Gāv-khūnī Wetland

Gāvkhūnī, a famous wetland in the Isfahan region.
This wetland is located 140^km southeast of the city of Isfahan and 30^km from the city of Varzane*. It is among the wetlands that were registered in the list of international wetlands under the Ramsar Convention in 1975/1354, with an area of 47,600 hectares.¹

The name of this wetland has been recorded in earlier and later sources in the forms Gāvkhānī, Gāvkh^vānī, Gāvkhāneh, and Gāvkhūnī.² In Persian dictionaries, gāv [Cow] has been defined as “large”,³ and khānī as “pond” or “spring.”⁴ The author of Ānandrāj⁵ under the entry Gāvkhānī interprets khānī as “well” and gāv as “large,” and considers the spelling with vāv (v), as in Gāvkh^vānī, to be incorrect. Reza-Qulī Hedāyat⁶ likewise repeats the same definition for Gāvkhānī in his dictionary without any addition. Muhammad Mehrīyār considers khānī to mean “pond” or “wetland,” and gāv as an indicator of attribution and resemblance implying largeness in size. He also believes that Gāvkhūnī represents the colloquial form of Gāvkhānī in the Isfahani dialect.⁷

Historical Geography

Archaeological excavations indicate that human settlement in the vicinity of the Gāvkhūnī wetland dates back more than 7,500 years.⁸ Beneath the sand dunes surrounding this wetland, remains and structures belonging to the city of Sarāy or Sabā have been identified.⁹ The history of Gāvkhūnī is intertwined with legends and with the foundation of the city of Isfahan. According to one account, the present site of Isfahan was once a vast sea, until the Prophet Suleiman ordered the jinn to dig tunnels around it to drain the water. They dug these tunnels at the present site of Gāvkhūnī (Jāvkhānī), and after the sea dried up, the city of Isfahan was built thereon.¹⁰ In other sources, it is recorded that the Prophet Sulaimon was delighted by the pleasant and beautiful shores of a lake formed by the Zāyande-Rūd* (at the present site of Isfahan) and conceived the idea of building a city therein. Because the flooding of the Zāyande-Rūd hindered its construction, one of the jinn under Suleiman’s command, named Gāvkhūnī (Jāvkhānī), sank into the ground and created a fissure into which the waters of the lake receded, and the city of Isfahan was founded after the lake dried up.¹¹

The earliest historical reference to this wetland is recorded in geographical works of the early Islamic period. According to Ebn Khurdādhbeh,¹² the well-known historian and geographer of the 3rd/9th century, in Rūydasht, one of the rural districts of Isfahan, the waters of the Zāyande-Rūd (Zar-Narūdh) disappear underground and re-emerge in Kerman, the distance between the two being ninety farsakhs (about 500 Kilometers). He writes elsewhere that the Zāyande-Rūd (Zarrīn-Rūdh), after irrigating Isfahan, at the end of its course disappears into sandy lands and then re-emerges in Kerman, which lies sixty farsakhs (about 340 Kilometers) from the place where the waters of the Zāyande-Rūd disappear, and after irrigating the lands of Kerman it flows into the sea.¹³ According to Ebn Khurdādhbeh¹⁴ and Qazvīnī,¹⁵ this matter was inferred from the fact that a marked piece of wood or reed thrown into the water reappeared in Kerman.¹⁶ Ebn Rusta*,¹⁷ the well-known geographer of the 9^th/ 3^rd century, reports the same account, adding that the waters of the Zāyande-Rūd sink into the ground in the rural district of Rūydasht in Isfahan.

̔Abdullāh b. Muhammad Abū al-Sheikh al-Eṣfahānī* (d. 979/369) provides further information about the Gāvkhūnī wetland. According to him,¹⁸ one of the remarkable features of Isfahan is the existence of the most astonishing wetland in the world, called Hanām, which extends over an area measuring eighteen by two farsakhs (approximately 99 × 11 ^km), and regardless of how much water from the Zāyande-Rūd flows into it, the water level does not change. No living creature except birds can approach it, because anything entering it sinks.¹⁹ This difficulty of access is probably due to the marshy nature of the wetland. As written by Ebn Ḥawqal,²⁰ the 10^th/4^th-century geographer, who refers to this wetland as Daryāche-ye (Lake) Ṭahfīrūz, a person cannot walk at the place where the water subsides unless two wooden boards or nets are fastened under the feet. According to Abū al-Sheikh al-Eṣfahānī,²¹ opposite this wetland (basin) there exists an open area from which a direct route extends to Kerman, covered with tamarisk and other vegetation, and surrounded by mountains of clay. The abundance of water in Kerman during spring originates from the Zāyande-Rūd.²² Abū Nu‛aym al-Eṣfahānī*²³ (10^th–11^th/4th–5^th centuries) narrates the same account with slight differences. According to Māfarrukhī*,²⁴ the 11^th/5th-century historian, at the far end of the rural district of Rūydasht there exists a basin called Jākhānī, into which the waters of the Zāyande-Rūd flow and from which they originate again in Kerman. Hussein b. Muhammad b. Abī al-Reza Āvī,²⁵ who added supplements to maḥāsen-e Isfahan* in his translation of Māfarrukhī’s work, records Gāvkhānī as an equivalent for “Jākhānī.” According to him,²⁶ one of the remarkable wonders attributed to Gāvkhānī is that it measures eighteen by two farsakhs and, during periods of abundant water, its waters reappear at a distance of eighty farsakhs (approximately 450^km) in Kerman. The inhabitants of Kerman would also throw fish and fish eggs into the wetland during times of high water so that they might benefit from them when the waters receded.²⁷ According to the additions made by Āvī,²⁸ the abundance of water in Gāvkhūnī caused the inhabitants of Kerman to celebrate joyfully, much like during the festival of Nowruz, and to exchange congratulations in view of the abundance of blessings.

Ḥamdullāh Mustavfī,²⁹ the historian and geographer of the 14^th/8^th century, considered the account that the waters of the Zāyande-Rūd sink into the Gāvkhānī wetland and reappear in Kerman to be implausible, arguing that the presence of extensive hard mountainous terrain between the two regions and the higher elevation of Kerman make such a phenomenon unlikely.³⁰ During this same period, the Gāvkhānī wetland was so prosperous that, according to him,³¹ it possessed numerous and excellent hunting grounds in which every kind of game could be found.³² Ḥāfeẓ-Abrū,³³ the historian and geographer of the 14^th–15^th/8^th–9^th centuries, records the name of this wetland as Gāvkhānī and recounts the issue of the waters of the Zāyande-Rūd sinking there and emerging again in Kerman, with slight differences compared with earlier sources.

During the Safavid period, this wetland was referred to as Gāvkhānī. Thus, Eskandar Munshī*,³⁴ the historian and author of tārīkh-e ‛ālam-ārā-ye ‛Abbāsī*, in describing the charitable works and constructions undertaken during the reign of Shah ‛Abbās I (r. 1588–1629/996–1038), refers to the construction of the caravanserai of Gāvkhānī and another caravanserai in the Khargūshī desert between Varzane and Rūdashtīn of Isfahan and Nadūshan of Yazd.

Extensive information about the Gāvkhūnī wetland is found in sources from the Qajar period. Muhammad-Mahdi Arbāb Eṣfahānī*³⁵ in his work records the name of this wetland as Gāvkhānī and describes it in detail. According to him, Gāvkhānī is a low-lying tract of land at the end of the lands of Rūydasht-e Suflā and the outlet for the surplus waters of the Zāyande-Rūd. The rural district  of Rūdasht of Isfahan consisted of two sections, ‛Ulyā and Suflā (Upper and Lower), and was bounded on the east by Gāvkhānī.³⁶ During this period, Gāvkhānī was highly flourishing, and its surroundings consisted entirely of tamarisk groves and pasturelands for the livestock of the inhabitants of the surrounding areas.³⁷ The extent of the wetland varied according to the scarcity or abundance of water, and according to some travelers, during periods of flooding and overflow its length and width reached ten by two farsakhs (approximately 55× 11^km), and its depth reached five to six royal cubits (each cubit measuring 104^cm). The expanse of Gāvkhūnī was such that, according to Taḥvīldār*, during major floods it absorbed the entire volume of water.³⁸ This is while Jāberī Anṣārī*³⁹ regarded the disappearance of water in Gāvkhūnī as a legend. During periods of low water, local guides would pass through the wetland. At such times, the wetland served as a habitat for animals such as fish, pigs, wild boars, and large monitor lizards,⁴⁰ which, according to Taḥvīldār,⁴¹ were hunted by Europeans and Armenians and sold in the Julfā* quarter of Isfahan. From the late Qajar period and the early Pahlavi period, the use of the terms bāṭlāq (swamp)⁴² and murdāb (marsh)⁴³ for this wetland became common.

Physical Geography

Geology and Relief. Gāvkhūnī is, from a geological perspective, a subsided region that was probably formed as a result of tectonic movements and the subduction of an oceanic plate beneath the Central Iranian zone. This region extends for approximately 600^km between the Zagros mountain range and the Sahand–Bazmān volcanic belt. In addition to Gāvkhūnī, it includes other low-lying and subsided areas such as the Urmia–Arak depression, the Isfahan–Abar-kūh–Marvast depression, and the Sirjan–Ebrāhīm-ābād depression. Lakes have formed within these basins, of which Gāvkhūnī is the most important.⁴⁴ Very high mountains are located within the Gāvkhūnī basin, but their elevation gradually decreases to the wetland.⁴⁵ The Gāvkhūnī wetland constitutes the lowest point of this basin and lies at an elevation of 1,450^m above sea level.⁴⁶ In the hydrological division of Iran, Gāvkhūnī is one of the sub-basins of the Central Iranian drainage basin and extends across Isfahan Province and parts of Yazd Province. The Gāvkhūnī sub-basin, with an area of 43,938^km, lies in the western part of the Central Iranian drainage basin. It is bordered in the north by the Namak [salt] Lake sub-basin, in the west by the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman drainage basin, in the east by the Sīyāh-Kūh desert sub-basin, and in the south by the Sirjan desert sub-basin. Gāvkhūnī is located between 32°15′ and 33°22′ north latitude and 52°45′ and 52°59′ east longitude.⁴⁷ The Zāyande-Rūd, also called Zende-Rūd, with a length of 405^km, is the most important river of this basin. The rivers Āb-e Kūhrang, Pelāsjān, Jūb-e Āsīyāb, Khushke-Rūd, Khūrbe, Darreh-Gāv, and Shūr join it. After passing through the city of Varzane, this river flows into the Gāvkhūnī wetland. Other important rivers of the Gāvkhūnī basin include Esfarjān, Īzadkhāst, Se-Gunbad, and Kuhraviyye.⁴⁸

In Gāvkhūnī, Neogene and Quaternary sediments have accumulated and, due to water evaporation, have become saline, and the area has now acquired a desert-like character. Around Gāvkhūnī there is an area covering approximately 17,395 hectares, composed of sand dunes extending from the vicinity of Varzane to approximately the village of Khārā over a length of 184^km.⁴⁹ These dunes have an average elevation of about 150^m.⁵⁰ In the past, the sand dunes absorbed part of the wetland water, which subsequently emerged as springs in the region of Jarqūye*-ye ‛Ulyā (Upper Jarqūye).⁵¹

Climate

The average annual precipitation of the Gāvkhūnī wetland is 110^mm. For this reason, the sustainability of the wetland is highly dependent on the volume of inflow from the Zāyande-Rūd, which constitutes its principal source of recharge.⁵² Climatological studies indicate that the average temperature of the Gāvkhūnī basin has generally shown an increasing trend over the past fifty years. In addition, precipitation levels have exhibited a significant decline. These factors have led to the intensification of drought, the contraction of the wetland, quantitative and qualitative changes in the ecosystem, the expansion of desertification, and the movement of drifting sands.⁵³

Extent

The extent of the Gāvkhūnī Wetland has varied considerably during different periods due to the severe annual fluctuations in its water level. According to geomorphological studies and the identification of ancient Gāvkhūnī terraces at elevations between 1600 and 1450 meters, the large extent of this wetland has been estimated at between 15,578 and 3,590 square kilometers during different periods.⁵⁴ According to another study, in the final phase of the Quaternary period (from 2,588,000 years ago to the present), Gāvkhūnī covered approximately 5,000 square kilometers; on this study, it has been described as the geomorphological archive of Iran’s Quaternary.⁵⁵ According to Ḥussein-Ali Razm-Ārā,⁵⁶ in the not-too-distant past, the maximum width and length of Gāvkhūnī were 30 by 55 kilometers, and although it contained more water in winter, it dried up in summer due to the extensive use of the waters of the Zāyande-Rūd. According to Shafaqī*,⁵⁷ this considerable fluctuation depended heavily on the amount of precipitation in the basin and the inflow of water through the Zāyande-Rūd; nevertheless, its area should not have been less than 500 square kilometers (50,000 hectares). Shafaqī⁵⁸ also notes that during the warm seasons of the year Gāvkhūnī becomes almost dry. The area of the wetland in 1975/1354, when it was registered on the list of the Ramsar Convention, was 47,600 hectares.⁵⁹ According to one study, the area of the Gāvkhūnī depression zone was 2,800 square kilometers (280,000 hectares), and with increasing temperature and severe evaporation its extent decreased, so that by late summer and early autumn it was limited to a central basin of about 30 square kilometers.⁶⁰ It has been reported⁶¹ that the central part of the wetland, which has lower elevation and greater depth, retains more water throughout the year and sometimes does not dry up even during the warm season, and that the area of the wetland during high-water periods reaches 43,000 hectares. At present, the Gāvkhūnī Wetland has almost dried up due to the severe reduction of water inflow from the Zāyande-Rūd.⁶²

Flora and Fauna

The Gāvkhūnī Wetland, owing to its moist and saline margins, has provided a suitable habitat for the growth of halophytic plants. Approximately 65 plant species have been identified around this wetland. In the northwestern part of the wetland, dense stands of tamarisk trees grow along the waterways leading to the wetland, forming what is locally called a forested area.⁶³ The excessive cutting of tamarisk trees for charcoal production has caused significant damage to the former dense vegetation cover.⁶⁴ Other plant species found in this wetland include ney-lūyī (cattail), dermane (wormwood), shekar-tīghāl (manna thistle), ephedra, khār-shutur (camel thorn), shīrīn-bayān (licorice), gavan (milk vetch), eskanbīl (calligonum), espand (Syrian rue), khār-khasak (puncture vine), and qīch (salt tree), all of which play an important role in the grazing of livestock around the wetland.⁶⁵ In recent years, as a result of the severe decline in both the quantity and quality of the wetland’s water and the drying of large parts of it, many plant species have disappeared, and extensive areas around the wetland have lost their vegetation cover.⁶⁶

The Gāvkhūnī Wetland has long served as a habitat for various birds and animals; however, in recent years, as a result of neglect of environmental concerns, both the number and diversity of these species have declined sharply.⁶⁷ According to local inhabitants around the wetland, in the past many hunters who came to the area to hunt the Persian onager became trapped in the wetland,⁶⁸ and this account indicates the former presence of this animal species in the region. The information provided by Ḥamdullāh Mustavfī⁶⁹ regarding the numerous and excellent hunting grounds of Gāvkhūnī reflects the richness of the wetland’s animal life in earlier times. Taḥvīldār⁷⁰ refers to the abundance of animals such as pigs and wild boars in the vicinity of this wetland. Today, animals such as the Persian onager, gazelle, deer, ibex, wild goat, ewe, ram*, pig, and wild boar have disappeared or only a small number of them remain as a result of excessive hunting and disregard for environmental issues.⁷¹ Nevertheless, some amphibians, reptiles, and mammals such as frogs, turtles, lizards, wolves, jackals, and foxes still live around the wetland.⁷²

Due to the migration of waterfowl, the environment of the Gāvkhūnī Wetland assumes a different appearance during the autumn and winter seasons. The number and species composition of migratory and resident birds have varied over the years depending on the expansion of the wetland and the availability of security and food resources. In recent years, following the reduction of water inflow into the Gāvkhūnī Wetland, the shrinkage of its area, increasing pollution, and excessive hunting, the number and diversity of bird species have declined sharply. According to statistics from 1987/1366, the number of migratory birds at Gāvkhūnī reached about 40,000 individuals, consisting mainly of various species of ducks.⁷³ Other birds of the wetland include swans, flamingos, little egret, khūtka (teal), mallard, graylag goose, black-headed and herring gulls, cormorant, black-winged stilt, little grebe, heron, little ringed plover, great egret, marsh sandpiper, ruddy shelduck, duck, northern pintail, coot, starling, pelican, bittern, white stork, and birds of prey such as marsh harrier, falcon, and vulture.⁷⁴ Although in the past the Gāvkhūnī Wetland served as a habitat for certain fish species,⁷⁵ today the high salinity of the water has made the survival of fish impossible.⁷⁶

Environmental Threats

Today, despite its exceptional natural and international significance, the environmental condition of the Gāvkhūnī Wetland is critical, and it has almost dried up. The industrialization of Isfahan and the establishment of water-intensive industries, the severe reduction of water inflow from the Zāyande-Rūd, failure to observe the environmental water rights* of the wetland, excessive upstream agricultural withdrawals, and the discharge of urban and industrial wastewater have been the most important factors behind this development.⁷⁷ The construction of dams on the Zāyande-Rūd and the noticeable decline in water inflow to the Gāvkhūnī Wetland have increased water and soil salinity, made agriculture more difficult, and, as a consequence, led to the abandonment of some settlements around Gāvkhūnī, such as Shākh-Kenār and Shākh-Mīyān.⁷⁸ The drying of Gāvkhūnī has resulted in the expansion and movement of sand dunes, desertification, the spread of desert landscapes, and the transformation of the dry bed of the wetland into a source of dust storms, which have had adverse effects on human health.⁷⁹ The increase in pollution and changes in temperature and water quality in recent years have endangered the plant and animal life of the Gāvkhūnī Wetland.⁸⁰ In recent years, various programs have been prepared for the restoration of the Gāvkhūnī Wetland, but they have had little effect on its recovery, and the ecological changes that have occurred have raised the risk of its inclusion among wetlands under threat, known as the Montreux Record.⁸¹

Human and Economic Geography

In the past, agriculture and animal husbandry were among the principal activities of the inhabitants of the settlements surrounding the Gāvkhūnī Wetland. For agricultural purposes, several diversion dams were constructed on the Zāyande-Rūd near this wetland, among which the most important were the dams of Shānzda Dīyeh, Shākh-Mīyān, and Shākh-Kenār.⁸² Until a few decades ago, the pastures and grasslands along the margins of Gāvkhūnī provided suitable winter grazing for approximately 150,000 head of livestock. In recent years, however, due to drought and the decline in the water level of the Zāyande-Rūd and the Gāvkhūnī Wetland, the pastures and grasslands of the wetland have suffered severe damage.⁸³

Salt extraction from the Gāvkhūnī Wetland also has a long history. By constructing ponds about one meter or more in depth, local inhabitants used to collect the salt that remained at the bottom of these ponds. In the central part of the wetland, there is also a relatively deep depression which salt miners referred to as the sea. The Khārā Mine was the largest salt mine of the Gāvkhūnī Wetland, while Hasan-Ābād and Sīyān were among the other important salt mines of Gāvkhūnī.⁸⁴ Despite environmental challenges, the Gāvkhūnī Wetland remains one of the relatively pristine ecosystems of the Isfahan climatic region and, owing to its beautiful natural landscapes and the presence of diverse birds and wildlife, possesses considerable ecotourism potential.⁸⁵

Art

Gāvkhūnī has possessed a mysterious image in geographical and historical sources and has at times served as a source of inspiration and theme for certain poets, litterateurs, and artists in the creation of literary and artistic works. According to a narrative versified by Neẓāmī⁸⁶ in haft peykar, Bahrām-e Gūr disappeared in Gāvkhūnī; according to Tharvatīyān,⁸⁷ the editor of haft peykar, Neẓāmī had probably read or heard certain accounts about the canals surrounding Gāvkhūnī or the Zāyande-Rūd. It has also been reported that Mullā Ali Fanā-ye Ūrajānī Lenjānī, following spiritual transformations and motivated by the desire to discover the end of the Zāyande-Rūd and the manner in which its waters disappear into Gāvkhūnī, set out on foot along the river and disappeared in Sha‛bān 1933/Āzar 1311, never to be seen again.⁸⁸ Malek al-Shu‛arā Bahār⁸⁹ also referred to this wetland in one of his odes. Ja‛far Mudarres Ṣādeqī, an Eṣfahānī writer and translator, wrote the novel gāvkhūnī in 1983/1362, in which the Gāvkhūnī Wetland plays a central role in the narrative.⁹⁰ Behrūz Afkhamī, the well-known film director, also produced the film gāvkhūnī, adapted from this novel.⁹¹

/Ahmad Arian-Nia/

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1. Shafaqī, p. 74; Najārī, pp. 24, 31; Cf. Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, p. 71; Kūshāfar et al., p. 32; “mudīrīyyat-e maṣraf, tanhā rāh-e nejāt-e Gāvkhūnī,” p. 13, who respectively give the distance of Gāvkhūnī from Isfahan as 120, 110, and 167 km.[↩]
2. Ḥamdullāh Mustavfī, p. 216; Ḥāfeẓ Abrū, vol. 1, p. 164; Jāberī Anṣārī, p. 437; Najmī Tabrīzī, p. 44; Shafaqī, p. 74; Stack, vol. 2, p. 245; Le Strange, p. 206.[↩]
3. Shād, vol. 3, p. 5.[↩]
4. Burhān, vol. 2, p. 709.[↩]
5. Shād, vol. 3, p. 5.[↩]
6. Hedāyat, p. 621.[↩]
7. Mehryār, vol. 2, p. 672.[↩]
8. Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, p. 39.[↩]
9. Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 27; Shafaqī, p. 76; Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 1982/1361, p. 162.[↩]
10. Kh^wānsārī, vol. 1, p. 6; See also Allemagne, vol. 4, p. 110.[↩]
11. Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 3; Maḥmūdīyān, p. 273.[↩]
12. Ebn Khurdādhbeh, p. 20.[↩]
13. Idem, p. 176.[↩]
14. Ibid.[↩]
15. Qazvīnī, p. 157.[↩]
16. See this report in Ḥamdullāh Mustavfī, p. 216.[↩]
17. Ebn Rusta, p. 155.[↩]
18. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 1, pp. 155–156.[↩]
19. See also Maqdesī, p. 396.[↩]
20. Ebn Ḥawqal, vol. 2, p. 366.[↩]
21. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 1, p. 156.[↩]
22. Idem, vol. 1, pp. 155–156.[↩]
23. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, vol. 1, p. 52.[↩]
24. Māfarrūkhī, p. 64.[↩]
25. Idem, Persian translation, p. 35.[↩]
26. Māfarrūkhī, p. 97.[↩]
27. Idem, pp. 97–98.[↩]
28. Idem, Persian translation, p. 36.[↩]
29. Ḥamdullāh Mustavfī, p. 216.[↩]
30. See also E‛temād al-Salṭana, vol. 1, p. 101.[↩]
31. Ḥamdullāh Mustavfī, p. 49.[↩]
32. See also Shād, vol. 3, p. 5.[↩]
33. Ḥāfeẓ-e Abrū, vol. 1, pp. 164–165.[↩]
34. Eskandar Munshī, vol. 2, p. 1111.[↩]
35. Arbāb Eṣfahānī, p. 306.[↩]
36. Idem, pp. 306–307.[↩]
37. Idem, p. 307; Taḥvīldār, p. 38.[↩]
38. Taḥvīldār, pp. 37–38.[↩]
39. Jāberī Anṣārī, p. 437.[↩]
40. Arbāb Eṣfahānī, p. 307; Taḥvīldār, p. 62.[↩]
41. Taḥvīldār, p. 62.[↩]
42. Najmī Tabrīzī, p. 44.[↩]
43. Browne, p. 197; Keyhān, vol. 1, p. 88; Razm-Ārā, vol. 10, p. 55.[↩]
44. Darvīsh-Zāde, p. 794; Keyhān, vol. 1, p. 61; Shafaqī, p. 97.[↩]
45. Shafaqī, p. 12.[↩]
46. Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, p. 159; Cf. Shafaqī, p. 18, who gives the wetland elevation as 1440 m.[↩]
47. Najārī, p. 31; farhang-e jughrāfiyāʾī-ye rūdhā-ye keshvar, vol. 3, p. 45; Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, p. 159; Cf. Rāmashṭ and Seyf, p. 174; Feyḍ-Nīyā et al., pp. 695–696; Pākzād et al., p. 66, who provide different geographical coordinates for Gāvkhūnī.[↩]
48. farhang-e jughrāfiyāʾī-ye rūdhā-ye keshvar, vol. 3, pp. 47–50, 52–53; Ja‛farī, vol. 2, pp. 247–249; Afshīn, vol. 1, p. 66.[↩]
49. Darvīsh-Zāde, p. 794; Feyḍ-Nīyā et al., p. 696.[↩]
50. Shafaqī, pp. 75–76; Hunarfar, p. 19.[↩]
51. Jenāb Eṣfahānī, pp. 27–28.[↩]
52. Behruzī-Rād, p. 166.[↩]
53. Kīyānī et al., p. 226; Ṭāvūsī et al., p. 92; ‛Aṭāʾī and Fanāʾī, pp. 44–45.[↩]
54. Rāmashṭ and Seyf, p. 187.[↩]
55. Kīyānī et al., p. 215.[↩]
56. Razm-Ārā, vol. 10, p. 55.[↩]
57. Shafaqī, pp. 74–75.[↩]
58. Idem, p. 17.[↩]
59. Najārī, p. 24.[↩]
60. Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2000/1379, p. 230.[↩]
61. Behruzī-Rād, pp. 165–166.[↩]
62. Kūshāfar et al., p. 31.[↩]
63. Najārī, pp. 89–91.[↩]
64. Shafaqī, p. 77.[↩]
65. Najārī, pp. 91–96.[↩]
66. Kūshāfar et al., p. 33.[↩]
67. Najārī, pp. 138–141.[↩]
68. Shafaqī, p. 74.[↩]
69. Ḥamdullāh Mustavfī, p. 49.[↩]
70. Taḥvīldār, p. 62.[↩]
71. Najārī, pp. 139–140; Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, p. 174.[↩]
72. Behruzī-Rād, pp. 170–171.[↩]
73. Najārī, pp. 140–141.[↩]
74. Idem, p. 140; Behruzī-Rād, p. 171.[↩]
75. Arbāb Eṣfahānī, p. 307.[↩]
76. Behruzī-Rād, pp. 170–171.[↩]
77. Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, p. 155; Kūshāfar et al., p. 31; Akbarī, p. 5; Ṭāvūsī and Ghayūr, p. 64.[↩]
78. Shafaqī, p. 75; Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 1982/1361, p. 161; Behruzī-Rād, pp. 167–168.[↩]
79. Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, p. 160; “modīrīyat-e maṣraf, tanhā rāh-e nejāt-e Gāvkhūnī,” p. 13; “eḥyā-ye tālāb-e Gāvkhūnī dar ebhām!,” p. 5; Ṭāvūsī et al., pp. 86–92; Seyf and Muhammadī, p. 24.[↩]
80. Najārī, pp. 136–137.[↩]
81. Kūshāfar et al., pp. 37–38; Kūhestānī, p. 35.[↩]
82. Maḥmūdīyān, p. 176.[↩]
83. Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 1982/1361, pp. 165–166.[↩]
84. Idem, pp. 168–169; Idem, 2000/1379, p. 230.[↩]
85. Najārī, pp. 73–74; Ḥusaynī-Abarī, 2008/1387, pp. 164, 170–171.[↩]
86. Neẓāmī, p. 345.[↩]
87. Neẓāmī, commentary by Sarvatīyān, p. 590.[↩]
88. Mazhhab-e Bahār, introduction by Masjedī, p. 151.[↩]
89. Bahār, vol. 2, p. 697.[↩]
90. Mahdavī, vol. 2, p. 341; Dastgheyb, pp. 407, 414–416.[↩]
91. Taslīmī et al., pp. 66–74.[↩]