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name of a drainage system that covers several streams and small rivers along the eastern flank of the Alvand Kūh; it flows north into the kavīr of Qom. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 3, pp. 247 ĀBŠĪNA HAMADĀN RŪD, name of a drainage system that covers several streams and small rivers along the eastern flank of the Alvand Kūh; it flows north into the kavīr of Qom. The annual discharge of this river system varies between approx. 100 million cu m and 500 million cu m, depending on the amount of winter precipitation and the consequen…

Title of the person given official charge of the irrigation of ābī “irrigated” lands. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 4, pp. 405 ĀBYĀR, title of the person given official charge of the irrigation of ābī “irrigated” lands. He may be a farmer or sharecropper elected by the cultivators, in those villages where farmers work their own land (see Ḵorda-mālek, and Raʿīyat), or he may be appointed by a landlord. The ābyār’s duty is to oversee the just and equal distribution of irrigation water; he is compensated by either a share in the produce of the ābī lands or a fix…

Large tracts of central Persia and the adjacent arid plateaus of Afghanistan lie under cloudless skies for most of the year, which contributes to typical “contiꏂnental” climatic conditions. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 8, pp. 870-871 CLOUDS (Skt. abhrá-, Av. aβra-, Sogd. ʾβr, Khot. pyaurā- [< * pari-abrā-, but aurā- “sky”], Pashto wryaj fem. [< * abračī], Pers. abr, etc.; see Bailey, Dictionary, pp. 47a, 256b), masses of condensed water vapor. Four general categories are differentiated: high clouds, clouds at medium elevation…

a mountain range that forms part of the northern rim of the Khorasan trench in northeastern Iran, to the north of the city of Qūčān. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 8, pp. 890-891 ALLĀHO AKBAR, KŪH-E, a mountain range that forms part of the northern rim of the Khorasan trench in northeastern Iran, to the north of the city of Qūčān. The massif is almost 100 km long and rises to a height of over 3,000 m. It links Kopet-Dag (Qobba Dāḡ) in the northwest with Hazār Masǰed in the southeast and is regarded b…

lit. "plain, open ground"; Persian term for a very specific type of landscape, the extended gravel piedmonts and plains that are almost ubiquitous in arid central Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 1, pp. 94-95 DAŠT (plain, open ground) ,Persian term for a very specific type of landscape. In scientific geographical literature it is applied to the extended gravel piedmonts and plains that are almost ubiquitous in arid central Persia. Sloping down from the upper reaches of the mountains and highlands, dašt areas are built up by more or less c…

a town and district in Khorasan. i. The town and district. ii. History. The town (1976: 47,719 inhabitants; lat 37°29’ N, long 57°17’ E) is situated at the foot of the Ālādāḡ. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 3, pp. 326-327 BOJNŪRD, a town and district in Khorasan. i. The Town and District The town of Bojnūrd (1976: 47,719 inhabitants), situated at 37°29’ north latitude and 57°17’ east longitude at the foot of the Ālādāḡ (q.v.) and in the center of the Khorasan trench, is of relatively recent origin. Possibly founded b…

a lagoon in the extreme southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 8, pp. 840-841 ASTARĀBĀD BAY, also known as Gorgān Bay or Ḵalīǰ-e Gorgān, is a lagoon in the extreme southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. It is some 40 km long and only a few meters deep. It is separated from the Caspian Sea proper by the Mīānkāla peninsula, a narrow tongue of land which consists largely of sand dunes and extends almost the length of the lagoon. As a result of the drop in …

the carrying away of excess surface water through runoff in permanent or intermittent streams. Persia can be divided into four main drainage regions: the Caspian region, the Lake Urmia region, the Persian Gulf region, and the interior. Most of it is characterized by endorheic basins, that is, by interior drainage. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 5, pp. 526-529 DRAINAGE, the carrying away of excess surface water through runoff in permanent or intermittent streams. On Persian territory, because of seasonal variations in the …

name of a number of mountains in Iran; of Turkish origin, the words mean “colored mountain.” A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 769 ĀLĀ DĀḠ, name of a number of mountains in Iran; of Turkish origin, the words mean “colored mountain.” Many mountains or mountain ranges in Turkey or regions inhabited by Turkman peoples, including Soviet central Asia and Siberia, bear this name. In Iran there are several mountains or smaller massifs known (often only to local inhabitants) as Ālā Dāḡ, especial…

The impressive basin-range-structure of the Baḵtīārī mountains, a result of the geological development of the Zagros system since late Cretaceous time and culminating in the orogenesis of Tertiary upfolding, is accentuated by the complicated and unique drainage system, which itself is the result of geology and topography. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 5, pp. 551-553 BAḴTĪĀRĪ MOUNTAINS, central part of the Zagros mountain range, more or less identical to the settlement area of the Baḵtīārī nomads. The Baḵtīārī mountains…

second smallest province (ostān) of Persia in area, located in the Zagros mountains of southwestern Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 6, pp. 620-621 ČAHĀR MAḤĀ(L) WA BAḴTĪĀRĪ, second smallest province ( ostān) of Persia in area (Farajī et al., II, p. 533; after Kūhgīlūya wa Boir Aḥmad with 14,261 km2, ibid., p. 967), located in the Zagros mountains of southwestern Persia. It covers an area of 14,870 km2 (14,820 km2 acc. to Farajī et al., II, p. 533) between 31.14° and 32.47° N and between 49.49° and 51.24° E, bounded by the provi…

the study of organisms, both flora and fauna, in relation to their environments. Five primary ecological regions in Persia each have a characteristic combination of features: Caspian lowlands, Alborz system and mountains in Khorasan, Persian plateau, Zagros system. Makrān mountains, and the Persian Gulf lowlands. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 1, pp. 84-88 ECOLOGY, the study of organisms, both flora and fauna, in relation to their environments. The biosphere generally encompasses the thin outer shell of the earth, w…

older Ašraf, a town situated at 36°41′55ʹ north latitude and 53°32′30ʹ east longitude in the eastern part of central Māzandarān. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 2, pp. 113 BEHŠAHR, older Ašraf, a town situated at 36°41′55ʹ north latitude and 53°32′30ʹ east longitude in the eastern part of central Māzandarān, 35 miles east of Sārī and 43 miles west of Gorgān. It is located halfway between the foothills of the Alborz to the south and the Caspian Sea (Astarābād Bay/Ḵalīj-e Gorgān) which is five mi…

Name of a town and bay on the Makrān coast of Persian Baluchistan facing the coast of Oman. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 6, pp. 642-644 ČĀH-BAHĀR (in Western sources written Chahbar, Charbar, Chobar), name of a town and bay on the Makrān coast of Persian Baluchistan facing the coast of Oman. The bay is a shallow (6-9 fathoms) semicircular inlet eleven by ten miles in area and accessible only to moderate-sized vessels. It is surrounded by lowlands except at the mouth, about eight miles wide…

The tendency to possess not certain, regionally fixed parts of the land but shares of the total, is made possible by the custom of splitting each property or any part of it into “ideal” or “imaginary” shares or allotments. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 6, pp. 613-623 AGRICULTURE in Iran. The rural economy, for millennia the economic and social basis for all Persian governments, is characterized by a series of ecological and economic restraints that have hampered its development. While the natural limitations of …

part of the Lake Nīrīz basin situated about 1,525 m above sea level in the province of Fārs, approximately 50 km east of Shiraz. At present, it is common to divide the basin of the Nīrīz into a northern portion ( daryāča-ye Ṭašk) and a larger southern part ( daryāča-ye Baḵtagān). A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 5, pp. 538-539 BAḴTAGĀN LAKE, part of the Lake Nīrīz basin situated about 1,525 m above sea level in the province of Fārs, approximately 50 km east of Shiraz. Originally identical with the Nīrīz lake itself, it has be…

The Ask springs, like those in other places around the base of Damāvand, are as yet used only by the local inhabitants. It remains to be seen whether they would repay commercial development (in the form of spa baths, bottling plants, etc.). A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 7, pp. 767-768 ASK SPRINGS (Figure 53). Situated at the foot of Damāvand (5,670 m) in the valley of the Harāz-rūd, Ask is one of a number of places in the Alborz where one finds thermal mineral springs (see Āb-e Garm). The town itself is 1,700m abov…

(Talḵa-rūd, “Bitter river”), a river some 200 km in length which flows into Lake Urumia. Due to the mountain origins of many of its source rivers and tributaries, the flow of the river shows marked seasonal variations. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 701-702 ĀJĪ ČĀY ( Talḵa-rūd, “Bitter river”), a river some 200 km in length which rises on the western flank of Kūh-e Sabalān near Sarāb and flows into Lake Urmia (Reżāʾīya) near the town of Gogān. In its upper and middle reaches, east of Tabrīz, numerous small …

mountain range in northeastꏂern Iran between Mašhad in the east and Nīšāpūr in the west with elevations of up to 3,211 m. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 3, pp. 261-262 BĪNĀLŪD, KŪH-E, mountain range in northeastern Iran between Mašhad in the east and Nīšāpūr in the west with elevations of up to 3,211 m. Geologically, the Bīnālūd ranges are of special importance as the orographic link between the Paropamisus mountains (belonging to the Hindu Kush system) and the Alborz of northern Iran. Due to th…

a group of isolated oasis settlements in central Iran, stretching over an area of 70 by 90 miles of what is mostly desert. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 2, pp. 196 BĪĀBĀNAK, a group of oasis settlements in central Iran. Located approximately between 54° 15’ and 55° 15’ E and 35° 10’ N, these isolated desert settlements stretch over an area of 70 by 90 miles of what is mostly desert. The administrative district of Ḵūr (Ḵᵛor)-Bīābānak is one of three baḵšes in the šahrestān of Nāʾīn. The whole district is bounded in the north by the salt swamps of t…