor and beginning of the Vali/Wali dynasty also known as Feyli Vali.Qajar era (1789–1925)
During the Qajar era, Lorestan was divided into two regions: Poshtkoh with the center of Ilam city and Pishkouh with the center of Khorramabad. Poshtkhouh literally means “back of mountain” and it was due to the fact that Ilam was situated at the westernmost parts of the Zagros Mountains and to the rest of the country it was plainly considered at the back of mountains.From that point on, Ilam was ruled independently from Lorestan, and the governor reported directly to the central government, thereby ending Lorestan control of Ilam and Poshtkouh. The two districts were later renamed "Deh-e Bala" and "Deh-e Pa'een", meaning the upper and lower villages respectively. During the rule of Hossein Qoli Khan over "Deh-e Bala", it was renamed to "Hossein-Abad Poshtkuh".
The Vali Castle of Ilam was built by the next Vali, Gholamreza Khan Feyli, in 1908. The castle is now a nationally registered heritage and also the Ilam Museum of Anthropology.
20th century
Following the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925, Reza Shah suppressed the local governments to consolidate his dominance. In 1928, the government forces took over Poshtkouh and Gholamreza Khan Feyli, the last Feyli governor left Poshtkouh with any resistance and went to Iraq, thus abolishing the rule of the Feylis in Ilam after 332 years. A year later, in 1929, "Hossein-Abad" was renamed to "Ilam" by the suggestion of Academy of Persian Language and Literature.On November 7, 1937, the parliament passed a law on the political division of the country under the title of "Act of Division of the Country and the Duties of the Governors", thereby dividing the country into 6 provinces and 50 counties. Poshtkouh, being a county, was part of the "West Province".
The 1937 political division law did not last long and a while later on January 9, 1938, an amendment was passed which divided the country into 10 province and 49 counties. Based on the new division, "Ilam" was a county of the "Fifth Province".
In 1964, Darreh Shahr, Abdanan and Dehloran from Lorestan province and Mousian from Khuzestan were annexed to Ilam, thus upping its status to "general governorate" as part of the Kermanshah Province. Ilam subsequently became a province in March 1974.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ilam was one of the main battlegrounds of the Iran-Iraq war for years. The war began with the Iraqi invasion into western and southwestern Iran on 22 September 1980. As a border province, Ilam was a constant target for the Iraqi bombing campaign and suffered heavily in terms of economic infrastructure. The war left Ilam province devastated for years, making it one of the least developed provinces in Iran.
Geography
Ilam province, with an area of, is the 22nd largest province in Iran. It is located in the southwest of the country, in Central Zagros, and is bordered by Iraq to the west, Khuzestan province to the south, Lorestan province to the east, and Kermanshah province to the north.Ilam province is situated at the southwestern edge of the Zagros Mountains and right at the transition between the Arabian and the Iranian plateaus. Because of this, it is divided into two distinct natural areas; The northern and eastern parts are mountainous, whereas the southwest is covered with low plains that extend to the Iraqi and Khuzestan borders.
The mountains in the north and east are mostly parallel, running in the northwest–southeast direction. These mountains are separated by plains and rolling hills that are mostly used to grow crops and orchards by settlers.
The most prominent mountain in Ilam province is Kabir Kouh, which is located in the eastern part of the province, stretching 160 km from near Pol-e Zal in the southeast to Mishkhas village near Ilam city in the northwest. The highest point in the province, Kan Seifi peak with above sea level, is part of Kabir Kouh range.
Other major mountains include:
- Manesht and Qolarang near Ilam
- Sharah-Zoul and Bankoul in Eywan
- Qalajeh and Ahuran in Chardavol
- Dinar Kouh, in Abdanan
- Anaran and Siah Kouh in central Dehloran
- Laneh and Charmin near Lumar
- Chaman-Ghir and Sivan near Mishkhas.
| Peak | Elevation | Elevation |
| Kan Seifi | 2775 | 9104 |
| Manesht | 2629 | 8625 |
| Chaman Ghir | 2578 | 8458 |
| Qolarangh | 2473 | 8114 |
| Ghachan | 2464 | 8084 |
| Bankoul | 2304 | 7559 |
| Melinjeh | 2193 | 7195 |
| Shalam | 2174 | 7133 |
| Sameleh | 2150 | 7054 |
Contrary to the north, the south and southwestern part of the province is covered with low-lying plains with elevation varying between above sea level. Despite receiving little precipitation, large areas of these low lands, notably Dehloran, Musian and Dasht Abbas, are cultivated owing to a combination of factors such as rivers flowing from the mountains to the east, dams and irrigation networks.
The Ghamasiab river, after running through Kermanshah province, flows toward Ilam. Upon arriving at the point where the borders of Ilam, Lorestan and Kermanshah provinces meet, it is named Seymareh. It then flows west and southward and somewhere near Kal Sefid Village, Darreh Shahr, is joined by the Kashkan river and together they create the Karkheh river, the third longest river in Iran with a length of around 755 km. Seymareh and Karkheh constitute the Ilam's eastern border with Lorestan province.
Because of the terrain, the permanent and seasonal rivers and stream that originate from Ilam highlands either fall into Seymareh, such as Chardavol, Garab, Seekan, Darreh Shahr and Majeen rivers; or, flow westward toward the low lands and into Iraq and Khuzestan, such as Ghanghir, Ghodar-Khosh, Kanjan-Cham, Roud Ghavi, Changouleh Meymeh, Murmuri, Doiraj and Siah Ghav rivers.
Apart from some few springs here and there, such as Siah-Ghav Twin Lakes near Abdanan, there are no major natural bodies of water in the province. There are, however, four dam that provide important drinking water, these include Ilam, Seymareh, Eywan and Doiraj dams.