Originally from China, SILK (Pers. ABRĪŠAM) has been known in Iran since ancient times i. Etymology. ii. Trade and production of…

BANNĀʾĪ (construction). Though the subject of monumental architecture in Iran has been the focus of a number of studies and…

LANGARUD (lit. the lower limb of the river), a city and sub-provincial district (šahrestān) in Gilān located at lat 37°11′ N,…

LĀHIJĀN (لاهیجان), a city in the province of Gilān.  It is located at 37°12′ N, long 50°0′ E, to the…

SIĀHKAL, small town and sub-provincial district (šahrestān) in the southeastern part of Gilān province. The town is located at lat…

RUDBĀR, town and district in southwestern Gilān. Rudbār is located on both banks of the Safidrud river at lat 36°51′…

GILĀN xix. Landholding and Social Stratification Prior to the Land Reform of 1962 that began the process of land redistribution,…

GILĀN xxi. Cooking Eating habits and culinary preparations in Gilān have several distinct characteristics. In this rice-producing region, the consumption…

GILĀN   xv. Popular and Literary Perceptions of Identity Peoples and ethnic groups are often referred to in association with…

GILĀN xiv. Ethnic Groups The organization of work in Gilān is marked by an apparently ethnic division of labor. Each…

GILĀN xiii. Kinship and Marriage Kinship in Gilān displays several remarkable characteristics: an exceptionally low level of intermarriage between consanguineous…

GILĀN xii. RURAL HOUSING There are considerable differences among settlement and building styles according to geographic location (see Map 1,…

CLOTHING xxii. Clothing of the Caspian area   In several aspects the traditional dress (Gīlaki lebās; Ṭāleši ḵalā) of Gīlān…

CHURNS AND CHURNING (Pers. kara-sāzī), de­vices and associated techniques for processing milk into butter. The populations of Persia and Afghanistan…

BERENJ “rice” (also gorenj; see Dehḵodā s.v.), Middle Persian brinǰ, Sogdian ryzʾkh, Khotanese rrīysua-, Pashto wrīžī (plur.), etc. (see Bailey,…

ĀSTĀNA, town and district in the province of Gilān. The town, also called Āstāna-ye ašrafiya, is located at lat 37°16′…

GILĀN xviii. Rural Production Techniques  In general, a considerable range of techniques is used to produce such diversified commodities as…

GILAN xvii. Gender Relations The division of activities and spaces between the sexes is quite distinct in the province of…

GILAN xvi. Folklore The folklore of Gilān is a striking example of the intricate ties between pre-Islamic practices and Islamic…

GILĀN xx. Handicrafts The Gilān region does not have a great craft tradition, as do other provinces of the interior…

GĀVBĀZĪ, arranged fights between bulls. These now take place only in the Caspian provinces of Gīlān and Mazandarān. In the…

GILĀN xi. IRRIGATION In the Caspian region of Iran, abundantly watered by rivers descending from the mountains, irrigation methods differ…

RASHT (Rašt), city and district in the providence of Gilān. i. The City Located at lat 37°17′ N, long 49°35′…