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CATECHISMS, treatises for instruction in the fundamental tenets of a religious faith, cast in the form of questions and answers. In this article Zoroastrian catechisms are discussed. For Islamic “catechisms” in Persia see Šaṛʿǰyāt. Catechisms in the strict sense are rare in the extant Zoroastrian literature and do not constitute…

CATHARS, ALBIGENSIANS, and BOGOMILS (Focusing on the possible influence of Manichaean ideas among these sects.) The commonly held view that late classical Manichaeism experienced a revival in the eleventh century, and that in the three and half centuries between 1000 and 1350 it spread in Europe, where its followers were…

ČATR, parasol or umbrella, an attribute of royalty in Iran. The word čatr, which is borrowed from Sanskrit chattrá- “parasol, umbrella,” is found in classical Persian literature from Ferdowsī onward. In poetry it is frequently used in metaphors, such as čatr-e rūz/nūr/zarrīn “the parasol of day/light, the golden parasol,” all…

CATTLE. The word “cattle” has no precise equivalent in Iranian languages, in which bovines are commonly designated by the words for “cow,” “bull,” and “calf,” for instance, Persian gāv (cow), gāv-e nar (bull), gūsāla (calf), varzā(v) (working ox) and Pashto γwā, fem. γwāya. i. General. ii. In Zoroastrianism. i. General…

CAUCASUS AND IRAN. The Iranian world is bordered in the northwest by the high mountain barrier of the Caucasus, which separates it from the vast Russian plains beyond. In relief, structure, and ecology the Caucasus constitutes a clear frontier between eastern Europe and western Asia, though it is more closely…

CAUCASUS and Iran. Physical Geography, Population, and Economy I. Physical geography. Relief and structure. The Caucasus range (the Great Caucasus in Russian terminology) is about 1,100 km long, extending from the vicinity of the Taman (or Anapa) peninsula to the Apsheron peninsula, on an axis oriented west-northwest to east-southeast. Its…

CAUCASUS and Iran. ii. Language Contact Languages of the Caucasus. The linguistic map of the Caucasus is extremely variegated. The following language families are represented: 1. Caucasian (or Ibero-Caucasian) languages is the designation of those languages of the area that do not belong to any other known family of languages. They…

CAUCASUS and Iran. iii. ACHAEMENID RULE IN Achaemenid rule in the Caucasus region was established, at the latest, in the course of the Scythian campaign of Darius I in 513-12 BCE. The Persian domination of the cis-Caucasian area (the northern side of the range) was brief, and archeological findings indicate…

CAUTES AND CAUTOPATES, the two dadophoroi or torch bearers who often flank Mithras in the bull-slaying scene and who are sometimes shown in the birth scenes of Mithras. They are normally shown with Cautes holding an upraised torch, Cautopates with lowered torch. Sometimes they both hold a pedum or shepherd’s…

ČĀV (Čao, from Chinese ch’ao “paper money, assignat”; Mathews’ Chinese-English Dictionary, no. 258), paper currency issued in Mongol Iran in 693/1294. The sources are agreed that the experiment was a response to a crisis brought on by soaring government expenditure under the extravagant il-khan Gaiḵatu (Gayḵātū), though Waṣṣāf adds as…

CAVES OF THE THOUSAND BUDDHAS, Ch’ien Fo Tung (Qianfodong), a large group of grottoes and cave temples carved out of Ming-sha hill in the southeastern Tun-huang (Dunhuang) district of Kansu (Gansu) province, China. Between the 4th and 10th centuries Tun-huang was a gateway between China and the Silk Road across…

CAVIAR, ḵāvīar in Persian, the processed non-fertilized roe of sturgeons (q.v.) and some other large fishes, highly valued as a gourmet delicacy. According to W. Eilers, the Persian name is the alteration or the variant of Pers. ḵāya-dār, lit. “having egg(s),” standing for māhī-e ḵāya-dār, lit. “egg-bearing fish” (i.e., sturgeon;…

ČĀVOŠ or ČĀVŪŠ, originally Turkish word (Kāšḡārī, I, p. 307; Radloff, III, col. 1935; Doerfer, III, pp. 35-38) used in classical Persian texts with the meanings of 1. army commander; 2. master of ceremony or person in charge of the servants; 3. caravan leader; or, more specifically, 4. a guide…