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Persian identity, at least in terms of
language, is traced
to the ancient Indo-European
Aryans who arrived
in Iran circa 2000-1500
BCE. Starting around
550 BCE, from the
province of Fars,
the ancient Persians
spread their language
and culture to other
parts of the Iranian
plateau through conquest
and assimilated local
Iranic and non-Iranic
groups over time.
This process of assimilation
continued in the face
of Greek,
Arab, Mongol and
Turkic invasions and
continued right up
to Islamic times.
Numerous dialects and regional identities
emerged over time,
while a Persian orientation
fully manifested itself
in Iran and Afghanistan
by the 20th century,
mirroring developments
in post-Ottoman Turkey,
the Arab world and
Europe. With the disintegration
of the final Persian
Empires of the Afsharid
and Qajar dynasties,
Afghanistan and territories
in the Caucasus, and
Central Asia either
became independent
from Iran or incorporated
into the Russian Empire.
The Persian peoples emerged as an eclectic
collection of groups
with the Persian language
being the main shared
legacy. Diverse populations
in Central Asia, such
as the Hazaras show
traces of Mongol ancestry,
while Persians along
the border with Iraq
have ties to Iraqi
Arab Shia culture.
Regional dialects
spoken by Tajiks in
Afghanistan show an
ancient affinity with
the dialects spoken
in Khurasan and Tabaristan.
As Persian was the
lingua franca of the
Iranian plateau (the
highlands between
Iraq and the Indus)
it has come to be
used by numerous groups
as a second language
including Turkic and
Arab groups. While
most Persians in Iran
adhere to Shia Islam,
those to the east
remain followers of
Sunni Islam. Small
groups of Persians
continue to follow
the pre-Islamic faith
of Zoroastrianism
in Iran, and in Pakistan
and India where usage
of the Persian language
is largely for liturgical
purposes.
While a categorization of a 'Persian'
ethnic group persists
in the West, Persians
have generally been
a pan-national group
often comprised of
regional peoples who
rarely refer to themselves
as 'Persians' and
sometimes use the
term 'Iranian' instead.
The synonymous usage
of Iranian and Persian
persisted over the
centuries despite
the varied meanings
of Iranian, which
includes different
but related languages
and ethnic groups.
As a pan-national
group, defining Persians
as an ethnic group,
at least in terms
used in the West,
is problematic since
Persians are as varied
as groups such as
Arabs.
The term Persia was adopted by all western
languages through
the Greeks and was
used as an official
name for Iran by the
West until 1935. Due
to that label, all
Iranians were considered
Persian. Also, many
others who embraced
the Persian language
and culture are also
often referred to
as Persian as a part
of Persian civilization
(culturally and/or
linguistically).
Ancient
The first known written record about
Persians is from an
Assyrian inscription
of the 834 BCE, which
mentions both Parsua
(Persians) and Muddai
(Medes). The term
used by Assyrians,
Parsua, was a general
designation to refer
to southwestern Iranian
tribes (who referred
to themselves as Aryans
as an ethnic designation
or showing the nobility).
Such words were taken
from the Old Persian
Pârsâ.
The Greeks (who tended
earlier to use names
related to "Median")
began in the fifth
century to use adjectives
such as Perses, Persica
or Persis for Cyrus
the Great's empire
(a word meaning "country"
being understood)[6],
which is where the
word Persian in English
comes from. In the
later parts of the
Bible, where this
kingdom is frequently
mentioned (Books of
Esther, Daniel, Ezra
and Nehemya), it is
called "Paras",
or sometimes "Paras
ve Madai" i.e.
"Persia and Media".
One of the roots of creative simulations
during the Parthian
Empire was the Achaemenid
Empire. Courtiers
spoke Persian and
used the Pahlavi script.
During the Sassanid
Empire the intermingling
of Persians, Medes,
Parthians and indigeneous
people of Iran, including
the Elamites gained
more ground and a
homogeneous Iranian
identity was created
to the extent that
all were just called
Iranians/Persians
irrespective of clannish
affiliations and regional
linguistic or dialectical
alterities. The Elamite
language may have
survived as late as
the early Islamic
period. Ibn al-Nadim
among other Arab medieval
historians, for instance,
wrote that "The
Iranian languages
are Fahlavi (Pahlavi),
Dari, Khuzi, Persian
and Suryani",
and Ibn Moqaffa noted
that Khuzi was the
unofficial language
of the royalty of
Persia, "Khuz"
being the corrupted
name for Elam. However
the Elamite identity
might have vanished
already.
Islamic era
Most of Iranian adopted
Islam. The term
Persian continued
to refer to various
Iranic people including
speakers of Chorasmian
Language, old Tabari
language, Old Azari
language, Laki and
Kurdish speakers.
The Arab historian Masudi also refers
to various Persian
dialects and the speakers
of these various Persian
dialects as Persian.
While considering
modern Persian (Dari)
to be one of these
dialects, he also
mentions Pahlavi and
Old Azari, as well
as other Persian languages.
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn
al-Husayn Al-Masudi
(896-956), the Arab
historian states:
“ The Persians are a people whose borders
are the Mahat Mountains
and Azarbaijan up
to Armenia and Arran,
and Bayleqan and Darband,
and Ray and Tabaristan
and Masqat and Shabaran
and Jorjan and Abarshahr,
and that is Nishabur,
and Herat and Marv
and other places in
land of Khorasan,
and Sejistan and Kerman
and Fars and Ahvaz...All
these lands were once
one kingdom with one
sovereign and one
language...although
the language differed
slightly. The language,
however, is one, in
that its letters are
written the same way
and used the same
way in composition.
There are, then, different
languages such as
Pahlavi, Dari, Azari,
as well as other Persian
languages. In Arabic
as there is no letter
'P', they referred
to Persia and vs as
Fars (Faras) and Farsis.
Modern era
The name "Persia" was the "official"
name of Iran in the
Western world before
1935, but Persian
people inside their
country since the
Sassanid period (226–651
A.D.) have called
it "Iran".
Accordingly the term
"Persian"
was used in the Western
world as the people
inhabiting Iran. Ramsay
MacDonald (1866-1937),
the Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom,
and the British ambassador
in Iran Percy Loraine
use Persian and Persian
people to talk about
Iranian people and
government. On 21
March 1935, the ruler
of the country, Reza
Shah Pahlavi, issued
a decree asking foreign
delegates to use the
term Iran in formal
correspondence. From
then on "Iranian"
and "Persian"
was applied interchangeably
to the population
of Iran. It is still
historically being
used to designate
some Iranian people
living in Greater
Iran.
Sub-groups
Ethnic Persians can
also be found outside
Iran and include the
Tajiks and Farsiwan
of Afghanistan, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, Xinjiang
province of China
and Northern Pakistan.
Like the Persians
of Iran, the Tajiks
are descendents of
various Iranian peoples,
including Persians
from Iran, as well
as numerous invaders.
Tajiks and their cousins
the Farsiwan have
a particular affinity
with Persians in neighboring
Khorasan due to historical
interaction some stemming
from the Islamic period.
Other smaller groups include the Qizilbash
of Afghanistan and
Pakistan who are related
to the Farsiwan and
Azerbaijanis. In the
Caucasus, the Tats
are concentrated in
Azerbaijan, Armenia,
and Russian Dagestan
and their origins
are traced to Sassanid
merchants who settled
in the region. Parsis,
a Zoroastrian sect
of western India and
Pakistan, centred
around Gujarat and
Mumbai, are also largely
descended from Persian
Zoroastrians. The
Iranis, another small
community in western
India, are descended
from more recent Persian
Zoroastrian immigrants.
In addition, the Hazara
and Aimaq are ethnic
groups of partial
Persianized Mongol
and Turkic origin.
History
The Persians are descendents
of the Aryan (Indo-Iranian)
tribes that began
migrating from Central
Asia into what is
now Iran in the second
millennium BCE.[17][18][19]
The Persian language
and other Iranian
tongues emerged as
these Aryan tribes
split up into two
major groups, the
Persians and the Medes,
and intermarried with
peoples indigenous
to the Iranian plateau
such as the Elamites.]
The first mention
of the Persians dates
to the 9th century
BCE, when they appear
as the Parsu in Assyrian
sources, as a people
living at the southeastern
shores of Lake Urmia.
The ancient Persians from the province
of Pars became the
rulers of a large
empire under the Achaemenid
dynasty (Hakhamaneshiyan)
in the sixth century
BCE, reuniting with
the tribes and other
provinces of the ancient
Iranian plateau and
forming the Persian
Empire. Over the centuries
Persia was ruled by
various dynasties;
some of them were
ethnic Iranians including
the Achaemenids, Parthians
(Ashkanian), Sassanids
(Sassanian), Buwayhids
and Samanids, and
some of them were
not, such as the Seleucids,
Ummayyads, Abbasids,
and Seljuk Turks.
The founding dynasty of the empire, the
Achaemenids, and later
the Sassanids, were
from the southern
region of Iran, Pars.
The latter Parthian
dynasty arose from
the north. However,
according to archaeological
evidence found in
modern day Iran in
the form of cuneiforms
that go back to the
Achaemenid era, it
is evident that the
native name of Parsa
(Persia) had been
applied to Iran from
its birth.
Language
The Persian language
is one of the world's
oldest languages still
in use today, and
is known to have one
of the most powerful
literary traditions,
with formidable Persian
poets like Ferdowsi,
Hafez, Khayyam, Attar,
Saadi, Nezami, Roudaki,
Rumi and Sanai. By
native speakers as
well as in Urdu, Bengali,
Turkish, Arabic and
other neighboring
languages, it is called
Farsi, and additionally
Dari or Tajiki in
the eastern parts
of Greater Iran.
"Persian" has been historically
referred to some Iranian
languages, however
what is called today
as Persian language
is part of the Western
group of the Iranian
languages branch of
the Indo-European
language family. Today,
speakers of the western
dialect of Persian
form the majority
in Iran. The Eastern
dialect, also called
Dari or Tajiki, forms
majorities in Tajikistan,
and Afghanistan,[24]
and a large minority
in Uzbekistan. Smaller
groups of Persian-speakers
are found in Pakistan,
western China (Xinjiang),
as well as in the
UAE, Bahrain, Iraq,
Kuwait, Oman and Azerbaijan.
Religion
The Persian civilization
spawned three major
religions: Zoroastrianism,
Manichaeism, which
heavily influenced
Saint Augustine before
he turned to Christianity,
and the Bahá'í
Faith. Another religion
that arose from ancient
Iran is Mazdakism,
which has been dubbed
the first communistic
ideology. Both Mazdakism
and Manichaeism were
sub-branches of Zoroastrianism
that is said to be
the first monotheistic
religion.
Sunni (Shafii
and Hanafi)
was the dominant form
of Islam in most of
Iran until rise of
Safavid Empire. There
were however some
exceptions to this
general domination
of the Sunni creed
which emerged in the
form of the Zaydis
of Tabaristan, the
Buwayhid, the rule
of Sultan Muhammad
Khudabandah (r. Shawwal
703-Shawwal 716/1304-1316CE),
the Hashashin and
the Sarbedaran. Nevertheless,
apart from this domination
there existed, firstly,
throughout these nine
centuries, Shia inclinations
among many Sunnis
of this land and,
secondly, all three
surviving branches
of Shi'a
Islam, Ithna
Ashari,
Ismaili, as well
as Zaydis
had prevalence in
some parts of Iran.
During this period,
Shia in Iran were
nourished from Kufah,
Baghdad and later
from Najaf and Hillah.
Shiism were dominant
sect in Tabaristan,
Qom, Kashan, Avaj
and Sabzevar. In many
other areas the population
of Shia and Sunni
was mixed. In recent
centuries Ismailis
have also largely
been an Indo-Iranian
community,
Many scholars and scientists in Persia
who lived before the
Safavid era, such
as Avicenna, Geber,
Alhacen, Al-Farabi
and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi,
were Shi'a Muslims,
as was most of Iran's
elite, while other
greatest Sunni Muslim
scientists, scholars
and personaliries
were Persian or had
Persian descent, including
Abu Dawood, Hakim
al-Nishaburi,Salman
the Persian, Al-Tabarani,
Ghazali, Imam Bukhari,
Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa'i
and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi,
amongst many others.
Abu Hanifa, the founder
of the Sunni Hanafi
school of Islamic
jurisprudence is also
widely accepted of
Persian ancestry.
The first Shia dynasty of Iran, the Safavid
dynasty, originaly
followed Alevi sect,
in Iran, propagated
the Ithna
Ashari, made Twelver
law the law of the
land, and patronized
Ithna Ashari scholarship.
For this, Ithna Ashari
ulama "crafted
a new theory of government"
which held that while
"not truly legitimate",
the Safavid monarchy
would be "blessed
as the most desirable
form of government
during the period
of waiting" for
the twelfth imam.
The Sunni majority
was forcibly converted
to Shia denomination
by the Safavid dynasty.
Most Persians in Iran are Ithna Ashari
Shia Muslims, with
some communities practicing
Shi'a Sufism. There
is also a sizeable
number of Shafi`i
Sunni Muslims (mainly
in the south), primarily
Kurds.Balochi along
the Pakistani border
are Sunni Hanafi.
There are also smaller
communities of Zoroastrians,
Christians, Jews,
and Bahá'ís.
Culture
Persian culture can
be defined through
its films, as Persian
cinema has attained
a substantial amount
of international and
critical acclaim through
such films as Children
of Heaven and Taste
of Cherry, which give
both insights into
the current state
of Persian culture
and profound depictions
of the general human
condition.
Arts
The artistic heritage
of Persia is eclectic
and includes major
contributions from
both east and west.
Persian art borrowed
heavily from the indigenous
Elamite civilization
and Mesopotamia and
later from Hellenism
(as can be seen with
statues from the Greek
period). In addition,
due to Persia's somewhat
central location,
it has served as a
fusion point between
eastern and western
arts and architecture
as Greco-Roman influence
was often fused with
ideas and techniques
from India and China.
When talking of the
creative Persian arts
one has to include
a geographic area
that actually extends
into Central Asia,
the Caucasus, Asia
Minor, and Iraq as
well as modern Iran.
This vast geographic
region has been pivotal
in the development
of the Persian arts
as a whole.
Architecture
The ruins of Persepolis
known as the Takht-e
Jamshid or throne
of Jamshid is part
of the ancient architectural
tradition of Persia.Architecture
is one of the areas
where Persians have
made outstanding contributions.
Ancient examples can
be seen in the ruins
at Persepolis, while
in modern times monuments
such as the Tomb of
Omar Khayyam are displays
of the varied tradition
in Persia. Various
cities in Iran are
historical displays
of a distinctive Persian
style that can be
seen in the Kharaghan
twin towers of Qazvin
province and the Shah
Mosque found in Isfahan.
Persian architecture
streams over the borders
of Iran and is clearly
seen throughout Central
Asia as with the Bibi
Khanum Mosque in Samarkand
as well as Samanids
mausoleum in Bukhara
and the Minaret of
Jam in western Afghanistan.
Islamic architecture
was founded on the
base established by
the Persians. Persian
techniques can also
be clearly seen in
the structures of
the Taj Mahal at Agra
and the Blue Mosque
in Istanbul.
Rugs
Gottfried Semper called
rugs "the original
means of separating
space". Rug weaving
was thus developed
by ancient civilizations
as a basis of architecture.
Persian rugs are said
to be the most ldetailed
hand-made works of
art. Also known as
the starus Rugs very
important in the culture.
Interworking of fibers
to produce cloth was
known in Iran as early
as the 5th millennium
BCE.[29] When the
famous Greek commander
Themistocles was asking
for asylum from Persia
, the “Persian carpet”
was mentioned in his
speech:
Music
The music of Persia
goes back to the days
of Barbod in the royal
Sassanid courts, and
even earlier. As it
evolved, a distinct
eastern Mediterranean
style emerged as Persian
folk music is often
quite similar to the
music of modern Iran's
neighbors. In modern
times, musical tradition
has seen setbacks
due to the religious
government's policies
in Iran, but has survived
in the form of Iranian
exiles and dissidents
who have turned to
Western rock music
with a distinctive
Iranian style as well
as Persian rap.
Women
Persian women have
played an important
role throughout history.
Scheherazade, though
fictional, is an important
figure of female wit
and intelligence,
while the beauty of
Mumtaz Mahal inspired
the building of the
Taj Mahal itself.
While in ancient times,
aristocratic females
possessed numerous
rights sometimes on
par with men, generally
Persian women did
not attain greater
parity until the 20th
century. However,
Táhirih, the
poet, had a great
influence on modern
women's movements
throughout the Middle
East. The Táhirih
Justice Center is
named after her. Females
were given such status
in ancient Persia
that they were the
first to ever serve
in a national military.
Persian women today serve an active role
in society. Persian
women today tend to
take a more active
role in social, religious
and family affairs
than their Arab counterparts.[citation
needed] Persian women
can be seen working
in a variety of areas
such as politics,
law enforcement, transportation
industries, etc. Universities
still tend to be dominated
by women in Iran and
one may find a large
number of female legislators
in the Iranian Majlis
(parliament),[citation
needed] even by western
standards. Former
Vice President Masoumeh
Ebtekar, noted for
her eloquence in dealing
with western media,
set a new standard
for aspiring Iranian
female politicians
while serving under
President Khatami.
Outstanding Iranian
female academics,
such as Laleh Bakhtiar
have forever left
a mark in the fields
they contribute to.
Because of some restrictions, women in
Iran suffer from inequality
in many cases. Human
rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran are
not very well respected,
hence some women prefer
to migrate and continue
their lives in other
countries.
Page last updated:
Tuesday, February
14, 2006 12:57:03
PM -0500
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