Due to its strategic location at the edge of the Great Salt Desert, and at the confluence of many roads, the geographer al-Baladhuri called the city "the Gate of Khurasan".

Medieval and geographers note that it was amply supplied with water due to underground wells; the town even featured hot baths, and extensive lemon and orange plantations.

[5] In the late 11th century, it became part of the Nizari Ismaili state, and was besieged by the Seljuk Turks under Ahmad Sanjar in 1102.

After the death of Nader Shah in 1747, it as under the control of the Zangu'i Arabs as an independent state which included nearby Tun.

In 1978, the 7.4 Mw  Tabas earthquake affected the city with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).

[citation needed] At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 30,681 in 7,962 households, when it was in Yazd province.

Multiple bus lines, a railroad station and an airport connect Tabas to Mashhad, Yazd, Tehran, Kerman and Birjand (the capital city of South Khorasan province).