Firdaria Calculator — Persian Planetary Periods

Firdaria (singular: firdar) is a Persian-Arabic system of planetary time periods, preserved in the works of Abu Ma'shar. It divides life into a fixed sequence of major periods, each ruled by one planet for a fixed number of years, running from birth to age 75. Each major period is itself divided into sub-periods in the same planetary order. This tool computes your sequence with Swiss Ephemeris and highlights the major and sub-period active on the date you choose.

Sect is set by whether the Sun was above or below the horizon at the moment of your birth — the same day/night distinction used across the traditional Western tradition. A birth at midday with the Sun high in the sky is a day chart; a birth after sunset is a night chart. In firdaria the sect decides which planet opens your sequence: the Sun for a day birth, the Moon for a night birth.

Because each sect takes its own light as the opening planet. A day birth starts with the Sun's firdar and runs Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, then the lunar nodes; a night birth starts with the Moon's firdar and runs Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, then the lunar nodes. Both orders cover the same 75-year cycle, so two people born minutes apart on opposite sides of sunset can live their periods in a different sequence.

The durations are fixed by the classical scheme: the Sun rules 10 years, the Moon 9, Mercury 13, Venus 8, Mars 7, Jupiter 12, Saturn 11, the North Node 3 and the South Node 2 — 75 years in total. Each major period is divided into nine sub-periods in the same planetary order, and the sub-period lengths are proportional shares of the major period; the table on this page shows both the major durations and the sub-period ranges.

The major period (firdar) is the broad era ruled by one planet, lasting its fixed number of years — for example, the Sun's 10-year firdar. Each major period is subdivided into sub-periods that follow the same planetary order, starting from the major period's own planet, in proportionally shorter stretches. Traditional practice reads the major ruler as the theme of the whole era and the sub-ruler as the finer timing within it.

Firdaria and Vedic dasha are the same kind of tool — both divide life into planetary periods — but they are different systems. Firdaria is Persian-Arabic, with fixed year counts in a 75-year cycle ordered by sect. Vimshottari dasha is Vedic, keyed to the Moon's nakshatra at birth, with a 120-year cycle of its own durations. This page computes firdaria in the tropical zodiac; if you want Vimshottari periods, use the Dasha Calculator instead.