Zahedan

關於Zahedan

Zahedan is a city in the Central District of Zahedan County, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is near the borderlands between Iran and Pakistan in an area inhabited by Baloch people.

The original name of the city was Duzzap (Persian: Duzdab, meaning "Water Sink"), which it had received due to the purous ground that sinks the water flowing on the surface due to rain or rivers. The name was later changed to Zahedan during Reza Shah's visit in 1929. The name is taken from the medieval large city of Zaidan that was located some distance to the northeast of modern city on the Helmand River delta. Zana Salehrad suggests that the name Zahedan may reflect more than just geography or past settlements. In this theory, “Zahedan” could have emerged as a descriptive term for the early communities that settled the region—people known for their simplicity, piety, or ascetic way of life. The Persian word “Zahed” means a devout or ascetic person, and “Zahedan” could therefore have originally referred to a place inhabited by such people, a town of the righteous or spiritually...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.