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FICTION ii(h). IN TAJIKISTAN Tajik fiction in the 20th century has drawn from a variety of sources. Classical and modern Persian literature and Tajik folklore provided the foundations, while Russian and Soviet literature and the Communist economic and social system offered Tajik writers new means of expression and new subject…

FIG (anjīr), the “fruit” of several species and subspecies of Ficus L. (fam. Moraceae) in the geobotanical area covered by K. H. Rechinger’s Flora Iranica (q.v.). However, the edible varieties of anjīr (yellow, greenish, dark violet, bī-dāna “seedless,” etc.) offered fresh on the market are produced mainly by the cultivated…

FIGUEROA, GARCÍA DE SILVA Y, Spanish diplomat and traveler (b. Zafra, Badajoz, December 1550; d. at sea on the return from Persia, 22 July 1624). Figueroa served Philip II during the war in Flanders and subsequently became governor of Badajoz. In 1614 he was sent as Philip III’s ambassador to…

FILIPPI, FILIPPO DE (1814-1867), a professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at Turin University. He was the director of the scientific group affiliated with the first official mission that the newborn Kingdom of Italy sent to Persia in 1862 in order to re-establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. Upon…

FIRE ALTARS, a survey of sites (Figure 1). Fire altar is a term adopted by modern researchers to designate the stand upon which sacred fire was placed. Strictly speaking, the designation “fire altar” is incorrect, since the structure was not used to receive a sacrifice, but simply to hold the…