Welcome to our updated mobile friendly summarized Persian Encyclopedia with a minimalistic responsive design for easy accessibility, most frequently requested by our visitors.
You can access all the sub-sections of this website at anytime by using the navigation menu button on the top-left of this page or by browsing down below.
Persian women held more power than what our perception of history gives them credit for in the ancient world. It is essential for Women to know and understand their glorious history of the past, because without it, they will not be able to plant their place in the future. Our so called civilized modern world still has a long way to go in terms of gender equality. Freedom & Equality does not come free and no one will ever deliver it to us in a silver platter. We must build relationships that are unimpeded by gender-based distinctions and discrimination. continue »
This sections contains a summarized historical timeline. A journey through time: 8000 B.C.E. until the present day. History has always been the greatest teacher of mankind. Going through past civilizations leads us to a more advanced and experienced way in order to achieve our goals. Foundations and principles of those ancient civilizations are the best techniques to conclude a better way of living & basing our future. continue »
Zoroastrianism (Good Conscience) was the first Equal, Universal and Monotheist Religion and the root of much of Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and belief. Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed world-religions, and it has probably had more influence on mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other single faith. Over the millennia, the words and compositions of its founder Asho Zarathushtra were almost lost due to passage of time and accidents of history, as libraries and books were burned again and again by invaders (Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, Ottomans etc.) and its wise men were either killed, enslaved, deported or went into hiding and the Persians were brutally forced to change their religion and customs by the edge of the enemy sword. However, thanks to the remaining Zoroastrian communities in Iran & India and the long, arduous and painstaking work of literally thousands of international scholars in the last decades, the original message of Zoroastrianism has surfaced once again, revealing it as ever-relevant, unique and inspiring. While Zoroastrianism once was the most powerful religion in the world for over a millenia and the official religion of the Persian Empire, the number of adherents has today dwindled to not more than a few million Zoroastrians worldwide. continue »
The original copy of this historical response letter from King of Persia Yazdgird III (632–651 C.E) to the Arab Caliph of Muslims Omar ibn Al-Khattab is in the British Museum, placed in a secure storage area and currently unavailable to public view due to political correctness and also to avoid damaging the relations between the West and OPEC nations.
These policies might change in a very near future as the world heads towards the new era of renewable alternative energy sources and also with the current rise of the far-Right political parties in the West as well as people’s awareness and concern about a major Islamic threat within their own borders. Unless we learn from history, we are destined to repeat it...continue »
Most modern scholars agree that the rights of women decreased immensely with the spread of Abrahamic religions such as: (Judaism, Christianity, and especially Islam). The gendering of those religions is oppressively male . The creator in Genesis is presented as an Old Male Sovereign Outsider who relate to the world by way of command. It is a male story of power, a story of hierarchical command and control. Women became second rate citizens, lost all their power, autonomy, independence, rights and consistently assigned a passive role in the society each time the powers of state and religion were fused through history. Religious discrimination against women is still alive and thriving! The texts of the Torah, Bible and Quran preach discrimination against women, degradation and subjugation of women, and even violence against women! They teach that women are not only inferior, but also must obey men, because God tells us that men are their masters. continue »
The Declaration of Human Rights written by Cyrus the Great has been hailed as the first charter of human rights, predating the Magna Carta by nearly two millenniums (~1700 years) and in 1971 the United Nations was published translation of it in all the official U.N. languages. It is now kept in the British Museum and it is no exaggeration to say that it is one of the most precious historical records of the world. Also a replica of the Cyrus cylinder is kept at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. continue »
At the night of the Comet, before his most trusted and elite force The Mighty Immortals, Darius the Great paid homage to his beloved forefather, Cyrus the Great... at his resting place in Pasargadae. He held-up the departed kings sword as a symbol of freedom and retribution, screaming for vengeance to punish Athens for all the Greek terrorist attacks on Persian holdings and civilian population. Darius told his soldiers that he may never rest until the day that his honor is restored, assuring his ancestors that he shall not forget the words carved on Cyrus the Great’s tomb as they reverberate in his ears till eternity. continue »
Persepolis remained lost to the world and buried in sand until the 1930s when excavations started. It is now now an archaeological site located in southern Iran and is one of the most artifact-rich archaeological sites in the world. It was named Parsa and known to the ancient world as The wealthiest city under the sun but later under subsequent Greek influence became known as Persepolis, The City of the Persians. This expansive land has been the cradle of an ancient civilization, and governmental center of Persian king of kings and several dynasties for millenniums. continue »
Persia was internationally renamed in 1935 to Iran, The Persians have always called their region The land of the Arians, from which the name Ērān (Iran/Aryan) comes (read more).
Historically, Iran has always been the local name for that region for millenniums, but later under subsequent Greek influence became internationally known as Persia (named after the province of Pars in Iran from where the Achaemenid Persian Kings and Queens ruled over half the known world.)
On 21 March 1935, the ruler of Persia, King Pahlavi I, officially requested all foreign governments to no longer refer to Iran as Persia and it nearly took 25 years (until 1959) for the entire world to officially recognize and use the local term Iran.
It is a wide country in southwest/central Asia neighboring the Caspian Sea with landscapes that vary remarkably at different seasons. All southern borders of the country end to the shores of the Persian Gulf and Sea. Iran lies in a continental climate with great diversities and it has almost all the climates of the world in a single vast country with regions with different temperatures even at a specific period of time: Temperatures ranging from as low as minus -18°C in the north upto +50°C in the south. continue »
Iran was ruled by a constitutional monarchy prior to 1979 and progressed by huge leaps and bounds in the seventies and was labeled by the West as an outstanding economic performer with record earnings and revenues. But those halcyon days are now gone. One of the world’s longest-lasting monarchies, the Iranian monarchy went through many transformations over the centuries, from the days of Persia to the creation of what is now modern day Iran. Shah: also known by his people as Shahanshah (King of Kings), ascended the throne on September 1941–1979. At the time of the golden jubilee of the Pahlavi dynasty he had ruled for thirty-five years, thus more than doubling the period during which his father directed Iran’s policies as head of state. continue »