CIS Newsletter 15.2

CENTER FOR IRANIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER Vol. 15, No. 2 SIPA-Columbia University-New York Fall 2003 ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA SHIRIN EBADI WINNER OF Fascicles 1 and 2 of Volume XII Published; Fascicle 3 in Press 2003 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE The first and second fascicles way in which Hedayat’s satire per- of Volume XII of the Encyclopædia meates many of his short stories. Iranica were published in the Sum- Hillmann reviews plots and themes mer and Fall of 2003. They fea- of Hedayat’s fiction, some fifty or ture over 120 articles on various as- more works written from the mid- pects of Iranian culture and history, in- 1920s through the mid-1940s, and cites cluding four series of articles on spe- features of Hedayat’s distinctive ways cific subjects: four entries on Sadeq of narration which advanced the capa- Hedayat, four entries on Hazara groups bilities of the language in Persian lit- in Afghanistan, four entries on Helmand erature and served as an indigenous River, and eight entries on Herat. model for later Iranian short story writers and novelists. Shirin Ebadi, lawyer and human SADEQ HEDAYAT rights activist who contributed the en- AND PERSIAN LITERATURE Persian literature is also treated in try CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN IRAN to the the following eight articles: HASAN Encyclopædia Iranica and whose book Four articles discuss the life and GHAZNAVI, poet at the court of History and Documentation of Human work of Sadeq Hedayat, the foremost Bahramshah Ghaznavi, by J. S. Rights in Iran was published by the modern Persian fiction writer who had Meisami; HATEF ESFAHANI, influential Center for Iranian Studies in 2000, was a vast influence on subsequent genera- poet of 18th century, by the late Z. Safa awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. tions of Persian writers: LIFE AND WORK Continued on page 2 Continued on page 10 by H. Katouzian & EIr.; THEMES, PLOTS, AND TECHNIQUES by M. C. Hillmann; TRANSLATION OF PAHLAVI Gala Benefit Dinner TEXTS by T. Daryaee; and SELECTED Houston, October 16th, 2004 BIBLIOGRAPHY by EIr. Hedayat’s contri- bution to Folklore Studies will be Annual gala benefit dinners orga- will also be live music. treated in the Supplement. Dicussing nized by Friends of the Encyclopædia It is hoped that as many support- Hedayat’s work, Katouzian notes that Iranica are becoming a feature of our ers of the Encyclopædia Iranica as pos- he displays an effortless skill in his fundraising activities. The recent se- sible wil attend the Gala. For further choice of metaphor and imagery, par- ries of such galas began in New York information please refer to our website ticularly in his masterpiece The Blind in 1999, followed successively by one at www.iranica.com. Owl (Buf-e kur). He also discusses the in Washington D.C. in 2001, Los An- geles in 2002, and Miami in 2003. The BALLET OF ZAL & RUDABE next gala benefit dinner will take place in Houston, Texas on October 16, 2004. Following the efforts of Mrs. Houri Mostowfi-Moqaddam and Ms. A committe chaired by Mrs. Lily Nazli Mohajer, the ballet Zal and Lajevardian-Kooros and Mr. Ali Rudabeh a love story from the Iranian Saberioon with the participation of a Book of Kings (the Shahnameh), cho- number of socially active Iranian- reographed by Robert de Warren, is Americans of Houstan, Texas, has been scheduled to be shown in January of formed to organize a benefit dinner for 2005 in San Francisco for the benefit the Encyclopædia Iranica on Saturday, of the Encyclopædia Iranica. Mr. War- 16th of October at elegant River Oak ren, presently Artistic Director & CEO Country Club. of Sarasota Ballet of Florida, led the National Ballet of Iran from 1965-76 The program includes honoring a and has choreographed Zal and number of prominent individuals for Rudabeh as “an amalgam of Persian their distinguished achievements, as dance movements and contemporary SADEQ HEDAYAT well as live and silent auctions. There classical ballet.” CISNewsletter 2 equally ambitious cleric within a cor- Continued from page 1 rupt bureaucratic environment of the late Qajar era to reach a high rank in the government. Also presented are two Tajik poets and essayists: MOHAMMED-SEDDIQ HAYRAT, Tajik poet from Bukhara of late 19th century; and RAHIM HASHEM, essayist, critic, and translator of 20th century, both by H. Borjian. HAZARAJAT HAZARA, the third largest ethnic RAHIM HASHEM group of Afghanistan after the Pashtuns and the Tajiks, represents nearly a fifth Old Quarters of HERAT, and EIr; ABD-ALLAH HATEFI, Persian of the total population. Their name most Timurid Period poet of 15th-16th century, by M. probably derives from the Persian word Bernardini. hazar, which means “thousand,” a tribal-military unit of 1000 soldiers. The such the source of constant dispute be- Hazaras speak a Persian dialect with tween Persia and Afghanistan since the th HAZIN LAHIJI, Persian poet and many Turkish and some Mongolian mid-19 century. This subject is treated scholar of 18th century, is discussed by words. Most Hazaras are Twelver in four articles: GEOGRAPHY by M. J. J. Perry. The author concludes that Shi’ites, a factor which has contributed Hanifi, and EIr.; IN ZOROASTRIAN TRA- Hazin was an open-minded, tolerant, to their political and socio-economic DITION by G. Gnoli; MEDIEVAL PERIOD cultivated and cosmopolitan Shi’ite marginalization. The history of the by C. E. Bosworth; LATTER PART OF THE scribe of the late Safavid and post- Hazaras is marked by several wars and 19TH CENTURY AND IN THE 20TH CENTURY Safavid Persia who fled a politically forced displacements. Driven by pov- by A. Khazeni. dangerous and economically depressed erty, the Hazaras have migrated milieu for the courts of Muslim India, throughout the 20th century. Four ar- Discussing the great role the where he contributed to the ticles treat various aspects of Hazara, Helmand River and its region played in Persianization of the ruling elite. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY by A. Khazeni; the entire Zoroastrian tradition, Gnoli HISTORY; and ETHNOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL notes that numerous indications lead to REZAQOLI KHAN HEDAYAT, literary ORGANIZATION, both by A. Monsutti; the assumption that “in an unspecific historian, administrator, and poet of the Hazaragi Dialect by J. Kieffer. but archaic period, probably during the Qajar period, is treated by P. Losensky. course of the 6th century B.C.E., a The entry presents in detail Hedayat’s HELMAND RIVER process occurred in which the Helmand literary and educational contributions and other localities of its region were and notes that serving as the deputy di- Helmand River, on the border of identified with elements of traditional rector of the newly established Dar al- Iran and Afghanistan, is significant for cosmography and mythical geography.” Fonun in the mid 19th century, he was both its place in Zoroastrian mythology It was considered not only as the center instrumental in designing its curricu- and for being the main source of the of mythical Kayanid dynasty’s power lum. During this time, he also began water supply of Sistan province and as and its divine farr but also the lake in composing the two massive prose which the seed of the prophet Zoroaster works for which he is perhaps best is cared for and protected by the 99,999 known, Rawzat al-safa-ye naseri and fravashis (souls of the departed heros) Majma al-fosaha. Although much of from which will be born the three great Hedayat’s voluminous output in poetry saviors in Zoroastrian tradition. and religious lore exists only in manu- script, many of his most important Beginning with a description of the works on lexicography, rhetoric, and economic outlook and dependency of literary and political history have been Sistan on the flow of Helmand River published in both lithograph and print and a century and a half of dispute over editions. the division of water resources, the entry on Helmand in the latter part of the th th MOHAMMAD HEJAZI, novelist and 19 century and the 20 century con- playwright, is discussed by M. cludes that numerous rounds of nego- Ghanoonparvar. Examining Hejazi’s tiations between Iran and Afghanistan work, the entry discusses Ziba, his best have occurred, resulting in agreements novel, in some detail. Ziba is the story in 1926, 1928, 1939, and 1972. These of an attractive and ambitious courte- failed to create a resolution. During the san who manipulates his lover, a young, MOHAMMAD HEJAZI drought that began in the late 1990s, the 3 CISNewsletter Taliban dammed the Helmand in cen- iers and the endowments he had made tral Afghanistan, completely drying the for the happiness of their souls. On the Hamun lake and causing the abandon- controversial question of the date of ment of villages in Persian Sistan. Zoroaster, he argued for the validity of the Zoroastrian tradition of placing the HERAT Prophet 258 years before Alexander, therefore in the 7th-6th century BCE. Occupying an important place in Among those who studied with him medieval as well as modern history of were Ilya Gershevitch, Mary Boyce, Persia, the city of Herat, in northwestern Richard Frye, Jacques Duchesne- Afghanistan, is the subject of seven Guillemin, Ehsan Yarshater, Firouz articles: GEOGRAPHY by A. Khazeni and Kotwal, Mahyar Navvabi, Ahmad EIr.; PRE-ISLAMIC HISTORY by W. J. Tafazzoli, Mehrdad Bahar, Vogelsang; MEDIEVAL HISTORY and WALTER BRUNO HENNING Badrozzaman Gharib, and Hamid MEDIEVAL URBANISM AND TOPOGRAPHY, Mahamedi. both by M. Szuppe; LOCAL HISTORIES achievements associated with his court. OF HERAT by J. Paul; HERAT QUESTION The entry HELLENISM, referring to by A. Amanat; and HERAT FRONTIER IN In his treatment of HERAT QUESTION partial or complete adoption of Greek LATTER HALF OF 19-20TH CENTURIEs by Amanat provides us with a detailed nar- language, manners, and lifestyle in the A.

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