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a historical region located north of present-day Tehran. QAṢRĀN, a historical region located north of present-day Tehran, consisting of the upper Jājrud river valley (Inner Qaṣrān) and Šemirānāt as well as Tehran itself (Outer Qaṣrān). Qaṣrān has been populated since pre-historical times. Artifacts dated from three to six thousand years ago have been excavated from its ancient burials and other sites. The invading Muslims conquered Ray (q.v.) and Damāvand in the early Omayyad period. Nevertheless, the habitants of the mountainous…

(1880-1962), businessman, scholar, and collector of manuscripts. NAḴJAVĀNI, ḤĀJI MOḤAMMAD (b. Tabriz, 1880; d. Tabriz, 15 Mordād 1341 Š./6 August 1962), businessman, scholar, and collector of manuscripts. His father, Ḥājj ʿAli ʿAbbās was a leading merchant in Tabriz and attended to his son’s education from early years. The young Moḥammad began his elementary education under Āqā Ḥosayn Amin-al-Odabā and at Ṭalebiya school, where he studied Persian and Arabic grammar and literature under an erudite teach…

(1906-1990), political figure and university professor. When the oil industry was nationalized in 1951, Ḥasibi, as Deputy Minister of Finance, became a member of the delegation charged with the eviction of the former oil company. He accompanied Dr. Moṣaddeq to the U.N. Security Council. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 1, pp. 48-49 ḤASIBI, KĀẒEM, political figure and university professor (b. Tehran, 1324/1906; d. Tehran, 1369 Š./1990; Figure 1). Born to a merchant family, Ḥasibi graduated from the law school at Tehran …

or QALYĀN (nargileh); a water pipe chiefly used in the Middle East and Central Asia for smoking tobacco. It is composed of several parts: the bādgīr (chimney); sar-e ḡālyān or sarpūš (the top bowl; sar-ḵāna in Afghanistan); tana (the body); mīlāb (the immersion pipe); ney-e pīč (hose); and kūza (the reservoir of water). A version of this article is available in print Volume X, Fascicle 3, pp. 261-265 ḠALYĀN or QALYĀN (nargileh), a water pipe chiefly used in the Middle East and Central Asia for smoking tobacco (Syr. Ar: nafas; called ḥoqqa in India; čelam/ čelīm in Afghanistan; Pūr-e Dāwūd…

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 …

principal meaning “headman,” from Middle Persian kadag-xwadāy, lit. “head of a household." A version of this article is available in print Volume XV, Fascicle 3, pp. 328-331 KADḴODĀ, principal meaning “headman,” from Middle Persian kadag-xwadāy, lit. “head of a household, master of the house” (MacKenzie, p. 48; see also Vullers, II, p. 805a-b). During the medieval period, at least in post-Saljuq times, the term mainly referred to the headman of primary communal groups that were characterized by face to face relations in several social contexts—villages ( dehāt), guilds of craftsm…

language spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the Ormur or Baraki. ORMURI is spoken by the Ormur (Ōrmuṛ), as the Pashtuns call them. The term Ōrmuṛ is traditionally interpreted as “extinguishers of fire,” from Pashto ôr “fire,” and mər, “dead, extinct”; perhaps the term is a malevolent allusion to a pretended past of “extinguishers of fire” (for other interpretations, see Morgenstierne, n.d., p. 16). Ormuri is also known as Baraki, the endonym of its speakers. The native designation Bargistā seems no longer used for the language (c…

violinist, pianist, and conductor (1907-1978). MINBĀŠIĀN, ḠOLĀM-ḤOSAYN, violinist, pianist, and conductor of orchestra (b. Tehran, 5 Ābān 1286 Š/25 Nov. 1907; d. Tehran, Ābān 1357 Š /Nov. 1978). He was the son of Ḡolām-Reżā Minbāšiān Sālār Moʿazzaz and is known for his contemptuous disregard for traditional Persian music and his attempts to restructure and, to some extent, replace it with Western music. Minbāšiān left Persia for Europe after finishing the music school of Dār al-Fonun to study music at the Geneva Conservatory. There he studied the violin an…

(1878-1970), distinguished statesman, constitutionalist, and scholar. TAQIZADEH, SAYYED HASAN (Sayyed Ḥasan Taqizāda; b. Tabriz, 30 Ramażān 1295/27 September 1878; d. Tehran, 8 Bahman 1348/28 January 1970), distinguished statesman, constitutionalist, and scholar.TAQIZADEH, SAYYED HASAN i. To the End of the Constitutional RevolutionThe present entry traces the intellectual development and political career of Sayyed Hasan Taqizadeh up to early 1911. It is divided into the following sections: (1) Youth and Education, (2) Taqizadeh in the…

Persian composer and pianist (1915-1993). MAʿRUFI, Jawād, a renowned Persian music composer and pianist (b. Tehran, 1294 Š/1915; d. Tehran, 1372 Š/1993). Maʿrufi’s father, Musā Maʿrufi, was a master musician and an imposing player of the tār (a plucked long-necked lute), who wrote down the repertoires ( radifs) of Persian music in Western notation and thus helped make it recorded and lasting. Jawād, after finishing primary school, entered the music school (Masdrasa-ye ʿāli-e musiqi) founded by ʿAli-Naqi Vaziri. There he first studied the tār for several years before joining th…

outstanding player of the santur. SAMĀʿI, ḤABIB (b. Tehran, 1284 Š./1905; d. Tehran, 1325 Š./1946), outstanding player of the santur (a kind of dulcimer), usually considered the greatest santur player of his time (Mašhun, II, p. 517).Samāʿi’s first teacher of music was his father Ḥabib-Allāh Samāʿ Ḥożur, an accomplished performer of the santur, who started teaching his son how to play the tombak (drum) when the child was four years old. Before long Samāʿi began to accompany his father’s santur playing with his tombak. He then started learning how to play the santur, and by virtue of hi…

(Kiss me), the title of one of the most popular songs ( taṣnif) of mid-twentieth century Iran. MARĀ BEBUS (Kiss me), the title of one of the most popular songs ( taṣnif) of mid-twentieth century Iran. Its music was composed by Majid Vafādār and its lyrics by Ḥaydar Reqābi (Hāla); it was sung by Ḥasan Golnarāqi. As a student, Reqābi was a member of the National Front and a strong supporter of Moḥammad Moṣaddeq (q.v.). After the coup d’état of August 1953, he went into hiding but was eventually allowed to leave the country and go into exile. When Reqāb…

(b. Kāšān, 1910; d. London, 1981), deputy manager of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; Šerkat-e mellī-e naft-e Īrān), in charge of international relations and marketing. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 171-172 FALLĀḤ, REŻĀ (b. 1328/1910, Kāšān; d. 1360 Š./1981, London), deputy manager of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; Šerkat-e mellī-e naft-e Īrān), in charge of international relations and marketing, “a shrewd man of affairs, the Shah used him as a behind-the-scenes negotiator wi…

Ḵalḵāli remained, to the end of his life, a loyal member of the democratic current and a close confidant of Sayyed Ḥasan Taqizādeh, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (Ferqa-ye ejtemāʿiyun-e ʿāmmiyun) in the First Majles (1906-08), and later of Iran’s Democrat Party (Ferqa-ye demokrāt-e Irān) in the Second Majles. A version of this article is available in print Volume XV, Fascicle 4, pp. 405-408 ḴALḴĀLI, SAYYED ʿABD-al-RAḤIM (b. Ḵalḵāl, ca. 1872; d. Tehran, 20 June 1942), well-known constitutionalist, journalist, government official, bookseller, and pub…

(1906-1988), prolific poet and the most noted representative of the short-lived Persian romanticism, who also composed poems in Azeri Turkish. Shahryar’s poetry has influenced many contemporary poets. SHAHRYAR, MOHAMMAD HOSAYN (Moḥammad Ḥosayn Behjat Tabrizi; b. Tabriz, Šahrivar 1285 Š./August 1906; d. Tehran, 27 Šahrivar 1367 Š./18 September 1988), outstanding, prolific contemporary poet (Figure 1, Figure 2). LIFE Shahryar was the son of Sayyed Esmāʾil, known as Mir Āqā (d. 1934), a calligrapher and erudite man (Zāhedi, p. 37). His childhood years co…

city, formerly Fahraj, and sub-province ( šahrestān) in the province of Sistān and Baluchistan.A version of this article is available in printVolume XIII, Fascicle 5, pp. 533-534 IRĀNŠAHR, a city, formerly Fahraj (q.v. at iranica.com), and a sub-province ( šahrestān) in the province of Sistān and Baluchistan (q.v.). In 1935, the district ( baḵš) of Bampur (q.v.) was officially renamed Irānšahr, and a year later it became part of the Ḵāš sub-province. In 1947 it was officially recognized as a city in the administrative division of Baluchistan.i. Geography The sub-province. The sub-pr…

a major vocalist of Persia in the first half of 20th century (1901-1982). ADIB ḴᵛĀNSARI, ESMĀʿIL, a major vocalist of Persia in the first half of 20th century (b. Ḵᵛānsār, 1280 Š./1901; d. Tehran, 1361 Š./1982). His father, Mirzā Maḥmud Ḵᵛānsāri, was a cleric but earned his living through copying manuscripts as well as from his inherited farmland. He was interested in the arts, especially calligraphy, and was particularly skilled in the nastaʿliq script (Behruzi, p. 456).Adib lived in his birthplace of Ḵᵛānsār until the age of eighteen. His early education was at a traditional school ( makt…

(Ḥājiābād), site of bilingual inscription of Šāpur I on the wall of a cave near Persepolis. OVERVIEW of the entry: i. The Inscriptions. ii. The Texts. A version of this article is available in print Volume XI, Fascicle 5, pp. 554-556 HAJIABAD (Ḥājiābād) INSCRIPTIONS, bilingual inscription of Šāpur I on the wall of Ḥājiābād cave near Persepolis. HAJIABAD i. INSCRIPTIONS The Hajiabad inscriptions were discovered by Robert Ker Porter at Ḥājiābād in 1818 in a grotto a few kilometers north of Persepolis, at a place called Šayḵ ʿAli or Tang-e Šāh Sarvān, oppos…

(1853-1925), Assyrian scholar, philologist, historian, and humanitarian. YOHANNAN, ABRAHAM (1853-1925; Figure 1), Assyrian scholar, philologist, historian, and humanitarian advocate. He was the first “Oriental” to teach Oriental languages at Columbia University. Education and early career. Abraham Yohannan (b. 25 April 1853; d. 9 November 1925) was born in Ābājāluy near Urmia (Āḏarbāyjān-e Ḡarbi province, Iran; Razmārā, p. 1). His father, grandfather, and other ancestors as far back as can be traced were priests of the Nestorian…

the southernmost Indo-Aryan language, is spoken by more than 40 million speakers, including inhabitants of Bombay and the state of Maharashtra (Mahāraštrā) in west-central India. Marathi (Marāti, earlier form: Marhāti), the southernmost Indo-Aryan language, is spoken by more than 40 million speakers, including inhabitants of Bombay and the state of Maharashtra (Mahāraštrā) in west-central India. The name of both the region and the language is derived from Maharathas or Maharatta, a tribe of immigrant Aryans (Velankar, p…