Oshnavieh lies on the historic route from Urmia basin to
Rawandiz over the Kalashin Pass. An
Urartian stele from about 800 BCE exist near the city. After the
Mongol invasion, the city became the seat of the
Nestorian Church for a brief moment. Medieval geographers from the 10th century wrote that the city was fair-sized, attached to
Urmia, fertile and having good
pasture.
Kurds from the
Hadhabani tribe would settle in the area during the summer, pasture their livestock and sell their products for manufactures and textiles from the city. The city came under the rule of the
Rawadids in the 10th century and continued to flourish. The city also fostered scholars and
traditionalists.
Ali ibn al-Athir wrote in 1205/6 that
Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr of the
Eldiguzids handed over the city to the ruler of
Maragheh ʿAlāʾ-al-Din Qara Sonqor. In 1226, the city was under the Ivāʾiya Kurds until its capture by
Jalal al-Din Mangburni. In 1220/1, when
Yaqut al-Hamawi passed the city, the city was in ruins, but had been rebuilt by the time of the visit of
Hamdallah Mustawfi. Mustawfi described the city as being
Sunni, in a rural district of 120 villages and producing a total revenue worth 19,300 dinars annually. It was mentioned by traveller
Fraser in 1840 that the city was populated Zerza Kurds, whose presence is possibly attested as being present in the city as early as the 14th century. In the 19th century, the population was mostly
Kurdish with a small population of
Assyrians which perished during the
Sayfo.
20th century In 1930, Kurdish leader
Simko Shikak was lured into an ambush in Oshnavieh and assassinated under the order of
Reza Shah. The town was incorporated into the short-lived
Republic of Mahabad in 1946.
21st century Protesters briefly took over the city during the
Mahsa Amini protests, from 24 to 25 September 2022. ==Demographics==