Baneh is a city in Baneh County in the Kurdistan Province of Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was over 90,000. Baneh is well-known for its unique forests and large caves.
History of Baneh
The mountainous geography of the Baneh and Kurdistan Provincial region offered protection to the Aryan tribes who first immigrated to Iran. It was from these mountain that they tried, and failed, to overthrow the Assyrian Empire in the 6th century BCE.
The Kurds in the region also settled in the mountains, and repelled many Muslim invasions during the 7th and 8th centuries. The Kurds revolted against Islamic rulers multiple times, but were repressed each time.
The region around Baneh suffered from invasions of the Mongols, but was reconstructed in the Middle Ages to serve as the administrative center of the Kurdish region of Iran. It remained the capital of Kurdistan untile Sanandaj (Sine) was established as the center of commerce and administration for the Kurdish region of Iran in the latter half of the 2nd millennia AD.
