Founded in the early 1970s by Ehsan Yarshater, the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies at Columbia University, the Encyclopædia Iranica was conceived as a comprehensive and authoritative reference work for Iranian Studies, providing a platform for rigorous, peer-reviewed scholarship. In doing so, Dr. Yarshater created a platform that made the field more accessible to a broader scholarly audience.
The first fascicle of the Encyclopædia Iranica was published in 1982. In 1996, the project launched its first website providing free access to PDF versions of previously published fascicles. So far, sixteen volumes of the Encyclopædia Iranica have appeared both in print and online.
In recognition of its scholarly achievements, the project has received financial support since its inception from major institutions and foundations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Persian Heritage Foundation, the International Union of Academies, the Iran Heritage Foundation, the Semnani Foundation, the Institute of Ismaili Studies, and Les Amies de l’Encyclopædia Iranica in Paris.
Since 2025, the project has been housed at the Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture at University of California, Irvine. Under the direction of Dr. Touraj Daryaee and the patronage of the Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation, established in 1990, the Encyclopædia Iranica remains committed to advancing Yarshater’s original vision while ensuring the project’s long-term sustainability and continued scholarly excellence.
Scope
The Encyclopædia Iranica is an open-access academic reference work dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization across West Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Indian subcontinent. English serves as its primary language of publication, with future plans for translations into additional languages. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary in scope, Iranica brings together scholarship from a wide range of academic fields. Encompassing all aspects of Iranian history and culture, as well as Iranian languages and literatures, it supports research spanning archaeology, art history, religion, literature, linguistics, anthropology, history, and political science. While Iranica’s primary focus is the Iranian world, its scope extends beyond the borders of present-day Iran to include the broader Iranian cultural sphere and its interactions with neighboring societies and global cultures.
Each entry is commissioned from a specialist in the field and undergoes rigorous scholarly peer review. Entries are intended to provide reliable, objective, and authoritative information grounded in established scholarship rather than original research or unproven hypotheses. The Encyclopædia Iranica serves both researchers and the general public seeking accurate and trustworthy information on the Iranian world. All submissions are published online and subsequently collected in printed volumes.
Audience
Encyclopædia Iranica benefits not only those who are interested in Iranian life and culture but also students, specialists, and educated general readers interested in a variety of academic disciplines.
Authors
Encyclopædia Iranica is an international undertaking and draws on the most authoritative scholarship worldwide to ensure the quality and reliability of its articles. To date over 1,300 scholars worldwide have contributed articles in a variety of languages, including English, Russian, Persian, Turkish, and Chinese. In Volume I alone there were articles by 285 authors.
History
In the early 1970s, Ehsan Yarshater, then Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies at Columbia University initiated the Encyclopædia Iranica project as a comprehensive Iranian Studies reference work. Professor Yarshater’s objective was to provide specialists on Iran with a platform for the publication of research outside highly specialized journals, while giving scholars in related fields, as well as the general public, access to knowledge about the Iranian civilization.
In 1982, the first fascicle of the Encyclopædia Iranica was published. As of August 2020, 16 volumes have appeared in print, with entries ranging from “Āb” to “Kešaʾi Dialect.” In 1996, the Encyclopædia Iranica launched its first website, iranica.com, to provide free access to pdf files of previously published fascicles. In 2009, Encyclopædia Iranica began developing its current website. Since 2010, this website has provided readers with easy access to all entries through full-text searches. As of August 2020, the online version comprised over 8,900 entries, of which about 850 entries are available only on the internet. The Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation is committed to the on-going development of the print and digital versions of the Encyclopædia Iranica as well as, contingent upon adequate funding, open access to the Iranica website. The print edition, however, is currently being prioritized since the long-term preservation of digitally born contents remains a challenge.
Since its inception, the Encyclopædia Iranica project has received funding from independent grant-making agencies, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). In 1990, the non-for-profit Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation was established to guarantee the project’s intellectual independence and secure its long-term viability.
Our Mission
Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation
Professor Ehsan Yarshater, the founder and editor-in-chief of Encyclopædia Iranica (Encycopaedia) until 2017, established the Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation, Inc. (Foundation) in 1990. The mission of the Foundation is to ensure the uninterrupted and permanent continuation of the Encyclopædia Iranica as a significant work of reference, archival resource, and data bank covering all aspects of Iranian civilization in its widest temporal and spatial context. Such a resource, even when said to be “complete,” will require not only constant updating, but also the inclusion of new entries to keep abreast of current research.
In the course of the past two decades, the Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation has been the largest financial supporter of the Iranica project. It has also successfully augmented its Endowment Fund, and will continue to serve as the main source of financial support for the Encyclopædia Iranica.
The Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) public charity registered in New York State