Table of Contents

• KARRĀMIYA

  Aron Zysow

  the adherents to a theological and legal movement with a broad following in Khorasan and Afghanistan from the 10th to the 13th centuries, with its intellectual center in Nishapur (Nišāpur). 

• KARSĀSP

  Prods Oktor Skjærvø

  Avestan dragon-slayer, son of Sāma, and eschatological hero. In the Pahlavi and Zoroastrian Persian traditions, several heroic feats are connected with him.

• KARSĪVAZ

  Prods Oktor Skjærvø, Mahmoud Omidsalar

  in the old Iranian epic tradition the brother of the Turanian king, Afrāsiāb, and the man most responsible for the murder of the Iranian prince Siāvaš. 

• KART DYNASTY

  Cross-Reference

  See ĀL-E KART.

• KARTIR

  Prods Oktor Skjærvø

  a prominent Zoroastrian priest  in the second half of the 3rd century CE, known from his inscriptions and mentioned in Middle Persian, Parthian, and Coptic Manichean texts.

• KARTLI

  George Sanikidze

  region occupying most of eastern Georgia. The original name of Georgia (Sakartvelo) and the Georgian people (Kartvelebi) derive from Kartli. 

• KARUN RIVER i. Geography and Hydrology, ii

  Habib Borjian

  the largest river and the only navigable waterway in Iran. It rises in the Baḵtiāri Zagros mountains west of Isfahan, flows out of the central Zagros range, traverses the Khuzestan plain, and joins the Shatt al-Arab. before the latter discharges into the Persian Gulf.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KARUN RIVER iii. The Opening of the Karun

  Shabaz Shahnavaz

  With the intensification of the Anglo-Russian rivalry in the late 1800s over Iran’s geopolitical position and commercial resources, Great Britain began to exert immense pressure on the shah’s government to provide it with access to the Karun trade route. 

• KĀŠĀNI, ʿABD-AL-RAZZĀQ KHAN

  Mangol Bayat

  18th-century governor of Kashan under the Zand dynasty. 

• KĀŠĀNI, SAYYED ABU’L-QĀSEM

  Ali Rahnema

  (1877-1962), the leading political cleric during the critical period of 1941-53. Until the departure of Reza Shah in 1941, Kāšāni stayed on the sidelines of domestic Iranian politics. The 21-year-old Mohammad Reza Shah ascended to his father’s throne on 16 September. On 8 October, Kāšāni voiced his grievances to Moḥammad ʿAli Foruḡi, the prime minister. In a letter, Kāšāni emphasized the necessity of applying the “divine laws.”

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KĀŠEF ŠIRĀZI

  J. T . P. de Bruijn

  Persian writer on ethics and poet of the Safavid period (b. Karbalā, ca. 1592; d. Ray, ca. 1653). 

• KĀŠEF-AL-ḠEṬĀʾ, JAʿFAR

  Hamid Algar

  (1743-1812), Shiʿi scholar and jurist, broadly influential in both Iraq and Persia. His cognomen, meaning “remover of the veil,” alludes to one of his best known works.

• KĀŠEF-AL-ḠEṬĀʾ, MOḤAMMAD ḤOSAYN

  Hamid Algar

  (1877-1954), descendant of the great Shiʿite jurist of the early Qajar period, Sheikh Jaʿfar Kāšef-al-Ḡeṭāʾ, prodigious and versatile author, teacher, and lecturer.

• KĀŠEF-AL-SALṬANA

  Ranin Kazemi

  also known as Čāykār (tea planter), Qajar diplomat, reformer, author, constitutionalist, and promoter of tea cultivation (1865-1929)

• KĀŠEFI

  Osman G. Özgüdenlı

  (d. 15th century), author of the epic poem Ḡazā-nāma-ye Rum on the lives of the Ottoman sultans Morād II (r. 1421-44 and 1446-51) and Moḥammad II (r. 1444-46 and 1451-81).

• KĀŠEFI, KAMĀL-AL-DIN ḤOSAYN WĀʿEẒ

  M. E . Subtelny

  prolific prose-stylist of the Timurid era, religious scholar, Sufi figure, and influential preacher (b. Sabzavār, ca. 1436-37; d. Herat, 1504-5).

• KĀSEMI, NOṢRAT-ALLĀH

  Mostafa Alamouti and EIr.

  (1908-1996), physician, poet, writer, orator, and politician.

• KAŠF AL-ASRĀR

  Cross-reference

  wa ʿoddat al-abrār of Abu’l-Fażl Rašid-al-Dīn Meybodi. See MEYBODI. Forthcoming.

• KAŠF AL-LOḠĀT WA’L-EṢṬELĀḤĀT

  Solomon Bayevsky

  (Revealing [of the meaning] of words and terminology), title of a Persian dictionary compiled in India before 1608.

• KAŠF AL-MAḤJUB of Hojviri

  Jawid Mojaddedi

  the only surviving work of Abu’l-Ḥasan ʿAli b. ʿOṯmān Hojviri (d. between 1073 and 1077) and the oldest surviving independent manual of Sufism written in Persian.

• KAŠF AL-MAḤJUB of Sejzi

  Hermann Landolt

  (“Unveiling the hidden”), the Persian version of an Ismaʿili treatise originally written in Arabic by the 10th century dāʾi. 

• KAŠF AL-ẒONUN

  Kioumars Ghereghlou

  (“Unveiling of suppositions”), a major bibliographical dictionary in Arabic, composed by Kāteb Čelebi Moṣṭafā b. ʿAbd-Allāh, also known as Ḥāji Ḵalifa (1609-57).

• KAŠF O ŠOHUD

  Cyrus Ali Zargar

  (“unveiling and witnessing”), terms commonly used by Muslim mystics to describe the acquisition of esoteric knowledge and the constant first-hand encountering of the divine presence. 

• KAŠF-E ḤEJĀB

  Cross-reference

  See VEILING AND UNVEILING. Forthcoming.

• KAŠFI, MIR MOḤAMMAD ṢĀLEḤ ḤOSAYNI

  Sunil Sharma

  (d. 1651), calligrapher and poet in Mughal India. Authored several works in verse and prose.

• KĀŠḠARI, SAʿD-AL-DIN

  Hamid Algar

  (d. 1456), propagator of the Naqšbandi order in Timurid Herat, noteworthy primarily as the initiator ofʿAbd-al-Raḥmān Jāmi into the path.

• KASHAN

  Multiple Authors

  historical city and a sub-province of the province of Isfahan on the north-south axial route of central Iran (lat 33° 59ʹ 30ʹʹ N, long 51° 27ʹ 00ʹʹ E; elev. 950 m).

• KASHAN i. GEOGRAPHY

  Habibollah Zanjani and EIr.

  Covering an area of approximately 9,647 km2, the sub-province of Kashan is situated between the Karkas mountains on the west to the Central Desert on the east.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KASHAN ii. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

  Xavier de Planhol

  Geographic foundations and the origins of the urban area. To the northeast of the well-watered mountain ranges of western and southern Iran, a line of bountiful oases which have given rise to important urban areas stretches along the piedmont bordering the desert basins of central and southeastern Iran.

• KASHAN iii. HISTORY

  Pending

  Pending online.

• KASHAN iv. POPULATION

  Habibollah Zanjani

  Approximately 90 percent of the Kashan Sub-province population lives in the city of Kashan, so the demographic data for the sub-province closely resembles that of the city.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KASHAN v. ARCHITECTURE (1) URBAN DESIGN

  Mohammad- Reza Haeri and EIr.

  The city of Kashan, similar to other older Iranian cities, preserved its traditional architectural features and urban design into the early 20th century.

• KASHAN v. ARCHITECTURE (2) HISTORICAL MONUMENT

  Mohammad- Reza Haeri and EIr.

  This section briefly describes nine landmark monuments of Kashan.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KASHAN v. ARCHITECTURE (3) TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE

  Mohammad- Reza Haeri and EIr.

  In line with the trend towards modernization in Iran’s recent history, most residential houses built by the middle classes in Kashan since 1950 comprise all or some of the following units: entrance, courtyard, living room, reception room, kitchen, lavatory, bath, bedroom, storage, staircase, and hall.

• KASHAN v. ARCHITECTURE (4) HISTORIC MANSIONS

  EIr.

  The city of Kashan boasts at least nineteen historic mansions that are well preserved; they are presented in the first volume of the Ganjnameh devoted to these structures.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KASHAN vi. THE ESBANDI FESTIVAL

  Habib Borjian

  An elaborate festival held in the Kashan region on the eve of the month Esfand.

• KASHAN vii. KASHAN WARE

  Pending

  Kashan ware will be discussed in a future online entry.

• KASHAN viii. RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES (1) JEWISH COMMUNITY

  Mehrdad Amanat

  This sub-entry is devided into two sections: (1) Jewish community. (2) Bahai community.

• KASHAN viii. RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES (2) BAHAI COMMUNITY

  Mehrdad Amanat

  Like many Bahai communities in Iran, Kashan Bahais can trace their roots to the early years of the Babi movement.

• KASHAN ix. THE MEDIAN DIALECTS OF KASHAN

  Habib Borjian

  This sub-entry is divided into two sections: (1) Rural Rāji dialects. (2) Urban Jewish dialect.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KASHAN ix. THE MEDIAN DIALECTS OF KASHAN (2) URBAN JEWISH DIALECT

  Habib Borjian

  Kashan may be characterized as exclusively Persian speaking and Muslim from the time when the city was abandoned by its Jewry, who spoke a variety of Central dialects.

• KASHGAR

  Pavel Lurje

  (Kāšḡar), town in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwestern China, in the westernmost extremity of the Tarim Basin.

• KASHMIR

  Multiple Authors

  This entry is divided into five articles: i. Introduction. ii. Persian language in Kashmir. iii. Persian language in the state administration. iv. Persian elements in Kashmiri. v. Persian influence on Kashmiri art.

• KASHMIR i. INTRODUCTION

  Siegfried Weber

  Iranian influence in and beyond the region of Kashmir is a long-term phenomenon. Inscriptions in Sogdian, Parthian, and Middle Persian demonstrate pre-Islamic contacts there with Iranian-speakers.

• KASHMIR ii. PERSIAN LANGUAGE IN KASHMIR

  Siegfried Weber

  Persian was the basis of administrations all over western Asia and the highly prestigious language at the courts. Hence, Persian learning radiated into Kashmir and found a fertile soil after the initial impulse.

• KASHMIR iii. PERSIAN LANGUAGE IN THE STATE ADMINISTRATION

  Siegfried Weber

  Officially Persian became the court language in Kashmir during the 14th and 15th centuries.

• KASHMIR iv. Persian Elements in Kashmiri

  Omkar N. Koul

  This entry discusses the nature and extent of Persian influence on the Kashmiri language. The influence of one language on another primarily takes place as a result of linguistic contact.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• KASHMIR v. PERSIAN INFLUENCE ON KASHMIRI ART

  Mehrdad Shokoohy

  The Iranian influence on the art and architecture of Kashmir is indirect, appearing in ancient times via Hellenistic and Kushan culture and later through Muslim India. 

• KASHTARITI

  M. Dandamayev

  (kaš-ta-ri-ti, Old Iranian Khshathrita), a city lord of Karkashshi in the Central Zagros mountains. during the reign of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680–669 BCE).

• KĀŠI

  Cross-Reference

  and Kāšisāzi. See CERAMICS xiv. THE ISLAMIC PERIOD, 11TH-15TH CENTURIES.