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KĀŠI, MUSĀ KHAN (also known as “Kāšāni”; b. Kashan, 1856; d. Kashan, 1939), Jewish master of Persian classical music, teacher, and innovative kamānča player also known for his mellow singing voice. He received the honorific title of khan from Masʿud Mirzā Žell-al-Solṭān (1850-1919), son of Nāṣer-al-Din Shah Qājār (r. 1848-96) and…

ḴAṢIBI, ḤOSAYN B. ḤAMDĀN AL-JONBALĀNI, ABU ʿABD-ALLĀH (d. 969), founder of Noṣayrism. The mystical Shiʿite sect whose present-day followers in Syria and southern Turkey call themselves ʿAlawis (Turk. Alevis), became widespread throughout Iraq and Syria as it was backed by the Ḥamdānids of Aleppo (r. 944-1004) and the Buyids of…

KAŠK (Ar. kešk, Turk. keşk), Persian term used primarily for a popular processed dairy food but also applied to various grain products, both in Iran and widely in the Middle East. TERMINOLOGY Iranian languages. In Middle Persian the word kašk is attested in the Pahlavi text Xusraw ud rēdag (sec….

KAŠKUL-E ŠAYḴ BAHĀʾI, the title of a large literary anthology compiled by Shaikh Bahāʾ-al-Din Moḥammad ʿĀmeli, commonly known as Shaikh Bahāʾi, the gifted polymath and leading jurist of the Safavid empire during most of the reign of Shah ʿAbbās I (r. 1587-1629). Shaikh Bahāʾi, born in Baalbek in what is…

KAŠKULI BOZORG, one of the five major tribes of the Qashqāʾi (Qašqāʾi) tribal confederacy of Fārs province. Its name is probably derived from kaškul, a word of Arabic origin, but used in both Persian and Turkish, to denote a bowl, or hollowed-out gourd, carried by shepherds or mendicant dervishes. Some…

KASMĀʾI, MIRZĀ ḤOSAYN (b. Kasmā, 1862; d. Kasmā, 1921), a constitutionalist active in the revolutionary movement in Gilan (1915-20), led by Mirzā Kuček Khan Jangali (see JANGALI MOVEMENT). His father, Āqā Moḥammad- Ebrāhim, a merchant active in Rasht, was born in the village of Kasmā. As a youngster, Mirzā Ḥosayn…

KAŠMIRI, BADR-AL-DIN, a prolific writer active in Central Asia during the second half of the 16th century; he was closely linked with the eminent Juybāri shaikhs of Boḵārā, Ḵᵛāja Moḥammad Eslām (d. 1563) and his son Ḵᵛāja Saʿd (d. 1589), and with their patron, ʿAbd-Allāh Khan b. Eskandar (r. 1583-98)….

KASRAVI, AḤMAD (احمد کسروی)(b. Tabriz, 29 September 1890; d. Tehran, 11 March 1946; Figure 1), influential social thinker, prominent historian, a pioneer of Iran’s linguistic studies, well-known social and religious reformer with a sense of prophetic mission, and prolific author.  This entry is divided into the following seven articles:  i. Life and…

KASRAVI, AḤMAD i. Life and Work Early life. Kasravi was born in Ḥokmāvār, a poor rural quarter in the suburbs of Tabriz, to Ḥāji Mir Qāsem, a small merchant in a family of religious functionaries. He entered a traditional school (maktab; see education iii) at the age of six in…

KASRAVI, AḤMAD ii. Assassination of Kasravi The occupation of Iran by Allied forces (September 1941) and the forced abdication of Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925-41) inadvertently encouraged limited social and political freedoms, which allowed publication of books and newspapers and formation of active social, political, and religious organizations previously prohibited….

KASRAVI, AḤMAD iii. As Historian At the time when Kasravi began to write history, most historical research in Iran was carried out within the framework of political historiography with a nationalist purpose. A goodly number of historians were engaged in tracing the traditional history of Iran (which, following the mythological…

KASRAVI, AḤMAD v. As Social and Religious Reformer During the last five years of his life, Kasravi founded the “Society of Free Men” (Bāhamād-e āzādegān), announced his call for pākdini (pure faith)—born out of his sense of prophetic mission—and became the most outspoken intellectual against religious superstition and illusion. More…

KASRAVI, AḤMAD vi. On Mysticism and Persian Sufi Poetry By the turn of the 20th century the Sufi tradition in Iran no longer enjoyed the popularity and following that it attracted in previous centuries. This was due to a number of factors, including modernizing and centralizing tendencies that increased in…