Khash () is a city in the Central District of

Khash County Khash County () is in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Khash, Iran, Khash. History After the 2016 National Census, the villages of Deh-e Rais and Esmailabad, Khash, Esmailabad ...

, Sistan and Baluchestan province,

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 ...

, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

History

Today's Khash is located near the old city of Khash, which dates back to the reign of

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...

. During the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

era, an area called Washt was mentioned in modern

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

in the area of Khash, which shows that the history of this city goes back to the ancient times and the old city of Khash dates back to the pre-Islamic era. In the past, Khash was the military (and political) center of the region, and from 1307 to 1320, the province were under control of military rulers. All the governors and prefects were military, that's why many important offices were located in Khash, and Zahedan was nominally the central seat of government and the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan province from 1310 onwards, but Khash was officially more important.

Demographics

Language, ethnicity, and religion

The overwhelming majority of the city's inhabitants are ethnic Baloch who speak the

Balochi language Balochi (, romanized: ) is a Northwestern Iranian language, spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Afr ...

, and

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

who speak a variant of the

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

known as '' Sistani'' or Seistani. The people of Khash speak Balochi (Sarhadi and Makrani) and the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

language. 95% of the population of this city are

Sunnis Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

and 5% are

Shias Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 56,683 in 10,176 households. The following census in 2011 counted 54,105 people in 11,721 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 56,584 people in 14,384 households.

Geography

Overview

Khash city is known by most of the people for the 288th Armored Brigade of Suleiman Hashemzehi Nezaja and the 08 Ibrahim Nouri Nezaja Training Center and the semi-active mountain of Taftan. Khash is a city of Baloch people located in the center of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

with a cold and mountainous climate.

Earthquakes

On 16 April 2013, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck the Iran-Pakistan border near Balochistan. The epicenter of the earthquake was at Khash.

Climate

Culture

Music

The life of the Baloch people is a mix of ideas and beliefs that have roots in their ancient traditions. It is rare to see a ceremony or ritual that is not accompanied by

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. In local music, songs such as Nazink are used in wedding ceremonies and the Naat song that praises the Holy Prophet of Islam. Some of these ceremonies and rituals are: Liko and Zahiruk: are songs that are sung at the death or separation of relatives. Zahiruk is recited by women during their daily activities. Today, Liko and Zahiruk (Mudeg/Motek) are performed by men and accompanied by Qichak (Serud/Seroz).

Poetry

It is a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

whose theme is epic stories,

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, love stories, historical events, and advice. Like the conflict of the Baloch people with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

forces, Jind Khan and the story of Mirqanbar, Chaker and Gohram.

Clothing

In Khash city, men's

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

consists of a long shirt with an open collar, loose pants, a dastar (lang) and a vest (basket), and sometimes it is a hat. Women's clothing is also a long shirt with

needlework Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile arts, textile handicrafts that involve the use of a Sewing needle, needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a crochet hook, hook), or tatting, ( ...

in the cuffs, pockets (gaptan), and tail. The legs and chest are decorated.

Economy and infrastructure

Infrastructure

The city of Khash was located in the middle of the Iranshahr-Zahedan road. historically, due to the strategic location of the city in the middle of the province, it was the center of the political administration of Iran's Balochistan in the west. The city of Khash is located on the route of the desalinated sea water pipeline from

Arabian sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

to the east of Iran, which supplies the water needed by industries. Also, the drinking water of the city is supplied through Karvander dam.

Industries

The people of the city are mainly engaged in the food industry, agriculture in the surrounding areas, mining (especially cement and iron ore) and handicrafts, and trade with Pakistan (and fuel smuggling). Khash handicrafts show the peak of art, elegance and culture of Khash people. Among the handicrafts of Khash people are

, mat weaving,

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...

weaving, back and khurjin weaving, coin and mirror embroidery, curtain weaving,

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

ing, black curtain weaving, financial felt, inlay work, woven fabric,

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

making,

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

, Perivar embroidery, production of

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

s and making wall hangings are the main handicraft arts in Khash city.

Health

Khash is the point of origin for the abnormally high incidence of Factor XIII deficiency, an extremely serious genetic bleeding disorder in Iran; it is more than 100 times more prevalent in Iran than anywhere else due to the high degree of consanguineous marriage.

Public services

In the city of Khash, there is a well-equipped Imam Khomeini

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

, several specialized medical clinics, courts, numerous centers of the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and other law enforcement, security and military forces, a large number of small

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s, as well as the Jame (Grand) Mosque of Khash.

Education

Khash Islamic Azad University is located in Khash city. Also, Khash Faculty of

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

and

Mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

is located in Khash city, which is a branch of Sistan and Baluchistan University. This faculty started its activity in 2013 with the training of mining engineering, computer engineering and industrial engineering, and its purpose is to train expert staff for the industrial and mining development of Khash region.

Tourist attractions

* Khash handicrafts * The sleeping king mountain * Hyderabad Fort * Anjir Mehi * Amin's treasure * Naseri Khash Castle * Nakhlestan Irandag * Irandang River * Sadaki Cave of Irendag * Irendan Castle (Ten Castles * Mount Taftan * Karvander River * Mount Birk * Merentak River * Sangan village

Notes

References

{{Khash County, state=collapsed Populated places in Khash County Cities in Sistan and Baluchestan province