i. Introduction AMAZONS, designation of a fabulous race of female warriors in Greek beliefs, writings, and art, fancifully explained as…

CROWN iv. Of Persian rulers from the Arab conquerors Despite the collapse of the Persian empire in 30/651 and the…

NOWRUZ ii. IN THE ISLAMIC PERIOD Introduction. The Islamic conquest altered many Iranian traditions specifically associated with national ideology, imperial…

DEPORTATIONS, forced transfers of population from one region to another. Deportations should be distinguished from other, somewhat similar sanctions that…

DERAFŠ (“banner, standard, flag, emblem”; Av. drafša-, Mid. Pers. drafš, equivalent to OInd. drapsá-; see Horn, Etymologie, no. 553; AirWb.,…

ḎĀT-AL-SALĀSEL (lit., “provided with chains”), place near Obolla in southern Iraq where in 633 C.E., according to Sayf b. ʿOmar,…

DARIUS iii. DARIUS I THE GREAT Darius I the Great was the third Achaemenid king of kings (r. 29 September…

DANCE (raqṣ). The term dance has been defined as a “transient mode of expression, performed by the human body moving…

CUNAXA, the Greek form (attested only in Plutarch, Artoxerxes 8) of the name (< Aram. keništa “syna­gogue”; Barnett, p. 16)...

CROWN PRINCE, the officially recognized heir apparent to the throne. The position of crown prince was attested in the Median…

CROESUS, last king of Lydia (r. ca. 560-546 b.c.e.) and brother-in-law of Astyages. When the Achaemenid Cyrus the Great (559-29…

CORONATION (Pers. tāj-goḏārī) in ancient Iran, the ceremonial act of investing a ruler with a crown, is mainly known from…

CHARAX, town in the Seleucid and Parthian province of Rhagiana, the area around modern Ray. To judge from its Greek…

CARRHAE (Ḥarrān), town in Mesopotamia, where in May 53 b.c. a decisive battle was fought between the Parthians commanded by…

CAPITAL CITIES i. In Pre-Islamic times. ii. In Islamic times.   i. In Pre-Islamic Times Iranians most probably first coalesced…

CAMBADENE, Latin form of Old Persian Kamba(n)da (spelled ka-ba-da; Elamite ka-um-pan-tas; Babylonian URUka-am-pa-da-ʾ; Aramaic ḥnbn), the name of a region…

BYZANTINE-IRANIAN RELATIONS. I. Before the Islamic conquest. Introduction. From the middle of the 1st century b.c. the Middle East was…

BESṬĀM O BENDŌY, maternal uncles of Ḵosrow II Parvēz and leading statesmen and soldiers under Hormozd IV and Ḵosrow Parvēz….

CYRUS i. Cyrus I The evidence on the early Achaemenid king Cyrus I is as follows. Herodotus (1.111) attested that…

JUNGE, PETER JULIUS, German ancient historian and Iranologist (b. 30 August 1913 in Bonn, killed 1943 in the Battle of…

IRAJ, the youngest son of Ferēdun and the eponymous hero of the Iranians in their traditional history. A cluster of…

HUNTING IN IRAN i. In the pre-Islamic Period. Persian has two terms for hunting, naḵjīr and šekār, both of which…

HŌŠANG (Av. Haošyaŋha, Ar. Ušanj/Ušhanj), called Pēšdād (< Av. Para’δāta), an early hero-king, father of the Iranians and founder of...

HORMOZD V, Sasanian great king (r. 630-32 C.E.). In the turbulent years following the murder of Ḵosrow II Parvēz (628),…

HORMOZD KUŠĀNŠĀH, Sasanian prince governor of Kušān. There may have been two rulers of this name, but the emphasis here…

HORMOZDGĀN (also Hormozgān, Arabicized Hormozjān), BATTLE OF, the engagement which brought the Sasanians to power. It was fought between Ardašir…

HORMOZD II, Sasanian great king (r. 303-09 C.E.). In his Middle Persian inscription at Ṭāq-e Bostān, Šāpur II (r. 309-79)…

HORMOZD III, Sasanian great king (r. 457-59 C.E.). He was the eldest son and heir of Yazdegerd II (Łazar, tr.,…

HORMOZD IV, Sasanian great king (r. 579-90 C.E.). He succeeded Ḵosrow I Anōširavān just as the latter was negotiating a…

HORMOZD (Ormisdas), a brother of the Sasanian great king Šāpur II (r. 307-79 C.E.), who participated in the emperor Julian’s…

HORMOZĀN, one of the last military leaders of Sasanian Persia. The correct form of his name is *Hormazdān, attested as…

HŌMĀN, son of Vēsa, and one of the most celebrated heroes of Turān. His name, spelt Ḵomān in Ṭabari (I,…

HOJIR, Iranian hero who guarded the Dež-e Sapid “White Fort” on the border of Iran and Turān. He was a…

HĀRUT and MĀRUT, two fallen angels who taught mankind magic in Babylon. They are mentioned once in the Koran (2:96…

HAREM i. IN ANCIENT IRAN There is no evidence for the practice among the early Iranians of taking large numbers…

HAFTVĀD (Haftwād), the hero of a legend associated with the rise of the Sasanian Ardašir I (r. 224-39). The Šāh-nāma…

HAFT SIN, denoting ‘seven items beginning with the letter sin (S)’, is one of the components of the rituals of…

HAFT KEŠVAR (seven regions), the usual geographical division of the world in Iranian tradition. Ancient Iranians, who may have believed…

HAFT (seven), the heptad and its cultural significance in Persian history. The number has been explained as the symbolic expression…

GONDĒŠĀPUR i.The city. ii. History and medical school. i. THE CITY In the Sasanian epoch, Gondēšāpur was one of the…

GŌDARZ, name of various Iranian historical figures; an Iranian epic hero in wars against the “Turanians” in northeastern Iran; and…

FLAGS i. OF PERSIA “National flags” symbolizing political entities began to evolve from religious or military applications of dynastic “emblems”…

SHIRAZ i. HISTORY TO 1940 The city of Shiraz has been the capital of the province of Fārs since the…

SASANIAN DYNASTY, the last Persian lineage of rulers to achieve hegemony over much of Western Asia before Islam, ruled 224…

CALMEYER, Peter, German archaeologist and Iranologist (b. 5 September 1930 in Halle, d. 22 November 1995 in Berlin). His father,…

PERSEPOLIS (called Taḵt-e Jamšid “Jamšid’s Throne” in Persian), the ruined monuments of the acropolis of the city of Pārsa, the…

YAZDEGERD I, Sasanian king of kings (r. 399-420) called “the Sinner.” The name “Yazdegerd” was borne by three Sasanian kings…

ZĀL (also called Dastān, Zar, and Zāl-e Zar), legendary prince of Sistān, father of Rostam, and a leading figure in…

RUDĀBA, princess of Kabul, wife of Zāl, and mother of Rostam. Her story (Šāh-nāma, ed. Khaleghi, I, pp. 186-270) is…