ANĀRAK

 

ANĀRAK, a baḵš and its town on the southern fringes of the Dašt-e Kavīr (33° 20’ north latitude and 53° 35’ east longitude). It lies in a basin fifty miles northeast of Nāʾīn and seventy-seven miles north of Ardestān, with the low range of the Kūh-e Āšīn to its southwest. It does not seem to be mentioned by the classical Arabic and Persian geographers. Qanāts provide irrigation for a certain amount of cereal cultivation, and carpet weaving is a local craft. But its chief importance is that it lies in a mineral-bearing region of the Jurassic coal measures that extend through eastern Iran, here yielding copper, nickel, silver, antimony, and arsenic. The district was considered significant enough to be surveyed in the mineral exploration campaign of 1935 (Admiralty Handbook for Persia, London, 1945, p. 465; Camb. Hist. Iran I, p. 504). Copper mining at Anārak probably dates back to pre-Islamic times; till recently, mining was carried out there by following the lode, and wind catchers (bādgīrs) to ventilate the shafts can still be seen on the hillsides (H. E. Wulff, The

Traditional Crafts of Persia, Cambridge, Mass., 1966, pp. 2, 15-17).

Sec also Anāraki.

Bibliography:

See also Kayhān, Joḡrāfīā II, pp. 441-42.

Razmārā, Farhang X, pp. 27-28.

(C. E. Bosworth)

Originally Published: December 15, 1985

Last Updated: August 3, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 1, p. 2

Cite this entry:

C. E. Bosworth, “ANĀRAK,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/1, p. 2, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/anrak-district-and-town-on-the-southern-fringes-of-the-dast-e-kavir-e-and-53-35-east-longitude (accessed on 30 December 2012).