Zaránd County (Hungarian: Zaránd vármegye, Latin: Comitatus Zarandiensis) was an administrative unit of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania from the middle ages until 1876.[1][2] Located mainly in the Fehér-Körös/Crișul Alb river valley, today its former territory lies mostly in Romania, with a small amount in south-eastern Hungary.
In 1744 most of the western territory of Zaránd County, including its capital Zaránd/Zărand, was transferred to Arad County; Körösbánya/Baia de Criș became the capital of the new rump county.
During a period of significant administrative reform in the Austrian Empire following the Revolutions of 1848 the traditional counties of Transylvania (including the Partium territories of Zaránd, Kraszna, Közép-Szolnok and Kővár) were abolished and reorganised into five Kreise (districts; literally "circles") in 1851; Zaránd's territory was incorporated into the Kreis of Karlsburg.[3] In 1854 the Kreis system was revised significantly with the previously five Kreise becoming ten; Zaránd's territory became part of the new Kreis of Broos.[4] The pre-1848 counties, including Zaránd, were restored in 1860.
Zaránd county was finally permanently dissolved as part of the 1876 administrative reform in the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen; most of its territory became part of Hunyad County as the Körösbánya and Brád districts, with a smaller western part being merged into Arad county as the district of Nagyhalmágy.
Bóna, István (1994). "The Hungarian–Slav Period (895–1172)". In Köpeczi, Béla; Barta, Gábor; Bóna, István; Makkai, László; Szász, Zoltán; Borus, Judit (eds.). History of Transylvania. Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 109–177. ISBN963-05-6703-2.
Engel, Pál (1996). Magyarország világi archontológiája, 1301–1457, I. [Secular Archontology of Hungary, 1301–1457, Volume I] (in Hungarian). História, MTA Történettudományi Intézete. ISBN963-8312-44-0.
Kristó, Gyula (1988). A vármegyék kialakulása Magyarországon [The Development of the Counties in Hungary] (in Hungarian). Magvető Kiadó. ISBN963-14-1189-3.