Ahar is one of the ancient cities of the
Azerbaijan region, its name before Islam was "meimad". In the 12th-13th centuries, Ahar was a minor and short-lived, but prosperous
emirate ruled by the
Pishteginid dynasty of
Georgian origin (1155—1231).
Yaqut al-Hamawi, writing in early thirteenth century, describes Ahar as
very flourishing despite its small extent. The city lost most of its importance during the rule of
Ilkhanate. Ahar was in the focus of
Safavid's agenda for casting of Azerbaijan as a Safavid dominion. Thus,
Shah Abbas I rebuilt the mausoleum of Sheikh Sheikh Shihab-al-din in Ahar. Ahar suffered enormously during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 and
Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828. Western travelers in 1837-1843 period had found Ahar, a city with around 700 households, in wretched condition. Their impression was that the
Qajar princes, who were dispatched as the governors of Qaradagh hastened to collect as much wealth as possible before their removal. Ahar was one of the epicenters of
Persian Constitutional Revolution due to the involvement of
Arasbaran tribes in armed conflicts; the revolutionary and ati-revolutionary camps were headed, respectively, by
Sattar Khan and
Rahimkhan Chalabianloo, both from
Qaradağ region. When in 1925
Rezā Shāh deposed
Ahmad Shah Qajar and founded the
Pahlavi dynasty, Ahar's gradual decline started. The new king insisted on
ethnic nationalism and cultural unitarism and implemented his policies with forced
detribalization and
sedentarization. He renamed Qaradağ as
Arasbaran to deny the
Turkic identity of the inhabitants. This policy, in particular, resulted in suppression of ethnic
Azeris. For further information on the history of Ahar and
Arasbaran region one may consult the following scholarly books (all in
Persian language): • H. Bayburdi "The history of Arasbaran", • Ḥusayn Dūstī, "The history and geography of Arasbaran", • N. Sedqi, "The contemporary political and social history of Arasbaran", • S.R. Alemohammad, "The book of Arasbaran". Two concise English language articles are the following: • "The Tribes of Qarāca Dāġ: A Brief History" by P. Oberling. • The entry "AHAR", in Encyclopædia Iranica. ==Demographics==