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BUN-XĀNAG, phrase occurring in the sentence AYK-t bwny BYTA ZNE ʾyw YHWWN (kū-t bun *xānag ēn ēw bawēd). In the inscriptions of Kirdīr at Naqš-e Rostam (KKZ and KNRm), for which W. B. Henning, in the introduction to his edition of inscription KNRm, proposed the translation “this foundation house shall…

BUNDAHIŠN, the name, meaning “Primal creation,” traditionally given to a major Pahlavi work of compilation, mainly a detailed cosmogony and cosmography based on the Zoroastrian scriptures but also containing a short history of the legendary Kayanids and Ērānšahr in their days. There is also a Ṣad dar-e Bondaheš, a considerably…

BUNTING, Basil Cheesman (b. Scotswood Upon Tyne, Northumberland 1st March 1900; d. Hexam General Hospital, Northumberland, 17 April 1985), poet, linguist, translator, journalist, diplomat, and spy. Bunting was born into a comfortable middle class family. His father, Thomas Lowe Bunting (1868-1925) was a physician and his mother, Annie Cheesman (1875-1968)…

BŪQĀ (Būqāy, Boḡā), Mongolian Boḡa, Mongol general who took part in the fighting between the il­-khans Aḥmad Takūdār (Tegüder) and Arḡūn an 683/1284 and then became the vizier. Arḡūn in his first attempt to overthrow Aḥmad suffered a defeat at Ḵabūšān near Ray in Ṣafar, 683/May, 1284, and retreated eastward to…

BŪQALAMŪN (in verse also būqalmūn), short for abūqalamūn, arabicized from Gk. hupokálamon (see Dozy, I, pp. 6-7, s.v. abūqalamūn), term applied to a variety of objects or animals exhibiting changing colors, such as (silk) fabrics, the gemstone jasper, the chameleon, and the turkey. The semantic evolution of the word in…

BŪRĀN, (Middle Pers. Bōrān) also called Ḵadīja (192-271/807-84), wife of al-Maʾmūn and daughter of Ḥasan b. Sahl, was probably so named after the Sasanian queen Bōrān (r. 29-30). At the age of ten she was betrothed to al-­Maʾmūn, but the wedding took place at her father’s residence in Fam al-Ṣelḥ…

BŪRĀNĪ (rarely būlānī), generic term for a category of Iranian dishes, now usually prepared with yogurt and cooked vegetables and served either hot or cold as main dishes, accompaniments, or salads. The term is found as early as the 5th/11th century in the poetry of Abu’l-ʿAbbās Marvazī and Nāṣer-e Ḵosrow, in…

BURBUR CASTLE, a fortified architectural complex in Hamadān Province, situated 52 km southeast of Hamadān and 33 km northeast of Malāyer (lat 34º33.5´ N, long 48º59.6´ E, elevation 1678 m). The complex consists of two separate buildings. The old castle is variously named as Burbur Qalʿa, Qalʿa-e Burburhā, and Qalʿa-e…

BURBUR TRIBE, a Lor tribe dispersed throughout Persia, especially in Azerbaijan, Varāmin, northern Khorasan, Fārs, and Kermān; some sectors have become sub-tribes of the Afšār, Bahārlu, Baḵtiāri, Hedāvand, Ḵamsa, Qašqāʾi, Turkmen and possibly others. Anthropology. An early settlement pattern, combined with gradual assimilation within several confederacies and their consequent bilingual…

BURBUR, ʿALI, ʿEẒĀM-al-MOLK (b. Malāyer, 1867; d. Arāk 1922, Figure 1), administrative and military official under the Qajars. The elder son of Ḥasan Khan Burbur Kordḵordi, a personal assistant of Nāṣer-al-Din Shah, the young ʿAli was picked as commander of a three-thousand strong cavalry unit to put down various rebellions…

BURDAR, Pahl. burdār “carrier, sustainer, bring­er,” attested in Armenian as a proper name. According to an Armenian tradition, St. Gregory the Illuminator, who converted King Tiridates and the Armenians to Christianity early in the 4th century, was the son of a Parthian nobleman of the Sūrēn family called Anak, who…

BURHANPUR (Borhānpūr), city in Madhya Pradesh (formerly Central Provinces and Berar), India (21° 18’ north latitude, 76° 8’ east longitude), on the Tapti river, 275 miles northeast of Bombay. It was founded in 801/1398-99 by the first Fārūqī ruler of Ḵāndēš, Sultan Nāṣer Khan (r. 801-41/1399-1437); he named it after…

BURIAL i. Pre-Achaemenid burial sites. ii. Remnants of burial practices in ancient Iran. iii. In Zoroastrianism. iv. In Islam. v. In Bahai communities.   Search terms:  تدفین tadfin    

BURIAL i. Pre-Historic Burial Sites The earliest human skeletal remains found in Persia date from before the 8th millennium B.C. They have been excavated at several cave dwelling sites: Hotu Cave (Angel) and Belt Cave (Coon, 1951a, pp. 199-207; 1951b, pp. 81-92; 1952, pp. 231-49), both on the south­eastern shore…

BURIAL ii. Remnants of Burial Practices in Ancient Iran The burial practices of pre-Islamic Iran are known partly from archeological evidence, partly from the Zoroastrian scriptures, namely the Avesta and the later Pahlavi and Persian literature. Both should be viewed in light of the other. The original meaning of the…