KHORREMABAD

khorremabad, a town of persia, capital of the province of luristan, in 33° 32 n., 48° 15 e., and at an elevation of 4250 ft. pop. about 6000. it is situated 138 m. w.n.w. of isfahan and 117 m. s.e. of kermanshah, on the right bank of the broad but shallow khorremabad river, also called ab-i-istaneh, and, lower down, kashgan rud. on an isolated rock between the town and the river stands a ruined castle, the diz-i-siyah (black castle), the residence of the governor of the district (then called samha) in the middle ages, and, with some modern additions, one of them consisting of rooms on the summit, called felek ul aflak (heaven of heavens), the residence of the governors of luristan in the beginning of the 19th century. at the foot of the castle stands the modern residence of the governor, built c. 1830, with several spacious courts and gardens. on the left bank of the river opposite the town are the ruins of the old city of samha. there are a minaret 60 ft. high, parts of a mosque, an aqueduct, a number of walls of other buildings and a four-sided monolith, measuring 91⁄2 ft. in height, by 3 ft. long and 2(1/3) broad, with an inscription partly illegible, commemorating mahmud, a grandson of the seljuk king malik shah, and dated a.h. 517, or 519 (a.d. 1148-1150). there also remain ten arches of a bridge which led over the river from samha on to the road to shapurkhast, a city situated some distance west.