Explore Iranica

ARG-E ʿALĪŠĀH, the remains of the Masǰed-e ʿAlīšāh, a colossal mosque built in Tabrīz at the behest of Tāǰ-al-dīn ʿAlīšāh Jīlānī, the vizier of the Mongol Il-khans Olǰāytū Ḵodābanda and his son, Abū Saʿīd Bahādor Khan. Today it is the most prominent historical monument in the city. It was completed…

ARḠANDĀB, the name of two non-contiguous administrative districts (woloswālī) in Afghanistan: (1) In the province of Qandahār, with an area of 579 km2 and a population of 43,000 (all sedentary) at the time of the 1358 Š./1979 census. This district covers the northwestern part of the Qandahār oasis. The administrative…

ARḠANDĀB, a river in the south of Afghanistan, the biggest tributary of the Helmand (q.v.); also the name of a dam and two districts in Afghanistan. The present name, in the form Āb-e Arḡand, is attested from the 7th/13th century (Jūzǰānī, Ṭabaqāt II, p. 141). It replaced an old name…

ARGBED, (Inscr. Mid. Persian hlgwpt, Inscr. Parthian ʾrkpty and hrkpty, i.e., (h)argbed, older (h)arkpat) a high-ranking title in the Parthian and Sasanian periods. The etymology of the word is uncertain. Two possible meanings have been suggested, fortress commander (cf. New Persian arg) and chief tax collector or taxation manager; the…

ARḠŪN ĀQĀ (Turkish arḡun “half breed” and Mongol aqa “elder brother”), Mongol administrator in Iran (d. 673/1275). He belonged to the Oirat tribe, and his father, Taiču, according to Jovaynī, was a commander of a thousand. Rašīd-al-dīn (Jāmeʿ al-tawārīḵ I, ed. A. A. Romaskevich et. al., Moscow, 1968, pp. 139,…

ARḠŪN KHAN, fourth Il-khan of Iran (r.683-90/1284-91), the elder son of Abaqa by Qaitmiš Igeči. He was born, according to Rašīd-al-dīn, at Baylaqān in Arrān in 660/1262, although other indications by the same author make 657/1259 more probable (Jāmeʿ al-tawārīḵ III, ed. A. A. ʿAlīzāda, p. 575; ed. Jahn, Geschichte Ġāzān-Ḫān’s,…

ARIA, name of a region in the eastern part of the Persian empire, several times confused with Ariane (see below) in the classical sources. 1. Aria (Greek Areia/Aria, Latin Arīa, representing Old Pers. Haraiva, Avestan Haraēuua), Old Persian satrapy, which enclosed chiefly the valley of the river Harī Rūd (Greek…

ARIABIGNES, an Achaemenid prince. His name derives from Old Ir. arya- + bigna, probably signifying “Gift of the Aryans [ = Iranians]” (W. Hinz, Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberliererungen, Wiesbaden, 1975, p. 39). He was a son of Darius the Great from a daughter of Gaubrava/Gobryas, one of the seven Persians who…

ARIAEUS, Latinized form (from Greek Ariaîos) of an Old Persian name compounded of arya- “Iranian” with a suffix -ai- (cf. Gk. Mitraios, Tiraios, Bagaios), probably used hypocoristically for a name such as Ariyaramana, Ariobarzanes, etc. (Th. Nöldeke, “Persische Studien,” Sb. der kön. Akademie der Wiss., hist.-philos. K1., 116, 1888, pp….

ARIARAMNEIA, a city in Cappadocia mentioned in an inscription in Greek and Aramaic as the residence of a military leader in the 2nd century B.C. (Stähelin in Pauly-Wissowa, Suppl. III, col. 156). It was almost certainly named after and probably founded by Ariaramnes, the father of Ariarathes II. (A. Sh….

ARIARATUS, Latinized form of the name Ariarathes in Justin’s summary of Trogus Pompeius’ Philippic Wars 10.1.1, one of the three sons of the Achaemenid King Artaxerxes II by Queen Stateira. For other bearers of the name, see Justi, Namenbuch, pp. 23-24. The Iranian form of the name was perhaps *Arya-wratha,…

ARIOBARZANES, Greek form of an Old Iranian proper name *Ārya-bṛzāna-, perhaps signifying “exalting the Aryans;” the Old Persian form is seen in Elamite Har-ri-pir-tan, for *Āriya-bṛdāna- (see M. Mayrhofer, Onomastica Persepolitana, Vienna, 1973, p. 156 no. 8.472, with references). The bearers of the name include: 1. The son of a…