Mashhad

Mashhad (Persian: مشهد [mæʃˈhæd] ^ⓘ), historically also known as Mashad (/məˈʃæd/ mə-SHAD), Meshhed, or Meshed, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the north-east of the country about 740 kilometres (460 miles) east of Tehran. In the Central District of Mashhad County, it serves as the capital of Razavi Khorasan province, the county, and the district. It has a population of about 3,400,000 (2016 census), which includes the areas of Mashhad Taman and Torqabeh.

Mashhad has been governed by different ethnic groups. A small village, by the 9th century it was known as Sanabad and was located—along with Tus and other villages—on the ancient Silk Road connecting them with Merv to the east. It outgrew surrounding villages and became known by its current name, meaning "place of martyrdom", in reference to the Imam Reza shrine, where the eighth Shia Imam, Ali al-Rida, is buried. The Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid is also buried within the same shrine. The shrine is the most pilgrimaged site in Shiaism, visited by nearly 30 million each year.

Mashhad later also became associated with Ferdowsi, the Persian poet and author of the Shahnameh, who was born in Tus (with many institutions in Mashhad named after him). Mashhad enjoyed relative prosperity in the Mongol period, and continued to grow. Between 1736 and 1796, Mashhad became the capital of Afsharid Iran which was ruled by the Afsharid dynasty founded by Nader Shah, whose tomb is located in the city. In the modern era, Mashhad continued to expand and became the hometown of some of the most significant literary figures and artists of modern Iran, such as the poet Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, and the traditional Iranian singer and composer Mohammad-Reza Shajarian. On 30 October 2009 (the anniversary of Imam Reza's martyrdom), Iran's then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Mashhad to be "The spiritual capital of Iran."