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ARCHITECTURE v. Islamic, pre-Safavid The beginnings of an Islamic architecture in Iran are still almost impossible to identify properly. Remaining monuments are few, most of them are very uncertainly dated, and literary information is scanty or difficult to interpret. Only numerous and thorough archeological enterprises will alleviate this unfortunate state…

ARCHITECTURE vi. Safavid to Qajar Periods Iranian architecture from the 16th to the 19th centuries is, not surprisingly, dominated by the Safavids. Though no accurate checklist has been drawn up, it is clear that within the present political borders of Iran several hundred buildings datable between 907/1502 and 1138/1725 survive….

ARCHITECTURE viii. Pahlavi, before World War II Two features of Reżā Shah’s (q.v.) efforts for the modernization of Iran were related to the architectural construction of the period. One was his reference to the country’s ancient history, which should inspire the present generation to achieve new glories. The other was…

ARCHITECTURE viii. Pahlavi, after World War II Between the close of World War II and the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime in 1979, an ancient and very traditional Iranian culture came fully into contact with contemporary developments, in particular, with the highly scientific and empirical world of the West. The…

ARCHIVES i. TURKISH ARCHIVES CONCERNING IRAN Ottoman archive materials are important not only for the history of the Ottoman Empire, but they are also of tremendous significance for the history of all those countries that had relations with the Ottoman Empire. Of all various archives, only the Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi…

ARD YAŠT, Middle Persian name of the Avestan hymn (Yašt 17) dedicated to Aši (q.v.). Other forms of the name (see Avesta, ed. Geldner, II, p. 231) are Aršišvang Yašt and Aršasang or Aršašasang Yašt (with -s- for -uu- as not uncommonly in the mss. of the Avesta), all corruptions…

ARDĀ WĪRĀZ, “Wīrāz the just” (i.e., “the justified, the blessed”), principal character of the Zoroastrian Middle Persian text Ardā Wīrāz-nāmag (The Book of Ardā Wīrāz). His name has sometimes been cited by scholars as “Wirāf;” cf., however, the Avestan form of this proper name: Virāza (Yašt 13.101). (For discussion of…

ARDABĪL i. History of Ardabīl. ii. Modern Ardabīl. iii. Monuments of Ardabīl. iv. Ardabīl Collection of Chinese Porcelain. v. Population, 1956-2011.   i. History of Ardabīl Ardabīl (spelled Ardavīl in the Ḥodūd al-ʿālam, and vocalized Ardobīl by Samʿānī), the name of a town and a district in northeastern Azerbaijan. It is…

ARDABĪL CARPET, a name applied chiefly to a Persian carpet acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1893, which is significant for its outstanding quality of design and weaving and for the precise date it carries. A second, almost identical carpet is less well known; it was presented by…

ARDABIL v. Population, 1956-2011 This article deals with the following population characteristics of Ardabil city: population growth from 1956 to 2011, age structure, average household size, literacy rate, and economic activity status for 2006 and/or 2011 (different dates for the categories are determined by the availability of census data). Population…

ARDABĪLĪ, AḤMAD B. MOḤAMMAD, known as MOQADDAS and MOḤAQQEQ ARDABĪLĪ, Imamite theologian and jurist of the early Safavid age. As his nesba indicates, he probably originated from Ardabīl in Azerbaijan, but nothing is known about his family, date of birth, and early life. He studied theology and philosophy under Jamāl-al-dīn…

ARDAKĀN-E FĀRS, a small upland town of the ostān of Fārs (hence to be distinguished from the Ardakān-e Yazd), lying in 30° 16’ north latitude and 51° 59’ east longitude and situated at an altitude of 7,257 ft/2,212 m. It is thus within the southern Zagros region, one of high…

ARDAKĀN-e YAZD, a town of central Persia on the present Yazd-Ardestān-Kāšān road along the southern edge of the Dašt-e Kavīr, forty miles northwest of Yazd, in 32° 18’ north latitude and 53° 50’ east longitude, and an elevation of 3,280 feet above sea level. It is possible that Ardakān is…