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ZĀR, harmful wind (bād) associated with spirit possession beliefs in southern coastal regions of Iran. In southern coastal regions of Iran such as Qeshm Island, people believe in the existence of winds that can be either vicious or peaceful, believer (Muslim) or non-believer (infidel). The latter are considered more dangerous…

Zār Songs: Vorāra, Yo mama title Zār Songs: Vorāra, Yo mama genre/topic Zār language   performer Bābā Darviš, voice and dohol Māmā Hanife, response Musā Amāli, Kasser instrument Voice; Dohol; Kasser composer   author/poet   first line of poem   recorded by Fozieh Majd place of recording Island of Qešm…

ZARINAIA (Gk. Zarinaíā), legendary Saka queen during the reign of the likewise legendary Median king Astibaras. The original Greek form of her name certainly is Zarinaía and not Zarína (as previously had been read in Diodorus 2.34.3; cf. Schmitt, 2006, p. 240; 2011, p. 192); and in all probability this…

ZARIRI, Moršed ʿAbbās (b. Isfahan 1909; d. Isfahan 1971), noted storyteller (naqqāl). He was orphaned at early childhood and grew up in poverty in the troubled years of World War I. Lonely and helpless, he joined the rank of itinerary dervishes in his early youth and traveled with them to…

ŻARRĀBI, Moluk, the stage name of Moluk Faršforuš Kāšāni (b. Kāšān, ca 1289 Š./1910; d. Tehran, 1378 Š./1999), Persian singer and actress. Moluk was born into a musically inclined family. Her grandfather Ḥāji Jaʿfar was known as a singer at the court of Nāṣer-al-Din Shah Qājār, who bestowed upon him…

ZARUDNIĬ (Zarudny), NIKOLAĬ ALEKSEEVICH (b. Gryakovo, Kharkovsky, Ukraine, 13 September 1859; d. Tashkent, 17 March 1919), prominent zoologist and explorer of fauna in Iran (FIGURE 1). At the age of 11 he entered a military school in St. Petersburg, and in 1879 he was appointed a teacher of natural history…

ZĀYANDARUD, weekly newspaper published in Isfahan by ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Moʿin-al-Eslām Ḵᵛānsāri from 1 RabiʿI 1327 to 22 Ḏu’l-ḥejja 1333 (23 March 1909 to 31 October 1915). Moʿin-al-Eslām, a cleric and an active supporter of the Constitutional Revolution, became Isfahan’s district attorney and held other judicial positions after the establishment of the…

ZĀYČA (zāyčag), written zʾyc(k), Middle Persian term meaning “birth chart, horoscope.” The etymology of the term is not certain, but there is definitely no connection with the MPers. term zīg, which denotes both the bonds that tie the planets to the Sun and the Moon and the astronomical tables that…

ZAYN-AL-ʿĀBEDIN MARʿAŠI MAUSOLEUM (EMĀMZĀDA), located in Sāri, Māzandarān, close to the Emāmzāda Yāḥyā, a shrine where Sayyed Yaḥyā, a son of Qawām-al-Din Marʿaši is buried (Sotuda, IV, p. 531).  Its architecture, decoration, and woodcarving well illustrate the style of tomb-towers erected in Māzandarān during the rule of the Marʿaši dynasty,…

ZAYNAB BEGUM (d. Qazvin, 9 Ṣafar 1050/31 May 1640), the fourth daughter of Shah Ṭahmāsp (r. 1524-76) and one of the most influential princesses in Safavid Iran. Zaynab Begum was born from a Georgian princess called Ḥuri.  Her guardian (lala), Šāh-qoli Beg, came from the Šāmlu and had the rank of…

ZEFRA, mountainous district and village northeast of Isfahan, best known for its dialect. This article is divided into two sections: i. The district ii. The dialect

ZEFRA i. The District Located 70 km northeast of Isfahan (lat 32°54′ N, long 52°7′ E) at an elevation of 2,070 m above sea level, Zefra is the administrative center of Zefra sub-district (dehestān) in Kuhpāya district (baḵš), Isfahan sub-province (šahrestān), Isfahan Province (ostān). (There is another village by the…