ShirazShiraz (ʃɪəˈrɑːz; Širâz ʃiːˈɾɒːz) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (پارس) and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 people, and its built-up area with Sadra was home to almost 1,800,000 inhabitants. A census in 2021 showed an increase in the city's population to 1,995,500 people. Shiraz is located in southwestern Iran on the rudkhaneye khoshk (dry river) seasonal river.
GöktürksThe Göktürks, Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks (Türük Bodun; ) were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main power in the region and established the First Turkic Khaganate, one of several nomadic dynasties that would shape the future geolocation, culture, and dominant beliefs of Turkic peoples.
MehreganMehregan () or Jashn-e Mehr ( Mithra Festival) is a Zoroastrian and Iranian festival celebrated to honor the yazata Mithra (Mehr), which is responsible for friendship, affection and love. "Mehregan" is derived from the Middle Persian name Mihrakān/Mihragān, itself derived from Old Persian Mithrakāna. Mehregan is an Iranian festival honoring the Zoroastrian yazata (angelic divinity) Mithra. Under the Achaemenid Empire (330–550 BC), the Armenian subjects of the Persian king gave him 20,000 horses every year during the celebration of Mehregan.
DafDaf (دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, many regions of Georgia, Pakistan as well as in parts of India and Russian polar regions. It is also popular among Balkans, Bukharan Jews, Caucasians, Kurds, and Macedonians. Daf is the national musical instrument of Pakistan and is also depicted on the reverse and obverse of the Azerbaijani 1 qəpik coin and 1 manat banknote respectively, since 2006.
Zaza languageZaza or Zazaki (Zazakî, Kirmanckî, Kirdkî, Dimilkî) is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken primarily in eastern Turkey by the Zazas, who are commonly considered as Kurds, and in many cases identify as such. The language is a part of the Zaza–Gorani language group of the northwestern group of the Iranian branch. The glossonym Zaza originated as a pejorative and many Zazas call their language Dimlî. According to Ethnologue, Zaza is spoken by around three to four million people.
Karasuk cultureThe Karasuk culture (Karasukskaya kul'tura) describes a group of late Bronze Age societies who ranged from the Aral Sea to the upper Yenisei in the east and south to the Altai Mountains and the Tian Shan in ca. 1500–800 BC. The distribution of the Karasuk culture covers the eastern parts of the Andronovo culture, which it appears to replace. The remains of settlements are minimal, and entirely of the mortuary variety. At least 2000 burials are known. The Karasuk period persisted down to c. 700 BC. From c.
Kayanian dynastyThe Kayanians (Persian: دودمان کیانیان; also Kays, Kayanids, Kaianids, Kayani, or Kiani) are a legendary dynasty of Persian/Iranian tradition and folklore which supposedly ruled after the Pishdadians. Considered collectively, the Kayanian kings are the heroes of the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran. As an epithet of kings and the reason the dynasty is so called, Middle 𐭪𐭣 and New Persian kay(an) originates from Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬌 kavi (or kauui) "king" and also "poet-sacrificer" or "poet-priest".
Poltavka culturePoltavka culture (Poltavkinskaya kul'tura) was an early to middle Bronze Age archaeological culture which flourished on the Volga-Ural steppe and the forest steppe in 2800—2200 BCE. The Poltavka culture emerged as an eastern outgrowth of the Yamnaya culture, neighboring the Catacomb culture, another Yamnaya successor, in the west. It has been considered ancestral to later cultures that are identified as Indo-Iranian. The Poltavka culture influenced the later emergence of the Potapovka culture, Abashevo culture, Sintashta culture and Srubnaya culture.
Kyzylkum DesertThe Kyzylkum Desert (Qizilqum, Қизилқум, قىزىلقۇم; Qyzylqūm, قىزىلقۇم) is the 15th largest desert in the world. Its name means Red Sand in Turkic languages. It is located in Central Asia, in the land between the confluent rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya, a region historically known as Transoxania. Today it is divided between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It covers about . The territory consists mainly of an extensive plain at an altitude up to above sea level, with a number of depressions and highlands (Sultanuizdag, Bukantau).
CappadociaCappadocia (kæpəˈdoʊʃə,_-ˈdoʊkiə; Kapadokya) is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revolt (499 BC), the Cappadocians were reported as occupying a region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of the Taurus Mountains that separate it from Cilicia, to the east by the upper Euphrates, to the north by Pontus, and to the west by Lycaonia and eastern Galatia.
