KHORASAN, a historical region with varying boundaries, as well as a provincial region comprising the northeastern part of Iran in modern times. The term Khorasan, country of the “rising sun,” had a much wider designation in pre- and early-Islamic times, covering parts of what are now Russia, Central Asia, and Afghanistan. Since 2004, Khorasan has been divided administratively into three smaller provinces: Ḵorāsān-e Rażawi, Ḵorāsān-e Šemāli, and Ḵorāsān-e Jonubi, with their administrative capitals at Mashhad, Bojnurd, and Birjand, respectively. This series of articles survey the history of Khorasan in the broad sense of “Greater Khorasan” as well as the history and culture of Iranian or “Inner Khorasan.”
See also entries on relevant cities, districts, and geography (e.g., ABARŠAHR, ABIVARD, ĀLĀ DĀḠ, ALLĀHO AKBAR, ANDARĀB, ASFEZĀR, ATRAK, ĀZĀDVĀR, BĀḴARZ, BALḴ, BAYHAQ, BESṬĀM, BIDOḴT, BINĀLUD, BIRJAND, BOJNURD, BUKHARA, ČĀČ, ČAḠĀNIĀN, DANDĀNQĀN, DARRAGAZ, ESFARĀYEN, FARĀVA, FARḠĀNA, FĀRYĀB, FARYUMAD, FERDOWS, FIRUZKUH, FUŠANJ, GAZNI, GĀZORGĀH, GONĀBĀD, ḠUR, HERAT, JĀM, JOVAYN, JOWZJĀN, KALĀT-E NĀDERI, ḴOTTAL, MARV, MASHHAD, NISHAPUR, OSTOVĀ).
iii. Historical Geography in the Late Sasanid-Early Islamic Periods
iv. The Arab Conquest and Omayyad Period
v. History in the ʿAbbasid Period
vi. History in the Taherid and Samanid Periods
vii. History from the Ghaznavids to the Mongol Conquest
viii. History from the Mongol Conquest to the Timurids
ix. History in the Timurid Period
x. History in the Safavid and Afsharid Periods
xi. History in the Qajar and Pahlavi Periods
xii. History in the Islamic Republic Period
xiii. Khorasan in Modern Islamist Ideology
xiv. Ethnology of Qajar and Pahlavi Khorasan
xv. The Babi-Baha’i Community in Khorasan
xvi. The Jewish Community of Khorasan
xvii. The Kurdish Communities of Khorasan
xviii. Physical Geography of Khorasan
xix. Linguistic Features of Khorasani Persian
xxi. Jewish Dialects of Khorasan
xxii. Arabic Dialects of Khorasan
xxiii. Turkic Dialects of Khorasan