History of Khuzestan province
Susiana plain, centered around Susa in the north of Khuzestan province, has been the subject of the longest and the most extensive archaeological research in Iran.
Unlike southern Mesopotamia, early settled life in Susiana was dominated by a single site: Chogha Mish.
[1] For several centuries afterward there was a transitional phase during which Chogha Do Sar, 9 km to the southwest, was the largest settlement in the region.
[5] Twenty samples of metal objects, whitish beads and rock fragments were discovered at Chega Sofla, and investigated by scientists.
[7] The main economy of Elam was based on agriculture and nomadic pastoralism, while trade with lowland Mesopotamia (especially in metals, timber, and precious stones) also played a role from the 4th millennium BCE onwards.
[7] In the following Old Elamite period, during the late 3rd millennium BCE, Tepe Musian (14 hectares) on the Deh Loran plain was the only other large town in Khuzestan.
[7] Then, early in the 2nd millennium BCE, Susa expanded to a size of 85 hectares and became a major political, commercial, and cultural city.
[7] Increased populations in major cities may indicate a contraction in settled agriculture, with pastoralism, trade, and plunder playing a more important role in the economy.
[7] Known as Kabnak, this site includes a funerary temple complex with vaulted underground tombs and two mud-brick terraces that may represent the eroded bases of ziggurats.
[7] Terracotta figurines are characteristic of Elamite art during the late 2nd millennium BCE, suggesting a possible continuity of religious beliefs during this time.
[7] Sculptures of hump-backed bulls are also found at several sites, including Susa, Haft Tepe, and Chogha Zanbil.
[7] Rock-cut sanctuaries in the highlands, such as Kūl-e Fara and Šekāfta Salmān near Izeh in eastern Khuzestan, also suggest continuity of religious beliefs.
On the one hand, the Elamites spoke a non-Iranian language and were culturally closer to the established civilizations of Sumer and Akkad than they were to the tribes of the Iranian plateau.
Hence one contemporary historian, Elton Daniel, states that the Elamites are "the founders of the first Iranian empire in the geographic sense".
During the early years of the reign of Shapur II (309–379), Arabs crossed the Persian Gulf from Bahrain to "Ardashir-Khora" of Fars and raided the interior.
In retaliation, Shapur II led an expedition through Bahrain, defeated the combined forces of the Arab tribes of Taghleb, Bakr bin Wael, and Abd Al-Qays and advanced temporarily into Yamama in central Najd.
There were tribesmen of Bakr bin Wael and Tamim(Thamim) in Khuzestan and Fars prior to the arrival of the Arab Muslim Armies.
These latter group had already won a celebrated, if limited, victory at Du Qar around 604 CE Some local Arabs led by Al-Motanna bin Hareta Al-Shaybani helped to direct the attention of the nascent Muslim state toward Iran by converting to Islam and negotiating with Medina for support in their anti-Sassanid moves.
However, following the fall of the Abbasid dynasty, the flow of Arab immigrants into Persia gradually diminished, but it nonetheless continued.
[9]: 140–1 During the medieval period, one of the main economic activities in Khuzestan was the manufacturing of luxury textiles: silks, brocades, silk-wool blends, and tiraz fabric.
[9]: 192 These rivers provided a source of irrigation for the cotton, flax, and mulberry crops used in the production of textiles, and they were also used to power water mills for processing the raw materials.
[9]: 186 Al-Maqdisi wrote that Jundisabur "provided all the sugar consumed in Khorasan and Jibal", indicating that it was very important economically.
[9]: 192 From 1219 to 1335, Mongols under Genghis Khan and then his grandson Hulegu invaded from the steppes to the east of the Iranian plateau, reaching Palestine before they were stopped.
It was often contested between the Safavids and the Ottoman Empire, which held the neighboring town of Basra on the other side of the Shatt al-Arab river in modern-day Iraq.
[10] For several centuries Khuzestan, as with many other Iranian provinces prior to the era of the Pahlavi dynasty, had been a semi-autonomous part of Persia under the control of an Imperial Governor-Generalate appointed by the Shah.
The governor-general, who resided part of the year in the cool highlands at Shushtar or Dezful, often left real exercise of power to local leaders who bid and quarrelled amongst each other for the position of tax farmer.
[11] Of these factions, the Muhaisin clan, led by Sheikh Jabir al-Kaabi, became the strongest and under his leadership the Bani Kaab were reunified under a single authority, the capital of the tribe being moved from the village of Fallahiyah to the flourishing port city of Mohammerah.
Unlike previous leaders of the Bani Kaab, Jabir maintained law and order, and established Mohammerah as a free port and sheikhdom, of which he was Sheikh.
His attempts to modernize Iran and break the power of the Shi'a clergy antagonized religious leaders and devout Iranians.
The central government has made some repairs in major urban centers and rebuilt a few tourist attractions, such as Shush Castle.
