Modern Zaranj bears the name of an ancient city whose name is also attested in
Old Persian as
Zranka. In Greek, this word became
Drangiana. Other historical names for Zaranj include Zirra, Zarangia, Zarani etc. Ultimately, the word Zaranj is derived from the ancient
Old Persian word
zaranka ("waterland").
Achaemenid Zranka, the capital of
Drangiana, was almost certainly located at
Dahan-e Gholaman, southeast of
Zabol in
Iran. After the abandonment of that city, its name, Zarang or Zaranj in later Perso-Arabic orthography, was transferred to the subsequent administrative centers of the region, which itself came to be known as Sakastān, then Sijistan and finally
Sistān. Medieval Zaranj is located at Nād-i `Alī, 4.4 km north of the modern city of Zaranj. According to the
Arab geographers, prior to medieval Zaranj, the capital of Sistan was located at
Ram Shahristan (Abar shariyar). Ram Shahristan had been supplied with water by a canal from the Helmand River, but its dam broke, the area was deprived of water, and the populace moved three days' march to found Zaranj. This Zaranj appears on the
Peutinger Map of
late Antiquity. attacking the fortress of Zarang in 1003 CE.
Jami al-Tawarikh, 1314 The area came under Muslim rule in 652, when Zaranj surrendered to the governor of
Khurāsān; it subsequently became a base for further caliphal expansion in the region. In 661, a small Arab garrison reestablished its authority in the region after having temporarily lost control due to skirmishes and revolts. A
Nestorian Christian community is recorded in Zaranj in the sixth century, and by the end of the eighth century there was a Jacobite diocese of Zaranj. In the 9th century Zaranj was the capital of the
Saffarid dynasty, whose founder was the local coppersmith turned
warlord,
Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar. It became part of the
Ghaznavids,
Ghorids,
Trimurids,
Safavids and others. Defeated by the
Samanids in 900, the Saffarids sank to a position of regional importance, until conquered by
Mahmud of Ghazni in 1003. Subsequently, Zaranj served as the capital of the
Nasrid (1029–1225) and
Mihrabānid (1236–1537)
maliks of Nīmrūz. In the early 18th century, the city became part of the
Afghan Hotak dynasty until they were removed from power in 1738 by
Nader Shah of
Khorasan. Zaranj came under
Khanate of Kalat in the mid-18th century. Under the modern Afghan governments, the area was known as
Farah-Chakansur Province until 1968, when it was separated to form the provinces of Nimruz and
Farah. The city of Zaranj became the capital of Nimroz province.
Early 21st century A new highway called
Route 606 was built between Zaranj and
Delaram in Farah province by the
Indian Government's
Border Roads Organization at a cost of about US$136 million to open up a link between the deep sea port at
Chabahar in
Iran to Afghanistan's main ring road highway system which connects
Kabul,
Kandahar,
Herat,
Mazar-i-Sharif and
Kunduz. The highway, a symbol of India's developmental work, was handed over to Afghan authorities by then-Indian External Affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee in January 2009 in the presence of then-Afghan President
Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister
Rangeen Dadfar Spanta. The province has been one of the 7 (
Nimruz,
Helmand,
Kandahar,
Uruzgan,
Ghazni,
Paktika and
Zabul) where the Taliban have regrouped. On 14 August 2012 dozens of civilians were killed in Zaranj by several suicide-bombers in a major terrorist attack on the city. Due to Zaranj's close proximity to Iran, the city has been using mostly on Iranian products. With the increase of trade the
Afghan Border Police has been dealing with a rise in smuggling, particularly illegal drugs and weapons. The overall economic situation became better for the local population of the city. Hundreds of trucks containing merchandise from the Middle East enter the city on a daily basis. In the last decade, the
U.S. Marines and others of the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been visiting Zaranj. The United States was involved in economic development projects. This included improvement made to the irrigation network of the city, building of
Afghan military and
Afghan National Police barracks as well as a hospital and a school. The US Marines assigned to
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing have been visiting Zaranj since the
Forward Operating Base Delaram was built in
Delaram. The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing built two concrete helicopter landing zones on western side of the gravel runway of
Zaranj Airport to ease the landing of USMC
V-22 Osprey helicopters from
3rd Battalion 4th Marines.
Taliban capture On 6 August 2021, Zaranj became the first provincial capital to be captured by the
Taliban during their
offensive. Afghan officials said the Taliban faced "little resistance" in capturing the city with the
215th Corps of the Afghan National Army focusing instead on the
Battle of Lashkargah. Shortly after entering the city, the Taliban broke into the city's prison, releasing a large number of prisoners into Zaranj. Millions are now returning to Afghanistan. == Geography ==