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EV-OḠLĪ (or Īv-ōḡlī), name of a family that served three Safavid kings (ʿAbbās I, Ṣafī, and ʿAbbās II) as ešīk-āqāsī-bāšī (q.v.) of the harem, for a period of twenty-seven years (1026-53/1617-43). They first appear at the court of ʿAbbās I in 1006/1598, shortly after the transfer of the capital from…

EV-OḠLĪ (Īv-ōḡlī), ḤAYDAR BEG b. Abu’l-Qāsem, a court official of the later Safavid period. His father had done secretarial work in government service (Navāʾī, p. 24). Ḥaydar Beg was an ešīk-āqāsī (q.v.) under ʿAbbās I (996-1038/1588-1629), then doorkeeper (darbān ) of the royal harem under Ṣafī I (1038-52/1629-42), then was…

EVAGRIUS PONTICUS (346-399 C.E.), prolific author of Christian literature in Greek. After passing the first part of his career as a preacher in Constantinople, Evagrius took up abode in the Egyptian desert and became one of the most renowned of its many ascetics. Evagrius’ theoretical mysticism had a strong influence…

EVIL, wickedness, harm, ill fortune. i. In Ancient Iranian Religions. ii. In Shiʿism. i. IN ANCIENT IRANIAN RELIGIONS In the eminently dualistic Zoroastrian religion the need to defeat evil was emphasized, and it was not by chance that Ahriman (q.v.) was one of the prototypes of the enemy (see DUALISM)….

EVOLUTION (takāmol, taḥawwol), a family of ideas embodying the belief that the physical universe and living organisms have developed in a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler to a higher, more complex state. A variety of mythological and speculative ideas of evolution appear in ancient Chinese, Indian, and…

ĒWĒNBED (master of manners; ʾdwynpty: KKZ 8, KNRm 25; cf. Gignoux, 1972, p. 15; also read āyēnbed), Pahlavi title attested from the 3rd century C.E. It was conferred by Bahrām II (274-93, q.v.) upon the magus Kirdēr (Gignoux, 1991, pp. 49, 69 n. 132) in connection with the charge of…

EXCAVATIONS i. In Persia ii. In Afghanistan iii. In Central Asia iv. In Chinese Turkestan

EXCAVATIONS i. In Persia This article seeks to provide a diachronic survey of the main patterns of archaeological field research in Persia from the time of the first excavations in the middle of the 19th century down to the late l990s. The role of the Persian government and its relevant…