Gilan (Pers. Gīlān) is a province of Iran located on the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea, with Rasht as its capital. It is the most densely populated province after Tehran. There are indications that Jews lived in a number of cities in Gilan in the past, but it is not known when Jews first settled there. The earliest reference to Jews comes from the mid-fifteenth century, specifically to a community near present-day Lāhījān. In the late Middle Ages, Jews from Gilan settled in Oguz, Russian Azerbaijan. From the fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, Rasht was ruled by Amīra Dubbāj…