Industrial and commercial city (pop., 1996: 1,053,025), south-central Iran.
It was important during the Seleucid (312–175 BC), Parthian (247 BC–AD 224), and Sāsānian (с AD 224–651) periods but reached its economic and cultural peak in the 10th–11th centuries, during the Islamic period. In the 14th century, Timur occupied Shīrāz, which had by that time become a Muslim centre rivaling Baghdad . In 1724 it was sacked by Afghan invaders and later became the capital of the Persian Zand dynasty (1750–94). Famous for its wine, gardens, shrines, and mosques, it was the birthplace of the Persian poets Saʽdī and Hāfez , who remain local icons and whose tombs are located there.