City significance & history



Mashhad is located 850 kilometers North East of Tehran and has population of over 2 million. The name means “the burial place of a martyr”. Back in the 9th century A.D., Imam Reza was poisoned and martyred in the city. He was the eighth Imam (head spiritual leader) of Shi’ite Islam. His holy position made his tomb a sacred place for pilgrims to worship. Millions of people pay pilgrimage to the holy shrine, undoubtedly the largest and most magnificent of its kind, every year. There are plenty of priceless objects and unique manuscripts in the shrine's library.







Before he died, the city was known as Sanabad, a small village in the north of Persia. After his death, pilgrims came and ended up staying in Mashhad. The village grew into a small city because of his shrine. Sunni Muslim forces sacked the city, followed by the Mongols in the 13th century. The shrine was badly damaged and, after time, rebuilt.
In the 16th century, three Safavid Dynasty rulers established Shi'ite Islam for the whole territory. The shrine was restored and enlarged. These rulers made pilgrimages to the site and since then it has become the most holy Shi'ite pilgrimage in Iran.
In the year 823 A.D., after the martyrdom of Imam Reza (Muslim Shi'a 8th Imam, Saint) in a place around Toos named "Sanabad" which was called MASHHAD-e-Reza (place of martyrdom), the main nucleus of today MASHHAD appeared. Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi built a mausoleum opposite to the Shrine and in 13th century AD., due to destruction of Toos city by Mongols, MASHHAD developed and so many people migrated to this city.
At the first, the Toos area was the residence of non-Aryan tribes and some parts of it was conquered by Arabs in the period of Caliph Osman and was annexed to Islam territory in the time of Caliph Omar.
Toos was amongst the first cities which was subject to destructive Mongol onslaught and. like other cities of Khorasan, was completely ruined.
Toos, due to its specific and sensitive conditions, in the period of Teymoorian and Ilkhanan, was passed on from hand to hand between different governors and people were massacred. Finally, in 1438 AD. Shahrokh, the son of Amir Taymoor, took the throne as monarch. After his reign on, Toos had been paid special attention causing its expansion and development. Since second half of 15th century A.D. this city was commemorated as suburb of MASHAD. There have been remained some ruins of old Toos, but new Toos Due to existence of the tomb of "Ferdowsi" the great Iranian poet, has its own reputation and importance. However, today MASHAD has unbreakable tie with the history of the old Toos and annually hosts hundreds of thousand of pilgrims and visitors.