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would be necessary to insert four intercalary months, consisting of 118 days, between the New Year dates of A.H. 1 and A.H. 11 (A.D. 632 March 29). Thus, the Hegira epoch would be A.D. 622 March 19, the day following the vernal equinox in that year. This is the date that the Persian Solar calendar accepts as its epoch. |
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9.8.3.1.2
Historical Background |
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Persia has used many calendars throughout its history. In early periods, the Babylonian and Zoroastrian calendars were employed. Later, the Islamic calendar was introduced. In the past two centuries, four calendars have been used extensively. |
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Gregorian. This calendar has been used primarily for foreign commercial correspondence and within the larger cities. |
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Iranian Lunar Hegira. This calendar is similar to the Arabic version, in that the year is lunar, begins the epoch with 16 July 622 A.D., contains months of 29 and 30 days, and intercalates one day in leap year. It is dissimilar, in that neither the distribution of 29- and 30-day months nor the intercalation is consistent. A year can be deficient in a sense similar to the Jewish year. The year 1395 (roughly A.D. 1975) was such a year and contained only 353 days. |
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Borji. This calendar is an interesting variant, which is structurally most closely related to the astrological calendars of India. Also called the Zodiac calendar, the |
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| Table 9.25 Arabic and Farsi month names, Borji calendar. | | Zodiac Sign | Arabic Name | Farsi Name | | Aries | Hamal | Barre | | Taurus | Thur | Gaw | | Gemini | Jawza' | Dopeykar | | Cancer | Saratan | Kharchang | | Leo | Asad | Shir | | Virgo | Sunbula | Khushe | | Libra | Mizan | Terazu | | Scorpio | 'Aqrab | Kazhdom | | Saggitarius | Qaws | Kaman | | Capricorn | Jadi | Bozghale | | Aquarius | Dalw | Dul | | Pisces | Hut | Mahi |
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