Dimashqiyya (also spelled Damashqiyya; Persian: دمشقیه) is an old historical neighborhood in the city of Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. It is located within District 8 of Tabriz, bounded by the Mehraneh River to the north and east, Beheshti Street to the west, and Qarabaghi alley to the south. Local Azerbaijanis also refer to it as Gumushqaya (South Azerbaijani: گوموشقیه, romanized: Gümüşqaya), meaning "silver cliff."
Etymology
The name "Dimashqiyya" derives from the Arabic Dimashq (Damascus) and is linked to the personal name of Demasq Kaja (also spelled Dimashq Khwāja), a prominent Chobanid amir and statesman of the Ilkhanate era. His name referenced his family's ties to Damascus, reflecting Mongol naming conventions where locations of significant events were incorporated into personal names.
History
The neighborhood was established in the 14th century during the Ilkhanid period. It formed around the Dimashqiyya madrasah, a religious school and commemorative complex founded by Baghdad Khatun, daughter of the Mongol amir Chupan and sister of Demasq Kaja. She commissioned the madrasah to honor her brother, who was executed in 1327 CE on the orders of Ilkhan Abu Sa'id. The madrasah's calligraphy was executed by the renowned calligrapher ʿAbdallāh Ṣayrafī.
Adjacent to the madrasah was a cemetery that became a significant burial ground for several Chobanid and Jalayirid rulers, including:
- Hasan Kuchak
- Malek Ashraf
- Demasq Kaja
- Shaykh Hasan Jalayir
- Shaykh Hussain Jalayir
- Ahmad Jalayir (along with his mother)
- Tandu Khatun
- Shah Walad Jalayir (d. 1411)
- Ala ad-Dawla Jalayir
During the Jalayirid period (c. 1340–1432), the site evolved into a dynastic necropolis, with Sultan Ahmad Jalayir (r. 1382–1410), the last major Jalayirid ruler, also buried there.
Modern Era
The cemetery was destroyed in the 1970s under the Pahlavi regime, and Al-Zahra High School for Girls was built on its site in 1978. Today, little physical evidence of the original 14th-century structures survives, though the neighborhood retains its historical name and identity as part of Tabriz's urban fabric.
