Place · city

Zaranj

Also known as Zarang

Zaranj is a city in south-western Afghanistan, capital of Nimruz province, on the border with Iran. As the chief town of Sistan in the early Islamic centuries, it was the base from which the Saffarid ruler Ya'qub ibn al-Layth rose to power in 861, and later the seat of the Nasrid and Mihrabanid maliks. The medieval city was sacked by Timur in 1383.

Zaranj
Image: Sgt. Mallory S. VanderSchans, U.S. Marine Corps · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 state histories

Saffarid dynastyNasrid Maliks of SistanMihrabanid dynasty

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Zaranj. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/zaranj
MLA
“Zaranj.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/zaranj. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Zaranj.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/zaranj.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Zaranj’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/zaranj (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻