Kermanshah is the capital city of Kermanshah Province, located 525 kilometers (324 miles) from Tehran in the western part of Iran. The city is about 50 miles from the border of Iraq. It had an estimated population of 822,921 in 2005 and its climate is mild. The inhabitants are mainly Persian and Kurds who speak the Gorani and Kalhori dialects of Kurdish, and Harsini dialect of Laki. The overwhelming majority of the Kurdish and Persian population in this city are Shi'a Muslims
Given its antiquity, attractive landscapes and rich culture, Kermanshah is considered one of the cradles of human civilization
According to cultural heritage experts, the region has continuously been settled by humans since ancient times. Numerous evidence, including Bisotoun Hunters Cave from the Paleolithic Era, confirm the assumption
The region was also one of the first places in which human settlements including Qaqieh, Tappeh Sarab and Ganj-Darreh were established in 7,000 years B.C. This is about the same time that the first potteries pertaining to Iran were made in Ganj-Darreh, near present-day Harsin. Kermanshah has some of the most interesting and famous archaeological sites. Its construction is attributed to Tahmoures Divband, the fabulous king of Pishdadian dynasty, but some others attribute it to the Sassanids. It was a glorious city in Sassanide period about the 4th century AD when it became a political city and a significant health center serving as a summer resort for Sassanide kings
In A.D. 226, following a two-year war led by the Persian Emperor - Ardashir I - against Kurdish tribes in the region, the Empire reinstated a local Kurdish prince, Kayus of Medya, to rule Kermanshah. Within the dynasty known as the House of Kayus (also Kâvusakân) remained a semi-independent Kurdish kingdom lasting until A.D. 380 before Ardashir II removed the dynasty's last ruling member
Kermanshah was conquered by the Arabs in A.D. 640 and called the town Qirmasin Under Seljuk rule in the 11th century, it was, and still is, a major cultural and commercial centre in Western Iran and the southern Kurdish region as a whole. The Safavids fortified the town, and the Qajars repulsed an attack by the Turks during Fath Ali Shah's rule 1797–1834
Occupied by the Turkish Army in 1915 during World War I, it was evacuated in 1917. Kermanshah played an important role in Mashrota Movement in Qajar period and Republic Movement in Pahlavi period
After The Islamic Revolution in the 1970's, the city and its provinces (also called Kermanshah) were shortly renamed Bakhtaran, apparently owing to the use of "Shah" in the name. After the Iran-Iraq War, however, they renamed it to Kermanshah. The City was hit hard during the Iran-Iraq War, and although it was rebuilt, it has never fully recovered |
