Abhar (or Awhar), a town that is the centre of a district bearing the same name, situated in the province of Zanjān in Iran. Various views have been put forward on the meaning of the word Abhar. In the Ḥudūd al-ʿālam (p. 143), Abhar is written as ‘Awhar’ and described as a shahristān (district) with much cultivated land and plentiful water resources. Yāqūt (1/104) mentions that the Persians referred to Abhar as ‘Aw…