Solar Hijri calendar
The Solar Hijri calendar is the official calendar of Iran and the official mainly-used calendar in Afghanistan. It is a solar calendar, based on the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Each year begins on the day of the March equinox and has years of 365 or 366 days. It is sometimes also called the Shamsi calendar, Khorshidi calendar or Persian calendar and the most recent of the Iranian calendars. It is abbreviated as SH, HS, AP, or, sometimes as AHSh, while the lunar Hijri calendar is usually abbreviated as AH.
The epoch of the Solar Hijri calendar was the day of the spring equinox, March 19, 622 CE. The calendar is a "Hijri calendar" because that was the year that Mohammed is believed to have left from Mecca to Medina, which event is referred to as the Hijrah.
The calendar is widely used by many Central Asian & West Asian ethnic groups, such as Kurds, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Persians, Azerbaijanis, Yazidis, Lurs, Gilaks, Mazanderanis, Qashqais, Khorasani Turks, Nuristanis, Pashayis, Aimaqs, and Talysh people. Smaller groups of Turkmens, Balochs, Uzbeks, and Arabs also use this calendar.
Since the calendar uses astronomical observations and calculations for determining the vernal equinox, it theoretically has no intrinsic error in matching the vernal equinox year. According to Iranian studies, it is older than the lunar Hijri calendar used by the majority of Muslims ; though they both count from the year of the Hijrah. The solar Hijri calendar uses solar years and is calculated based on the "year of the Hijrah," and the lunar Hijri calendar is based on lunar months, and dates from the presumed actual "day of the Hijrah".
Each of the twelve months of the solar Hijri calendar corresponds with a zodiac sign. In Iran before 1925 and in Afghanistan before 2023, the names of the zodiacal signs were used for the months; elsewhere the month names are the same as in the Zoroastrian calendar. The first six months have 31 days, the next five have 30 days, and the last month has 29 days in common years, 30 in leap years.
The ancient Iranian New Year's Day, which is called Nowruz, always falls on the March equinox. Nowruz is celebrated by communities in a wide range of countries from the Balkans to Central Asia. Currently the Solar Hijri calendar is officially used only in Iran.
Structure
Epochal date
The calendar's epoch corresponds to the Hijrah in 622 CE, which is the same as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri calendar but because it counts solar years rather than lunar years, the two calendars' year numbers do not coincide with each other and are slowly drifting apart, being about 43 years apart as of 2023.Days per month
The first six months have 31 days, the next five have 30 days, and the last month has 29 days in common years or 30 days in leap years. This is a simplification of the Jalali calendar, in which the commencement of the month is tied to the sun's passage from one zodiacal sign to the next. The sun is travelling fastest through the signs in early January and slowest in early July. The current time between the March and September equinoxes is about 186 days and 10 hours, the opposite duration about 178 days, 20 hours, due to the eccentricity of Earth's orbit.Leap years
The Iranian Solar calendar produces a five-year leap year interval after about every seven four-year leap year intervals. It usually follows a 33-year subcycle with occasional interruptions by a single 29-year subcycle. The reason for this behaviour is that it tracks the observed vernal equinox.Some predictive algorithms had been suggested, but were inaccurate due to confusion between the average tropical year and the mean interval between spring equinoxes. These algorithms are not generally used.
New Year's Day
The Iranian Solar calendar year begins at the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere: on the midnight in the interval between the two consecutive solar noons that includes the instant of the March equinox. Hence, the first mid-day is on the last day of one calendar year, and the second mid-day is on the first day of the next year.Months
The first day of the calendar year, Nowruz, is the greatest festival of the year in Iran, Afghanistan, and some surrounding historically Persian-influenced regions. The celebration is filled with many festivities and runs a course of 13 days, the last day of which is called siz-dah bedar, or formally Nature Day.The Dari month names are the signs of Zodiac. They were used in Iran in the early 20th century when the solar calendar was being used.
Days of the week
In the Iranian calendar, every week begins on Saturday and ends on Friday. The names of the days of the week are as follows: shanbeh, yekshanbeh, doshanbeh, seshanbeh, chahārshanbeh, panjshanbeh and jom'eh. Yek, do, se, chahār, and panj are the Persian words for the numbers one to five. The name for Friday, jom'eh, comes from Arabic. Jom'eh is sometimes referred to by the native Persian name, ādineh . In some Islamic countries, including Iran and Afghanistan, Friday is the weekly holiday.Current usage
As of 2024 CE, the only official user of the calendar is Iran.Iran
On 21 February 1911, the second Iranian parliament adopted as the official calendar of Iran a sidereal calendar with months bearing the names of the twelve constellations of the zodiac and month lengths varying based on the astronomical events; it remained in use until March 1925. The present Iranian calendar was legally adopted on 31 March 1925, the last year of the Qajar era. The law stated that the first day of the year should be the first day of spring in "the true solar year", "as it has been" ever so. It also fixed the number of days in each month, which previously varied by year with the sidereal zodiac. It revived the ancient Persian names, which are still used. It also officially set the epoch to the Hijrah, although that epoch was already in use since the 1911 law. It also deprecated the 12-year cycles of the Chinese-Uighur calendar, which were not officially sanctioned but were commonly used.Afghanistan
Afghanistan legally adopted the official Jalali calendar in 1922 but with different month names. Afghanistan uses Arabic names of the zodiacal signs; for example, the Saur Revolution in 1978 took place in the second month of the Solar Hijri calendar. The Solar Hijri calendar has been until recently the official calendar of the government of Afghanistan, and all national holidays and administrative issues were fixed according to the Solar Hijri calendar.However, the Taliban imposed the lunar Hijri calendar in Afghanistan during both periods of their rule. Under the Taliban's first rule from 1996 to 2001, the lunar Hijri calendar was imposed, thus changing the year overnight from 1375 to 1417. With effect from 1Muharram 1444 AH , the Taliban once again imposed the lunar calendar. Thus the year number once again leaped forward, this time from 1401 to 1444.
Tajikistan
does not use the Solar Hijri calendar and has never done so, despite being part of the Persian-speaking world. The country does, however, celebrate Nowruz, although the official New Year's Day in Tajikistan is 1 January in the Gregorian calendar, which is also the case in other non-Persian speaking Iranian or Turkic communities ranging from Eastern Europe to Western China. The name of Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, is taken from the Solar Hijri calendar and translates to "Monday" in Persian.Comparison with Gregorian calendar
The Solar Hijri year begins about 21 March of each Gregorian year and ends about 20 March of the next year. To convert the Solar Hijri year into the equivalent Gregorian year add 621 or 622 years to the Solar Hijri year depending on whether the Solar Hijri year has or has not begun.| 33-year cycle | Solar Hijri year | Gregorian year | Solar Hijri year | Gregorian year |
| 1 | 1354* | 21 March 1975 – 20 March 1976 | 1387* | 20 March 2008 – 20 March 2009 |
| 2 | 1355 | 21 March 1976 – 20 March 1977 | 1388 | 21 March 2009 – 20 March 2010 |
| 3 | 1356 | 21 March 1977 – 20 March 1978 | 1389 | 21 March 2010 – 20 March 2011 |
| 4 | 1357 | 21 March 1978 – 20 March 1979 | 1390 | 21 March 2011 – 19 March 2012 |
| 5 | 1358* | 21 March 1979 – 20 March 1980 | 1391* | 20 March 2012 – 20 March 2013 |
| 6 | 1359 | 21 March 1980 – 20 March 1981 | 1392 | 21 March 2013 – 20 March 2014 |
| 7 | 1360 | 21 March 1981 – 20 March 1982 | 1393 | 21 March 2014 – 20 March 2015 |
| 8 | 1361 | 21 March 1982 – 20 March 1983 | 1394 | 21 March 2015 – 19 March 2016 |
| 9 | 1362* | 21 March 1983 – 20 March 1984 | 1395* | 20 March 2016 – 20 March 2017 |
| 10 | 1363 | 21 March 1984 – 20 March 1985 | 1396 | 21 March 2017 – 20 March 2018 |
| 11 | 1364 | 21 March 1985 – 20 March 1986 | 1397 | 21 March 2018 – 20 March 2019 |
| 12 | 1365 | 21 March 1986 – 20 March 1987 | 1398 | 21 March 2019 – 19 March 2020 |
| 13 | 1366* | 21 March 1987 – 20 March 1988 | 1399* | 20 March 2020 – 20 March 2021 |
| 14 | 1367 | 21 March 1988 – 20 March 1989 | 1400 | 21 March 2021 – 20 March 2022 |
| 15 | 1368 | 21 March 1989 – 20 March 1990 | 1401 | 21 March 2022 – 20 March 2023 |
| 16 | 1369 | 21 March 1990 – 20 March 1991 | 1402 | 21 March 2023 – 19 March 2024 |
| 17 | 1370* | 21 March 1991 – 20 March 1992 | 1403* | 20 March 2024 – 20 March 2025 |
| 18 | 1371 | 21 March 1992 – 20 March 1993 | 1404 | 21 March 2025 – 20 March 2026 |
| 19 | 1372 | 21 March 1993 – 20 March 1994 | 1405 | 21 March 2026 – 20 March 2027 |
| 20 | 1373 | 21 March 1994 – 20 March 1995 | 1406 | 21 March 2027 – 19 March 2028 |
| 21 | 1374 | 21 March 1995 – 19 March 1996 | 1407 | 20 March 2028 – 19 March 2029 |
| 22 | 1375* | 20 March 1996 – 20 March 1997 | 1408* | 20 March 2029 – 20 March 2030 |
| 23 | 1376 | 21 March 1997 – 20 March 1998 | 1409 | 21 March 2030 – 20 March 2031 |
| 24 | 1377 | 21 March 1998 – 20 March 1999 | 1410 | 21 March 2031 – 19 March 2032 |
| 25 | 1378 | 21 March 1999 – 19 March 2000 | 1411 | 20 March 2032 – 19 March 2033 |
| 26 | 1379* | 20 March 2000 – 20 March 2001 | 1412* | 20 March 2033 – 20 March 2034 |
| 27 | 1380 | 21 March 2001 – 20 March 2002 | 1413 | 21 March 2034 – 20 March 2035 |
| 28 | 1381 | 21 March 2002 – 20 March 2003 | 1414 | 21 March 2035 – 19 March 2036 |
| 29 | 1382 | 21 March 2003 – 19 March 2004 | 1415 | 20 March 2036 – 19 March 2037 |
| 30 | 1383* | 20 March 2004 – 20 March 2005 | 1416* | 20 March 2037 – 20 March 2038 |
| 31 | 1384 | 21 March 2005 – 20 March 2006 | 1417 | 21 March 2038 – 20 March 2039 |
| 32 | 1385 | 21 March 2006 – 20 March 2007 | 1418 | 21 March 2039 – 19 March 2040 |
| 33 | 1386 | 21 March 2007 – 19 March 2008 | 1419 | 20 March 2040 – 19 March 2041 |