Pahlevan of Iran

Pahlevan of Iran is a national championship for pahlevani wrestling (koshti pahlavāni) held annually in Iran. Though the competition has ancient roots, its modern form began in 1944.

The champion earns the title of Pahlevan and the right to wear the Bazouband (championship armband). Described as "tangled up with the soul of Iranian peoples", the title is athletically and culturally prestigious in Iran. The Pahlevan armband was formerly awarded by the Shah of Iran and is now presented by the president of Iran. Many Pahlevan have gone on to win medals in international competition.



==Early Period (651–1450) ==
 * Abu Moslem-e Khorasani
 * Yaghub-e Layth
 * Arslan Isra'il
 * Babak khorramdin
 * Asad Kermani
 * Abdul Razagh Bashtini
 * Shirdel Kohneh Savar
 * Mahmood Kharazmi (Pahlavan-e Bozorg), was known as Pouriya-ye Vali
 * Mohammad Abol-seyyed Abolkheyr
 * Mahmood Malani
 * Darvish Mohammad Khorassani

Middle Period (1450–1795)

 * Mirza Beyk-e Kashani
 * Beyk-e Khorassani
 * Hossein-e Kord
 * Mir Baqer
 * Jalal Yazdi
 * Kabir-e Esfahani (Pahlavan-e Bozorg)
 * Kalb Ali Aqa Jar
 * Haji Yadollah Rezapoori

==Pre-Modern period (1795–present) ==
 * Haj Seyyed Hasan Razaz (Pahlavan-e Bozorg), also known as Pahlavan Shoja'at
 * Ali Asghar Yazdi
 * Haj Reza Qoli Tehrani
 * Mohammad Mazar Yazdi
 * Shaban Siyah Qomi
 * Yazdi Bozrog (Pahlavan-e Bozorg)
 * Akbar Khorasani
 * Abolqasem Qomi
 * Hossein Golzar-e Kermanshahi
 * Sadeq-e Qomi
 * Mirza Hashem Akbarian Tefaghi, Moblsaz Esfahani
 * Yazdi Kuchak (last official Pahlavan of Iran)
 * Aziz Khan Rahmani /Kurdistani also known by Sanandaji(Gold Medal in 1945)

In Shahnameh
There are many Pahlevan in the epic poem Shahnameh. But the meaning of Pahlavan in Shahnameh is not only attributed to the wrestler. In Shahnameh, the word Pahlevan is referred to its ancient status as a title of honour granted by Shah of Persia. Pahlavan title was granted by the shah to the candidates whom beside their athletic manner, honesty, righteous were brave warrior; and the hero Rostam was given the title of Jahan Pahlavan, a title higher than Pahlavan, which most recently is used for Gholamreza Takhti.