The development of Iranian calendar: historical and astronomical foundations

TL;DR

This paper explores the Iranian calendar's development, emphasizing its astronomical basis, historical context, and precise calculations that align it closely with the natural solar year, establishing its uniqueness among calendars.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the Iranian calendar's historical and astronomical foundations, demonstrating its high accuracy through modern computations.

Findings

The Iranian calendar is based on the vernal equinox and solar year length.

Modern calculations confirm its high accuracy and natural alignment.

Historical discussions support the calendar's astronomical foundations.

Abstract

The official Iranian calendar is a solar one that in both the length and the first day of its year is based not on convention, but on two natural (i.e. astronomical) factors: a) the moment of coincidence of the centre of the Sun and the vernal equinox during the Sun's apparent revolution around the Earth; and b) the time length between two successive apparent passages of the Sun's center across that point. These factors give this calendar the chance that 1) its beginning is the beginning of natural solar year, 2) its length is the length of solar year, and 3) the length of its months is very close to the time of the Sun's passage across twelve signs of the Zodiac from Farvardin/Aries to Esfand/Pisces. In this paper it would be shown that a) discussions concerning these facts have their own historical backgrounds, and b) up-to-date computations, being based on choosing the tropical year (i.e. 365.24219879 days) as the length of the calendar year, give the best possible intercalation with its specific system of leap years. Thus, on the grounds of historical documents, astronomical data, and mathematical calculations, we establish the Iranian calendar with the highest possible accuracy, which gives it the unique exemplary place among all calendars.