JAVĀNRUD, a city and a sub-province (šahrestān) in the northwest of Kermānšāhān Province near the border with Iraq at about 110 km southwest of Sanandaj sub-province. Apparently it is so called after the name of the Kurdish tribe Javānrud, a dominant tribe of the area in the past, which is now almost entirely urbanite. The sub-province is divided into the Central and the Kalāši districts and is bounded to the north by Owrāmān Lahun, to the east by Ravānsar district, to the west by Iraq, and to the south by Kermānšahān. In the past Javānrud was one of the eighteen rural districts (boluk) of the loosely defined province of Ardalān, the former designation of the Persian province of Kurdistan. It was a rural district of Sanandaj sub-province until the restructuring the administrative order of the country made it a part of Kermānšāhan Province in the mid 1970s, eventually becoming a sub-province in 1989 (Ḥaydari, pp. 276-77). In 1909, Amān-Allāh Khan Ardalān (r. 1799-1825), then the govornor (wāli) of Ardalān (i.e., Kurdistan), built a fortress on a hillock near the center of Javānrud and furnished it with an orchard and elegant buildings for the resisence of tribal leaders. The fortress, known as Qalʿa-ye Javānrud, soon fell into ruin due to the lack of proper maintenance (Marduḵ, II, p. 78). Because of its stategic position near the Ottoman border, until the early 20th century, its rulers were always chosen from among the leaders of the Ardalān tribe, which represented the leading local force.

Javānrud is a mountainous region surrounded on the east and north by the mountains belonging to the Zagros range. The major mountain in the region is Šāhu range that extends for 55 km in the northeast with the highest elevation of 3,390 m (Jaʿfari, III, p. 375; Dehḵodā, p. 140; Ḥaydari, p. 276). Kāvāt Cave, a nature’s point of attraction briefly described by Moḥammad Marduḵ, is in this mountain (Marduḵ, p. 79). The cave is now closed to the public, because the running stream inside the cave is now diverted to the town as drinking water (Iraj Afšār, p. 49). The sub-district is comprised of 124 villages, 43 of which are mountainous with a cold climate, while the other 81 are located on the plains and have a moderate climate suitable for farming. The water for the villages is supplied by springs and rivers, mainly the rivers of Sirvān, a tributary of Diāla River, and Leyala. Other noteworthy rivers are Zerešk and Zimakān (Jaʿfari, II, pp. 81, 84, 259-61, 440). Agricultural products include barley, wheat, beans, corn, tobacco, and various fruits, of which pomegranates and figs are known for quality. According to Marduḵ (II, p. 79), the area also produced substantial amounts of tragacanth and A. adscendens (gaz-angobin; see GAZ) for export. A unique product of the area is a kind of honey, known as Šāh Badram, which tastes differently from the common type. It is cultivated only here and in the Mokri area of Kurdistan (Marduḵ, II, p. 79; Mirzā ʿAli Akbar, p. 69). A part of the district is home to natural forests, and the pastures are used for raising sheep and cattle. As a result, its animal products are plentiful (Edāra-ye koll-e āmār, p. 59).

The population of Javānrud sub-province was reported as 109,518 in the census of 1996, of which 53,464 were urban residents, 55,451 lived in rural areas, and the rest were nomads (Ḥaydari, p. 277). The majority of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims of the Shafeʿite persuasion and followers of Naqšbandi and Qāderi Sufi orders. They generaly speak Kurdish (Jāfi and Owrāmāni dialects), but Persian is also used in urban areas (Ḥaydari, p. 277). Villagers mostly work as animal herders. They spend winters in villages and move to higher grounds during the summer time. Since local farming products are not enough to meet the need of the growing population, additional foodstuff is imported from other regions (Mirzā Šokr-Allāh, p. 48).

A number of tribes and clans inhabit Javānrud, the most important of which are the Jāf (q.v.) nomads, whose original homeland was here and they referred to it as Jāvānrud or Jāfānrud (Moṣṭafā Jawād, p. 28). Following a battle with the govornor of Ardalān toward the end of the 17th century, in which their leader and his son were taken captive and killed, the larger body of Jāf moved to Solaymāniya district in Ottomon territory, and are referred to as Morādi Jāf. The sections that remained behind became known as Jāf-e Javānrud (Sajjādi, pp. 511-12; see JĀF). Other noteworthy tribes are Emāmi, Rostam Beygi, Bābājāni, Zardōyi, Tāyjōzi and Šabānkāra (Ilāt wa qabāyel-e Kordestān-e Ardalān, p. 31; Afšār Sistāni, I, pp. 253-55).

Javānrud was the scene of a number of armed tribal rebellions, at times instigated by the interests of foreign powers, but none of the rebellions spread elsewhere or posed any serious threat to the central government (Afšār Sistāni, pp. 253-54).



Iraj Afšār, Safar-nāmča: golgašt dar waṭan, Tehran, 2005.

Iraj Afšār Sistāni, Ilhā, čador-nešinān wa ṭawāyef-e ʿašāyeri-e Irān, 2 vols., Tehran, 1987, I, pp. 253-55.

Mirzā ʿAli-Akbar Waqāyeʿnegār Monši, Ḥadiqa-ye Nāṣeriya dar joḡrāfiā wa tāriḵ-e Kordestān, ed. Moḥammad-Raʾuf Tawakkoli, Tehran, 1985. ʿAli Akbar Dehḵodā, Loḡat-nāma, Tehran, 1946-79.

s.v. Edāra-ye koll-e āmār wa ṯabt-e aḥwāl, Ketāb-e joḡrāfiā wa asāmi-e dehāt-e kešvar, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1950.

Waḥid Ḥaydari, “Javānrud,” in Dāneš-nāma-ye jahān-e eslām XI, pp. 276-78.

Moḥammad Ḥosayn-zāda, Tāriḵča-ye Javānrud, Kermānšāh, 1998.

Ilāt wa qabāyel-e Kordestān-e Ardalān, manuscript. ʿAbbās Jaʿfari, Gitā-šenāsi-e Irān II: Rudhā wa rud-nāma-ye Irān, Tehran, 1997; III: Kuhhā wa kuh-nāma-ye Irān, Tehran, 1989.

Moṣṭafā Jawād, “Jāvān: al-qabila al-kordiya al-mansiya wa mašāhir al-jāvānin,” Majalla al-majmaʿ al-ʿelmi al-erāqi 4, 1956.

Shaikh Moḥammad Marduḵ Kordestāni, Tāriḵ-e Kord wa Kordestān wa tawābeʿ yā tāriḵ-e Marduḵ, 2 vols, Tehran, 1945; 2nd ed., 2 vols. in 1, Tehran, 1974.

ʿAli Mirniā, Ilhā wa ṭāyefahā-ye ʿašāyeri-e Kord-e Irān, Tehran, 1990.

Basile Nikitine, Les Kurdes: étude sosiologiquw et historique, Paris, 1956; tr. Moḥammad Qāżi as Kord wa Kordestān, Tehran, 1987.

Ḥosayn-ʿAli Razmārā, ed., Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi-e Irān (ābādihā), V, Tehran, 1952, pp. 108-9.

ʿAlāʾ-al-Din Sajjādi, Mēju-yi adabi Kordi (History of Kurdish literature), Baghdad, 2nd ed., 1971.

Mirzā Šokr-Allāh Sanandaji, Toḥfa-ye Nāseriya dar tāriḵ wa joḡrāfiā-ye Kordestān, ed. Ḥešmat-Allāh Ṭabibi, Tehran, 1987.

Moḥammad-ʿAli Solṭāni, Joḡrāfiā-ye tāriḵi wa tāriḵ-e mofaṣṣal-e Kermānšāhān II: Ilhā wa ṭawāyef-e Kermānšāhān, Tehran, 1991.

(ʿAbd-Allāh Marduḵ and EIr.)

Originally Published: December 15, 2008

Last Updated: April 13, 2012

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