Medieval history[edit]

During the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, Ahwaz flourished as a center for the cultivation
of sugarcane and as the home of many well-known scholars. It is discussed by such respected
medieval historians and geographers as ibn Hawqal, Tabari, Istakhri, al-
Muqaddasi, Ya'qubi, Masudi, and Mostowfi Qazvini. Nearby stood the Academy of Gundishapur,
where the modern-day teaching hospital is said to have been first established.
Ahwaz was devastated in the Mongol invasions of the 13th and 14th centuries and subsequently
declined into a village. The dam and irrigation channels, no longer maintained, eroded and finally
collapsed early in the 19th century. During this time Ahwaz was primarily inhabited by the original
Khuzhis and a small number of Sabians. Although most Arab migrants fled the city, a few stayed.
Some minor cultivation continued, while all evidence of sugarcane plantations is still going on in Haft
Teppe area in north of Ahwaz,[clarification needed] although ruins of sugarcane mills from the medieval era
remained in existence.[10] Several ruins of water mills also still remain in Shush and Shushtar.

Modern history[edit]
The seat of the province has, for the most of its history, been in its northern reaches, first
at Susa (Shush) and then at Shushtar. During a short spell in the Sasanian era, the capital of the
province was moved to its geographical center, where the river town of Hormuz-Ardashir (modern
Ahwaz). However, later in the Sasanian time and throughout the Islamic era, the provincial seat
returned and stayed at Shushtar, until the late Qajar period. With the increase in the international
sea commerce arriving on the shores of Khuzestan, Ahwaz became a more suitable location for the
provincial capital. The River Karun is navigable all the way to Ahwaz (above which, the Karun flows
through rapids). The town was thus refurbished by the order of the Qajar king, Naser al-Din
Shah and renamed after him, Nâseri. Shushtar quickly declined, while Ahwaz/Nâseri prospered to
the present day.
In the 19th century, "Ahwaz was no more than a small borough inhabited mainly by Sabeans (1,500
to 2,000 inhabitants according to Ainsworth in 1835; 700 according to Curzon in 1890)."[11]
In the 1880s, under Qajar rule, the Karun River was dredged and re-opened to commerce. A newly
built railway crossed the Karun at Ahwaz. The city again became a commercial crossroads, linking
river and rail traffic. The construction of the Suez Canal further stimulated trade. A port city was built
near the old village of Ahvaz, and named Bandar-e-Naseri in honor of Nassereddin Shah Qajar.
Oil was found near Ahwaz in the early 20th century, and the city once again grew and prospered as
a result of this newfound wealth. From 1897 to 1925, the city of Ahwaz was in the hands
of heshmatoddoleh Ghajar, who acted as governor and Sarhang Reza Gholi Khane
Arghoon commander of Ghajari's army based in Khuzestan. Sheikh Khaz'al was recognized
by Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar as hereditary ruler of Mohammerah, Sardar Asad Bakhtiari as the
most powerful leader of Khuzestan's Bakhtiaries.[citation needed] He had power and authority over most
regions of Khuzestan, such as Dezful, Shushtar, Izeh, even Ahwaz and Amir mojahede bakhtiari in
Ramhormoz and Behbahan. At this time, the newly founded Ahwaz was named Nâseri in honour to
its founder Nassereddin Shah Qajar. Afterwards, during the Pahlavi period, it resumed its old
name, Ahwaz. The government of the Khūzestān Province was transferred there from Shûshtar in
1926. The Trans-Iranian Railway reached Ahwaz in 1929 and by World War II, Ahwaz had become
the principal built-up area of the interior of Khūzestān. Professional segregation remained well
marked between various groups in that period still feebly integrated: Persians, sub-groupings of
Persians and Arabs. Natives of the Isfahan region held an important place in retail trade, owners of
cafes and hotels and as craftsmen.[12]
Iraq attempted to annex Khūzestān and Ahwaz in 1980, resulting in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988).
Ahwaz was close to the front lines and suffered badly during the war.
Iraq had pressed its claims to Khūzestān. Iraq had hoped to exacerbate ethnic tensions and win over
popular support for the invaders. Most accounts say that the Iranian Arab inhabitants resisted the
Iraqis rather than welcome them as liberators. However, some Iranian Arabs claim that as a minority
they face discrimination from the central government; they agitate for the right to preserve their
cultural and linguistic distinction and more provincial autonomy. See Politics of Khūzestān.
In 1989, the Foolad Ahwaz steel facility was built close to the town. This company is best known for
its company-sponsored football club, Foolad F.C., which was the champion of Iran's Premier
Football League in 2005.