Search

tār player known for his brilliant virtuosity and distinctive style (1917-1978). MAJD, Loṭf-Allāh, the celebrated tār (a plucked long-necked lute) performer known for his brilliant virtuosity and distinctive style (b. Sāri, Māzandarān, 1296/1917; d. Tehran, 1357 Š./1978). Majd was fascinated with music from his early childhood, spending most of his time fiddling around with a battered old tār that he had found in the storage room of their house at the expense of attending to his school assignments. This caused his father to take the instrument away fr…

(1770-1844), entrepreneur, diplomat, and orientalist. OUSELEY, Sir Gore, entrepreneur, diplomat, and orientalist (b. 24 June 1770, Monmouthshire, Wales; d. 18 November 1844, Hall Barn Park, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England). He was the younger brother of the officer and orientalist William Ouseley (1767-1842). The Ouseleys were an Anglo-Irish family who, although impoverished, afforded their two sons a sound private education. In 1787, Gore Ouseley moved to India, became a successful trader, and established in 1792 a textile fact…

man of letters, university professor, cabinet minister, and the chief architect of the modernization of the educational system under Reza Shah (1893-1980). Once Reza Shah decided to unveil Persian women, he placed Hekmat in charge of mapping out a plan of action, which included co-education in the first four years of elementary school. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 2, pp. 145-149 HEKMAT (Ḥekmat), ʿALI-AṢḠAR, man of letters, university professor, cabinet minister, and the chief architect of the modernization of the educational…

scholar of Persian language and literature, poet, essayist, translator, literary critic, university professor, and founding editor of the periodical Soḵan. A version of this article is available in print Volume XVI, Fascicle 4, pp. 407-416 KHANLARI, PARVIZ (Parviz Nātel Ḵānlari; b. Tehran, Esfand 1292 Š./March 1914; d. Tehran, 1 Šahrivar 1369 Š./23 August 1990; PLATE I), prominent scholar of Persian language and literature, poet, essayist, translator, literary critic, university professor, and founding editor of the periodical Soḵan. LIFE Ḵānlari was the son of Mirzā Abu’…

Qajar diplomat, official, and scholar. MAJD-AL-MOLK I, MIRZĀ MOḤAMMAD KHAN SINAKI LAVĀSĀNI (b. Sinak, 1809; d. Tehran, 4 November 1881), Qajar diplomat, official, and scholar (Figure 1).Very little information is available about Mirzā Moḥammad Khan’s early life. His paternal grandfather, Bābā Khan, had been a warlord controlling a stretch of territory extending from roughly the village of Sinak in the district of Lavāsānāt (see LAVĀSĀN), northeast of Tehran, to the vicinity of Nur district in the province of Mazandaran, …

Emami took an early interest in contemporary Persian art and literature. In 1959, before starting his career as a journalist and translator, he worked as a photographer and filmmaker at the film studio of Ebrāhim Golestān (b. 1922), modernist writer and director. EMAMI , KARIM (Karim Emāmi, b. Calcutta, 1930; d. Tehran, 9 July 2005), noted translator, editor, publisher, critic, journalist, and lexicographer (FIGURE 1). Emami was two when his parents, who had a trading business with India, moved back to their hometown of Shiraz, where Emami received his elemen…

(1907-1983), pioneer of modern architecture in Persia, an influential professor of architecture at the University of Tehran, and a noted collector of Persian art. He was imprisoned in 1979 after the revolution, and his art collection was placed in the Archaeological Museum, Tehran. A version of this article is available in print Volume X, Fascicle 2, pp. 113-116 FORŪḠĪ, MOḤSEN (Mohsen Foroughi), pioneer of modern architecture in Persia, an influential professor of architecture at the University of Tehran, and a noted collector of Persian art (b. 14 May …

(940-1019 or 1025), one of the greatest epic poets and author of the Šāh-nāma, the national epic of Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 5, pp. 514-531 FERDOWSI, ABU'L-QĀSEM i. Life Life. Apart from his patronymic ( konya), Abu’l-Qāsem, and his pen name ( taḵalloṣ), Ferdowsī, nothing is known with any certainty about his names or the identity of his family. In various sources, and in the introduction to some manuscripts of the Šāh-nāma, his name is given as Manṣūr, Ḥasan, or Aḥmad, his father’s as Ḥasan, Aḥmad, or ʿAlī, and his grandfa…

This series of articles treats the history of cinema in Persia, Persian feature film, Persian documentary films, film censorship in Persia, and filmography in Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 6, pp. 567-590 CINEMA i. History of Cinema in Persia The beginnings. On 7 Rabīʿ I 1318/8 June 1900, during his first trip to Europe, Moẓaffar-al-Dīn Shah (1313-24/1896-1907) saw at Contrexeville, France, scenes filmed with the cinématographe, the French motion-picture camera that had been invented only five years earlier (Moẓaffar-al-Dīn…

OVERVIEW of the entry: i. In Zoroastrianism. ii. In Islamic law. iii. In Persian literature. iv. In modern Persia. See Supplement. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 4, 6, pp. 440-448 HOMOSEXUALITY i. IN ZOROASTRIANISM Zoroastrian literature contains discussions of personal relations only in legal contexts and is quite explicit with regard to sins of a sexual nature, including between males. The information about “homosexuality” contained in this literature is restricted to anal intercourse, as defined in the Videvdad (8.32): “When a man releas…

(usually ʿaqd), legally enforceable undertakings between two or more consenting parties. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 2, 3, pp. 221-226 i. In the Achaemenid Period Contracts from the Achaemenid period have not yet come to light in Persia proper, though they are quite common from Achaemenid territories in Mesopotamia and Egypt. These contracts are written in Babylonian, Aramaic, and demotic Egyptian and generally conform to the legal terminology current in those places. The absence of any …

sub-province ( šahrestān), town, and dam in Kerman Province. i. Geography. ii. Human geography and environment. iii. General survey of excavations. iv. Iconography of chlorite artifacts. A version of this article is available in print Volume XIV, Fascicle 6, pp. 646-664 JIROFT, name of a sub-provincial unit ( šahrestān), a town, and a dam in Kerman Province. JIROFT i. Geography of Jiroft Sub-Province Jiroft sub-province. Located in the south of Kerman Province, the sub-province of Jiroft is bound by those of Kermān (north), Bam (east), ʿAnbarābād and Kahnuj …

various aspects of gift giving in Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume X, Fascicle 6, pp. 604-617 blod:GIFT GIVING in Persia. The following articles constitute a preliminary attempt at studying various aspects of gift giving in a chronological and historical framework, from the pre-Islamic era to the early modern period. An anthropological approach, dealing with the practice of gift exchange in local communities, tribal clans, villages, extended families, neighborhoods, and urban quarters nee…

Persia of the 20th century saw a number of popular, often small and short-lived, women’s rights activities which had been mobilized in the 1900s-1920s and again in the 1940s-50s.A version of this article is available in printVolume IX, Fascicle 5, pp. 489-491i. INTRODUCTIONThe principle concerns of the women’s rights movement in Persia have been equal access to modern education; improvements in health and hygiene; removal of the veil and other changes in traditional gender roles and household relations; greater employment opportunities …

(Hedāyat, Ṣādeq), the eminent fiction writer (1903-1951), who had a vast influence on the next generation of Persian writers. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 2, pp. 121-135 HEDAYAT, SADEQ (Hedāyat, Ṣādeq), the eminent fiction writer (b. Tehran, 28 Bahman 1281 Š./17 February 1903; d. Paris, 19 Farvardin 1330 Š./9 April 1951), had a vast influence on the next generation of Persian writers. HEDAYAT, SADEQ i. LIFE AND WORK Sadeq Hedayat (Figure 1) was the youngest child of Hedā-yatqoli Khan Eʿteżād-al-Molk, the notable literary historia…

(NPers. Darīūš, Dārā), name of several Achaemenid and Parthian rulers and princes. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 1, pp. 40-55 DARIUS i. The Name Dārīus (or Dārēus) is the common Latin form of Greek Dareîos, itself a shortened rendering of Old Persian five-syllable Dārayavauš (spelled d-a-r-y-v-u-š), the throne name of Darius the Great and two other kings of the Achaemenid dynasty (see iii-v, below), which thus enjoyed considerable popularity among noblemen in later periods (see vi-viii, below). The original …

This series of articles covers children and child-rearing in Iran and Iranian lands. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 4, pp. 403-423 CHILDREN i. Childbirth in Zoroastrianism The Zoroastrian community has traditionally regarded marriage as having a threefold function: to propagate the human race, to spread the Zoroastrian faith, and to contribute to the victory of the good cause (Sanjana, p. 508). The birth of a child is viewed as of intrinsic benefit to the whole community because it furthers e…

This article will deal with the faculties of Agriculture, Fine Arts, Law and Political Science, Letters and Humanities, and Medicine, which are among the oldest and most important secular institutions of higher education in Persia. Other faculties of the University of Tehran and main faculties of other major universities will be treated under individual UNIVERSITIES. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 140-156 FACULTIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN. The University of Tehran was founded in 1313 Š./1934 from four pre-existing schools ( madrasas) wh…

the border river of Afghanistan and Persia. It originates in the mountains in the Hazārajāt (q.v) and flows into the Sistān in southeastern Persia and finally drains into the Hāmun Lake. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 2, pp. 170-176 HELMAND RIVER (Av. Haētumant; modern usage, Hirmand, Halmand), the border river of Afghanistan and Persia. It originates in the mountains in the Hazārajāt (q.v) and flows into the Sistān in southeastern Persia and finally drains into the Hāmun Lake (q.v.). i. Geography. ii. In Zoroastrian tradition. iii. In the medieval …

(now referred to officially as Gonbad-e Kāvus) is the administrative center of the sub-province ( šahrestān) of the same name and the urban center of the Turkman tribal area in northern Persia. It is named after its major monument, a tall tower that marks the grave of the Ziyarid ruler Qābus b. Vošmgir (r. 978-1012). A version of this article is available in print Volume XI, Fascicle 2, pp. 126-129 GONBAD-E QĀBUS (KĀVUS), city and sub-province in the Golestān Province. i. GEOGRAPHY The city of Gonbad-e Qābus (now referred to officially as Gonbad-e Kāvus) is the administrative…