A Bahá'í Glossary - Persian Calendar

Persian Calendar

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The Persian calendars (Farsi: گاه‌شماری ایرانی‎ Gâhshomâriye Irâni) are a succession of calendars invented or used for over two millennia in Persia. One of the longest chronological records in human history, the Persian calendar has been modified time and again during its history to suit administrative, climatic, and religious purposes.

The modern Iranian (Persian) calendar is now the official calendar in Iran. It begins at the midnight nearest to the instant of the vernal equinox as determined by astronomical calculations for the Iran Standard Time meridian (52.5°E or GMT+3.5h). It is, therefore, an observation-based calendar, unlike the Gregorian, which is rule-based.

The Iranian year usually begins within a day of 21 March of the Gregorian calendar. To find the corresponding year of the Gregorian calendar, add 621 or 622 (depending on the time of the year) to a solar hijri year. A short table of year correspondences between the Persian and Gregorian calendars is provided below.

Ancient Calendars

Although the earliest evidence of Iranian calendrical traditions is from the second millennium BCE, predating the appearance of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster, the first fully preserved calendar is that of the Achaemenids. Throughout recorded history, Persians have been keen on the idea and importance of having a calendar. They were among the first cultures to use a solar calendar and have long favoured a solar over lunar and lunisolar approaches. The sun has always been a symbol in Iranian culture and is closely related to the folklore regarding Cyrus the Great.

Old Persian calendar

Old Persian inscriptions and tablets indicate that early Iranians used a 360-day calendar based on the solar observation directly and modified for their beliefs. Days were not named. The months had two or three divisions depending on the phase of the moon. Twelve months of 30 days were named for festivals or activities of the pastoral year. A 13th month was added every six years to keep the calendar synchronized with the seasons.

The following table lists the Old Persian months.

Order	Corresponding Julian months	Old Persian	Elamite spelling	Meaning	Corresponding Babylonian month
1	March-April	Ādukanaiša	Hadukannaš	uncertain	Nīsannu
2	April-May	Θūravāhara	Turmar	Possibly "(Month of) strong spring"	Ayyāru
3	May-June	Θāigraciš	Sākurriziš	"Garlic-collecting month"	Sīmannu
4	June-July	Garmapada	Karmabataš	"Heat-station (month)"	Du'ūzu
5	July-August	-	Turnabaziš	-	Ābu
6	August-September	-	Karbašiyaš	-	Ulūlū
7	September-October	Bāgayādiš	Bakeyatiš	"(Month) of the worship of baga (god, perhaps Mithra)"	Tašrītu
8	October-November	*Vrkazana	Markašanaš	"(Month) of wolf killing"	Arahsamna
9	November-December	Āçiyādiya	Hašiyatiš	"(Month) of the worship of the fire"	Kisilīmu
10	December-January	Anāmaka	Hanamakaš	"Month of the nameless god(?)"	Tebētu
11	January-February	*Θwayauvā	Samiyamaš	"The terrible one"	Šabāţu
12	February-March	Viyax(a)na	Miyakannaš	"Digging-up (month)"	Addāru

There were four farming festivals, symmetrical about maidyoshahem:

Festival	Time from previous
hamaspathmaidyem	75 days
maidyoshahem	105 days
ayathrem	105 days
maidyarem	75 days

Two more festivals were later added, creating the six gahanbar:

Festival	Time from previous
hamaspathmaidyem (end of retirement)	75 days
maidyozarem (spring)	45 days
maidyoshahem (mid-summer)	60 days
paitishahem (harvest)	75 days
ayathrem (end of the summer)	30 days
maidyarem	75 days

Muslim conquest

The Muslim rulers who took over from the middle of the seventh century used the Islamic calendar for administration, which caused hardship because the year was shorter - i.e. a tax which was formerly collected after the harvest would now have to be paid before the harvest. Traditionally the caliph Omar reintroduced the Persian calendar for tax collection purposes.

In AD 895 there was another double readjustment of the start of the araji year. It moved from 1 Frawardin (12 April) to 1 Khordad (11 June). By AD 1006 the vernal equinox, 15 March, was again coinciding with nowruz, 1 Frawardin. In that year, therefore, the epagemonai were delayed four months, moving from the end of Aban to their old position at the end of Spandarmad. This is the calendar for AD 1006/7:

* denotes 1 Epagomene

rmenian month	First day	Old Egyptian month	First day	Persian month	First day
1	15*-20 March	4	15 March	1	10*-15 March
2	19 April	5	14 April	2	14 April
3	19 May	6	14 May	3	14 May
4	18 June	7	13 June	4	13 June
5	18 July	8	13 July	5	13 July
6	17 August	9	12 August	6	12 August
7	16 September	10	11 September	7	11 September
8	16 October	11	11 October	8	11 October
9	15 November	12	10 November	9	10 November
10	15 December	1	10*-15 December	10	10 December
11	14 January	2	14 January	11	9 January
12	13 February	3	13 February	12	8 February

The gahanbar didn't move quite to their old places, because the fifth moved to 20 Day, which was the old 15 Day, thus increasing the interval between the fourth and fifth to eighty days and reducing the interval between the fifth and sixth to 75 days. The new dates were:

No.	Name	Date	Time since previous
1	maidyozarem	(11-) 15 ii (Ardawahisht)	45 days
2	maidyoshahem	(11-) 15 iv (Tir)	60 days
3	paitishahem	(26-) 30 vi (Shahrivar)	75 days
4	ayathrem	(26-) 30 vii (Mihr)	30 days
5	maidyarem	(16-) 20 x (Day)	80 days
6	hamaspathmaidyem	(1-) 5 Epagomene	75 days

Modern calendar: Solar Hijri (SH)

Correspondence of Solar Hijri and Gregorian calendars (Solar Hijri leap years are marked *)

33-year cycle	Solar Hijri year	Gregorian year	Solar Hijri year	Gregorian year
1	1354*	21 March 1975 - 20 March 1976	1387*	20 March 2008 - 20 March 2009
2	1355	21 March 1976 - 20 March 1977	1388	21 March 2009 - 20 March 2010
3	1356	21 March 1977 - 20 March 1978	1389	21 March 2010 - 20 March 2011
4	1357	21 March 1978 - 20 March 1979	1390	21 March 2011 - 19 March 2012
5	1358*	21 March 1979 - 20 March 1980	1391*	20 March 2012 - 20 March 2013
6	1359	21 March 1980 - 20 March 1981	1392	21 March 2013 - 20 March 2014
7	1360	21 March 1981 - 20 March 1982	1393	21 March 2014 - 20 March 2015
8	1361	21 March 1982 - 20 March 1983	1394	21 March 2015 - 19 March 2016
9	1362*	21 March 1983 - 20 March 1984	1395*	20 March 2016 - 20 March 2017
10	1363	21 March 1984 - 20 March 1985	1396	21 March 2017 - 20 March 2018
11	1364	21 March 1985 - 20 March 1986	1397	21 March 2018 - 20 March 2019
12	1365	21 March 1986 - 20 March 1987	1398	21 March 2019 - 19 March 2020
13	1366*	21 March 1987 - 20 March 1988	1399*	20 March 2020 - 20 March 2021
14	1367	21 March 1988 - 20 March 1989	1400	21 March 2021 - 20 March 2022
15	1368	21 March 1989 - 20 March 1990	1401	21 March 2022 - 20 March 2023
16	1369	21 March 1990 - 20 March 1991	1402	21 March 2023 - 19 March 2024
17	1370*	21 March 1991 - 20 March 1992	1403*	20 March 2024 - 20 March 2025
18	1371	21 March 1992 - 20 March 1993	1404	21 March 2025 - 20 March 2026
19	1372	21 March 1993 - 20 March 1994	1405	21 March 2026 - 20 March 2027
20	1373	21 March 1994 - 20 March 1995	1406	21 March 2027 - 19 March 2028
21	1374	21 March 1995 - 19 March 1996	1407	20 March 2028 - 19 March 2029
22	1375*	20 March 1996 - 20 March 1997	1408*	20 March 2029 - 20 March 2030
23	1376	21 March 1997 - 20 March 1998	1409	21 March 2030 - 20 March 2031
24	1377	21 March 1998 - 20 March 1999	1410	21 March 2031 - 19 March 2032
25	1378	21 March 1999 - 19 March 2000	1411	20 March 2032 - 19 March 2033
26	1379*	20 March 2000 - 20 March 2001	1412*	20 March 2033 - 20 March 2034
27	1380	21 March 2001 - 20 March 2002	1413	21 March 2034 - 20 March 2035
28	1381	21 March 2002 - 20 March 2003	1414	21 March 2035 - 19 March 2036
29	1382	21 March 2003 - 19 March 2004	1415	20 March 2036 - 19 March 2037
30	1383*	20 March 2004 - 20 March 2005	1416*	20 March 2037 - 20 March 2038
31	1384	21 March 2005 - 20 March 2006	1417	21 March 2038 - 20 March 2039
32	1385	21 March 2006 - 20 March 2007	1418	21 March 2039 - 19 March 2040
33	1386	21 March 2007 - 19 March 2008	1419	20 March 2040 - 19 March 2041

[ Wikipedia - Iranian Calendars ]

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