Pahlevani and zourkhaneh rituals is the name inscribed by UNESCO for varzesh-e pahlavāni (Persian: آیین پهلوانی و زورخانه‌ای‎, "heroic sport") or varzesh-e bāstāni (ورزش باستانی; varzeš-e bāstānī, "ancient sport"), a traditional system of athletics and a form of martial arts originally used to train warriors in Iran (Persia), and first appearing under this name and form in the Safavid era, with similarities to systems in adjacent lands under other names. Outside Iran, zoorkhanehs can now also be found in Azerbaijan and Afghanistan, and they were introduced into Iraq in the mid-19th century by the Iranian immigrants, where they seem to have existed until the 1980s. It combines martial arts, calisthenics, strength training and music. Recognized by UNESCO as the world's longest-running form o