Table of Contents

  • COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY vii. In Shaikhism

    Denis M. MacEoin

    It is in some respects redundant to speak of a “Shaikhi cosmology” distinct from that of Imami Shiʿism as a whole. Shaikhi ideas never developed independently of ordinary Shiʿite thought but were either part of it or in dialogue or conflict with it.

  • COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY viii. In the Bahai faith

    Moojan Momen

    First, the human mind is strictly finite and limited in knowledge and understanding. Second, no absolute knowledge of God or reality or the cosmos is therefore available to man. Third, from the above it follows that all conceptualizations and attempts by men to portray cosmology are “but a reflection of what has been created within themselves.”

  • COSSACK BRIGADE

    Muriel Atkin

    a cavalry unit in the Persian army established in 1879 on the model of Cossack units in the Russian army. The formation of the Cossack Brigade was part of a larger process in which the Persian government, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, engaged various European soldiers to train units of the Persian armed forces.

    This Article Has Images/Tables.

  • COSSAEANS

    Rüdiger Schmitt

    a tribe of mountain people settled in western Iran; their land was called Cossaea/Kossaîa.

  • COSTE, Pascal-Xavier

    Cross-Reference

    (1787-1879), French architect, famous for the illustrated account of his travels in Persia. See FLANDIN AND COSTE.

  • COTTAM, Richard

    Susan Siavoshi

    political scientist and Iranist (1925-1997).

    This Article Has Images/Tables.

  • COTTON

    Multiple Authors

    Cotton (panba < Mid. Pers. pambag; katān; in Isfahan kolūza; genus Gossypium), particularly the short-staple species Gossypium herbaceum, is cultivated in almost all parts of Persia, and is of great economic importance both for home consumption and for export.

  • COTTON i. Introduction

    Eckart Ehlers and Ahmad Parsa

    Cotton (panba < Mid. Pers. pambag; katān; in Isfa­han kolūza; genusGossypium), particularly the short-staple species Gossypium herbaceum, is cultivated in almost all parts of Persia, and is of great economic importance both for home consumption and for export.

  • COTTON ii. Production and Trade in Persia

    Hassan Hakimian

    Cotton was one of the first vegetable fibers used to make textiles, and, despite competition from synthetic fibers in recent times, it remains the most important nonfood agricultural commodity in the world.

  • COTTON iii. In Afghanistan

    Daniel Balland

    Two Iranian words, paḵta (< Tajik) and pomba (Pers. panba < Pahl. pambag), are currently used in Afghani­stan to designate raw cotton. Most people use them fairly indiscriminately, but specialists tend to confine the former to unginned, or seed, cotton and the latter to ginned, or fiber, cotton (Pashto mālūǰ/č).

  • COUP D’ETAT OF 1299/1921

    Niloofar Shambayati

    the military coup that eventually led to the founding of the Pahlavi dynasty.

  • COUP D’ETAT OF 1332 Š./1953

    Mark J. Gasiorowski

    the appointment of Moḥammad Moṣaddeq as prime minis­ter of Persia on 9 Ordībehešt 1330 Š./29 April 1951 and the nationalization two days later of Persia’s British-owned oil industry initiated a period of tense confrontation between the Persian and British govern­ments.

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS

    Multiple Authors

    Courts and courtiers i. In the Median and Achaemenid periods, ii. In the Parthian and Sasanian periods, iii. In the Islamic period to the Mongol conquest, iv. Under the Mongols, v. Under the Timurid and Turkman dynasties, vi. In the Safavid period, vii. In the Qajar period, viii. In the reign of Reżā Shah Pahlavī, ix. In the reign of Moḥammad-Reżā Shah. See SUPPLEMENT, x. Court poetry

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS i. In the Median and Achaemenid periods

    Muhammad A. Dandamayev

    From Herodotus’ report of the child Cyrus’ playing at being king it seems that the Median court included bodyguards, messengers, the “king’s eye," and builders, for it is likely that the game was modeled on the existing court.

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS ii. In the Parthian and Sasanian periods

    Philippe Gignoux

    In the absence of records, a full picture of court life under the Parthians and Sasanians cannot be pieced together.

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS iii. In the Islamic period to the Mongol conquest

    C. E. Bosworth

    In Persia the organization of courts (Pers. bār, bādrgāh, dargāh, darbār; in Arabic, there exists no more precise designation than majles, lit. “session”), including the formation of a circle of courtiers in the early centuries after the Islamic conquest, was directly inspired by the court life of the ʿAbbasid caliphs at Baghdad and Sāmarrāʾ.

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS iv. Under the Mongols

    Peter Jackson

    During the early stages of the Mongol presence Persia was ruled, on behalf of the great khan (qaḡan, qaʾan/qāʾān) in Mongolia, by military governors based in Azerbaijan and in Khorasan, but, with the coming of Hülegü (Hūlāgū) in 654/1256 and the establishment of the Il-khanid state, the country was once again the seat of a resident sovereign.

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS v. Under the Timurid and Turkman dynasties

    Monika Gronke

    Timurid and Turkman rulers and princes established outside of Samarquand and built them into important political and especially religious and cultural centers.

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS vi. In the Safavid period

    Roger M. Savory

    The organization of the court and its administration.

  • COURTS AND COURTIERS vii. In the Qajar period

    Abbas Amanat

    The court (darbār, darbār-e aʿẓam, dar(b)-e ḵāna) in the Qajar period was essentially organized on the ancient Perso-Turkish model inherited from the Safavid and Zand courts but with modifications in practice and function largely designed to accommo­date the Qajars’ nomadic habits.