Explore Iranica

KIDARITES, a dynasty which ruled Tukharistan and later Gandhāra, probably also part of Sogdiana; the initial date is disputed (c. 390 CE for some modern authors, c. 420-430 for others), while the final period is better documented (loss of Tukharistān to the Hepththalites in 467, residual North Indian kingdom, perhaps…

KIEFFER, CHARLES MARTIN (b. Cernay, 4 February 1923; d. Cernay, 14 June 2015), French linguist and ethnographer of Afghanistan most remarkable for his study of endangered languages. Taking an ethnolinguistic approach, he was very attentive to dialectal particularities and to areal contacts. Born in Cernay in northeastern France, Kieffer’s mother…

KILIZU, the capital of the Assyrian province of the same name, located near the mound Qaṣr Šemāmok in northern Mesopotamia, where a Parthian necropolis was brought to light. Epigraphic finds prove that the mound of Qaṣr Šemāmok, situated on the fertile plain about halfway between the cities of Erbil and…

KIMIĀ “Alchemy.” As a medieval science, alchemy must be carefully distinguished from modern chemistry. Externally, the purpose of alchemy was the conversion of base metals like lead into silver or gold by means of long and complicated operations leading to the production of a mysterious substance, the ‘philosopher’s stone,’ able to…

KING OF THE BENIGHTED (Figure 1) a novella by the noted writer and literary critic Hushang Golshiri (see GOLŠIRI, Hušang, 1938-2000), first appeared in an English translation by Abbas Milani (Washington D. C., 1990), with the pseudonym Manuchehr Irani listed as its author. Ðâh-e siâh-puðân, the novella’s Persian title, was published…

Kingship ii. Parthian Period Due to limited data provided by different types of historical sources, it is not always possible to present fully all aspects of the basic notions related to the Parthian kingship.  Nevertheless, available data make it possible to delineate essential elements important for understanding the constitutional position…

ḴIRI (Mid. Pers. hērīg), wallflower (Cheiranthus cheiri L., synonym: Erysimum cheiri (L.) Crantz), a widely cultivated, sweet-smelling, ornamental plant of the mustard family (Cruciferae, syn. Brassicaceae), which often grows on old walls, rocks, and quarries, particularly limestone (Simpson and Weiner, XIX, p. 854; Tutin et al., pp. 328-29).  C. C….

KIRSTE, Johann Ferdinand Otto (b. 1 October 1851, Graz, Austria; d. 2 May 1920, Graz, Austria), Austrian scholar of Indo-Iranian languages (FIGURE 1). He served from 1892 until his death as professor of oriental languages at the University of Graz (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz). Though his major achievements concern the edition and…

KISH ISLAND (Ar. Qeys), small island in the lower Persian Gulf (lat 26°37’ N, long 54°00’ E), almost 16 x 8 kms and 19.2 kms from the coast. Generally flat, Kish has always been noted for its palm gardens (so described by Ebn Ḵordāḏbeh, Ebn al-Mojāwer, and Yāqut, see Schwarz,…

KOBRAWIYA, the most influential Sufi order of the Mongol period in Central Asia and Persia, with branches that survived elsewhere for several centuries. i. THE EPONYM Abu’l-Jannāb Aḥmad b. ʿOmar Najm-al-Din Kobrā, eponym of the Kobrawiya, was born in Ḵᵛārazm in 1145 (or possibly a decade later; he is said…

KOBRAWIYA ii. THE ORDER The crystallization of a given line of Sufi tradition as an “order” should not be understood as imposing on all the spiritual descendants of the eponym a definitive and permanently binding choice of methods and emphases. This is particularly so with an order like the Kobrawiya…

ḴODĀYDĀDZĀDA, BĀBĀ-YUNOS (Tajik. Boboyunus Ḵudoydodzoda; b. Baljovan, ca. 1870-75; d. Baljovan, 27 May 1945; Figure 1), Tajik folk poet and Köroğlu singer. Bābā-Yunos Ḵodāydādzāda was born in the village of Kāsatarāš, in Baljovān district (subsequently renamed Sovet, then Timur Malek), a mainstay of Tajik folk literature in the mountainous northern Kulāb (q.v.)…

KOFRI, pen name of MAWLĀNĀ AMIR-ḤOSAYN TORBATI (d. Borhānpur, India, 1016/1607), a poet-calligrapher of the second part of the 16th and the second decade of the 17th centuries.  He was born in Zāva, a village in the Torbat-e Ḥaydariya district in Khorasan, to a noble sayyed family.  Kofri, who had…

KOFRI, Moḥammad Kermānšāhi (b. Kermānšāh, Iran July 1829; d. Tehran February 1908), physician and surgeon, the son of Pir Moḥammad Zāreʿ, a merchant. Kermānšāhi received his elementary education in his hometown of Kermānšāh. For further education he went to Najaf in Iraq and engaged in religious studies. He returned initially…

KOH-I-NOOR (Kuh-e Nur; lit. “Mountain of Light”), the most celebrated diamond in the world, with rich legendary and historical associations. The origins of the Koh-i-Noor and its history before the conquest of Delhi in 1739 by Nāder Shah Afšār remain unclear. According to legend, it was discovered in the bed of…