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ARDEBIL, or ARDABIL
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See also:ARDEBIL, or ARDABIL , See also:chief See also:town of a See also:district, or sub-See also:province, of same name, of the province of See also:Azerbaijan in See also:north-western See also:Persia, in See also:lat. 38° 14' N., and See also:long. 48° 21' E., and at an See also:elevation of 4500 ft. It is situated on the Baluk Su (See also:Fish See also:river), a tributary of the Kara Su (See also:Black river), which flows northwards to the See also:Aras, and in a fertile See also:plain bounded on the See also:west by See also:Mount Savelan, a volcanic See also:cone with an See also:altitude of 15,792 ft. (See also:Russian triangulation), and on the See also:east by the Talish mountains (9000 ft.). Ardebil has a See also:population of about io,000, and See also:post and See also:telegraph offices. Its See also:trade, principally in the hands of Armenians, is still important, but is chiefly a transit trade between See also:Russia and Persia by way of See also:Astara, a See also:port on the See also:Caspian 30 M. north-east of Ardebil. It is surrounded by a ruinous mud See also:wall flanked by towers; a See also:quarter of a mile east of it stands a mud fort, 18o yds. square, constructed according II. 15449 to See also:European See also:system of fortification. Inside the See also:city are the famous sepulchres and shrines of Shaikh Safi ud-din and his descendant Shah See also:Ismail I. (1502—1524) the first Shiah shah of Persia and founder of the Safavi See also:dynasty. Plans and photo-graphs of the shrines were taken in 1897 by Dr F. Sarre of See also:Berlin and published in Igor (Denkmdler Persischer Baukunst; 65 large See also:folio plates). European and See also:Chinese merchants resided at Ardebil in the See also:middle ages, and for a long See also:time the city was a See also:great See also:emporium for central Asian and See also:Indian merchandise, which was forwarded to See also:Europe via See also:Tabriz, See also:Trebizond and the Black See also:Sea, and also by way of the See also:Caucasus and the See also:Volga. Since the beginning of the 16th See also:century, when Persia See also:fell under the sway of the Safavis, the See also:place has been much frequented by pilgrims who come to pay their devotions at the See also:shrine of Shaikh Safi. This shrine is a richly endowed See also:establishment with mosques and See also:college attached, and had a See also:fine library containing many rare and valuable See also:MSS. presented by Shah Abbas I. at the beginning of the 17th century, and mostly carried off by the Russians in 1828 and placed in the library at St See also:Petersburg. The See also:grand See also:carpet which had covered the See also:floor of one of the mosques for three centuries was See also:purchased by a traveller about 1890 for See also:ioo, and was finally acquired by the See also:South See also:Kensington Museum for many thousands. This beautiful carpet See also:measures 34 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in., and contains 380 See also:hand-tied knots in the square See also:inch, which gives over 32,500,000 knots to the whole carpet (W. Griggs, Asian Carpet Designs). (A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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