Zahedan, the largest city in Iran during the Islamic era

Extracted from Rasekhoon
The oldest pottery discovered in the area is clay molded pottery, often with motifs by geometric designs, flowers and plants dating back to the 5th and 6th century AH.
The old city of Zahedan is located about 27 km east of Zabul, in the back of the city's water. This city, which had particular importance during the Islamic era, is considered by a group of scholars to be the city of Zaranj (zarang) of the Islamic era, and some have also considered it the ancient city of Jaleq (Zaleq).
But about the history of its foundation, the English J.P.Tit believes that Zahedan was present around 420 years before it was damaged by Timor, and it was built around 365 AH at the time of Khalaf Ibn Ahmad, the last king of Saffari, who stayed in prison for seven years and then he was subjected to the sultan Mahmud of Ghazni.
The oldest pottery derived from the area is clay molded pottery, often with motifs by geometric designs, flowers and plants dating back to the 5th and 6th century AH. Other Zahedan pottery date back to the Ilkhani era, and it seems that the city is abandoned forever with the (Shahrukh) Timur's Front and army.
Henry Savage Landor the English tourist, archaeologist and geographer who traveled to Sistan in 1901, titled the city of Zahedan as Eastern London (Asia. (
What is today preserved from the old Zahedan includes the tower of city and the castle of Timur. In general, the city is like other pre-Islamic cities and cities in Central Asia, and it has 3 fences and the signs of the city's architecture makes the placement of them clear. The main part of the city is the citadel, after which it became city and then it was Rabat-e-Shahr that each one was surrounded by a defensive tower. The city's fence is somewhat straightforward and rectangle-shape.
Considering materials used in the buildings, which are all raw clay with thatch mortar and plaster, in some cases, cubic bricks are used between clay and it seems that many of the buildings of the city of Zahedan were built with brick materials so that bricks with dimensions of 5 by 14 by 27 and 5 by 27 by 27 cm are abundantly distributed in the southern part of the city, which unfortunately in recent centuries the people of the area moved them there by destroying ancient monuments, to build graves of the dead.
In the place of ancient Zahedan and around it, there is a collection of Islamic buildings, one of which is located in 250 meters from north-east of the old Zahedan citadel.
The old Zahedan site can in fact be the last remnants of the city of Zaranj in the historical period that after the onslaught of Timur and the destruction of other Sistan Branches, it has no name as a living city in historical texts.
Studies carried out on the ancient sites of Sistan showed that sedimentary lands beside them had the ability to cultivate and plant and irrigation, and with the disappearance of this situation the settlements in these towns have also completely disappeared and it led them to be abandoned. What is certain is that the old city of Zahedan by has been destroyed by Timur and after the destruction of dams on the rivers.
The gate known as Bakhtiari is based on the north-eastern wall of the castle. Along with the old Zahedan citadel, there is a set of shrines called forty men or forty four old men or forty four old hermits, which according to the traditions, these men have been beheaded by Timor. In the northwest direction of Zahedan, and along the same muddy edge of the tall terrace which the ancient Islamic city of Zahedan is built on it, the signs of an old canal can be seen, and a significant amount of glazed pottery of the Islamic era of Zahedan is scattered at the different levels. Ghasem Abad's minaret is located along this road. The minaret had a height of 70 foot (approximately 21 meters) at the time of the Ashtin Visiting. The building was built with bricks of 35 by 20 by 5 centimeters and its base diameter was about 18 meters.
The minaret also has two brick embossed inscriptions. Tate has written about this completely destroyed minaret that name of Tajeddin Abolfazl Nasr is in the lower part of the inscription, and in the top part of it his grandson's name Todeddin Harb is written. It is possible that Taj al-Din the Great could not complete the inscription and died before it.
Sayyid Rasul Mousavi Haji, head of the Faculty of Arts and Architecture of the University of Sistan and Baluchestan, and director of the tourism base, said: The identity of the historic city of Zahedan was identified in undergraduate studies in 1381.
He added: since the fifth of January, a group of students at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sistan and Baluchestan have begun studying in this historical city.
He states that the old Zahedan consists of five distinct parts, namely, the first citadel, the second citadel, the part, Sharestan (city) (where people live in urban areas) and the suburbs surrounding the city, and north of Sistan and Baluchestan is surrounded by old Zahedan and no limitation can be specified for this city.
He announced the size of the Sharestan of Zahedan (the city) about 325 hectares and added: there is no city of Islamic era in Iran that its city has such a huge size, and the old Zahedan was residential from the 5th to the 9th century AH and it was considered the capital of Sistan in the Islamic era .
Mousavi believes that the best city in Iran that can be used to study the effects of the attacks of Timur Gurkani and his son Shahrokh in great detail is the old Zahedan because the effects of restoration in this region are not formed and are still in the old style.
Mousavi says: The old Zahedan has been the grain warehouse of Sistan and Baluchestan in its lifetime, and according to studies, numerous buildings made by brick and mortar by signs of colored plaster has also been identified, and interesting point in the architectural style of Zahedan houses is that they had 2 porches, it means the housed were built from the northwest to the south-east, in the direction of the 120-day winds of Sistan.
The head of the Faculty of Arts and Architecture of the University of Sistan and Baluchistan adds: Due to the fact that the three lakes of Sistan and Baluchestan are rich in water and have strong vegetation, the wind blows through the lakes and by preventing dust, the cool breeze blows from the northwest side into the residential houses and exited from the south east.
Mousavi states: the city of Zahedan has had four hundred years of existence and prosperity, and the city was built in thousand years ago and was inhabited up to 600 years ago.
He said: Timur Gurkani and his son, Shahrokh, attacked the city of Zahedan and destroyed the city because of its boom, development and advance.
The director of the Sistan Tourism Base states: diameter of towers of this city is 5.18 meters, the thickness of its fortresses were 5/4 meters and its height reaches to 15 meters, and such structure is not seen in any of the historical monuments of the Islamic period of Iran.
Mousavi states: The only source of Sistan's water was the Hirmand River, and the old Zahedan's ruler dug underground channel to lead the river to the city.
He added: Timur, who was unable to penetrate into the city through the castle with its large and high fortresses, considered closing the canal of water as the only way to dominate and destroy the city, and thereby he conquered the entire city.
He considered preparing a topographic map of the city as the upcoming plans, and so far, a map of 500 hectares has been prepared, and by preparing this map and determining the limitation of the city, introducing the city to the enthusiasts and archaeologists will be done in a decent way.
The head of the Faculty of Arts and Architecture of the University of Sistan and Baluchestan says: The length of the Zahedan city is 5.2 kilometers and its width is 5.1 kilometers. Given the fact that the the city's enclosed area is 325 hectares, the determination of its territory requires time and its field studies and documentation, starting on the 5th of January, will continue until the 5th of March. Zahedan is located in 20 km from south-east of Zabol and in the district of Zahak.