Solar Hijri calendar facts for kids

A Solar Hijri calendar of year 1383 SH showing the second month of Ordibehesht (April–May 2004). The month's name comes from the Avestan word for Asha.

The Solar Hijri calendar is a special solar calendar used mainly in Iran. It's also sometimes called the Shamsi calendar or Khorshidi calendar. This calendar starts its year on the first day of spring, which is called the March equinox. This date is figured out by looking at the stars and planets from a specific spot in Iran. A year in this calendar can have 365 or 366 days.

This ancient Iranian calendar is one of the oldest in the world. It's also very accurate because it uses real astronomical calculations to find the exact start of spring. It began counting years from the same event as the Islamic calendar (Lunar Hijri calendar): the Hijrah. This was the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 CE. However, because one uses solar years and the other lunar years, their year numbers are different.

Each of the twelve months in the Solar Hijri calendar matches a zodiac sign. In Afghanistan, they use the names of the zodiac signs for the months. In other places, the month names are like those in the Zoroastrian calendar. The first six months have 31 days. The next five months have 30 days. The last month has 29 days, but in a leap year, it has 30 days.

The ancient Iranian New Year's Day is called Nowruz. It always happens on the March equinox. Many countries from the Balkans to Mongolia celebrate Nowruz. But the Solar Hijri calendar itself is officially used only in Iran.

How the Calendar Works

Starting Point of the Calendar

The calendar's starting year is 622 CE. This is the same starting point as the Lunar Hijri calendar. However, because the Solar Hijri calendar follows the sun and the Lunar Hijri calendar follows the moon, their year numbers slowly become different. For example, in 2023, they were about 43 years apart.

Days in Each Month

The first six months (Farvardin to Shahrivar) have 31 days. The next five months (Mehr to Bahman) have 30 days. The last month (Esfand) has 29 days in a normal year and 30 days in a leap year. This system is a simpler version of the Jalali calendar. The number of days in each month is set to match how the sun moves through the zodiac signs.

Leap Years Explained

The Iranian Solar calendar has a special way of adding leap years. It usually adds an extra day every four years. But sometimes, it adds an extra day after five years instead. This happens because the calendar tracks the exact moment of the spring equinox. This makes it very accurate.

New Year's Day

The Iranian Solar calendar year starts at the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This happens at midnight, exactly when the March equinox occurs. So, the first day of the new year is Nowruz. This is a very important holiday.

Months of the Year

Here are the months of the Solar Hijri calendar:

The first day of the year, Nowruz, is the biggest festival in Iran, Afghanistan, and other areas influenced by Persian culture. The celebration lasts for 13 days, with many fun activities. The last day is called siz-dah bedar, which means "13 to outdoor."

In Dari (Afghan Persian), the month names are the same as the zodiac signs. These names were also used in Iran in the early 1900s.

Days of the Week

In the Iranian calendar, each week starts on Saturday and ends on Friday. The names of the days are shanbeh, yekshanbeh, doshanbeh, seshanbeh, chahārshanbeh, panjshanbeh, and jom'eh. The words yek, do, se, chahār, and panj are the Persian words for numbers one to five. Jom'eh (Friday) comes from Arabic. Sometimes, Friday is also called ādineh in Persian. In countries like Iran and Afghanistan, Friday is the weekly holiday.

Where the Calendar is Used

Iran

A contract from Tehran in 1910, which used the Lunar Hijri calendar.

In 1911, the Iranian parliament officially adopted a calendar similar to the current one. It used the names of the zodiac signs for months. In 1925, the current Iranian calendar was officially adopted. This law said that the new year must start on the first day of spring, as it had always been. It also set the exact number of days for each month and brought back the old Persian month names. The calendar's starting point was set to the Hijrah.

A Different Starting Year (1975-1979)

In 1975, some Iranian experts found that this solar calendar was used even in ancient times, around 500 BC. So, the government at the time changed the calendar's starting point to the beginning of Cyrus the Great's rule. This meant the year suddenly jumped from 1354 to 2534! This change lasted until the Iranian revolution in 1979. After the revolution, the government changed the starting point back to the Hijrah.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan officially started using the Jalali calendar in 1922, but with different month names. Afghanistan uses Arabic names for the zodiac signs. For example, the Saur Revolution in 1978 happened in the second month of the Solar Hijri calendar. The Solar Hijri calendar was the official calendar for the Afghan government for a long time. All national holidays and government tasks followed it.

However, the Taliban group has used the lunar Hijri calendar during their time in power. From 1996 to 2001, they made the lunar calendar official, so the year changed from 1375 to 1417 overnight. Again, starting in July 2022, the Taliban brought back the lunar calendar. This caused the year number to jump from 1401 to 1444.

Tajikistan

Tajikistan does not use the Solar Hijri calendar, even though it's a Persian-speaking country. While they celebrate Nowruz, their official New Year's Day is January 1st, like in the Gregorian calendar. This is also true for other groups in Eastern Europe and Western China. The capital city of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, gets its name from the Solar Hijri calendar. It means "Monday" in Persian.

Solar Hijri vs. Gregorian Calendar

The Solar Hijri year usually begins around March 21st of the Gregorian year and ends around March 20th of the next year. To find the Gregorian year from a Solar Hijri year, you add either 621 or 622 years. This depends on whether the Solar Hijri year has already started or not.

How Accurate is the Calendar?

The Solar Hijri calendar is very accurate because it uses real astronomy to find the start of each year. It doesn't just follow a fixed pattern like the Gregorian calendar. Instead, it makes sure the year always begins exactly on one of the two equinoxes. These are the special days when day and night are almost equal in length. This means that specific dates in the Solar Hijri calendar will always match up with the same position of the sun and stars each year.

Time of the spring equinox compared to the start of the year for the Solar Hijri calendar.

See Also

In Spanish: Calendario persa para niños

• List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar
• Arabic names of Gregorian months
• Assyrian calendar
• Babylonian calendar
• Hebrew calendar
• Indian calendar
• Iranian calendars
• Islamic calendar
• Jalali calendar
• Pre-Islamic Arabian calendar
• Rumi calendar
• Zoroastrian calendar