Archeological evidence 12 kilometers north of Yazd suggests that the area has been populated since the period of the
Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC). In his
Natural History,
Pliny the Elder (died 79 AD) mentions a town in the
Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD) named "Issatis", which is seemingly connected to the name of the
Asagarta/Istachae/Sagartians. As a result, some scholars have suggested that the name of Yazd was derived from Issatis (also transliterated as Isatichae, Ysatis, Yasatis), and that the latter name started to be used in the
Median or Achaemenid eras. The area encompassing Yazd first started to gain prominence in the
Late antiquity, namely under the
Sasanian Empire (224–651). Under
Yazdegerd I (), a mint was established in Yazd (under the mint abbreviation of "YZ"), which demonstrates its increasing importance. According to the
New Persian chronicle
Tarikh-i Yazd ("History of Yazd") of 1441, Yazd was re-founded by "Yazdegerd, son of Bahram", i.e.
Yazdegerd II (). The word
yazd means God. After the
Muslim conquest, many Zoroastrians migrated to Yazd from neighboring provinces. By paying a levy, Yazd was allowed to remain Zoroastrian even after its conquest, and
Islam only gradually became the dominant religion in the city. Due to its secluded desert setting and challenging access, Yazd was mostly spared from major conflicts and the devastation and havoc of warfare. For instance, it was a haven for those fleeing from destruction in other parts of the
Khwarazmian Empire during the
Mongol invasion. In 1272 it was visited by
Marco Polo, who remarked on the city's fine
silk-weaving industry. In the book
The Travels of Marco Polo, he described Yazd in the following way: Yazd briefly served as the capital of the
Muzaffarid Dynasty in the fourteenth century, and was unsuccessfully besieged in 1350–1351 by the
Injuids under
Abu Ishaq Inju. The
Friday mosque, arguably the city's greatest architectural landmark, as well as other important buildings, date to this period. During the
Qajar Empire (18th century AD) it was ruled by the
Bakhtiari Khans. Under the rule of the
Safavid Empire (16th century), some people migrated from Yazd and settled in an area that is today on the Iran-Afghanistan border. The settlement, which was named Yazdi, was located in what is now
Farah City in the
province of the same name in
Afghanistan. Even today, people from this area speak with an accent very similar to that of the people of Yazd. One of the notable things about Yazd is its family-centered culture. According to official statistics from Iran's National Organization for Civil Registration, Yazd is among the three cities with the lowest divorce rates in Iran. == Demographics ==