Qazvin province (Persian: استان قزوین; IPA: [ɢæzˈviːn] ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the northwest of the country, with the city of Qazvin as its capital.
The province was carved out of Tehran and Zanjan provinces in 1997. The province was made a part of Region 1 upon the division of the provinces into 5 regions solely for coordination and development purposes on June 22, 2014.
The Order of Assassins (Arabic: حَشّاشِین, romanized: Ḥaššāšīyīn; Persian: حشاشين, romanized: Ḥaššāšīn) was a Nizari Isma'ili religious order founded by Hasan-i Sabbah that existed between 1090 and 1275 AD and conducted high-profile assassinations in the Levant during the time of the crusader states.
During that time, the members lived in the mountain castles in Persia and the Levant, and held a strict subterfuge policy throughout the Middle East, posing a substantial strategic threat to Fatimid, Abbasid, and Seljuk authority, and killing several Christian leaders. Over the course of nearly 200 years, they killed hundreds who were considered leading enemies of the Nizari Isma'ili state. The modern term "assassination" is believed to have stemmed from the tactics used by the Assassins.
Iranian Azerbaijanis (Persian: آذربایجانیهای ایران; Azerbaijani: ایران آذربایجانلیلاری [iˈɾɑːn ɑːzæɾbɑjˈdʒɑnlɯlɑɾɯ]) are the largest Iranian ethnic minority. They are primarily found in and are native to the Iranian Azerbaijan region (including provinces of East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan and West Azerbaijan) and in smaller numbers, in other provinces such as Kurdistan, Qazvin, Hamadan, Gilan, Markazi and Kermanshah. Iranian Azerbaijanis also constitute a significant minority in Tehran, Karaj, and other regions of Iran. Some also have migrated to the Gulf GCC countries. Most Iranian Azerbaijanis are bilingual in Azerbaijani and Persian.
Mazandaran province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is bordered clockwise by Russia (across the sea), Golestan, Semnan, Tehran, Alborz, Qazvin, and Gilan Provinces. Mazandaran covers an area of 23,842 km.
The province has diverse natural resources, notably large offshore reservoirs of oil and natural gas. The diverse natural habitats of the province include plains, prairies, forests and rainforest stretching from the sandy beaches of the Caspian Sea to the rugged and snowcapped Alborz sierra, including Mount Damavand, one of the highest peaks and volcanoes in Asia.
Alamut (Persian: الموت, meaning "eagle's nest") is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian, near the village of Gazor Khan in Qazvin Province in Iran, approximately 200 km (130 mi) from present-day Tehran.
In 1090 AD, the Alamut Castle, a mountain fortress in present-day Iran, came into the possession of Hassan-i Sabbah, a champion of the Nizari Ismaili cause. Until 1256, Alamut functioned as the headquarters of the Nizari Ismaili state, which included a series of strategic strongholds scattered throughout Persia and Syria, with each stronghold being surrounded by swathes of hostile territory.