Settlements > Alexandria in Carmania

Alexandria in Carmania

Background

Alexandria in Carmania: if this city was founded by Alexander (and not by Seleucus), it must have been a permanent garrison founded in January 324. Perhaps modern Golâshkerd in Iran.The area of Carmania where the Alexandria Carmania was located, noted with red colour on the map of the Empire of Alexander the GreatAlexandria Carmania was one of the seventy-plus cities founded or renamed by Alexander the Great.The town was founded by Alexander in January 324 BC after his army had reunited with Nearchus and his men who had beached their boats near the mouth of the Minab River.LocationThe exact site of the city in Carmania is still unknown but several locations have been proposed:The most commonly cited location is the village of Gulashkird, Iran (Lat. 27° 56' 57"N Long. 57° 17' 57"E)The unexplored ruins to the north and northwest of Gulishkird.Mercator 1569 world map showing Alexandria.The village of Gav Koshi nearby to the east of Gulishkird has also been popular.Sykes says it was in Rudbar 5km north of Gulishkird, based on surface finds of Greek pottery he made in that location.A less likely option is the village of Sharh-i Dakyanus (Town of the emperor Decius) near Jiroft, Iran.Sites at Sirjan and Tepe Yahya have also been postulated.Fraser, taking a typically conservative position thinks that Alexandria in Carmainai never existed.The 1569 world map of Gerardus Mercator, taken from Ptolemy's second century world map, shows Alexandria Carmania further to the west on the Salarus River, in the arid area north of the modern town of Haregī, Iran.The main contenders are all within a few kilometres of each other and that area would seem a logical one. Provided with reliable water from the Minab river, the location was on the convergence of the main passes from Afghanistan, the route into Gedrosia and had good access to the nearby Indian Ocean ports at Hormosia. The location would also provide control of the arable parts of Carmania.The city still existed in the medieval period being known as Camadi, when Marco Polo visited. If Galashkird is the now lost city it was described by Arab geographer Mukaddasi who described it as a strongly fortified town with a castle Kushah, and lush orchards and fields supported by extensive qanat irrigation.ReferencesJump up ^ Getzel M. Cohen, The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia, University of California Press 2013 page 200Jump up ^ William Woodthorpe Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India (Cambridge University Press, 2010) p481.Jump up ^ P. Leriche, “Alexandria,”, Encyclopædia Iranica, I/8, pp. 830-831..Jump up ^ J. G. Droysen, Geschichte des Hellenismus, (1878).Jump up ^ V. Tscherikower, Die hellenistischen Städtegrunden, (1927).Jump up ^ E. Badian, Alexander the Great, (1950).Jump up ^ G. A. Koshelenko, Grecheskiĭ polis na ellinisticheskom vostoke, (1979.)Jump up ^ Ammianus Marcellinus XXIII 48Jump up ^ Ptolemy VI 8 14Jump up ^ Pliny, Natural History 6. 107 110Jump up ^ G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, Cambridge University Press 2011. page 317Jump up ^ Lewis Vance Cummings, Alexander the Great (Grove Press, 2004)page 402 p402Jump up ^ Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes, A History of Exploration from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Taylor & Francis, 1949Jump up ^ I. Gershevitch, The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 2 Cambridge University Press 1985 page 248.Jump up ^ Cook, J. M., The Persian Empire, (Book Club Associates, London, 1983)Jump up ^ Ala-ad-Din Ata Malik Juvaini, The History of the World Conqueror. (Harvard University Press, 1958) page477.Jump up ^ William Vincent, Samuel Horsley, William Wales, ----- de La Rochette, The Voyage of Nearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates: Collected from the Original Journal Preserved by Arrian, and Illustrated by Authorities Ancient and Modern (T. Cadell (jun.) and W. Davies, 1797) page 304Jump up ^ Alexandria at Encyclopedia Iranica.Jump up ^ Fraser, P. M., Cities of Alexander the Great, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996)Jump up ^ The travels of Marco Polo vol 1, chapter16.

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