DahaeThe Dahae, also known as the Daae, Dahas or Dahaeans (𐎭𐏃𐎠; Δαοι; Δααι, ; Δαι, ; Δασαι, ; Dahae; ; Persian: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribal confederation, who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia. The Dahae may have been the () or () people mentioned in the s as one of the five peoples following the Zoroastrian religion, along with the (), (), (), and (), although this identification is uncertain.
SistanSistān (سیستان), also known as Sakastān (سَكاستان "the land of the Saka") and Sijistan, is a historical and geographical region in present-day south-eastern Iran, south-western Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan. Largely desert, the region is bisected by the Helmand River, the largest river in Afghanistan, which empties into the Hamun Lake that forms part of the border between Iran and Afghanistan. Sistan derives its name from Sakastan ("the land of the Saka").
FereydunFereydun (Θraētaona, 𐭯𐭫𐭩𐭲𐭥𐭭, ; New Persian: فریدون, Fereydūn/Farīdūn) is an Iranian mythical king and Hero from the Pishdadian dynasty. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity in Persian literature. According to Abolala Soudavar, Fereydun is partially a reflection of Cyrus the Great (550-530 BC), the first Achaemenid King of Kings. All of the forms of the name shown above derive, by regular sound laws, from Proto-Iranian *Θraitauna- (Avestan Θraētaona-) and Proto-Indo-Iranian *Traitaunas.
Balkh ProvinceBalkh (Dari: , Balx) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The city of Mazar-i-Sharif serves as the capital of the province. The Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport and Camp Marmal sit on the eastern edge of Mazar-i-Sharif. Balkh, also called Vazīrābād, the name of the province is derived from the ancient city of Balkh, near the modern town.
SogdiaSogdia or Sogdiana was an ancient East Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empire, and listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great. Sogdiana was first conquered by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, and then was annexed by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great in 328 BC.
Yaz cultureThe Yaz culture (named after the type site Yaz-Tappe, Yaz Tepe, or Yaz Depe, near Baýramaly, Turkmenistan) was an early Iron Age culture of Margiana, Bactria and Sogdia (1500–500 BC, or 1500–330 BC). It emerges at the top of late Bronze Age sites (BMAC), sometimes as stone towers and sizeable houses associated with irrigation systems. Ceramics were mostly hand-made, but there was increasing use of wheel-thrown ware. There have been found bronze or iron arrowheads, also iron sickles or carpet knives among other artifacts.
Avestan geographyAvestan geography refers to the investigation of place names in the Avesta and the attempt to connect them to real-world geographical sites. It is therefore different from the cosmogony expressed in the Avesta, where place names refer to mythical events or a cosmological order. Identifying such connections is important for localizing the people of the Avesta and is therefore crucial for understanding the early history of Zoroastrianism and the Iranian peoples.
ArianaAriana was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprising the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered the whole of modern-day Afghanistan, as well as the easternmost part of Iran and up to the Indus River in Pakistan. Ariana is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Ἀρ(ε)ιανή (inhabitants: Ariani; Ἀρ(ε)ιανοί ), originating from the Old Persian word (Ariana) meaning 'the Land of the Aryans', similar to the use of Āryāvarta.
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".
Iran (word)The modern Persian name of Iran (ایران) derives immediately from the 3rd-century Sasanian Middle Persian (Pahlavi spelling: 𐭠𐭩𐭫𐭠𐭭, ʼyrʼn), where it initially meant "of the Iranians", but soon also acquired a geographical connotation in the sense of "(lands inhabited by) Iranians". In both geographic and demonymic senses, ērān is distinguished from its antonymic anērān, meaning "non-Iran(ian)". In the geographic sense, ērān was also distinguished from ērānšahr, the Sasanians' own name for their empire, and which also included territories that were not primarily inhabited by ethnic Iranians.
