DICTIONARY OF IRAN: A Shorter Encyclopedia D. L. Bradley DICTIONARY OF IRAN: A SHORTER ENCYCLOPEDIA © D. L. Bradley and Khaneh- ye-Entesharha-ye-Navisandegan, 2015, 2016. Cover Photographs, © D. L. Bradley: Front, Tribal Camp in the Dasht-e-Bozorg, Iran, 1966, and Back, The Lion of Hamadan, Iran, 1967 DICTIONARY OF IRAN: A SHORTER ENCYCLOPEDIA © 2015, 2016 D. L. Bradley and Khaneh-ye-Entesharha-ye-Navisandegan. All rights reserved pursuant to the United States Copyright Act of 1976. The scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of this book or any part thereof without the permission of the author and/or publisher is piracy and theft of intellectual property. For use of material from this book for any purpose other than citation or review, prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the author and/or publisher. The author and/or the publisher are not responsible for websites or their content that are not owned by the author or the Publisher. First Edition, 2015: Second, 2015: Revised Second, 2016. 1. Iranian Culture. 2. Iranian History. 3. Iranian Society. 4. Encyclope- dia of Iran. 5. Dictionary of Iran. 6. Persian Culture. 7. Persian History. 8. Persian Society. 9. Encyclopedia of Persia. 10. Dictionary of Persia. ABBREVIATIONS A. = Arabic. L. = Latin. adj. = adjective. lit. = literally. adv. = adverb. M.E. = Middle English. A.H. = After ‘Al-Hijra. n. = noun. b. = born. O.E. = Old English. B.C.E. = Before the Common part. = particle. Era. pl. = plural. C.E. = Common Era. prep. = preposition. cf. = compare/see. prop. = properly. d. = died. q.v. = quod vide (which see). E. = English. r. = ruled/reigned. F. = Farsi. supra = above. Fr. = French. syn. = synonym. f. = flourished. T. = Turkic. fig. = figuratively. viz.= videlicet (namely). G. = Greek. infra = below. i ii - A - , GÓ G[ The first letter of the English Latin alphabet, often used to transcribe A. the Farsi lower back vowel which is similar to the a in the English father or the German mann. It is also used to transcribe the Farsi lower front vowel which is similar to the American a in can. The Farsi lower back vowel is also transcribed in the English Latin alphabet by, inter alia, aa, o, and u. The Farsi lower front vowel is also transcribed in the English Latin alphabet by, inter alia, a, ae, æ, e, and i. The lower back is most often represented in the Arabic Farsi syllabary by the character alef ( [ ) or by the character alef ba maddeh ( Ó ) when alef functions in its role as representing the initial gottal stop or plosive. The lower front is then represented a diacritical fatheh ( , ) which is written above the character representing the consonant preceding fatheh. See ALPHABET. AARON THE UPRIGHT. A Western sobriquet for Harun Ar-Rashid. See ABBASIDS. AB. F., water, liquid. The word appears in many compounds, e.g., ab-jo, beer (lit., water or liquid barley). Modern Iran is two thirds very hard desert or desert mountains— large areas comprising what are among the most severe desert regions on the earth. Thus, an understanding of water is important to acquiring an understanding of the nation and its people. Water figures prominently in Iranian history and customs. Many proverbial expressions allude to water (e.g., ab abadi ast, Water is habitation) and are revealing con- cerning Iranian cultural orientations and attitudes. The concept of water may be used to move Iranians in ways not obvious to Westerners. In that connection the following story is revealing. During the early years of Iran’s development of its petroleum re serves by the British, Americans sought to enter the Iranian market. In this they appeared to be well positioned. For decades, especially dur- ing the reign of the Qajar Shahs, q.v., the British and Russians had ex- ploited Iran. For example, the AMERICAN-PERSIAN TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP AND COMMERCE of 1856, q.v., had been negotiated by Iran in order to balance the effects of this power rivalry. Wherefore the appearance of American Oil executives in Tehran after World War I was welcomed by Iranians. But, established interests were contrary to the visiting American executives. Those interests there- fore retained agents provocateurs to spread a story, that the Americans intended to use certain sacred Iranian water sources in the development of any petroleum concession they might obtain, resulting in their conta- mination with crude. The object of spreading the story was to bring A - , GÓ G[ DICTIONARY OF IRAN 2 (AB) public pressure to bear upon the Iranian government to avoid dealing with the Americans. The story was believed by the general populace, and the tactic was successful, English/Russian interests undisturbed. However, the episode had an unexpected denouement. In C.E. 1924 during the Moharram , q.v., passion plays celebrating the martyrdom of the Immam Hossein, an American Attaché, Robert Imbrie, was photo- graphing a procession of flagellants. Since the Immam Hossein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, was slain by an arrow, this might not seem important. On the other hand, prior to his death by arrow Hossein and his en- tourage had been held under siege within sight of a water source denied them. The besieging forces, loath to spill the blood of a direct descendent of the Prophet—and under orders not to do so—were waiting for his death from thirst. Subsequently news reached them of an approaching superior force and the decision was made to fire the fatal shot. Thus Hossein was slain after days of parched anguish, having also been obliged to watch the deaths from thirst of the rest of his party. The moment was exacerbated because the shot allegedly pierced his throat. Wherefore upon Imbrie being brought to their attention the Mo- haram flagellants turned upon him. Holding him prostrate and spread- eagled, chanting, “How can we drink cool water when Hossein’s throat burns with thirst,” they then forced a quantity of boiling water laced with crude down his throat. Imbrie died and with him any possibility of furthering American interests in Iran for twenty years. ABADAN. An island south of Mohammerah, q.v., and the name of a seaport located there at 32°22' N and 48°15' E, at a mean elevation above sea level of three meters, about 1,065 kilometers from Tehran by road. Abadan is near the confluence of the Rud-e-Karun (Karun River) ABADAN TEMPERATURE AVERAGES (in °C) Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. L 7 9 12 18 22 26 28 27 23 18 13 8 H 19 21 26 32 38 43 45 45 42 36 27 19 ABADAN PRECIPITATION AVERAGES (in millimeters) Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 19 14 18 14 3 0 0 0 0 1 26 41 Source: THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF IRAN, Vol. I; See BIBLIOGRAPHY. All figures are rounded from the source volume. and the Shatt Al-Arab (known in the West as the Tigris-Euphrates), which in earlier times joined before emptying into the Persian Gulf. Modern Abadan is of recent origins, the city founded circa C.E. 1910 to accommodate the refinery built there after the discovery of com- mercial petroleum deposits at Masjed-e-Sulaiman, circa 1907 C.E., a geological site to the northeast of Ahvaz, q.v. When the Australian William D’Arcy-Thompson first arrived to exploit the petroleum concession granted him in C.E. 1905, Abadan was little more than 3DICTIONARY OF IRAN , GÓ G[ - A (ABADAN) a village inhabited by Iranian Arabs. No settlement by that name is mentioned before the middle of the Tenth Century C.E. By the Second World War Abadan was a large metropolis. By C.E. 1979, along with with Khorramshahr, q.v., it was the nucleus of a major commercial and industrial center. One of Iran’s international airports is located nearby. The oil refinery covers an area of twenty square miles and the population exceeds 650,000 souls. Allegedly the city derives its name from a Moslem holy man named Abad, q.v. However, abad also means peopled, populated, populous, cultivated, inhabited, or flourishing and appears in compound words, e.g., Abbas-Abad, the town or habitation of Abbas. Consequently, the word entails a generic reference to a class of localities. In Arabic the emphatic form of abad is abadan, i.e., the term by which the city is currently known. Thus perhaps the name of the city is The Habita- tion/Town. Nonetheless there is evidence that a holy man named Abad did live there during the early Islamic period. Abadan has also been associated with Al-Kadir, known as The Green One. A shrine dedicated to him is located nearby. It is reported that Al-Kadir discovered the Fountain of Youth somewhere in the vicinity and subsequently made himself immortal by bathing therein. However he also subsequently disappeared so the existence of the fountain—like Al-Kadir himself—is not confirmed. AB ALI, DEH-YE-. Lit. Village of High Water, the name of a village about three and a half hours by car to the northeast of Tehran in the Alborz Mountains. The valley in which the village is located is just below the summit of a mountain pass to the Caspian Basin. A resort by the same name is located nearby, built by Reza Shah Pahlavi in the late 1920's. Mohammad Shah Pahlavi later donated the resort to the Pahlavi Foun- dation for the benefit of the people of Iran. ABAN. The eighth month of the Iranian solar calendar having thirty days and occurring from October 23 through November 21, Gregorian.