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Pakbaz ‌Kataj D, Karimian H. (2024). The Formation, Development and Decay of the Historical City of Dehdasht. Parseh J Archaeol Stud. 8(29), 153-187. doi:10.22034/PJAS.8.29.153
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-893-en.html

Abstract
Dehdasht is one of the most significant historical cities in the southwest of Iran, which in its flourishing period was considered the center of a region that was important from the Sassanid period and after that with the names of Beladshapur and Kohgiluyeh had. This city is one of the historical cities of Iran, which despite many historical developments, it can still be considered the healthiest historical city with stone architecture in the country. During its heyday, Dehdasht had all the components of a city, including government citadel, tower and ramparts, mosque, school, caravanserai, bath, market, square, and other public buildings and more than a thousand residential houses. The purpose of this research is to understand the history and how the formation, development and decline of this valuable city. In this research, which was conducted in a historical-analytical way, it was attempted to compare the results of field studies, cultural materials (coins, architecture, pottery finds, inscriptions and inscriptions on tombstones) and Documents (written sources) be answered to this question, how was the historical course and the way of formation, development and decay of the historical city of Dehdasht? The obtained results indicate the growing trend of Dehdasht from the middle Islamic centuries and the peak of its development and prosperity in the Safavid period and the gradual decline of the city after this period. The results of the field studies also revealed that the initial location of the city was probably first formed in the neighborhood that is called “Rawaq neighborhood” today, and later in the Safavid period, the concentration and prosperity of the city increased in the eastern(main) part, and then the western part falls from its initial prosperity. Despite the development of Dehdasht in the west-east axis, with the fall of the Safavid rule, this city lost its prosperity so that today its historical context remains uninhabited and abandoned.
Keywords: Beladshapur, Kohgiluyeh, Dehdasht City, Jumeh City, Safavid Period.

Introduction
The historical city of Dehdasht is located in the current province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyar Ahmad, located in the southwest of Iran and on the southern side of the new city of Dehdasht(Fig. 1 and 2). This city was the center of a region that became known as “Beladshapur” from the Sassanid era due to the construction of a city by Shapur I. Beladshapur was one of the important rastaqs of the Shapur khoreh and then the Arrajan khoreh, which were considered the most famous areas of Fars in the Sassanid and the Islamic era (Ibn Khordadbeh, 1889: 45; Maghdasi, 1411: 28; Estakhri, 2004: 135). In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, Beladshapur district was under the administration and control of a person named Giloyeh (Gilo/Gelo, Gilo Mehr) and his family, who, thanks to his bravery, was called “Ram Giloyeh, Kohgiluyeh “also became famous (Estakhri, 2004: 144). According to historical sources, the city that was founded by Shapur I in the region of Beladshapur was called “Jumeh”, which was also known as “Beladshapur” after the name of the region itself (Maghdasi, 1361: 635; Estakhri, 1373: 98). Jumeh, the main center of Beladshapur, was destroyed during the Ismailian conflicts (Ibn Balkhi, 1374: 351 & 353; Mostoufi, 1362: 127), but after this destruction, it could not regain its past prosperity. With the decline of Jumeh, Dehdasht started its prosperity and replaced Jumeh as the main center of Beladshapur. Despite the importance of the Dehdasht, comprehensive, continuous and purposeful archaeological studies based on methodical archaeological excavations were not recorded, and there are many questions about this city, especially its history and how it was formed. Finding, development, decline and reasons for its decline remain unanswered. Answering these questions, while explaining various aspects of the developments of this city, provides valuable information about historical developments in Iran, which is necessary in its own way. In this research, it is tried to analyze the information left from the historical texts and cultural materials, while answering the questions to explain the historical course and how it was formed. It is assumed that the initial core of that formed in the current neighborhood of Rawaq and grew and developed relatively in the middle Islamic centuries, and although it flourished in the early Safavid with the development in the west-east axis, but in at the end of this period, it has experienced its gradual decline.

Discussion
Historical sources do not provide any information with the name Dehdasht before the 9th century AH. The correspondence of Dehdasht with “qhariyeh” that is mentioned as a station on the Arrajan-Isfahan route is also possible, and assuming its authenticity, it does not provide the correct form of the qhariyeh (Dehdasht). The information about the 9th century AH is also very little. In the first decade of the 9th century A.H., the name of Dehdasht came along with the districts and big cities such as Ramhormoz, Behbahan, Kuh-Giloyeh and Zaidon. According to numismatic documents, Dehdasht was an important and highly important city in the history before the 9th century A.H. and also during this century, so that during the mentioned century it had extensive commercial relations. Trade was with big cities on both sides of Zagros and especially Isfahan. In this way, there is no doubt that this city has gone through its growth stages before and its formation was related to earlier periods. In addition to the numismatic documents, the pottery obtained from Dehdasht and to some extent some architectural works and single findings such as tombstone inscriptions on the importance of Dehdasht in history before the 9th century AH and also during this century, they testify. Documented by written sources, there is no doubt that with the beginning of the Safavid period, the importance of the Kohgiluyeh area and the city of Dehdasht doubled. The archeological studies conducted also place most of the buildings of the historical context of Dehdash and the formation of the main context of the city in connection with the Safavid period. This issue also shows that the significant growth and physical development of the city took place in the Safavid period. A topic that the study of pottery data, the analysis of historical sources and the analysis of cultural materials also reflect well. Dehdasht lost its importance and prosperity at the end of Safavid rule and at the same time as it fell. As it can be seen from the analysis of historical sources, the analysis of the remaining works and the analysis of cultural materials, the last periods of construction, reconstruction and repairs of construction works, as well as the activities and efforts for the development of the city of Dehdasht, related to the Qajar period and its last half. is the period. 

Conclusion
The results obtained from the analysis of historical sources and cultural materials indicate the gradual development of Dehasht from the 8th and 9th centuries AH and after that. If the matching of Dehdasht with the “qhariyeh” mentioned by maqhdasi in this article is correct, Dehdasht was a station on the Arrajan-Isfahan communication route in the 4th century. Before this date and even after that until the beginning of the 9th century, there is no name from Dehdasht or “qhariyeh” in historical texts. In addition, among the studied cultural materials, there is no reliable data that can be confidently attributed to before the 8th and 9th. Despite this, the analyzes obtained from the documents of this research testify to the importance of Dehdasht during the 8th and 9th centuries and even before that, and confirm the existence of Dehdasht earlier than the mentioned date. Although, many remains of architecture and older parts of the historical context of Dehdasht have been lost, the available data show evidence from the 8th and 9th centuries and most of them belong to the Safavid period. According to studies, the initial growth of Dehdasht took place in the western part, Rowaq neighborhood, and with the significant development of Dehdasht at the same time as the Safavid, this part of the city fell from prosperity and the city was formed in the eastern part. As it can be seen from the analysis of the studied cultural materials, Dehdasht was considered one of the main centers of Kohgiluyeh in the 8th and 9th and had a mint and significant trade exchanges with the big cities around it.  The results obtained from the study of historical texts, the Evidence remains and the analysis of cultural materials, place the main growth and development of the city of Dehdasht in relation to the Safavid. At the end of Safavid rule and its fall, the city of Dehdasht gradually lost its past prosperity. According to historical sources, wars, rebellions, consecutive looting, insecurity, destruction of roads, destruction of bridges, intermediate stations, deterioration of the economic situation and heavy taxes led to the decline of the city of Dehdasht and the city’s depopulation, so that not a single household remained in it. The final collapse and the end of the political-social life of the city is related to the Qajar and the end of the reign of EhtEsham al-Douleh (1281-1298) in Kohgiluyeh.