Fasa, Fars Province, Iran

🇮🇷 Fasa (Fassa) is a city and capital of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran. asa is the fourth most populous city of the province. The city dates back to the Achaemenid period.

Fasa's economy is based on agriculture and Pastoralism. Jahrom, Darab, Sarvestan, Kherameh and Estahban are neighbours of Fasa. This city is located on the road from Shiraz to Kerman, This has made Fasa a strategic and important city.

History The origins of Fasa go back to at least the Achaemenid period and probably earlier. Several prehistoric mounds, such as Tall-e Siah, indicate early human activity in the Fasa region; they mostly are from the Eneolithic period. One of these sites is Tall-e Zahhak, a 660x750 m-wide tell 3 km south-east of present-day Fasa. Tall-e Zahhak represents the old site of Fasa itself, with many archaeological strata spanning a time between the 3rd millennium BCE and the 13th century CE. At some point, the old site at Tall-e Zahhak became abandoned, and the name "Fasa" migrated to the new location that is inhabited today. If the linguistic derivation of the name from Old Persian meaning "encampment" is correct, then Fasa probably began as a nomadic encampment that later developed into a permanent settlement.

There are two prehistoric archaeological sequences at Tall-e Zahhak: the older Khayrabad ware and the more recent Zahhak ware. Both are similar to different types of the Kaftari ware of central Fars and may date from the same period, which is tentatively estimated to be 2000-1800 BCE. There is then a gap until the Achaemenid period, when "finely-burnished red ware showing characteristic everted rims" appear in the archaeological record. There is a large mud-brick platform, which probably also dates from Achaemenid times given its resemblance to similar platforms at Persepolis and Pasargadae. Another characteristically Achaemenid feature found at Tall-e Zahhak is a large fluted column base similar to the ones found at Persepolis. This column base may indicate that Achaemenid Fasa was the site of a royal palace or administrative center. In any case, Fasa was an important fortified settlement during this period. There is also evidence of occupation during Hellenistic times.

Fasa came under Muslim control peacefully in 644 (23 AH), when the Arab general Uthman ibn Abi al-As reached an agreement with the herbad of Fasa and Darabgerd. According to Ibn al-Balkhi, the herbad offered a payment of two million dirhams in return for amān (protection from harm), and promised that the locals would continue to pay the jizya tax to the Muslims. Another force was sent to Fars under Abdallah ibn Amir in 650 (29 AH).

In the 10th century, Estakhri described Fasa as the largest town in the kūra (province) of Darabgerd – it was almost as large as Shiraz, which was then the capital of Fars. Its buildings, he wrote, were "more spacious" than the ones in Shiraz, and they were made of cypress wood and mud. It had wide streets, a citadel, a moat, and a rabaz or market quarter outside the walls. Fasa was an affluent town, and its residents lived in relative comfort because their commercial activity brought in plenty of wealth. Fasa's agricultural districts produced both cold and warm weather fruits. The main religion was Sunni Islam, of the same madhhab as Baghdad.

Estakhri listed some of the items sold at Fasa's markets: silks, including so-called washy silks that were multicolored and sometimes brocaded; "good delicate costumes"; besāṭs (i.e. tablecloths and rugs); fine setrs (i.e. curtains and bedsheets); fūṭas (i.e. napkins and towels); fine carpets; tablecloths; khargāhs (i.e. fine tents); mandīls (i.e. handkerchiefs and turban-like headgear); and safflower. Moqaddasi wrote in 985 that Fasa was home to "the most righteous, pleasant, and liberal people of Fars" and noted that its marketplace was all built out of wood. He described its congregational mosque as being larger than the one in Shiraz; it was built from brick and featured two courtyards connected by a roofed passage like the one in Baghdad. The anonymous author of the Hudud al-'Alam in 982 also described Fasa as a large and prosperous town that was a centre of commerce.

Fasa was devastated in 989/90 (379 AH) during a bloody Buyid civil war between Turkish mercenaries formerly employed by Sharaf al-Dawla, who had recently died, and Daylamite troops loyal to Samsam al-Dawla. Fasa had been a base of the Daylamites under Samsam al-Dawla, and the Turks, commanded by Sharaf al-Dawla's son Abu Ali, sacked Fasa and killed all the Daylamites stationed there before returning west.

Later, in 1050 (442 AH), the future Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan led a clandestine raid on Fasa, which was still under Buyid control. His forces snuck up on Fasa through the desert, killed many of the inhabitants, looted three million dinars worth of valuables, and took 3,000 captives before returning to Merv in Khorasan.

Fasa is rarely mentioned in later documents, probably because it had declined significantly by then. In the first decade of the 1100s, Ibn al-Balkhi wrote, "although Fasa is as large as Isfahan, it is in complete disarray, and the largest part thereof in ruin. Shabankara [tribesmen] had destroyed it; the atabeg Čāvlī had it rebuilt". The perception that Fasa had previously been a great city but had now fallen into decay is supported by the fact that the latest pottery fragments found at Tall-e Zahhak date from the 12th and 13th centuries.

In 1762/3 (1176 AH), Karim Khan Zand sent forces to subdue the Bakhtiari tribe in the mountains near Isfahan. Two branches, the Haft Lang and Chahar Lang, were forced to migrate; the Haft Lang were resettled near Qom and the Chahar Lang were resettled near Fasa. "As a gesture of goodwill", Karim Khan had agricultural lands provided for the Bakhtiaris. This event "might have had serious socio-economic and cultural consequences for Fasa". Later, Zayn al-Abedin Shirvani wrote that Fasa was "a pleasant townlet… Most of its inhabitants are Tajik… all of them are Shi'ite and not devoid of mardomī (civility)… Now it includes nearly two thousand houses, and its countryside nearly thirty hamlets and cultivated fields".

Urban Foundations of Fasa (Grand Mosque, Bazaar, Bath, etc.) was established during the Safavid period and expanded during the Afsharids. Epidemics, famines, political games, insecurity and looting were among the most important factors in the destruction and decline of Fasa's prosperity during the Qajar period.

Economy Fasa is thriving in terms of agriculture. Fasa is known as the city of wheat. Due to the favorable climate, palms, walnut trees, and citrus such as oranges, tangerines, pomegranates, pistachios, almonds, and walnuts are common in this city. Cotton cultivation has also flourished in Fasa.

Pastoralism is the second base of Fasa's economy. A variety of livestock and dairy products, wool, leather, meat, are the products of the city.

There is also an under construction petrochemical project in the city. The construction stated in 2012 and after the complete operation, It will produce Low density polyethylenes.

Souvenirs The "Fasaei bread" (Persian: نان فسایی) is the most significant and the main souvenir of Fasa city. Kilim, Gabbeh, Jajim, Lemon, Orange, Tangerine, Pomegranate, Walnut, Pistachio and handicrafts are other souvenirs of this city.

Colleges and universities • Fasa University • Fasa University of Medical Sciences • Fasa Payam Noor University • Islamic Azad University of Fasa • Technical and Agricultural college of Fasa.

Health and Cure Fasa has two hospitals in operation and one hospital under construction. • Valie Asr Hospital • Dr. Shariati Hospital • Emam Hossein Hospital. Clinics • Valie Asr Clinic • Hamzeh Clinic • Yasaei Clinic.

Roads Shiraz-Fasa highway, The highway which connects Fasa to Shiraz is in operation. Fasa-Darab and Fasa-Estahban-Neyriz highway projects are also under construction.

Railway Currently, the Shiraz-Golgohar railway is passing through Fasa with the aim of connecting Shiraz to the Golgohar mines and Kerman province. The length of this route is 346 km (215 mi), which is under construction in 4 phases and connects Shiraz to Golgohar through Sarvestan, Fasa, Estahban and Neyriz.

Airport Fasa Airport is an airport near Fasa. The airport is currently inactive, but studies of the airport's development plan, improving and increasing the length of the runway with the aim of resuming commercial flights are being done. The airport has a 1,982 metres (6,503 ft) runway.

Attractions and Monuments • Tale Zahak • Tale Nalaki • Imamzadeh Hasan • Imamzadeh Qasem • Imamzadeh Ismael • Mianjangal Jungle • Kharmankooh mountain • Sassanid fire temple • The Naghare-khane building.