Dimdim Castle (Kurdish: قەڵای دمدم, romanized: Qelay Dimdim, Persian: قلعه دمدم) was a Kurdish fortress located on top of Mount Dimdim in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran, just west of Lake Urmia.[1] This fortress was the location of Battle of Dimdim.

Dimdim Castle
قلعه دم‌دم
Mount Dimdim in Iran
Coordinates37°23′26.1″N 45°10′57.77″E / 37.390583°N 45.1827139°E / 37.390583; 45.1827139

According to Kurdish oral tradition the fortress was built in the pre-Islamic era.[2] The castle suffered an attack by Safavid Empire and got sacked in 1609,[3] then rebuilt by the Amir Khan Lepzerin in the same year.[2] Other source mentioned that the siege of Dimdim Castle was in 1610.[1]

Name edit

The word "Dimdim" may be onomatopoeic for the noise which the stones of the castle made when they dropped from the castle into the valley.[4]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Melville, Charles, ed. (25 February 2021). Safavid Persia in the Age of Empires: The Idea of Iran. Vol. 10. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 67. ISBN 9780755633791. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b Hassanpour 1995, pp. 404–405.
  3. ^ Allison, Christine; Kreyenbroek, Philip, eds. (1996). Kurdish Culture and Identity. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 31. ISBN 9781856493291. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  4. ^ Allison, Christine (2010). "Kurdish Oral Literature". In Yarshater (ed.). Oral Literature of Iranian Languages. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 60.

Sources edit

  • Hassanpour, Amir (1995). "Dimdim". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume VII/4: Deylam, John of–Divorce IV. In modern Persia. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 404–405. ISBN 978-1-56859-022-6.