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Bam:
A Tale of a City
Bam
is not an ordinary city ruined by a devastating earthquake, but a steadfast
spirit resisting time and history. The city, which is located on an earthquake
belt, was built 2,500 years ago. It is located at approximately 29 degrees north
and 58 degrees east at 1,062 meters (3,480 feet) above sea level. As the city
includes all its villages and environs, it is considered to be a province of the
vast Kerman Governorate
in southeastern Iran. It now covers an area of 19,480 square kilometers (7521 square miles), as
opposed to the 6 square kilometers (2.3 square miles) it covered in Safavid
times (1502-1722 CE) when the city was at its peak. Situated on the
Kerman-Zahdan highway, Bam is approximately 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from
the capital, Tehran.
The
province of Bam is divided into three large districts: Rayn, Nermashir and
Fahraj, and consists of sixteen villages, the biggest of which are Nartij, Basht
Rod, Pagh Jamk, Khawaja Askar, Perwat, Kark and Muhammad Abad. The province's
population is about 135,000, most of who belong to the Afshar tribe, which ruled Iran
during one of the most difficult periods in its history—the rule of the
Afshari state that followed the Safavid state, which carried out the most
fundamental transformation in the life, civilization, and culture of the Iranian
people through the ages.
The
Afshari state sustained the development process and supported unity and cohesion
among the Iranian people through its wise policies. To this end, the historical
role of Bam continued to influence the events of Iranian history with firm
attitudes, which sometimes brought the city destruction and ruin. The Qajari
King Muhammad Khan Qajar destroyed the city on account of its supporting his
rival, Lutf Ali Zanad, King of the Zanadian state, which was brought down by the
Qajaris. The Qajari king, however, could not harm the city’s citadel as the
December 2003 earthquake did. We hope that the invitation made by the Egyptian
Minister of Culture to rebuild it is implemented, so that it becomes a towering
monument once more. The poet Mir Imara wrote: “Let the enemy’s heart carry
the burdens of care and sorrows / And let the key of victory be in Bam’s
castle and arrows.”
Being
the most important province in Kerman, it is called the “Province
of Four” due to its four constituent parts, the central city and the other three
previously-mentioned districts. Only the city of Serjan is of equal importance to Bam, after which the city of
Jereft is second in rank.
The province
of Bam
is divided into two distinct sections: the first is a sun-baked valley,
stretching to the south between the mountains, Namd and Dushah. The valley hosts
several canals, which fill in the winter with water from the Rodkhanah Tahroud River
(The Empty River), which divides into two branches, Deh Bakri and Karaghan, and
eventually disappears in the desert. The river dries up in the summer after the
consumption of its water in irrigating date, gum, citrus, coconut, almond, and
henna trees, cotton, wheat, barley, legumes, and medicinal herbs. The ancient
Silk Road
penetrated this section, in which there were rest houses on the Kerman-Zahdan
and the Kerman-Yazid-Bandar `Abas roads and marketing centers for selling
carpets and other local products.
The
other section is a cold-climate highland, on which the most famous of its peaks
is Bam Pasht. The highland is covered with snow in the winter, which later melts
to water the green pastures on which horses, camels, and cattle feed and then
provide the region with milk, dairy products, and wool for making beautiful
carpets. There are, in addition, water wells that help irrigate the fruit trees
that grow in the region’s fresh air. The highland is also home to neighboring
coal, iron, and lead mines and limestone quarries. The impregnable fort of Arca,
which defended the region against conquerors and aggressors, and the monumental
Nermashir excavation are both situated there.
Bam
is noted for its morals of tolerance and modesty. Although its inhabitants are
mostly Twelver Shiites, mosques of different sects embrace as the city cherishes
the sepulcher of Zayd ibn Al-Imam, a holy man. Both the famous Sufi ascetic Shah
Ni`matullah Wali and the sensitive poet Azraqi Al-Harawi chose to live there.
Bam’s
residents are skillful weavers. Its fabrics are widely known in Iran, as are the brilliantly colored costumes of its inhabitants, especially the
cotton kirbas, dresses and turbans, which are renowned and sought after
everywhere.
A
Lesson to be Learnt
The
tragedy of the recent earthquake--which measured a magnitude of at least 6.3 on
the Richter scale--although not the first in Bam’s history has been the worst.
The quake took the sleeping people unawares, destroyed the water, electricity,
and communications networks, and reduced the supply centers and hospitals to
rubble.
Amidst
pain, the truth of man is revealed. The whole tragedy presents a lesson to be
learnt. Loud voices often asserted the necessity for safe, quake-resistant
buildings and service centers, such as hospitals, fire stations, medical
centers, and warehouses in the earthquake zone. They also emphasized the need to
form permanent leadership roles to deal with unexpected disasters in quake-prone
cities and provinces, and to implement such leadership and training even during
non-disaster times. Priority should have been given to organization and
concerted training to face earthquakes--rescue and relief drills to keep forces
prepared, diagnosis of weak points, and assignment of specific duties to each
service system.
Stricken
Bam is being helped by its sister towns of Bu’een Zahra, Ferdaws, Tubs, Kakhk,
Kanabad, and Kalpaf Kerman, which themselves have been afflicted by quakes. It
is embraced by the cities of Sirjan and Jereft, and, in its ordeal, gathers the
world around it--both enemies and friends.
How
short life is! How bitter sudden death is! How delightful the competition for
good deeds is!
Dr.Mohamed
Al-Saeed Abdul Mo'men,
Egyptian author and academic, Professor of Iranian Studies,`Ain Shams University,
Cairo, Egypt.
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