Zahedan

For the administrative subdivision, see Zahedan County. For the city in Fars Province, see Zahedshahr.

Zahedan زاهدان
—  city  —
Zahedan
Coordinates: 29°29′47″N 60°51′46″E / 29.49639°N 60.86278°E / 29.49639; 60.86278Coordinates: 29°29′47″N 60°51′46″E / 29.49639°N 60.86278°E / 29.49639; 60.86278
Country	Iran
Province	Sistan and Baluchestan
County	Zahedan
Bakhsh	Central
Elevation	1,352 m (4,436 ft)
Population (2006)
– Total	552,706
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
– Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Zahedan (Persian: زاهدان, also Romanized as Zāhedān, Zahidan, and Zaidān; also known as Zāhedān-e Yek; formerly known as Dowzdāb, Duzdāb, and Duzdāp)^[1] is a city in and the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 552,706, in 109,488 families.^[2]

Geography

Zahedan is located near Pakistan and Afghanistan, only about 41 km south of the tripoint of the borders of the three countries, at an altitude of 1,352 meters above sea level and at a distance of 1,605 km from the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Education

University of Sistan and Baluchestan's Amphitheater in Zahedan.

Zahedan is the home of the Islamic Azad University, Zahedan,^[3] the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences^[4] and the University of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Demographics and Culture

The overwhelming majority of Zahedan's inhabitants are ethnic Baluchi and speak the Baluchi language. There are also smaller numbers of Pashtuns, Sistanis and Brahuis.

Zahedan lies east of the Kavir-e Loot desert. The city was part of the historic region of Sistan (Persian: سیستان), situated today on the borders of southeastern Iran and southwestern Afghanistan. One portion is part of the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan. The other portion is part of the Nimruz Province of Afghanistan.

The name Sistan comes from 'Sakastan', which Sistan was once the westernmost part of. The Sakas that were once native to Sistan were driven to the Punjab during the Arsacid era (63 BCE-220 CE). The Saffarids (861-1003 CE), one of the early Iranian dynasties of the Islamic era, were originally rulers of Sistan. In the Shahnameh, Sistan is also referred to as Zabulistan, after Zabol, a city in the region. In Ferdowsi's epic, Zabulistan is in turn described to be the homeland of the mythological hero-king Rostam.

Zahedan and the area of Sistan has a very strong connection with Zoroastrianism and during Sassanid times Lake Hamun was one of two pilgrimage sites for followers of that religion. In Zoroastrian religion, the lake is the keeper of Zoroaster's seed and just before the final renovation of the world, three maidens will enter the lake, each then giving birth to the saoshyants who will be the saviours of mankind at the final renovation of the world. The most famous archaeological site in Sistan is on Kuh-e Khwajeh, a hill rising up as an island in the middle of Lake Hamun.

Zahedan is the main economic center of the region and home to many small- and medium-scale industries. Its main products include cotton textiles, woven and hand-knotted rugs, ceramics, processed foods, livestock feed, processed hides, milled rice, bricks, reed mats and baskets.

Zahedan is stronghold of Sunnism in Baluchistan. The Makki mosque and its madrasa play an important role in Baluchistan's society. Zahedan has also a Friday mosque for shiye and Jame mosque, where many members of the community gather to worship on Fridays. The city also has a Sikh gurdwara. A colorful bazaar, Rasouli Bazaar, can also be found in the city, where Baluchi and Pashtun traders intermingle. About 100 km south of Zahedan is an intermittently active volcano, Taftan, which rises abruptly 4,042 meters from the surrounding plain.

Although the surrounding area has many of ancient sites, Zahedan itself developed mainly in the 20th century. Before being chosen as the provincial administrative center in the 1930s, Zahedan was a small village. Its population reached 17,500 by 1956 and increased more than fivefold to 93,000 by 1976. After 1980 large numbers of refugees fleeing the invasion of Afghanistan by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) helped to triple the population of Zahedan to more than 281,000 by 1986, a number which has since doubled again.

Etymology

Before the rise of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1923, the city of Zahedan was known as Dozz-aap. That name was in turn derived from the Persian Dozd-aab, literarily meaning "water thief." This is the name given to a sandy land formation that quickly swallows up any water that falls on it, be it rain or irrigation water.

The name was changed to Zahedan by the Academy of Culture, set up during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi in the 1930s, which changed a myriad of toponyms in Iran. This included the very name of the country, which was known to the Western World as Persia until 1935.

A popular theory claims that the current name, Zahedan ("Sages," or "pious people" in Persian) was given to the city upon its visit by Reza Shah. The story maintains that upon arrival in the city, the Shah noticed many Sikhs among the inhabitants of the city. By their traditional appearances, the Shah misinterpreted the inhabitants as being devout Muslims. The Sikhs were not many, but occupied in the trade business and therefore highly visible in the city.

Sport

In April 2008 the 70 billion IRR Zahedan Stadium was built with a seated capacity of 15,000 people. It was inaugurated on 18 April 2008 with a friendly football game between Honarmandan (Actors) versus a local side.

Transport

Highways link Zahedan to Tehran and Mashhad in the north, the port of Bandar Chabahar on the Sea of Oman in the south, and the Pakistani city of Quetta in the east.

For many years, a broad gauge railway line has extended from Zahedan to Quetta in Pakistan.

More recently, a standard gauge line was completed from Zahedan to Kerman in central Iran, linking Zahedan with the rest of the Iranian rail network.^[5] This was the result of a May 18, 2007, MOU for rail cooperation that was signed by Pakistan and Iran under which the line was to be completed by December 2008.^[6] The line was officially completed with an opening ceremony on 19 June 2009.^[7] This makes Zahedan the location of the break of gauge between the Islamic Republic of Iran Railway's standard gauge tracks and Pakistan Railway's broad gauge tracks.

Zahedan is also served by Zahedan International Airport.

See also

Iran portal

• 2007 Zahedan bombings
• 2009 Zahedan bombings
• July 2010 Zahedan bombings
• List of Gurdwaras
• Zahedan travel guide from Wikitravel

References

1. ^ Zahedan can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3088799" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
2. ^ "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006)" (Excel). Islamic Republic of Iran. http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/11.xls. 
3. ^ Iauzah.ac.ir
4. ^ New Page 1
5. ^ Dr John Stubbs (2007-01-01). "Closing the gap from Bam to Zahedan". Railway Gazette International. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/closing-the-gap-from-bam-to-zahedan.html. 
6. ^ "Intelligence". Railway Gazette International. 2007-07-01. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/intelligence-july-2007.html. 
7. ^ Zahedan

External links

• Municipality of Zahedan
• MSN Map