Rasht: Encyclopedia II - Rasht - History

Rasht - History

For a more comprehensive treatment of the region, see the history section of Gilan.

Rasht was first mentioned in historical documents in 682 CE, but it is certainly older than this. It has seen the Sassanid era, the armies of Peter the Great and later Russian rulers, and British colonialism. The people of Rasht also played a major role in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran.

Rasht - Timeline

• 682: Rasht is first mentioned in historical documents
• 1669: Stenka Razin, a Russian sailor, plundered the city
• 1722 - 1734: occupied by Peter the Great
• 1901: a major epidemic plague devastates the city.
• 1917 - 1920: The Russian and British armed forces fight in the port city of Bandar-e Anzali and Rasht. The British retreat and the Russians occupy the area. In 1920 Bolshevik Russians set a great fire in the bazaar, causing many citizens to go into temporary exile.
• 1937: a revolt, sparked by the desire to collect a "road tax" from the Russians, was suppressed
• 1977: Rasht University established

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki