Abarkuh

 ( Cities In Yazd Province ) 

In the following 11th century, Abarquh was ruled by the Kakuyid dynasty, who had originally been kinsmen and vassals of the Buyid dynasty but later became independent rivals. Just before 435 AH (1043-44 CE), the Buyid ruler Abu Kalijar captured Abarquh from the Kakuyid Faramurz. In 1051, however, Abarquh came back into Abu Mansur Faramarz's possession: that year, the Seljuk Empire ruler Tughril Bey conquered Faramarz's capital of Isfahan, and in compensation granted him the cities of Abarquh and Yazd. Around this time, another notable family in Abarquh was the Firuzanids, originally from Eshkavar in Tabaristan. The oldest surviving structure in Abarquh today, the Gonbad-e Ali, was built in 448 AH (1056-57 CE) for a member of this family named Amid al-Din Shams al-Dawla Abu Ali Hazarasp Firuzani. Another early monument is the Seljuk-era tomb of Pir Hamza Sabzpush.

Abarquh flourished under the Seljuks, as well as under their successors, the Ilkhanids. Most surviving medieval structures in Abarquh today are from the Ilkhanid period, including the Friday mosque with its four . Abarquh served as a mint town under the Ilkhanids and thereafter; coins minted here under them, the Injuids, the Mozaffarids, the Timurids, and the Aq Qoyunlu all survive. Writing in 1340, Hamdallah Mustawfi describes Abarquh as small but prosperous, with grain and cotton grown here in fields irrigated by both and surface channels. He lists the revenue of Abarquh and its attached rural districts as 140,000 . Mustawfi also mentions the domeless tomb of the renowned scholar Tavus al-Haramayn ("peacock of the two sanctuaries", i.e. Mecca and Medina), who probably lived during the Mongol Empire period. A mausoleum attributed to him still exists in Abarquh, but it is actually the tomb of one Hasan b. Kay Khosrow (d. 718 AH/1318 CE) and his wife.

Safavid Abarquh was part of the crown lands, or maḥāll-e ḵāṣṣa, and, together with Yazd, Bayazeh, and other towns in the region, constituted a governorship that was granted out to high court officials. In the early 17th century, the Taḏkerat al-molūk describes the local religious judge ( ḥākem-e šaṛʿ) as being appointed by the spiritual leader at the royal court ( ṣadr-e ḵaṣṣa), and the district of Abarquh, valued at 711 Iranian toman and 5,300 dinars, was granted to the commander of guard of musketeers ( tofanġčī āḡāsī).

Abarquh was ravaged by the invasion of the Afghan Hotak dynasty in the early 1700s. Later, in 1208 AH (1793-94 CE) Lotf Ali Khan Zand captured Abarquh's citadel and held it for a while during the war with the rising Qajar dynasty. During the late Qajar period, Abarquh acquired a reputation for lawlessness and unrest.

The city has 4 adobe ice houses that date back to Qajar dynasty. Adobe ice houses (yakhchāl) are ancient buildings used to store ice and food throughout the year, commonly used prior to the invention of the refrigerator in the past.