Bahmanagān () or BAHMANJANA (Arabicized form of

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

Bahmanagān; forms such as Bahmaṇča () or Bahmaṇčena are also found) was a Zoroastrian

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian festival which was maintained until the Mongol invasion by Iranian Muslims. It takes place on the 2nd day of Bahman.

Festival

In the old Zoroastrian calendar, when the day of the month coincides with the name of the month, then a feast (Persian: Jashn) was held. In this case, the month of Bahman which was the 11th month coincides with the day of Bahman (Bahman-rūz). Bahman is one of the archangels of

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

. Henceforth, for each such a day in the calendar, the Middle Persian names of these were formed by addition of the suffix agān (association suffix and also a plural suffix) to the day-name. Festivities to celebrate the day took place among both the common people as well as the people associated with the courts. The festival is recorded by many authors including

Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (; ; 973after 1050), known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern ...

Gardizi Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd-al-Ḥayy ibn Żaḥḥāk ibn Maḥmūd Gardīzī (), better known as Gardizi (), was an 11th-century Persian historian and official, who is notable for having written the ''Zayn al-akhbar'', one of the earliest history books ...

, Asadi Tusi, Anwari etc. According to

and

, in Khorasan, an assortment of meat and all sorts of grain, vegetables, and fruits were cooked together in a pot called dīg-e Bahmanjana (the pot of Bahmanagān). The population cooked this dish, treated each other to this dish and also sold it on the Bazar. According to

, the flowers of the plant named the red-Bahman (Persian: Bahman-e Sorkh) were mixed with fresh milk. He further continues that the people believed it to be beneficial for the memory as well to keep away the

evil eye The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glaring, glare, usually inspired by envy. Amulets to Apotropaic, protect against it have been found dating to around 5,000 years ago. It is found in many cultures i ...

.ʿAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, "Tarikh-e Gardizi", Tehran, 1347 Š./1968. It was usual to wear new clothes for this festival. Today, the modern day Zoroastrian-Iranian festival of Bahmanrūz continues to be an especially holy day for Zoroastrians of Iran.

Bahman Plant

This plant is the same as the equivalent modern Persian term zardak-e ṣaḥrāʾī (a wild carrot), which blooms in the month of Bahman (January–February). It has a red or white root. Since it was a medical plant, it is mentioned in Arabic medical texts from which it passed into

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and in the form béhen into French. Two varieties, béhen rouge and béhen blanc, are found and still used in medicine.

Notes

References

* Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī, al-Tafhīm le-awāʾel ṣenāʿat al-tanjīm, 2nd ed., Tehran {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahmanagan Festivals in Iran January observances February observances