Siahkal

Siahkal (also Romanized as Sīāhkal, Seyāh Kal, Sīāh Kal, and Sīyāh Kal; also known as Sīāhkal Maḩalleh) is a city in the Central District of Siahkal County, Gilan province, Iran, serving as both capital of the district and of the county. As of 2016, the city had a population of 19,924.
History
Siahkal was the scene of the 1971 Marxist Siahkal uprising.
Demographics
Siahkal's population is Gilak and the city's main language is Gilaki language. The majority of the population traditionally followed Shi'ite Islam, some were Jewish or Baháʼí. Many residents are currently secular.
At the 2006 National Census, its population was 15,274 in 4,343 households. The following census in 2011 counted 18,176 people in 5,645 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 19,924 people in 6,796 households.
The Jewish community
There used to be a sizeable Jewish community in Siahkal with synagogue(s) and neighborhoods. The written historical sources on this community are limited, and mostly lost to history limited, as the Gilan province was largely isolated, and mostly ignored in history, but they might have been present since antiquity given speaking the Judeo-Siahkali dialect, as opposed to other Jewish communities of Gilan and surrounding provinces. The community married among themselves and had a long tradition that they were descendants of King David. Some were descendants of Jews of Dilaman, who were ordered by Nadir Shah Afshar in the year 1746 to relocate to Mashhad.
The community faced one or several pogroms and mass conversions in recent history based on their collective memory. Possibly, around 1880, there was a pogrom in Siyāhkal in which many Jews were killed, many were subjected to forceful conversion to Islam, and others left the city to live in Rasht (Netzer, Siyāhkal). In the following years, Many of the remaining members of this isolated community converted to Baháʼí Faith, Islam, or joined the Marxist movement. Others gradually left the town, commenced by events of the pogrom of 1880, the Marxist insurrection of 1921, the Soviet Occupation, and then as well as the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, which prompted immigration of the remaining practicing Jews to either Israel, Rasht, Tehran, or the United States;. Not much is known of the remaining Converso community who were mostly assimilated into the native population. Islamic Republic's State-Sponsored Conspiracy Theories had resorted to antisemitic tropes of blaming the Crypto-Jews of Siyahkal for the spread of Bahaii and Communism in the region.
Education
Sama Vocational Academy
Islamic Azad University has a campus in Siahkal.
Payame Noor University has a campuses in Siahkal.
Tourist Attractions
Lonak Waterfall
Baba Vali Waterfall
Larikhani Forest and Spring
Dorfak Mountain
Ti Ti Caravanserai
Garmavar Castle
Kutul Shah Castle
Siahkal-Deylaman Road and Forest
Pashuran Park and Pool
Rice Farms
Gilarkesh Rock Shelter
Azodi House
Mineral Water Springs
Siahkal's Weekly Market
Shrine of Qader the Prophet
Shrine of Baba Vali
Shrine of Saleh and Sultain Hussein
Imamzadeh Mustafa
Gallery
References
Populated places in Siahkal County
Historic Jewish communities
Cities in Gilan Province
Crypto-Jews