NAME
jcal - displays a calendar
SYNOPSIS
jcal [-pVjy13] [[month] year]
DESCRIPTION
JCal displays a simple calendar. If arguments are not specified, the
current month is displayed. The options are as follows:
-1 Display single month output. (This is the default.)
-3 Display prev/current/next month output.
-j Display Julian dates (days one-based, numbered from Farvardin 1).
-p Display year based on Pahlavi epoch.
-y Display a calendar for the current year.
-V Display calendar version.
A single parameter specifies the year (1 - 9999) to be displayed; note
the year must be fully specified: “cal 85” will not display a calendar
for 1385. Two parameters denote the month (1 - 12) and year. If no
parameters are specified, the current month’s calendar is displayed.
A year starts on Far 1.
BRIEF EXPLANATION
True solar year, also known as tropical year, was a still later
discovery. One has to take equinox or solstice into account to keep an
accurate track of the solar year. The equinoxes are the two
intersections of the sun’s apparent annual path with the celestial
equator. The sun reaches the vernal equinox on 1st of Farvardin, on or
about 21st March, the summer solstice on 1st of Tir, on about 22nd June,
the autumnal equinox on 1st Mehr, on or about 23rd September, and the
winter solstice on 1st of Dey, on or about 22 December. Because the two
planes, the path of the sun and the celestial equator move in opposite
directions, the equinoxes and solstices do not occur at the same points
every year. This anti-clock movement of the intersection point is called
precession. It moves one degree in 72 years, one Zodiac sign of 30
degrees in 2,156 years and one circle in 25,868 years. For further
information on calendar, solar or tropical year, precession, and other
astronomical data, refer to any good encyclopedia or a publication on
astronomy and astrology. The tropical year, based on the four seasons,
is precise. It is 365.24224 solar days (365 days 5 hr 48 min 45.5 sec),
and the tropical lunar year is 354.36708 solar days, a difference of
10.87516 solar days. We need not go far to find a workable calendar. Of
all the present calendars, the official Iranian calendar, based on the
astronomical system, is the most scientific calendar in use and bears the
names of what are known as Zoroastrian months. It rightly has the vernal
equinox (on or about 21st March) at the beginning of the spring and the
year. The fourth month begins on the summer solstice (on or about 22
June), the seventh month on the autumnal equinox (on or about 23
September), and the ninth month on the winter solstice (on or about 22
December). In the true seasonal year, the first half contains 186 days
and the second half about 179.242 days. This means that the first six
months are of 31 days each, the following five months of 30 days each,
and the last month of 29 days, but which automatically becomes of 30 days
in the so-called "leap" year. The four seasons begin on the first days of
the seasonal quarters. This is exactly what the Iranian calendar
follows: The first six months are of 31 days each, the next five months
of 30 days each and the last month is of 29 days but of 30 days in the
leap year. Reports indicate that the Central Asian republics may follow
suit. Historical evidence that the five Gatha days were added at the end
of summer proves that the early "Zoroastrian" calendar had this fact in
view.
THE INDO-IRANIAN CALENDAR
Evidences from the Avesta and the Vedas show that the Indo-Iranians, like
many other people, followed a lunisolar year for their animal husbandry
and agricultural purpose. The names of the six Gaahaanbaars, six parts
of the Vedic year and the Achaemenian months, as seen below, show that
the calendar was based on various seasonal phases of the year. The
Gathas speak of the paths of the sun and the stars, and speaks about the
waxing and waning phases of the moon, a sure sign of an accurate
lunisolar year. The language used is astronomical, and it confirms the
reports written in ancient Middle Eastern and Mediterranean writings that
Zarathushtra was an outstanding astronomer also. It also confirms the
statement in post-Sassanian Iranian astronomy books that Zarathushtra
built an observatory in Zabol, Sistan (eastern Iran) and that it was
inaugurated on 21st March 1725 BCE, the day King Vishtaspa and his
courtiers converted, chose the Good Religion and joined the
Zarathushtrian Fellowship. It also provides us with the clue that the
Good Religion was founded by Zarathushtra, exactly twelve years earlier
on vernal equinox of 1737 BCE. The Vispered, dedicated only to the six
seasonal festivals, the "Gaahaanbaars", also shows that the early
Zarathushtrian calendar was almost the old Indo-Iranian lunisolar
calendar with its waxing and waning lunar phases. The month was based on
moon’s phases, and the year was calculated on the solar basis. The
difference was corrected by an intercalation of eleven days at the end of
the year on the Hamaspathmaidhaya Gahanbar of the vernal equinox. This
was 0.12484 day or 2.99616 hours shorter. Only a further intercalation of
one day after eight years (precisely after 8.010253 years), could keep
the seasonal festivals in their proper places. How did the Gathic people
correct it, we do not know. We know this much that no complaint has been
recorded by them about the festivals drifting away from their relevant
agricultural seasons. Sometime during the later Avestan age, the year
was made into a purely solar year of 365 days with twelve months of
thirty days and the five "Gatha" days as the intercalary period. Should
we believe a 9th century Pahlavi tradition, the correction of five hours
and a fraction was made good every four years, or the community had to
wait for 40 years to intercalate 10 days or still more for 120 years to
add a thirteenth month of 30 days. The usual reference to one month
intercalation at the end of 120 years only reminds us of the disorder
that prevailed during the last days of the Sassanian Empire and its
subsequent fall.
THE LEAP YEAR
A point about intercalation in a ‘‘leap’’ year: The precise time of
vernal equinox is determined by the International Meridian, at present
Greenwich. The usual way is to count the year of 365 days and 6 hours.
Four 6 hours, or one day, is added to bring back the year on the right
track. This fourth year is called the ‘‘leap year’’ because it leaps one
day ahead. But the actual length of the year is 6 hours but 5 hours 48
minutes and 45.5 seconds, a difference of 11 minutes and 14.5 seconds.
This amount to one day in 128 days. It was to correct this that the leap
years are those eras which are divisible by 400. Even this makes the
Christian or Common year 26 seconds longer than the tropical year. The
Iranian calendar does not have this problem. Its new year begins exactly
at the beginning of the equinox. Although the formal Iranian year of the
present days has its leap year, it should never worry about it. All it
has to do is to see that if the right times falls after midnight 0 hours
00 minutes and 01 seconds to 0 hours 00 minutes and 00 seconds -- the
first day of the year also begins with it. This is because the Avestan
day begins with the ‘‘Ushahin Gaah,’’ the Dawn Time, which begins from
midnight. Yes, the Iranians have been counting their day from midnight
for, at least, 3738 years and it is the West that has adopted it very
late in our times. The Iranian calendar DOES NOT need a leap year at all.
It is automatically within the right time. I hope that one day the
authorities concerned would realize this FACT and amend the calendar by
eliminating the so-called leap year.
CALENDAR NAMES
Each of the twelve Avestan months and thirty days were named after a
deity, some of them old Aryan gods and goddesses discarded by
Zarathushtra but reintroduced later by authoritative priests, and some of
them Gathic principles personified by the same priests into divine
entities, all now called yazatas, meaning "venerated, venerable." "Year"
in general was called "yaairi" or "yaari", but the intercalated solar
year was known as "saredha", Old Persian of the Achaemenians "tharda",
and Pahlavi and modern Persian "saal" (compared Sanskrit "sharad",
autumn, year). This calendar is followed to this day by Iranian
Zartoshtis and some Parsis. It is called Fasli, a modern Persian-Arabic
word meaning "seasonal" However, majority of Parsis use Shahenshahi, the
"Imperial" calendar. The Parsis have not intercalated since 1126 CE. It
now begins in the last week of August 21st, full seven months plus one
day earlier. The Iranian Zoroastrians, who follow the Qadimi Calendar,
have abandoned intercalation since 1006 CE and the 365-day year has now
forwarded their new year day by eight months. As seen, the two calendars
are neither precisely "Gathic" nor astronomically scientific. So is the
present Zoroastrian era of 1370 followed by the Shahenshahis, Qadimis and
Parsi Faslis. It is based on the ascension of the last Sassanian king
Yazdegerd III (632-642 CE + 10 years of wandering until his murder by
Khosrow the miller) and has no religious significance at all.
Fortunately, with the exception of a minute number, mostly residing in
India, all Iranian Zoroastrians have given up the Qadimi calendar in
favor of the Fasli one, and they reckon the Zarathushtrian Religious Era
as the beginning. At present there is a move to unify all Zoroastrians,
at least in North America and Europe, to adopt the Fasli calendar.
NAMES OF SEASONAL TIMINGS
The Gaahaanbaars: The agricultural people were in tune with nature in
their day-to-day life. They fully knew the solar and lunar movements and
the changes in the seasons. They had timed their activities to suit the
climate in which they lived. This timetable was kept in step with
saredha, the tropical solar year of 365 days, 5 hr, 48 min, and 45.5 sec,
but differed a little on certain points. Their activities were scheduled
to correspond with various phases of their agricultural life on the
Iranian Plateau. It was divided into six phases. The end of one phase and
the beginning of other were celebrated as a special time of festivity.
The six seasonal festivals were: (1) Hamaspathmaidhaya, meaning "vernal
equinox," the 1st day of Farvardin, the beginning of spring, on or about
21st March, was to celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of
the new year. It was, according to the Avesta, the time to "properly set"
everything and prepare for the new year. (2) Maidhyoi-zaremaya (Mid-
spring), 14th day of Ardibehesht, on or about 4th May, was the time to
celebrate the occasion for the cattle having delivered their young and
yielded "abundance of milk" and also for appraising the crops sown in
late winter or early spring. (3) Maidhyoi-shema (Midsummer), 12th day of
Tir, on or about 3rd July, was the beginning of the harvesting season.
(4) Paitish-hahya (Grain-reaping), 25th day of Shahrivar, on or about
16th September, marked the end of harvesting. (5) Ayaathrema (no-
travel), 24th day of Mehr, on or about 16th October, was to enjoy the end
of trade caravans and the time to mate cattle before the winter set in.
(6) Maidhyaairya (Midyear), 15th day of Dey, on or about 4th January,
heralded the passing of the winter peak and for making preparations to
meet the spring with agricultural activity.
Only the first two festivals coincided with the solar seasonal changes.
The others were purposely put off to meet the living conditions. They
were not calendarically or traditionally bound but were very practical
people, a point to note. Most probably the festivals were celebrated
with sacrifices to gods and goddesses and by indulging in a joyous
festivity. Gahanbars and Zarathushtrians: Asho Zarathushtra, born in an
agricultural environment, preached and spread his Good Religion among
people engaged in crop cultivation and animal husbandry. His dynamic
message introduced a completely new order in spiritual, or better, as he
put it, mental sphere and purged out all evil and superstitious thoughts,
misleading words, harmful deeds, and superficial, superfluous rituals,
but helped to strengthen and promote all the then-existing constructive
activities of a good living. And the Gahanbars were one of the
constructively enjoyable festivals.
Chanting and Feasting:
Avestan evidences, particularly the book of Vispered, show that the early
Zarathushtrians turned the Gahanbar into an occasion to fit into their
new pattern of life. Each festival was traditionally celebrated for one
and later for five days. They were devoted to reciting, chanting,
explaining, understanding, and holding questions-and-answers on each of
the five Gathas of Asho Zarathushtra. The festival was rounded up with a
feast prepared by collective participation and efforts, and merrymaking.
A piece in the Avesta directs that all participants should bring whatever
they can afford; dairy products, meat, vegetables, legumes, grain, other
food ingredients, and firewood. If one was not in a position to
contribute in kind, one might put his or her labor in preparing the food
in a common pot, or just join the prayers. The food, with a large variety
of ingredients, was a tasty stew, resembling today’s more sophisticated
Iranian "aash" or the Parsi spiced "dhansaak", both relished on the
occasion. Merrymaking was the folk music and dances still observed among
Iranian tribes all over the Iranian Plateau and beyond. The
Zarathushtrian Assembly celebrates the Gahanbars with a relevant Gahanbar
prayer, Gatha recital and explanation, a brief talk on an interesting
subject, potluck lunch, friendly conversation, and music and dance.
Vedic Calendar:
It may be noted that the Indo-Aryans had also six seasons (Sanskrit rtu,
Avestan ratu) evidently modified to meet the climate in the Indus Valley.
They were: Vasanta (Spring), Grishma (Summer), Varsha (The Rains), Sharad
(Autumn), Hemanta (Winter), and Shishira (the Cool season). Persians and
Other Iranian Calendar: The Achaemenians, Sogdians, Chorasmians, and
Armenians, all Zoroastrians by faith, had their own names for their
months. The names of the Achaemenian months, as given in the bas-reliefs
of Darius the Great are rendered to convey (1) Irrigation-canal-cleaning
month, (2) Vigorous spring, (3) Garlic-collecting month, (4) Hot-step,
(7) God-veneration, (8) Wolf-birth, (9) Fire-veneration, (10) Anaamaka --
Nameless month, and (12) Digging-up. Three names have not been given in
Old Persian but we have their Elamite pronunciations and all, except two,
are nonreligious terms. The Achaemenians had numbers instead of names for
the days of the month. (see Old Persian, Ronald G. Kent, 2nd ed., New
Haven, 1953). That confirms that the months as well as the days named
after pre-Zarathushtrian deities and post-Zarathushtrian personifications
of Gathic abstracts is a later addition. There are indications that it
was done during the reign of Artaxerxes II (405-359 BCE), and that naming
the months and days in honor of deities were adopted from the Egyptians.
The names of the Gahanbars, and those of the Vedic, Achaemenian, Sogdian,
Chorasmian, and Armenian months show that the names of the pre-
Zarathushtrian and Gathic months must have been based on the seasons and
social activities, and not on deities. These old names have, however,
been so well obliterated by the authoritarian priests that we do not have
any inkling of what they were.
Later Avestan Calendar:
The names of the twelve months in modern Persian and their Avestan forms
with their corresponding Zodiac names are
1. Farvardin Fravashi/Fravarti Aries 21 March
2. Ardibehesht Asha Vahishta Taurus 21 April
3. Khordaad Haurvataat Gemini 22 May
4. Tir Tishtrya Cancer 22 June
5. Amordaad Ameretaa Leo 23 July
6. Shahrivar Khshathra Vairya Virgo 23 August
7. Mehr Mithra Libra 23 Sept
8. Aabaan Ap Scorpio 23 Oct
9. Aazar Aathra Sagittarius 22 Nov
10. Dey Dathva Capricorn 22 Dec
11. Bahman Vohu Manah Aquarius 21 Jan
12. Esfand Spentaa Aaramaiti Pisces 20 Feb
Note: Of these only those in bold letters are the Gathic "Primal
Principles of Life," Aazar/Aathra has been mentioned in the Gathas as the
symbol of the Progressive Mentality (Spenta Mainyu), and "ap" (water) is
also mentioned in the Gathic texts, but the rest are later Avestan names.
THE WEEK
The early Avestan people had no notion of the week, a period of seven
days now in universal use as a division of time. Week is a man-made unit.
Its length has, among various people, been from five to ten days. But
since the lunar month, one of the earliest ways of reckoning time, is
alternately of 29 and 30 days with two phases of waxing and waning moon,
it was quite easy to further divide it and have four quarters of seven
and eight days accommodated in it. The seven planets visible to the naked
eye may have also played a part in its formation. That is why weekdays
are named after celestial bodies. However, the present universal week is
most probably of Chaldean or Hebrew origin, and has been generalized by
Jewish, Christian and Islamic persuasion. The later Avestan solar
calendar, based on thirty days in a month, has four quarters -- the first
two of seven days and the last two of eight days. But Avesta and Pahlavi
do not have any names for each of these quarters or for the weekdays.
Modern Persian follows the Hebrew pattern of having Saturday as Shanbeh,
Persianized form of "Shabbath", and then counting from one to five as
Yek-shanbeh, Do-shanbeh, Se-shanbeh, Chahaar-shanbeh, Panj-shanbeh, and
under the Islamic influence, Aadineh or Jom’eh for Friday, the day of
mass prayers.
ERAS
Pahlavi writings tell us that the religious era began from the day
Zarathushtra proclaimed his Divine Mission to humanity. This era, based
on the astronomical calculations that Zarathushtra declared his mission
on the vernal equinox when, according to the precession, the period of
Aries is supposed to have begun, comes to be 3738/39 in 2001 CE i.e. 1737
BCE. It has been called the "Year of Religion" in Pahlavi writings. The
Zarathushtrian Assembly calls it the Zarathushtrian Religious Era
(Z.E.R./ZRE) and has, since its establishment in 1990, observed it as the
beginning of the Zarathushtrian calendar. The Zartoshti community in
Iran joined in to observe ZRE as its calendar in 1993, and many Irani
Zartoshtis in diaspora have also accepted it. Earlier, each of the
Iranian kings, following the pattern set by other Middle Eastern rulers,
particularly the Babylonians, observed a new era from his own ascension
to the throne. With as many as 80 rulers on the Iranian throne during
the thousand and odd years of Achaemenians, Macedonians, Parthians, and
Sassanians, much confusion in chronology has arisen, and many dates have
been misinformed, misused, misplaced, misinterpreted, miscalculated, and
missed. The Yazdgerdi era reminds one of the last Emperor who got
overthrown by Arab invaders. It is not a happy recollection. Sassanians
and Two Calendars: The Sassanians continued to maintain both the "yaairi"
of 365 days and the "saredha" of 365.24224 days. The first they called
"oshmurdik" meaning "rememberable, reckonable" and the second "vihezakik"
meaning "moving, progressive, intercalary." While the "rememberable" was
easy for the laity to memorize and count them by names, the "intercalary"
belonged to the astronomer priests, linked with the imperial court, to
keep the formal year precise and in tune with the seasons. The fall of
the Sassanian Empire fell the astronomer priests of their high position.
Nevertheless, the intercalary year was, Pahlavi books and the present
position of the Qadimi and Shahenshahi calendars tell, kept until the
11th century CE. The decline of astronomer priests put an end to
Vihezakik and the lay priests have continued with their "Ushmordik,"
advancing about one day in every four years out of the season and the
solar year. Economic and seasonal revenue collection, however, forced
the Muslim Caliphs to maintain, evidently by those astronomer priests who
had embraced Islam, the intercalary year in addition to the Islamic
calendar of a purely lunar year. It was this Vihezakik year maintained
halfheartedly by Muslim rulers, which was improved, perfected and
formally restored by Omar Khayyam and other Iranian scientists. It was
named the "Jalaali" calendar after its patron, Sultan Jalal al-Din
Malekshah Saljuqi (1072-1092 CE). The Fasli year, officially observed by
Iranians -- Zartoshtis, Jews, Christians, and Muslims -- in modern Iran,
is the "saredha" of the Avestan people, "tharda" of the Achaemenian,
"Vihezakik" of the Sassanians, and the "Jalali" of Omar Khayyam. The
precise solar year also reckoned by all observatories in the world. It is
the Universal Astronomical and Scientific Year. It is this Vihezakik
(Persian "Behizaki") calendar, now called "Khorshidi" (solar), the
official Iranian calendar, the precise calendar, with its dates numbered,
that the Zarathushtrian Assembly follows. It is astronomically precise.
It is progressively Zarathushtrian.
HISTORY
NO HISTORY.
OTHER VERSIONS
No other versions rumor to exist.
AUTHOR
Ashkan Ghassemi <ghassemi AT ftml dot net>