Bahmanagān ( fa, بهمنگان) or BAHMANJANA (Arabicized form of

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

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

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian festival which was maintained until the Mongol invasion by Iranian Muslims.Z. Safa, "BAHMANJANA" in Encyclopedia Iranica
/ref> 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 Bahman ( fa, بهمن, ) is the eleventh and penultimate month of the Solar Hijri calendar, the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan. Bahman has thirty days. It begins in January and ends in February of the Gregorian calendar. The month is ...

which was the 11th month coincides with the day of Bahman (Bahman-rūz).

is one of the archangels of

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

. 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 (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...

Gardizi Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd-al-Ḥayy ibn Żaḥḥāk b. Maḥmūd Gardīzī ( fa, ابوسعید عبدالحی بن ضحاک بن محمود گردیزی), better known as Gardizi (), was an 11th-century Persian historian and official, who is notable for ...

Asadi Tusi Abu Nasr Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi Tusi ( fa, ابونصر علی بن احمد اسدی طوسی; – 1073) was a Persian poet, linguist and author. He was born at the beginning of the 11th century in Tus, Iran, in the province of Khorasan, and died in ...

, Anwari etc. According to

and

, in

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

, 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.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 branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

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