gund: Regiment, army, in Parthian and Middle Persian of the Sasanian era.
gund-i shāhanshāh: The regiment of the king of kings, an elite unit within the Sasanian army.
gund sālār: Chief of troops in the late Sasanian period.
Haft Sin: Seven Ss, displayed on the Persian New Year table.
Hagmatana: The capital of the kingdom of Media, called Ecbatana by the Greeks and Hamedan in New Persian.
haoma: The name of a plant with medicinal properties as well as the name of a yazad (divinity) of the same name who serves as its guardian.
Haoshyangha (Middle Persian: Hoshang, New Persian: Hushang): A hero in the Avesta as well as a king of the legendary Pishdadian dynasty.
Haurvatat (Middle Persian: Hordad, New Persian: Khordad): Holy devotion, one of the seven holy immortals associated with wholeness/health/protection. It acts as the protector of water. It appears as Khordad, the third month of the year in the Iranian calendar.
hazarbad/hazarbed: Commander of the royal guard during the Sasanian period.
Hecatompylos: Also known as Sad Darvazeh (City of a Hundred Gates), the Parthian capital at Shahr-i Qumis near Damghan in northern Iran.
Hephthalites: A nomadic group from Central Asia that repeatedly invaded the eastern provinces of the Sasanian Empire in the fifth century CE, defeating Persian forces in several battles during the reign of Peroz and eventually building a vast empire extending from Central Asia to India.
Heptad: Unit of Seven, a term that refers to seven holy immortals who together with Ahura Mazda created the seven holy elements.
herbad/hirbad: A priest, originally a title used for higher members of the priestly caste.
homa: Royal bird of victory.
Hormozd: Name of several kings of the Sasanian dynasty.
Hoshang (New Persian: Hushang): King of the legendary Pishdadian dynasty who is credited with the discovery of fire.
Hukairya: A mythical mountain on top of which all waters and fountains of the world are located.
hutukhshan: Craftsmen and artisans.
Hyrcania (Old Persian: Varkana; New Persian: Gorgan): A region in northern Iran on the southeastern shores of the Caspian Sea.
Hystaspes (Old Persian: Vishtaspa): Father of the Achaemenid king Darius I.
Iraj (Ēraj/Ērach): A king of the legendary Pishdadian dynasty of Greater Iran, the third son of Fereydun.
Istakhr/Estakhr: A district in the province of Fars in southern Iran that served as the birthplace of the Sasanian dynasty.
izates (ezad): Title of the rulers of the kingdom of Adiabene centered in northern Iraq.
Jāmāsp: Also known as Jamasp-e Hakim, the minister and confidant of King Goshtasp of the Kayanian dynasty and a great proponent of the Iranian prophet Zarathustra.
Jamshid: One of the most important legendary kings of ancient Iran who appears as Yima in the Avesta.
Jashan/Jashn: A religious service in which an afringan ceremony is performed.
Jaxartes (New Persian: Syr Darya): Latin name for a major river in Central Asia.
Jeyhun: Arabic name for the Oxus River (Persian: Amu Darya).
kara: Word for “army” in Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenid dynasty.
karawān/karavān: Troops on the march, military column.
Karawān-i Ērānshahr: The army of Iran.
karshwar: “Continent” in Iranian cosmology. Earth is divided into seven of these.
Kāsaoya: Lake Hāmun in western Afghanistan and the eastern Iranian province of Sistan.
Katāyun: The queen of King Goshtasp of the legendary Kayanian dynasty.
Kavād: Name of several kings of the Sasanian dynasty.
Kāveh/Kāva: The blacksmith who raised the flag of rebellion against the tyrant Zahhak.
Kavi Husravāh: A king of the legendary Kayanian dynasty and son of Siavakhsh (Siyavash) and Farangis whose name appears as Kay Khosrow in New Persian.
Kavi Kavāta: The first king of the legendary Kayanian dynasty whose name appears as Kay Qobad in New Persian.
Kavi Usā: A hero in the Avesta as well as a legendary king of the Kayanian dynasty whose name appears as Kay Kavus in New Persian.
Kayānian: A legendary dynasty of Greater Iran.
Kay Kāvus: A king of the legendary Kayanian dynasty and father of the hero Siyavash.
Kay Khosrow: A king of the legendary Kayanian dynasty, grandson of Kay Kavus, and son of Siyavash.
Kay Qobād: The first king of the legendary Kayanian dynasty.
Khorāsān: A province in northeastern Iran that incorporated present-day northern and northwestern Afghanistan as well as southern Turkmenistan. At times parts of the southern regions of Central Asia north of the Oxus River were also included in the territory of Khorasan.
Khordeh Avesta: “Small/Little Avesta,” a prayer book with excerpts from the Avesta.
Khosrow (Middle Persian: Khusrau): Name of several kings of the Sasanian dynasty.
khrafstra: Creatures viewed as evil pests, including frogs, ants, spiders, and snakes.
Khshathra Vairya: One of the seven holy immortals associated with desirable dominion/power that acts as the protector of metals and the sky. It appears as Shahrivar, the sixth month of the year, in the Iranian calendar.
Khuzistan: A province in present-day southwestern Iran.
khvarnah: Divine glory, which appears as farna in Old Persian and farr in New Persian.
khwarāsān spahbad (spahbed): Commander of the army of the east, a position created during the reign of the Sasanian monarch Khosrow I Anushiravan.
Khwarazm/Khwarezm/Khwarizm: Called Chorasmia by classical sources, Khwarazm was an Iranian-populated region on the lower reaches of the Oxus River (Amu Darya) corresponding with the present-day territory of northwestern Uzbekistan and northern Turkmenistan.
khwarwārān spahbad (spahbed): General or chief of the army of the west, a position created during the reign of the Sasanian monarch Khosrow I Anushiravan.
kishvar: Region.
kurtash: Elamite word that generally refers to laborers and particularly craftsmen during the Persian Achaemenid period.
Kushān: The ruling dynasty of eastern Iran, Central Asia, and northwestern India during the first, second, and third centuries CE.
lashkar: Army.
Lohrāsp/Luhrāsp: A king of the legendary Kayanian dynasty of Greater Iran.
magupat: Magian.
magupatān magupat: Head magian, high priest.
magush: Priest, Latin magus, a member of the priestly caste during the Achaemenid period.
Mah: Central Media.
māh: Month.
Maracanda: Greek name for the city of Samarqand in Central Asia.
mart-i shahr: Citizen in Middle Persian.
marzbān: Margrave, frontier governor.
Mawara’ al-Nahr: The land beyond the Oxus River (Amu Darya) in Central Asia. The term usually referred to the region between the Oxus and the Jaxartes (Syr Darya).
Māzandarān: A heavily forested region of northern Iran on the southern shore the Caspian Sea.
Medes: One of the first Iranian-speaking people who settled in present-day western Iran and founded the Median Empire.
Media (Old Persian: Mada): A province in western Iran and the birthplace of the kingdom of Media.
Median: The language of the Medes.
Meshān Shāh: King of Mesene, corresponding with the territory of present-day Kuwait and southern Iraq.
Mithrā: The ancient Iranian god of covenants and oaths as well as the sun god.
Mithradādkart: Citadel of Nisa, the first capital of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty near the city of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.
Mithridates (Parthian: Mithradata, New Persian: Mehrdad): The name of several kings of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty.
mobad/mobed: Zoroastrian priest.
mobadan mobad/mobed: Chief priest of the Zoroastrian religious hierarchy during the Sasanian period.
Nāhid: N
ew Persian for Anahita or Anahid, the goddess of waters.
Naqsh-e Rajab: An important historic site near Naqsh-e Rostam and Persepolis in the Fars province of Iran.
Naqsh-e Rostam: A major historic site in the Fars province of Iran, the site of the tombs of four Achaemenid kings of ancient Iran, the Ka’ba-ye Zardosht (the Ka’ba of Zoroaster), and several rock reliefs and inscriptions from the Sasanian era.
nemroz: South.
nemroz spahbad/spahbed: Chief of the army of the south, a position created during the reign of the Sasanian monarch Khosrow I Anushiravan.
Nisā: Mithradadkart, the first capital of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty located near the city of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.
Nishapur: Neyshabur, a major urban city in Khorasan in northeastern Iran founded or rebuilt by Shapur I, the second monarch of the Sasanian dynasty.
Nowruz/Noruz: New Day, Persian New Year.
Ohrmazd: The Zoroastrian supreme god, which appears as Ahura Mazda in the Avesta.
Old Persian: One of the languages of ancient Iran, the language of the Achaemenid dynasty.
Orodes (Parthian: Urūd, New Persian: Orod): Name of several kings of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty.
ostān: Administrative district.
Pabag/Papak/Babak: Father of Ardashir, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty (r. 224–651 CE).
Pahlavi: Also known as Middle Persian, the language of many Zoroastrian texts.
pairi daeza: Old Iranian word for “walled enclosure,” entering Greek as parádeisos, Latin as paradisus, French as paradisus, and English as “paradise.”
pairikā: Witch, sorceress.
Parsa: The region of Fars in present-day southern Iran. The name of the province from which the Achaemenid and Sasanian dynasties hailed.
Pārsis: Zoroastrians from Iran who settled in India.
Parthia (Old Persian: Parthava): A region in northeastern Iran and a province of the Persian Achaemenid Empire corresponding with the western regions of the province of Khorasan.
Parthian: The language of Parthia and of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty.
Parthian dynasty: Also known as Arsacids, an Iranian dynasty that ruled from 247/238 BCE to 224 CE.
parvēz/abarvez: “Victorious,” the title of the Sasanian king of kings Khosrow II (Khusrau II).
Pasargadae: Capital of Cyrus II the Great that also contained his tomb, located in the southern Iranian province of Fars.
pasti: Foot soldier, infantry, during the Achaemenid period.
payg: Foot soldier in Middle Persian.
payg/payadag: Infantry during the Sasanian period.
Peroz: Name of a king of the Sasanian dynasty, which appears as Piruz and Firuz in Persian.
Persepolis: The ceremonial capital of the Persian Achaemenid Empire beginning with the reign of Darius I in Fars province in southern Iran.
peshak: Social estate.
peshōtanu: Grievous sins or the sinner who commits them.
Peshotan (New Persian: Pashutan): A son of the legendary king of the Kayanian dynasty, Vishtaspa (Goshtasp), and a hero in Zoroastrian teachings.
Phraates (Parthian: Frahāta; New Persian: Farhād): The name of several kings of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty.
Pishdādiān: The first dynasty in the legendary history of Greater Iran.
Pourushasp: Name of the father of the Iranian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster).
ram: “Joy,” name of a yazad or a divinity as well as the 21st day of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar.
rashn: “Truth,” “justice,” name of a yazad, name of the 18th day of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar.
Ray (Rhagae, Ragha): An important religious and commercial center south of present-day Tehran in northern Iran.
Rig Veda: Hindu sacred hymns.
Rishti Vēga: Last king of the Median kingdom who appears in Herodotus’s Histories as Astyages.
Rostam: The greatest legendary hero of Greater Iran.
Sad Darvāzeh (City of a Hundred Gates): One of the capitals of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty located near the present-day Iranian city of Damghan in northern Iran. Greek and Roman authors refer to the city as Hecatompylos.
Sakān/Sagān Shāh: King of Sakas, king of Sistan.
Sakas: Iranian nomadic groups of Central Asia.
Sakastana: Land of Sakas, Sistan.
Saoshyant: The savior of the world, one of the three future world saviors.
Sardis: Capital of the kingdom of Lydia in present-day western Turkey and the capital of the satrapy of Lydia during the reign of the Achaemenid dynasty.
Sasanians: The Persian dynasty that hailed from the Fars province of southern Iran and ruled a vast and powerful empire from 224 to 651 CE.
satrap: Provincial governor during the Persian Achaemenid rule.
Seleucia-on-Tigris: The first capital of the Seleucid state in present-day southern Iraq.
Seleucus: The name of several kings of the Seleucid dynasty, including its founder.
Seyhun: Arabic name for the Jaxartes River (Persian: Syr Darya).
shāh: King.
shāhanshāh: King of kings.
Shāhanshāhi: One of the religious calendars of Zoroastrianism.
Shāhnāmeh: “Book of Kings,” the masterpiece of the Persian poet Ferdowsi.
shahr: Province of an empire.
shahrabān: Governors.
shahrdārān: Local kings.
Shahrevar: “Desirable dominion,” one of the holy immortals (Amsha Spentas) who acts as the protector of metals and the sky. It appears as Shahrivar, the name of the sixth month in the Iranian calendar, and the name of the fourth day of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar.
Shāpur: “The son of the shah/king,” the name of several kings of the Sasanian dynasty.
Siavakhsh/Siyavash: A legendary hero of Greater Iran, the son of Kay Kavus, a monarch of the Kayanian dynasty.
Siyamak: A legendary prince and hero of Greater Iran, son of Gayomard, the first man, father of King Hoshang/Hushang.
Sogdian: A Middle Iranian language spoken in the Iranian province of Sogdiana situated in Central Asia and widely used on the Silk Road.
Sogdiana (Old Persian: Suguda): Iranian province lying between the two great rivers of Oxus (Amu Darya) and Jaxartes (Syr Darya), corresponding with the territory of present-day Tajikistan and parts of Uzbekistan.
spada: Word for “army” in the Avesta.
spah: Word for “army” in Middle Persian.
spahbad/spahbed: Chief of the army or general in Middle Persian.
spahbad spahbadan/spahbedan spahbed: General of generals, commander in chief.
Spandarmad: “Holy devotion,” one of the holy immortals (Amesha Spentas) who acts as the protector of Earth; also, the name of the 12th month of the Iranian calendar (New Persian: Esfand) and the name of the fifth day in the Zoroastrian calendar.
spenta: Holy, beneficent.
Spenta Armaiti (Middle Persian: Spandarmad): One of the six holy immortals associated with holy and beneficent devotion that acts as the protector of Earth. In New Persian, it appears as Esfand, the 12th month of the Iranian calendar, and the name of the fifth day in the Zoroastrian calendar.
Spenta Mainyu: Ahura Mazda’s holy spirit.
spenta mathra: Beneficent/holy word.
sudre: Sacred shirt in Zoroastrianism.
Susa: An important urban center in southwestern Iran that served as the winter capital of the Achaemenid Empire beginning in the reign of Darius I.
Syr Darya: A major river in Central Asia, called Jaxartes in classical sources.
Tahmures: A king of the legendary Pishdadian dynasty.
tan: Body, slave.
Tandorosti: A prayer of benediction, good health.
Tansar/Tosar: Wise priest of Ardashir I Papakan/Pabagan, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty.
Tāq-e Bostān: “Garden’s Arch,” a Sasanian site near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran.
Tāq-e Kasrā: “The
Arch of Khosrow,” the ruins of the palace of the Sasanian monarch Khosrow I Anushiravan in present-day southern Iraq.
Teispes (Old Persian: Chishpish): The great-grandfather of Cyrus II the Great, founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
Thraetaona: A hero in the Avesta who triumphs over the monster Azhi Dahaka. Thraetaona appears as King Fereydun in the legendary history of Greater Iran.
Tir: Name of the fourth month of the year in the Iranian calendar and name of the 13th day of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar.
Tiragan: Celebration in honor of Tishtar.
Tiridates: The name of several members of the Arsacid (Parthian) royal family.
Transoxiana: “The Land beyond Oxus,” referring to the land lying between the Oxus River (Amu Darya) and the Jaxartes River (Syr Darya), corresponding with the present-day territory of Tajikistan and parts of eastern Uzbekistan.
Tur/Tuj/Toz: The name of one of the sons of the legendary King Fereydun.
Turān: A rival kingdom of Iran in the legendary history of Greater Iran, most probably the name of a Scythian tribe that became a generic name for nomads from Central Asia.
urvan: Soul.
Urwatatnara: The youngest son of the Iranian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster).
Ushedar/Ushidar/Hushidar: One of the three future world saviors.
Ushedarmah/Ushidar Mah/Hushidarmah: One of the three future world saviors.
Uvarazmiy (Chorasmia): Iranian-populated province on the lower reaches of the Oxus River (Amu Darya) south of the Aral Sea.
vahisht/wahisht: Paradise.
Vakhsh: A river in Central Asia in present-day Tajikistan.
Valakhsh/Balāsh: Name of several kings of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty, which appears as Vologeses or Vologases in the writings of classical authors.
varenā: “Greed” or “lustfulness” in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book.
vastryoshān: Cultivators, members of one of the social estates.
vastryoshān sālār: Head of the estate of cultivators.
Vendidād/Vīdēvdāt: One of the books of the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book.
Vishtaspa: A king of the Kayanian dynasty, patron of the Iranian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster). Vishtaspa’s name appears as Goshtasp in New Persian.
Visperad: One of the books of the Avesta.
The Persian Empire Page 108
