Kerman

Kerman (Persian: Kermān‎, also Romanized as Kermān and Kirman; also known as Carmana) is a city in and capital of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 496,684, in 127,806 families. Located in a large and flat plain, this city is located 1,076 km (669 mi) south of Tehran, the capital of Iran. Kerman was founded as a defensive outpost, with the name Behdesīr, by Ardeshir I, founder of the Sassanid Empire, in the 3rd century AD. After the Battle of Nahāvand in 642, the city came under Muslim rule. At first the city's isolation allowed Kharijites and Zoroastrians to thrive there, but the Kharijites were wiped out in 698, and the population was mostly Muslim by 725. Already in the eighth century the city was famous...