Persians
Persian identity is traced to the ancient Indo-European Aryans who arrived 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 Aryan and non-Aryan 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.[1] Numerous dialects and regional identities emerged over time, while a Persian national orientation fully manifested itself by the 20th century, mirroring developments in post-Ottoman Turkey, the Arab world and Europe. With the losses of Afghanistan and territories in the Caucasus[2], Persian identity became focused upon the current borders of Iran. Looking to link the modern state with the imperialist past, the Reza Shah government switched the country name from Persia to Iran in 1935, signaling the emergence of Iranian nationalism. Later, following the Iranian Revolution, emphasis shifted to Shia Islamic values. 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.
Persians, even under theocratic governments, have shown a strong predilection towards urbanization and modernity. Exiled communities in the United States and Europe have continued to maintain close ties with their families in Iran and are a source of Western influence. In addition, with the break-up of the former Soviet Union, Persians have also begun to foster closer cultural ties with closely related groups in the Caucasus including the Tats and Talysh as well as Central Asian Persians in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Terminology
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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. Therefore, many Western sources, when regarding Iran's history, will label many non-Persian Iranians as Persians, which distinguishes ethnicity. 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 linguistically).
The first known written record about them is from an Assyrian inscription of the 834 BC, which mentions both Parsua (Persians) and Muddai (Medes).[3][4] The term used by Assyrians, Parsua, was a general designation to refer to southwestern Iranian tribes (who referred to themselves as Aryans). Greeks rendered this word as Persis, which is where the word Persian in English comes from. In Arabic as there is no letter P, they referred to Persia and vs as Fars (Faras) and Farsis.
Historically, the term Persian has referenced various Iranic people including speakers of Chorasmian Language[5], old Tabari language[6], Old Azari language [7], Laki and Kurdish speakers[8].
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[9]:
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.
The term Persians also refers to the people speaking the Western dialect of Persian language and living in the modern country of Iran, as well as the descendants of the people who emigrated from the territory of modern-day Iran to neighboring countries, such as the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey and more recently, to the West (notably USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada…).
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 BC.[10][11][12] 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.[13][14] The first mention of the Persians dates to the 9th century BC, 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 BC, 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.[15][16]
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 Fārsī, and additionally Dari or Tajiki in the eastern parts of Greater Iran.
Persian is part of the Iranian sub-section of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Today, Persian is has a Western Dialect, forming the marjority in Iran. The Eastern dialect, also called Dari or Tajiki, forms majorities in Tajikistan, and Afghanistan,[17] 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. The religion of Zoroastrianism originates from ancient Persia. Zoroastrianism is said to be the first monotheistic religion.
Most Persians in Iran are Shia Muslims, while some communities of Shia Sufis also exist. There is also a sizeable number of Sunni Muslims. Historically, some of the greatest Sunni Muslim scholars were Persian or had Persian descent, including Abu Dawood, Al Muslim, Hakim al-Nishaburi,Salman the Persian, Al-Tabarani, Ghazali, Imam Bukhari, Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa'i and Abu Hanifa, amongst many others. There are also smaller communities of Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, and Bahá'ís. Bahá'ís are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the country.[18] There are also Persians who are atheist and agnostic. Also see religious minorities in Iran.
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.
Statues
Persians' artistic expression can be seen as far back as the Achaemenid period as numerous statues depicting various important figures, usually of political significance as well as religious, such as the Immortals (elite troops of the emperor) are indicative of the influence of Mesopotamia and ancient Babylon. What is perhaps most representative of a more indigenous artistic expression are Persian miniatures. Although the influence of Chinese art is apparent, local Persian artists used the art form in various ways including portraits that could be seen from the Ottoman Empire to the courts of the Safavids and Mughals.
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.
Architecture
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 B.C. [19] When the famous Greek commander Themistocles was asking for asylum from Persia , the “Persian carpet” was mentioned in his speech:
| "he [Artaxerxes I of Persia] commanded him to speak freely what he would concerning the affairs of Greece. Themistocles replied, that a man’s discourse was like to a rich Persian carpet, the beautiful figures and patterns of which can only be shown by spreading and extending it out; when it is contracted and folded up, they are obscured and lost; and, therefore, he desired time." |
| Plutarch (Plutarch’s Lives,Chpter 49 , Themistocles [20]) |
Gardens
The Persian gardens were designed to reflect paradise on earth;[citation needed] The English word paradise is thought to come from the Persian word Pardis, which refers to these gardens.
Although having existed since ancient times, the Persian garden gained greater prominence during the Islamic period as Arab rulers cultivated Persian techniques to create gardens of Persian design from Al-Andalus to Kashgar.[citation needed] Persian gardens are immortalized in the One Thousand and One Nights and the works of Omar Khayyam.
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.[citation needed]
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.
See also
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References
- ^ [www.iranologie.com/history/history9.html] Lands of Iran Encyclopedia Iranica (July 25, 2005) (retrieved 3 March 2008)
- ^ Treaty of Turkmenchay , Treaty of Gulistan and Anglo-Persian War
- ^ Abdolhossein Zarinkoob "Ruzgaran : tarikh-e Iran az aghaz ta soqut-e saltnat-e Pahlevi" pp. 37
- ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamaneshi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 155
- ^ For example, Abu Rayhan Biruni, a native speaker of the Eastern Iranian language Chorasmian mentions in his Āthār al-bāqiyah ʻan al-qurūn al-xāliyah that: "the people of Khwarizm, they are a branch of the Persian tree." See: Abu Rahyan Biruni, "Athar al-Baqqiya 'an al-Qurun al-Xaliyyah"(Vestiges of the past : the chronology of ancient nations), Tehran, Miras-e-Maktub, 2001. Original Arabic of the quote: "و أما أهل خوارزم، و إن کانوا غصنا ً من دوحة الفُرس"(pg 56)
- ^ The language used in the ancient Marzbānnāma was, in the words of the 13th historian Sa'ad ad-Din Warawini, “ the language of Ṭabaristan and old, original Persian (fārsī-yi ḳadīm-i bāstān)”See: Kramers, J.H. "Marzban-nāma." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online. 18 November 2007 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-4990>
- ^ The language of Tabriz, being an Iranian language during the time of Qatran Tabrizi, was not the standard Khurasani Parsi-ye Dari. Qatran Tabrizi(11th century) has an interesting couplet mentioning this fact: Riyahi Khoi, Mohammad Amin. “Molehaazi darbaareyeh Zabaan-I Kohan Azerbaijan”(Some comments on the ancient language of Azerbaijan), ‘Itilia’at Siyasi Magazine, volume 181-182. رياحي خويي، محمدامين، «ملاحظاتي دربارهي زبان كهن آذربايجان»: اطلاعات سياسي - اقتصادي، شمارهي 182-181 Also available at: [[1]] بلبل به سان مطرب بیدل فراز گل گه پارسی نوازد، گاهی زند دری Translation: The nightingale is on top of the flower like a minstrel who has lost her heart It bemoans sometimes in Parsi (Persian) and sometimes in Dari (Khurasani Persian)}}
- ^ Lady (Mary) Shiel in her observation of Persia during the Qajar describes the Persian tribes and Koords/Laks identified themselves and were identified commonly as Old Persians. See: Shiel, Lady (Mary). Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia. London: John Murray, 1856. See here:[2], excerpt: The PERSIAN TRIBES. The tribes are divided into three races-Toorks, Leks, first are the invaders from Toorkistan, who, from time 'immemorial, have established themselves in Persia, and who still preserve their language. The Leks form the clans of genuine Persian blood, such as the Loors, BekhtiaTees, &c. To them might be added the Koords, as members of the Persian family; but their numbers in the dominions of the Shah are comparatively few, the greater part of that widely-spread people being attached to Turkey. Collectively the Koords are so numerous that they might be regarded as a nation divided into distinct tribes. Who are the Leks, and who are the Koords? This in- quiry I cannot solve. I never met any one in Persia, either eel or moolla, who could give the least elucidation of this question. All they could say was, that both these races were Foors e kadeem,-old Persians. They both speak dialects the greater part of which is Persian, bearing a strong resemblance to the colloquial language of the present day, divested of its large Arabic mixture. These dialects are not perfectly alike, though it is said that Leks and Koords are able to comprehend each other. One would be disposed to consider them as belonging to the same stock,. did they not both disavow the connection. A Lek will- admit that a Koord, like himself, is an 11 old Persian," but he denies that the families are identical, and a Koord views the question in the same light.
- ^ (Al Mas'udi, Kitab al-Tanbih wa-l-Ishraf, De Goeje, M.J. (ed.), Leiden, Brill, 1894, pp. 77-8). Original Arabic from www.alwaraq.net: فالفرس أمة حد بلادها الجبال من الماهات وغيرها وآذربيجان إلى ما يلي بلاد أرمينية وأران والبيلقان إلى دربند وهو الباب والأبواب والري وطبرستن والمسقط والشابران وجرجان وابرشهر، وهي نيسابور، وهراة ومرو وغير ذلك من بلاد خراسان وسجستان وكرمان وفارس والأهواز، وما اتصل بذلك من أرض الأعاجم في هذا الوقت وكل هذه البلاد كانت مملكة واحدة ملكها ملك واحد ولسانها واحد، إلا أنهم كانوا يتباينون في شيء يسير من اللغات وذلك أن اللغة إنما تكون واحدة بأن تكون حروفها التي تكتب واحدة وتأليف حروفها تأليف واحد، وإن اختلفت بعد ذلك في سائر الأشياء الأخر كالفهلوية والدرية والآذرية وغيرها من لغات الفرس.
- ^ Iran :: Ethnic groups - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ Stearns, Peter N. (ed.). Encyclopedia of World History (6th ed.). The Houghton Mifflin Company/Bartleby.com.
The Medes and the Persians, c.1500-559
- ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 20
- ^ Iran. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
- ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 12-19
- ^ Persia - Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
- ^ The Splendor of Persia: The Land and the People - by Robert Payne
- ^ BBC News - Afghan poll's ethnic battleground
- ^ Federation Internationale des Ligues des Droits de L'Homme (2003-08). "Discrimination against religious minorities in IRAN" (PDF). fidh.org. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Rubinson, Karen S. "carpets :vi.pre-Islamic carpets (pages 858 – 861)". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
- ^ Themistocles. Plutarch. 1909-14. Plutarch’s Lives. The Harvard Classics
External links
- Ethnologue's entry for Western Persian
- Iranian/Persian Inventions and contribution to human civilization
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