“Aroon Awa” which is formally named “West Islam Abad” by the Islamic Republic of Iran is located fifty-five kilometers southwest of Kermashan (Kermanshah) and thirty kilometers on the east of “Kirand”, forty-five kilometers on the northeast of “Gelan”. It is the second big city of Kermashan Province after Kermashan city both geographically and on the number of citizens.

Most of the people in this city speak in Kalhori dialect and they are Shia Muslims. There are also some Yarsani followers living in this city. Generally, the Shia Muslims are the majority population and the Yarsani followers are in second place and no Sunni Muslims are living in this city. This city plays an important role in the smaller cities and towns around it such as Kirand, Gawarah, Rejaw, Hamayl, and Mayesht which are under the bureaucratic influence of Aroon Awa.

Compared to the other cities and towns in Kermashan Province, this city has had undergone more name changes including; Aroon Awa, Manalreh, Bawandpoor, Shabad, and Islam Awa, … each of these names were chosen at a particular time in history due to a special incident.

Aroon Awa

According to some information being discussed recently, it is said that “Aroon Awa” has no connection to “Haroon Awa”. The history of “Aroon Awa” is much distinct from “Haroon Awa’s”. Aroon is the title of a Medes commander named “Soulousounoo” or “Olousounoo” who was the chief commander of this region and he began to build the cities and villages here. This is why they call this city Aroon Awa i.e. a place where Aroon has built. There is a same belief about Pawa city which traces back to the Sassanid Dynasty. Some authors say that Haroon Awa traces back to the time when Haroon al-Rashid Abbasi was the Calipha and it was he who built the city thus it is more accurate to say Haroon Awa. They also claim that the Zewry field fifteen kilometers from Aroon Awa was a gift to “Zobeidah Khatoon”, Haroon al-Rashid’s wife.

The Zewry field is a very cold and mountainous area and some say that it is a part of Russian Siberia. In order to clear out this matter we need to analyze the morphology of “Zewry” to find out whether this field was Zobeidah Khatoon’s property or not.

Unfortunately, I could not find any documented evidence to answer this question. However, I believe that Zewry is related to the words “Zerga”, “Zourga” and “Zawarah” which all mean mountains and high hills. The reason for the cold weather is also due to these mountains so this word has nothing to do with Zobeidah Khatoon.

In addition, based on the historical monuments remaining in the area such as “Chiyawganah” which belongs to the Gutian dynasty as old as 8 thousand years, prove that the second notion that this area belonged to Haroon al-Rashid is not a valid claim.

Manalreh

This name is also very popular among the people of this city. They even have used it as a joke or in a serious way when talking about it. “Manalreh” means “Manali Reh” or “the path of Manali”. This name traces back to many years ago when Caravans and travelers used to pass through the city and they used to camp there to get rest. Manali city in the South part of Kurdistan used to be a very popular and developed city many years ago. It was also very famous among the other cities. In fact, Aroon Awa was called Manali which is derived from (Manali, Manaiy, Mady) words.

Professor Ako Jaliliyan wrote in his book (The Encyclopedia of Iran and its People): Shabad’s name was Manali in the past. This name traces back to the Medes and Sassanid eras. After Islam started to spread in Iran, an Arab commander who apparently had rebuilt this city, the name changed into Haroon Awa, and in 1309 Hijri (1930 B.C) it changed into the West Shah Abad.

Although Professor Jalilian rejects the notion of Haroon Awa as the name of this city. According to this report and other evidence, Manali included a geography that starts from Maydasht and stretches to the South part of Kurdistan.

Bawandpour

This name was used for Aroon Awa for two years due to some historical reasons. In the last years of the Qajar dynasty when “Reza Khan” ended “Ahmad Shah’s” reign and exiled him, some of the Qajar women who were Kurds of Ardalan, Jaff, and Kalhor were also exiled thus they returned to Kurdistan. This made the Kalhor elders and chiefs angry and they attempted to assassin Reza Khan who had deported Ahmad Shah to Baghdad from Qasr Shirin. They decided to capture Reza Khan in Aroon Awa on the way back to Iran and then kill him. A man named “Azami” reported this plot to Reza Khan and their plan got revealed. Reza Khan returned to Tehran from Sanjawi and then Kermashan. He appointed Azami as the authority officer of the Kalhori region and gave him the title of Bawandpour. Reza Khan himself was a member of the “Bawand” family from “Sawad Kouh” and Taleghan clan and Bawandpour means belonged to the Bawand.