ĀBĀDĀN  ii. The modern city island and city in the ostān (province) of Ḵūzestān is located at the head of…

AHVĀZ ii. The Modern City Ahvāz was in the 19th century no more than a small borough inhabited by Šaʿb…

AZERBAIJAN i. Geography I. The geographic concept of Azerbaijan. A. The name of the country is derived from that of…

BANDAR-e ŠĀH (now Bandar-e Torkaman), a port on the southeastern Caspian Sea at the entrance of the Astarābād bay and…

BANDAR-e ŠĀHPŪR (Bandar-e Emām Ḵomeynī since the revolution of 1979), a port at the far end of the Persian Gulf,…

BANDAR-e GAZ, a port on the southern shore of the Astarābād bay in the southeastern Caspian Sea, a few kilometers from…

BANDAR-e MĀHŠAHR (Bandar-e Maʿšūr), a port at the western end of the Persian Gulf, on the northern bank of the…

BANDAR-E ʿABBAS(I) i. The City Geographical situation and historical background. At the entrance to the Persian Gulf, Bandar-e ʿAbbās extends…

BAND-E TORKESTĀN (boundary wall of Turkestan), or less commonly Tīrband-e Torkestān, the mountain range in northwestern Afghanistan which runs in…

BAND-E AMĪR, the chain of natural lakes 90 km west of Bāmīān in Afghanistan (30°12’ north latitude and 66° 30’…

BAND “dam.” General remarks. The word means something that factually or figuratively binds, ties, or restricts (cf. Av. banda- “bond,”…

BAM (in Arabic, Bamm), a town in southeastern Iran, located on the southwestern rim of the Dašt-e Lūt basin at…

BALḴ, city and province in northern Afghanistan. i. Geography. ii. From the Arab conquest to the Mongols. iii. From the…

BAHRAIN, Ar. Baḥrayn, lit. “two seas,” the name originally applied to the area of the northeastern Arabian peninsula now known…

BAHMANŠĪR (less commonly Bahmešīr, Bahmānšīr, or Baḥr al-Mašīr), the name of the distributary which branches off the left bank of…

BAḠLĀN, place name in northeastern Afghanistan. i. Kushan period. ii. Modern province. iii. Modern town.   i. Kushan Period The…

BĀDŪSPĀN or BĀDŪSBĀN, FĀDŪSBĀN, mountainous district of northern Iran on the Caspian side of the Alborz mountains, in Ṭabarestān (Māzandarān),…

BĀDĀM “almond.“ i. General. ii. As food.   i. General Biogeography of natural occurrences of almond trees. The genus Amygdalus…

BADAḴŠĀN, the name of an area and modern province of northeastern Afghanistan, situated between the upper Amu Darya to the…

BĀD (wind), phenomenon at ground level resulting from modifications of general airflows by local topographic factors. On the plateau of…

BĀBOLSAR, town on the Caspian coast in the province of Māzandarān. It acquired its present name in 1306 Š./1927 [see…

BĀBOL,  i. The Town town in Māzandarān, formerly Bārforūš; Bābol lies near the Bābol river, occupying a central position in…

ARDESTĀN, a town of central Iran between Kāšān and Nāʾīn, lying on the very border of the Dašt-e Kavīr. i….

ARDABĪL i. History of Ardabīl. ii. Modern Ardabīl. iii. Monuments of Ardabīl. iv. Ardabīl Collection of Chinese Porcelain. v. Population, 1956-2011….

ARARAT, MOUNT (Pers. Kūh-e Nūḥ, Arm. Masis or Masik, Turk. Ağr dağ or Eğri dağ), extinct volcano in the northeastern…

ARĀK i. History. ii. Modern town and industry. iii. Basic population data, 1956-2011.   i. History Arāk was originally the…

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

ANDĪMEŠK (also ANDĀMEŠ, ANDĀLMEŠK), the name of medieval Dezfūl. Modern Andīmešk is the former village of Ṣāleḥābād, 8 km northwest…