Iranian calendars facts for kids

The Iranian calendars are a series of calendars that have been used in Iran (also known as Persia) for more than 2,000 years. This makes them one of the longest ways of keeping track of time in human history! These calendars have been changed many times to help with things like government tasks, understanding the weather, and religious events.

A very important person who helped create the accurate Iranian calendar was Omar Khayyam. He was a brilliant polymath (someone good at many subjects) from the 11th century. Today, the modern Iranian calendar is the official civil calendar in Iran.

The Iranian New Year starts at midnight, very close to the moment when spring officially begins in the northern part of the world. This moment is called the northern spring equinox. Scientists figure out this exact time using astronomy. This means the Iranian calendar is based on observations of the sky, unlike the Gregorian calendar (the one most of the world uses), which follows set rules. The spring equinox usually happens around March 20th in the Gregorian calendar. Iran's time zone is Iran Standard Time, which is UTC+03:30.

A Look at Iranian Calendar History

Early Calendars

The first signs of Iranian calendars go back to more than 2,000 years ago. They might even be older than the prophet Zoroaster. The first full calendar we know about was used by the Achaemenids. This was a royal family from the 5th century BC who were important in the history of Zoroastrianism.

Throughout history, Persians have always thought calendars were very important. They were among the first cultures to use a solar calendar, which means it's based on the sun's movement. They preferred this over lunar (moon-based) or lunisolar (moon and sun-based) calendars. The sun has always been a special and holy symbol in Iranian culture.

The Old Persian Calendar

Old writings and tablets show that early Iranians used a calendar with about 360 days. This calendar was directly based on watching the sun. They adjusted it for their beliefs. Days didn't have names. Months were divided into two or three parts, depending on the moon's phase. There were twelve months, each with 30 days. These months were named after festivals or activities related to farming and herding. Sometimes, an extra month was added to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons.

Some of the Old Persian month names included:

• Ādukanaiša (March–April): Meaning "Sowing month."
• Θūravāhara (April–May): Meaning "Month of strong spring."
• Θāigraciš (May–June): Meaning "Garlic-collecting month."
• Garmapada (June–July): Meaning "Heat-station month."
• Drnabāji (July–August): Meaning "Harvest month."
• Bāgayādiš (September–October): Meaning "Month of the worship of a god."
• *Vrkazana (October–November): Meaning "Wolf killing month."
• Āçiyādiya (November–December): Meaning "Month of the worship of the fire."

These early calendars also had special festivals called gahanbar. These were farming festivals that marked different times of the year, like mid-summer or harvest time.

The Zoroastrian Calendar

The first calendars based on Zoroastrian beliefs appeared later in the Achaemenid period (around 650 to 330 BC). These calendars changed over hundreds of years, but the month names stayed mostly the same, even until today.

The large Achaemenid Empire needed a special Iranian calendar. So, they created one similar to the Egyptian calendar. It had 12 months with 30 days each. Each month was named after a yazata (a divine being or angel in Zoroastrianism). Four days each month were dedicated to Ahura Mazda, who is the main god in Zoroastrianism. Other days were named after important concepts like Fire, Water, Sun, Moon, and Victory.

Here are some of the month names and what they mean today:

• Farvardīn (first month): Named after "Guardian spirits" or "souls of the righteous."
• Ordībehešt (second month): Means "Best Truth" or "Best Righteousness."
• Khordād (third month): Means "Wholeness" or "Perfection."
• Tīr (fourth month): Named after "Sirius," a bright star.
• Amordād (fifth month): Means "Immortality."
• Shahrīvar (sixth month): Means "Desirable Dominion."
• Mehr (seventh month): Means "Covenant."
• Ābān (eighth month): Named after "Waters."
• Āzar (ninth month): Named after "Fire."
• Dey (tenth month): Named after "The Creator" (Ahura Mazda).
• Bahman (eleventh month): Means "Good Spirit."
• Esfand (twelfth month): Means "Holy Devotion."

This calendar was very important for religious practices. It helped people remember the names of important divine beings. It also made sure that festivals were celebrated on the correct days. For example, the Mehregan festival was celebrated on the day named Mithra in the month named Mithra.

In 538 BC, Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. After this, the Babylonian calendar, which used both the sun and moon, was used for everyday life. Later, the Zoroastrians adopted a calendar similar to the Egyptian solar calendar. This calendar had 12 months of 30 days, plus five extra days at the end of the year. Since their new year started in spring, these extra days were placed just before the spring festival of norouz.

After Alexander the Great conquered Persia, his general Seleucus took over in 312 BC. This started the Seleucid dynasty in Iran. They began dating years from the start of their rule, which was called the "era of Alexander." Because the new rulers were not Zoroastrians, the Zoroastrian priests were unhappy. They decided to create their own "era of Zoroaster." They tried to figure out when Zoroaster lived. They mistakenly thought a big event in Persian history (Cyrus the Great conquering Babylon in 539 BC) was when Zoroaster's teachings were revealed. They then calculated his birth year to be 568 BC. This date is still sometimes mentioned incorrectly today.

Changes by Later Dynasties

The Parthians, another ruling family, used a similar calendar but with small changes. Their month and day names were Parthian versions of the older Avestan names.

When the Sasanian dynasty took over in AD 224, the new king, Ardashir I, brought back the Zoroastrian calendar. He made corrections to the gahanbar festivals, which had shifted over time. These festivals were moved to align better with the seasons. Other countries, like Armenia, did not accept these changes. The new calendar caused some confusion and was not very popular. People started celebrating "Great" nowruz on a different day, which was Zoroaster's birthday. The original nowruz became known as the "lesser" nowruz.

Later, Hormizd I (AD 272–273) made the days between these two nowruz celebrations into festivals too.

The Muslim Conquest and Calendar Changes

When Muslim rulers took over Persia in the mid-seventh century, they used the Islamic calendar for government. This caused problems because the Islamic calendar is shorter. For example, taxes that used to be collected after the harvest now had to be paid before it. People say that the caliph Omar brought back the Persian calendar for collecting taxes to solve this problem.

By AD 1006, the spring equinox was again lining up with nowruz, the first day of the Persian year. So, the five extra days at the end of the year were moved back to their original spot at the end of the twelfth month.

The Medieval Jalali Calendar

In AD 1079, the Islamic calendar was replaced in Persia by a new calendar called the Jalali Calendar. This was ordered by Jalal Al-Din Shah Seljuqi. This new calendar was created by Omar Khayyam and his team, who worked for eight years in Isfahan, the capital of Iran at the time. Jalal Al din Shah paid for this important work.

Khayyam designed his calendar so that the new year, seasons, and months would always start at the correct astronomical moment. He named the first day of spring and the new year Norooz (also spelled Nowruz). Before Khayyam's calendar, Norooz didn't have a fixed date and could happen in late winter or early spring.

The Jalali calendar was very accurate because it was based on careful astronomical calculations. It didn't need the extra "epagomenal" days that earlier calendars used. In 1911, the jalali calendar became the official national calendar of Persia.

The Modern Solar Hijri Calendar

The calendar used in Iran today, called the Solar Hijri calendar, was officially adopted on March 31, 1925. The law stated that the first day of the year should always be the first day of spring in the "true solar year." It also set the number of days in each month. Before this, the number of days could change each year. The law also brought back the ancient Persian month names, which are still used.

The first day of the year, Farvardin 1, is the day whose midnight start is closest to the exact moment of the spring equinox. The first six months of the year have 31 days. The next five months have 30 days. The twelfth month has 29 days, but it has 30 days in a leap year.

This modern calendar starts counting years from the Hijrah of Muhammad. This was when he traveled from Mecca to Medina in AD 622. The law also stopped the use of the 12-year cycles from the Chinese-Uighur calendar, which were commonly used but not official.

In 1976, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi changed the starting point of the calendar. Instead of starting from the Hijra, it began with the start of Cyrus the Great's rule. So, the year 1355 suddenly became 2535! However, this change only lasted until the Iranian revolution in 1979. After the revolution, the calendar went back to using the Solar Hijri system, starting from the Hijra again.

Here's a table showing how Solar Hijri years match up with Gregorian years. The years marked with a star (*) are leap years in the Solar Hijri calendar, meaning they have an extra day in the last month.

See also

• Solar Hijri calendar
• Tabarian calendar
• Armenian calendar
• Lunar Hijri calendar
• Pre-Islamic Arabian calendar
• Assyrian calendar
• Mandaean calendar
• Hebrew calendar
• Babylonian calendar
• Anno Graecorum
• Rumi calendar
• Royal stars
• Shanbeh