Kāzerūn

Kazerun lies in a warm valley of western Fars, on the road between Shiraz and the Persian Gulf. To its north are the ruins of Bishapur, the Sasanian city founded by Shapur I, and the carved rock reliefs of the Tang-e Chogan gorge. Kazerun grew as the older city declined, becoming a centre of trade and religious life on the route through the mountains to the coast.

The Sufi master Abu Ishaq Kazaruni, who died in 1033, founded a religious community in the town. His lodge and tomb became centres of devotion, and the order bearing his name developed ties with merchants travelling by sea. By the fourteenth century its presence extended to ports in India and southern China, reflecting the reach of merchants based at Kazerun. The poet Mahmud ibn Uthman celebrated Abu Ishaq in works composed at the town's lodge in 1342 and 1343. Kazerun's religious reputation thus travelled far beyond the valley where the order began.