Bampur ( and ) is a city in the
Central District of
Bampur County,
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
The old citadel of Bampur, on a hill about high north of the river, fell into ruins. A new fort called Kalah Nasseri, was built at Pahrah, which is known as
Iranshahr, further east, in the 1880s.
Fahraj, which in 1911 had a population of about 2,500, has become more important than Bampur. Fahraj, which is also known as
Pahura (or Paharu or Puhra), is by some identified as the Poura where
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
halted on his march from the
Indus Valley.
It was Historically ruled by
Rakshani Baluchs of Iran Under Their Ruler, Shah Mihrab Khan, had led our several campaigns against
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 ...
laid waste into the lands, particularly
Luristan
Demographics
Language and ethnicity
The majority of the population are ethnic
Baloch who speak the
Balochi language.
Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 9,073 in 1,664 households,
when it was capital of the former
Bampur District of
Iranshahr County. The following census in 2011 counted 10,071 people in 2,426 households.
The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 12,217 people in 3,123 households.
In 2017, the district was separated from the county in the establishment of Bampur County, and Bampur was transferred to the new Central District as the county's capital.
Geography
It is located south-east of
Kerman at an elevation of In 1911 its population was about 2,000 and it was the capital of the province. It is situated on the banks of the
Bampur river which flows from east to west and empties itself about west into a ''
hamun'', or
depression, in length, and called
Jaz Murian.
Archaeology
Bampur is an important site in relation to the ancient
Helmand culture of western Afghanistan, and to the closely related
Jiroft culture of eastern Iran.
The position of Bampur is near a river and major routes. Thus, prehistoric and later settlements were founded in the area. Sir
Aurel Stein carried out reconnaissance here in 1932. In 1966,
Beatrice de Cardi excavated next, and she established that there were six successive occupational phases (Periods I-VI) at the site.
[B. de Cardi]
BAMPŪR
iranicaonline.org
There were links with major sites such as
Shahr-i Sokhta in Iran, and
Mundigak.
During the Period I of Shahr-e Sukhteh (3200–2800 BCE), there were already close connections between that city and the Bampur valley. These contacts also continued in the Period II of Shahr-e Sukhteh.
[Pierfrancesco Callieri, Bruno Genito (2012)]
ITALIAN EXCAVATIONS IN IRAN
www.iranicaonline.org
New ceramics appeared at the end of Period IV, suggesting contact with Iran,
Makran, and
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
. Ceramics similar to Shahr-i Sokhta IV (ca. 2200-1800 b.c.) style were introduced in Periods V-VI.
There are also links with
Umm an-Nar culture of Oman, dating possibly to the last quarter of the 3rd millennium.
Tepe Yahya in
Kerman province, Iran, is another important site that may be related.
See also
Notes
References
{{Bampur County, state=collapsed
Populated places in Bampur County
Helmand culture
Jiroft culture
Cities in Sistan and Baluchestan province