COTTON iii. In Afghanistan Two Iranian words, paḵta (< Tajik) and pomba (Pers. panba < Pahl. pambag), are currently used...

CENSUS ii. In Afghanistan The first national census of Afghanistan was not conducted until 1358 Š./1979. Before that Afghanistan was…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS vi. Relations with Afghanistan in the Modern Period Throughout history China and Afghanistan shared few mutual interests, with…

BOUNDARIES iii. Boundaries of Afghanistan Afghanistan, the seventh largest landlocked country in the world in area (652,626 km2) is delineated…

FELT (Mid. and New. Pers., namad), material produced by process of felting, the entanglement of animal fiber in all directions,…

FAYŻĀBĀD, a toponym of auspicious meaning (“blessed abode”) which enjoys great popularity throughout the Iranian world. Besides numerous villages of…

FĀRYĀB (also spelled Pāryāb, Bāryāb), a town in northern Afghanistan, now in the modern Afghan province of Faryāb. i. In…

FARĀHRŪD (Nahr Farah, Ar. translation of Farāhrūd, in Eṣṭaḵrī, pp. 244, 247; Ebn Ḥawqal, p. 420, tr. Kramers, p. 410;…

FARĀH (Farah in early Islamic sources), a town and province in southwestern Afghanistan. City. The city is located at 730…

ESTĀLEF, a large Persian-speaking village of the Kōhdāman, 55 km north of Kabul, built on a foothill of the Paḡmān…

ESḤĀQZĪ (sometimes shortened as Sāqzī, Sākzī, or even Sāgzī; sg. Esḥāqzay), an important Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan, member of the…

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, efforts to protect natural resources, wildlife, and ecosystems and to control pollution in Persia. i. In Persia. ii….

EARTHQUAKES. Persia and Afghanistan lie on the great alpine belt that extends from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean through…

DŌŠĪ, small town and district on the northern slope of the central Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. The town is situated…

DORRĀNĪ (sg. Dorrānay), probably the most numerous Pashtun tribal confederation, from which all Afghan dynasties since 1160/1747 have come. It…

DŌRĪ (Pashto Ḍôrəy; Aslanov, p. 432), river in southern Afghanistan, the main tributary of the Arḡandāb. It originates about 2,500…

DOMESTIC ANIMALS (Pers. ḥaywān-e ahlī; cf. ahlīkardan/šodan “to domesticate, be domesticated”), a group of animals raised or maintained in captivity…

DEMOGRAPHY, the statistical study of characteristics of human populations. i. In Persia since 1319 Š./1940. ii. In Afghanistan. iii. In…

DEH (village) in Persia and Afghanistan. The Persian word deh (Paštō kəlay, Ar. qarya) has a more precise meaning than…

DAWTĀNĪ (or Daftānī, sg. Dawtānay/Daftānay), Pashtun tribe of the Lōdī confederation, still mainly nomadic. The Dawtānī have sometimes been included…

DAWLATḴĒL, tribal name common among the eastern Pashtun at various levels of tribal segmentation, not to be confused with Dawlatzī….

DAWLATZĪ (singular Dawlatzay), ethnic name common among the eastern Pashtun on both sides of the Durand Line (see BOUNDARIES iii)….

DAWLATĀBĀD, name of several localities in Afghanistan that have grown up around civil or military government buildings. Some have never…

DARRA-YE NŪR (Pašaī Därē-i No: Herrlich et al., pp. 343, 858; lit., “valley of light”; a suggested Pashto etymology, in…

DARRA-YEṢŪF, name of a valley in northern Afghanistan, drained by a tributary of the right bank of the Balḵāb, and…

CHOLERA (Cholera asiatica, Cholera indica), epidemic intestinal disease of Indian origin caused by infectious bacteria. i. In Persia. ii. In…

CHEESE (Pers. panīr), with milk and other dairy products a significant part of the diet in Persia and Afghanistan (e.g.,…

CENSUS (Pers. sar-šomārī). No census for the purpose of ascertaining the population and acquiring statistical data was taken in Persia until the…

ČĀY “tea” ( < Chi. ch’a; Mathews’ Chinese English Dictionary, no. 101 ), shrub of the genus Camellia and beverage...

ČARḴ, a common toponym all over the Iranian world. The following forms are attested in Iran and Afghanistan: Čarḵ-e Bīnal…

ČĀRĪKĀR (also Čahārīkār), the main town of Kōhdāman and the administrative capital of the Afghan province of Parwān, located about…

CALENDARS i. Pre-Islamic calendars. ii. In the Islamic period. iii. Afghan calendars. iv. Other modern calendars.   i. Pre-Islamic Calendars…

ČAḴĀNSŪR, principal town of the large Ḵāšrūd delta oasis in northeastern Sīstān. Immediately downstream from the oasis the complex of…

ČAḠČARĀN, principal town and administrative capital of the province of Ḡōr, in the mountains of central Afghanistan. Until the mid-14th/20th…

BĒṬANĪ (ṭ = retroflex t; singular Bēṭanay), a Pash­tun tribe on the eastern edge of the Solaymān moun­tains, where it…

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

GEREŠK, a small oasis-city on the right bank of the Helmand river in Southern Afghanistan, the headquarters of the district…

GARDĪZ (Gardēz), a city in the Solaymān Mountains of eastern Afghanistan, 122 km south of Kabul. i. Geography and History….

GANDOM, the New Persian word for wheat designating both the plant and the grain. All New Iranian names of wheat…