Chalus
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| Basic data | |||
| Country: |
 Iran
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| Province : | Māzandarān | ||
| Coordinates : | 36 ° 39 ′ N , 51 ° 25 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 25 m | ||
| Residents : | 69,638 (2018) | ||
| Time zone : | UTC +3: 30 | ||
Chalus ( Persian چالوس Tschālūs , DMG Čālūs ) is a city in Iran. It is located in the province of Māzandarān , directly on the coast of the Caspian Sea . Chalus has about 48,000 inhabitants. The city lies on an alluvial flood plain of the river delta of the mountain river of the same name, Chalus, whichrisesin the Kandovan Mountains and south of the Tacht-e Suleiman .
A few kilometers west of the city there is a tourist recreation area called Namakābrūd , Tourist City . There are two cable cars there that lead up a mountain. The city of Nouschahr is about 8 km to the east . There is an airport between the two cities. An important overland and pass road leads from Tschalus through the Elburs Mountains to Karaj and thus to the state capital Tehran .
history
Islamic historians such as al-Masʿūdī and Ibn al-Athīr reported a castle with strong fortifications in Chalus, which was destroyed in 914 by the Zaidite ruler Hasan al-Utrush. Even earlier historians describe Chalus as a place on the western border of Tabaristan and, according to al-Muqaddasī, had a Friday mosque and a stone castle. In 760, 500 Muslim soldiers are said to have been stationed here. In 797 the inhabitants rose up against their Arab overlords, but the revolt was quickly and bloody put down by the Arab governor. In 973/74 the Saffaride Yaqub ibn al-Laith invaded Tabaristan and devastated Chalus, but a year later the local ruler Hasan bin Zaid had Chalus burned down for alleged support of Yaqub ibn al-Laith. During the Buyid rule , Chalus was still of a certain importance.
The Iranian kings of the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties had chosen the valley of Kelārdashht north of Chalus as a hunting and recreation area.
Until 1931, Tschalus was just a village, which was then expanded into a model city on behalf of the Iranian ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi . This was directly related to the construction of the 202 km long motorway from Tehran over the Kandovan Pass to Chalus on the sea, which was completed between 1931 and 1933. At the same time, a hotel was built on the mountain pass and a port in Tschalus. In a short time, industrial, commercial and tourist facilities and buildings were built. A steel bridge was built over the Tschalus River. The heart of the new city was a factory from 1933 for the manufacture of silk goods, which also employed foreign workers. The factory produced 1500 tons of goods annually. With the factory, Chalus was one of the first cities in Iran to benefit from electricity and modern sewage systems. Workers' settlements were built as well as mansions for the factory owners and wealthy residents.
The city's prosperity suddenly ended with World War II, the Soviet occupation of Northern Iran and the exile of Reza Shah. The population declined when factories closed or moved to other cities. In 1956, Chalus had just under 10,000 inhabitants. Other cities nearby developed through tourism on the Caspian Sea. Nowadays, Chalus is one of the slowest growing cities in the province (1.6% per year). The industrial city has meanwhile become a tourist city that houses four larger hotels, a campsite and a bazaar. Many people from Tehran spend their weekends in Chalus.
The inhabitants speak an eastern dialect of Gilaki .
Individual evidence
Web links
- Chalus . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)