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COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY i. In Zoroastrianism/Mazdaism The “orthodox” myth. The extant Avesta contains no systematic exposition of the cosmological beliefs of the people among whom it was composed and who eventually brought Zoroastrianism to western Iran. Such expositions are known only from much later, in the Pahlavi tradition of the…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY ii. In Mithraism The cosmogony and cosmology of Mithraism, the mystery cult centered on the god Mithras, which flour­ished in the Roman empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E., are difficult to determine for two rea­sons. First, the sacred texts of the cult have all perished,…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY iii. In Manicheism Manicheism, like contemporary Zoroastrianism and various gnostic sects, offered a detailed cosmogonic myth, or cosmology. Although Mani (b. Babylon 216, executed probably 277 through the machinations of the Zoroastrian clergy and the high priest Kerdīr) claimed that his teaching would provide answers to all…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY iv. In the Mazdakite religion The most important source for modern knowledge of Mazdakite cosmogony is the description of the Mazdakite religion in Ketāb al-melal wa’l-neḥal, writ­ten by Abu’l-Fatḥ Moḥammad b. ʿAbd-al-Karīm Šahrestānī (pp. 192-94; tr. pp. 663-66), in 624/1227, several hundred years after the period in…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY v. In Twelver Shiʿism Imami traditions contain a chaotic abundance of material portraying the origin and structure of the universe. Book XIV, “On the heavens and the earth,” of Moḥammad-Bāqer Majlesī’s Beḥār al-anwār, fills ten volumes (LVII-LXVI) in the most recent edition and contains several thousand traditions;…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY vi. In Ismaʿilism Ismaʿili cosmology evolved in four major stages. Stage 1. Pre-Fatimid doctrine, dating from the sec­ond half of the 9th century, seems to have been propa­gated mainly orally and is known only summarily, mostly from later texts. It reflects a cosmological myth of gnostic character,…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY vii. In Shaikhism It is in some respects redundant to speak of a “Shaikhi cosmology” distinct from that of Imami Shiʿism as a whole (see v, above). Shaikhi ideas never developed independently of ordinary Shiʿite thought but were either part of it (during the lifetime of Shaikh…

COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY viii. In the Bahai faith Bahai cosmology can be considered to be based on three interrelated statements of Bahāʾ-Allāh. First, the human mind is strictly finite and limited in knowledge and understanding (1984, no. 26, p. 49; tr. p. 62). Second, no absolute knowledge of God or…

COSSACK BRIGADE (Berīgād-e qazzāq), a cavalry unit in the Persian army established in 1296/1879 on the model of Cossack units in the Russian army. It began as a regiment but within a few months was expanded to a brigade composed of two regiments; it was expanded still further during World…

COSSAEANS (Lat. Cossaei, Gk. Kossaîoi), a tribe of mountain people settled in western Iran; their land was called Cossaea/Kossaîa (attested in Diodorus, 17.111.5; Strabo, 16.1.17; Stephanus Byzantius, s.v.). Although this ethnonym is frequently mentioned in classical sources, the ancient ethnographers, geogra­phers, and historians seem to have had only a very…

COTTAM, Richard, political scientist and Iranist (1925-1997; FIGURE 1). A native of Provo, Utah, Cottam received his B.A. degree from the University of Utah in 1948, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1954. He joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh in 1958, and spent the rest of…

COTTON, (panba < Mid. Pers. pambag; katān; in Isfahan kolūza; genus Gossypium), particularly the short-staple species Gossypium herbaceum, is cultivated in almost all parts of Persia, and is of great economic importance both for home consumption and for export. i. Introduction. ii. Production and trade in Persia. iii. In Afghanistan.

COTTON i. Introduction Cotton (panba < Mid. Pers. pambag; katān; in Isfa­han kolūza; genus Gossypium), particularly the short-staple species Gossypium herbaceum, is cultivated in almost all parts of Persia, and is of great economic importance both for home consumption and for export. It has, in fact, been a decisive factor...

COTTON ii. Production and Trade in Persia Cotton was one of the first vegetable fibers used to make textiles, and, despite competition from synthetic fibers in recent times, it remains the most important nonfood agricultural commodity in the world. Early traces of cotton have been found in materials from tombs…