According to the research conducted on the stone inscriptions and tablets from the Achaemenid period, the people of that age were well acquainted with Norouz. Achaemenid Kings used Takht-e Jamshid at Norouz to perform corresponding rituals of the New Year and to receive the representatives of the various tribes and clans. Every year representatives of nations and tribes would don their traditional costumes and gather at Takht-e Jamshid to celebrate Norouz and the new year at Apadana castle in a ceremony attended by the king and would present him with their gifts. Takht-e Jamshid was recognized and revered as a holy site and every king would come there once a year in Norouz to celebrate the new year and to visit the tombs of their ancestors.
Under the Achaemenids (559-330 BC) three calendars existed and were used among the nobility and two public calendars for the masses. However, due to the spread of Zoroastrianism and the victory of followers of this faith and Ahura Mazda over the Magi, and the followers of Mithras and Anahita, all calendars were subsequently mixed and combined.
In his collected articles called Norouz, Seyyed Hassan Taqizadeh writes: "At first the Zoroastrian New Year was moved from the month of Dey to Farvardin and Mehrega'n was accepted among the great celebrations which took place around the year 1060 AD.
During the Parthian (250 BC-226 AD) and Sassanian (224-652 AD) dynasties, people celebrated Norouz in the beginning of the year and according to their accepted traditions.
Under the Sassanian reign, the king usually wore silk garment on the morning day of Norouz and entered his court alone and immediately a person whose presence was considered auspicious would go to him. It was a custom for the kings to release a white falcon on this day and consume a little bit of fresh milk and cheese to evoke benediction.
After the advent of Islam, the Iranian Tradition assumed a religious tone and with the rise of the Abbasid and by the virtue of Abu-Moslem Khora'sa'ni's presence under the Caliphate of Harun-al-Rashid and Barmakids under Mamun, the celebration of Norouz prospered.16Hojaj-ibn-Yussef was the first Islamic authority that promoted offering of gifts in the feasts of Norouz and Mehrega'n.
The succeeding Iranian dynasties from Taherian to Safarian, Buyids, Ghaznavids and Seljuq all maintained and exalted this feast.
One of the more significant and consequential acts carried out during the Islamic era and especially under the Seljuqs, was the moving of the Norouz celebration from its annual shifting to the beginning of the first day of spring and the first month of the year, Farvardin. In 1080 AD, the Seljuq Malek Shah set a mission for eight astronomers including Omar Khayyam to accurately calculate and adjust the Persian calendar.
Under the rule of Khwrezm-Shahs too Norouz was treated so majestically that even the Mongols and Timurids could not ignore it and it is said that under their rule the feast was celebrated even more grandly.
Under the rule of the Safavid (1502-1736), the celebrations of Norouz was mixed with certain other Islamic cults and rituals and assumed a religious halo as well.
During the reign of the Qajar, the celebration of Norouz was treated seriously and it was usually held with special solemnity. In our days the Shiite Iranians regard Norouz, as an auspicious and sacred day on the basis of their religious tradition. They have combined the rite of Norouz with Iranian-Islamic culture and in this way have granted a special splendor to it.
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