Mehregan
mehregan persian مهرگان jashne mehr جشن مهر lit mithra festival zoroastrian iranian festival celebrated honor yazata mithra persian mehr responsible friendship affection love mehregan derived middle persian name mihrakānmihragān derived old persian mithrakāna mehregan iranian festival honoring zoroastrian yazata mithra achaemenid empire – bc armenian subject persian king gave horse every year celebration mehregan sasanian empire – mehregan second important festival falling behind nowruz due two festival heavily connected role iranian kingship sasanian ruler usually crowned either mehregan nowruz albirunis eleventhcentury book instruction element art astrology astronomer observed people given preference mihragān nowruz ie new year dayspring equinox much prefer autumn spring biruni also festival day mention reiterates local anecdotal association description mehrgan ha almirjan author arabic parlance fragment tale iranian folklore day fereydun vanquished evil zahhak confined mount damavand fragment legend part greater cycle tie mehrgan nowruz dahak vanquished jamshid legend one establishing nowruz new year day fereydun vanquishes zahhak restoring balance association mehrgan polarity springautumn sowingharvest birthrebirth cycle escape biruni either noted consider mihragān sign resurrection end world mihragān grows reach perfection mehrgān celebrated extravagant style persepolis time harvest also time tax collected visitor different part persian empire brought gift king contributing lively festival preislamic early islamic iran mehrgān celebrated magnificence pageantry nowruz customary people send give king gift rich people usually gave gold silver coin hero warrior gave horse others gave gift according financial power ability even simple apple fortunate enough would help poor gift gift royal court ten thousand gold coin registered giftgiver needed money later time court would return twice gift amount king gave two audience year one audience nowruz mehregān mehregān celebration king wore fur robe gave away summer clothes mongol invasion iran feast celebration mehrgān lost popularity zoroastrian yazd kermān continued celebrate mehrgān extravagant way october coincided mehregan series ceremony conducted across iran ceremony involved province tehran yazd kordestan west azerbaijan zanjan sistan baluchestan isfahan bushehr north khorasan golestan noted mehrgān nameday feast nameday feast festival celebrated day year dayname monthname dedicated particular angel virtue intersect indeed zoroastrian persian islam day month mean day month different name day also name month day whose name corresponded name month celebrated list festival iran zoroastrian festival boyce mary iranian festival yarshater ehsan ed cambridge history iran volume seleucid parthian sasanian period cambridge cambridge university press pp – doichol isbn boyce mary grenet frantz beck roger ed history zoroastrianism zoroastrianism macedonian roman rule leiden brill isbn calmard j mihragān bosworth c e van donzel e heinrichs w p pellat ch ed encyclopaedia islam second edition volume vii mif–naz leiden e j brill pp – isbn canepa matthew iranian expanse transforming royal identity architecture landscape built environment bce– ce oakland university california press isbn cristoforetti simone mehragān encyclopædia iranica online edition new yorkcite encyclopedia c maint location missing publisher link payne richard e state mixture christian zoroastrian iranian political culture late antiquity univ california press isbn rose jenny festival calendar stausberg michael vevaina yuhan sohrabdinshaw tessmann anna ed wiley blackwell companion zoroastrianism john wiley son ltd pp – russell james r zoroastrianism armenia harvard university press isbn sander p chalmeta p lambton ak groot ah de burtonpage j marāsim bosworth c e van donzel e pellat ch ed encyclopaedia islam second edition volume vi mahk–mid leiden e j brill pp – isbn shaked shaul islam stausberg michael vevaina yuhan sohrabdinshaw tessmann anna ed wiley blackwell companion zoroastrianism john wiley son ltd pp –