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TheBahmanshir channel (Persian:بهمنشیر,IPA:[bæhmænˈʃiːɾ]) is a secondary estuary of theKarun River that parallels theShatt al-Arab/Arvand Rud waterway on the far side of theAbadan Island, Iran, for 70 miles before emptying into thePersian Gulf.
The Bahamanshir served as the main estuary of theKarun River before the digging of theHaffar canal, by theDaylamiteBuwayhid king Panah KhusrawAdud ad-Dawlah, that joined theKarun to theArvand Rud /Shatt al-Arab waterway at the site of the present-dayKhorramshahr. TheHaffar in time became the main estuary of theKarun, relegating the Bahmanshir to a secondary estuary status.
The river's name was a contraction ofVahman-Ardashir,Middle Persian for the "Good thought of Ardashir," named for theSasanian king,Ardashir I. The Bahamanshir may be a man-made canal, "thought up" by king Ardashir, as theHaffar later came to be. If so, then the Bahmanshir was excavated to deliver the waters of the mighty Karun directly to thePersian Gulf, creating a navigable estuary that could bring the seafaring vessels from the Persian Gulf all the way up to city ofAhwaz in the heartland ofKhuzistan plain—120 miles away. Without the Bahmanshir, the waters of theKarun—like those of theTigris and theEuphrates largely fed the vast marshlands of southernMesopotamia that included the entire southern half of the Khuzistan as well—allowing for no navigable course to exist.
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