ii. Trade and production of silk and its use in crafts Historical background. Silk, originally from China, has been known…

i. In Iran History. Information establishing the precise era in which rice was introduced along the Caspian littoral and on…

i. In Iran The cultivation of barley in Iran, like that of wheat, goes back to the origin of agriculture…

ANGŪR, grapes. i. Production and trade. ii. In Afghanistan. iii. In literature. i. Production and Trade Origins and historical evolution….

ARZAN, millet (Pahl. and modern Pers. dialects also ālum). The main species of millet probably originate from the Far East…

ASĀLEM, a mountainous district in Ṭāleš, now a dehestān of the central baḵš of the šahrestān of Ṭawāleš, province of…

ĀSTĀRĀ i. Town and Sub-Province Since 1228/1813, when the treaty of Golestān fixed the frontier between Qajat Persia and the…

ĀZĀD, Zelkova crenata or Siberian elm, a tree of the Ulmaceae family, for which also other scientific names, such as…

In Iranian agriculture, the word bāḡ, though usually translated as “garden,” means more precisely an enclosed area bearing permanent cultures—i.e.,…

BAZAR v. Temporary Bāzārs in Iran and Afghanistan Periodic bāzārs. Periodic markets, and especially weekly markets, are generally presented as…

ALBORZ iii. Geography The Alborz mountains form the central part of the northern arc of mountains in Iran, which extend…

PLANHOL, XAVIER DE (b. Paris, 3 February 1926, d. Paris, 17 May 2016; Figure 1), prominent cultural geographer and leading…

TĀLEŠ (Ṭāleš) DISTRICT, Gilān. The Tāleš region altogether stretches north from the Safidrud, which cuts through the western Alborz mountains in…

ʿANBARĀN, a township and district (baḵš) in the Namin sub-provincial district (šahrestān) of Ardabil Province, located at lat 38°30′ N,…

KHALKHAL i. The Town and District  Historical data.  Mentions of Khalkhal and of some of its subdistricts and localities appeared…

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

REŻWĀNŠAHR, small town and sub-provencial unit (šahrestān) in the western part of Gilān Province.  The town is located at lat 37°33′…

ṢAWMAʿA SARĀ, city and district in western Gilān.  The city is located at lat 37°17′ N, long 29°19′ E, in…

MĀSĀL, small town and sub-provincial district (šahrestān) in the western part of Gilān Province.  The town is located at lat…

RUDSAR, city and sub-provincial district (šahrestān) in eastern Gilān. The city is located at lat 37°08′ N, long 50°18′ E,…

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

MĀSULA, township and district (baḵš) in western Gilān. Located at lat 37°10′ N, long 48°59′ E, at an altitude of…

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

MANJIL, town in the Rudbār district, Gilān province. Located at lat 36°44′ N, long 49°24′ E, where the Qezel-owzan (Kızıl-uzun)…

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

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

TEA  or ČĀY, derived from Chinese work Chi.ch’a (Mathews’ Chinese English Dictionary, no. 101), shrub of the genus Camellia and beverage…

HAŠTPAR (or Šahr-e Ṭāleš “Ṭāleš City”), city in the western part of Gilān Province, center of the šahrestān (sub-provincial district)…

ČĀH “well.” Together with the well-known qanāt (subterranean water canals), wells (čāh) play a great part in the mobilization of…

This small town and district in the southeastern part of Gilān Province.  The town is located at lat 37°05′ N,…

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

ANZALĪ, town in Gīlān (lat 37°28′ N, long 49°28′ E) at the mouth of the lagoon (mordāb) bearing the same…

RASHT ii. The District The district (šahrestān) of Rasht, 1,224 km², is the largest in the plain of Gilān and…

ŠAFT, district and small town in southwestern Gilān. The town is located at lat 37°9′ N and long 49°24′ E….

GĪLĀN   i. Geography and Ethnography Physical Geography (Figure 1). Gīlān includes the northwestern end of the Alborz chain and…

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

FŪMAN, a town and district in western Gīlān (Figure 1). The town of Fūman is located 21 km to the…

AMLAŠ, small town and district in southeastern Gilān (q.v.). i. Geography. ii. Excavations. i. Geography The town of Amlaš is…