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the southern part of Mesopotamia, known in the early Islamic period as del-e Irānšahr (lit. “the heart of the kingdom of Iran”), served as the central province of the Sasanian empire as well as that of the ʿAbbasid caliphate.A version of this article is available in printVolume XIII, Fascicle 5, pp. 543-550 IRAQ AND ITS RELATIONS WITH IRANRelations between Iran and Mesopotamia, the core region of present-day Iraq, can be traced back to the early waves of the westward migration of Iranian tribes in the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C.E. when the Irani…

province of Iran located between Fars and Sistan va Balučestān; also the name of its principal city and capital.A version of this article is available in printVolume XVI, Fascicle 3, pp. 246-315 KERMAN (Kermān), a province in southeastern Iran; also the name of one of its sub-provinces as well as that of its principal city and capital.KERMAN i. Geography Physical geography. Kerman province is situated in southeast Iran, to the southwest of the Kavir-e Lut (see DESERT). Covering an area of 182,000 km2 (70,000 square miles), Kerman is the largest province in Persia, constitutin…

(1611 or 1613-1689), grand vizier for twenty years under Shah Solaymān I Ṣafawi. ŠAYḴ-ʿALI  KHAN ZANGANA, grand vizier for twenty years (1079-1100/1669-89) under Shah Solaymān I Ṣafawi (q.v; r. 1075-105/1666-94).Šayḵ-ʿAli Khan was born in 1020/1611 or 1022/1613 in a prominent family of the Kurdish Zangana tribe (Ḵātunābādi, pp. 530-31). His father, ʿAli Beg Zangana, was a “holder of the rein” ( jelawdār) under Shah ʿAbbās I (q.v.; r. 996-1038/1588-1629) who, in 1028/1618, moved up to the position of master of the king’s stables ( amirāḵor-bāši), and, under Shah Ṣafi (q.v.; r. 1…

ancient province and old city in central Iran. Isfahan city has served as one of the most important urban centers on the Iranian Plateau since ancient times.A version of this article is available in printVolume XIII, Fascicle 6, pp. 613-675 and Volume XIV, Fascicle 1, 2, pp. 1-119 ISFAHAN, ancient province and old city in central Iran (Middle Pers. “Spahān,” New Pers. “Eṣfahān”). Isfahan city has served as one of the most important urban centers on the Iranian Plateau since ancient times and has gained, over centuries of urbanization, many si…

The Fathers of the Society of Jesus were the first European missionaries to enter the Persian Gulf in the 16th century. Their pioneer was the Dutchman Gaspar Barzaeus (Berze, 1515-53).A version of this article is available in printVolume XIV, Fascicle 6, pp. 634-638 JESUITS IN SAFAVID PERSIA. The Fathers of the Society of Jesus were the first European missionaries to enter the Persian Gulf in the 16th century. Their pioneer was the Dutchman Gaspar Barzaeus (Berze, 1515-53) who was selected for this task by Franciscus Xavier (1506-52), the f…

in Persia. This article surveys the history and production of various firearms and artillery in Persia from their introduction to the 19th century.A version of this article is available in printVolume IX, Fascicle 6, pp. 619-628 FIREARMS in Persia. This article surveys the history and production of various firearms and artillery in Persia from their introduction to the 19th century.i. HISTORYThe generic word used in Persian for a gun (i.e., an arquebus or harquebus, originally a portable but heavy matchlock gun fired from a support) was tofak. The original meaning of tofak was a hollo…

MO ḴTAṢAR-E MOFID , a geographical compendium written under Shah Solaymān (q.v.; r. 1666-94).The Moḵtaṣar-e Mofid (hereafter cited as MM) was composed by Moḥammad Mofid Mostawfi b. Najm-al-Din Maḥmūd Bāfqi Yazdi, who also wrote the Jāmeʿ-e mofidi (hereafter cited as JM), and a work titled Majāles al-moʾmenin. It is the only known geographical text from the Safavid period and as such of extraordinary importance.  The work exists in just one manuscript version, which may be from the hand of the author himself, and comprises 276 leaves, ninete…

SHAH ṢAFI I, sixth Safavid ruler (r. 1038-52/1629-42; b. in 1020/1611; d. Monday, 12 Ṣafar 1052/12 May 1642). Background and succession.  Shah Ṣafi I, whose original name was Abu’l-Naṣr Sām Mirzā, was the son of Moḥammad-Bāqer Mirzā (also known as Ṣafi Mirza), Shah ʿAbbās I’s eldest son, and Moḥammad-Bāqer Mirzā’s Georgian wife, Delāram Ḵānom.  After his father was killed at the orders of Shah ʿAbbās (q.v.) in 1024/1615 (Eskandar Beg, pp. 883-84, tr. pp. 1098-99; Falsafi, II, pp. 175-80), Sām Mirzā grew up in the s…

QOROQ, the Mongol term qorq or qoroq (also q ūroq, or qor ūq), refers to that which is restricted, ritually forbidden, taboo. In practice, this denoted royal burial sites, forbidden ground, off-limits to outsiders and guarded by detachments of soldiers, qoroqčis, as well as kingly preserves, such as or royal hunting grounds, parks, or enclosed meadows where only royal horses were allowed to graze (Doerfer, III, pp. 344-45; Barthold and Rogers, pp. 204-05). Its meaning thus resembles the European forestem silvam, the outside woods, which in the Middle Ages came to mean an “e…