Encyclopaedia Iranica Online

(or ABARQŪYA), a town in northern Fārs; it was important in medieval times, but, being off the main routes, it is now largely decayed. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 64-67 ABARQUH i. History The Islamic geographers of the 4th/10th century describe Abarqūh as lying in the Shiraz-Isfahan-Eṣṭaḵr road, at a point where another road led off northeastwards to Yazd, and as 28 farsaḵs from Yazd, 20 from Isfahan, and 39 from Shiraz. According to Ebn Ḥawqal, Abarqūh was administratively the chief town of the nāḥīa or district of Rūdān; formerly dependent…

Name of Nīšāpūr province in western Khorasan. From the early Sasanian period, Nišāpur, which was founded or rebuilt by Šāpur I in the first years of his reign, was the administrative center of the province. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 67 ABARŠAHR, name of Nīšāpūr province in western Khorasan. From the early Sasanian period, Nīšāpūr, which was founded or rebuilt by Šāpūr I in the first years of his reign, was the administrative center of the province. On a Sasanian clay sealing, the names of Abaršahr…

(APURSĀM in Middle Persian), a dignitary and high-ranking officeholder of the court of the Sasanian king Ardašīr I (A.D. 226-42). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 67-68 ABARSĀM (APURSĀM in Middle Persian), a dignitary and high-ranking officeholder of the court of the Sasanian king Ardašīr I (A.D. 226-42). According to Ṭabarī (I, pp. 816, 818; cf. Ebn al-Aṯīr, I, p. 247), Abarsām became Ardašīr’s chief minister ( vuzurgframaḏār ; see Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser, p. 9, n. 2, on the reading of the title) when the king conquered Eṣṭaḵr…

Middle Persian form of the Avestan name Upāiri.saēna, designating the Hindu Kush mountains (Av. iškata; Mid. Pers. kōf, gar) of central and eastern Afghanistan. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 68-69 ABARSĒN, Middle Persian form of the Avestan name Upāiri.saēna, designating the Hindu Kush mountains (Average. iškata; Mid. Pers. kōf, gar) of central and eastern Afghanistan. Yašt 19.3 lists it as one of the ranges envisaged as spurs of the High Harā (see Alborz), which, as the mythical world-encircling range, is the sour…

Name of Nishapur province in western Khorasan. See ABARŠAHR.

(ĀBASKŪN), a port of the medieval period on the southwest shore of the Caspian Sea in Gorgān province. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 69-70 ABASKŪN (ĀBASKŪN), a port of the medieval period on the southwest shore of the Caspian Sea in Gorgān province. Perhaps it should be connected with the Sōkanda river in ancient Hyrcania mentioned by Ptolemy ( Geographia 6.9.2.). It seems to have been at or near the mouth of the Gorgān river (the Herand river in Ḥodūd al-ʿālam). According to Swedish archeologists “Abaskun should be identified with Gumüš T…

(or SOLAYMĀN), Muʿtazilite theologian of the 3rd/9th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 70-71 ʿABBĀD B. SALMĀN (or SOLAYMĀN) B. ʿALĪ AL-ṢAYMARĪ, ABŪ SAHL, Muʿtazili theologian of the 3rd/9th century. Although Ebn al-Nadīm calls him a Basran, his nesba indicates that he came from Ṣaymara in southwestern Jebāl. He must have been born before the year 200/816, for his teacher in Muʿtazili theology, Hešām b. ʿAmr Fovaṭī, appears to have died not later than 218/833. During the time of inquisition aga…

(i.e., “Father” Isaiah), late 4th century A.D., author of Christian ascetical texts; from these it appears that he was a hermit who lived in the desert of Scete in Egypt, of whom several anecdotes are told in the Apophthegmata patrum. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 70 ABBĀ (“Father”) ISAIAH, late 4th century A.D., author of Christian ascetical texts; from these it appears that he was a hermit who lived in the desert of Scete in Egypt, of whom several anecdotes are told in the Apophthegmata patrum (see, e.g., Figure 1). The generally accepted ide…

fortress built in 1810 by ʿAbbās Mīrzā on the northern bank of the Araxes river, at a place formerly called Yazdābād about six miles to the southwest of Naḵjavān. This article is available in print. Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 85 ʿABBĀSĀBĀD, fortress built in 1810 by ʿAbbās Mīrzā on the northern bank of the Araxes river. Erected at a place formerly called Yazdābād about six miles to the southwest of Naḵjavān city, the fortress commanded the passage of the Araxes and was of special strategic importance for the defense of the Naḵjavān khan…

Leader of an Arab invasion of the lower Euphrates region in which the Savād of Iraq was ravaged, in about A.D. 589, toward the end of the reign of Hormozd IV. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 79 ʿABBĀS AḤVAL, leader with ʿAmr al-Azraq (Masʿūdī: al-Afvah) of an Arab invasion of the lower Euphrates region in which the Savād of Iraq was ravaged, about A.D. 589, toward the end of the reign of Hormozd IV. This event is represented by some ancient historians as part of a coalition of the enemies of Iran. Th…

half brother of Imam Ḥosayn, who fought bravely at the battle of Karbalā. According to most traditions, he was killed on the day of ʿĀšurā (10 Moḥarram 61/10 October 680) while trying to bring back water from the Euphrates river to quench the unbearable thirst of the besieged Ahl-e Bayt (holy family). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 77-79 ʿABBĀS B. ʿALĪ B. ABŪ ṬĀLEB, a half brother of Imam Ḥosayn who fought bravely at the battle of Karbalā. ʿAbbās was killed, according to most traditions, on the day of ʿĀšūrā (10 Moḥarram…

Buyid vizier, d. 362/973. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 79 ʿABBĀS B. ḤOSAYN ŠĪRĀZĪ, ABU’L-FAŻL, Buyid vizier, d. 362/973. He first appears after the death of Mohallabī, the Shiʿi vizier of Moʿezz-al-dawla, as chief of the dīwān al-nafaqāt, the bureau of expenditures. He was subsequently charged with the functions, but not the title, of the vizierate jointly with Ebn Fasānǰos (Abu’l-Faraǰ), another official of the regime. The history of the period is characterized by rivalries among high dignitarie…

calligrapher and civil servant, d. 1255/1839-40. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 84 ʿABBĀS B. REŻĀ-QOLĪ KHAN NŪRĪ, calligrapher and civil servant, b. at Tāker-e Nūr in Māzandarān, d. 1255/1839-40 and buried in Naǰaf. According to one account, he joined the entourage of Emām-verdī Mīrzā b. Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah, under whose protection he achieved fame and wealth, including sumptuous residences in Tehran and Tāker. But in 1251/1835, after twenty years of prosperity, ʿAbbās suffered a rev…

ʿABBĀS EFFENDI, the eldest son of Bahāʾallāh and founder of the Bahaʾi movement. See ʿABD-AL-BAHĀʾ.

Signature found on a number of pieces of metalwork from Iran. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 76-77 ʿABBĀS, ḤĀJĪ, a signature found on a number of pieces of metalwork from Iran; three different individuals or workshops should probably be distinguished. 1. A craftsman working in steel, who signs himself Ḥāǰī ʿAbbās, is known primarily from a dervish’s bowl in the collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. A. Welsh ( Shah ʿAbbās and the Arts of Isfahan, New York, 1973, no. 41) translates the relevant part of the inscription on this piece as…

Shah Abbas, Safavid king of Iran (996-1038/1588-1629). Styled "Shah ʿAbbās the Great," he was the third son and successor of Solṭān Moḥammad Shah. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 71-75 ʿABBĀS I, styled “the Great,” king of Iran (996-1038/1588-1629) of the Safavid dynasty, third son and successor of Solṭān Moḥammad Shah. He was born on 1 Ramażān 978/27 January 1571, and died in Māzandarān on Jomādā I 1038/19 January 1629, after reigning for forty-two lunar and forty-one solar years. For ʿAbbās, the path to the throne was anything but smooth…

A name first applied to the principal gold and silver coins issued by the Safavid king ʿAbbās I (1581-1629); it continued in use until the beginning of the 20th century.A version of this article is available in printVolume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 86 ʿABBĀSĪ, a name first applied to the principal gold and silver coins issued by the Safavid king ʿAbbās I (1581-1629); it continued in use until the beginning of the 20th century.The silver and gold coins of Safavid Persia bore no face values; they were very pure and passed by weight. The shahs did little to manage the currency…

the third dynasty of caliphs who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs in Damascus. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 89-95 ʿABBASID CALIPHATE in Iran. The aim of the present article is not to give a chronological history of Persia under ʿAbbasid rule but to examine some of the main trends affecting the political, religious, and cultural development of Persia during the period when ʿAbbasid rule was effective there—essentially from the middle of the 2nd/8th century to the opening decades of the 4th/10th century. The es…

Indian literary figure who wrote in Persian (d. 1048/1638). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 88-89 ʿABBĀSĪ GOJARĀTĪ, ʿABD-AL-LAṬĪF B. ʿABDALLĀH KABĪR (d. 1048/1638), Indian literary figure. He was first attached to the retinue of Laškar Khan Mašhadī in Kabul and then to the court of Shah Jahān (1628-58), where he exercised the functions of dīvān-e tan and was given the title ʿAqīda Khan. He added a preface and supplement to the Botḵāna (q.v.) of Moḥammad Ṣūfī Māzandarānī, as well as a collection of biographical notices of poets entitled Ḵolāṣa-ye aḥv…

Safavid king of Iran (1052-77/1642-66). The expedition to Kandahar, which had been lost to the Mughals under Shah Ṣafi I, counts as Shah ʿAbbās II’s main military venture. ʿABBĀS II, Shah, seventh Safavid king, son of Shah Ṣafi I (r. 15 Ṣafar 1052-25 Rabiʿ I 1077/15 May 1642-25 September 1666). Shah ʿAbbās II, known as Solṭān-Moḥammad Mirzā prior to his enthronement, was born in Qazvin, most likely, as the Dutch report, on Monday 14 Ṣafar 1042/30 August 1632, as the first of Shah Ṣafi’s five sons (NA, VOC 1106, 8 May 1633, …