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For other uses, see Persians (disambiguation).
Persian
(Persians)
File:21 famous Persian people.png
1st row: Cyrus the Great • Darius I • Xerxes I • Mithridates VI • Shapur I • Shapur II • Babak Khorramdin

2nd row: Ismail Samani • Al-Khwārizmī • Rudaki • Ferdowsi • Abu Rayhan Biruni • Avicenna • Omar Khayyám

3rd row: Al-Ghazali • Asadi Tusi • Attar Neyshapuri • Al-Razi • Rumi • Hafez • Amir Kabir
Total population
ca. 76 to 80 million
Regions with significant populations
 Iran
        (2009 estimate )		37,800,000-48,200,000[1][2][3]
 Afghanistan
    		11,648,000[4]
 Tajikistan5,849,331[5]
 Uzbekistan
    (suggestive estimates)		1,400,000
6-7,000,000[6]
[7]
 Pakistan
    (suggestive estimates)		1,377,000
2,000,000[8]
[9][10]
 Russia170,000[11][12]
 Germany200,000[13][14]
 Qatar160,000[15]
 United States743,000[12][16] [17]
 Kyrgyzstan47,500[18]
 China41,028[19]
 Canada173,760[20][21]
 United Arab Emirates238,250[22]
 United Kingdom275,000 + 24,330[23]
 Israel135,000[24]
 France62,000[12]
 India60,000[12]
 Bahrain48,000[25]
 Netherlands38,000[12]
 Oman25,000[15]
 Australia22,550 + 19,200 Hazara[26]
 Greece20,000[12]
 Kuwait20,000[12]
 South Korea,
 Japan,
 Philippines		50,000[12]
 Sweden50,000[27]
 Turkey31,394[28]
 New Zealand10,000
 Belgium6,000[12]
 Norway6,000[12]
 Italy5,910[29]
 South Africa5,000[12]
 Finland2,000[12]
Languages
Persian
varieties of Dari, Hazaragi, and Tajiki
Religion
Shia Islam (mainly Twelver and Ismaili), Sunni Islam, Bahai, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism

The Persian people[2] are part of the Iranic people[30] who speak the modern Persian language[31] and closely akin Iranian peoples languages.[32][33]. The synonymous usage of Iranian and Persian has persisted over the centuries although many modern source use Iranic as wider term that includes both Persian as well as related Iranic languages and ethnic groups.

The origin of the Persian people is traced to the ancient Indo-Iranians, who arrived in parts of Greater Iran circa 2000-1500 BCE. Starting around 550 BCE, from the region of Persis in southern Iran, encompassing the present Fars province, the ancient Persians spread their language and culture to other parts of the Iranian plateau [34][35] Some names such as "Tat",[36] "Tajik",[37] "Sart" and "'Ajam"[38] have also been used by foreigners or Persians in reference to Persians.[39][40] era. The Persian speakers of Central Asia are known as Tajiks[41] and inhabit Tajikistan and parts of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan[42] while the term Tajik is also used for Iranic people who speak Pamiri languages.

While a categorization of a 'Persian' ethnic group persists in the West, Persians have generally been a pan-national group often comprising regional peoples who less often refer to themselves as 'Persians' and have more often used the term 'Iranian' (in the ethnic-cultural sense) instead. As a pan-national group, defining Persians as an ethnic group, at least in terms used in the West, is problematic since Persian includes several Iranian peoples including the speakers of modern persian(c.f. Han Chinese who speak several related dialects).

Terminology

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

Costumes of an ancient Persian noblemen and soldiers.
File:Moderniranianlanguagesmap.jpg
Geographic distribution of modern Iranian languages: Modern Persian (green) and other related Persian (some descendant of Middle Persian like Luri [43] in Red) also shown in the map

The first known written record of the term Persian is from Assyrian inscriptions of the 9th century BCE, which mention both Parsuash and Parsua .[44][45] These cognate words were taken from old Iranian Parsava and presumably meant border, borderland and were geographical designations for Iranian populations. Nonetheless, Parsua and Parsuash, were two different geographical locations, the latter referring to southwestern Iran, known in Old Persian as Pârsa (Modern Fars). 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,[46] 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" (Hebrew פרס), or sometimes "Paras ve Madai" (פרס ומדי) i.e. "Persia and Media".

One of the roots of creative stimulations during the Parthian Empire was the Achaemenid Empire. Courtiers spoke Persian and used the Pahlavi script.[47] 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 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. As to Strabo, the Cyrtians who were plausibly the ancestors of the modern Kurds were called one of the Persian tribes. Cyrtians, the generally accepted progenitors of the Kurds and Lurs might already have been significantly scattered in the Zagros from Persis into Media.[48][49]

Islamic era

The term Persian continued to refer to various Iranic people including speakers of Chorasmian Language,[50] old Tabari language,[51] Old Azari language ,[52] Laki and Kurdish speakers.[53]

The Arab historian Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn Al-Masudi (896-956) 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. Al-Masudi states:[54]

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.

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; for instance, Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937), the Prime-Minister of the United Kingdom, and the British ambassador in Iran, Percy Loraine, used Persian and Persian people to talk about the Iranian people and government.[55] 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.[56][57][58]

Sub-groups

Main articles: Persian-speakers of Iran, Iranian languages, Lurs, Talysh, Gilak, Mazandarani, Tājik people, Hazara people, Farsiwan, Kizilbash, and Tats

Persians can be found in Iran, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Northern Pakistan.[59][60] Like the Persians of Iran (Western Persians), the Tajiks (Eastern Persians) are descendants of various Iranian peoples, including Persians from Iran, as well as numerous invaders. Tajiks and Farsiwan have a particular affinity with Persians in neighboring Khorasan due to historical interaction some stemming from the Islamic period. Scholars also include Iranian languagess speakers such as Talysh, Gilak, Lurs, Mazandaranis and speakers of Central Iranian languages in Iran as under the term Persian by.[32] Specifically, the Lurs speak an an Archaic Persian language.[32]

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 centered around Gujarat and Mumbai and also found in southern Pakistan, while the Parsees, are also largely descended from Persian Zoroastrians. The Iranis, another small community in western South Asia, are descended from more recent Persian Zoroastrian immigrants. In addition, the Hazara and Aimaq of Afghanistan are ethnic groups of partial Persianized Mongol and Turkic origin.

History

See also: Persian Empire, History of Iran, History of Tajikistan, History of Uzbekistan, and History of Central Asia

The Persians are believed to be descendents of the Indo-Iranian (Indo-Europeans) tribes that began migrating from Central Asia into what is now Iran in the second millennium BCE.[61][62][63] The Persian language and other Iranian tongues emerged as these Indo-Iranian tribes split up into two major groups, the Persians and the Medes, and intermarried with minority peoples indigenous to the Iranian plateau such as the Elamites.[64][65] 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.

Achaemenid Empire at greatest extent.

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.[66][67]

Language

Main articles: Persian language and Iranian languages

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" has historically referred to some Iranian languages, however what today is referred to as the 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,[68] and a large minority in Uzbekistan. Smaller groups of Persian-speakers are found in Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Pakistan, western China (Xinjiang), as well as in the UAE, Bahrain, Sweden, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Azerbaijan.

Religion

Main articles: Shia Sunni relations, Islam in Iran, Islam in Afghanistan, Islam in Tajikistan, and Islam in Uzbekistan

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 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 Zaydīs 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, Twelver, Ismaili, as well as Zaidiyyah had prevalence in some parts of Iran. During this period, Shia in Iran were nourished from Kufa, Baghdad and later from Najaf and Hillah.[69] 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,[70]

Many scholars and scientists in Persia who lived before the Safavid era, such as Avicenna, Jābir ibn Hayyān, Salman the Persian, Al-Farabi and Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, 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, 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 regime, the Safavid dynasty in Iran, propagated the Twelver faith, made Twelver law the law of the land, and patronized Twelver scholarship. For this, Twelver 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.[71]

The entrance to Shah Mosque (aka Imam Mosque or Shah Jame' Mosque) in Isfahan. This mosque is an example of Persian architecture during the Safavid dynasty.

Today, most Persians are Twelver Shia succeeded by Hanafi Sunni Muslims. There is also a sizeable number of Shafi`i Sunni Muslims in southern Iran and amongst Kurds. Small Ismaili Shia minorities also exist in scattered pockets. Some communities practice Shi'a Sufism. There are also smaller communities of Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, and Bahá'ís. Bahá'ís are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran.[72] There exists 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

Main article: Persian art

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

Main article: Persian miniature

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

Main article: Persian Music

The music of Persia goes back to the days of Barbad 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

Main article: Persian 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

Main article: Persian rug

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 detailed 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.[73] 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[74])

Gardens

Main article: Persian 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. Persian gardens are immortalized in the One Thousand and One Nights and the works of Omar Khayyam.

Women

Main articles: Iranian women, Gender roles in Afghanistan, and Women in Tajikistan

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. In ancient times, aristocratic females possessed numerous rights sometimes on par with men, however Persian women did not attain greater parity until the 20th century. Táhirih, the poet, had a great influence on modern women's movements throughout the Middle East. The Táhirih Justice Center is named after her. [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.

See also

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References

  1. ^ CIA world factbook Iran, November 30, 2009
  2. ^ a b Library of Congress, Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. "Ethnic Groups and Languages of Iran" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  3. ^ UN Refugee Agency: about 50% of the total number of Afghan refugees in Iran in 2006 (920,000)
  4. ^ "Afghanistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. December 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  5. ^ "Tajikistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. December 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  6. ^ "Uzbekistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. December 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  7. ^ Richard Foltz, "The Tajiks of Uzbekistan", Central Asian Survey, 15(2), 213-216 (1996).
  8. ^ There are 1,000,000 Persian-speakers native to Pakistan and 220,000 Tajik war-refugees from Afghanistan remain in Pakistan. Ethnologue.com's entry for Languages of Pakistan. Census of Afghans in Pakistan.
  9. ^ http://www.farsinet.com/farsi/
  10. ^ http://i-cias.com/e.o/persian_l.htm
  11. ^ 2002 Russian census
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l The Persian Diaspora, List of Persians and Persian Speaking Peoples living outside of Iran, Worldwide Outreach to Persians, Outreach to Muslims around the Globe
  13. ^ Persian World Outreach - Persian-speaking people outside of Iran
  14. ^ GTZ: Migration and development – Afghans in Germany: estimate for Tajiks based on total of 100,000 Afghans in Germany.
  15. ^ a b Ethnologue report for language code:pes
  16. ^ THE IRANIAN: Iranian-American stats, Phyllis McIntosh
  17. ^ This figure only includes Tajiks from Afghanistan. The population of people from Afghanistan the United States is estimated as 80,414 (2005). Of this number, 65% are estimated Tajiks. "US demographic census". Retrieved 2008-01-23.. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Robson, Barbara and Lipson, Juliene (2002) "Chapter 5(B)- The People: The Tajiks and Other Dari-Speaking Groups" The Afghans - their history and culture Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C., OCLC 56081073.
  18. ^ Ethnic composition of the population in Kyrgyzstan 1999-2007
  19. ^ [1]
  20. ^ 2006 Canadian Census
  21. ^ This figure only includes Tajiks from Afghanistan. The population of people with descent from Afghanistan in Canada is 48,090 according to Canada's 2006 Census.. Tajiks make up an estimated 33% of the population of Afghanistan. The Tajik population in Canada is estimated form these two figures. Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada.
  22. ^ "United Arab Emirates: Demography" (PDF). Encyclopædia Britannica World Data. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  23. ^ "Tension and Transformation" in Move Magazine, Autumn 2005
  24. ^ Jews, by country of origin and age
  25. ^ Ethnologue 14 report for Bahrain
  26. ^ 2054.0 Australian Census Analytic Program: Australians' Ancestries (2001 (Corrigendum))
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference http://www.scb.se/statistik/BE/AA9999/2003M00/BE90S%C3%859901_03.pdf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Number Of Foreigners Living In Turkey
  29. ^ http://www.caritasroma.it/Prima%20pagina/Download/Dossier2006/scheda%20di%20sintesi%202006.pdf
  30. ^ R.N Frye, "IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN" in Encycloapedia Iranica. "In the following discussion of “Iranian peoples,” the term “Iranian” may be understood in two ways. It is, first of all, a linguistic classification, intended to designate any society which inherited or adopted, and transmitted, an Iranian language. The set of Iranian-speaking peoples is thus considered a kind of unity, in spite of their distinct lineage identities plus all the factors which may havefurther differentiated any one group’s sense of self."
  31. ^ R. N. Fyre, "IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN" in Encycloapedia Iranica, "The largest group of people in present-day Iran arePersians (*q.v.) who speak dialects of the language called Fārsi in Persian, since it was primarily the tongue of the people of Fārs."
  32. ^ a b c C.S. Coon, "Iran:Demography and Ethnography" in Encycloapedia of Islam, Volme IV, E.J. Brill, pp 10,8. Excerpt: "The Lurs speak an aberrant form of Archaic Persian" See maps also on page 10.
  33. ^ Kathryn M. Coughlin, "Muslim cultures today: a reference guide," Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. pg 89: "...Iranians speak Persian or a Persian dialect such as Gilaki or Mazandarani"
  34. ^ http://www.iranologie.com/history/history9.html
  35. ^ Lands of Iran Encyclopedia Iranica (July 25, 2005) . Retrieved 3 March 2008.
  36. ^ R. Tapper "Local level construction of 'Turk' and 'Persian'" in Mohammad-Reza Djalili, Alessandro Monsutti, Anna Neubauer, "Le monde turco-Iranian en question", 2008. pg 72" Thus 'Tajik' means 'Persian-speaker living in Turkestan (Central Asia); non-Turk, non-Arab' (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary); while 'Tat' is a 'derisive term used by Turks for subject Persians and Kurds'(Hony 1957). "
  37. ^ Nayyar Shamsi, "Encyclopaedia of Political Geography", Anmol Publications PVT. LTD., 2006. pg 75: "The Tajiks are separate people in the region; they are Persian(Iranian), not Turkic origin and speak Persian
  38. ^ Graham E. Fuller, Rend Rahim Francke, "The Arab Shi'a: The Forgotten Muslims", Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. pg 40 "The fist is the presence of large number of Shi'ia of Persian descent, the 'Ajam .." Persians in Bahrain
  39. ^ R. Savory, "Iran Under the Safavids", Cambridge University Press, 2007. pg 31:"Another factor which complicated the situation confronting Shah Isma'il in 1501 was the mutual antipathy between the Tajik, or Iranian, elements in Safavid society, and the Turkish, or more properly Turcoman, tribal forces.."
  40. ^ J.R. Perry, "Karim Khan Zand",Oneworld, 2006, pg 6: "..In Safavid writings, it was applied indiscriminately to all Persians.."
  41. ^ J. Perry, "Tajiks in Encycloapedia Iranica", "By the eleventh century the Turks applied this term (Tajik) more specifically to the Persian Muslims in the Oxus basinand Khorasan"
  42. ^ http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/39.htm
  43. ^ Don Stillo, "Isfahan-Provincial Dialetcs" in Encyclopedia Iranica, Excerpt: "While the modern SWI languages, for instance, Persian, Lori-Baḵtiāri and others, are derived directly from Old Persian through Middle Persian/Pahlavi"
  44. ^ Abdolhossein Zarinkoob "Ruzgaran : tarikh-e Iran az aghaz ta soqut-e saltnat-e Pahlevi" pp. 37
  45. ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamaneshi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 155
  46. ^ Liddell and Scott, Lexicon of the Greek Language, Oxford, 1882, p 1205
  47. ^ http://www.livius.org/pan-paz/parthia/parthia02.html
  48. ^ BRUNNER, C. J. (2006). "IRAN, v(2). Pre-Islamic Period". Center for Iranian Studies, Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Columbia University. Retrieved 2009-05-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) [dead link]
  49. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger. "CYRTIANS". Center for Iranian Studies, Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Columbia University. Retrieved 2009-05-09. [dead link]
  50. ^ For example, Abu Rayhan Biruni, a native speaker of the Eastern Iranian language Khwarezmian 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: 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)
  51. ^ The language used in the ancient Marzbānnāma was, in the words of the 13th-century 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>
  52. ^ 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: Mohammad-Amin Riahi. “Molehaazi darbaareyeh Zabaan-I Kohan Azerbaijan”(Some comments on the ancient language of Azerbaijan), ‘Itilia’at Siyasi Magazine, volume 181-182. Also available at: [2]
    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)
  53. ^ 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:[3], 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.
  54. ^ (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.
  55. ^ Ghani, Cyrus. Iran and the Rise of Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power, 2001, p. 310, I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-629-8
  56. ^ Persian entry in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary
  57. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition (2000). [4]
  58. ^ Bausani, Alessandro. The Persians, from the earliest days to the twentieth century. 1971, Elek. ISBN 978-0-236-17760-8
  59. ^ Witek, W., 2001. "With Camera to India, Iran and Afghanistan: Access to Multimedia Sources of the Explorer, Professor Dr. Morgenstierne (1892-1975)". National Library of Norway, Oslo. In: Bentkowska-Kafel A. et al., 2005. Digital art history: A Subject in Transition. p. 49. ebrary, Inc. Published by Intellect Books ISBN 1-84150-116-6 ISBN 978-1-84150-116-1 [5], [6]
  60. ^ Ethnologue report for Languages of Pakistan
  61. ^ Iran :: Ethnic groups - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  62. ^ Stearns, Peter N. (ed.). Encyclopedia of World History (6th ed.). The Houghton Mifflin Company/Bartleby.com. The Medes and the Persians, c.1500-559
  63. ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 20
  64. ^ Iran. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
  65. ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 12-19
  66. ^ Persia - Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
  67. ^ The Splendor of Persia: The Land and the People - by Robert Payne
  68. ^ BBC News - Afghan poll's ethnic battleground
  69. ^ Four Centuries of Influence of Iraqi Shiism on Pre-Safavid Iran
  70. ^ Nasr, Vali, The Shia Revival, Norton, (2006), p.76
  71. ^ Nasr, Vali, The Shia Revival, Norton, (2006), p.74-75
  72. ^ Federation Internationale des Ligues des Droits de L'Homme (2003-08). "Discrimination against religious minorities in IRAN" (PDF). fidh.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2006-10-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  73. ^ Rubinson, Karen S. "carpets :vi.pre-Islamic carpets (pages 858 – 861)". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  74. ^ Themistocles. Plutarch. 1909-14. Plutarch’s Lives. The Harvard Classics
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