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Zoroastrian calendar and Bundahishn

Posted on Saturday, January 24, 2015 | Comments Off

This article treats of the reckoning of days, months and years in the calendar used by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith. Zoroastrian religious festivals are discussed elsewhere, but have a fixed relationship to Nawruz, the New Year festival, whose timing is discussed below. Three distinct versions of the calendar are currently in use by different Zoroastrian communities.
In this article, except where explicitly noted to the contrary, Western-style dates prior to October 5, 1582 AD are reckoned according to the Julian calendar; subsequent dates are according to the Gregorian calendar, in which 15 October 1582 (Gregorian) was the day following 4 October 1582 (Julian).

    Old Avestan calendar:

    The forerunner of all modern Zoroastrian calendars is the system used to reckon dates in the Persian Empire. In 539 BC, Persia's rulers conquered Babylon, and soon afterwards – at least by the 4th century BC – adopted the Babylonian method of reckoning months: 12 months each containing 30 days. The Zoroastrian calendar follows the Babylonian in relating the seventh and other days of the month to Ahura Mazda.[2]
    This 'Avestan Calendar' of 360 days required regular correction to keep it synchronized with the solar year; this was achieved by intercalating a 13th month roughly once every six years.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
    Intercalations did not always follow a regular pattern, but during the reign of Artaxerxes II (circa 380 BC) astronomers utilized a 19 year cycle which required the addition of a month called Addaru II month in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14 and 19, and the month Ululu II in year 17 of the cycle.[5] Older research[8] suggests the first intercalation took place in 309 BC. Fuller information on the naming of months will be found below, but it should be noted that the first month of the year was called Frawardin, and the first day of Frawardin was the 'New Year's Day' or Nawruz (also reckoned Now-Ruz, Nowruz, No Roz, No-Rooz, Norouz, or Navroz), from which all other religious observances were reckoned – this day being, in theory, the day of the Northern vernal equinox, 21 March (Gregorian).
    Following Alexander's conquest of Persia in 330 BC, the Seleucids (312–248 BC) instituted the Hellenic practice of counting years from the start of an 'era', as opposed to starting a new count at the beginning of the reign of each individual king. They therefore counted years of the era of Alexander (now referred to as the Seleucid era). This practice was not considered acceptable to the Zoroastrian priests, who consequently founded a new era, the era of Zoroaster – which incidentally led to the first serious attempt to establish a historical date for the prophet. The Parthians(150–224 CE), who succeeded the Seleucids, continued the Seleucid/Hellenic tradition.[9]

    Astronomical and mystical aspects of the calendars[edit]

    The three different Zoroastrian calendar-traditions are similar with regard to the principle of the beginning of the months. The Fasli, Qadimi and the Shahanshahi all (notionally) start each of the 30-day-long months with the Sun entering a new constellation, similar to the Vedic (Hindu) Solar calendars as reflected in the Jyotisha (Vedic Astrology), and the Armenian calendar, but different from the Iranian (Jalaali) Calendar, the Julian Calendar, the Mayan Haab Calendar and the French Revolutionary Calendar, whose epochs of the months are fixed to the equinoxes/solstices, as are the signs of Western Astrology. The Qadimi and the Shhanshahi Zoroastrian Calendar use merely five epigomenal days, similar to the French Revolutionary, and theCoptic calendar, so their year count slowly travels through the astronomical year. Thus the Qadimi variant of the Zoroastrian calendar keeps track of precession, pointing towards an esoteric (hidden) calculus of world ages.[16][26]
    The Qadimi (traditional) Zoroastrian calendar puts the month of Dae (pronounced "Day") with the Sun entering the constellation of Taurus (specifically the Pleiades); thus apparently (theory) recalling the time of the origination of the zoroastrian calendar, and its relation to the discovery of the precession. At that time, one very well may conclude, that the vernal equinox also marked the sun's entrance into this constellation of the Golden Calf, the Taurus. According to Mary Boyce,[32]
    It seems a reasonable surmise that Nawruz, the holiest of them all, with deep doctrinal significance, was founded by Zoroaster himself.

    The division of time[edit]

    Zoroastrian practice divides time into years (sal or sol), months (mah), weeks, days (ruz, roz or roj) and watches (gah or geh).[6][17]

    Divisions of the day[edit]

    A day is reckoned to begin at dawn, as attested by Chapter 25 of the 9th-century work, the Bundahishn; morning hours before dawn are assigned to the previous calendar day. Each day is divided into five watches: Five Parts of the Day and Five Salah: Origin?
    • Hawan (sunrise to noon)
    • Rapithwin or Second Hawan (noon to 3 p.m.)
    • Uzerin (3 p.m. to sunset)
    • Aiwisruthrem (sunset to midnight)
    • Ushahin (midnight to sunrise)
    In medieval times, according to the Bundahishn, in winter there were only four periods, with Hawan extending from daybreak until Uziran, with the omission of Rapithwan.

    Naming of months and days[edit]

    The months and the days of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar are dedicated to, and named after, a divinity or divine concept. The religious importance of the calendar dedications is very significant. Not only does the calendar establish the hierarchy of the major divinities, it ensures the frequent invocation of their names since the divinities of both day and month are mentioned at every Zoroastrian act of worship.[27]

    Day names[edit]

    The tradition of naming the days and months after divinities was based on a similar Egyptian custom, and was instituted at some point between 458 and 330 BC, very probably during the reign of Artaxerxes II (404–358 BC).[35] "The last evidence for the use ... with Old Persian month-names ... comes from 458BCE, ... after which the Elamite tablets cease. " No dated West-Iranian documents from between 458 BC and 330 BC survive, but the fact that the Zoroastrian calendar was created some time during that period can be inferred from its use In a number of far-flung lands which had formerly been parts of the Achaemenid Empire.
    The oldest (though not dateable) testimony for the existence of the day dedications comes from Yasna 16, a section of the Yasna liturgy that is – for the most part – a veneration to the 30 divinities with day-name dedications. The Siroza – a two-part Avesta text with individual dedications to the 30 calendar divinities – has the same sequence.
    1.Dadvah Ahura Mazdā, 2. Vohu Manah, 3. Aša Vahišta, 4. Khšathra Vairya, 5. Spenta Ārmaiti, 6. Haurvatāt, 7. Ameretāt (1+6 Holy Spirits)
    8.Dadvah Ahura Mazdā [APAM NAPAT], 9. Ātar (Fire), 10. Āpō (Water), 11. Hvar (Sun), 12. Māh (Moon), 13. Tištrya (Sirius), 14. Geuš Urvan ( The Bull)
    15.Dadvah Ahura Mazdā [HAOMA], 16. Mithra, 17. Sraoša, 18. Rašnu, 19. Fravašayō, (Fravashi) 20. Verethragna, (victory) 21. Rāman (the breath of life), 22. Vāta (space)
    23.Dadvah Ahura Mazdā (embodiment of prayer, and ultimately (also) as a divinity-As an Elixir), 24. Daēna, 25. Aši, 26. Arštāt, 27. Asmān, 28. Zam, 29. Manthra Spenta, 30. Anaghra Raočā.
    The quaternary dedication to Ahura Mazda was perhaps a compromise between orthodox and heterodox factions, with the 8th, 15th and 23rd day of the calendar perhaps originally having been dedicated to Apam Napat, Haoma, and Dahmān Afrīn. The dedication to the Ahuric Apam Napat would almost certainly have been an issue for devotees of Aredvi Sura Anahita, whose shrine cult was enormously popular between the 4th century BC and the 3rd century AD and who is (accretions included) a functional equal of Apam Napat. To this day these three divinities are considered 'extra-calendary' divinites inasfar as they invoked together with the other 27, so making a list of 30 discrete entities.
    Faravahar, believed to be a depiction of aFravashi (guardian spirit), to which the month and day of Farvardin is dedicated
    The 2nd through 7th days are dedicated to the Amesha Spentas, the six 'divine sparks' through whom all subsequent creation was accomplished, and who – in present-day Zoroastrianism - are the archangels.
    Days 9 through 13 are dedications to five yazatas of the litanies (Niyayeshes): Fire (Atar), Water (Apo), Sun (Hvar), Moon (Mah), the star Sirius (Tištrya) that here perhaps represents the firmament in its entirety. Day 14 is dedicated to the soul of the Ox (Geush Urvan), linked with and representing all animal creation.
    Day 16, leading the second half of the days of the month, is dedicated to the divinity of oath, Mithra (like Apam Napat of the Ahuric triad). He is followed by those closest to him, Sraoša ("Obedience" or "Observance") and Rašnu ("the very straight.", Justice), likewise judges of the soul; the representatives of which, the Fravashi(s), come next. Verethragna, Rāman, Vāta are respectively the hypostases of victory, the breath of life, and the (other) divinity of the wind and 'space'.
    The last group represent the more 'abstract' emanations: Religion (Daena), Recompense (Ashi), and Justice (Arshtat); Sky (Asman) and Earth (Zam); Sacred Invocation (Manthra Spenta) and Endless Light (Anaghra Raocha).
    In present-day use, the day and month names are the Middle Persian equivalents of the divine names or the concepts, but in some cases reflect Semitic influences (for instance Tištrya appears as Tir, which Boyce (1982:31–33) asserts is derived from Nabu-*Tiri). The names of the 8th, 15th, and 23rd day of the month – reflecting Babylonian practice of dividing the month into four periods – can today be distinguished from one another: These three days are named Dae-pa Adar, Dae-pa Mehr, and Dae-pa Din, Middle Persian expressions meaning 'Creator of' (respectively) Atar, Mithra, and Daena.
    What might loosely be called weeks are the divisions of days 1–7, 8–14, 15–22 and 23–30 of each month – two weeks of seven days followed by two weeks of eight. The Gatha days at the end of the year do not belong to any such week.[6]

    Month names[edit]

    Twelve divinities to whom days of the month are dedicated also have months dedicated to them. The month dedicated to Ahura Mazda is a special case – that month is named after Mazda's stock epithet, "Creator" (Avestan Dadvah, whence Zoroastrian Middle Persian Dae), rather than after His proper name.
    Seven of the twelve-month names occur at various points in the surviving Avesta texts, but an enumeration similar to the ones for day names does not exist in scripture. Lists of month names are however known from commentaries on the Avesta texts, from various regional Zoroastrian calendars of the 3rd to 7th centuries, and from living usage. That these names have an Old Iranian origin and are not merely Middle Iranian innovations may be inferred from the fact that several regional variants reflect Old Iranian genitive singular forms, that is, they preserve an implicit "(month) of".
    The month-names (with Avestan language names in parentheses), in the ordinal sequence used today, are:
    1. Frawardin (Frauuašinąm)
    2. Ardwahisht (Ašahe Vahištahe)
    3. Khordad (Haurvatātō)
    4. Tir (Tištryehe)
    5. Amurdad (Amərətātō)
    6. Shahrewar (Xšaθrahe Vairyehe)
     7. Mihr (Miθrahe)
     8. Aban (Apąm)
     9. Adur (Āθrō)
    10. Dae (Daθušō [Ahurahe Mazdå])
    11. Wahman (Vaŋhə̄uš Manaŋhō)
    12. Spendarmad (Spəntayā̊ Ārmatōiš)
    The days on which day-name and month-name dedications intersect are festival days (name-day feast days) of special worship. Because Ahura Mazda has four day-name dedications, the month dedicated to Him has four intersections (the first, eighth, fifteenth and twenty-third day of the tenth month). The others have one intersection each, for example, the nineteenth day of the first month is the day of special worship of the Fravashis.
    There is some evidence that suggests that in ancient practice Dae was the first month of the year, and Frawardin the last. In a 9th-century text, Zoroaster's age at the time of his death is stated to have been 77 years and 40 days (Zadspram 23.9), but the "40 days" do not correspond to the difference between the traditional "death day" (11th of Dae) and "birthday" (6th of Frawardin) unless Dae had once been the first month of the year and Frawardin the last. The festival of Frawardigan is held on the last days of the year, instead of following the name-day feast of the Fravashis (nineteenth day of the month of Frawardin, and also called Frawardigan)..

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    Bundahishn[pronunciation?], meaning "Primal Creation", is the name traditionally given to an encyclopædiaic collections of Zoroastrian cosmogonyand cosmology written in Book Pahlavi.[1] The original name of the work is not known.
    Although the Bundahishn draws on the Avesta and develops ideas alluded to in those texts, it is not itself scripture. The content reflects Zoroastrian scripture, which in turn reflects both ancient Zoroastrian and pre-Zoroastrian beliefs. In some cases, the text alludes to contingencies of post-7th century Islamic Iran, and yet in other cases (e.g. in the idea that the moon is further away than the stars) reiterates scripture even though science had by then determined otherwise.

    Structure[edit]

    The traditionally given name seems to be an adoption of the sixth word from the first sentence of the younger of the two recensions.[2] The older of the two recensions has a different first line, and the first translation of that version adopted the name Zand-Ākāsīh, meaning "Zand-knowing", from the first two words of its first sentence.
    Most of the chapters of the compendium date to the 8th and 9th centuries, roughly contemporary with the oldest portions of the Denkard, which is another significant text of the "Pahlavi" (i.e. Zoroastrian Middle Persian) collection. The later chapters are several centuries younger than the oldest ones. The oldest existing copy dates to the mid-16th century.
    The Bundahishn survives in two recensions. A shorter was found in India, and is thus known as the Lesser-, or Indian Bundahishn. A copy of this version was brought to Europe by Abraham Anquetil-Duperron in 1762. A longer version was brought to India from Iran by T.D. Anklesaria around 1870, and is thus known as the Greater- or Iranian Bundahishn or just Bundahishn. The greater recension (the name of which is abbreviated GBdor just Bd) is about twice as long as the lesser (abbreviated IBd).
    The two recensions derive from different manuscript traditions, and in the portions available in both sources, vary (slightly) in content. The greater recension is also the older of the two, and was dated by West to around 1540. The lesser recension dates from about 1734.
    Traditionally, chapter-verse pointers are in Arabic numerals for the lesser recension, and Roman numerals for the greater recension. The two series' are not synchronous since the lesser recension was analyzed (by Duperrron in 1771) before the extent of the greater recension was known. The chapter order is also different.

    Content[edit]

    The Bundahishn is the concise view of the Zoroastrianism's creation myth, and of the first battles of the forces of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyufor the hegemony of the world. According to the text, in the first 3,000 years of the cosmic year, Ahura Mazda created the Fravashis and conceived the idea of his would-be creation. He used the insensible and motionless Void as a weapon against Angra Mainyu, and at the end of that period, Angra Mainyu was forced to submission and fell into a stupor for the next 3,000 years. Taking advantage of Angra Mainyu's absence, Ahura Mazda created the Amesha Spentas (Bounteous Immortals), representing the primordial elements of the material world, and permeated his kingdom with Ard (Asha), "Truth" in order to prevent Angra Mainyu from destroying it. The Bundahishn finally recounts the creation of the primordial bovine, Ewagdad (Avestan Gavaevodata), and Gayomard (Avestan Gayomaretan), the primordial human.
    Following MacKenzie,[2] the following chapter names in quotation marks reflect the original titles. Those without quotation marks are summaries of chapters that have no title. The chapter/section numbering scheme is based on that of B.T. Anklesaria[3] for the greater recension, and that of West[4] for the lesser recension. The chapter numbers for the greater recension are in the first column and in Roman numerals, and the chapter numbers for the lesser recension are in the second column, and are noted in Arabic numerals and in parenthesis.
    I.(1)The primal creation of Ohrmazd and the onslaught of the Evil Spirit.
    I A.n/a"On the material creation of the creatures."
    II.(2)"On the fashioning forth of the lights."
    III.n/a"On the reason for the creation of the creatures, for doing battle."
    IV.(3)"On the running of the Adversary against the creatures."
    IV A.(4)The death of the Sole-created Bovine.
    V.(5)"On the opposition of the two Spirits."
    V A.n/a"On the horoscope of the world, how it happened."
    V B.n/aThe planets.
    VI.n/a"On the doing battle of the creations of the world against the Evil Spirit."
    VI A.(6)"The first battle the Spirit of the Sky did with the Evil Spirit."
    VI B(7)"The second battle the Water did."
    VI C.(8)"The third battle the Earth did."
    VI D.(9)"The fourth battle the Plant did."
    VI E.(10)"The fifth battle the Sole-created Ox did."
    VI F.n/a"The sixth battle Gayōmard did."
    VI G.n/a"The seventh battle the Fire did."
    VI H.n/a"The 8th battle the fixed stars did."
    VI I.n/a"The 9th battle the spiritual gods did with the Evil Spirit."
    VI J.n/a"The 10th battle the stars unaffected by the Mixing did."
    VII.n/a"On the form of those creations."
    VIII.(11)"On the nature of the lands."
    IX.(12)"On the nature of the mountains."
    X.(13)"On the nature of the seas."
    XI.(20)"On the nature of the rivers."
    XI A.(20)"On particular rivers."
    XI B.(21)The seventeen kinds of "water" (of liquid).
    XI C.(21)The dissatisfaction of the Arang, Marv, and Helmand rivers.
    XII.(22)"On the nature of the lakes."
    XIII.(14)"On the nature of the 5 kinds of animal."
    XIV.(15)"On the nature of men."
    XIV A.n/a"On the nature of women."
    XIV B.(23)On negroes.
    XV.(16)"On the nature of births of all kinds."
    XV A.(16)Other kinds of reproduction.
    XVI.(27)"On the nature of plants."
    XVI A.(27)On flowers.
    XVII.(24)"On the chieftains of men and animals and every single thing."
    XVII A.n/aOn the inequality of beings.
    XVIII.(17)"On the nature of fire."
    XIX.n/a"On the nature of sleep."
    XIX A.n/aThe independence of earth, water, and plants from effort and rest.
    XX.n/aOn sounds.
    XXI.n/a"On the nature of wind, cloud, and rain."
    XXII.n/a"On the nature of the noxious creatures."
    XXIII.n/a"On the nature of the species of wolf."
    XXIV.(18-19)"On various things, in what manner they were created and the opposition which befell them."
    XXIV. A-C. (18) The Gōkarn tree, the Wās ī Paṇčāsadwarān (fish), the Tree of many seeds.
    XXIV. D-U. (19) The three-legged ass, the ox Haδayãš, the bird Čamroš, the bird Karšift, the bird Ašōzušt, the utility of other beasts and birds, the white falcon, the Kāskēn bird, the vulture, dogs, the fox, the weasel, the rat, the hedgehog, the beaver, the eagle, the Arab horse, the cock.
    XXV.(25)"On the religious year."
    XXVI.n/a"On the great activity of the spiritual gods."
    XXVII.(28)"On the evil-doing of Ahreman and the demons."
    XXVIII.n/a"On the body of men as the measure of the world (microcosm)."
    XXIX.(29)"On the chieftainship of the continents."
    XXX.n/a"On the Činwad bridge and the souls of the departed."
    XXXI.n/a"On particular lands of Ērānšahr, the abode of the Kays."
    XXXII.n/a"On the abodes which the Kays made with splendor, which are called wonders and marvels."
    XXXIII.n/a"On the afflictions which befell Ērānšahr in each millennium."
    XXXIV.(30)"On the resurrection of the dead and the Final Body."
    XXXV.(31-32)"On the stock and the offspring of the Kays."
    XXXV A.(33)"The family of the Mobads."
    XXXVI.(34)"On the years of the heroes in the time of 12,000 years."

    Zoroastrian astronomy[edit]

    Excerpt from Chapter 2:- On the formation of the luminaries.
    1. Ohrmazd produced illumination between the sky and the earth, the constellation stars and those also not of the constellations, then the moon, and afterwards the sun, as I shall relate.
    2. First he produced the celestial sphere, and the constellation stars are assigned to it by him; especially these twelve whose names are Varak (the Lamb), Tora (the Bull), Do-patkar (the Two-figures or Gemini), Kalachang (the Crab), Sher (the Lion), Khushak (Virgo), Tarazhuk (the Balance), Gazdum (the Scorpion), Nimasp (the Centaur or Sagittarius), Vahik (Capricorn), Dul (the Water-pot), and Mahik (the Fish);
    3. which, from their original creation, were divided into the twenty-eight subdivisions(Lunar mansions) of the astronomers, of which the names are Padevar, Pesh-Parviz, Parviz, Paha, Avesar, Beshn, Rakhvad, Taraha, Avra, Nahn, Miyan, Avdem, Mashaha, Spur, Husru, Srob, Nur, Gel, Garafsha Varant, Gau, Goi, Muru, Bunda, Kahtsar, Vaht, Miyan, Kaht.
    4. And all his original creations, residing in the world, are committed to them; so that when the destroyer arrives they overcome the adversary and their own persecution, and the creatures are saved from those adversities.
    5. As a specimen of a warlike army, which is destined for battle, they have ordained every single constellation of those 6480 thousand small stars as assistance; and among those constellationsfour chieftains, appointed on the four sides, are leaders.
    6. On the recommendation of those chieftains the many unnumbered stars are specially assigned to the various quarters and various places, as the united strength and appointed power of those constellations.
    7. As it is said that Tishtar is the chieftain of the east, Sataves the chieftain of the west, Vanand the chieftain of the south, and Haptoring the chieftain of the north.

    References[edit]

    1. Jump up^ M. Hale, Pahlavi, in "The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas", Published by Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 0-521-68494-3, p. 123.
    2. ^ Jump up to:a b MacKenzie, David Neil (1990), "Bundahišn", Encyclopedia Iranica 4, Costa Mesa: Mazda, pp. 547–551.
    3. Jump up^ Anklesaria, Behramgore Tehmuras, trans., ed. (1956), Zand-Ākāsīh, Iranian or Greater Bundahišn. Transliteration and Translation in English, Bombay.
    4. Jump up^ West, Edward William, trans. ed. (1897), "The Bundahishn", in Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East, volume 5, Oxford: OUP.

    Further reading[edit]

    • Boyce, Mary (1968), Middle Persian Literature, Handbuch der Orientalistik 1., Abt., IV. Band, 2. Abschn. 1, Leiden: Brill, pp. 40–41.

    External links[edit]

    Development of a 365-day calendar


    Five significant stages seem to have occurred in the introduction of a stable 365-day calendar. Mary Boyce has observed that contemporary scholars are divided on whether this 365-day calendar was in fact preceded by a 360-day calendar of Zoroastrian observances.[10]
    First: A 365-day calendar was introduced during the reign of the Sasanian emperor Ardashir I (226–241 AD). The names of months and of days of the month that had been used in Achaemenian times remained unaltered; the five additional days were inserted after the twelfth month. These five days were named Gatha or Gah days, after the ancient Avesta hymns of the same name. In 226 AD, 1 Frawardin and the New Year celebration of Nawruz had drifted to 1 October. The older custom of counting regnal years from the monarch's coronation was reinstated.[2][5][9]
    Second: After 46 years (226–272 AD), with 1 Frawardin now on 19 September, another calendar reform was implemented by Ardashir's grandson Hormazd I (272–273 AD). It seems that during the first year after implentation of the Gatha days, the population had not universally adopted the new dates for religious festivals, resulting in "official" celebrations takings place five days later than popular celebrations. In later years the population had observed the Gatha days, but the original five-day discrepancy persisted. Hormazd's reform was to link the popular and official observance dates to form continual six-day feasts. Nawruz was an exception: the first and the sixth days of the month were celebrated as different occasions. Lesser Nawruz was observed on 1 Frawardin. 6 Frawardin, became Greater Nawruz, a day of special festivity. Around the 10th century CE, the Greater Nawruz was associated with the return of the legendary king, Jamsed; in contemporary practice it is kept as the symbolic observance of Zoroaster’s birthday, or Khordad Sal.[9][11][12]
    Third: A major reform of the religious calendar was implemented some time between 399 and 518 AD. The names of the days and months were unaltered, but Nawruz would now be celebrated on the first day of Adur, hitherto the ninth month of the calendar. Other religious festivals were shifted to maintain their relative position to Nawruz. Mary Boyce has argued that, as part of this reform, the six-day festivals were compressed to five days. The major feasts, or gahambars, of contemporary Zoroastrian practice, are still kept as five-day observances today.[9][13][14]
    Fourth: By the reign of Yazdegird III (632–651 AD), the religious celebrations were again somewhat adrift with respect to their proper seasons. Therefore in 632 AD, the new year due to be celebrated on June 21 was brought ahead by the device of omitting that year's Gatha days; Nawruz was therefore kept on June 16. Most Persian Zoroastrians accepted and used this new calendar.[15] By the 9th century, the Zoroastrian theologian Zadspram had noted that the state of affairs was less than optimal, and estimated that at the time of Final Judgement the two systems would be out of sync by four years.[13]
    Fifth: In 1006 AD, the month Frawardin had returned to the correct position so that 1 Frawardin coincided with the Northern vernal equinox. The religious festivals were therefore returned to their traditional months, with Nawruz once again being celebrated on 1 Frawardin.[9]

    The reckoning of years[edit]

    16 June 632 AD is the start date for the current mainstream Zoroastrian reckoning of years. Yazdegird III was the last monarch of the Sasanian dynasty, and since the custom at that time was to count regnal years since the monarch ascended the throne, the reckoning of years was continued, in the absence of a Zoroastrian monarch, under Islamic rule. Zoroastrian dates are distinguished by the suffix Y.Z. for Yazdegirdi Era. The usage "AY" is also found.[14][16][17][18]
    Isolated pockets of Asia Minor use[citation needed] an alternative reckoning of years which predates the Yazdegirdi Era, being based on a supposed date of the birth of Zoroaster on 3 March 389 BC.[citation needed] On this calendar, 27 July 2000 AD was the first day of Zoroastrian year 2390.[15]
    Yet another form of reckoning is the Zarathushtrian (Zoroastrian) Religious Era (Z.E.R./ZRE), adopted in 1990 AD by the Zarathushtrian Assembly of California. This is based on the putative association of the mission of Zoroaster with the dawn of the astrological Age of Aries, calculated for this purpose to have been the Northern vernal equinox of 1737 BC. Hence the year 3738 ZRE began in 2000 AD. The Zoroastrian community, both in Iran and in diaspora, have also been said to have accepted it, the former doing so in 1993 AD. A briefing paper from the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe indicates that they recognise this usage to have been pragmatically adopted by Zoroastrians in Iran, while the diaspora continues to use the YZ system.[19][20]

    The Qadimi calendar[edit]

    The cycle of days and months unaltered since 16 June 632 AD, and the cycle of religious observances unaltered since at least 1006 CE, form a stable calendar which is still in use today. Although Persia came under Arab, Islamic, rule in 651 AD, the civil reckoning of months and days was only disrupted for a short time and had returned to use for civil purposes within a century.[21]

    Alternative names[edit]

    To distinguish this calendar from others which developed in due course, the name Qadimi became attached to it – a name which means 'old' or 'ancient' and will also be found with alternative spellings:[17]
    • Qadmi (by contraction)
    • Quadmi[16]
    • Kadimi (a Parsi variant spelling)
    • Kadmi (by contraction)
    • Kudmi[15]
    • Gadimi

    Relationship with the Gregorian calendar[edit]

    The Julian Day Number corresponding to 16 June 632 CE (which was 19 June 632 CE of the proleptic Gregorian Calendar) is 1952063.[22]
    The Julian Day Number of Nowruz, the first day, of Year Y of the Yazdegirdi Era is therefore 1952063 + (Y − 1) × 365.
    22 July 2000 AD was Nowruz and the first day of 1370 Y.Z. (or 3738 ZRE) according to the Qadimi reckoning.[15]
    In the Julian year 1300 AD, 669 Y.Z. began on 1 January, and 670 Y.Z. on 31 December of the same year.[15]

    The Shahanshahi calendar[edit]

    A 365-day calendar drifts ahead of the solar year at a rate of approximately one day every four years. A 9th-century Zoroastrian text, the Denkard, explicitly acknowledged several methods of compensating for this drift:[23]
    • a leap-day every fourth year;
    • adding ten days every fortieth year;
    • a leap-month of 30 days once every 120 years;
    • 5 months once every 600 years;
    • the discrepancy would be a whole year once every 1,440 years.
    The Denkard then states:[23]
    The time of six hours should be kept apart from (i.e. not to be added to) the last days of the year for many years, till (the hours) amount to (a definite period of time)... And it is the admonition of the good faith that the rectification (of the calendar) should not be made till a month is completed (i.e. till the additional six hours every year amount to a month at the end of a hundred and twenty. years). And more than a period of five months should not be allowed (to accumulate.) [Parentheses appear as in original.]
    The Denkard – which was not Zoroastrian Scripture but a religious manual – therefore favoured the solution of a leap-month once every 120 years, with a fall-back of adding 5 months after 600 years if this were missed. This practice was not, however, adopted by Zoroastrians living in Islamic Persia.[9]
    Many Zoroastrians migrated from the Middle East to India during the 10th century, becoming known in India as Parsis. They had knowledge of the Denkard's proposal: at some point between 1125 and 1129, the Parsi-Zoroastrians of the Indian subcontinent inserted such an embolismic month, named Aspandarmad vahizak (the month of Aspandarmad but with the suffix vahizak). That month would also be the last month intercalated: subsequent generations of Parsis neglected to insert a thirteenth month.[17]
    Around 1720 AD, an Irani-Zoroastrian priest named Jamasp Peshotan Velati travelled from Iran to India. Upon his arrival, he discovered that there was a difference of a month between the Parsi calendar and his own calendar. Velati brought this discrepancy to the attention of the priests of Surat, but no consensus as to which calendar was correct was reached. Around 1740 AD, some influential priests argued that since their visitor had been from the ancient 'homeland', his version of the calendar must be correct, and their own must be wrong. On June 6, 1745 AD, a number of Parsis in and around Surat adopted the calendar which had continued in use in Iran, now to be identified as the Qadimi reckoning. Other Parsis continued to use the reckoning which had become traditional in India, and call their calendar Shahanshahi.[15][17]

    Alternative names[edit]

    The name Shahanshahi means 'imperial' and will also be found with alternative spellings:[17]
    • Shahenshahi
    • Shahenshai
    • "Shenshai" – probably a corruption of 'imperial'
    • Shensoy[15]
    • Rasimi – 'traditional'
    • Sharshai – of uncertain meaning
    Arzan Lali the author of Zoroastrian Calendar Services (ZCS) website comments:[16]
    ... adherents of other variants of the Zoroastrian calendar denigrate the Shenshai or Shahenshahi as "royalist".

    Relationship with the Gregorian Calendar[edit]

    21 August 2000 AD was Nawruz and the first day of 1370 Y.Z. (or 3738 ZRE) according to the Shahanshahi reckoning.
    Because the one-off intercalation of 30 days happened sometime before the Nawruz of 1129 AD, we can be confident that in that Julian year, 498 YZ began on 12 February by the Qadimi reckoning, but 12 March by the recently introduced Shahanshahi.[15]
    The Julian Day Number of Nawruz, the first day, of all subsequent Shahanshahi years Y of the Yazdegirdi Era is therefore 1952093 + (Y − 1) × 365.

    The Fasli calendar[edit]

    At the start of the 20th century, Khurshedji Cama, a Bombay Parsi, founded the "Zarthosti Fasili Sal Mandal", or Zoroastrian Seasonal-Year Society. in 1906, the society published its proposal for a Zoroastrian calendar which was synchronised with the seasons. This Fasli calendar, as it became known, was based on an older model, introduced in 1079 during the reign of the SeljukMalik Shah and which had been well received in agrarian communities.[13][16][17]
    The Fasli proposal had two useful features: a leap-day once every four years, and harmony with the solar year. The leap-day, called Avardad-sal-Gah (or in Pahlavi: Ruzevahizak), would be inserted, when required, after the five existing Gatha days at the end of the year. New Year's Day would be kept on the northward vernal equinox, and if the leap-day was applied correctly, would not drift away from the spring. The Fasli society also claimed that their calendar was an accurate religious calendar, as opposed to the other two calendars, which they asserted were only political.[24]
    The new calendar received little support from the Indian Zoroastrian community, since it was considered to contradict the injunctions expressed in the Denkard. In Iran, however, the Faslicalendar gained momentum following a campaign in 1930 to persuade the Iranian Zoroastrians to adopt it, under the title of the Bastani (traditional) calendar. In 1925 AD, the Iranian Parliament had introduced a new Iranian calendar, which (independent of the Fasli movement) incorporated both points proposed by the Fasili Society, and since the Iranian national calendar had also retained the Zoroastrian names of the months, it was not a big step to integrate the two. The Bastani calendar was duly accepted by many of the Zoroastrians. Many orthodox Iranian Zoroastrians, especially the Sharifabadis of Yazd, continued to use the Qadimi, however.[16][17][25]

    Festivals in leap years[edit]

    The Zoroastrian Year, in Qadimi and Shahanshahi observance, concludes wiith ten days in memory of departed souls: five Mukhtad days on the last 5 days of the 12th month, and five more Mukhtad days, which are also the five-day festival of Hamaspathmaidyem, on the five Gatha days. The penultimate day of the twelfth month is Mareshpand Jashan.[9][24]
    In a common year (non-leap year) of the Fasli observance, Mukhtad is observed 11–20 March, with Hamaspathmaidyem and the Gatha days 16–20 March. Mareshpand Jashan is on 14 March.[24]
    In a leap year of the Fasli observance, Mukhtad is observed 10–19 March, with Hamaspathmaidyem and the Gatha days 15–19 March. Mareshpand Jashan is on 13 March. The leap day, 20 March, called Avardad-sal-Gah, is considered a duplication of Wahishtoisht, the fifth Gatha day, but is not reckoned as Mukhtad or Hamaspathmaidyem.[24][26][27]

    Reckoning of years[edit]

    In 1906 AD, Nawruz of 1276 Y.Z. fell on 15 August for followers of the Qadimi calendar, and 14 September for those observing Shahanshahi. There was therefore a six-month gap between the Fasli and Qadimi New Year observances, and a seven-month gap to the Shahanshahi.
    The on-line calendar converters cited at the bottom of this page all give the current Fasli year (following Nawruz in 2011 AD) as 1381 Y.Z. – the same year as the Qadimi and Shahanshahi. However, the accumulated leap days not reckoned in the latter two calendars add up to a whole year in just over 1508 years.[14] Since there is exactly one Fasli year for every Gregorian year, then day one of the proleptic Fasli calendar would be 21 March (Gregorian) 631 AD, with Year 2 beginning on 21 March 632 AD. But Yazdegird III did not ascend the throne until 19 June 632 AD (Gregorian), leading to the curious quirk that the base date for the reckoning of years ends up in Year 2 of the Fasli calendar.

    Alternative names[edit]

    The name Fasli will also be found in alternative forms:[17]
    • Fasili
    • "Bastani" – Iranian for 'traditional'

    Relationship with the Gregorian calendar[edit]

    21 March 2000 AD was Nawruz and the first day of 1370 Y.Z. (or 3738 ZRE) according to the Fasli reckoning.
    Dr Ali Jafarey describes the Fasli calendar as[21]
    ...an almost tropical calendar. It is corrected by observing the leap year.
    Webster's Online direction and various unreferenced sources state that the Fasli calendar follows the Gregorian, and it is shown strictly following the Gregorian calendar in the period 2009–2031 AD in the tables published by R. E. Kadva. The Gregorian calendar itself, however, will not keep 21 March as the date of the Northern vernal equinox forever – it has a deviation of one day every 5025 years.[6][24][26][28][29]

    Relationship with the Iranian calendar[edit]

    The civil calendar in Iran since 31 March 1925 AD has been the Solar Hejri calendar. This is strictly tied to the actual Northward equinox, rather than a mathematical approximation to it. An Iranian day is reckoned to begin at midnight. Iranian time is 3.5 hours ahead of GMT. New Year's Day is defined to be the day, as reckoned by Iranian time, when the Northward equinox (the precise moment in time when northern and southern hemispheres of the earth pass through the point of the earth's orbit when they are equally illuminated by the sun) occurs on or before noonof that day, or during the 12 hours following the noon of the preceding day. This means that the pattern of leap years in the Iranian calendar is complex – usually following a 33-year cycle where the leap day is inserted every fourth year, but in year 33 instead of year 32, but with occasional 27 or 35 year cycles.[30]
    From 1960 to 1995, the Northward equinox always fell at such a time that New Year's Day in Iran occurred on the day called 21 March in the Western calendar. But this equivalence was not always true before March 1960, and the exact correspondence broke down again in 1996. In 1959, and at four-year intervals back to 1927, Iranian New Year's Day fell on 22 March in the Gregorian calendar. In 1996, and subsequent Gregorian leap years, Iranian New Year's Day falls on 20 March. The pattern will shift back to a matching set of leap years in 2096 AD.[31]
    The sources cited above state that the Fasli calendar both follows the Gregorian and was such that New Year's Day coincided with vernal equinox. These two statements are incompatible. The Fasli calendar cannot track both the Gregorian leap years and strictly start on the vernal equinox; further, any calendar strictly tied to the 'day of the equinox' must define when the day starts and ends, which depends on longitude.[16][18][24]
    A briefing paper from the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe indicates that
    ...the Irani Zoroastrian calendar does not shift and commences on 21 March. But it is important to note that all Iranians including Zoroastrians celebrate NoRuz (Nawruz) on the actual day of the Northward equinox, therefore some years it can be 20 / 22 March.[20]

    Future developments of the calendars[edit]

    The Fasli Calendar has become very popular outside India, especially in the West, but many Parsis believe that adding a leap day is against the rules, and they mostly continue to use the Shahanshahi Calendar. There is a proposal to correct matters by restoring the leap month, but unless this happens, the Shahanshahi and Qadimi years will continue to start earlier and earlier... the unrevised Qadimi Calendar would eventually coincide with the Fasli Calendar in Gregorian Year 2508, the Shahanshahi New Year will next fall on 21 March in 2632.[26]
    In 1992, all three calendars happened to have the first day of a month on the same day. Many Zoroastrians suggested a consolidation of the calendars: no consensus could be reached, though some took this opportunity to switch to the Fasli observance. Some priests objected on the grounds that if they were to switch, the religious implements they utilised would require re-consecration, at not insignificant expense.[33]
    It has also been proposed that the Shahanshahi calendar could be brought back into harmony through the intercalation of whole months.[6]
    In the UK, most Zoroastrians are Indians who follow the Shahanashai calendar. Nevertheless, noting that Iranian Zoroastrians mostly follow the Fasli calendar, the ZTFE (the official Zoroastrian charity and London centre of worship) marks observances of both calendars.[20][34]

    See also[edit]

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