Bastak

For the administrative subdivision, see Bastak County.

Bastak بستك
—  city  —
Tomb of Shikh AbdulRahman Buzorg
Bastak
Coordinates: 27°11′57″N 54°22′00″E
Country	Iran
Province	Hormozgan
County	Bastak
Bakhsh	Central
Population (2006)
• Total	8,376
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Bastak (Persian: بستك‎; also known as Lastak) is a city in and the capital of Bastak County, Hormozgan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 8,376, in 1,765 families.

Bastak has a road connecting it to the Bandar Lengeh area and its inhabitants speak Bastaki, a dialect of Persian.

History of Bastak

The history of Bastak can be traced back to the Safavids era. When the Safavids under Ismail I decided to convert everyone residing in current day Iran from Sunni to Shiite Islam in 1501, they started arranged attacks and massacres against the Sunni Persians who refused to convert. As a result, many Sunni Persians left their hometowns for the Zagros Mountains. After the Battle of Chaldiran where the Safavids lost to the Ottoman the Sunni Persians descended from the mountains to begin a new life in the land they named "Bastak", meaning barrier or backstop signifying barrier from Shiite Safavids' attacks and influences.

A Currency That Was Used In Bastak

A Currency That Was Used In Bastak

Eventually they pledged loyalty to the Abbasids, an Arab dynasty that left Baghdad after the Moghol invasion towards the southern mountains of Persia. The rulers of Shiraz at the time, the Atabak, gave them protection to pass through their lands as they fled from the Moghols. Later on the Abbasids they took permission from Atabak to establish a state of their own and rule Bastak and the surrounding villages and islands. It was said that a few Hashimites (descendants of Prophet Mohammed) moved to Bastak from Khonj where they had settled after leaving Iraq towards Persia. The Abbasids carried on the expansion of Bastak's rule until it included more than 60 villages and many islands in the Persian Gulf. Many alliances were formed between the Bastakis and the Arab rulers in the current day UAE. The most famous was an alliance with Sheikh Zayed Alnahyan (Zayed Alawal) the ruler of Bani Yas in Abu-Dhabi and Al-Ain, and Al-Qassimi rulers of Sharjah. They also allied with the Arabs tribes that resided on the southern coasts of Persia and in the islands off the coast of Persia and current day UAE. These tribes included Almarazeeq (from whom one of the Abbasi rulers married),

Galooye village in (Gawdah) Bastak Hormozgān

Alhammady, Al-Ali, Alabadelah, Alnosoori, Al-harami, and others. Together these tribes fought against the sultan of Oman. In one battle the bastaki Abbasids lead, Alqawasem (Alqassimi of Lingah, Sharjah, and Ras Alkhaimah), Alali, Alhammadi, and almarazeeq on an attack against the sultan of Oman.

Bastakis in the Gulf

Main article: Huwala

Many Bastakis emigrated to Dubai, Bahrain, and Kuwait after refusing to pay taxes to Nasir al-Din, the last member of the Qajar dynasty and refusing to give up their Sunni faith. Today, there are many Bastakis in Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Karachi and Oman, who have carried their unique Persian culture, language, and architecture with them (all of which have come about through the years of mixing of Arab and Persian heritages). They have named their neighbourhood in Dubai, Bastakeyah, after their small city of Bastak, and use an old style of Persian architecture that is represented in the Badgir ("wind catchers") that direct the wind into the houses and cool the interior of the houses, a very common style throughout the Persian Gulf. In Bahrain they settled mostly in and around Awadhiya which is now a busy commercial district. The neighborhood contains some of the last remaining houses built in the traditional architectural style featuring badgeer windtowers in Bahrain.

Culture of the Bastakis

Bastaki people speak a local Persian dialect that is made up of Middle Persian. Many Bastakis today work as merchants and own their own businesses and are highly educated. They tend to work in finance, real estate, education and engineering sectors. Not to mention the many medical practices which they run. They are also known to be a very proud of their heritage which they preserved even though they lived for many years in the GCC. Bastaki's are well known to have a strong relationships with some of the biggest Arab leading families in the GCC countries. And are known to be independent yet very loyal to their rulers, to Al-Maktoums in Dubai especially and Al-Qassimi in Al-Sharjah, Al-Khalifa in Bahrain, and to other ruling families of the GCC countries where they reside.(It is worth mentioning that the Ottomans came after the Abbasids, not before)

List of some Bastaki families:

• Abbasi family (also known as Baniabbassian or Al Khan, see House of Al Khan)
• Shafiee family
• Rafiee family
• Fikree family family (also spelled as Fikree in the UAE)
• Bastaki family
• Hadi family
• Bukhash family (also known as Alwardi in Bahrain)
• Amiri family (from Faryab Bastak)
• Al Ulama family
• Behnam family
• Hashemi family (see also Hashemite)
• Sobhani family
• Sharif family
• Saeedi family
• Shoukrallah family
• Nooruddin Family

See also

• Morbagh
• Kookherd
• Larestan
• Lar, Iran
• Evaz
• Bandar Lengeh
• Hormozgān

Gallery

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  Kemeshk Square, Bastak

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References

• 1.محمدیان، کوخردی ، محمد ، «شهرستان بستک و بخش کوخرد» ، ج۱. چاپ اول، دبی: سال انتشار ۲۰۰۵ میلادی Mohammed Kookherdi Mohammadyan (2005), Shahrestan Bastak & Bakhshe kookherd, First edition : Dubai.
• 2.عباسی ، قلی، مصطفی، «بستک وجهانگیریه»، چاپ اول، تهران : ناشر: شرکت انتشارات جهان
• 3. سلامى، بستكى، احمد. (بستک در گذرگاه تاریخ) ج2 چاپ اول، 1372 خورشيدى
• 4. بنى عباسيان، بستكى، محمد اعظم، « تاريخ جهانگيريه» چاپ تهران، سال 1339 خورشيدى Mohammad AadhamKhan Bani Abasian (1339),Bastak & GehanGireya,First edition : Tehrani.
• 5. اطلس گیتاشناسی استان‌های ایران [Atlas Gitashenasi Ostanhai Iran] (Gitashenasi Province Atlas of Iran)

External links

• Kookherd Website