Listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape", it can be traced back to at least the Achaemenid Empire (sixth to fourth centuries BC).
In 656 AD, the Khawarij, a group of Muslims defeated by Ali, escaped to Kerman and Bam where they settled in the Arg-e-Bam.
In 869 AD, Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar who was fighting the Abbasids, defeated the Khawarij and took over Arg-e-Bam.
The city was famous for its elegant and tasteful cotton fabrics, its supposedly impregnable fortress, its busy bazaars, and its palm trees.
Bam benefited from a strategic location on the spice route, connecting the region to the Silk Road.
Towards the end of the Safavid rule, Arg-e-Bam was conquered by the founder of the Qajar dynasty, Agha Mohammad Khan, who used the citadel as a strategic point to fend off Afghan and Baluchi incursions and thus, turned it into a military complex.
The increasing military presence within the walls of Arg-e-Bam gradually led people to settle outside the limits of the ramparts.
[2] After the Islamic Revolution, Arg-e-Bam was placed under the responsibility of the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran (ICHO).
The citadel consists of four main sections: a residential zone, the stables, the army barracks, and the governor’s residence.
The most notable structures are the bazaar, the Congregational Mosque, the Mirza Na’im ensemble, and the Mir House.
[2] Buildings that had their main axis oriented east–west were in the same direction of the seismic waves and they responded much better; some of their parts were damaged, but they were not totally ruined.
The same intriguing phenomenon could be observed on the structures partially or entirely strengthened and restored during the late 20th century.
[2] The citadel, including the governor’s residence, the main tower, the Chahar Fasl (Four Seasons) turret, and the hammam, were nearly totally destroyed, especially because of their location on top of the hill.
In addition, these buildings collapsed because their foundations were resting on inhomogeneous ground, made of rocks and earth filling.
The Khale Dokhtar citadel can be traced back to the Sassanid Period, and is believed to be older than Arg-e-Bam.
In fact, the earthquake damaged this caravanserai very little, compared to the average situation in Arg-e-Bam, Bam, and the villages further east.