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( Zourkhaneh)
varzeš-e pahlavani ???? ???????) meaning the "Sport of the Heroes", also known as Varzesh-e Bastani (Persian varzeš-e bastni ???? ???????), meaning the "Sport of the Ancients", or simply as Pahlavani, is a traditional discipline of gymnastics and wrestling in Iran, which was originally an academy of physical training for military purposes. Varzesh-e Pahlavani combines elements of the pre-Islamic Iranian culture with the spirituality of Sufism. Participants are expected to be pure, truthful, and good tempered and only then strong in body. The principles of unpretentiousness are exemplified by a verse recited at many meetings "Learn modesty, if you desire knowledge. A highland would never be irrigated by river." (Kanz ol-Haghayegh) Varzesh-e Pahlavani is said[1] to be traceable back to Arsacid Parthian times (132 BCE - 226 CE). Following the development of Sufi Islam in the 8th century CE, Varzesh-e Pahlavani absorbed philosophical and spiritual components from it. Varzesh-e Pahlavani was particularly popular in the 19th century, during the reign of the Qajar king Nassar al-Din Shah (1848-1896). Performances inspired by Persian mythology were held at the Shah's court every 21 March (the Iranian new year[nowruz]). The sport declined following the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty in the 1920s and the subsequent modernisation campaigns of Reza Shah, who saw the sport as a relic of Qajarite ritual.
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