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The Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation was established in 1990 with the mission to guarantee the Encyclopædia Iranica's intellectual independence and ensure its ongoing publication both in digital and print versions. Learn More
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Cinema Iranica
Cinema Iranica provides historical articles on movies, genres, film movements, filmographies, directors, composers, stars, cinematographers ...
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Women Poets Iranica
Women Poets Iranica is an integrative encyclopedia of postclassical, modern, and contemporary women poets.
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Encyclopædia Iranica
The Encyclopædia Iranica is a comprehensive research tool dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
Featured Articles
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DESERT
bīābān. As throughout most of the arid zone agriculture and settlement depend upon sustained investment, Persians generally expect to find bīābān where ābādī (settled, irrigated agriculture) ends. The term bīābān covers a broad range of different types of desert, from completely barren expanses to plains with significant percentages of vegetation cover.
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ĀZĀD, ʿABD-AL-QADIR
ABD-AL-QADIR AZAD published a newspaper, which he named Āzād (liberal, free), in Mašhad. In the editorials of this newspaper he attacked the government, and criticized the authorities severely. His paper was eventually banned by the newly-formed government of Reżā Shah Pahlavi, and ʿAbd-al-Qadir, who had by now assumed the name “Āzād” after his newspaper, was himself imprisoned.