[3] Several of the larger structures excavated or detected at Dahan-e Gholaman have regular rectangular or square plans and bear comparison with the palatial buildings and audience halls of the Achaemenid royal residences at Pasargadae and Persepolis, as well as Dasht-e Gohar.

[4] One of the structures has been identified as a religious building, its three altars possibly dedicated to the leading Persian gods Ahura Mazda, Anahita, and Mithra.

[5] The size of the site, unparalleled in eastern Iran, and the characteristic layout of its public structures indicate that it served as a significant Achaemenid administrative center.

In particular, if the identification with the capital of Zranka/Drangiana is correct, the site would have been visited by Alexander the Great during his pursuit of the usurper Bessos and his conquest of the region in the winter of 330–329 BC.

[10] After the decline and abandonment of Dahan-e Gholaman, the administrative center of the region was transferred 31 km to the northeast, to Nād-i `Alī in what is now Afghanistan, which was called Zaranj (or Zarang) in the Middle Ages.