Khorasan (redirected from Khorassan)

Khorasan (khôr'əsän`) or Khurasan (kr'əsän`), region and former province (1991 pop. 6,013,200), c.125,000 sq mi (323,750 sq km), NE Iran. Mashhad is the chief city; other cities include Sabzevar, Bojnurd, and Neyshabur. It is mainly mountainous and arid. Khorasan was occupied by the Arabs in the mid-7th cent., and Abu Muslim began (8th cent.) his campaign against the Umayyads there. The province contributed to the power of the early Abbasid caliphs. Khorasan was devastated by the Oghuz Turks in 1153 and 1157 and by the Mongols from 1220 to 1222. Timur invaded in 1383. An earthquake devastated Khorasan in 1997. In 2004 Khorasan was divided into three provinces: Northern, Southern, and Razavi Khorasan.

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Khorasan

 or Khurasan

Province (pop., 1996: 6,048,000), northeastern Iran. Its capital is Mashhad. The region was first named by the Sasanian dynasty, in whose language it means “Land of the Sun.” It was overrun by Muslim armies c. 650. Under Arab rule, it encompassed a vast territory including what is now southern Turkmenistan and northern Afghanistan. It was conquered c. 1220 by Genghis Khan and c. 1380 by Timur. Its current frontiers, as a province of Iran, were defined in 1881. Its population is composed of many ethnic groups as a result of numerous migrations and invasions over the centuries. The languages spoken are Turkish, Persian, and Kurdish. The province gives its name to the handcrafted Khorasan carpet.