Encyclopaedia Iranica Online

LAḎḎAT AL-NESĀʾ , title of various renderings in prose and verse of an erotological treatise of Indic origin into Persian, the oldest such work being attributed to the Češtī Sufi (see ČESTIYA) Żiāʾ-al-Din Naḵšabi (q.v.; d. ca. 751/1350).The oldest Laḏḏat al-nesāʾ text in Persian prose has been attributed to the Češtī Sufi Żiāʾ-al-Din Naḵšabi, who had migrated to India from Transoxiana. Naḵšabi lived and died in Badaun (Uttar Pradesh). He possibly practiced as a physician and is known for his Persian writings and translations from Sansk…

a city in the province of Gilān. It is located at 37°12′ N, long 50°0′ E, to the east of the lower reaches of Safidrud at an altitude of 4 m. LĀHIJĀN, a city in the province of Gilān. It is located at 37°12′ N, long 50°0′ E, to the east of the lower reaches of Safidrud at an altitude of 4 m. With 71,871 inhabitants in 2006, it is the third most populous city in of Gilān (after Rašt and Anzali), although it was once the principal town and the administrative center ( dār-al-molk) of the entire province (Mostawfi, p. 163; tr., p. 159; Rabino, 1916-17, p. 292; tr., p. 238). According to an old legend, the cit…

17th-century Indo-Persian historian and author of the Pādšāh-nāma, the official account of the reign of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahān (1037-67/1628-57). See ʿABD-AL-ḤAMĪD LĀHŪRĪ.

(1887-1957), Marxist poet, political activist, and an important contributor to the modern of poetry of Tajikistan. LAHUTI, ABU’L-QASEM (Abu’l-Qāsem Lāhuti, b. Kermānšāh, 12 October 1887; d. Moscow, 16 March 1957), Marxist poet, political activist, and an important contributor to the modern of poetry in Tajikistan. His father was a cobbler who also wrote poetry under the pen name of Elhāmi (lit., ‘inspired’). He composed religious poems in the style of Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma, and he was therefore also known as Ferdowsi-e Ḥosayni. In his autobiographical account, Lahuti…

an Arab dynasty that ruled in central Iraq with their capital at Ḥira for roughly three centuries, from about 300 to 602 CE, generally but intermittently as the allies and clients of the Sasanian kings of Persia. LAKHMIDS, an Arab dynasty that ruled in central Iraq with their capital at Ḥira for roughly three centuries, from about 300 to 602 CE, generally but intermittently as the allies and clients of the Sasanian kings of Persia, with especially close links in the sixth century, when the Lakhmids were bulwarks of the Sasanian pos…

“Rocky sacred place (?),” name applied to gorges not far from the settlement of Kuč, 29 km southeast of Birjand in Khorasan Province ( ostān). LĀḴ-MAZĀR “Rocky sacred place (?),” name applied to gorges not far from the settlement of Kuč, 29 km southeast of Birjand in Khorasan Province ( ostān). For the name, compare Pers. sanglāḵ “stony place, gorge of stones,” dīwlāḵ “dwelling of div” (q.v.), rūd lāḵ “river bed.” In April 1992 Iranian scholar-archeologists, students of local lore, and linguists working in the Department of Cultural Heritage of Khorasan Province…

(or Lakk), an ethnic term used for a large number of people residing in a vast part of present-day Iran. The original meaning of the word in Persian, “hundred thousands,” apparently refers to the original number of families that constituted a nomadic tribal confederation. LAK (or Lakk), an ethnic term used for a large number of people residing in a vast part of present-day Iran. The original meaning of the word in Persian, “hundred thousands,” apparently refers to the original number of families that constituted a nomadic tribal confederation (Širvāni, p. 522; Marduḵ, I, p. 109). The first…

an important fortress of the Nezāri Ismaʿilis in the mountainous district of Rudbār, within the region of medieval Islamic Daylam in northwestern Iran. LANBASAR (the form in Rašid-al-Din and Ḥamd-Allāh Mostawfi; popular pronunciation, and the form used by Jovayni, Lam(m)asar), an important fortress of the Nezāri Ismaʿilis in the valley of the Šāhrud river, a tributary of the Safidrud, in the mountainous district of Rudbār, within the region of medieval Islamic Daylam in northwestern Iran. Its precise location is in th…

a city and sub-provincial district ( šahrestān) in Gilān located at lat 37°11′ N, long 50°09′ E on the Langarud River, which cuts through the city, dividing it into two parts. LANGARUD (lit. the lower limb of the river), a city and sub-provincial district ( šahrestān) in Gilān located at lat 37°11′ N, long 50°09′ E on the Langarud River, which cuts through the city, dividing it into two parts. The suffix “rud” in the name of the city probably refers to the Safidrud, the exact embouchure of which has changed over the centuries. According to…

name of a Seleucid military colony in Media. See NEHAVAND.

a small island in the Straits of Hormuz to the south of Hormuz Island, located approximately 45 kms southeast of Bandar Abbas and 18 kms southeast of the eastern end of Qeshm Island at lat 26°51′0ʹ N, long 56°21′0ʹ E. LĀRAK, a small island in the Straits of Hormuz to the south of Hormuz Island, located approximately 45 kms southeast of Bandar Abbas and 18 kms southeast of the eastern end of Qeshm Island at lat 26°51′0ʹ N, long 56°21′0ʹ E. Lārak was identified by William Vincent (p. 348) with ancient Organa, a rugged and deserted island (Ὀργάνɑ; Arrian, Indica 37.2; Ptolemy, 6.7.47; Pauly-Wiss…

See ČAKĀVAK.

a Turkicized Kurdish tribe in Fārs. The Lašani accompanied Karim Khan Zand to the province in the mid-18th century. LAŠANI, a Turkicized Kurdish tribe in Fārs. The Lašani accompanied Karim Khan Zand to the province in the mid-18th century. In summer 1754, they fought heroically against the forces of Āzād Khan the Afghān on the Marvdašt plain, north of Shiraz, and, in November of that year, the Lašani leader, Hādi Khan, made it possible for Karim Khan to seize the citadel at Shiraz (Moḥammad Kalāntar-e Fārs, pp. 48-52; Fasāʾi, I, pp. 209-10). After the fall of the Zand dynasty at the en…

(1825-1901), French artist in drawing, painting, and lithography who depicted Oriental and other subjects. LAURENS, Jules Joseph Augustin, French artist in drawing, painting, and lithography who depicted Oriental and other subjects (b. 26 July 1825 at Carpentras; d. 5 May 1901 at Saint-Didier, Vaucluse). He trained as a pupil of his elder brother, Jean Joseph Bonaventure (1801-90), and then studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he held his first exhibition in 1840. Chosen almost by chance to accompany X. Hom…

in the Persian Gulf. also known as Lār(a), Lān, or Allān, located near Naḵilu, has been mentioned in historic documents famous for pearl fishing and piracy. LĀVĀN ISLAND, in the Persian Gulf. Lāvān is located at lat 26.8˚ N and long 53.3˚ E, six nautical miles west-southwest of Naḵilu and three-quarters of a nautical mile west-northwest of Šatvār islet (United States Hydrographic Office, p. 154; Deutsches Hydrographisches Institut, p. 179). It is almost 21 km long and about 3.2 km wide. In Arrian’s account of the voyage of Nea…

a town and district northwest of Tehran. LAVĀSĀN, town and district located in the middle course of the river Jājrud in the northwest of Tehran. The district ( baḵš), officially known as Lavāsānāt, constitutes, along with Rudbār-e Qaṣrān, the sub-province of Šemirān in the Tehran province. Lavāsānāt comprises two rural districts ( dehestāns), Greater Lavāsān and Lesser Lavāsān—thus the plural form “Lavāsānāt.” The administrative center of Lavāsānāt is the town of Lavāsān, situated at lat 35.8° N, long 51.6° E, elev. 1,700 m. The district of Lavāsānāt spreads approximately 600 …

(tablet), a term used distinctively in the Bahai writings as part of the title of individual compositions of Bahāʾ-Allāh addressed to individuals or groups of individuals. LAWḤ "tablet," a term used distinctively in the Bahai writings as part of the title of individual compositions of Bahāʾ-Allāh (q.v.) addressed to individuals or groups of individuals. In popular, but probably inaccurate, usage, it is also used to refer to similar writings of cAbd-al-Bahāʾ (q.v.) and sometimes Shoghi Effendi. The Bāb (q.v.) did not specifically designate any of his works as lawḥ, though he occasio…

Layard is chiefly known for his excavations in northern Iraq between 1845 and 1851. He worked at the Assyrian sites of Nimrud and Nineveh, the North-West Palace of Assurnasirpal II and South-West Palace of Sennacherib, where he found stone bas-reliefs and figures as well as cuneiform tablets and small objects in bronze, glass, and ivory. LAYARD, Sir AUSTEN HENRY (b. 5 March 1817, Paris; d. 5 July 1894, London), French archeologist and politician (FIGURE 1, FIGURE 2, FIGURE 3). Layard is chiefly known for his excavations in northern Iraq between 1845 and 1851. He worked mai…

(1941-2000), Tajik poet, editor, and public intellectual. Lāyeq continually expanded the boundaries of Tajik poetry through his restless urge to experiment, to cultivate new means of expression and new forms. Despite his eagerness to innovate, he remained faithful to certain traditions. A number of his poems of the 1980s and 1990s observed the norms of Persian-Tajik poetry. LĀYEQ ŠĒR-ʿALI (Taj. Loiq Šeralī, known professionally as Loiq/Lāyeq), Tajik poet (b. Mazār-e Šarif, in the region of Panjakent, 20 May 1941; d. Dushanbe, 30 June 2000). Born into a peasant family, Lāyeq Šēr…

Leiden University, in Leiden, The Netherlands, was officially founded on 8 February 1575. One of the features for which Leiden University Library has become known is its Oriental collection. LEIDEN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY and Persian Studies.HISTORY OF THE LIBRARYLeiden University, in Leiden, The Netherlands, was officially founded on 8 February 1575. At that time, the northern Netherlands were a rebellious, predominantly Protestant, cluster of provinces, nominally under the sovereignty of the Roman-Catholic king of Spain. When the cit…