Asadābād

Asadabad lies west of Hamadan on the old road from Baghdad across the Iranian plateau. A pass through the Alvand mountains separates it from Hamadan, making the town a natural stopping place on a major route through the Zagros. Medieval travellers described gardens and water in the district, while nearby remains known as the Kitchens of Khosrow recalled the region's Sasanian past.

Its road brought armies as well as merchants. In 1029 Oghuz and Daylami raiders plundered the district after the fall of Hamadan. In 1120 the forces of Masud, governor of Mosul, Jazira and Azerbaijan, fought near Asadabad against the army of the Seljuk Sultan Mahmud. The rebels were defeated by the sultan's general Aqsonqor Borsuqī. The town remained a stage on the road linking western Iran with the lands beyond the mountains.