Description : Sabzevar (Persian: سبزوار), previously known as Beyhagh (also spelled "Beihagh"; Persian: بيهق), is a city and capital of Sabzevar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, approximately 220 kilometers (140 mi) west of the provincial capital Mashhad, in northeastern Iran. Archeological hills around Sabzevar indicate a human civilization in this part of Iran going back to third millennium before Christ. At that time Sabzevar was a cultural center affecting places in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, India and Iraq. The logo of Sabzevar museum today is taken from stamps of those days. The history of Sabzevar goes back to the 1st millennium BC. Ancient remains include fire-temple Azarbarzin which is still visible. After the Mongol invasion of Iran, the city was the first part of Iran that moved towards its freedom, under the lead of the Sarbedaran movement. In 14th century Timur invaded Iran and destroyed the city completely. Contemporary sources mention 90,000 people having been murdered by Timur. After killing all men in the town, he cut their heads and made 3 pyramids of the heads, in what is now the modern Sarberiz (meaning "Place of heads") square. Sabzevar Province had been lost by the Safavids to the Uzbeks of Transoxiana, but was regained following a Safavid counter-offensive around 1600, along with Herat and Farah.
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