Before 1308
City affairs run by the darugheh, kalantar and kadkhoda
Before modern urban administration, Damghan — like other historic Iranian cities — was run through the darugheh, kalantar, kadkhoda and mirab. With the new administrative system of the early Pahlavi period, the baladiyeh, the municipal office, began work in Damghan.
Records held by the National Library and Archives of Iran include correspondence dated 4 Ordibehesht 1308 SH between Damghan Baladiyeh and the Ministry of Interior on the need to enlarge the municipal building for lack of space. After the codified Baladiyeh Law of 1309, Damghan Municipality was formally established and registered that same year.
Its early duties covered public health, price control and supervision of provisions, temporary street lighting, cleaning the bazaar, and building the first through-streets so the city could leave its traditional dead-end fabric.
The Municipalities Law of 1334 widened the municipality’s duties and financial independence. Wider streets, linking the old quarters of Bala, Khuria and Dabbaghan to new routes, organising the fire service and motorised city services, and the first care of the Cheshmeh Ali promenade belong to this period.
Under the 1377 law on Islamic city and village councils, choosing the mayor and overseeing the city budget passed to Damghan City Council. New districts such as Golestan, Bustan and Mehr Housing extended the service area. At administrative grade 8, the municipality formed organisations for transport, waste and fire safety. From the 1390s, urban management focused on integrated planning, financial mechanisation and the electronic Shahrvandsapar citizen-services system.
