[2] According to Vladimir Minorsky, the name Khalkhāl may indicate a connection with the ancient Kharkhar kingdom, which existed somewhere in the eastern Zagros Mountains in Neo-Assyrian times.

[7]: 62 The 14th-century author Hamdallah Mustawfi listed Khalkhal in his Nuzhat al-Qulub as forming part of the tuman of Ardabil.

[8] Mustawfi wrote that the Khalkhal province comprised about 100 villages and had four districts: Khāmidah-Bīl, Sajasrūd, Anjīlābād, and Mīsjīn.

[8] Water from a spring on a nearby mountain powered two watermills, which provided enough irrigation for the surrounding fields.

[8] Mustawfi said its pastures were "excellent" and hunting grounds were "numerous and well-stocked with game" and wrote that the district was known for producing yogurt (māst) that was "so thick it has to be cut with a knife, as though it were cheese".