Abadan
Abadan (film) is also the name of a 2003 Iranian movie from director Mani Haghighi. |
Map of Iran (Persia) and surrounding lands, showing location of Abadan |
Abadan (آبادان in
Persian) is a city in the
Khuzestan province in southwestern
Iran (
Persia). It lies on Abadan Island, on the
Arvand river. In 2005 the population was estimated to be at 1,291,690.
[http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/2005_world_city_populations/Iran.html]In
medieval sources and up to the present century, the name of the Island always occurs in the
Arabic form
'Abadan(ﻋ'ﺎﺩﺍﻥ). This name has sometimes been derived from the word
worshiper(ﻋ'ﺎﺩ). On the other hand,
Beladori(d.
892) quotes the story that the town was founded by
'Abbad bin Hosayn Khabethi, who established a garrison there during the governorship of
Hajjaj in the
Ummayad period. An Iranian etymology of the name (from the Persian word "ab" (water) and the root "pā" (guard, watch) thus "coastguard station"), was suggested by
B. Farahvashi. Supporting evidence is the name "Apphana" which
Ptolemy applies to an island off the mouth of The Tigris. The Persian version of the name had begun to come into general use before it was adopted by official decree in
1935.
[Abadan, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, pp.51-52]The geographer Marcian also renders the name "Apphadana" in his writings.
[Geographia Marciani Heracleotae, ed. David Hoeschel, Augsburg 1600 p48]Abadan is thought to have originally developed as a port city under the
Abbasids' rule. From the 17th century onward, the Island of Abadan was part of the lands of the
Arab Ka'ab (
Bani Kaab) tribe. One section of this tribe,
Mohaysen, had its headquarters at
Mohammara(present-day
Khorramshahr), until the removal of Shaikh
Khaz'al Khan in
1924.
[http://www.iranica.com , p.53, under Abadan]It was not until the
20th century that rich oil fields were discovered in the area. In 1910, the population had been around 400. The
Anglo-Persian Oil Company built their first
oil refinery in Abadan, starting in 1909 and completing it in 1913. By 1938, it was the largest in the world. To this day it remains a vast facility for refining
petroleum.
Only a low 9% of managers (of the oil company) were from Khuzestan. The proportion of natives of
Tehran, the
Caspian,
Azarbaijan and
Kurdistan rose from 4% of
blue collar workers to 22% of
white collar workers to 45% of managers. Thus while
Arabic speakers were concentrated on the lower rungs of the work force, managers tended to be brought in from some distance.
[http://www.iranica.com , p.56, under Abadan]On
August 20 1978, the Cinema Rex, a movie theater in Abadan, was locked from the outside and
set on fire, resulting in 430 deaths. To this day it is not entirely clear what happened, but it was believed by some that the government of the Iranian
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi purposely set the theater ablaze to kill several
dissidents who were hiding inside. This event sparked
mass demonstrations against Pahlavi's government, which was overthrown six months later by
Islamic
fundamentalists and their supporters (see
Iranian Revolution).
In September 1980, Abadan was almost overrun during a surprise attack on Khuzestan by Iraq, marking the beginning of the
Iran-Iraq War. For 18 months Abadan was besieged, but never captured, by Iraqi forces. Much of the city, including the oil refinery, was badly damaged or destroyed by the siege and by bombing. Previous to the war, the city's civilian
population was about 300,000, but before it was over most of the populous had sought refuge elsewhere in Iran.
After the war, the biggest concern was the rebuilding of Abadan's oil refinery. In 1993 the refinery began limited operation, and by 1997 it reached the same rate of production it was at before the war.
Recent events
To honor the 100th anniversary of the refining of oil in Abadan, city officials are planning an "oil
museum"
The
Abadan Institute of Technology was established in Abadan in 1939. The school specialized in
engineering and petroleum
chemistry, and was designed to train staff for the refinery in town. The school's name has since changed several times, but since 1989 has been considered a branch campus of the
Petroleum University of Technology, centered in
Tehran.
There is an international
airport in Abadan. It is represented by the
IATA airport code ABD.
* The Abadan oil refinery was featured on the reverse side of Iran's 100-rial banknotes printed in 1965 and from 1971 to 1973.
*
Ebrahim Mirzapour, a national soccer star and National Team goalkeeper, is from Abadan.
*
Kamran Delan is also an Abadan native.
*
Abadan Crisis*
Abadan Institute of Technology - Home page
*
Abadan Oil Refinery - Home page
*
Abadan Photo Gallery from the Khuzestan Governorship*
آبادان پاريس*
| AbadanParis |*
Abadan.Net*
Abadan entry in the
Encyclopædia Iranica
