Evidence indicated that this province has been
the home of man since the Paleolithic and Neolithic age.
Considering the historical monuments found in Kermanshah, it was
very glorious in the Achaemenid and
Sassanid eras and was highly regarded by the kings of those
times. But in the Arab invasion suffered great damage. In the
Safavid
period, it made great progress. Concurrent with the Afghan
attack and the fall of Esfahan, Kermanshah was destroyed due to
the Ottoman invasion. Kurds, Lors, Arabs, and Turks are peoples
living in this province. In addition to the inhabitants of the
town and villages, there are nomadic societies through out the
province. The predominant language is Farsi, but Kurdi and other
languages are also spoken. From the Paleolithic time to the
present, this district has been the home of many peoples.
The monuments belong to the Sassanian era as well as caravansary
and bridge from Safavid period, indicate the high importance of
this district in different ages.
The distance between Kermanshah and Tehran is 525 km. It is the trade center of rich agricultural region that produces grain, rice, vegetable, fruits, and oilseeds, and there are so many industrial centers, oil and sugar refineries, and cement, textile and flour factories, etc. The airport is located in north east of the city and the distance from Tehran is 413 km. by air.
Darius I the Great's inscription at Bisotoun (6th century
BCE): At a site some 1300 meter high
in the mountains, one of the most famous sites in Near Eastern
archeology has been attracting passersby since time Immemorial.
It was, here that Sir Henry Rawlison copied the trilingual
inscription of Darius I of Achaemenids, caved in 522 BCE. In old
Persian, Elamite and Akkadian, an important step in the eventual
decipherment of cuneiform in the mid 19th century. The Bisotoun
relief above the inscription depicts Darius facing the nine
rebel kings, whom the Achaemenid rulers uppercased when he came
to power.
At the foot of the hill there are three Parthian relief believed
to be the oldest Parthian reliefs, badly damaged by ravages of
time and land endowment carved by Sheik Ali Khan Zanganeh, the
premier of Safavid king Shah Soleiman.
Tagh-e Bostan, Sassanid Reliefs (224-651 BCE): The Sassanid
kings chose a sensational setting for their rock reliefs
Taghe-e-Bostan, four miles north-East of Kermanshah. A sacred
spring gushes forth from a mountain cliff and empties into a
large reflecting pool. In writer the entire scene is shrouded in
mist and clouds.
One of the most impressive reliefs, inside the largest grotto or
"ivan" is the gigantic equestrian of Sassanid king, Khosrow II
(591-628 CE) mounted on his favorite charger, Shabdiz. Both
horse and rider are arrayed in full battle armor. There are two
hunting scenes on opposite side of the ivan, one depicts the
imperial boar hunt and the other in a similar spirit shows the
king stalking deer. Elephants flush out the feeling boar from a
marshy lake for the king who stands poised with bow and arrow in
hand serenaded by female musicians following in other boats.
These royal hunting scenes are among the most vivid of all rock
reliefs, true narrative murals in stone, Jumping 1300 years in
time the upper relief shows the 19th century Qajar king Fath-Ali
shah holding court.
The temple of Anahita (200 BCE) in Kangavar: Kangavar is a
small town of great antiquity lying halfway between Hamadan and
Kermanshah (90 km. East of Kermanshah). In about
200 BC during the seleucid Greek occupation of Kangavar, a major
sanctuary was erected to the mother Goddess Anahita who was
worshipped in ancient Persia along with Ahura-Mazda and Mithras.