, settlement_type = City , image_skyline =خواجه خضر 2.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , pushpin_map =Iran , mapsize =150px , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Iran , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 =

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

, subdivision_type2 = County , subdivision_name2 =

Kuhbanan , settlement_type = City , image_skyline =خواجه خضر 2.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , pushpin_map =Iran , mapsize =150px , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Iran , subdivisi ...

, subdivision_type3 = District , subdivision_name3 =

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, leader_title = , leader_name = , established_title = , established_date = , area_total_km2 = , area_footnotes = , population_as_of = 2016 , population_total =10761 , population_footnotes = , population_density_km2 =auto , timezone = IRST , utc_offset = +3:30 , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , elevation_m = , website = , area_code = , footnotes = Kouhbanan

Kuhbanan ( fa, كوهبنان, also Romanized as Kūhbanān, Koobanan, Kūhbonān, and Kūh Banān; also known as Kūh Baneh) is a city in the Central District of

Kuhbanan County Kuhbanan County ( fa, شهرستان کوهبنان) is in Kerman province, Iran. The capital of the county is the city of Kuhbanan. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 24,465 in 6,348 households. Retrieved 29 October 2022 The fo ...

province, Iran, and serves as both capital of the county and of the district. At the 2006 National Census, its population was 10,112 in 2,623 households. The following census in 2011 counted 11,093 people in 3,189 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 10,761 people in 3,296 households.

Etymology

The name ''Kūhbanān'' means "

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other sp ...

-tree mountain", from the Persian words ''kūh'', meaning "mountain", and ''banān'', which refers to the wild pistachio.

History

Kuhbanan was described by the 10th-century writer

al-Muqaddasi Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdisī ( ar, شَمْس ٱلدِّيْن أَبُو عَبْد ٱلله مُحَمَّد ابْن أَحْمَد ابْن أَبِي بَكْر ٱلْمَقْدِسِي), ...

as a small town with two gates. The town's

jameh mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

was by one of these gates. Outside the walled part of the city was a suburban area, where there were bathhouses and

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

s. Beyond this suburban area, Kuhbanan was surrounded by farms and orchards that extended as far as the foot of the nearby mountains. Medieval Kuhbanan was renowned for its production of tutty, an impure oxide of zinc used as a salve for the eyes. As early as the 10th century, al-Muqaddasi listed tutty from Kuhbanan as one of the major exports of Kerman province. He wrote that it formed in finger-like "pipes", which were then purified by being roasted in long furnaces by the same mountainside where the ore was extracted. In the early 1200s, Yaqut al-Hamawi similarly described Kuhbanan, along with the nearby town of

Behabad , native_name_lang = fa , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_alt = , im ...

, as a major exporter of tutty.

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

visited Kuhbinan, which he called ''Cobinan'', in the 1300s, and provided a detailed description of the local tutty industry. Around the turn of the 20th century, the British traveler Percy Sykes witnessed the production of tutty in Kuhbanan; the process he described was essentially the same as that used hundreds of years earlier.

References

Kuhbanan County Cities in Kerman Province Populated places in Kerman Province Populated places in Kuhbanan County {{Kuhbanan-geo-stub