Sanjan (Khorasan)

Sanjan (Khorasan)

Sanjan is an ancient city on the southern edge of the Kara-kum Desert, in the vicinity of the historically eminent oasis-city of Merv. Topographically, Sanjan is located in the Greater Khorasan region of Central Asia. Politically, Sanjan is in the present-day Mary Province of Turkmenistan.

Together with Merv, Sanjan was an important stopping place and center of trade on the southern route of the Silk road. Sanjan gained further importance following the Seleucid establishment of Merv as the principal city of the Margiana province, a status it also held during the subsequent Parthian (250 BCE226 CE) and Sassanid (226-651 CE) eras.

As a site in the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, Sanjan is subject to the hypothesis that the Indo-Iranians, a major branch that split off from the Proto-Indo-Europeans, originated there. (see also: )

According to the "Qissa-i Sanjan", an epic poem from around 1600, the Zoroastrians who fled to the Indian subcontinent in the 8th or 9th century to escape religious persecution established the settlement of Sanjan (Gujarat). These Zoroastrians, who were at first called "Sanjana"s or "Khorasani"s (today, the descendants of these and later Zoroastrian emigrants are collectively known as the Parsis), are thought to have named the Indian west-coast settlement after the city of their origin.

"Sanjan" must not be confused with the phonetically similar Iranian province Zanjan, or its capital, the city of Zanjan.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sanjan — may refer to:*Sanjan (Khorasan), a historic city in present day Turkmenistan *Sanjan (Gujarat), a town in Gujarat named by Zoroastrian immigrants after the Sanjan in Khorasan *Sangan (Pakistan), a town in Balochistan province of Pakistan *Samur… …   Wikipedia

  • Sanjan (Gujarat) — Sanjan is the second station in Gujarat (the first station is Umbergaon) just inside the Gujarat Maharashtra border, when travelling on the Western Railway line. Sanjan is in the Valsad district. Sanjan is believed to have been founded by… …   Wikipedia

  • Khorasan Province — Khorasan (PerB|خراسان) (also transcribed as Khurasan and Khorassan, anciently called Traxiane during Hellenistic and Parthian times is currently a region located in north eastern Iran, but historically referred to a much larger area east and… …   Wikipedia

  • Khorasan — Khorassan Le Khorassan (خراسان en farsi, également orthographié Khorasan, Chorasan ou Khurasan) est une région située dans le nord est de l Iran. Le nom vient du persan et signifie « d où vient le soleil ». Il a été donné à la partie… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Qissa-i Sanjan — The Story of Sanjan (also Qissa i Sanjan or Kisse i Sanjan ) is an account of the early years of Zoroastrian settlers on the Indian subcontinent. In the absence of alternatives, the text is generally accepted to be the only narrative of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Grand Khorasan — Le Grand Khorasan est une région historique jusqu au Moyen Âge qui incluait des parties de ce qui est aujourd hui l Iran, l Afghanistan,l Hazaristan, le Tadjikistan, le Turkménistan, et l Ouzbékistan. Certaines des villes historiques principales… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Parsi people — Infobox Ethnic group group= Parsis poptime= c. 70,000 popplace= c. 70% in India, 5% in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, 25% elsewhere (largely the United Kingdom) langs= Gujarati, English,marathi rels= ZoroastrianismA Parsi ( gu. પારસી Pārsī ,… …   Wikipedia

  • Fire temple — Part of a series on Zoroastrianism Portal Primary topics Zoroa …   Wikipedia

  • Persecution of Zoroastrians — Zoroastrians have faced much religious discrimination including forced conversions, harassments, as well as being identified as najis ritually impure to some groups of Muslims, while others long recognised them as People of the Book like… …   Wikipedia

  • Safavid dynasty — Infobox Former Country native name =صفویان conventional long name = The Safavid Iranian Empire common name = Safavids| continent = Asia region = Middle East country = Iran era = status = Empire status text = empire = government type = Monarchy| | …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”