Fuman

Fuman stands on the Gazrudbar River near the foothills of the Talesh mountains in western Gilan. Its wet, fertile district produced wheat, rice and silk, and medieval writers counted it among the chief towns of the Caspian province. Fuman was the seat of rulers whose wealth drew heavily on the silk trade, and the centre of Biapas, the lands west of the Safidrud.

In 1572–73 Jamshid Sultan moved his capital from Fuman to Rasht. The local rulers nevertheless continued to wield influence, and a long rivalry set the khans of Fuman against those of neighbouring Shaft. In 1751 the English merchant John Elton was killed on the orders of one of these chiefs, Haji Jamal. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Fuman remained an open town with a lively market.