History of MasjedSoleyman

MasjedSoleyman

MasjedSoleyman is a historical city among the mountains of Zagros and one of the Bakhtiari cities of Khouzestan province. This city is the pioneer of oil drilling in Iran. Darcy Consortium started extracting Iranian oil from this city in 1908.

The villages of Andika and Lali mountains and Dasht Bozorg were among the subordinate parts around this city; In the last few years, the parts of Andika and Lali have been changed to the city. Among the sights of this city, we can mention the slopes of Asemari mountain, Tembi promenade, Golgir, Sarmasajed temple and Berdanshande temple. One of the factors in the creation and expansion of MasjedSoleyman is oil exploration in this area. William Knox Darcy got permission to search and explore for oil in Iran during the conclusion of a contract with the Mozaffari government, and his exploration team discovered oil for the first time in the Middle East, in the city of MasjedSoleyman.

In 2007, the French archaeological team also made important discoveries in MasjedSoleyman.

The history of

MasjedSoleyman was called Asak during the Elam civilization period, which was considered a part of the Simash region of Elam. But after the attack of the Aryans and the defeat of the Elamites, its name was changed to “Parsumash”. Between the middle of the 9th century and the beginning of the 7th century BC, an Aryan tribe named “Parswa” descended from the northwestern slopes of the Zagros and Bakhtiyari mountains to the Khuzestan plain, and the current MasjedSoleyman was one of the areas where they settled. This semi-primitive people, who relied on pastoral livelihoods and especially horse training, after becoming familiar with agriculture and abandoning nomadism, built a new city in the foothills of the Jalga and called it “Parsumash” in memory of their past land, which was called “Parswa”. In the northeast of MasjedSoleyman, on an ancient hill called Sarmasajed, there is a fire temple belonging to that era, which Professor Girshman, a French archaeologist, considers this fire temple to be related to the Persian era and considers it the birthplace of Cheish Pash I, the Achaemenid ancestor of Cyrus the Great. In ancient times, MasjedSoleyman was called Sarmasajed and the reason for that was the existence of this ancient fire temple. At the time of the Arab attack, the Tazis wanted to destroy it, but the Iranians lied to them that this temple was built by Prophet Solomon, and because Solomon was highly respected by the Arabs, they refused to do so. In 1303 AH, when Reza Khan visited the Sarmasjed, when he heard this story, he ordered to change the name of the Sarmasjed to MasjedSoleyman, and thus in 1305, with the approval of the National Council, the name of MasjedSoleyman was given to this city.

The belief of Iranians in fire as a symbol of Ahura Mazda and the boiling of flammable holy oil on the surface of the earth in the city of Parsumash made this city have eternal fire temples, and therefore the city became extremely important from a religious point of view, so that the fire of this fire temple The time of “Harun Al-Rashid” was also clear.

The religious importance and people’s beliefs about the purity and holiness of this city increased to such an extent that even after the arrival of Islam, Iranians used to visit this city for pilgrimage. Therefore, its religious identity remains the same as other holy places, and the name “Soliman Mosque” was also applied to it in this regard. But even this naming did not prevent the initial decline of the city during the time of Aaron.

The discovery of oil

, the re-emergence of this first city of the Persians, after the passage of several centuries, began on 4 am of June 5, 1287 AH (1908 AD) with the eruption of oil from Nomre Yek Square in the middle of the current MasjedSoleyman. An eruption that changed the economic and social life of MasjedSoleyman and then Iran. After the discovery and eruption of oil in MasjedSoleyman, with the intervention of the British government, Emtiazat Syndicate Company, owned by William Knox Darcy, became Iran and England Oil Company.

With the completion of the MasjedSoleyman pipeline to Abadan in 1912, the revival of MasjedSoleyman began. Oil extraction, which was 43,000 tons this year, reached 1 million tons per year until the end of World War I, and reached more than 4 million tons per year by 1925. Until 1928, Masjid Suleiman was the only source of oil extraction in Iran, until this year, oil erupted in the huge Haftgel oil field, and MasjedSoleyman was out of monopoly in oil production. But the production in the region continued to increase so that in 1314 AH. (1935 AD) reached the peak of production throughout the operation (127 thousand barrels per day). After a short drop in oil production due to the nationalization of this industry in Iran (1333-1330), due to the program of Iran-UK Oil Company and the British government, oil extraction increased again, which was more or less constant until 1345. But from this year onwards, oil production decreased rapidly and after the closure of the wells in 1998 and 1999, its annual production was limited to the daily production in the past. The reason for the decrease in oil production was that after about 70 years of continuous exploitation, 98% of the amount of oil that could be obtained naturally was extracted from the region, and since the exploitation of other oil fields, especially border oil fields, was given priority, oil extraction It was stopped in MasjedSoleyman, which has to be done by injecting water or gas, and this also causes problems.

The names of the neighborhoods

Sarmasajed: This neighborhood was called Sarmasajed because of the ancient monuments on a hill above it and attributed to Hazrat Suleiman. The naming of MasjedSoleyman in December 1303 is also due to these works.

• No. 1: The center of the city is MasjedSoleyman, and because of the presence of “Well No. 1” (the first oil well in Iran-Middle East) in this neighborhood, it became known by this name.
• Havanirooz
• Talkhab
• Naftak
• Cheshme Ali
• Bashgah Savarkaran
• Chaharbisheh
• Nasirabad
• Cooler Shop: It got its name from one of the offices of the oil company.
• Railway or Rail Way: It is called by this name because of the presence of one of the train stations in this neighborhood.
• Cheshme Ali Bazaar: In the past, there was a spring with the same name in this neighborhood. Also, an old bazaar was built in this neighborhood, which enjoyed good prosperity, and most of the residents of the northern neighborhoods of the city went there to get their necessities. Because of the presence of several old schools, the old branch of the National Bank, hospital, kindergarten, bazaar, club, forest park and the houses of the oil and army organizations, Bazar chashmeh Ali has been one of the safest and best neighborhoods in the city since ancient times.
• Isfahani’s Lane (LANE)
• Hossein Qasab neighborhood (Mal Gandali): which was known as Koi Kaveh during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and the name of Koi Kaveh is still written on water and electricity bills, and the aforementioned names are only verbal.
• Indian Lane: It was originally the residence of Indian workers and now it is completely gone.
• Gulgiriha valley
• MalJoonaki
• Sarkoreha (Koi Shahid Mousavi), which was named after the existence of a gypsum mine and plaster furnaces.
• Saturday’s Mall (Koi Shahid Lorestani)
• Panj Bangeleh
• Hasht Bangeleh (Bungalow refers to the luxury villa houses of mainly foreign employees of the oil company who lived in them with their families)
• Shahneshin
• Mal Karim
• Nomreh Yazdah
• Dere eshkaft Valley: Locals call it Derashkaft. Ashkaft means cave in Bakhtiari dialect.
• Nomreh Do
• Pansion Khayam
• C.Branch Pension means C section or C area.
• Camp Crescent (Camp Crescent) which Crescent means hill or peak. (name of the camp built on the hill)
• Scotch Crescent
• Crescent Chem Lab: The area where the oil chemical laboratory was built.
• Naftoon
• Pshte Borj
• Baghmeli
• Aframbi: the neighborhood behind the oil company garage, between Bagh National and Posht Burj neighborhood. In the past, there was an office called the Department of Road and Building Repairs in this neighborhood. The English name of this office is Field Road Maintenance and Building and the first letters of this office’s name are (FRM B). At that time, the British used to pronounce the name of this office in an abbreviated form (F, R, M, B) and at a fast pace. This name was later changed to Afrimbi in the local dialect.
• Main Office: Central Office of the Oil Company (Main Office)
• Sabzabad: This neighborhood is located in the center of Masjid Suleiman city and it is a part of Nimra Chihel neighborhood. It is one of the old neighborhoods, which is currently the Amir Kabir Day and Night Conservatory of Work and Knowledge, which used to be a teacher training college, and before the revolution, it was also a high school for literature, and in the past, it was the largest conservatory in the west of the country, where people from different cities and provinces of the country attend this place. Educated and trained. Currently, a part of this conservatory has been converted into the public library of Shahid Behnam Mohammadi.
• Nomre Chehel
• Poshte Kooh
• Dare Khersoon
• Bazaar Shooshtari
• Bagh Sookias
• Nomreh Hasht
• Bi bi Yan: where many factories operated in the past
• Khaje Abad
• Naft abad
• Kalgeh: It was called Kalgeh due to the existence of an ancient hill called “Kalgeh Zarin” or Kalgeh Zari.
• Sheikh Mandani
• Tembi: It is one of the old areas and is located at a relatively far distance from the city and next to the seasonal river of the same name.

Anthropology

The language of the people of this city is Bakhtiari dialect and they belong to Bakhtiari tribe.

Compilation and arrangement: Amir Heydari