Farvardin — month 1 of the Persian year

The month at a glance

Month number

1

In Iranian usage

Farvardin

In Afghan usage

Hamal, or borj 1

Length

31 days

Gregorian window

March 20 to April 21

This month shares its Afghan name with a zodiac sign. What the tradition carries for the sign is on the sign's own page; this page is about the month.

Read about Aries, the sign

Farvardin and Hamal: two names, one month

Month 1 of the Solar Hijri calendar is called Farvardin in Iranian usage and Hamal in Afghan usage. Both names belong to the same month of the same calendar. Neither is the real name and neither is a variant of the other; they are simply the two naming systems the calendar is written in.

In Afghan usage the traditional borj names are the month names, and those names are also the names of the zodiac signs. Alongside them there is a plain convention: a month is often referred to by its number rather than by name. Borj 1 is this month. Someone asking which month borj 1 is, is asking about Farvardin, which is Hamal.

Everything except the names is shared. The month boundaries are the same, the lengths are the same, and the leap rule is the same. A date written in one system and a date written in the other fall on the same day; only the word for the month changes.

Where the month sits in the year

This is the opening month of the Solar Hijri year, and it falls in spring. The month that comes before it is Esfand, called Hut in Afghan usage, which closes the year that has just ended. The month that follows it is Ordibehesht, called Sawr in Afghan usage.

It runs 31 days, every year. That length does not change with the leap year and does not change between the two naming systems: Farvardin and Hamal are 31 days alike, because they are the same span of days under two names.

Why its Gregorian dates shift

The length of this month is set by the calendar's own rule, but the start of the year is not. The Solar Hijri year begins at the vernal equinox, an astronomical moment that does not fall on a fixed Gregorian day. So the Gregorian date this month begins on is determined rather than chosen, and it drifts by a day or so from year to year as the equinox falls slightly earlier or later relative to the Gregorian calendar.

The window is narrow. Across the 101 consecutive Persian years covered here, 1329 to 1429, corresponding to the Gregorian years 1950 to 2050, the month began on 20 to 22 March and ended on 19 to 21 April. That is 3 distinct start dates over the whole span.

This is why a calendar printed with one fixed Gregorian range for this month is right in most years and wrong in the rest. The table below sets out the documented years so the correct start date can be read off directly rather than assumed.

When Farvardin began

The month lengths are set by the calendar's own rule, but the year starts at the spring equinox — so the Gregorian day this month begins on is not the same every year.

Across the 101 years below, Farvardin began on 3 different Gregorian dates. A calendar printed with one fixed range is right for most of them and wrong for the rest.

From 1950-03-21 to 2050-04-20.

1. March 20

   20 yearsEnded April 19.

   1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2029, 2032, 2033, 2036, 2037, 2040, 2041, 2044, 2045, 2048, 2049

2. March 21

   78 yearsEnded April 20.

   1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2030, 2031, 2034, 2035, 2038, 2039, 2042, 2043, 2046, 2047, 2050

3. March 22

   3 yearsEnded April 21.

   1951, 1955, 1959

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