Band-i Qīr (, meaning '
bitumen
Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...
dam', also
Romanize
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
d as Band-e Qīr, Band-e Qir, and Band Qīr; also known as Bid Ghir) is a village in
Miyan Ab Rural District, in the
Central District of
Shushtar County
Shushtar County () is in Khuzestan
Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahv ...
,
Khuzestan Province
Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's R ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. At the 2006 census, its population was 446, in 73 families.
History: Rustam Kuwādh and ʿAskar Mukram
Band-i Qīr lies on or adjacent to two earlier settlements. In the
Sāsānid period, the town Rustam Kuwādh (also spelled ''Rostag Kavad'') flourished at the site. Rustam Kuwādh was destroyed during the Arab/Muslim conquests of the seventh century CE.
Around this time, ʿAskar Mukram (, whose name means 'Mukram's encampment') was founded nearby, near the confluence of the canal
Āb-i Gargar Āb-i Gargar (known in medieval Arabic as ''Masruqān'') is a canal in Iran. On this canal lies the medieval town of ʿAskar Mukram.Matthew S. Gordon, 'ʿAskar Mukram', ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 3rd edn, ed. by Kate Fleet and others (Leiden: Bril ...
and the river
Kārūn. Although the early history of the settlement is obscure (with the early accounts of
al-Balādhurī and
al-Ṭabarī
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day ...
conflicting), the tenth-century ''
Ḥudūd al-ʿālam
The ''Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam'' (, "Boundaries of the World," "Limits of the World," or in also in English "The Regions of the World") is a 10th-century geography book written in Persian by an anonymous author from Guzgan (present day northern Afgha ...
'' describes the town as large and prosperous, lying on both sides of the Āb-i Gargar. A Būyid mint was based there at the same time. Later in the Middle Ages, however, the town fell into disuse.
[Matthew S. Gordon, 'ʿAskar Mukram', ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 3rd edn, ed. by Kate Fleet and others (Leiden: Brill, 2007-), .] Noted inhabitants included
Abū Hilāl al-ʿAskarī (d. after 1009).
[C. E. Bosworth,]
ʿASKAR MOKRAM
, ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', Vol. II, Fasc. 7, p. 768.
The extensive ruins of ʿAskar Mukram remain at Band-i Qīr.
References
Populated places in Shushtar County
{{Shushtar-geo-stub