Bandar Siraf
Bandar-e Siraf
بندر سیراف بندر طاهری | |
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City | |
UTC+3:30 (IRST ) |
Bandar Siraf (
At the 2006 census, its population was 3,500 in 722 households, when it was in the Central District.[5] The following census in 2011 counted 7,137 people in 1,309 households.[6] According to the census in 2016, the population was 6,992 people in 1,949 households.[2]
Bandar Siraf and Taheri Rural District were separated from the district in the establishment of Siraf District.[4]
According to legend, Siraf was an ancient
The port was known as Tahiri until in 2008 the government of Iran changed the official name of the city back to Bandar Siraf.[citation needed]
Geography
The site of Siraf is located by a shallow bay that extends for 4 km east–west.[8] Just 500 m inland is a sandstone ridge running parallel to the coast.[8] Siraf itself is located in the narrow habitable strip between the beach and the ridge.[8] In this part of Fars, many long ridges like this one run parallel to the coast, rising as high as 1500 m within 20 km from the sea.[8] Passes through the ridges are only found occasionally, making communication with the interior difficult.[8]
The narrow coastal plain is divided in two by a spur jutting out from the ridge.[8] The core of the modern settlement of Taheri is on the east side of this spur, while the ruins of historical Siraf are to the west, extending for 2 km along the seashore.[8] On the spur itself was the fortified residence of the local shaikh.[8] To the west is the dry wadi bed called Kunarak, which marks the western boundary of old Siraf.[8] Today, the Kunarak valley is where the main road passes through to connect Taheri with the Jam plain further inland, and the same was probably true in historical times when Siraf was at its peak.[8] To the west of the Kunarak valley is the Bagh-i-Shaikh plain.[8] The coastal plain gradually widens toward the west, and the Bagh-i-Shaikh plain is 1 km across.[8]
Besides the Kunarak valley, there is a second gap in the main ridge known as the Tang-i-Lir.[8] This is a narrow gorge located about 1.5 km east of the Kunarak pass.[8] Besides the main spur that divides the coastal plain, there are two smaller spurs between the two gaps.[8] The first and larger one runs almost parallel with the main ridge for about 1 km west of the Tang-i-Lir.[8] Between it and the main ridge is the Shilaw valley, which retains the old variant of the name attested since the 13th century.[8] The northern slopes of the Shilaw valley are covered in spectacular rock-cut graves, which are now empty.[8] A second small spur is between the Shilaw valley and the Kunarak wadi.[8]
History
The port was known as Siraf in ancient times. At the time of the
Several episodes of massive
Sasanian era
The historical importance of Siraf to ancient trade is only now being realized. Discovered there in past archaeological excavations are ivory objects from east
According to David Whitehouse, one of the first archaeologists to excavate the ancient ruins of Siraf, marine trade between the Persian Gulf and Far East lands began to flourish at this port because of the vast expansion of trade in consumer goods and luxury items in ancient times.[13] According to legend, the first contact between Siraf and China occurred in 185 AH.[13] However, when sea trade routes tried shifting to the Red Sea, Siraf lost some business.[13]
Excavations at Siraf have uncovered evidence of a Sasanian port, which probably served the inland city of Gor (now Firuzabad).[14] There was also a huge castle, possibly built c. 360 by Shapur II.[14]
There is historical evidence of
Islamic era
In the 9th century, Siraf was revamped and expanded exponentially as the sea trade with Asia flourished.[citation needed] The city's congregational mosque, one of the earliest in Iran, was among the items studied by Whitehouse.[17] The mosque was "a huge rectangular structure with a central courtyard set on a raised podium", with a single entrance on the east side (opposite from the qibla).[17] The mosque was built in two phases.[17] The first was in the first half of the 9th century and the second was around 850.[17] There were also several smaller mosques, all with mihrabs projecting onto the outside of the building.[17] There are ruins of the luxurious houses of extremely rich traders who made their wealth through the port's success.[18]
The earliest Muslim writer to mention Siraf is
During its heyday, Siraf was the largest and wealthiest port city on the Iranian side of the Persian Gulf.
Siraf served an international clientele of merchants including those from
However, Siraf lacked drinking water (apart from one small qanat, according to al-Maqdisi)[14] and good farmland, so food and water had to be imported from the Jam plain.[8]
According to al-Maqdisi, Siraf's decline began with the
Siraf was not the only Gulf port to decline around this time.
Yaqut may have painted a rather bleak picture of Siraf, but its role as a commercial port was far from over.[14] It remained a regional trade center on a smaller scale until the 15th or 16th century.[19] It served as the port for the Khunj u Fal region, as a point of departure for Qatif and the Arabian Peninsula.[14] Ibn Battuta knew of "Shilaw" and may have visited in 1347 when he crossed the Persian Gulf from "Khunju Pal" over to the Arabian Peninsula.[14] Shilaw was also mentioned by 16th-century European travelers, such as António Tenreiro, who visited "Chilaão" in 1528, and Gasparo Balbi, who visited "Silaú" in 1590.[14] After that, however, sources only describe a very small and basic harbor at the modern village of Taheri.[14]
In 1812,
Many of the finds (over 16,000 in all) excavated at Siraf by Whitehouse and his archaeological team in the 1960s and 1970s are kept in the British Museum in London.[21]
Siraf has not yet been registered on the list of national heritage sites of Iran. This is needed so that it will be preserved and maintained in the future.[22]
Gallery
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Rock-cut graves in the Shilaw valley
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Rock-cut graves in the Shilaw valley
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Ruins of buildings at Siraf
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Siraf skyline
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Nasori Castle, former residence of the local shaikhs
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Beach near Siraf
Further reading
- S.M.N. Priestman ‘The rise of Siraf: long-term development of trade emporia within the Persian Gulf’. In Proceedings of the International Congress of Siraf Port, November 14–16, 2005, Bushehr Branch of Iranology Foundation & Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, 2005, 137-56
- V.F. Piacentini, Merchants, Merchandise and Military Power in the Persian Gulf (Suriyanj/Shakriyaj-Siraf), Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome), Serie IX, Vol. III(2), 1992.
- Nicholas Lowick, Siraf XV. The Coins and Monumental Inscriptions, The British Institute of Persian Studies, London, 1985.
- D. Whitehouse, Siraf III. The Congregational Mosque and Other Mosques from the Ninth to the Twelfth Centuries, The British Institute of Persian Studies, London, 1980.
- D. Whitehouse, ‘Excavations at Siraf. First-Sixth Interim Reports’, Iran 6-12 (1968–74).
References
- ^ OpenStreetMap contributors (31 March 2023). "Bandar Siraf, Kangan County" (Map). OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1395 (2016)". AMAR (in Persian). The Statistical Center of Iran. p. 18. Archived from the original (Excel) on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ Bandar Siraf can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3086632" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
- ^ a b Jahangiri, Ishaq (7 December 1397). "Approval letter regarding country divisions in Jam and Kangan Counties in Bushehr province". Islamic Parliament Research Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran (in Persian). Ministry of Interior, Council of Ministers. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006)". AMAR (in Persian). The Statistical Center of Iran. p. 18. Archived from the original (Excel) on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1390 (2011)". Syracuse University (in Persian). The Statistical Center of Iran. p. 18. Archived from the original (Excel) on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ISBN 962-217-721-2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am "Siraf". sirafcongress. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
- ^ "Ancient Cities and Archaeological Hills, Bushehr". Retrieved 31 July 2007.
- ^ "The Seas of Sindbad". Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
- ^ a b Trua, Oral history of the Iranian Jews, Homa Sarshar, Center for Iranian Jewish oral history, 1996, Page 223.
- ^ "Foreign Experts Talk of Siraf History". Cultural Heritage News Agency.
- ^ a b c "Siraf, a Legendary Ancient Port". Cultural Heritage News Agency. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
- ^ ISBN 90-04-10422-4. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ISBN 978-90-04-18525-8. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "GUJARAT (Skt. Gurjaṛ), a province of India on its northwestern coastline". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
Maritime contacts between Gujarat and the Persian Gulf region reach back to the period of Indus Valley civilization (ca. 2500-1500 B.C.). The port of Lothal at the head of the Gulf of Cambay, as well as other excavations in Gujarat, reveal the extent of Gujarat's earliest commercial contacts with the west (Rao, pp. 39-78, 114-26; Dani and Masson, pp. 312-18).
- ^ a b c d e "Siraf". archnet.org. Archived from the original on 10 June 2003. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
- ^ "Siraf, a Legendary Ancient Port". Iranian News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
- ^ ISBN 9781838609351.
- ^ Sastri (1955), p302
- ^ "Collection". The British Museum.
- ^ "World Famous Archaeologists Attend Siraf Conference". Cultural Heritage News Agency. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002) ISBN 0-19-560686-8.