Kalantar (title)

{{Short description|Mayor in charge of a town in Iran}} {{italic}} [[Image:Farman by Shah Soltan Hoseyn appointing Mirza Mohammad Taqi as kalantar of Yazd.jpg|thumb|''[[Firman|Farman]]'' (decree) by the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]] shah [[Soltan Hoseyn]] appointing Mirza Mohammad Taqi as ''kalantar'' of [[Yazd]], dated 1712]] '''''Kalantar''''' ({{langx|fa|کلانتر}}) was a term which referred to the [[mayor]] in charge of a town in [[History of Iran|Iran]]. By the end of the 19th century, other authorities who represented new systems of governance had largely replaced the ''kalantar's'' position. Members of [[Bakhtiari people|Bakhtiari]] and [[Qashqai people|Qashqai]] tribes still use the term to refer to the leaders of their respective tribal divisions.{{sfn|Floor|2010|pp=366–367}}

In [[Safavid Iran]], the ''kalantar'' of the [[Iranian Armenians|Armenian]] community in [[New Julfa]] was a significant and influential figure. Usually of Armenian stock, his duties were comparable to those of a ''kalantar'' in other towns or districts. In the 17th and 18th centuries, [[Safavid Georgia]] also had a well-known official called the ''kalantar'', whose duties appear to have broadly matched those of the ''kalantar'' in towns of mainland Iran.{{sfn|Lambton|1978}}

The word is related to Persian ''kalān'', which means "big, great".{{sfn|Floor|2010|pp=366–367}}{{sfn|Lambton|1978}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== Sources == {{sfn whitelist |CITEREFFloor2010}} * {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | volume=15 | fascicle=4 | title = Kalāntar | last = Floor | first = Willem | url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/kalantar-COM_770 | pages = 366–367 }} * {{EI2|last=Lambton|first=A.K.S.|volume=4|title=Kalāntar|url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIRO/COM-770.xml}} * {{Cite journal | last1 = Chardonnet | first1 = Sylvain | title = Le passage de Mehmet Reza beg, kalantar d’Erevan et ambassadeur de Perse, à Moulins et en Bourbonnais (janvier 1715) | journal = Études Bourbonnaises | volume = 381 | issue = | pages = 161–185 | publisher = Société bourbonnaise des études locales | location = Moulins | date = March 2025 | issn = 0980-7225 | url = https://www.academia.edu/161237605/Le_passage_de_Mehmet_Reza_beg_kalantar_d_Erevan_et_ambassadeur_de_Perse_%C3%A0_Moulins_et_en_Bourbonnais_janvier_1715_ | language = fr | id = }}

[[Category:Titles in Iran]] [[Category:Persian words and phrases]] [[Category:Government of Safavid Iran]] [[Category:Government of Qajar Iran]]