Bam

Bam lies in an oasis on the southern edge of the Iranian plateau. Underground qanat channels brought water to its fields and settlements, and the fortified town of Arg-e Bam rose above them in walls of earth. Bam prospered between the seventh and eleventh centuries at a crossroads of trade routes and was known for silk and cotton garments. Under Shah Abbas I, Ganj Ali Khan used the citadel as a base for campaigns into Baluchistan. In 1794 the Zand ruler Lotf Ali Khan fled to Bam after losing Kerman, only to be seized by its governor and handed over to his Qajar enemies.