Table of Contents

• KĀRGOZĀR

  Morteza Nouraei

  a term used from the early 19th century until the abolishment of capitulation (kāpitulāsion) in 1927 to refer specifically to an agent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was charged with regulating relations between Iranian subjects and foreigners.

• KARIM DEVONA

  Keith Hitchins

  pen-name of Abdul-Karim Qurbon, Tajik folk poet (1878-1918).

• KARIM KHAN ZAND

  John R. Perry

  (ca. 1705-1779), “The Wakil,” ruler of Persia (except Khorasan) from Shiraz during 1751-79. The Zand were a pastoral tribe of the Lak branch of the northern Lors, ranging between the inner Zagros and the Hamadān plains, centered on the villages of Pari and Kamāzān in the vicinity of Malāyer.

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• KĀRIZ i. Terminology

  Xavier de Planhol

  underground irrigation canals, also called qanāt. The kārēz conducts water from the level of an aquifer to the open air by means of simple gravity in order to distribute it to lower areas.

• KĀRIZ ii. Technology

  Xavier de Planhol

  The technology of kārēz exploits a difference in grade between a tunnel and the groundwater table. The grade of the tunnel is less steep than the grade of the water table, so that the tunnel ends at an elevation distinctly higher than that of the water table. In Iran the average grade may be around 0.5 percent.

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• KĀRIZ iii. Economic and Social Contexts

  Xavier de Planhol

  The major significance of the kārēz lies in its continuous discharge throughout the year. In contrast, irrigation systems that rely on surface water runoff can completely cease to discharge water during the dry season. The continuous discharge, however, needs be distinguished from a constant discharge. Significant seasonal variations can be observed.

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• KĀRIZ iv. Origin and Dissemination

  Xavier de Planhol

  Far simpler techniques of water adduction involving underground channels must be clearly distinguished from kārēz, although they are often grouped together.

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• KĀRIZ v. Kārēz in the Late 20th Century and Their Prospects

  Xavier de Planhol

  In 1990 it was estimated that the kārēz technique supplied water to around 1.5 million hectares of the planet’s total irrigated surface area, which constituted only the minor portion of approximately 0.6 percent.

• KARḴEH RIVER

  Eckart Ehlers

  the third longest river in Iran after the rivers Karun and Safidrud, flowing in the western provinces of the country. It rises from the Zagros mountain range. 

• KARNĀ

  Stephen Blum

  designation of three types of musical instrument, the most prestigious being long trumpets made of brass, gold, silver, or other metals. Two regional instruments of Iran are also called karnā. Like the metal karnā, the long reed trumpet of Gilān and Māzandarān (also known as derāznāy “long reed”) lacks fingerholes and can produce only partials of the fundamental tone. 

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