ḴUŠNAWĀR/ḴUŠNAWĀZ (MPers. Xašnawāz; Sogd. əxšōnδār), the Hephthalite king who defeated the Sasanian king Pērōz (r. 459-84 CE; see Fīrūz) in…

SAMĀʿI, ḤABIB (b. Tehran, 1284 Š./1905; d. Tehran, 1325 Š./1946), outstanding player of the santur (a kind of dulcimer), usually…

SAMĀʿI, ḤABIB (b. Tehran, 1284 Š./1905; d. Tehran, 1325 Š./1946), outstanding player of the santur (a kind of dulcimer), usually…

KERMAN xiv. Jewish Community of Kerman City References to the Sasanian-period town of Kerman are sparse (see KERMAN ii. HISTORICAL…

MINĀB, city and sub-province in the province of Hormozgān. The first mention of the toponym Mināb appears to be in…

LAVĀSĀN, town and district located in the middle course of the river Jājrud in the northwest of Tehran. The district…

YOHANNAN, ABRAHAM (1853-1925; Figure 1), Assyrian scholar, philologist, historian, and humanitarian advocate. He was the first “Oriental” to teach Oriental…

ORMURI is spoken by the Ormur (Ōrmuṛ), as the Pashtuns call them. The term Ōrmuṛ is traditionally interpreted as “extinguishers of…

QAṢRĀN, a historical region located north of present-day Tehran, consisting of the upper Jājrud river valley (Inner Qaṣrān) and Šemirānāt…

BAGLEY, FRANK RONALD CHARLES (b. 15 October 1915, Cheshire, England/d. 7 August 1997, Kent, England; Figure 1), British diplomat, translator,…

NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY IN IRAN: a brief history from the outset to the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79. In this article,…

SHAHRYAR, MOHAMMAD HOSAYN (Moḥammad Ḥosayn Behjat Tabrizi; b. Tabriz, Šahrivar 1285 Š./August 1906; d. Tehran, 27 Šahrivar 1367 Š./18 September…

KERMAN xiv. Jewish Community Of Kerman City References to the Sasanian-period town of Kerman are sparse (see KERMAN ii. HISTORICAL…

ALA, HOSAYN (Ḥosayn ʿAlāʾ, Moʿin-al-Vezāreh; b. Tbilisi, 1882; d. Tehran, 1964; Figure 1), statesman, gifted diplomat, minister, and prime minister during…

KHANLARI, PARVIZ (Parviz Nātel-Ḵānlari; b. Tehran, Esfand 1292 Š./March 1914; d. Tehran, 1 Šahrivar 1369 Š./23 August 1990), prominent scholar…

AʿLAM, HUŠANG (b. Tehran, 1928; d. Tehran, 2007), eminent scholar of the history of science. Hušang began his primary education…

MARATHI LANGUAGE, PERSIAN ELEMENTS IN. Marathi (Marāti, earlier form: Marhāti), the southernmost Indo-Aryan language, is spoken by more than 40…

KAYHAN (Kayhān, lit., “the universe”), a leading daily newspaper published in Tehran under the aegis of Moṣṭafā Meṣbāḥzādeh (1908-2006) from…

KASHAN v. ARCHITECTURE (4) Historic Mansions The city of Kashan boasts at least nineteen historic mansions that are well preserved;…

KASHAN  v. Architecture and Urban Design This sub-entry is divided into four sections:  (1) Urban Design.  (2) Monuments.  (3) Traditional…

KASHAN V. ARCHITECTURE (2) Historical Monuments This section briefly describes nine landmark monuments of Kashan. Similar architectural features can be…

KASHAN v. ARCHITECTURE (3) Traditional Architecture In line with the trend towards modernization in Iran’s recent history, most residential houses…

i. Geography  Physical geography. Covering an area of approximately 9,647 km2, the sub-province of Kashan is situated between the Karkas…

Marā bebus (Kiss me), the title of one of the most popular songs (taṣnif) of mid-twentieth century Iran. Its music…

YEKI BUD, YEKI NABUD (Berlin, 1921, tr. by Mansur Heshmat Moyyad and Paul Sprachman as Once Upon a Time, New…

ḴERAD-NĀMA, (Book of Wisdom), the shortened title of a compilation of short didactic and philosophical texts preserved in one of…

KHADIV-JAM, Seyyed HOSEYN (Seyyed Ḥoseyn Ḵadiv-Jam, b. 1927, Mashad; d. 17 October 1986, Tehran), Iranian translator and scholar of Persian and…

TAFT, town and district in Yazd province. The town is located 20 km southwest of Yazd, on the road to…

KALLAJUŠ (KĀLJUŠ), an old Iranian dish, also pronounced kālajuš, kālājuš, kaljuš in different parts of Iran. It consists of fried…

ḴALḴĀLI, SAYYED ʿABD-al-RAḤIM (b. Ḵalḵāl, ca. 1872; d. Tehran, 20 June 1942), well-known constitutionalist, journalist, government official, bookseller, and publisher,…

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HISTORIOGRAPHY ix. PAHLAVI PERIOD (2) SPECIFIC TOPICS   This article has for its subject a survey of contributions in the…

HISTORIOGRAPHY ix. PAHLAVI PERIOD Historiography of this period will be treated in two separate entries: (1) General survey of historical…

FACULTIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN v. Faculty of Medicine The Faculty of Medicine (Dāneškada-ye pezeškī), the pioneering academic institution…

EGYPT viii. Egyptian cultural influence in Persia, modern times Egypt, together with Turkey and the Caucasus, was one of the…

CLOTHING xxviii. Concordance of clothing terms among ethnic groups in modern Persia This concordance has been compiled from xiii-xxvi, above….

CLOTHING i. General remarks Of the twenty-seven subsequent articles in this series eleven are devoted to clothing of the Iranian…

CINEMA v. Filmography All films discussed in i-iv, above, are listed here by year of release and alphabetically within each…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS ix. Persian Language Teaching in Modern China Persian has been taught in Muslim schools in China since the…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS viii. Persian Language and Literature in China Language and literature The earliest Persian inscription in China is the…

CHILDREN vii. Children’s Literature Children’s literature is a genre employing themes, language, and illustrations geared to the developmental levels of…

FICTION ii(a). HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MODERN FICTION The long reign of Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah (1848-96) and the Constitutional Revolution a decade…

iii. Shi’ite. iv. Yasidi and Ahl-e Haqq. v. Kurdish (Sunni).   iii. SHIʿITE Shiʿite festivals mark important occasions in Shiʿite…

FERDOWSI, ABU’L-QĀSEM V. HOMAGES TO FERDOWSI Ever since the appearance of the Šāh-nāma, Ferdowsī has been held in high esteem,…

FEMINIST MOVEMENTS in Persia. The struggle for women’s rights that began in the mid-19th century and, more specifically, on the…

FATḤ, b. ḴĀQĀN, famous bibliophile, author, courtier, and official in ʿAbbasid times ( d. 4 Šawwāl 247/11 December 861). Some…

FARMĀNFARMĀ, ʿABD-AL-ḤOSAYN MĪRZĀ (b. Tehran, 1274/1858; d. Tehran, 1318 Š./1939; Plate I), Qajar prince-governor, military commander, skillful politician, head of…

FARĪD b. Shaikh Maʿrūf BHAKKARĪ, author of an important biographical dictionary in Persian of Mughal notables, the Ḏaḵīrat al-ḵawanīn. Nothing…

FARHANG-E MOʿĪN, an important Persian encyclopaedic dictionary published in six volumes in Tehran between 1963 and 1973. Most of the…

FALLĀḤ, REŻĀ (b. 1328/1910, Kāšān; d. 1360 Š./1981, London), deputy manager of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; Šerkat-e mellī-e…

FAḴR-E MODABBER, pen-name of Moḥammad b. Manṣūr b. Saʿīd, entitled Mobārakšāh, author of two prose works in Persian written in…

EUTYCHIUS of Alexandria (Saʿīd b. Beṭrīq), Christian physician and historian whose Annales (written in Arabic and called Ketāb al-tārīḵ al-majmūʿ…

ENAMEL (Pers. mīnā, possibly a dialect form of mīnū < Mid. Pers. mēnōg “uncorporeal, spiritual, the world beyond, heaven” <...

EDUCATION xxvi. WOMEN’S EDUCATION IN THE PAHLAVI PERIOD AND AFTER In the 1920s and 1930s women’s public education in Persia…

EDUCATION xvi. SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS No standardized schoolbooks existed in Persia before the advent of the modern educational system. The first…

EDUCATION xv. FOREIGN AND MINORITY SCHOOLS IN PERSIA Modern education was introduced to Persia in the 19th century by European…

EDUCATION xiii. RURAL AND TRIBAL SCHOOLS Compulsory-education laws enacted in 1329/1911 and 1943 provided the legal framework for the extension…

ʿEBRAT, a monthly magazine first published on 15 Bahman 1334 Š./4 February 1956 as the organ of Tūda party prisoners…

EBRĀHĪM B. ADHAM b. Manṣūr b. Yazīd b. Jāber ʿEjlī (d. 166/777-78), prominent Sufi and ascetic of 2nd/8th century. Ebrāhīm…

DĪNMOḤAMMAD KHAN b. Olūs Khan, the Uzbek prince who, with his brother ʿAlī Solṭān, joined Shah Ṭahmāsb’s camp in 943/1536-37…

DARIUS v. DARIUS III Darius III (b. ca. 380 B.C.E., d. mid-330; cf. Arrian, Anabasis 3.22.6), the last Achaemenid king….

DĀMḠĀNĪ, nesba of a leading family of jurists of Persian origin, descendants of Abū ʿAbd-Allāh Moḥammad Kabīr (b. Dāmḡān 398/1007,…

CONTRACTS (usually ʿaqd), legally enforceable undertakings between two or more consenting parties. Contract law is concerned with such questions as…

CENTRAL ASIA  i. Geographical Survey The central expanse of the Asian continent, the land mass situated approximately between 55° and…

BURTON, Sir RICHARD (b. 1821 at Toquay, Devonshire, d. 1890 at Trieste, Italy), well-known traveler (Africa, the Near East, India),…

BRITISH COUNCIL: activities in Iran 1942-79. The first British Council representative was appointed to Iran in 1942. The priority was…

BONYĀD-E ŠAHĪD (Martyrs’ Foundation), a non-profit organization established on 22 Esfand 1358 Š./12 March 1980 on the orders of Imam…

BONGĀH-E ḤEMĀYAT-E MĀDARĀN O KŪDAKĀN (Institute for the protection of mothers and infants), founded 25 Āḏar 1319 Š./16 December 1940…

BONGĀH-E MOSTAQELL-E ĀBYĀRĪ (Inde­pendent irrigation agency), established by the Majles on 29 Ordībehešt 1322 Š./19 May 1943, during the admin­istration…

BARBERRY (zerešk; Berberis spp., family Berberidaceae). Species of this genus are found in the northern, eastern, and southeastern highlands of…

TAQIZADEH (Taqizāda), SAYYED ḤASAN (b. Tabriz, 30 Ramażān 1295/27 September 1878; d. Tehran, 8 Bahman 1348/28 January 1970), distinguished statesman,…

ARSACIDS v. The “Arsacid” era As an indication of their imperial aspirations, the Parthians established their own dynastic era, beginning…

ĀSRŌN, Middle Persian form of Avestan āθravan. The form āsrōn continues Av. āθrauuanəm (acc. sing.) whereas the also attested form…

AŠŌQAR, in Syriac sources the name of a deity who together with the two deities Frašōqar and Zarōqar is coexistent…

KEMĀḴ (Turk. Kemah), a town in eastern Anatolia (lat. 39° 35′ N, long. 39° 01′ E), located on the southern…

ANJOMAN-E OḴOWWAT (or OḴŪWAT) “The Society of Brotherhood,” a non-political Sufi-type society officially founded on 15 Šabʿān 1317/21 December 1899…

ANJOMAN-E FALSAFA WA ʿOLŪM-E ENSĀNĪ (Iranian Society for Philosophy and Humanistic Sciences) was formed in 1328 Š./1949 as a regional…

AMIDA, Pers. Āmed (modern Dīārbakr), town situated at 37° 54’ north latitude and 39° 56’ east longitude on a plateau…

ABU’L-QĀSEM EBRĀHĪM SOLṬĀN, MĪRZĀ, only son of Kāmrān Mīrzā, the brother and rival of the Mughal emperor Homāyūn (r. 937-47,…

ĀB-GŪŠT, literally “water-meat” signifying “meat juice” (i.e., āb-e gūšt), a popular Persian meat-based soup or stew, consisting of lamb, some…

KADḴODĀ, principal meaning “headman,” from Middle Persian kadag-xwadāy, lit. “head of a household, master of the house” (MacKenzie, p. 48;…

JIROFTi. GEOGRAPHY Jiroft sub-province. Located in the south of Kerman Province, the sub-province of Jiroft is bound by those of…

JAVĀNRUD, a city and a sub-province (šahrestān) in the northwest of Kermānšāhān Province near the border with Iraq at about…

JĀRČI-E MELLAT, a weekly satirical paper published in Tehran with long interruptions between 12 Šawwāl 1328/16 October 1910 and 8…

ISFAHAN xiii. CRAFTS Isfahan has maintained its position as a major center for traditional crafts in Persia. The crafts of…

ISFAHAN iv. PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD The name of Isfahan. In Middle Persian sources, Isfahan (Mid. Pers. Spahān) occurs clearly as the…

ISFAHAN i. GEOGRAPHY This entry will be divided into two sections: (1) Geography of the province. (2) Geography of the…

IRĀNŠAHRI, ABU’L-ʿABBĀS MOḤAMMAD b. Moḥammad (fl. 2nd half 3rd/9th cent.), mathematician, natural scientist, historian of religion, astronomer, philosopher, and author….

IRĀNŠAHR, a city, formerly Fahraj (q.v. at iranica .com), and a sub-province (šahrestān) in the province of Sistān and Baluchistan…

HOSTAGE CRISIS, the events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by leftist Islamist students in 1979 with…

HOMOSEXUALITY iii. IN PERSIAN LITERATURE A sharp contrast exists between the treatment of homosexuality in Islamic law, on the one…

HERAT i. GEOGRAPHY The province of Herat constitutes roughly the northern one-third of the western lowlands of Afghanistan, bordering on…

HELMAND RIVER i. GEOGRAPHY At approximately 1,300 km (800 miles), the Helmand River is the longest river in Afghanistan. Originating…

HEKMAT (Ḥekmat), ʿALI-AṢḠAR, man of letters, university professor, cabinet minister, and the chief architect of the modernization of the educational…

HEDAYAT, SADEQ vi. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Works: Majmuʿa-ye neveštahā-ye parākanda, comp. Ḥasan Qāʾemiān, Tehran, 1965; Nāmahā-ye Ṣādeq He-dāyat, compiled by Moḥammad…

HEDAYAT, SADEQ i. LIFE AND WORK Sadeq Hedayat (Figure 1) was the youngest child of Hedā-yatqoli Khan Eʿteżād-al-Molk, the notable…

HĀTEF, SAYYED AḤMAD EṢFAHĀNI (d. Qom 1198/1783), an influential poet of the 18th century. He belonged to the first generation…

ḤASIBI, KĀẒEM, political figure and university professor (b. Tehran, 1324/1906; d. Tehran, 1369 Š./1990; Figure 1). Born to a merchant…

HAMADĀN vii. MONUMENTS The city of Hamadān, besides its pre-Islamic remains, comprises some important monuments belonging to the Islamic period….

HAMADĀN i. GEOGRAPHY Hamadān is one of the western provinces of Persia, situated to the southwest of Tehran between latitudes…

ḤAKIMI (Ḥakim-al-Molk), EBRĀHIM (b. Tabriz, 1288/1871 [1286 in ʿĀqeli, p. 589, is incorrect]; d. Tehran, 27 Mehr 1338 Š./19 October…

HAJIABAD ii. THE TEXTS “This (is) the bowshot of me, the Mazda-worshipping god Shapur, king of kings of Eran and…

HAJIABAD (Ḥājiābād) INSCRIPTIONS, bilingual inscription of Šāpur I on the wall of Ḥājiābād cave near Persepolis. i. The Inscriptions. ii….

HAFEZ vi. PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE DIVĀN OF HAFEZ Printed editions of Hafez’s poems include partial and complete collections, non-critical…

HAFEZ ii. HAFEZ’S LIFE AND TIMES   Ḵᵛāja Šams-al-Din Moḥammad Širāzi (b. Shiraz ca. 715/1315; d. Shiraz ca. 792/1390) is…

GREECE xiv. GREEK LOANWORDS IN MEDIEVAL NEW PERSIAN It stands to reason that the number of borrowings from Greek into…

GREAT BRITAIN i. INTRODUCTION Under the Safavids and the interregnum (1500-1796). During the 16th century, several unsuccessful attempts were made…

GORGĀN vii. History from the Safavids to the end of the Pahlavi era Two characteristics dominated the history of Gorgān…

GONBAD-E QĀBUS (KĀVUS), city and sub-province in the Golestān Province. i. Geography. ii. Population. iii. Monument.   i. GEOGRAPHY The…

GOLŠIRI, Hušang (b. Isfahan, March 16, 1938; d. Tehran, June 5, 2000; Figure 1), one of the most significant Persian…

GOLŠAHRI (GÜLŞEHRÎ), SOLAYMĀN, Ottoman Sufi and poet who wrote in Persian and Turkish. He was from the city of Golšahri,…

GOL-ĀQĀ, a weekly satirical magazine founded by Kayumarṯ Ṣāberi which first began publication on 23 October 1990. The circulation of…

GĪLĀN vi. HISTORY IN THE 18TH CENTURY The rapid decline of the Safavids in the first decades of the 18th…

GĪLĀN vii. HISTORY IN THE 19TH CENTURY During the 19th century, Persia underwent major political, economic, and social changes which…

GIFT GIVING  i. Introduction The subject of gift giving is often treated in the humanities and the social sciences under the…

ḠAZNAVĪ, ABŪ RAJĀʾ, a poet at the court of the Ghaznavid sultan Bahrāmšāh b. Masʿūd III (r. 511-?522/1117-?1157). His dīvān,…

ḠANĪ, pen name of Mollā MOḤAMMAD-ṬĀHER KAŠMĪRĪ (1630-69), one of the most celebrated poets of Kashmir who wrote in the…

ḠALYĀN or QALYĀN (nargileh), a water pipe chiefly used in the Middle East and Central Asia for smoking tobacco (Syr….

FREEMASONRY iii. IN THE PAHLAVI PERIOD Freemasonry in the Pahlavi era underwent three distinct phases: (1) The dormant phase from…

FREEMASONRY iv. THE 1979 REVOLUTION Persecution of Freemasons. From the onset of the 1978-79 revolutionary upheavals the Persian Freemasons became…

FOŻŪLĪ, MOḤAMMAD, b. Solaymān (ca. 885-936/1480-1556), widely regarded as the greatest lyric poet in Azerbayjani Turkish, who also wrote extensively…

FORŪGĪ, MOḤSEN (Mohsen Foroughi), pioneer of modern architecture in Persia, an influential professor of architecture at the University of Tehran,…

QAWĀMI, Ḥosyan (b. Tehran, 1288 Š./1909; d. Tehran, 1368 Š. /1989), known also as Fāḵtaʾi, a master vocalist in the…

MAʿRUFI, Jawād, a renowned Persian music composer and pianist (b. Tehran, 1294 Š/1915; d. Tehran, 1372 Š/1993). Maʿrufi’s father, Musā…

MINBĀŠIĀN, Ḡolām-Ḥosayn, violinist, pianist, and conductor of orchestra (b. Tehran, 5 Ābān 1286 Š/25 Nov. 1907; d. Tehran, Ābān 1357…

MAḤJUBI, Morteżā (b. Tehran, 1279 Š./1900; d. Tehran, 1 Farvardin 1344 Š./21 March 1965), celebrated composer and performer of the…

MAḤJUBI, Reżā (b. Tehran, 1277 Š./1898, d. Tehran, 1333 Š./ 1954) composer and well-known player of the violin. Reżā’s parents…

MAJD, Loṭf-Allāh, the celebrated tār (a plucked long-necked lute) performer known for his brilliant virtuosity and distinctive style (b. Sāri,…

ADIB ḴᵛĀNSARI, Esmāʿil, a major vocalist of Persia in the first half of 20th century (b. Ḵᵛānsār, 1280 Š./1901; d….

FARZĀN, Sayyed Moḥammad (b. near Brijand, 1273 Š./1894; d. Bābolsar, 23 Farvardin 1349 Š./11 April 1970), an eminent scholar of…

KASRAVI, AḤMAD vii. A Bibliographical Survey Aḥmad Kasravi was a prolific writer. From the age of 25, when he began…

OUSELEY, Sir Gore, entrepreneur, diplomat, and orientalist (b. 24 June 1770, Monmouthshire, Wales; d. 18 November 1844, Hall Barn Park,…

OUSELEY, Sir WILLIAM, officer and orientalist (b. 1767 in Monmouthshire, Wales; d. September 1842, Boulogne, France). He was the elder…

MOMAYYEZ, Morteżā (b. Tehran, August 1936; d. Tehran, November 2005), illustrator, painter, teacher and writer who played a pivotal role…

SHIRVANLU, Firuz (Firuz Širvānlu, b. Mashad, September 1938; d. Tehran, January 1989), art critic, scholar, and artist, who played an…

SOMĀʿI (Samāʿi), ḤABIB (b. Tehran 1905; d. Tehran 1946), an outstanding player of the santur (a kind of dulcimer), perhaps…

NAḴJAVĀNI, Ḥājj Moḥammad (حاج محمد نخجوانی)(b. Tabriz, 1880; d. Tabriz, 15 Mordād 1341 Š./6 August 1962), businessman, scholar, and collector of…

EMAMI, KARIM (Karim Emāmi, b. Calcutta, 1930; d. Tehran, 9 July 2005), noted translator, editor, publisher, critic, journalist, and lexicographer…

KĀSEMI, NOṢRAT-ALLĀH (b. Tehran, 1908; d. Tehran 1996; Figure 1), physician, poet, writer, orator, and politician. The first of three…

MAHDAVI, Yaḥyā (b. Tehran, spring 1287 Š./1908; d. Tehran, 1379 Š./2000; Figure 1), professor of philosophy at the University of…

KATA (kateh), a simple, everyday rice dish characteristic for the Caspian provinces, Gilan and Mazanderan. It is prepared by combining all the ingredients…

KĀK, a general term applied to several kinds of flat bread or small, often thin, dry cakes variously shaped and…

ʿONṢORI, Abu’l-Qāsem Ḥasan b. Aḥmad (b. Balkh, ca. 961; d. Ḡazna, 1039), celebrated Persian poet of the early Ghaznavid period….

CHINESE TURKESTAN i. Geographical Overview The eastern portion of the Central Asian land mass (see central asia i. geography), between…

ʿAṢṢĀR, SAYYED MOḤAMMAD-KĀẒEM (b. 1302/1884-85; d. Tehran, 19 Dey 1353 Š./9 January 1975), outstanding Shiʿite scholar and professor of philosophy…

OZAI-DURRANI, ATAULLAH K., the Afghan inventor and developer of fast-cooking rice, marketed under the name “Minute Rice,” who left more…

AMIR KABIR PUBLISHERS, a major Persian publishing house active from 1949 to 1979. It was founded by ʿAbd-al-Raḥim Jaʿfari (b….