Table of Contents

  • PROSODY i. Remnants of Proto-Indo-European Poetic Craft in Iranian 

    Rüdiger Schmitt

    reconstructions of a special poetic language assumed for the Proto-Indo-Europeans and their reflections in other ancient Indo-European languages including Iranian.

  • PROSODY iii. MIDDLE PERSIAN

    Gilbert Lazard

    There are remnants left of pre-Islamic poetry within western Middle Iranian languages: fragments of Manichean religious hymns, some poems preserved in the literature of Pahlavi, and poetical pieces in New Persian not following the rules of classical versification.

  • PROSODY iv. New Persian

    Cross-Reference

    The study of poetic metre and of the art of versification, including rhyme, stanzaic forms, and the quantity and stress of syllables. See ʿARUŻ.

  • PROTOTHYES

    Rüdiger Schmitt

    according to Herodotus 1.103.3 the father of the Scythian king Madýēs, who is said to have gone into battle against the Medes.

  • PSALMS, BOOK OF

    Cross-Reference

    in Iran and Central Asia. See the following entries:

    BIBLE, with multiple sub-articles on translations into Iranian languages, from pre-Islamic times to the present.

    PAHLAVI PSALTER.

    JUDEO-PERSIAN COMMUNITIES OF IRAN ix. Judeo-Persian Literature.

  • PUNJABI

    Christopher Shackle

    Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab with about 26 million speakers in India and more than 60 million in Pakistan.

  • PUR BAHĀʾ JĀMI, TĀJ-AL-DIN

    George Lane

    poet, pun master, satirist, and often scathing social commentator.

  • PURDĀWUD, EBRĀHIM

    Cross-Reference

    (1885-­1968), pioneer of studies in the religious and cultural history of Iran. See

    HISTORIOGRAPHY ix. Pahlavi Period (2) Specific Topics (b) Purdawud.

  • PURSIŠNĪHĀ

    Mahnaz Moazami

    a collection of 59 questions and answers in Avestan and Middle Persian relating to matters of Zoroastrian religion

  • PUYANDA, Moḥammad-Jaʿfar

    Jalil Doostkhah

    (1954-1998), scholar and translator of literary texts and sociological studies. He never joined any political organization or party, but was a diligent defender of democracy and freedom of speech and belief.

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