Tabriz

(ancient Tauris), a city in northwestern Iran and capital of Eastern Azerbaijan Ostan. Situated in the valley of the Aji Chai River, at an elevation of 1,364 m. Population, 510,000 (1974).

Tabriz is both an important highway junction and a major railroad transit point in Iran’s trade with the USSR and Turkey. Its industries include machine building, railroad-car repair, and radio assembly. Among the local products are handwoven rugs, knitwear, leather goods, matches, and foodstuffs, including canned and dried fruits. The city also has a university, established in 1946.

Founded in the third or fourth century by the Sassanid dynasty, Tabriz has had a varied history. From the late 13th to the early 16th century, for example, it served as the capital of a series of temporary states formed in what is now Iran. In 1571–73 it was the scene of an uprising by artisans and poor townspeople. Capital of the Tabriz khanate in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the city became the official residence of the crown princes of the Qajar dynasty in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It also became, in the first half of the 20th century, a center of democratic and national liberation movements in Iran (as, for example, the uprising of 1908–09 and the popular movements of 1920 and 1945–46).

Several major architectural monuments are preserved in Tabriz, prominent among them the Cathedral Mosque of Ali-Shah (built 1310–20; made into a citadel in 1809) and the remains of the Blue Mosque (1465). Built according to a simple and compact plan, the Blue Mosque has a domed hall and is flanked on three sides by porticoes; it is distinguished for its decorations in glazed tiles. The city also has a park, Bag-e Golestan, containing several pavilions. In the Middle Ages, Tabriz was a leading center of artistic crafts and representational painting, especially miniatures (see).