Ardabil , a major city in a province of the same name in northwest Iran and located on major trade routes near the Caspian Sea, was established at the latest by the time of the Sāsānids (r. 224-651 C.E.). 1. Urban history Sited at the edge of what was considered the Dār al-Ḥarb ("the Abode of War"), Ardabil was an important Islamic settlement from as early as the third/ninth century and was linked to routes connecting the Caspian Sea to Marāgha and Tabriz. In the seventh/thirteenth