Table of Contents

• IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (3) Chronological Table

  Ehsan Yarshater

  A chronological table of events. This records major happenings of Iranian pre-history and history from the most ancient times to 2005.

• IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (4) Index of Proper Names

  Ehsan Yarshater

  Index of proper names that occur in the chronological table.

• IRAN iii. TRADITIONAL HISTORY

  Ehsan Yarshater

  Before assimilating the results of European research on Persian history, the Iranians were in possession of a historical tradition that combined a mixture of myth, legend, and factual history.

• IRAN iv. MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  John R. Hinnells

  In the study of religion, myths are seen as narratives which encapsulate fundamental truths about the nature of existence, god(s), God(s), the universe. They explain the origin of the world or of a tribe or of a ritual.

• IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (1) A General Survey

  R. N. Frye

  The term “Iranian” may be understood in two ways. It is, first of all, a linguistic classification, intended to designate any society which inherited or adopted, and transmitted, an Iranian language.

• IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (2) Pre-Islamic

  C. J. Brunner

  This survey focuses on the early phase of the Iranian-speaking peoples’ presence on the plateau, during the early state-building phase.

• IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (3). Islamic Period

  cross-reference

  See Supplement.

• IRAN vi. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS

  Prods Oktor Skjærvø

  The term “Iranian language” is applied to any language which is descended from a proto-Iranian parent language (unattested by texts) spoken, presumably, in Central Asia in the late 3rd to early 2nd millennium BCE.

• IRAN vi. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS (1) Earliest Evidence

  Prods Oktor Skjærvø

  The Indo-Aryan and Iranian tribes separated about 2000 BCE., but attempts to correlate the proto-Indo-Iranians with archeological sites are all problematic.

• IRAN vi. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS (2) Documentation

  Prods Oktor Skjærvø

  Iranian languages are known from roughly three periods, commonly termed Old, Middle, and New (Modern).