The Affected Factors in location of Active Cities of the Iranian Southern Coasts in the Early Islamic Centuries

The Iranian southern coasts have a long history of city life and urbanization, many of which date back to pre-Islamic periods. Battles during the early Islamic period affected these cities’ activities. It caused several of Iran’s southern seaports to become obsolete, but many of them revived their activities once the events triggered by the rise of Islam reflowed, and some of them continue their social function even today. This study addresses seaports active between the early Islamic period and the Mongol invasion and had direct access to the sea without the need for passageways such as caravan routes or rivers. 22 cities with such features were identified. While these cities were close to the sea, their location differed in various aspects. This study aims to address the following question: which factors affected the location of operational seaports from the birth of Islam until the end of the Abbasid Caliphate? The analysis, which was based on library resources and historical evidence as well as graphs, maps, and statistics, revealed that the aforementioned cities’ activities were affected by geopolitical, climatic, strategic, economic, and political factors.