Kerman was
founded as a defensive outpost, with the name Behdesīr, by Ardeshir I,
founder of the Sassanid Empire, in the 3rd century AD. After the Battle of
Nahāvand in 642, the city came under Muslim rule. At first the city's
isolation allowed Kharijites and Zoroastrians to thrive
there, but the Kharijites were wiped out in 698, and the population was mostly
Muslim by 725. Already in the eighth century the city was famous for its
manufacture of cashmere
