Encyclopaedia Iranica Online

a short Avestan text with Pahlavi translation; each Avestan sentence is followed by its Pahlavi translation and sometimes with additional explanatory glosses. VAEΘĀ , a short Avestan text with Pahlavi translation; each Avestan sentence is followed by its Pahlavi translation and sometimes with additional explanatory glosses. VaeΘā took its name from the first words of the text: vaeΘā daēniiå māzdaiiasnōiš ahurahē mazda mraōt̰ “the knowledge of the Mazdayasnian religion, Ahura Mazdā said.” The text represents a fragment of the Nikātom Nask (one of the dādīg “law-related” nasks; f…

(ca. 1532-1583), Kamāl-al-Din (or Šams-al-Din Moḥammad), Persian poet of the Safavid period, who was born in Bāfq and died in Yazd. VAḤŠI BĀFQI, KAMĀL-AL-DIN (or Šams-al-Din Moḥammad), Persian poet of the Safavid period (b. Bāfq, ca. 1532; d. Yazd, 1583). Vaḥši was born in the agricultural town of Bāfq, southeast of Yazd, where he received his earliest training in poetry from his elder brother Morādi and the local literary luminary Šaraf-al-Din ʿAli of Bāfq. He continued his education in the provincial capital of Yaz…

(1923-1993), Belgian archeologist who devoted almost all his research to Iran’s history. VANDEN BERGHE, LOUIS (b. Oostnieuwkerke, West Flanders, 24 December 1923; d. Ghent, 17 September 1993), Belgian archeologist (with Flemish as his mother-tongue) who devoted almost all his research to Iran’s history (FIGURE 1). After his classical studies at Roeselare College in West Flanders, he went on to study history of art and archeology at the Hoger Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis en Oudheidkunde, sectie Oudheid at Ghent University (1944-48), where he obtained his licentie (equivalen…

(1855-96), poet and an early follower of Bahaism. VARQĀ, ʿALI-MOḤAMMAD (b. Yazd, 1855; d. Tehran, 2 May, 1896, FIGURE 1), a well-known poet, student of traditional Iranian medicine, and an early follower of Bahāʾ-Allāh , the founder of the Bahai Faith.He was the youngest son of Ḥāji Mollā Mehdi (ʿAṭri) of Yazd. Varqā became a courageous teacher of Bahaism. He was one of the four Hands of the Cause of God (Ayādi Amr-Allāh), posthumously elevated to this rank by ʿAbd-al-Bahāʾ (The Universal House of Justice, p. 446) and one of the…

(1884-1955), one of the leading figures among 20th-century Iranian Bahāʾis. VARQĀ, WALI-ALLĀH (b. Tabriz, 1884; d. Tubingen, 12 November 1955, FIGURE 1), one of the leading figures of the 20th-century Iranian Bahāʾis. He was appointed in 1939 as the Trustee of Ḥoquq-Allāh (the Right of God), and on 24 December 1951 as a Hand of the Cause of God (Ayādi-e Amr Allāh), as part of the first contingent of the Hands of the Cause, by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian [Head] of the Bahāʾi faith (Bahāʾi World XIII, p. 381); Shoghi Effendi , 1971, p. 20). Wali-Allah was the third son of Mirzā ʿAli-Mo…

Download this sound. title Vāsunak genre/topic Vāsunak language Persian performer Šekar Širāzi instrument Voice with violin and tonbak composer   author/poet   second line of poem ḵoš be hale šāzdeh dāmād hamsaraš bā nāz miād recorded by   place of recording   date of recording   duration 2:37 source Naghme-hā-ye Shekarin: Vāsunaks from Shiraz and Songs from Various Regions of Fars. Mahoor Institute of Culture and Art, 2014 (M.CD-398), disc 2, track 1.Used with permission of the publisher note   EIr entries ‘ARUSI

Greek scholar, merchant, traveler, pioneer explorer, and diplomat. VATATZES, Vasilios (b. Therapeia, near Constantinople, 1694), Greek scholar, merchant, traveler, pioneer explorer, and diplomat. Life. Vatatzes was the sixth child in his family and his father, a Greek Christian Orthodox priest, served as steward of the Aya Sofia church in Constantinople. When he was 14, he migrated from Constantinople to Moscow and became a merchant. Vatatzes visited Iran at least three times. In 1713 he traveled by ship from Astrakha…

“Wind, Atmosphere, Space,” name of a deity and the natural phenomenon. VĀYU “Wind, Atmosphere, Space,” name of a deity. Indo-Iranian religion recognized two wind gods: Av. vayu, Ved. vāyú, and Av. vāta-, Ved. vā́ta-. In Iranian the latter is both a deity and the natural phenomenon (cf. MPers., Parth. wād, Kušān coins OAƍO, SogdB wʾt, Khot. bāta-; see further, Bailey, p. 276). By contrast, in the Avesta vayu- is always a proper name, never an appellative. Further, the Middle Persian evidence suggests that, as an appellative, OIr. wāyu- included “atmosphere” as the realm of the wind…

(b. Tehran, 1887; d., Tehran, 9 September 1979), composer, virtuoso tār player, musical theorist, and educator. VAZIRI, ALI-NAQI (ʿAli-Naqi Waziri; b. Tehran, 1887; d., Tehran, 9 September 1979), composer, virtuoso tār player, musical theorist, and educator. Life. Vaziri was the son of Musā Khan Mirpanj, a high ranking army officer, and Bibi Ḵānom, a well-educated woman active in the cause of women’s liberation. From childhood, Vaziri was inured to the rigors of military life, which seem to have been well suited to his temperament…

(1906-1958) musician and prominent performer of the qaranei (clarinet). VAZIRITABĀR, Ḥosayn-ʿAli (b. Tehran, 1285 Š./1906; d. Tehran, 1337 Š./1958) musician and prominent performer of the qaranei (clarinet). Because of the technical structure of the clarinet, which is a Western musical instrument, it is very difficult to use it to play Persian melodies. Vaziritabār was the first person to do so. Vaziritabār was a music enthusiast from childhood. He entered the military music conservatory (Madrasa-ye musiqi-e neẓām), joining the military music band (Dasta…

the common name given to the Avestan text widaēwa-dāta-, Pahl. jud-dēw-dād “The Law repudiating the Demons.” VENDĪDĀD i. Survey of the history and contents of the text Of the three major divisions of the 21 Nasks of the Sasanian Avesta, the Vendīdād—Avestan widaēwa-dāta-, Pahl. jud-dēw-dād “The Law repudiating the Demons” (Benveniste, 1970)—was the last of those called dādīg “dealing with law,” and 19th overall. The summary of its contents given in the 9th-century Dēnkard (Bk. 8.44; West, 1892, pp. 6-8, 152-66; ed. Madan, pp. 777-84) acco…

See ʿADAS.

See DĀM-PEZEŠKĪ.