Khuzestan province

Map showing Khuzestan in Iran

Introduction

Domes like this are quite common in Khuzestan province. The shape is an architectural trademark of craftsmen of this province. Daniel's shrine, located in Khuzestan, has such a shape. The shrine pictured here, belongs to Imamzadeh Hamzeh, located between Mah-shahr and Hendijan.

Khuzestan is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its center is Ahvaz and covers an area of 63,238 sq. km. Other major cities include Behbahan, Abadan, Andimeshk, Khorramshahr, Bandar Imam, Dezful, Shushtar, Omidiyeh, Izeh, Baq-e-Malek, Mah Shahr, Dasht-e-Azadegan, Ramhormoz, Shadegan, Susa, and Masjed Soleiman.

Historically Khuzestan is what historians refer to as the ancient Elamite Empire, whose capital was in Susa, and in previous ages, Iranians referred to this province as Elam. The Old Persian term for Elam was Hujiyā, which is present in the modern name. Khuzestan is the most ancient Iranian province and is often referred to in Iran as the "birthplace of the nation," as this is the area where Aryan tribes first settled, assimilating the native Elamite population, and thus laying the foundation for the future empires of Persia, Media, and Parthia.

Khuzestan is also where Jondishapour was located.

Khuzestan has 18 representatives in Iran's parliament, The Majles, and 6 representatives in the Assembly of Experts.

Geography and Demographics

According to the 1996 census, the province had an estimated population of 3.7 million people, of which approximately 62.5% were in the urban centres, 36.5% were rural dwellers and the remaining 1% were non-residents.

The province of Khuzestan can be basically divided into two regions, i.e. the plains and mountainous regions. The former being in the south and west of the province. This area is irrigated by the Karun, Karkheh and Jarahi rivers. The mountainous regions are situated to the north and east of the province, and are considered to be a part of southern regions of the Zagros mountain ranges.

With regard to natural conditions, Khuzestan has unrivaled potentials unmatched by any other province in the country. Large permanent rivers flow over the entire territory contributing to the fertility of the land. Karun, Iran's largest river, 850 kilometers long, flows into the Persian Gulf through this province.

The climate of Khuzestan is generally hot and humid, particularly in the south.

Khuzestan, unlike other provinces in Iran, is inhabited by a number of ethnic minorities and peoples. Arabic-speakers and Iranian Arab tribes, Bakhtiaris, Behbahanis, Lurs, Qashqais, the peoples of Dezful, Shushtar, and the inhabitants of the Persian Gulf coasts all make up the population of the great and populated province of Khuzestan. There are, however, no official ethnic statistics released from Iran's government.

The origin of the name Khuzestan

Masjed Jame' Dezful. In spite of Saddam's devastating bombs, Khuzestan still posseses a rich heritage of architecture from Islamic, Sassanid, and even much earlier times.

There are many meanings and interpretations for the word "Khuzestan," which reveal the antiquity and diversity of this ancient land.

Most experts believe the name Khuzestan to be derived from Ķūzī, the name of the original non-Semitic people of the province, whose distinctive language survived until Sassanid times. (see Encyclopedia Iranica, E. YarShater, Columbia University, Vol 1, p687-689.)

Ibn Nadeem, in his book al-Fehrest (“الفهرست”), mentions that all the Median and Persian lands of antiquity spoke one language. In his book, which is the most accredited account of spoken languages of Iran during the early Islamic era, he quotes the great scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa:

"The Iranian languages are Fahlavi (Pahlavi), Dari, Khuzi, Persian, and Seryani."

He then adds that Khuzi is the unofficial language of the royalty and comes from Khuzestan.

On the other hand, sugar and sugar cane have also been given for the meaning of Khuz; and the fertile soil of Khuzestan has a splendid potential for growing this plant, and the best sugar cane is harvested there.

In Majma-ul-Tavarikh val Ghesas ("The Collection of histories and Tales") Khuzestan appears with such names as Hajuestan, Hobujestan, and Ajar, which seem to be derived from Hobujestan and Hujestan in Pahlavi languge. As in some dialects, such as Luri and Bakhtiari, the sound "h" is sometimes used for pronouncing Kh , the words oo, hoo and Khuz have in the process of time been added to the suffix -estan, and the word oojestan has gradually changed to Hujestan, and finally, the word Khuzestan was formed.

It is of significance to note that in ancient Persian dialects and in Pahlavi language, the sound "oo" was changable to "hoo" as in such words like Oormazd --> Hoormazd or Ooshmand --> Hooshmand. And Hoordad has also been pronounced Khordad and Khoortat.

Some scholars think that Ahvaz and Khuzestan are related to the name Ooksin, a city established during the era of the Elamite civilization, and are the altered forms of the words Ooks, Ookz, Hookz, Huz and Khuz.

History

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Khuzestan's Elamites were "precursors of the royal Persians", and were "the founders of the first Iranian empire in the geographic sense."

The ziggurat of Choqa Zanbil in Khuzestan was a magnificent structure of the Iranian Elamite Empire.

The province of Khuzestan is one of the centres of ancient civilization, dating back 6000 years around the region of Susa. In the 4th millennium BC, the powerful Elamite Empire, a non-Semitic kingdom independent of Mesopotamia, was founded in Susa.

Archeological ruins establish the entire province of Khuzestan to be home to the Elamite civilization, "the earliest civilization of Persia" (according to A History of Persia, S. Percy Sykes, p38). As was stated in the preceding section, the name Khuzestan is derived from the Elamites (Ūvja according to The Cambridge History of Iran, 2, 259, ISBN 0521060351), a non-Semitic people unrelated to their northern neighbors in Mesopotamia. (see introduction of The Splendour of Iran, E. Booth-Clibborn, ISBN 1861540116)

In fact, in the words of Elton Daniel, the Elamites were "the founders of the first Iranian empire in the geographic sense." (The History of Iran, p26, ISBN 0313000301) Hence the central geopolitical significance of Khuzestan, the seat of Iran's first empire.

In 640 BC, the Elamites were defeated by Ashurbanipal coming under the rule of the Assyrians who wrought destruction upon Susa and Chogha Zanbil. But in 538 BC Cyrus the Great was able to re-conquer the Elamite lands. The city of Susa was then proclaimed as one of the Achaemenian capitals. Darius the Great then erected a grand palace known as Hadish there in 521 BC. But this astonishing period of glory and splendour of the Achaemenian dynasty came to an end by the conquests of Alexander of Macedon. And after Alexander, the Seleucid dynasty ruled the area.

As the Seleucid dynasty weakened, Mehrdad I the Parthian (171-137 BC), gained victory over the region. During the Sassanid dynasty this area thrived tremendously and flourished, and this dynasty was responsible for the many constructions that were erected in Ahvaz, Shushtar, and the north of Andimeshk.

The Arab invasion of Khuzestan

The Arab invasion of Khuzestan took place in AD 639 under the command of Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari who drove the Persian Hormozan out of Ahvaz. Hormozan fled to Shushtar, where his forces were besieged by Abu Musa for 18 months. Shushtar finally fell in 642 to Abu Musa's army, followed by Susa, Jondishapoor, and many other districts along the Tigris. The battle of Nehavand finally secured Khuzestan for the Muslim armies. (Encyclopedia Iranica, p206).

The Arab settlements by military garrisons in southern Iran was soon followed by other types of colonization. Some Arab families, for example, took the opportunity to gain control of private estates. (Encyclopedia Iranica, p212). Like the rest of Iran, the Arab invasion thus brought Khuzestan under occupation of the Arabs of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, until Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar, from eastern Iran, raised the flag of independence once more, and ultimately regained control over Khuzestan, among other parts of Iran, founding the short-lived Saffarid dynasty. From that point on, Iranian dynasties would continue to rule the region in succession as an important part of Iran.

In the latter part of the 16th century, the Ka'b Tribe, from Kuwait, settled in Khuzestan. (see J.R. Perry, "The Banu Ka'b: An Amphibious Brigand State in Khuzestan", Le Monde Iranien et L'Islam I, 1971, p133) And during the succeeding centuries, many more Arab tribes moved from southern Iraq to Khuzestan, as a result, making Khuzestan "extensively Arabized". (Encyclopedia Iranica, p216).

According to C.E. Bosworth in the Encyclopedia Iranica, under the Qajar dynasty "... the province was known, as in Safavid times, as Arabestan, and during the Qajar period was administratively a governor-generalate."

In the mid 1800s Britain initiated a war with Iran in a failed attempt to conquer Khuzestan. Having lost, the British continued in their attempts to wrest control of the province by supporting a number of foreign Arab tribes that had invaded Iran. The last remnants of these tribes (ruled over by Sheikh Khaz'al, of Kuwaiti origin) were finally defeated in 1925 by Reza Shah. In the past eighty years, except during the Iran-Iraq war, the province of Khuzestan thrived and prospered and today accounts for one of the regions in Iran that holds an economic and defensive strategic position.

The existence of prominent scientific and cultural centers such as Academy_of_Gundishapur which gathered distiguished medical scientists from Egypt, Greece, India, and Rome, shows the importance and prosperity of this region during ancient times. The Jondi-Shapur Medical School was founded by the order of Shapur I (AD 241-271). It was repaired and restored by Shapur II (a.k.a. Zol-Aktaf: "The Possessor of Shoulder Blades") and was completed and expanded during the reign of Anushirvan.

Many scientists, philosophers, and poets have come from Khuzestan, including Abu Nuwas, Abdollah-lbn-Meymoon Ahvazi, the astronomer Nowbakht-e Ahvazi and his sons; as well as Jorjis, the son of Bakhtshooa Gondishapoori; Ibn Sakit, Da'bal-e-Khazai, and many more.

The Iran-Iraq war

Being on the border with Iraq, Khuzestan suffered the heaviest damage of all Iranian provinces during the Iran-Iraq war.

What used to be Iran's largest refinery at Abadan was destroyed, never to fully recover. Many of the famous nakhlestans were annihilated, cities were destroyed, historical sites were demolished, and half the province went under the boots of Saddam's invading army. This created a mass exodus into provinces that did not have the logistical capability of taking in such a large number of refugees.

However, by 1982, Iranian forces managed to push Saddam's forces back into Iraq. The battle of "the Liberation of Khorramshahr" (one of Khuzestan's largest cities and the most important Iranian port prior to the war) was a turning point in the war, and is officially celebrated every year in Iran.

Struggle over the province

A "nakhlestan" near Shadegan, Khuzestan. Many of these palm farms were annihilated by Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war.

The first person to launch secessionist unrests in Khuzestan was Sheikh Khaz'al, who rose to power in 1897 and had originally been supported by the British colonialists. He was finally arrested in 1925 by Reza Shah and the area of Khuzestan he had dominated returned to the province.

Domination of Khuzestan was also Saddam Hussein's primary strategic objective that launched the Iran-Iraq war, which forced thousands of Iranians to flee the province.

The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran does not conduct any official ethnic census in Iran, thus it is difficult to determine the exact demographics. Beginning in the early nineties, many ethnic Persian Khuzestanis began returning to the province, a trend which continues to this day as the major urban centres are being rebuilt and restored. Restoration has been slow due to neglect by the regime of the Islamic Republic. The city of Khorramshahr was almost completely decimated as a result of Saddam's scorched earth policy. Fortunately, Iranian forces were able to prevent the Iraqis from attempting to spread the execution of this policy to other major urban centres.

The Iranian Embassy Siege of 1980 was a terrorist siege of the Iranian Embassy in London initiated by Arab separatists, backed by Saddam Hussein. Initially it emerged the terrorists wanted autonomy for Khuzestan; later they demanded the release of 91 of their comrades held in Iranian jails. Arab separatists supported Saddam's forces in attacking both Persian and Arab Iranian soldiers and civilians, in what could be considered an attempt at an ethnic cleansing of the Iranian population, as the majority of the Arab Khuzestani population were loyal to Iran and fought alongside other Iranians against Saddam. After the withdrawal of Iraqi forces towards the end of the war, the remainder of these Arab separatists fled to Iraq, though Saddam continued to entertain the notion of a potential future invasion of Khuzestan for many years afterwards.

Economy

The government of Iran is spending large amounts of money in Khuzestan province. The massive Karun-3 dam, was inaugurated recently as part of a drive to boost Iran's growing energy demands.

Khuzestan is the major oil-producing region of Iran, and as such is the wealthiest province in Iran, though it is claimed that this wealth does not benefit the average citizen. The government of Iran claims the province to rank third among Iran's provinces in GDP. source (in Persian)

Shipping

Karun river is the only river in Iran capable of sailing. The British, up until recent decades, after the discovery by Sir Henry Layard, transported their merchandise via Karun's waterways, passing through Ahvaz all the way up to Masjed Soleiman, the site of their first oil wells in the Naftoon oil field. Karun is capable of the sailing of fairly large ships as far up as Shushtar.

Karkheh, Jarrahi, Arvand, Handian, Shavoor, Bahmanshir (Bahman-Ardeshir), Maroon-Alaa', Dez, and many other rivers and water sources in the form of Khurs, lagoons, ponds, and marshes demonstrate the vastness of water resourses in this region, and are the main reason for the variety of agricultural products developed in the area.

Agriculture

The abundance of water and fertility of soil have transformed this region into a rich and well-endowed land. The variety of agricultural products such as wheat, barley, oily seeds, rice, eucalyptus, medical herbs; the existence of many palm and citrus farms; having mountains suitable for raising olives, and of course sugar cane - from which Khuzestan takes its name - all show the great potential of this fertile plain. The abundance of water supplies, rivers, and dams, also have an influence on the fishery industries, which are prevalent in the area.

Industry

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Iran has some major industrial facilities located in Ahvaz. The Fulad-e-Ahvaz steel facility is one of them.

The Karun 3 and 4, and Karkheh Dam, as well as the petroleum reserves provide Iran with national sources of revenue and energy. The petrochemical and steel industries, pipe making, the power stations that feed the national electricity grid, the chemical plants, and the large refineries are some of Iran's major industrial facilities.

The province is also home to Yadavaran Field, a major oil field.

Universities

• 1. Khorramshahr University of Nautical Sciences and Technologies
  2. Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences
  3. Petroleum University of Technology
  4. Shahid Chamran University-Ahvaz
  5. Shahid Chamran University-Dezful
  6. Islamic Azad University of Abadan
  7. Islamic Azad University of Omidiyeh
  8. Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz
  9. Islamic Azad University of Behbahan
  10. Islamic Azad University of Izeh

Attractions of Khuzestan

Iran's National Heritage Organization lists 140 sites of Historical and Cultural significance in Khuzestan province. After all, this province was the seat of Iran's most ancient empire.

Some of the more popular sites of attraction include:

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L'Acropole de Suse, Susa, Iran.

• Choqa Zanbil: was the seat of the Elamite Empire. The magnificent five-story temple is one of the greatest monuments in the Middle-East today. This monolith, with its labyrinthine walls made of thousads of large bricks with Elamite inscription, manifesting the antiquity of this shrine. This temple was religiously sacred and was built in the honor of Inshushinak, the protector deity of the city of Susa.
• Shush-Daniel: Burial site of Daniel the Prophet in Susa, who was a Jewish prophet revered by Cyrus and who became vizier during the rule of Darius. It is said that when Daniel died while going to visit Jerusalem upon the order of Darius, that he was buried in Shush. The grave of Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar, who rose against the oppression of the Umayyad Caliphs, is also located nearby.
• Dezful (Dezh-pol), whose name is taken from a bridge (pol) over Dez river having 12 spans built by the order of Shapur I. This is the same bridge that was called "Andamesh Bridge" by historians like Istakhri who says the city of Andimeshk takes its name from this bridge. Moqaddasi, the famous historian, calls it "The City of the Bridge."
• Shushtar, one of the oldest fortress cities in Iran, known as the "City of Forty Elders" in the local dialect. The Friday Mosque of Shushtar was built by the orders of Abbasid Caliphs. This mosque, which features "Roman" arches, has 54 pillars and balconies.
• Izeh, or Izaj, was one of the main targets of the Islamic army in their invasion of Persia, and has enjoyed great prosperity in different historical times. Kharezad Bridge, one of the strangest bridges of the world, is situated in this city and was named after Ardeshir Babakan's mother. It is built over casted pillars of lead each 104 meters high. Ibn Battuta, the Morroccan tourist, who visited this city in the 14th century, refers to many monasteries, caravanserais, aqueducts, schools, and fortresses in the town. The brass statue of The Parthian Man, which is currently being safeguarded in the National Museum of Iran, is from here.
• Masjed Soleiman is another Khuzestan town, which besides having ancient fire alters and temples like Sarmasjed, Bard-neshondeh, and others, is the winter's resting area of the Bakhtiari tribe, and the first oil well of Iran was dug in this region by William Knox D'Arcy.
• Abadan has a shrine which some say is the tomb of Elias, the long lived Hebrew prophet along the Bahmanshir river.

See also

• Ahvaz
• Susa
• Choqa Zanbil
• Iran-Iraq war
• Ethnic politics of Khuzestan
• Islamic conquest of Iran

External links

• Haft Tappe archeological site in Khuzestan
• Choqa Zanbil Ziggurat Official website
• Official website of Khuzestan Governorship
• Ayapir archeological site
• The History of Khuzestan according to Bakhtiari tribes of Khuzestan
• Khuzestan Province Department of Education (in Persian)