Qūchān, town, northeastern Iran. Most of the inhabitants of Qūchān are descended from a tribe of Zaʿfarānlū Kurds resettled there by Shāh ʿAbbās I in the 17th century. In return for frontier military service, the resettled Kurds enjoyed a wide-ranging autonomy under a hereditary tribal leader and were exempt from all tribute. Many of the area’s inhabitants are still nomads and live in tents in summer so as to be able to move their flocks to better grazing land.
The region produces much grain, and there are also extensive vineyards. Qūchān town has suffered severely from repeated earthquakes. The present town, dating from 1895, is 8 miles (13 km) east of the earlier settlement, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1893. About 12,000 people are believed to have perished in that disaster. Lying at an elevation of 3,770 feet (1,149 metres), the present town is on the main road from Mashhad to Ashgabat (Turkmenistan). Pop. (2006) 101,313.