Maqbaratoshoara or Maqbarat al-Shu'ara' is a grave yard for poets in Tabriz, Iran.

On the east side of sayyed Hamzeh's grave and Ghaem Magham's grave, there is a grave yard is of important poets, mystics, scientists and well-known people of Tabriz graves.

Some people who are buried in this grave yard are recognized. To know their names, one should refer to some books that contain enough descriptions of this complex like "Azarbayjan archeological signs" by Mr.Abdwl Ali Karang.

Since 1970's, attempts on the repairment of the grave yard area has been started. Some works has been done like construction of a new symbolic building on this site (the white marble construction in the photos).

   He was Born at Janali village of Garadag province in 1868 in a merchant family. Sattar khan had become great general of the Mashruts movement, which took place in 1905-11. Sattar Khan, who was heading the rebels from Ayirsiz district of Tabriz city in 1907, had become favourite general of all his fighters because of his heroism and courage. After Board Assembly shooting incident, 40 thousand armed forces of Shah attacked Tabriz city, the cradle of revolution. High Military Council was established under the leadership of Sattar khan in June 1908. Sattar Khan was appointed the Commander in chief of High Council, Bagir Khan as his deputy, Ali Musyo, Haji Ali and Seyid Hashim Khan as members.

By April 1909, Tabriz rebels lost huge number of their fighters in driving out the armed forces of the enemyfromTabriz. Taking into account Sattar Khan and Bagir Khan's heroism at this fight, Sattar Khan was honoured by the title "Sardari-milli"(People's General) and Bagir khan "Salari milli" (People’s leader) by the order of the Assembly. Military council was assigned the task of defending Tabriz. This victory of rebels had greatly influenced other provinces of Azerbaijan and whole Iran.

Committees with the name "Sattar Khan" were established in Tehran, Rasht, Gazvin, Isfahan and other cities. The ruler of Tabriz described himself as substitute for Council of the Assembly. Most provinces of Azerbaijan were cleared from enemies by October 1908. Being afraid of the strengthening revolutionary movement in the country, Shah (the king) and regime forces gave permission to reopen Council of Assembly in Tehran.

II Council of Assembly held in December 1908. It issued order for making a plaque of honour on which Sattar Khan and Bagir Khan ‘s photos would be carved with golden colours as a token of appreciation of their services and to hang them on the tribune during the next session of the Assembly. The strengthening of revolutionary power after Tabriz city's victory had frightened Iran regime forces, especially the Tsar of Russia and imperialist England.

To discredit Sattar Khan and his supporters, they tried to separate Sattar Khan and Bagir Khan from their supporters and from Tabriz. Telegram (dated 16.3.1910) sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of England, Mr. Edvard Kari to the Ambassador of England to Iran, Mr. George Birly, reads that Sattar Khan ands Bagir khan had to be sent away from Tabriz immmediately. After that having interrfiered the matter, Iranian Premier, National Council Assembly have forced Sattar khan and Bagir khan to go Tehran. Sattar khan and Bagu\ir khan went to Tehran with their 300 supporters on 6 march 1910.Sattar khan reached Tehran on 3 April 1910; Sheep were sacrificed, Tehran citizens received him as a savoir.

Sattar Khan, together with his supporters was accommodated in Atabey Park. Shah troops and police forces led by Yefrem Davidyans, Head of Tehran Police, a dashnak, suddenly, at night, attacked treacherously on 7 August, 1910, at Atabey Park, surrounding and disarming Sattar's forces. At that night, Sattar Khan was injured in his leg. They could not leave Tehran and at last Sattar Khan died at the age of 48, on November 9, 1914 because of the injured leg and was buried in Shah Abdul Azim graveyard in Tehran.

Revolutionaries repaired his grave in 1924. In 1944, Sayeed Jafar Pishevari delivered a speech at the grave of Sattar Khan, where a meeting was organised by the newspaper "Azadlyg Jabhasi" (Liberty front), affiliated with 44 progressive newspapers. Azerbaijan National Government established in 1945 put his and Bagir Khan’s monuments in Tabriz, streets were named after them. Many poems and verses have been written about Sattar Khan's heroism, and his devotion to people and revolution.

May his soul rest in Peace.

Tabrizi Rugs And Art

   Conditions in Azarbaijan favoured all the arts, including carpet weaving. The province is abundantly endowed by nature with wide meadows, fertile valleys, varied terrain, in part cut by not too formidable mountains into well defined districts, a circumstance that so often has fostered a vital culture; and a variety of fundamental natural resources combined with an equable climate to produce wealth. It is not surprising that in this region civilization emerged at an early date, perhaps earlier than anywhere else. Through the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods little is known about it and it may have been overshadowed then by Khurasan and Fars; but after the Mongol invasion for a time it assumed supremacy. In the fourteenth century it dominated, politically and culturally, all Iran(Persia). Here was created a series of architectural masterpieces, here was a centre of learning, and here were the most stimulating contacts with Europe. It was in this century that were laid the foundations of the achievement that was fulfilled in the art of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Carpet weaving must have been an ancient art in Azarbaijan. The materials, the facilities, the necessity had all existed here quite as much as, if not more than, the rest of Iran. Tabriz was a carpet market and quite certainly also a producing center in the Middle Ages. It is within the possibilities that some of the carpets which appeared in Europe in the fifteenth century came from this part of the country, for Tabriz was a great cenetr for European merchants. But prior to the end of the fifteenth century definite information is really too scanty to support profitable speculation.
At the opening of the sixteenth century, however, the craft in Northwest Iran had certainly attained the status of a fine art, and it is quite possible that it was in this region that it first reached that high estate. Certainly circumstances at that time were decisively in its favor, for this was the foyer of the brilliant Safavid renaissance. Here ruled two of the greatest and most intelligent patrons of art that Iran(Persia) had ever seen, Isma’il and Tahmasp, monarchs who apparently took a personal interest in carpet weaving and provided the support, the opportunity, and the appreciation which evoked the utmost from the gifted designers and artisans of the day. This would help to explain why more great carpets have come from that district, by far, than from all the rest of Iran put together. Indeed, of the outstanding examples that can be confidently ascribed to the first half of the sixteenth century, practically all are from this province.
‘Northwest Iran` is an inclusive term and even the narrower unit of Azarbaijan is a large territory, including various separate cultural and ethnographical groups; hence it was but natural that a number of different rug types should have evolved there. These regional schools stand out more or less clearly, and can be given a general and sometimes a specific localization. Relations to modern carpets indicate, for example, for certain types a Qara-bagh or Qara-dagh orgin. Tabriz is mentioned in the early literature as producing carpets, and there is general agreement in assigning one fairly large class to the capital, and local histories refer to a court loom operating in Sultaniya in the early part of the sixteenth century.
But within these regional types there are different kinds of products: first, the ordinary designs wholly indigenous, the results of a long accumulating tradition; second, special efforts in which the master weaver either surpassed himself or was aided by a professional designer called in from outside, perhaps in response to an order from king or courtiers, perhaps in the hope of attracting such profitable patronage; and third, less ambitious productions, which were, however, affected in various respects by these more important cartoons. Thus the limits of the stylistic classes became very elastic.

The "Tabriz" from Hitler's study at the Eagle's Nest (Obersalzberg)
(An individual piece in private collections in the United States)

Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar

Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat-Tabrizi (Shahriar)
Born	1906 Tabriz, Iran
Died	September 18, 1988 Tehran, Iran, (Buried in Maghbaratol Shoara, Persian: مقبرةالشعرا)
Occupation	Persian and Azari Poet

Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat-Tabrizi (Persian: سید محمدحسین بهجت تبریزی)‎ (1906-September 18, 1988), chiefly known by his pen name as Shahriar (or Shahryar / Shahriyar شهریار), was an Iranian Azeri poet, writing in Persian and Azerbaijani.

Born in Tabriz, Shahriar came to Tehran in 1921 and continued his studies in the Dar ol-Fonoun high school and started studying medicine after graduation from Dar ol-Fonoun in 1924. But he fell in love, left his studies about a year before receiving his M.D. degree, and went to Khorasan. He returned to Tehran in 1935 and started working in the Agricultural Bank of Iran.

Shahriar published his first book of poems in 1929, with prefaces by Mohammad Taghi Bahar, Saeed Nafisi, and Pezhman Bakhtiari. His poems are mainly influenced by Hafez. His most famous poem Heydar-Baabaayaa Salaam, in Azerbaijani, is considered to be among the best modern poems in the language and has been turned into a few plays.

His most famous Azari work Heydar Babaya Salam, Published in 1954, won the immense affection of Azerbaijani people.

Shahriar was a supporter of the Islamic Republic government of Iran until his death, and his day of death is named the "national day of poem" in Iran.

General Location: 

   Tabriz, Being the provincial capital of Eastern Azarbaaijaan ( Aturpaatgaan ),  has slightly more than 1,400,000 population (1992 census) and  was the second largest city in Iran until the early 1970's. Tabriz has been the capital city of Iran on numerous times throughout the old history of this country. Tabriz is located in a valley to the north of the beautiful Mount Sahand. The valley opens out into a plain that slopes down gently to the northern end of Lake Orumieh, about 60 km to the west.
    Tabriz is 310 km southeast of Bazargan ( Iranian- Turkish frontier); 159 km south of Jolfa on Iran- Aran (Azarbaijan republic ) border, and can be reached by very good roads, rail (742km  from Tehran, with connections to the Europe and Moscow), and air from Tehran and other major cities.
    The 160 km long Talkheh Rud or Aji Chai is the major river of the city, formed  by merging of three smaller rivers of Ab Nahand, Guri Chai, and Ojan Chai which all originate from the Sabalan Mountain range and heights in the southeastern part of the town. The Talkheh Rud and other streams join the lake of Orumieh after passing through the valleys between the Sorkhband and Yekkeh Chin mountain north of Tabriz and Osku district. Mehran Rud also called Liqvan rud originates from the peaks between Karim and Sultan Mountains overlooking the Liqvan village near the beautiful Esparakhoon and Qeshloq villages.

                                                Climate: 

    By virtue of its location, Tabriz has  a mild Summer climate,which makes this city an ideal Summer vacation spot for the Iranians from  the more Southern areas of the country. The Winters are cold and the snow filled  mountains of Tabriz are perfect for the lovers of Winter sports. Tabriz has a continental type of climate with low humidity of average annual rainfall  of 289 mm.
Generally, the East Azarbayjan province enjoys a cold and dry climate, being mainly a mountainous region. But the gentle vapours of the Caspian Sea have some influence on the climate of the low-lying areas. Temperatures run up to 8.9° C in Tabriz, till 20° C in Maraqeh and in winters drops to -1° C . The ideal seasons to visit this province are in spring and summer months.
    Tabriz has been vulnerable to earthquakes throughout its long history, one of which nearly destroyed the city completely in 858. After being rebuilt, it was again devastated in 1041, when more than 40,000 people lost their lives.

History Of Tabriz:

Iran,  539 - 330 B.C.

    The city has a long and turbulent history: although the early history of Tabriz is shrouded in legend and mystery, the town's origin is believed to date back to distant antiquity, perhaps even before the Sassanian era (224-651AD). The oldest stone tablet with a reference to Tabriz  is that of Sargon the second, the Assyrian King. The tablet refers to a place called Tauri Castle and Tarmkis. The historians believe this castle was situated on the site of the present day Tabriz.
    It was the capital of Azarbaijan in the 3rd century AD and again under the Mongol Ilkhanid dynasty (1256 - 1353), although for some time Maragheh supplanted it.
    During the reign of Aqa Khan of the Ilkhanids, as well as under the reign of Ghazan Khan, Tabriz reached the peak of glory and importance. Many great artists and philosophers from all over the world traveled to Tabriz.
    In 1392, after the end of Mongol rule, the town was sacked by Tamerlane.  It was soon restored under the Turkman tribe of the Qara Qoyunlu, who established a short-lived local dynasty.  Under the Safavids it rose from regional to national capital for a short period, but the second of the Safavid kings, Shah Tahmasb, moved the capital to Qazvin because of the vulnerability of Tabriz to Ottoman attacks.  The town then went into a period of decline, fought over by the Iranians, Ottomans and Russians and struck by earthquake .
    Tabriz was the residence of the crown prince under the Qajar kings,  but the town did not return to prosperity until the second half of the 19th century.  The greatest boost to Tabriz came with the opening up of Iran to the West at the turn of this century, when it became the main staging post between the interior of Iran and the Black Sea and,for a short time, the economic capital.  In 1908 it was the center of a revolt against Mohammad Ali Shah, which was only put down with the brutal intervention of the Russians.
    In the second Irano-Russian War the city was occupied by the Czar troops.   However, it was returned to Iran following the signing of Turkmanchai Treaty, a peace and trade settlement that ended the Irano-Russian War of 1826-1828.
    The Iranian Constitutional Revolution originated in Tabriz and culminated during the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah of Qajar dynasty (1779-1925).  Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan were the two most prominent leading figures behind the movement.
    Tabriz was occupied by Russians several times in the first half of this century, including most of both world wars.  A railway line to the border at Jolfa, built by the expansionist Russians, was of little importance until recently, but it has increased in significance in the '90s as a result of Iran's friendlier relations with its northern neighbors.
    With a very rich history, Tabriz used to house many historical monuments.   Unfortunately, many of them were destroyed in repeated invasions and attacks of foreign forces, negligence of the ruling governments, as well natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.  What remains now mostly dates back to the Ilkhanids, the Safavids, and the Qajars.  Some of the monuments are unrivaled masterpieces of architecture.  {  A brief history of Tabriz in Farsi }
    There are many factories and great industrial and productive sites in Tabriz which have changed it into one of the industrial centers in the country.  The most important factories are as follows:
Tractor, machinery and ball-bearing manufacturing factories, refinery and so many other centers such as carpet weaving sites.
    There are weekly and daily flights from Tabriz International Airport to Tehran, Mashhad, Rasht, Orumiyeh, Pars Abad (Moghan) and Kish Island.  There are over ten hotels ( first class), which provide good facilities for the tourists.