Explore Iranica

TIGRIS RIVER, Sum. Idigna, Akk. (I)Diq/gla(t) (Nashef, 1982, pp. 302-3), Elam. Diglat (Vallat, 1993, p. 329), Old Pers. Tigrā- (Kent, Old Persian, p. 186), Gk. Tigris/Tigrios, Lat. Tigris, Aram. Diglat, Mid. Pers. Diglit or Arvand (Markwart, 1930, p. 64; Eilers, 1954, p. 313, n. 23), Arabic Dejla (Eilers, 1977, p….

TILLA BULAK, a Late Bronze Age site in the Kugitang district of southern Uzbekistan (lat 66°48′ E, long  37°42′ N) classified as belonging to the Sapalli Culture, the regional variant of the Namazga VI tradition in the Surchandarya region (Askarov, 1973; 1977; Askarov and Abdullaev, 1983; Askarov and Shirinov 1991;…

TIŠTRYA (Pahl. Tištar, NPers. Teštar), an important Old Iranian astral divine being (yazata-), to whom the eighth hymn (Tištar Yašt) of the Later Avestan corpus was dedicated (Panaino, 1990). Tištrya should be identified with the most brilliant star visible in the firmament, Sirius (alpha Canis Maioris), although different opinions have…

TOBACCO MODES OF USE, CULTIVATION AND CULTURAL CONNOTATIONS Tobacco reached Persia around 1600 (see Floor 2002). Persian sources imply that the use of tobacco was already known in Persia before its introduction into Europe in the 1550s. The water pipe (qalyān) and tobacco, for instance, are mentioned in a poem…

TOCHARIAN LANGUAGE Tocharian is the conventional name for two closely related Indo-European languages that were spoken in northwest China, in the north of the Tarim Basin in present-day Xīnjiāng. The two languages, usually referred to as ‘Tocharian B’ and ‘Tocharian A,’ are attested by predominantly Buddhist manuscript fragments found in…

TOḠA TIMUR (TOḠA TEMÜR), the last of the Mongol Il-Khans of Iran (736-754/1336-1353); his name is often given as Taḡāy Timur, but the final ‘y’ never appears on his coins (Album, 1984, p. 94).  Descended in the sixth generation from Joči Qasar, a younger brother of Čengiz Khan, he emerged…

TOḤFAT al-AḤBĀB (Gift for friends), a Persian dictionary of the early Safavid period, compiled by Ḥāfeẓ Solṭān-ʿAli Owbahi Heravi in 936/1529-30. Owbahi was born in Owba, a village near the city of Herat in present-day Afghanistan (on Owba see Gazetteer of Afghanisan III, pp. 320-24). He was a poet, calligrapher,…

TOḤFAT al-SAʿĀDA (Gift of happiness), an early 16th-century Persian dictionary of 14,000 entries by Maḥmud b. Shaikh Żiāʾ-al-Din Moḥammad, a poet of northern India. It was compiled in 1510 in honor of Sultan Sekandar (Eskandar) II Neẓām Khan (r. 1489-1517; see Burton-Page), hence its collateral title Farhang-e Sekandari or Eskandari….

TONB (GREATER AND LESSER), two tiny islands of arguable strategic importance in the eastern Persian Gulf, south of the western tip of Qešm island. They are referred to as Tonb-e Bozorg (26°15′ N, 55°18′ E) and Tonb-e Kučak (26°14´ N, 55°08′ E) in Tehran, Ṭunb Kubrā (or Ṭunb) and Ṭunb…

TOPKAPI PALACE AND ITS PERSIAN HOLDINGS. The Topkapı Palace, which was known as the Yeni Saray (New Palace) until the 19th century, served the Ottoman sultans for almost 380 years as the imperial residence and center of command. The New Palace was built by the order of Sultan Mehmet II…

Tork čašmaš ar jānam fetne karde rāst title Tork čašmaš ar jānam fetne karde rāst genre/topic Tasif in Āvāz-e Abu ‘Atā, gushe-he Hejāz language   performers Mohsen Kerāmati, voice Parisā Kashief, kamānča instrument Voice; Kamānča composer   author/poet   first line of poem  Tork-e čašmaš ar jānam fetne kard o…

TORTURE IN THE ACHAEMENID PERIOD. Definition. Torture is here taken as defined in the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), Art. 1.1. There, torture is defined as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally…

TOWFIQ (TAWFIQ) NEWSPAPER, a satirical and political weekly newspaper, which was published in Tehran for almost fifty years from 1923 until 1971. Towfiq underwent three discontinuous periods: the first was from 1923 to 1940, which ended with the death of its founder, Ḥosayn Towfiq, who died soon after being released…