Table of Contents

  • FORTRESSES

    Cross-reference

    See CASTLES.

  • FORŪD (1)

    Jean During

    (lit. descent; Forūvard in Bukharian tradition, Ayaq in Azeri moqām), general designation of the concluding motif of a melodic sequence in Persian music.

  • FORŪD (2)

    Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh

    or Ferōd; son of Sīāvaḵš and half brother of Kay Ḵosrow.

  • FORŪGĪ BESṬĀMĪ, ʿABBĀS

    Heshmat Moayyad

    or BASṬĀMĪ (b. Karbalā, 1798; d. Tehran, 1857), 19th-century poet.

  • FORŪGĪ, ABU'L-ḤASAN

    Bagher Agheli

    (b. Isfahan, 1884; d. Tehran, 1960), educator and author.

  • FORŪGĪ, MOḤAMMAD-ʿALĪ ḎOKĀʾ-AL-MOLK

    Fakhreddin Azimi, Iraj Afshar

    (1877-1942), statesman, scholar, and man of letters. Forūḡī’s personal integrity and honesty have rarely been disputed, even by his critics. Others have blamed him for helping to bring about Reżā Shah’s regime and continuing to serve it despite its blatant misdeeds.

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  • FORŪGĪ, MOḤAMMAD-ḤOSAYN Khan Ḏokāʾ-al-Molk

    Manouchehr Kasheff

    (b. Isfahan, 1839; d. Tehran, 1907), poet, journalist, literateur, translator, and author.

  • FORŪGĪ, MOḤSEN

    Mina Marefat and EIr, Richard N. Frye

    (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.

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  • FORUTAN, ʿALI-AKBAR

    IRAJ AYMAN

    In Ashkhabad, Forutan had the opportunity to study under the Bahai scholar, Mirzā Mahdi Golpāygāni, and at his bidding gave lectures at Bahai meetings and wrote articles for the Bahai magazines Fekr-e-javān and Ḵoršid-e ḵāvar.  When he was in secondary school, Forutan served as a member of the Bahai Youth Committee in Ashkhabad.

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  • FORUTAN, YŪSOF

    Jean During

    a twentieth century master of Persian music.

  • FORUZĀNFAR, Badiʿ-al-Zamān

    Abd-al-Hosayn Zarrinkub

    (1903-1970) Persian literary scholar and critic, professor at the University of Tehran, one of the pioneers of literary studies in modern Persia. A significant part of Forūzānfar’s scholarship was devoted to Rūmī and his associates; other works cover Islamic mysticism and philosophy.

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  • FOTOWWA

    Cross-reference

    See JAVĀNMARDĪ.

  • FOTŪḤ AL-SALĀṮĪN

    Cross-reference

    Work by Indo-Muslim poet ʿAbd-al-Malek ʿEṣāmi. See ʿEṢAMI, ʿABD-AL-MALEK.

  • FOUCHER, ALFRED

    François de Blois

    (1865-1952), the first head of the French Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan (see DÉLÉGATIONS ARCHÉOLOGIQUES FRANÇAISES, ii.) and a noted scholar on Grœco-Buddhist art.

  • FOUNDATIONS

    Cross-reference

    See under individual entries, such as BONYĀD-E FARHANG-E ĪRĀN; BONYĀD-E ŠAHĪD; BONYĀD-E ŠĀH-NĀMA-YE FERDOWSĪ.

  • FOWAṬĪ, HEŠĀM

    Josef van Ess

    b. ʿAMR (d. Baghdad, ca. 845), Muʿtazilite theologian of Basran affiliation and student of Abu’l-Hoḏayl.

  • FOX i. NATURAL HISTORY

    Steven C. Anderson

    small member of the dog family (Canidae). They occur throughout most of the world, with four species in Iran and Afghanistan, i. NATURAL HISTORY.

  • FOX ii. IN PERSIA

    Mahmoud and Teresa Omidsalar

    In pre-Islamic Iran, the fox was considered as one of the ten varieties of dog, created against a demon called xabag dēw. In Islam, although consuming fox flesh is forbidden by most schools of law, medicinal use of various parts of the fox’s body is allowed for treatment of a variety of conditions.

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  • FOŻŪLĪ, MOḤAMMAD

    Eir

    b. Solaymān (ca. 1480-1556), widely regarded as the greatest lyric poet in Azerbayjani Turkish, who also wrote extensively in Arabic and Persian.

  • FRĀDA

    Muhammad A. Dandamayev

    a sixth century Margian leader.

  • FRAHANG Ī OĪM

    William W. Malandra

    an Avestan-Pahlavi glossary so named after its first entry, Av. oīm glossed by Pahl. ēwag, though the work is introduced with the lengthy title: “On the understanding of the speech and words of the Avesta, namely, what and how its zand is.”

  • FRAHANG Ī PAHLAWĪG

    D. N. MacKenzie

    lit. “a Pahlavi dictionary,” is rather a description than the title of an anonymous glossary of some five hundred mostly Aramaic heterograms (ideograms), in the form used by Zoroastrians in writing Middle Persian (Book Pahlavi), each explained by a “phonetic” writing of the corresponding Persian word.

  • FRAMADĀR

    Marie-Louise Chaumont

    or FRAMĀTĀR; a Sasanian administrative title.

  • FRANCE

    Multiple Authors

    Relations with Iran.

  • FRANCE i. Introduction

    Jean Calmard

    Compared to the long-standing history of Persian civilization, France emerged as a powerful entity endowed with its own distinctive culture only in the 13th century C.E., i.e. the great century of Christianity.

  • FRANCE ii. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA TO 1789

    Jean Calmard

    In the early Middle Ages, Persia was perceived by the French mostly through biblical, Greek, and Latin sources.

  • FRANCE iii. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA 1789-1918

    Florence Hellot-Bellier

    After more than sixty years of half-hearted diplomatic maneuverings, permanent relations were finally established between the France and Persia in 1855.

  • FRANCE iv. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA SINCE 1918

    Marie-Louise Chaumont

    During the First World War, France, unlike England, Russia, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire, had no direct strategic interests in Persia.

  • FRANCE v. ADMINISTRATIVE AND MILITARY CONTACTS WITH PERSIA

    Massoud Farnoud

    The motives for Franco-Persian administrative and military contacts between the French Revolution of 1789 and the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, their implementation and their impact on Persia will be examined here.

  • FRANCE vi. PERSIA AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

    Mohammad Tavakoli-Targhi

    Persians saw the French Revolution as sedition (fetna), corruption (fesād), a general disturbance by the populace (balwā-ye ʿāmm), insurrection (šūreš), the great revolution (enqelāb-e ʿaẓīm), and the great revolution (enqelāb-e kabīr).

  • FRANCE vii. FRENCH TRAVELERS IN PERSIA, 1600-1730

    Anne-Marie Touzard

    While the Italian cities and Spain entered into diplomatic relations with Persia at an early date, this was not true of France, despite an abortive attempt—the dispatch in 1626 of Louis Deshayes de Courmenin to the court of Shah ʿAbbās I. The early 17th century also witnessed the great missionary upsurge in France.

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  • FRANCE viii. TRAVELOGUES OF THE 18TH-20TH CENTURIES

    Nader Nasiri-Moghaddam

    On the reign of Nāder Shah (1736-1747), accounts by missionaries, notably those by the Jesuit Père Louis Bazin, chief physician to Nāder Shah from 1746 until the latter’s assassination, form useful complements to the Persian sources.

  • FRANCE ix. IMAGE OF PERSIA AND PERSIAN LITERATURE AMONG FRENCH AUTHORS

    J. Duchesne-Guillemin

    France used Persia as a means of social, political, and religious self-criticism, and they were interested in Zoroastrianism as “the most ancient religion."

  • FRANCE x. FRENCH LITERATURE IN PERSIA

    Christophe Balay

    The new trends in Persian literature in the beginning of the 20th century are closely related to social and political changes which began in Persia under Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah (1848-96), and brought about the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-11.

  • FRANCE xi. PERSIAN ART AND ART COLLECTIONS IN FRANCE

    Yves Porter

    French collections, both public and private, contain hundreds of Persian works of art. Some of these reached France during the Middle Ages, notably after the Crusades, but most of the great collections containing Persian art were created during the second half of the 19th century.

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  • FRANCE xii(a). IRANIAN STUDIES IN FRANCE: OVERVIEW

    Vincent Hachard and Bernard Hourcade

    The genuine beginning of Persian studies in France began with the foundation in Istanbul and Smyrna (Izmir) of a “School of languages for the young” in 1669 to train translators of Ottoman Turkish for French consulates.

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  • FRANCE xii(b). IRANIAN STUDIES IN FRANCE: PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD

    Philippe Gignoux

    The French contribution to pre-Islamic Iranian studies, both in philological studies and archeology, has been considerable.

  • FRANCE xii(c). IRANIAN STUDIES IN FRANCE: SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MODERN PERSIA

    Bernard Hourcade

    The history of French scholarship on modern Persia particularly in the field of social sciences was shaped by major external factors including the overall political relationship between the two countries and the radical changes which took place in the French university system and the organization of its scholarly missions to Persia in the latter half of this century.

  • FRANCE xiii. INSTITUT FRANÇAIS DE RECHERCHE EN IRAN

    R. Boucharlat

    The Institut français de recherche en Iran (IFRI) was established in its present form and under the above name in l983, although in Persia it is usually referred to as Anjoman-e īrān-šenāsī-e farānsa dar Īrān.

  • FRANCE xiv. FRENCH ARCHAEOLOGICAL MISSION

    Cross-reference

    See DÉLÉGATIONS ARCHÉOLOGIQUES FRANÇAISES i.

  • FRANCE xv. FRENCH SCHOOLS IN PERSIA

    Djavad Hadidi

    French schools in Persia had more varied roots than other foreign schools, originating from three distinct sources: Catholic, Jewish, and secular. Catholic schools were established by Lazarist missionaries, Jewish schools by the Alliance Israélite Universelle, and lay schools by Alliance Française.

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  • FRANCE xvi. LOANWORDS IN PERSIAN

    Guitty Deyhime

    The gradual entry of a large number of loan words into Persian from European languages and most notably from French began in the 19th century and continued through the 20th century as part of the process of modernization of culture and society in Persia.

  • FRANCE xvii. Persian Community in France

    Vida Nassehi-Behnam

    The emergence of a Persian community in France can perhaps be traced back to 1272/1855-6, when Farrok Khan Ḡaffārī, Amīn-al-Molk, later Amīn-al-Dawla was sent to Paris as the shah’s envoy (īlcī-e kabīr).

  • FRANKLIN BOOK PROGRAM

    Datus C. Smith, Jr.

    (Moʾassasa-ye entešārāt-e Ferānklīn), an American non-profit corporation seeking to aid development of indigenous book publishing in the developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The program in Persia (1954-1979, the first after Egypt) was the largest of the seventeen around the world.

  • FRANRASYAN

    Cross-reference

    See AFRĀSĪĀB.

  • FRĀRĀST

    Cross-reference

    See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

  • FRAŠEGERD

    Cross-reference

    See FRAŠŌ.KƎRƎTI.

  • FRASER JAMES BAILLIE

    Denis Wright

    (1783-1856), 15th laird of Reelig, traveler, writer, and artist.

  • FRAŠŌ.KƎRƎTI

    Almut Hintze

    an eschatological term referring to the final renovation and transfiguration of Ahura Mazdā’s creation after evil has been utterly defeated and driven away.

  • FRAŠOŠTAR

    Cross-reference

    See JĀMĀSP.

  • FRATARAKA

    Josef Wiesehöfer

    lit. “leader, governor, forerunner”; ancient Persian title.

  • FRAVARTISH

    Cross-Reference

    Median rebel against Darius I. See PHRAORTES.

  • FRAVAŠI

    Mary Boyce

    the Avestan word for a powerful supernatural being whose concept at an early stage in Zoroastrianism became blended with that of the urvan (the human soul).

  • FRAWĀG

    Cross-reference

    See SĪĀMAG.

  • FRAWAHR

    Cross-reference

    See FRAVAŠI.

  • FRAWARDĪGĀN

    William W. Malandra

    name of the ten-day Zoroastrian festival (gāhānbār) at year’s end in honor of the spirits of the dead.

  • FRAWARDĪN

    Cross-reference

    name of the nineteenth day of a month and also the name of the first month of the year in the Zoroastrian calendar. See CALENDARS i.

  • FRAWARDĪN YAŠT

    Mary Boyce

    the thirteenth of the Zoroastrian yašt hymns, devoted to the fravašis.

  • FRĀXKARD

    Ahmad Tafazzoli

    name of the cosmic ocean in Iranian mythology.

  • FREE VERSE

    Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak

    in Persian poetry. The term šeʿr-e āzād, Persian for the French vers libre and English free verse, entered Persia in the 1940s and immediately began to be used in a variety of senses and applied to diverse subspecies of the emerging canon of šeʿr-e now (new poetry), especially to highlight those features in which this body of poetry was felt to differ from classical Persian poetry and the contemporary practice modeled after it.

  • FREE WILL

    Multiple Authors

    i. IN TWELVER SHI'ISM, ii. IN ISMA'ILI SHI'ISM.

  • FREEMASONRY

    Multiple Authors

    This famous fraternal order, bound by rituals and secret oaths, was introduced to Persia and adopted by Persian notables in the 19th century. It developed in the early 20th century and burgeoned in the period from 1950-78. Its practice still continues among some middle- and upper-class Persians in exile at the turn of the 21st century.  The topic will be treated in five entries.

  • FREEMASONRY i. INTRODUCTION

    Hasan Azinfar, M.-T. Eskandari, and Edward Joseph

    The principal officers of the Lodge are the Worshipful Master and the Senior and Junior Wardens. The Worshipful Master is the head and chief of the Lodge, the source of light, of knowledge, and instruction. Dressed formally on a high pedestal, he presides over the formal Masonic sessions.

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  • FREEMASONRY ii. In the Qajar Period

    Hamid Algar

    Persians made their first acquaintance with Freemasonry outside Persia, in India, and more importantly in Europe, and it was not until the first decade of the 20th century that a lodge regularly affiliated to one of the recognized European obediences appeared in the country.

  • FREEMASONRY iii. In the Pahlavi Period

    EIr

    There were three distinct phases: (1) dormancy, from 1925-1950 under Reżā Shah and for the decade following his abdication in 1941; (2) revival, and the creation of the Lodge Pahlavi; (3) burgeoning, in the period of 1955-78, when dozens of regular lodges were chartered.

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  • FREEMASONRY iv. The 1979 Revolution

    EIr

    From the onset of the 1978-79 revolutionary upheavals the Persian Freemasons became vulnerable to the anti-Masonic sentiments and threats of the main participants in the revolutionary coalition, including Islamic Fundamentalists, Leftist organizations, and Liberal-Nationalist forces.

  • FREEMASONRY v. In Exile

    Hasan Azinfar, M.-T. Eskandari, and Edward Joseph

    Many master Masons managed to leave the country legally or illegally and emigrated to Europe, Canada, and the United States.

  • FREĬMAN, Aleksandr Arnol’dovich

    Solomon Bayevsky

    (1879-1968), founder and the head of the Soviet school of the comparative-historical method in Iranian linguistics. For sixty years, Freĭman worked in various areas of Iranian languages. His work on Sogdian, Chorasmian, and Ossetic is especially important.

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  • FRENCH REVOLUTION

    Cross-reference

    and Persia. See FRANCE ii and FRANCE iii.

  • FRIDAY PRAYERS

    Cross-Reference

    leader of the congregational prayer performed at midday on Fridays. See EMĀM-E JOMʿA.

  • FRIT WARES

    Cross-reference

    See CERAMICS xiv.

  • FROGS

    Cross-reference

    See AMPHIBIANS.

  • FRONTIERS

    Cross-reference

    See BOUNDARIES.

  • FRUIT

    Hūšang Aʿlam

    (mīva). Jean Chardin (1643-1713) reported (p. 24) that “in Persia there were all the same kinds of fruit as in Europe and many others, all incomparatively delicious.” He noted the great variety of melons, cucumbers, grapes, dates, apricots, pomegranates, apples, pears, oranges, quinces, prunes, figs, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, filberts, and olives.

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  • FRYER, JOHN

    Michael J. Franklin

    (b. ca. 1650; d. 1733), British travel-writer and doctor. His writings  display a lively curiosity, which, sharpened by his scientific training, produces accurate observations in geology, meteorology, and all aspects of natural history.

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  • FŪLĀD-ZEREH

    Mahmoud Omidsalar

    lit. “[possessing] steel armor,” the name of a hideous demon in the story of Amīr Arsalān.

  • FŪMAN

    Marcel Bazin

    town and district in western Gīlān, 21 km west-southwest of Rašt, on the left bank of Gāzrūdbār river. An important town in medieval times, Fūman is again a commercial and administrative center, with a very active Tuesday market and a large tea-processing factory.

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  • FŪMANĪ, ʿABD-AL-FATTĀḤ

    Sholeh Quinn

    author of the Tārīḵ-e Gīlān, a local history of Gīlān covering the years 1517-1628.

  • FUMITORY

    M. H. Bokhari and W. Frey

    or šāhtara; term used for two species of plants of the genus Fumaria in Persia, Fumaria officinalis and Fumaria parviflora.

  • FUNERAL CUSTOMS

    Cross-reference

    See BURIAL; CORPSE.

  • FŪŠANJ

    C. Edmund Bosworth

    a town of medieval eastern Khorasan, situated just to the south of the Harīrūd River, and variously described in the sources as being between six and ten farsaḵs to the west-southwest of Herat.

  • FŪŠANJĪ HERAVĪ, ABU’L-ḤASAN ʿALĪ,

    Gerhard Böwering

    correctly BŪŠANJĪ; b. Aḥmad b. Sahl (d. 958/959), an important exponent of the fetyān (javān-mardān) of Khorasan.

  • Fadāye Roḳsār - Dekr Qāderieh

    music sample

  • Falak-e Matam

    music sample

  • F~ CAPTIONS OF ILLUSTRATIONS

    Cross-Reference

    list of all the figure and plate images in the letter F entries.