Kerman was founded as a defensive outpost, with the name Behdesīr, by Ardeshir I, founder of the Sassanid Empire, in the 3rd century AD. After the Battle of Nahāvand in 642, the city came under Muslim rule.
Already in the eighth century the city was famous for its manufacture of cashmere wool shawls and other textiles. The Abbasid Caliphate’s authority over the region was weak, and power passed in the tenth century to the Buyid dynasty, which maintained control even when the region and city fell toMahmud of Ghazna in the late tenth century. The name Kerman was adopted at some point in the tenth century.
Kerman carpets (sometimes “Kirman”) are one of the traditional classifications of Persian carpets. They are named after Kerman, which is both a city and a province located in south central. Kerman has been a major center for the production of high quality carpets since at least the 15th century. In the 18th century, some authors considered the carpets from the province of Kerman, especially at Siftan, to be the finest Persian carpets,partly because of the high quality of the wool from the region.