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COLUMNS, one of several kinds of upright, load-bearing architectural members encompassed, along with piers, in the term sotūn (Wasmuths Lexikon, p. 485). Throughout history, wherever man has sought to enclose space, supports have been a major element in buildings, from stilted huts to great monuments. In the Near East, as…

COMMAGENE, the portion of southwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey) bordered on the east by the Euphrates river, on the west by the Taurus mountains, and on the south by the plains of northern Syria. It was part of the Achaemenid empire and its successor kingdoms and did not achieve status…

COMMERCE within Persia and between Persia and other region. i. In the prehistoric period. ii. In the Achaemenid period. iii. In the Parthian and Sasanian periods. iv. Before the Mongol conquest. v. In the Mongol and Timurid periods (see Supplement). vi. In the Safavid and Qajar periods. vii. In the Pahlavi…

 COMMERCE i. In the prehistoric period In this early period “commerce” is best defined as the movement or exchange of material or goods between cultures within the present boundaries of Persia and those in other regions. From as early as the 3rd millennium b.c.e. there is evidence of the movement…

COMMERCE ii. In the Achaemenid period In the Achaemenid period trade, both within the empire and outside it, developed on a scale previously unknown. The longest of many caravan routes was the Royal Road, which stretched for nearly 2,400 km from Sardis in Asia Minor through Mesopotamia and down the…

COMMERCE iii. In the Parthian and Sasanian periods The Parthian period. There are few contemporary sources on commerce in the Parthian period, and no archeological site on the Persian plateau has yielded finds that shed light on the subject. Some ostraca from Nisa (D’yakonov and Livshits) provide information about the…

COMMERCE iv. Before the Mongol Conquest There were no centers of trade of supraregional importance in either Persia or Central Asia during the Middle Ages. In the Islamic world Baghdad, the seat of the caliphate, was the primary center for the exchange of goods, which arrived overland or by sea…

COMMERCE vi. In the Safavid and Qajar periods Commerce under the Safavids, Afsharids, and Zands (907-1209/1501-1794) At about the same time that the Safavid state was established the Ottoman empire expanded substantially, and the Mughal empire emerged in India. The Russians extended their control to the northwestern border of Persia,…

COMMERCE vii. In the Pahlavi and post-Pahlavi periods The data Although statistics on foreign trade are among the most systematically collected economic data in Persia and official figures have been published since 1318/1900, shortly after Belgian advisers took over administration of the customs (see also belgian-iranian relations), they nevertheless present…

COMMUNICATIONS in Persia. Post, telegraph, and telephone The growth of post, telegraph, and telephone service in Persia was closely linked with the growth of railway and highway networks and other modern transportation systems; it was thus a central element in the development of a modern infrastructure in Persia. The postal…

COMMUNISM i. In Persia to 1941. ii. In Persia from 1941 to 1953. iii. In Persia after 1953. iv. In Afghanistan. v. In Tajikistan (see Supplement).

COMMUNISM i. In Persia to 1941 Origins, 1334-38/1916-20. The Persian communist movement was born among Persian immigrant workers in the Baku oilfields. In the years 1323-25/1905-07 some of them had founded Ferqa-ye ejtemāʿīyūn-e ʿāmmīyūn-e Īrān (F.E.A.I.; Social-democratic party of Iran; Chaqueri, 1978b). During World War I the more radical members…

COMMUNISM ii. In Persia from 1941 to 1953 With the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Persia and the abdication of Reżā Shah on 25 Šahrīvar 1320 Š./16 September 1941, the climate for resumption of political activities was vastly improved. Under a general amnesty political prisoners, including members of the Marxist-Leninist group led…

COMMUNISM iii. In Persia after 1953 Whereas in the previous period Persian communism had been embodied primarily in the Tudeh party, which followed the ideological and political dicta of the Soviet Union (see ii), after the coup d’etat of 1332 Š./1953 it was characterized by ideological and organizational diversity, largely owing…