Bastak


Bastak is a city and capital of Bastak County, Hormozgan Province, Iran. Bastak was traditionally part of the region of Irahistan. Bastak's inhabitants are Achomi people. Bastak's inhabitants speak Bastaki, a dialect of Achomi.
At the 2006 census, its population was 8,376, in 1,765 families.

History of Bastak

The history of Bastak can be traced back to the Safavids era. When the Safavids under Ismail I decided to convert everyone residing in current day Iran from Sunni to Shiite Islam in 1501, they started arranged attacks and massacres against the Sunni Persians who refused to convert. As a result, many Sunni Persians left their hometowns for the Zagros Mountains. After the Battle of Chaldiran where the Safavids lost to the Ottoman the Sunni Persians descended from the mountains to begin a new life in the land they named "Bastak", meaning barrier or backstop signifying barrier from Shiite Safavids' attacks and influences.

Bastakis in the Persian Gulf

Bastakis emigrated to Dubai, Bahrain, and Kuwait and there are Bastaki families found in Dubai, Bahrain, Dammam, Khobar, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, who have carried their Persian culture, language, and architecture with them. A neighborhood in Dubai, Bastakeyah, is named after the Iranian village and Persian architecture is found in the area; namely, badgirs or "wind catchers" that are intended to direct wind directly into structures to cool its interior, while also removing excess heat in the updraft. In Bahrain, Bastaki migrants have been found to have settled in and around Awadhiya, which owes its namesake to the Iranian village of Evaz.

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