Table of Contents

• BAHMAN-ARDAŠĪR

  M. Morony

  (or Forāt Maysān), ancient and medieval town and subdistrict in Maysān in lower Iraq. The town of Forāt is known from the first century A.D. as a fortified terminus for caravan trade on the left bank of the lower Tigris, eleven or twelve miles downstream from Charax.

• BAHMAN-NĀMA

  W. L. Hanaway, Jr.

  epic poem in Persian of about 9,500 lines recounting the adventures of Bahman son of Esfandīār.

• BAHMANAGĀN

  cross-reference

  See BAHMANJANA.

• BAHMANBEYGI, MOHAMMAD

  Ḥassan Mirʿābedini

  (1922-2010), educator, writer, founder of tribal education in Iran. He was born in the Bahmanbeyglu clan, Qašqāʾi  tribe, in Fars province, spent his childhood among the nomads, and graduated from the University of Tehran’s Faculty of Law and Political Sciences.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• BAHMANID DYNASTY

  N. H. Ansari

  dynasty (1347-1528) in the Deccan, the tableland region in India. The Bahmanid kingdom was not only the first independent Muslim kingdom in southern India, but it was also one of the greatest centers of Iranian culture in the subcontinent.

• BAHMANJANA

  Z. Safa

  Arabicized form of Mid. Pers. Bahmanagān, one of the Zoroastrian festival days which Muslim Iranians observed down to the Mongol invasion in 1219.

• BAHMANŠĪR

  X. de Planhol

  the name of the distributary which branches off the left bank of the Kārūn river in the Ḵūzestān plain a short distance above Ḵorramšahr, and of a dehestān near this town.

• BAHMANYĀR, AḤMAD

  J. Matīnī

  scholar, educator, and man of letters (1884-1955). His written works are characterized by clarity and simplicity of language.

• BAHMANYĀR, KĪĀ

  H. Daiber

  RAʾĪS ABU’L-ḤASAN B. MARZBĀN AʿJAMĪ ĀḎARBĀYJĀNĪ (d. 1066), one of Ebn Sīnā’s pupils and known mainly as a commentator and transmitter of Ebn Sīnā’s philosophy.

• BAḤR

  cross-reference

  See BAḤR-E ṬAWĪL.

• BAḤR-AL-ʿOLŪM

  H. Algar

  (1155/1742-1212/1797), a Shiʿite scholar who exercised great influence both in Iraq and in Iran through the numerous students he trained.  

• BAḤR-E ḴAZAR

  cross-reference

  ḴAZAR. See CASPIAN SEA.

• BAḤR-E ḴᵛĀRAZM

  cross-reference

  See ARAL SEA.

• BAḤR-E ʿOMĀN

  Cross-Reference

  See OMAN, SEA OF.

• BAḤR-E ṬAWĪL

  M. Dabīrsīāqī

  a type of Persian verse. generally the repetition of a whole foot (rokn) of the meter hazaj (ᴗ - - -) or of a whole foot of the meter ramal (- ᴗ - -) or a variation of the two.

• BAHRA

  P. Clawson and W. Floor

  a term meaning “share,” “gain,” or “profit,” used within the economic context of Islamic Iran to mean “return on investment or production.”

• BAHRAIN

  X. De Planhol, X. De Planhol, J. A. Kechichian

  Ar. Baḥrayn, lit. “two seas,” the name originally applied to the area of the northeastern Arabian peninsula now known as Ḥasā (Aḥsāʾ). i. Geography. ii. Shiʿite elements in Bahrain. iii. History of political relations with Iran.

• BAHRĀM

  Multiple Authors

  name of six Sasanian kings and of several notables of the Sasanian and later periods. The name derives from Old Iranian Vṛθragna, Avestan Vərəθraγna, the god of victory.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• Bahrām I

  A. Sh. Shahbazi

  the fourth Sasanian king and son of Šāpūr I.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• Bahrām II

  A. Sh. Shahbazi

  the fifth Sasanian king (r. 274-291), succeeding his father Bahrām I. In his reign,  Sasanian art achieved a high degree of excellence especially in the representations of the king and his courtiers.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• Bahrām III

  O. Klíma

  the sixth Sasanian king, son of Bahrām II ruled for four months.

• Bahrām IV

  O. Klíma

  succeeded Šāpūr III; Prior to his accession, Bahrām was governor of Kermān and bore the title Kermān Šāh.

• Bahrām V Gōr

  O. Klíma

  son and successor of Yazdegerd I, reigned for 18 years; indulged in pleasure-loving activities, particularly hunting and his memorable shooting of a wonderful onager, gōr, is said to have given origin to his nickname Gōr.

• Bahrām V Gōr in Persian Legend and Literature

  W. L. Hanaway, Jr.

  The relatively colorless and straightforward accounts by the early historians which emphasize Bahrām’s military prowess and his efforts to rule well, turn into legendary and adventurous figure in Persian literature.

• Bahrām VI Čōbīn

  A. Sh. Shahbazi

  chief commander under the Sasanian Hormozd IV and king of Iran, was a son of Bahrāmgošnasp, of the family of Mehrān, one of the seven great houses of the Sasanian period.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• BAHRĀM (Vərəθraγna)

  G. Gnoli, P. Jamzadeh

  the Old Iranian god of victory, Avestan Vərəθraγna (“smiting of resistance”);  Middle Persian Warahrān, frequently used as a male proper name.

• BAHRĀM B. MARDĀNŠĀH

  Dj. Khaleghi-Motlagh

  a Zoroastrian priest (mōbed) of the town of Šāpūr in Fārs, mentioned in several Arabic and Persian sources as a translator of the Xwadāy-nāmag from Pahlavi into Arabic.

• BAHRĀM MĪRZĀ

  P. Soucek

  (1517-49), youngest son of Shah Esmāʿīl, full brother of Shah Ṭahmāsb, who relied on his loyalty and military valor for assistance against both his internal and external enemies.

• BAHRĀM MĪRZĀ, MOʿEZZ-AL-DAWLA

  ʿA. Navāʾī

  (d. 1882), second son of the crown prince ʿAbbās Mīrzā, minor figure in military affairs and administration.

• BAHRĀM newspaper

  L. P. Elwell-Sutton

  newspaper in Tehran, 1943-47.

• BAHRĀM O GOLANDĀM

  cross-reference

  See KĀTEBĪ.

• BAHRĀM PAŽDŪ

  Ž. Āmūzgār

  Zoroastrian poet of the 13th century. His only surviving poem celebrates spring, Nowrūz and those who had propagated the Zoroastrian religion.

• BAHRĀM SĪĀVOŠĀN

  Dj. Khaleghi-Motlagh

  (Bahrām son of Sīāvoš), in the Šāh-nāma a supporter of Bahrām Čōbīn in the power struggle during the reigns of Hormozd IV (578-90) and Ḵosrow II Parvēz (590-628).

• BAHRĀM-E GŌDARZ

  Dj. Khaleghi-Motlagh

  son of GŌDARZ, in the Šāh-nāma a hero in the reigns of Kay Kāōs and Kay Ḵosrow, renowned for his valiant service in all the wars.

• BAHRĀMĪ SARAḴSĪ

  Z. Safa

  ABU’L-ḤASAN ʿALĪ, Persian poet and literary scholar, one of the many at the court at Ḡazna in the reigns of Sultan Maḥmūd (r. 998-1030) and his sons.

• BAHRĀMĪ, FARAJ-ALLĀH

  M. Amānat

  (1878/79?-1951), DABĪR AʿẒAM, Reżā Shah’s personal secretary and an early supporter who played a key role in Reżā Shah’s control of absolute power.

• BAHRĀMŠĀH B. MASʿŪD (III)

  C. E. Bosworth

  B. EBRĀHĪM, ABU’L-MOẒAFFAR, Ghaznavid sultan in eastern Afghanistan and northwestern India (r. 1117-1157?).

• BAHRĀMŠĀH B. ṬOḠRELŠĀH

  Cross-Reference

  See SALJUQS OF KERMĀN.

• BAHRĀMŠĀH SHROFF

  cross-reference

  See BEHRAMSHAH NAOROJI SHROFF.

• BAḤRĀNĪ, AḤMAD

  E. Kohlberg

  B. MOḤAMMAD B. YŪSOF B. ṢĀLEḤ (d. 1690-91), described as the leading representative in his generation of Imami Shiʿite scholarship in Bahrain.

• BAḤRĀNĪ, HĀŠEM

  W. Madelung

  B. SOLAYMĀN (d. 1695-96), Imami Shiʿite scholar and author. The number of his books and treatises is said to have approached seventy-five.

• BAḤRĀNĪ, JAMĀL-AL-DĪN

  W. Madelung

  (also KAMĀL-AL-DĪN) ʿALĪ B. SOLAYMĀN SETRAWĪ, Imami Shiʿite scholar and philosopher inclining to mysticism (13th century).

• BAḤRĀNĪ, YŪSOF

  E. Kohlberg

  B. AḤMAD B. EBRĀHĪM DERĀZĪ (b. 1695-96, d. 1772), Imami Shiʿite author and jurisprudent.

• BAḤRAYN

  cross-reference

  See BAHRAIN.

• BAḤRĪ, MAḤMŪD

  R. M. Eaton

  Sufi and poet of the Deccan (fl. late 17th century).

• BAIDU

  Cross-Reference

  See BĀYDŪ.

• BAIEV, GAPPO

  cross-reference

  See BAYATI, GAPPO.

• BAILEY, HAROLD WALTER

  John Sheldon

  (1899-1996), one of the greatest scholars in the field of the comparative study of Iranian languages, especially notable for much ground-breaking work on the Middle Iranian Saka language of Khotan.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• BĀJ (1)

  A. V. Williams

  a principal Zoroastrian observance meaning primarily “utterance of consecration;” reference to bāj has been current in Mazdean literature since at least Sasanian times,

• BĀJ (2)

  W. Floor

  a term denoting tribute to be paid by vassals to their overlord, in which sense it is also used as a generic term “tax,” or as referring to road tolls.