Table of Contents

• ISMAʿILISM iv - x

  cross-reference

• ISMAʿILISM xi. ISMAʿILI JURISPRUDENCE

  Ismail K. Poonawala

  The Ismaʿili system of jurisprudence was founded after the establishment of the Fatimid dynasty in North Africa.

• ISMAʿILISM xii. ISMAʿILI HADITH

  Cross-Reference

  See HADITH iii.

• ISMAʿILISM xiii. ISMAʿILI LITERATURE IN PERSIAN AND ARABIC

  Ismail K. Poonawala

  Ismaʿili literature (all the written products of scholarly disciplines delineated by learning, religion, and science) refers to the literary production of more than a millennium.

• ISMAʿILISM xiv. ISMAʿILISM IN GINĀN LITERATURE

  Ali Sultaan Ali Asani

  Nezāri Ismaʿili texts from the Indian Subcontinent exhibit an adaptive response to the region’s complex religious, literary, and cultural environment.

• ISMAʿILISM xv. NEZĀRI ISMAʿILI MONUMENTS

  Peter Willey

  The principal monuments of the Nezāri Ismaʿili state, which also defined and defended its boundaries, were the exceptionally well-constructed and provisioned castles.

• ISMAʿILISM xvi. MODERN ISMAʿILI COMMUNITIES

  Azim Nanji and Zulfikar Hirji

  The Ismaʿilis consist of two main branches—the Nezāri Ismaʿilis and the Mustaʿlian Ṭayyebi Ismaʿilis. Both have their roots in the Fatimid period of Ismaʿili history.

• ISMAʿILISM xvii. THE IMAMATE IN ISMAʿILISM

  Azim Nanji

  in common with all major Shiʿite groups, the Ismaʿilis believe that the Imamate is a divinely sanctioned and guided institution.

• ISRĀʾILIYĀT

  Cross-Reference

  See QEṢAṢ AL-ANBIĀʾ.

• ISRAEL

  Multiple Authors

  : relations with Iran. OVERVIEW of the entry: i. Diplomatic and political relations. ii. The Jewish Persian community: forthcoming. iii. Iranian Studies in Israel: forthcoming. iv. Persian art collections in Israel: forthcoming.

• ISRAEL i. RELATIONS WITH IRAN

  David Menashri, Trita Parsi

  The relationship between Israel and Iran has, since the very inception of the Jewish state in 1948, been a complex function of Iran’s geo-strategic imperatives as a non-Arab, non-Sunni state.

• ISRAEL ii. JEWISH PERSIAN COMMUNITY

  David Yeroushalmi

  Jews of Persian origin and their descendants who live in the State of Israel and constitute an integral and active part of its general population.

• ISRAEL iii. IRANIAN STUDIES

  Shaul Shaked

  A department of Iranian Studies was only formally established in Israel in 1970, but scholars working in Israel have been interested in aspects of Iranian history and culture since long before that date.

• ISRAEL iv. PERSIAN ART COLLECTIONS

  RACHEL MILSTEIN

  Persian art in most of the Israeli collections represent the entire history of Iran, with a strong emphasis on the Islamic period, and including Judaic-Persian ethnography. The following article is arranged in a chronological

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• ITALY

  Multiple Authors

  : relations with Iran. Overview of the entry. i. Introduction. ii. Diplomatic and commercial relations. iii. Cultural relations. iv. Travel accounts. v. Iranian Studies, pre-Islamic. vi. Excavations in Iran. vii. Iranian Studies, Islamic period. viii. Persian manuscripts. ix. Persian art collections. x. Lirica Persica. xi. Translations of Persian works into Italian. xii. Translations of Italian works into Persian. xiii. Iranians in Italy. xiv. Current centers of Iranian Studies in Italy. xv. IsMEO

• Italy i. INTRODUCTION

  Carlo G. Cereti

  Direct relations between the Italian peninsula and the Iranian plateau date at least from the Parthian period,  when the border between the Arsacids and the Roman Empire was set on the Euphrates.

• Italy ii. DIPLOMATIC AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS

  Mario Casari

  A privileged relationship between Iran and Italy dates back to the age of the ancient Roman and Persian empires. Despite their ever-changing internal affairs, the two political centers of Europe and Asia, throughout the entire ancient time, experienced long lasting contacts.

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• Italy iii. CULTURAL RELATIONS

  Mario Casari

  during the Middle Ages, when Italy and Persia were not clearly definable cultural entities, the translated works of significant Persian literature had a great influence on Italian and European culture.

• Italy iv. TRAVEL ACCOUNTS

  Michele Bernardini, Anna Vanzan

  Italian travel accounts represent a major source for the history of Iran, especially that of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

• Italy v. IRANIAN STUDIES, PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD

  Carlo G. Cereti

  Although Italian contacts with Iran date from ancient times, scientific interest in pre-Islamic Iran cannot be traced earlier than the second half of the eighteenth century.