The Ottoman Turks had defeated the Iranian army of Shah Ismail I (r. 1502-1524) at the Battle of Chaldiran on August 23, 1514. In the disastrous aftermath of the ensuing Ottoman-Safavid wars, much of Iran’s Azarbaijan province (including its provincial capital Tabriz), Armenia (known as the Irvan Khanate in Medieval Iranian sources) and the Caucasus fell under the occupation of the Ottoman Turks.

[Click to Enlarge]Shah Ismail as depicted by a European painter – the painting is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Italy. Note the Latin terms “Rex Persareum” [Monarch of Persia] which makes clear that Shah Ismail was the king of Safavid Persia or Iran. Despite being hopelessly outmatched by the Ottoman armies in manpower and firerams, Ismail stood his ground in Chaldiran on August 23, 1514. Despite their victory, the Ottoman Turks, who had also sufferred heavy losses,  failed to conquer Iran.

The Ottoman Turks also occupied many of the Caucasian Khanates such as Irvan Khanate (modern Republic of Armenia) as well as much of those Caucasian territories (i.e. Shamakhi, Nakhchevan, etc.) known as the Republic of Azarbaijan since May 1918 (i.e. Shamakhi, Nakhchevan, etc.).

[Click to Enlarge]Recently published article by Kaveh Farrokh and Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani on the Battle of Chaldiran by major peer-reviewed military history journal based in Austria: Pallasch: Zeitschrift für Militärgeschichte, Organ der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Heereskunde. At left is the cover page of the journal; at center is a Safavid sword and a Qajar era painting of the battle of Chaldiran and at right are the profiles of the authors (in German). The peer board of Pallasch consists of high-ranking European military officers. The citation of the journal article for reference is: Farrokh, K., & Khorasani, M.M. (2012). Die Schlacht von Tschaldiran am 23. August 1514, Pallasch: Zeitschrift für Militärgeschichte, Organ der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Heereskunde. Heft 41, März 2012, pp. 47-71.

Despite their status as the world military superpower of the day, their deployment of heavy firepower (muskets and cannon) as well as larger numbers of troops, the Ottoman Turks failed to destroy the Iranian army. This was due to important military reforms (especially in the creation and integration of firearms units within the Iranian army) as well as a revived Iranian martial arts tradition (discussed further below).

[Click to enlarge]Iranian artilleryman of the type serving in the Iranian armies of Shah Abbas I during his campaigns which cleared the Ottoman Turks out of Western Iran (notably Luristan and Kurdistan), northwest Iran (especially Azarbaijan province) and the Caucasus in the early 1600s (Picture source: Historum.com). The Iranians facing the Ottoman armies in 1514 at the Battle of Chaldiran had no cannon or muskets; Shah Ismail and his cavalry suffered very heavy losses by repeatedly charging into the Ottoman lines in their endeavor to silence the Ottoman Sultan’s 500 cannon!

Important military reforms which had begun at the time of Shah Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576) reached their apogee at the time of Shah Abbas I (r. 1587-1629), especially in the latter’s success in fully integrating firearms into the Safavid battle order. The latter task was assisted by the English brothers, Anthony and Robert Shereley.

Vincenzo D’Alessandri a European visitor to Iran arriving in 1571, reported that:

“Persians are tall and strong… commonly use swords, lances and guns on the battlefield…Persian Musketeers use their muskets so adeptly…they will draw the sword at times of necessity…muskets are slung to the back as to not interfere with the usage of bows and swords…their horses are very well trained and they [the Iranians] have no need to import horses…” [As cited in Amiri, M. (1970). Safarnameye Venezian dar Iran [The Travelogues of the Venetians in Persia]. Tehran: Entesharat-e Kharazmi, pp.448-449].

Despite fielding smaller numbers of troops, the reformed Safavid armies of Shah Abbas I defeated the Ottoman Turks and liberated Tabriz from Turkish occupation on October 21, 1603 (after 20 days of fighting).

Rare drawing by a European travellor who witnessed the aftermath of the liberation of Tabriz by Shah Abbas I on October 21, 1603. Local Azari citizens welcomed the Iranian Safavid army as liberators and took harsh reprisals against the defeated Ottoman Turks who had been occupying their city. Many unfortunate Turks fell into the hands of Tabriz’s citizens and were decapitated (Picture Source: Matofi, A., 1999, Tarikh-e-Chahar Hezar Sal-e Artesh-e Iran: Az Tamadon-e Elam ta 1320 Khorsheedi, Jang-e- Iran va Araqh [The 4000 Year History of the Army of Iran: From the Elamite Civilizaiton to 1941, the Iran-Iraq War]. Tehran:Entesharat-e Iman, p.63).

Note that the sources cited in this article thus far are clear that the Safavids are Iranians; they are consistently refered to as “Persians” in reference to their historical and cultural links to the wider Iranian mileau. Therefore, the fact that many of the Iranian Azarbaijanis had become Turcophone was simply another facet of their Iranian identity – Iranians are not limited to Persian-speakers only, as Iranian culture is multi-faceted and characterized by diversity and synthesis within an Iranian cultural framework.

Note the observations of a European traveller to Iran named Antonio Tenreiro in 1525 and his descriptions of the inhabitants of the city of Tabriz:

“This city [Tabriz] is inhabited by Persians and some Turkomans, white people, and beautiful of face and person” [Ronald Bishop Smith (1970), The first age of the Portuguese embassies, navigations and peregrinations in Persia (1507-1524), Decatur Press, pp. 85-86.].

It should be noted that the Turkoman tribes cited above were religious followers of the Safavid dynasty (themselves originally of the Iranian pedigree but progressively Turkicized linguistically, hence of the Persianate civilizational realm). These had migrated from the Anatolian regions and became the military backbone of the early Safavid dynasty. It was these same Turcomens who had stood up with Shah Ismail against the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514.

It is clear that the Ottoman Turks had intended to hold Tabriz and all of Azarbaijan under permanent occupation. In a letter written by Shah Abbas to Jalal e Din Mohammad Akbar (the powerful emperor of India and contemporary of Shah Abbas, whom the Iranian king always addressed as father) after the liberation of Tabriz, he had noted that the Ottomans in Tabriz had:

“…200 cannon, 5000 musketeers…supplies lasting for ten years and much equipment for the holding of fortresses…” [Falsafi, N. (1965). Zendeganiye Shah Abbas Avval [The Life and Times of Shah Abbas the First] (6 Volumes). Tehran University, Volume IV, pp.22-23.].

[Click to enlarge] Shah Abbas I (r. 1587-1629) as depicted in a European copper engraving made by Dominicus Custos citing him as“Schach Abas Persarum Rex” or “Shah Abbas the Great monarch of Persia”. Note how Custos makes a particular emphasis on linking Shah Abbas to the “Mnemona Cyrus” (the Memory of Cyrus the Great of Persia). His victories over the Ottomans weakened them against the Europeans to the West, and especially in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. See also Hessamoddin’s article in Persian -شاه عباس و عیاری–Shah Abbas and Chivalry/knighthood.

Shah Abbas I then thrust into the Caucasus to expel the Ottoman Turks from the Irvan Khanate and the rest of the Caucasus. The occupying Ottoman garisson of Irvan (Yerevan) city lost 2000 troops in just a few hours after it was forced by the Iranians into close-quarter combat; the Ottoman were then forced to surrender in June 1604.

[Click to enlarge] The Zoorkhaneh or “House of Power”. The Zoorkhaneh is the traditional Iranian martial arts school which has for centuries been an important medium for the training of Iranian warriors. The roots of this can be traced to the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian tradition. At right is Pahlavan  (lit. brave intrepid champion) Mustafa Toosi wielding Zoorkhaneh meels at 60 pounds each (Picture source: Pahlavani.com). Meel training is one of the Zoorkhaneh regiments used for building strength, stamina, and overall physical strength. Each Meel can range from 25-60 pounds and can be as tall as 4 ½ feet. At left is Pahlavan Reza Zanjani with traditional Iranian weights  (Picture soource: Abbasi, M. (1995), Tarikh e Koshti Iran [History of Wrestling in Iran], Tehran: Entesharate Firdows, page 133.).

The Iranian ascendancy over the Ottomans had much to do with the revival and promotion of Iran’s ancient martials arts tradition by the Safavids. As noted by Jean Chardin, a French Huguenot jeweller who had arrived in Iran in 1665:

“…the youth, much like the times of ancient Persia, are introduced to martial exercises…” [Abbasi, M. (1956). Siyahatnameye Chardin [The Travelogues of Chardin] (10 volumes). Tehran: Amir Kabir, Volume III, pp.179.]

Yet another European travellor to Iran, Giovanni Battista Vecchietti reported the Iranians in the late 16th century as being:

“…expert in fighting with sword, lance and bow, and… greatly superior to the Turks in this” [As cited by Matthee, R.P., 1991, The Politics of Trade in Safavid Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.394].

Regarding this topic consult Professor M. Haneda: Iranian Safavid Armies, Iran at War:1500-1988, 2011, pp. 28-41, 56-61 and Dr. Manouchehr M. Khorasani’s upcoming text “Persian Archery and Swordsmanship: Traditional Martial Arts of Iran”.

[Click to Enlarge]Dr. Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani (at left in each photo) demonstrating hand to hand combat technciques in accordance with tradtional Iranian martial arts techniques. As the Ottoman Empire had vastly larger numbers of troops than Iran, the Safavids developed an excellent core of professional fighters who were often capable of standing up to larger numbers of Ottoman troops (Photos to appear in Dr. Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani’s upcoming text “Persian Archery and Swordsmanship: Traditional Martial Arts of Iran”).

Shah Abbas I completed his defeat of the Ottomans by crushing their counteroffensive in Iran’s Azarbaijan province (November 6, 1605). He then cleared the Ottoman Turks out of Ganja and Shamakhi in the Caucasus by late June 1606 .

The Ottomans once again attempted to occupy Tabriz and Yerevan in 1616-1618, by deploying 200-300,000 troops and heavy firepower. Once again, they were defeated and expelled back into Ottoman territory by Shah Abbas I (see Iran at War:1500-1988, 2011, pp. 56-61).

[Click to Enlarge] (LEFT-Picture source: Yerevan.Am) Modern-day Yerevan and traditional Armenian churches; (RIGHT-Picture source: Historum.com) Safavid musketeer of the type contemporary to Iranian forces liberating Yerevan from the Ottoman Turks in 1604; it is notable that among the troops liberating Yerevan were musketeers from Iran’s Azarbaijan province.

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A Georgetown undergraduate who already has completed three years of biomedical research that includes one year on cancer, has been awarded the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.

Frederick Ghandchi hopes to one day lead research projects on the molecular biology and genetics of cancer.

Frederick Ghandchi, who will graduate in the spring of 2013, interned at the Children’s National Medical Center and NIH before working in the lab of Todd Waldman, a Georgetown associate professor of molecular oncology.

Ghandchi is one of only 282 individuals nationwide out of 1,123 math, science and engineering students to win the nationwide scholarship. The award covers the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board for one or two years up to $7,500 annually.

“I felt very excited to have won the scholarship, because I know that it will open many opportunities to me,” says Ghandchi, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology.

Incredibly Focused

“I plan to become a principal investigator in a medical center environment, such as the NIH, and head my own basic research projects on the molecular biology and genetics of cancer,” he adds.

Waldman, who holds a large 5-year NIH grant to study the role of specific genes in brain cancer, calls Fred “incredibly focused.”

“Fred is super, super smart and very passionate about biomedical research,” Waldman says. “He is already absolutely certain he’s going to do a Ph.D. in molecular biology, which is unusual among sophomore undergraduates.”

Ghandchi started out as a member of the Class of 2014, but is expected to graduate a year early.

Genes and Cancer

The young scientist is also part of Georgetown’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) program, which allows undergraduates to choose a faculty mentor to work with over the summers.

Waldman says Ghandchi is working on two different cancer genes (PTEN and P53) in terms of how they may regulate each other.

“These genes are very important in human cancer,” Waldman says. “We work on their role in brain cancer, but they are important for many other tumor types as well.”

“It looks like they talk to each other,” he adds. “We’re not sure, but maybe Fred will figure it out. It’s understood that to some extent they regulate each other, but the mechanism is poorly understood and how that relates to them possibly causing cancer is also poorly understood. ”

Problem-Solving

In addition to Waldman, Ghandchi says he is grateful to Joseph Neale, the university’s Paduano Distinguished Professor in the biology department who co-directs the HHMI Program.

The student says he also appreciates associate professor of biology Heidi Elmendorf for “showing me that biology is more than memorization by focusing on problem solving and the big picture in class and on exams.”

Waldman was pleased to hear that his student had won the scholarship.

“Fred is very deserving of this prestigious recognition, and I am delighted the Goldwater foundation chose to honor him,” he says.

Shahr-e Sookhteh is an urban settlement which can be traced to four eras of civilization on the Iranian plateau.The settlemtn has yielded its own unique brands of architecture, arts and technologies, and provide much insight into the antiquity of Iranian civilization.

Remains of the Shahr-e Sookhteh (lit. Burnt City). Recognized as the largest Bronze Age site in the Middle East, the entire environs of the site measure at 150 hectares. Shahr-e Sookhteh was founded around 5000 years ago (circa 3200 BC) and was first destroyed in 2100 BC. During the course of its approximately 1100-year existence, Shahr-e-Sookhteh has given rise to four distinct civilizations. 

Iranian archaeologist  Dr. Mansour Seyed Sajjadi (who has researched Shahr -e Sookhteh for years) noted in an interview with the Tehran Times on March 1, 2012 that:

“With every step that we took the soil under our feet moved aside, revealing more fragments of clay works. We were told that after each rain the earth is washed away causing more fragments come to the surface, where they can be easily found by the excavation team. The moment we touched the clay fragments that were buried under the soil we got a strange feeling that reminded us of our Oriental background and this feeling made us search for our lost identity within the Burnt City“

One of the most interesting discoveries at the site has been a 5000 year old goblet which bears the world’s first animation sequence. The animation depicts a goat jumping towards a tree to eat its leaves.

Goblet with painting depicting a jumping goat (Source: Tehran Times). The Farmes can then seen in a “film fashion” when placed on a rotating turntable.  This concpet was developed over 5000 years ago in the Shahr e Sokhteh, long before the advent of cinematography by the early 20th century.

The goblet is the first evidence of the human conception of  image frames being connected together to produce an animation sequence. It is possible that a manual turntable was used to rotate the goblet to “animate” the frames.

[CLICK TO ENLARGE]Animation sequence of the jumping goat as seen in a flattened panel (Source: Tehran Times). See the actual animation sequence in the video below.  

Animation sequence of the 5000 year old Goblet of Shahr e Sookhteh.

There have been numeous finds at Shahr e Sookhteh such as the discovery of the world’s first artificial eye (see below):

(RIGHT) Iranian researcher examining the artifical eye found at Shahr e Sookhteh – further tests are being conducted in Iran to determine the exact chemical composition of the prosthetic (LEFT) A curious feature of the “eye” are parallel lines that have been drawn around the pupil to form a diamond shape …READ MORE…

Other discoveries include the excavation of the most ancient known version the backgammon game  (see below)

Ancient dice discovered at the Burnt-City. At present, experts are (a) attempting to determine why the game was played with sixty pieces and (b) working to decode the rules of the game. Iranians call Backgammon “Takht-e Nard”…READ MORE…see also more pictures by clicking here…

Dr. Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani, the world’s leading expert on the history of Iranian and Oriental arms. armour, firearms and traditional Iranian martial arts.See for example Dr. Khorasani’s lecture at M.I.T. on Iranian arms and armor from the Bronze age to the Qajar era. For more information on Dr. Khorasani’s works, consult his list of publications.

Note that Dr. Khorasani is the only person to have obtained two awards of academic merit in the field of Iranian Studies – he won the Book the Year Award in 2009 and well as the Book of the year Award in 2012. Dr. Khorasani’s first book (recipient of the 2009 award), Arms & Armor from Iran: The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period is also unique in that it is the first textbook of its kind to provide an exhaustive and detailed compendium on the history, development, description and analysis of Iranian arms and armor from the bronze age to the Qajar era.

Dt. Khorasani “Lexicon of Atms and Armor from Iran (which won the 2012 award) is the first academic book ever to be written on the lexicon and terminology of Iranian arms and warfare.

To rrder these books, please click on the Legat Publishers link or order directly from LEGAT Publishers: Alexander Frank (alexander.frank@legat-verlag.de)Tel. +49 (0) 70 73 / 30 24 49; Mobile +49 (0)179 / 453 61 21

The pictures and descriptions below were originally posted by Hessamoddin Shafeian. 

The pictures seen below will appear in Dr Khorasani’s upcoming text:  “Persian Archery and Swordsmanship: Traditional Martial Arts of Iran” .

[Click to Enlarge] Historical weapons of Iran (kard, khanjar, separ, gorz, tabar, neyze, akenakes, shamsher sasani, qame, qaddare, ir va kaman, pishqabz/deshne): part of the upcoming book by Dr Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani “Persian Archery and Swordsmanship: Traditional Martial Arts of Iran” to be published soon

[Click to Enlarge] Koshti jangi (war wrestling) part of the upcoming book by Dr Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani “Persian Archery and Swordsmanship: Traditional Martial Arts of Iran” to be published soon.

[Click to Enlarge]  Traditional workouts from the Zoorkhaneh (lit. House of Power) along with traditional Iranian martial arts and archery techniques. Dr. Khorasani has done much to restore and revive traditional Iranian martial arts.

[Click to Enlarge] Razmafsar

[Click to Enlarge] War wrestling (koshti-ye jangi). 

[Click to Enlarge] War wrestling (koshti-ye jangi)

[Click to Enlarge] Razmafzar: Persian swordsmanship and traditional martial arts of Iran

[Click to Enlarge]  Razmafzar, Dr. Khorasani’s project of reviving Persian/Iranian martial arts and swordsmanship is going very well. Now he has also our constitution (asasnameh) defining all steps and levels with names and techniques

[Click to Enlarge] Razmafzar: A Persian Fighting Art based on Persian manuscripts

The Lezgians of the Caucasus are the direct descendants of the ancient Albanians.. Lezgian culture has had a profound impact on the culture of Iran as well: one enduring aspect being the Lezgian dances which remian popular throughout the Caucasus and northern Iran.

Wall bricks from an ancient Lezgian structure in Koosar, modern-day Republic of Azarbaijan (known as Arran or Albania untuil May 1918). (Courtesy of Enver Abdulayev, Leader of the Lezgian Youth Organization of the Russian Federation).

Strabo writing at around the 1st century AD notes in the Geographica that the people of Iranian Azarbaijan (known as Media Atropatene at the time of Strabo who lived in 64/63 BC-23 AD were Iranians with Persian as their language (Strabo 11.13.1). Book 11 of the Geographica cites the Araxes River as the boundary between Atropatene (Iranian Azarbaijan) and Albania. Pliny confirms Atropatene as having been situated south of the Araxes River.

In addition to Strabo, other Classical sources such as Arrian (who lived in 92-c. 175 AD) and Justin (Justin 23.4.13) cite the region north of the Araxes River as “Albania” and south of the Araxes as “Media Atropatene”. The people of Albania were of mainly of Ibero-Caucasian stock (Hewson, 1982, p. 27-40) with the people speaking “…twenty-six languages, because they have no easy means of intercourse with one another” (Strabo, Geographica, Book 11, Chapter 14). Iranian settlers arrived from Atropatene during the Mede, Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanian eras, and mixed into the population.

At the time of Alexander’s conquests the Achaemenid satrapy of Media included  much of Iranian Kurdistan, Luristan, parts of Iraqi Kurdistan, the Iranian plateau up to Hyrcania in the north and Iranian Azarbaijan to the northwest.

A rare collection of Lezgian daggers and swords from south Daghestan (circa 17-19th centuries AD).

To the north of Azarbaijan, across the Araxes River, was Albania (named as  Republic of Azerbaijan since May 1918). The latter shared borders with Iberia to its west; Colchis stood to the west of Iberia. The Armenians were mainly situated to the south of Iberia-Colchis. The inhabitants of Albania (the indigenous ancestors of the Albanians), Iberia and Colchis were generally descendants of the Caucasian speaking peaples. Prior to the Indo-European arrivals, Azarbaijan and Albania had been heavily influenced by Urartians, Hurrians, Mannaeans and possibly the Cadusians.

Another view of the ancient Lezgian structure in Koosar, modern-day Republic of Azarbaijan.(known as Arran or Albania untuil May 1918) Note the circular patterns and designs on the beam (Courtesy of Enver Abdulayev, Leader of the Lezgian Youth Organization of the Russian Federation).

Iranian Azarbaijan (south of the Araxes River) had been Iraniancized by the Medes as well as Scythian invaders from the Ukraine. Zoroastrianism became widespread in Azarbaijan after Cyrus’ overthrow of king Astyages of the Median Empire. Albania also became profoundly influenced by Zoroastrianism, where some of the oldest fire temples survive to this day. Albania had been conquered by Median king Cyaxares in the 7th century BC but the region south of the Araxes River is the historical location of Azarbaijan in Iran.

Lezgian wall decoration patterns 10-11th centuries AD. These are from the Mehrab of the ancient Lezgian mosque near the village of Lotghun in Daghestan (Courtesy of Enver Abdulayev, Leader of the Lezgian Youth Organization of the Russian Federation).

“The oldest outside influence in Trans-Caucasia is that of Persia (p.203)…many of its populations, including Armenians and Georgians, as well as Persians and Kurds, the Transcaucasus had much closer ties with the former Sassanian world to its south and east than with the world to the west (p.204)”. [Whittow, Mark, The Making of Byzantium: 600-1025, Berkley: University of California Press, 1996, p. 203-204].

The ancient Iranian Nowruz (New Year) festival of March 21 continues to be celebrated in the Caucasus, nearly two centuries after the Russian conquests. The Nowruz festival for example, is now officially recognized in the Republic of Georgia:

• Nowruz in Georgia and the Georgian Legacy in Iran -  نوروز در گرجستان و میراث گرجستان در ایران - pdf -see also  Nowruz declared as a national holiday in Georgia (Report by the Georgian News Agency on March 21, 2010).

Of great interest are the Nowruz-style celebrations by the followers of the ancient cult of Mithra in Armenia. A common misconception is that all Armenians are Christian, when in fact, a Mithra movement has been in existance since the arrival of Indo-Europeans into the Iranian plateau, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Anatolia and the Caucasus.

 Celebraation of March 21, 2010  in Garni Mehr Temple -Храм Солнца в Гарни, Армения 21.03.10 – Note that “Mihr/Mehr” is Iranian/Armenian for “Mithra”. The video also shows Mithraic prayers at the temple, and the Zoroastrian-style “sacred flame”. Of special interest is the music, which is virtually identical to traditional Iranian and Greek-Anatolian-Balkan styles.

 The cult of Mithra has many underground followers in Iran as well, especially within Sufi brotherhoods, and among the Kurds of not only Iran, but also Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

(LEFT) Kurdish man in northwest Iran engaged in the worship of Mithras in a Pir’s (mystical leader/master) sanctuary which acts as a Mithraic temple (Courtesy Kasraian & Arshi, 1993, Plate 80). Note how he stands below an opening allowing for the “shining of the light”, almost exactly as seen with the Mithraic statue in Ostia, Italy. These particular Kurds are said to pay homage to Mithra three times a day (RIGHT) The black-white photo shows Mithra (to the left of photo) standing upon a lotus (Ghirshman, 1962 & Herrmann, 1977). Trampled beneath the feet of Ahura-Mazda and Ardashir II (r. 379-383) (center) is an unidentified defeated enemy (or possibly Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate). Of interest are the emannating “Sun Rays” from the head of Mithra. Note that the object being held by Mithra may be some sort of diadem or ceremonial broadsword; Mithra appears to be engaged in some sort of `knighting`of Ardashir II as he receives the `Farr`(Divine Glory) diadem from the supreme divinity, Ahura-Mazda.

The modern day Republic of Azarbaijan (name first applied in May 1918) was once a part of the iranian realm before its conquest by imperial Russia in the early 19th century. Despite nearly two centuries of “de-Persianization” , the region’s Iranian heritage continues to endure. Note the Nowruz festivities in Baku (see video below): 

 -جشن نوروز در باکو-Nowruz Celebration in Baku, Icheri Sheher (Old City).

Despite the passage of millenia, the ancient Iranian Nowruz festival continues its legacy.

(LEFT) Talysh girls from the Republic of Azarbaijan (ancient Arran or Albania) engaged in the Nowruz celebrations of March 21. The Talysh speak an Iranian language akin to those that were spoken throughout Iranian Azarbaijan before the full onset of linguistic Turkification by the 16-17th century AD (RIGHT) Young girls in Baku celebrating the Nowruz.

Influence of Sassanian Architecture upon European and Wider Civilization

Click to Enlarge – See Also Facebook announcement...

The lecture will be held at  the auditorium of the Asian Centre at UBC at 6:00 pm on Monday March 12, 2011.

[CLICK TO ENLARGE] PHOTO INSERT & COMMENTARY BY Kaveh Farrokh: Sassanian metalwork at right depicting  Khosrow I Anoushiravan and four Sassanian knights (possibly the Sassanian empire’s primary generals). Note the stance of one of the knights from the plate highlighted for reference. Note the figure highlighted  on the Surp Neshan Basilica – the parallels of this form (despite the wear of weather over the centuries) with the Sassanian are virtually exact. READ MORE…

The lecture will be followed up with a Question/Answer  session as well.

[Click to Enlarge] The Sarvistan palace built in the 300s AD [1], floor plan of Sarvistan by Nik Spatari [2] reconstruction of Sarvistan by Oscar Reuther, “Sasanian Architecture,” in Survey of Persian Art, Figure 152). [3] the Basilica di S. Marco in Veneziana built in the time period of 1100-1300 AD [4] and floor plan of the Basilica di S. Marco (Pictures used in Kaveh Farrokh’’s lectures at the University of British Columbia’s Continuing Studies Division and Stanford University’s WAIS 2006 Critical World Problems Conference Presentations on July 30-31, 2006; Picture 3 originally posted in Iran Chamber Society). Consult also Spatari, 2003, pp, 270-271, 284-289 (Calabria, L’enigma Delle Arti Asittite: Nella Calabria Ultramediterranea, Author: Nik Spatari, Publisher: Italy: MUSABA, Date: 2003, ISBN: 8887935300). READ MORE…

Readers with further interest in this topic may consult:

• Creswell, K.A.C. (1953). Problems in Islamic Architecture. The Art Bulletin, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Mar), pp. 1-7. (pdf)
• Nikki R. Keddie (1973). Is there a “Middle East”? International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 255-271. (pdf)

There are now a wide range of publications, foundations, think-tanks and academic programs that promote terms such as  ‘Islamic Mathematics’, ‘”Islamic Art” , etc. in Britain, Europe, Pakistan, North America, India, the Far East, Indonesia, Central Asia, and  the Arab world.

Professor Jalal Matini for example notes of the Saudi Arabian government’s display entitled “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yesterday and Today: A Cultural experience” on August 1, 1989 held in the Washington Convention Centre (in Washington D.C.) . The display was essentially relabeled artifiacts of Iranian origin as Arabo-Islamic (for more information consult Jalal Matini, “Persian artistic and literary pieces in the Saudi Arabian exhibition”, Iranshenasi: A Journal of Iranian Studies, 1989, p.390-404).

Professor Jalal Matini (standing at podium), the Chief Editor of the Iranshenasi journal  flanked by the late Iranian poet and thinker, Nader Naderpour (seated at left) at UCLA. Professor Matini has addressed concerns against politically motivated terminology such as “Islamic Science” and “Islamic Arts” since the early 1980s. Professor Matini is the chief editor of the peer-reviewed Iranshenasi journal which published a review of Kaveh Farrokh’s second text Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War-Персы: Армия великих царей-سایه‌های صحرا-

Similarly, the Centre d’etudes Euro-Arabe of Paris, France, hosted a conference in November 1992 in which over 80 percent of artistic displays of Iranian origin were claimed to be of “Arab origin”. Yet another example of politically-motivated terminology is that of the 33rd International Congress of Asian & North African Studies in Toronto in which the Persian poetry of Jalal-e-Din Rumi was erroneously presented as “Arabic Literature”

The article below by Souren Melikian will prove of interest in lieu of the above discussion. Note that the posting below reproduces pictures that originally appeared in the New York Times article in addition to three pictures and descriptions that did not appear in the original article.

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Political bias often leads to absurd categorization. Even so, few among the arbitrary constructs adopted by the West as a result of 19th-century colonial attitudes can beat the meaningless concept of “Islamic art.”

A Moghul painting in which a Hindu ascetic and a Muslim are seen together. It sold against the reserve for £12,500 (Souren Melikian, New York Times).

Its corrosive effect on academic thinking is matched by its counterproductive effect in the art market. By lumping together works of art that are not remotely related aesthetically or conceptually, it leads to a visual confusion that is unhelpful, to put it mildly.

Adding up the art of cultures far more diverse than those of Western Europe can disorient buyers. The Arab world, Iranian lands, Anatolian Turkey, the Islamicized areas of the Indian subcontinent, the Muslim communities of China — which are themselves highly diversified, from the Turkic-speaking Uighurs of Xinjiang to the northeastern Muslims of Han stock or those of the Xian region — have much less in common than, say, Britain, France, Germany and Spain. Anyone attempting to display together the paintings, sculpture and sundry objects of these European nations under the banner “Christian Art” or simply “Christianity” would risk being shown the door on the museum scene as in the auction arena. Not so where the “Islamic world” is concerned.

Consider the phenomenal jumble in the autumn sales. These began at Sotheby’s on the evening of Oct. 4 with a session focusing on a private collection.

Even the collection showed no aesthetic unity. A leaf from an eighth-century manuscript of the Koran reputed to be from the Hijaz and another in gold lettering on blue ground from a ninth-century manuscript likely to be from the east-Iranian province of Khorasan had nothing in common with the north-Iranian bowl painted with a bold stylized bird in the 10th-11th century. The bird bowl was in turn very different from the interesting Egyptian fragments of pottery painted with characters in golden enamels (traditionally cataloged as “lustre” enamels) that followed moments later.

The huge overestimation that affected all lots, compounded by visual inconsistency, proved lethal. The north-Iranian bowl sold, only just, for £18,750, or about $30,000, but the Egyptian fragments did not. The session ended up with only 13 lots out of the 41 offered managing to find takers.

Inventing the Middle East: The term “Middle East” was first invented by American Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914). The term – Middle East – when examined in cultural, anthropological and cultural terms makes very little sense. Iran and Turkey for example are not Arab countries and in fact share a long-standing Turco-Iranian or Persianate civilization distinct from the Arabo-Islamic dynamic. Instead, the Turks and Iranians have strong ties to the Caucasus and Central Asia (Picture and description by Kaveh Farrokh).

The artificial character of the “Islamic” label came out even more spectacularly in the Sotheby’s Oct. 5 sale.

Putting together in the same session a Koran leaf from an eighth-century manuscript, a painted page torn away from a volume copied and illuminated in Moghul India around 1600-5, a large early 19th-century Iranian portrait of a lady of the court playing a string instrument, an ivory casket of so-called Siculo-Arabic make and a Chinese blue and white ewer ascribed to the Yongle period (1403-24) is not a recipe for aesthetic or intellectual coherence. The Koran leaf alone could be called “Islamic” in theological terms. Probably from Iran, it went for £37,250.

One of the great success stories at Christies was a brocaded silk cataloged as “Central Asia” that displays motifs pointing to early 14th-century Iran. It soared to £301,250 (Souren Melikian, New York Times).

But, the painted page from Moghul India hardly justified the qualifier. It was torn away from a unique manuscript executed at Allahabad, which preserves the Persian translation of a lost Sanskrit original. Commissioned at a Moghul court, it recounts the story of a Gupta emperor of the fourth to fifth century glorified into a Jain hero.

The text on the page reads like an excerpt from a Persian literary work mixing prose and poetry. It is reminiscent of the Iranian poet Saadi’s 13th-century collection of parables titled “Golestan,” or The Rosegarden, with the obvious intention of appealing to Moghul rulers, for whom Persian was the language of literature and court usage. This makes the rewrite of a Sanskrit original a quintessential literary product of the Indo-Persian culture that thrived on the subcontinent from the 12th century until 1836, when the British banned the use of Persian in official matters.

The highly original style of the painting blends the influences of Western European 16th-century prints brought to the Moghul court by Portuguese missionaries and of the century-old Indian artistic tradition. Add the Persian script called Nastaaliq from the hand of a highly skilled master and that again makes it a typical creation of the hybrid Persianate culture of Moghul India. “Islamic” does not begin to describe it. The page matched the lower end of the estimate at £25,000.

Mahon’s invented term “Middle East” was popularized by Valentine Ignatius Chirol (1852-1929), a journalist designated as “a special correspondent from Tehran” by The Times newspaper. Chirol’s seminal article “The Middle Eastern Question” expanded Mahon’s version of the “Middle East” to now include “Persia, Iraq, the east coast of Arabia, Afghanistan, and Tibet”. Surprised? Yes, you read correctly -Tibet! The term Middle East was (and is) a colonial construct used to delineate British (and now West European and US) geopolitical and economic interests. These same interests help promote the usage of terminology such as “Islamic arts and architecture”  (Picture and description by Kaveh Farrokh).

The use of the “Islamic” label was even more absurd when referring to a painting representing Hindu women performing the Sivaite ritual of the anointing of the lingam. Artistically speaking, it is an archetypal Indian work. Were bidders nonplussed at its bizarre characterization? They sat on their hands. However, one of them did go for another Moghul painting in which a Hindu ascetic and a Muslim are seen together. It sold against the reserve for £12,500.

While the 12th-century Siculo-Arabic casket left bidders indifferent, Sotheby’s managed to find a taker for the Chinese blue-and-white ewer. It miraculously sold on a single bid for £181,250, despite its poor quality. Gilt copper mounts crowning the mouth and the tip of the spout suggest that it passed through Ottoman Turkey — although these, too, are not the best of their kind.

The auction house stretched the “Islamic” concept far enough to include Western European works of art. The lot illustrated on the catalog cover was described as a “Romanesque gilt bronze aquamanile, Germany, early 12th century.” While the date could be considerably later, there is no question that the bird-shaped object is Western in style. Sotheby’s statement that it is “in the form of a Senmurv” did not make it any more “Islamic.” The Senmurv is an Iranian mythical beast from pre-Islamic times and the bird does not even look like one: the Senmurv has the head of a wolf, not of a bird. The curious winged creature remained unwanted.

A blue-and-white porcelain ewer ascribed to the Yongle period (1403-24). It sold on a single bid for £181,250, despite its poor quality (Souren Melikian, New York Times).

The same lack of visual or conceptual consistency prevailed at Christie’s on Oct. 6. If the session had any greater merit, this was in underlining how different some objects can be even when produced in neighboring Islamic cultures around the same time. A 14th-century Syrian bowl painted with a lotus chalice done in a bold, rough manner was far removed artistically from the contemporary Iranian bowl, much more elaborate, to which Christie’s gave the traditional market label of “Sultanabad.” Respectively estimated £2,000 to £3,000 and £5,000 to £7,000 these, too, failed to sell. The estimates should have been slashed by half.

As in Sotheby’s sessions, the “Islamic world” concept at Christie’s encompassed Western works of art that were perhaps not selected with the utmost consideration for “Islamic” sensibilities. Somehow, a crusader sword did not appeal to bidders. Perhaps they did not put sufficient faith into the crudely engraved Arabic inscription suggesting that it had been picked up in the battlefield by Muslims beating back the European invaders. An Italian faience dish from Deruta, possibly painted in the 1530s with a spoofy rendition of a Turkish rider oddly holding a banner with Christian crosses, was similarly rejected.

Ironically, one of the great success stories was a brocaded silk cataloged as “Central Asia” that displays motifs pointing to early 14th-century Iran. Extraordinary well preserved, it is unique of its kind and it stood out in the midst of the disparate accumulation. The admirable textile with no visible connection to Islam soared to £301,250.

Not much concern for the preservation of cultural monuments came across at the sales.

Mahon and Chirol’s nomenclature (Middle East) provided the geopolitical terminology required to rationally organize the expansion of British political, military and economic interests into the Persian Gulf region. After the First World War, Winston Churchill (above -  1874-1965) became the head of the newly established “Middle East Department”.  Churchill’s department again redefined “The Middle East” to now include the Suez Canal, the Sinai, the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the newly created states of Iraq, Palestine, and Trans-Jordan. Tibet and Afghanistan were now excluded from London’s Middle East grouping.The decision to affirm non-Arab Iran as a member of the “Middle East” in 1942 was to rationalize the role of British political and Petroleum interests in the country (Picture from Wikipedia, description by Kaveh Farrokh).

Sotheby’s cataloger observed that the painted page with a Persian translation of a Sanskrit original came from the only known manuscript of that work and coolly concluded that “thirteen leaves from the original manuscript (including the present page) were sold in these rooms July 11, 1972.” With the dispersal of its pages, any hope of ever publishing an edition of this important text for the heritage of Moghul India has vanished.

Dozens of major manuscripts from India, Iran and Turkey, ripped apart to sell their images piecemeal, have similarly perished. Some end up in museums, where they are proudly displayed as “miniatures,” a 19th-century misnomer that conveniently erases the memory of destroyed manuscripts. Orientalism has barely changed its colors in the interval.

The Scythians, like their Sarmatian-Alan successors, were (like the Persians, Medes and parthians) of ancient Iranian stock.

Kindly note that the first scholar to question the veracity of Herodotus’ accounts of Darius’ invasion of the European Scythians was Professor J.B. Bury:

• J. B. Bury (1897). The European Expedition of Darius. The Classical Review, Vol. 11, No. 6 (July), pp. 277-282. (pdf)

The article has been translated into Persian by Yusef Amiri: 

•  {داریوش بزرگ و سکاها} (pdf)

• -داریوش بزرگ و سکاهای باختری

===============================================================

NOTE: For References pertaining to the article below, kindly consult the original version of this article in the CAIS website entitled: Darius the Great”. 

A major event in Darius’ reign was his European expedition. The region from the Ukraine to the Aral Sea was the home of north Iranian tribes (Rostovtzeff; Vasmer) known collectively as Sakâ (Gk. Scythians). Some Sakâ had invaded Media (Herodotus, 1.103-06), others had slain Cyrus in war (1.201, 1.214), and some groups had revolted against Darius (DB 2.8).

[Click to Enlarge]A European depiction of Darius the Great meeting Scythian emissaries (Picture Source: Flickr and originally a painting by Franciszek Smuglewicz).

As long as the Saka remained hostile his empire was in constant danger, and trade between Central Asia and the shores of the Black Sea was in peril (Meyer, pp. 97-99). The geography of Scythia was only vaguely known (Figure above), and it seemed feasible to plan a punitive campaign through the Balkans and the Ukraine, returning from the east, perhaps along the west coast of the Caspian Sea (Meyer, pp. 101-04; Schnitzler, pp. 63-71).

[Click to Enlarge] Eastern Scythians or “Saka Tigrakhauda” (Pointed cap Saka) as depicted in Persepolis. The Scythians played an important role in the military machine of the Achaemenids. A branch of the Scythians or Saka, the Parthians, were to revive the Iranian kingdom after Alexander’s conquests and his Seleucid successors.

 Having first sent a naval reconnaissance mission to explore shores of the Black Sea (cf. Fol and Hammond, pp. 239-40), in about 513 Darius crossed the Bosporus into Europe (Shahbazi, 1982, pp. 232-35), marching over a pontoon bridge built by his Samian engineer, Mandrocles. He continued north along the Black Sea coast to the mouth of the Danube, above which his fleet, led by Ionians, had bridged the river; from there he crossed into Scythia (Herodotus, 4.87-88, 4.97).

[Click to Enlarge]A map depicting Darius the Great’s invasion of Eastern Europe and Ukraine. The veracity of these events as narrated by Herodotus have been questioned (Picture Source: The Skriker Site).  

The Scythians evaded the Persians, wasting the countryside as they retreated eastward. After following them for a month Darius reached a desert and began to build eight frontier fortresses; owing to Scythian harassment of his troops and the October weather, which threatened to hinder further campaigning, he left them unfinished and returned via the Danube bridge. He had, however, “advanced far enough into Scythian territory to terrify the Scythians and to force them to respect the Persian forces” (Herodotus, 4.102-55; cf. Meyer, pp. 105-07; Macan, pp. 2-45; Prašek, II, pp. 91-108; Rostovtzeff, pp. 84-85; Junge, 1944, pp. 104-05, 187-88; Schnitzler, pp. 63-71; Fol and Hammond, pp. 235-43; Ùernenko, with further references).

[Click to Enlarge]A reconstruction of the European Scythians (the Saka Paradraya) by the late Angus McBride. As noted by Cotterell “:..the close relations of the Scythians (Saka) with the Persians is perhaps most illustrative…in the … fact that the Scythians and Persians spoke closely related languages and understood each other without translators” (Cotterell, A. The Chariot: The Astounding Rise and Fall of the World’s First War Machine. London, England: Pimlico, 2004, p.61 ).

Shortly afterward Megabyzus reduced gold-rich Thrace and several Greek cities of the northern Aegean; Macedonia submitted voluntarily (Herodotus, 4.143, 5.1-30), and Aryandes (q.v.), satrap of Egypt, annexed Cyrene (Libya; 4.167, 4.197-205). Four new “satrapies” were thus added to Darius’ empire: Sakâ tyaiy paradraya “Overseas Scythians,” Skudra (Thrace and Macedonia), Yaunâ takabarâ or Yaunâ tyaiy paradraya (Thessalians and Greek islanders), and Putâyâ (Libya).

[Click to Enlarge]  A Map by Professor P.J. Mallory that shows the Dniester, Dnieper, Donets and Don Rivers above the Black Sea in Eastern Europe. Professor Mallory notes that all of these river names are of Iranian origin: the term “Danu” is old Iranian for “Water/River” (like Celtic Danuvius) – hence the names “Don” and “Donets”. Dnieper is from the Old Iranic “Danu-Apara” [rear river] and Dniester from Old Iranic “Danu Nazdaya” [river to the front]. For more information consult: Mallory, J.P. (1989). In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Giovanni Curatola & Gianroberto Scarcia (Translated by M. Shore, 2007). The Art and Architecture of Persia. New York: Abbeville Press. Order from Amazon.

As noted by Professors Curatola and Scarcia a common theory postulates that:

“…domed spaces in Christian buildings in Europe derive from the Armenian model, which, in turn, comes from Sassanian Persia: This can be attributed to geographic proximity and also to the fact that for long periods Armenia was contained within Eranshahr. “ (Curatola & Scarcia, page 92, 2007).

Numerous examples of the earliest church architecture can be seen in Armenia and Iran today:

[Click to Enlarge]Armeno-Sassanian style Domed Christian churches of Armenia  (1) Karmravor built in the 7th century (Source: WowArmenia.Com) (2) interior dome at the Echmiadzin Cathedral (original vaulted basilica built in 301-303 AD) (Source: 123RF.com). Iran and Armenia have enjoyed a profound thousands-year long symbiosis at the cultural, linguistic, and artistic-architectural levels – for more see Iran and Caucasia…. (Pictures used in Kaveh Farrokh’’s lectures at the University of British Columbia’s Continuing Studies Division and Stanford University’s WAIS 2006 Critical World Problems Conference Presentations on July 30-31, 2006).

Sassanian Iran was to leave a profound legacy on Romano-Byzantine architecture during its tenure in 224-651 AD.

[Click to Enlarge] The Sarvistan palace built in the 300s AD [1], floor plan of Sarvistan by Nik Spatari [2] reconstruction of Sarvistan by Oscar Reuther, “Sasanian Architecture,” in Survey of Persian Art, Figure 152). [3] the Basilica di S. Marco in Veneziana built in the time period of 1100-1300 AD [4] and floor plan of the Basilica di S. Marco (Pictures used in Kaveh Farrokh’’s lectures at the University of British Columbia’s Continuing Studies Division and Stanford University’s WAIS 2006 Critical World Problems Conference Presentations on July 30-31, 2006; Picture 3 originally posted in Iran Chamber Society). Consult also Spatari, 2003, pp, 270-271, 284-289 (Calabria, L’enigma Delle Arti Asittite: Nella Calabria Ultramediterranea, Author: Nik Spatari, Publisher: Italy: MUSABA, Date: 2003, ISBN: 8887935300). 

Armenia, Georgia and the Caucasus in general have undergone a  profound cultural synthesis which has spanned for thousands for years. As noted by Professor Mark Whittow of Oxford University:

“The oldest outside influence in Trans-Caucasia is that of Persia (p.203)…many of its populations, including Armenians and Georgians, as well as Persians and Kurds, the Transcaucasus had much closer ties with the former Sassanian world to its south and east than with the world to the west (p.204)”. [Whittow, Mark, The Making of Byzantium: 600-1025, Berkley: University of California Press, p. 203-204].

[Click to Enlarge] Pictures of a Medieval Armenian Church at Goshavank
sent to Kavehfarrokh.com by Professor George Nercessian. This was built on the remains of cyclopean walls, where a Zoroastrian fire temple (Armenian Atrushan =Iranian Atar-Roshan) originally stood. There are many similar sites in Armenia where Churches were built on top of Zoroastrian fire temples (Pictures courtesy of Professor George Narcessian). For more on the topic of Armenian-Zoroastrian fire temples consult CAIS: The Armenian Fire Temple of Ani and Payvand News of Iran: The Northernmost Zoroastrian Fire Temple in the World (in the Republic of Georgia).

Goshavank was named after the 12th century philosopher and theologian Mkhitar Gosh who is buried not far from the Church. “Vank” is Armenian for “Cathedral”, therefore Goshvank can be translated as “Cathedral of Gosh”. 

For more on Iran-Caucasus links see: Iran and Caucasia…

The domed architectural style was to attain its own unique style in the Romano-Byzantine Empire, as exemplified by the Holy church of Orthodox Christendom, the Haghia Sophia:

Haghia Sophia (Greek: Sacred Wisdom) Church in modern Istanbul (ancient Constantinople), Turkey.(Source: Turkey Vacation Places)  

The site of Haghia Sophia was actually home to three different churches over the centuries. The first was the “Megale Eklesia” (Greek: Great Church) completed by the early 360s but this was completely burnt down and destroyed in the riots of 404. A second church was inaugurated by 415 however this too feel victim to fire in 532 and was destroyed. However, Emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565) ordered a new structure to be built on February 23, 532 – literally just days after the second church had been destroyed. The structure was finally inaugurated in late December 537 with further construction continuing after Justinian’s time.

Note that “Istanbul” is derived from the Greek terms “Es tan Polis” [to the city]. Turkey has done an exemplary job in preserving world heritage Classical sites such as Ephesos, Troy, Cappadocia and Haghia Sophia.

The dome of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy. This essentially bridged the architectural gap between between the Renaissance and Baroque styles (Source: Rough Guides). The original structure was built in 319-333 and then rebuilt-repaired in the mid-15th century.

For more in Iran-Europe links see: Arthurian and European Culture and Ancient Iran (Eire-An)…