Encyclopediaدانشنامه

The “Central Iranian Sea” is a shorthand for the superposition of several inland lakes and playas at the heart of the Iranian Plateau (the Namak Lake basin, Hoz-e Soltan, Dasht-e Kavir, etc.). During the colder, wetter phases of the Quaternary these water bodies expanded; during the warmer phases of the Holocene they retreated. That gradual desiccation was not merely a physical trend—it triggered a cascade of environmental changes (soil salinization, higher evaporation, instability of surface water) that directly reshaped settlement patterns, agriculture, migration routes, and water-management innovations around the basin—most notably in the Sialk region. What was the Central Lake? (A natural “advantage” that gradually turned into a “risk”) Extensive geomorphic evidence—lake terraces, broad travertine fields, and wide pediments—shows that, at times, interconnected water bodies linked Hoz-e Soltan, Namak Lake, and the “Dry Sea of Saveh.” Three shoreline base levels at 790/800/900 m remain along the margins, marking former lake […]

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Biography: Family and Education Hasan Pirnia (1250–1314 SH / 1871–1935 CE), born in Na’in, was the son of Mirza Nasrollah Khan Moshir al-Dowleh, the first prime minister (ra’is al-wozara) of the Constitutional era. Hasan completed his early schooling in Iran, then went to Moscow for military and legal studies: he graduated with top honours from the Military School and continued at the Faculty of Law, Moscow University. Returning to Iran, he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a senior secretary and translator. He was fluent in French, English, Arabic and Russian, acquainted with Classical Greek, and—at 58—taught himself German to consult texts first-hand. [1] Role in the Constitutional Movement and Political Beginnings On the eve of the Constitutional Revolution, Pirnia took an active role in translating and drafting the electoral by-law and the constitution; together with his brother Hossein (Mo’tamen-al-Molk), he is remembered as a “technical architect” of core […]

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Zabihollah Mansouri: Between Translation and Imagination Zabihollah Hakim-olahi Dashti, known as Zabihollah Mansouri (1900–1986), was one of the most prolific translators, journalists, and writers in the history of modern Iran.A complex and controversial figure, he devoted over sixty years of his life to writing and translation — blurring the boundary between translator and author in a way that continues to provoke both admiration and criticism decades after his death. Early Life and Education Zabihollah Mansouri was born in 1900 in Sanandaj, in western Iran.His father, Esmaeil (known as Entekhab-od-Dowleh), was a government employee, and his mother came from a respected clerical family in Gilan.He studied at the Alliance Française School in Sanandaj, established by the French to promote their language and culture, and later, after the family moved to Kermanshah, he learned French under the guidance of a local physician fluent in the language. When the family returned to Tehran, […]

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