Welcome to Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation
The Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation was established in 1990 with the mission to guarantee the Encyclopædia Iranica's intellectual independence and ensure its ongoing publication both in digital and print versions. Learn More
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Cinema Iranica
Cinema Iranica provides historical articles on movies, genres, film movements, filmographies, directors, composers, stars, cinematographers ...
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Women Poets Iranica
Women Poets Iranica is an integrative encyclopedia of postclassical, modern, and contemporary women poets.
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Encyclopædia Iranica
The Encyclopædia Iranica is a comprehensive research tool dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
Featured Articles
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FATḤ-ʿALĪ SHAH QĀJĀR
(1769-1834), second ruler of the Qajar dynasty. He transformed a largely Turkic tribal khanship into a centralized and stable monarchy on the old imperial model which brought to the Guarded Domains of Persia (mamālek-e maḥrūsa-ye Īrān) a period of relative calm and prosperity, secured a state-religious symbiosis, and fostered a period of cultural and artistic revival.
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ZODIAC
The origin and development of the idea of a zodiacal circle have been much debated, but now there is a general consensus that a kind of zodiacal belt must have been defined by Babylonian astronomers as early as 700 BCE. In this period the “path” followed by the planets, sun, and moon was divided into 15 constellations.