Māhān

Mahan lies southeast of Kerman, where gardens and a great domed shrine mark a settlement at the edge of the mountains. The shrine holds the tomb of Shah Nematollah Vali, the Sufi poet and founder of the Nematollahi order. Its tiled dome and courts became the heart of a religious complex that drew devotees from lands far beyond Kerman. Nearby Langar preserves evidence of settlement at least as early as the Buyid period.

Shah Nematollah died in 1431. Ahmad Shah Bahmani, ruler of the Deccan and a follower of the saint, commissioned the earliest domed tomb, completed in 1436. The connection joined Mahan to a devotional network reaching across the Indian Ocean to India. Later patrons added buildings and courtyards, and Shah Abbas I enlarged and repaired the complex in 1601. A caravanserai, water reservoir and bath formed part of the wider ensemble, serving those drawn to the saint's resting place.