Esfarayen is a city in and the capital of Esfarayen County, North Khorasan Province

North Khorasan Province

North Khorasan Province is a province located in northeastern Iran. Bojnord is the centre of the province.Other counties are Shirvan, Esfarayen, Maneh-o-Samalqan, Jajarm, Faroj and Germeh....

 in Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. At the 2006 census its population was 51,321, in 13,376 families.

Esfarayen is one of the focal points for residence of Aryan tribes after entering into Iran.

History

After the Islamic conquest of Persia

Islamic conquest of Persia

The Muslim conquest of Persia led to the end of the Sassanid Empire in 644, the fall of Sassanid dynasty in 651 and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia...

, Esfarayen flourished greatly; after the fall of the Abbasid caliphate, in spite of attacks and destruction, was reconstructed.

The town was completely ruined at the time of ruler Ebrahim Afshar

Ebrahim Afshar

Ibrahim or Ebrahim Shah Afshar was the Shah of Persia during the Afsharid Empire from July to September of 1748. He was Adil Shah's brother and Nader Shah's nephew. He toppled his brother in order to seize the power, and he blinded him on July 6 1748. However, two months later his own troops...

.

Sport

Esfarayen is home to a wrestling tournament called Bachokheh. This tournament is unique because it is held in the open air. Because of the rain, spectators assembled in the local wrestling hall, but when the weather changed the whole crowd moved to the arena in open air.