Maragheh ( or Marāgha; ) is a city in the Central District of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, and serves as capital of the county. At the 2006 census, its population was 146,405 in 38,891 households. The following census in 2011 counted 162,275 people in 47,552 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 175,255 people in 54,958 households. Maragheh is on the bank of the river Sufi Chay. The population consists mostly of Iranian Azerbaijanis who are bilingual in Azerbaijani and Persian. It is from Tabriz, the largest city in northwestern Iran. History Pre-Islamic history It has been long suggested that Maragheh was identical with Phraaspa/Phraata, the winter capital of Atropatene. The 9th-century Muslim historian al-Baladhuri (died 892) reports that the town was originally known as Akra-rudh (called "Afrah-rudh" by Ibn al-Faqih, and "Afrazah-rudh" by Yaqut al-Hamawi) a Persian name which means "river of Afrah", and which the Russian orientalist Vladimir Minorsky considered to seem reminiscent of the name of Phraata. He added that it is unlikely that Maragheh did not exist during the Roman era, due to its favorable location. Rule under the caliphate and Sajids During the Arab conquest of Iran, the towns of Adharbayjan (which also must have included Maragheh) were captured by al-Mughira. The Umayyad prince Marwan ibn Muhammad briefly stayed at Maragheh following his expedition to Muqan and Gilan in 740. It was during this period that the settlement was given the name of "Maragheh" (meaning "place where an animal rolls") due to the large quantity of dung there. Marwan also engaged in some building activities in the town. Control over the town was later handed to the daughters of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (). Due to the rebellion of the lord of Tabriz, Wajna ibn Rawwad, a wall was erected around Maragheh and a garrison was also established there. This was done under the orders of Khuzayma ibn Khazim, the governor of Adharbayjan and Arminiya (Armenia), a position he had probably reached in 803. Following the launch of the rebellion of Babak Khorramdin in 816/17, the people sought shelter in Maragheh. The caliph al-Mam'un () soon had the walls of the town was restored, followed by the re-population of the place. In 836, Maragheh served as the winter quarters of Khaydhar ibn Kawus al-Afshin during his expedition against Babak. In an attempt to reduce the unstable autonomy of the