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139-613: The Pishdadian dynasty ( Persian : دودمان پیشدادیان Dūdmân-ē Pīšdâdīyân ) is a mythical line of primordial kings featured in Zoroastrian belief and Persian mythology . They are presented in legend as originally rulers of the world but whose realm was eventually limited to Ērānshahr or Greater Iran . Although there are scattered references to them in the Zoroastrian scriptures—the Avesta —and later Pahlavi literature , it

278-541: A calque of the Bactrian name of the region, Miirosan (Bactrian spelling: μιιροσανο, μιροσανο, earlier μιυροασανο), which had the same meaning 'sunrise, east' (corresponding to a hypothetical Proto-Iranian form *miθrāsāna ; see Mithra , Bactrian μιυρο [mihr], for the relevant solar deity ). The province was often subdivided into four quarters, such that Nishapur (present-day Iran), Marv (present-day Turkmenistan ), Herat and Balkh (present-day Afghanistan) were

417-655: A Dari dialect. In the 19th century, under the Qajar dynasty , the dialect that is spoken in Tehran rose to prominence. There was still substantial Arabic vocabulary, but many of these words have been integrated into Persian phonology and grammar. In addition, under the Qajar rule, numerous Russian , French , and English terms entered the Persian language, especially vocabulary related to technology. The first official attentions to

556-540: A descendant of Jam, who becomes king and imprisons Al-dahhak on Mount Damavand. According to Tabari, "some Magians claim that he took al-Dahhak captive and imprisoned him in the mountains, putting a group of jinn in charge of him; others assert that he killed him". The Muslim historians – including Tabari, Bal’ami, Tha’alebi , and Dinavari – give the same story, in essence, as the Shahnameh of Fereydoun's (Afaridhoun's) division of his realm between his three sons and

695-418: A dictionary called Words of Scientific Association ( لغت انجمن علمی ), which was completed in the future and renamed Katouzian Dictionary ( فرهنگ کاتوزیان ). The first academy for the Persian language was founded on 20 May 1935, under the name Academy of Iran . It was established by the initiative of Reza Shah Pahlavi , and mainly by Hekmat e Shirazi and Mohammad Ali Foroughi , all prominent names in

834-609: A fierce hatred for each other. During Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 's reign, the Umayyad government appointed Mudaris as governors in Khorasan, except for Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri's tenure in 735–738. Nasr's appointment came four months after Asad's death. In the interim, the sources report variously that the province was run either by the Syrian general Ja'far ibn Hanzala al-Bahrani or by Asad's lieutenant Juday' al-Kirmani. At any rate,

973-549: A frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan . By the late Middle Ages, the term lost its administrative significance, in the west only being loosely applied among the Turko-Persian dynasties of modern Iran to all its territories that lay east and north-east of the Dasht-e Kavir desert. It was therefore subjected to constant change, as the size of their empires changed. In the east, Khwarasan likewise became

1112-553: A further battle with Gayomard and Siyamak's son, Hushang . Gayomard rules for thirty years and, on his death, is succeeded by Hushang who founds the Pishdadian dynasty. The epic goes on to tell the story of how the Pishdadians ruled for over two millennia during which they fought demons, gave knowledge and skills to humanity, and created civilisation. However, hubris leads to them being overthrown by an evil tyrant. The throne

1251-467: A key role in the cultural identity of the peoples of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan . The influence of its mythical stories on the culture and beliefs of Iranians has been immense, pervading Iranian education, literature and society. In particular, and despite the evidence of archaeology and modern historical scholarship, the Pishdadian dynasty and its equally mythical successor, the Kayanians, are at

1390-505: A language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Farsi , which is the Persian word for the Persian language, has also been used widely in English in recent decades, more often to refer to Iran's standard Persian. However, the name Persian is still more widely used. The Academy of Persian Language and Literature has maintained that the endonym Farsi is to be avoided in foreign languages, and that Persian

1529-417: A literary language considerably different from the spoken Persian of the time. This became the basis of what is now known as "Contemporary Standard Persian". There are three standard varieties of modern Persian: All these three varieties are based on the classic Persian literature and its literary tradition. There are also several local dialects from Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan which slightly differ from

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1668-592: A long tradition of oral and written prose and poetry, and the stories he drew on may reach back to Indo-European traditions pre-dating Iranian culture . He is thought to have used both oral and written sources, including, apparently, a now lost prose epic compiled in Tus in the mid-10th century, and which itself was based on a late Sasanian chronicle, also now lost, called the Xwadāy-nāmag . Additionally, Ferdowsi may well have used his own poetic imagination to add to or change

1807-452: A medieval Persian poem recognised as Iran's national epic . From the 9th century, the Pishdadians also appear in Arabic prose works of Muslim writers. The overwhelming evidence is that the existence of the Pishdadian dynasty has no historical basis. The various tellings of their story nevertheless portray them as the first Iranian dynasty ruling a mythical kingdom that existed at a time before

1946-454: A number of ways that they may be related or intertwined with the lines of Islamic prophets or other figures from the Quran . One of these lines is the Pishdadian dynasty. In the following summary of that narrative, the names of the characters used by Tabari have been adopted. In most Muslim narratives, the first two kings were Jayumart and his grandson Oshahanj, although some count Oshahanj as

2085-536: A period of several centuries, Ottoman Turkish (which was highly Persianised itself) had developed toward a fully accepted language of literature, and which was even able to lexically satisfy the demands of a scientific presentation. However, the number of Persian and Arabic loanwords contained in those works increased at times up to 88%. In the Ottoman Empire, Persian was used at the royal court, for diplomacy, poetry, historiographical works, literary works, and

2224-566: A single major city: Nishapur, Merv, Herat and Balkh. By the 10th century, Ibn Khordadbeh and the Hudud al-'Alam mentions what roughly encompasses the previous regions of Abarshahr , Tokharistan and Sogdia as Khwarasan proper. They further report the southern part of the Hindu Kush, i.e. the regions of Sistan , Rukhkhudh , Zabulistan and Kabul etc. to make up the Khorasan marches ,

2363-599: A speaker of Persian. Persian is a member of the Western Iranian group of the Iranian languages , which make up a branch of the Indo-European languages in their Indo-Iranian subdivision . The Western Iranian languages themselves are divided into two subgroups: Southwestern Iranian languages, of which Persian is the most widely spoken, and Northwestern Iranian languages, of which Kurdish and Balochi are

2502-706: A term associated with the great urban centers of Central Asia. It is mentioned in the Memoirs of Babur (from the 1580s) that: The people of Hindustān call every country beyond their own Khorasān, in the same manner as the Arabs term all except Arabia, Ajem . On the road between Hindustān and Khorasān, there are two great marts: the one Kābul, the other Kandahār . Caravans, from Ferghāna, Tūrkestān, Samarkand, Balkh, Bokhāra, Hissār, and Badakhshān , all resort to Kābul; while those from Khorasān repair to Kandahār . This country lies between Hindustān and Khorasān. In modern times,

2641-434: A translation of Tabari's History into Persian, in fact Bal’ami drew on other sources to substantively develop the text; for example, the account of two of the Pishdadian kings, Keyumars ( Gayomard ) and Jamshid, differs significantly between Bal’ami and Tabari. Zoroastrian belief held that the dynasty originated with the first human, Gayomard (also known as Keyumars and called Gayomart in the Shahnameh and Gaya Maretan in

2780-723: A vast and loosely defined region of Khorasan, which might even extend to the Indus Valley and the Pamir Mountains. The boundary between these two was the region surrounding the cities of Gurgan and Qumis . In particular, the Ghaznavids , Seljuqs and Timurids divided their empires into Iraqi and Khorasani regions. Khorasan is believed to have been bounded in the southwest by desert and the town of Tabas , known as "the Gate of Khorasan", from which it extended eastward to

2919-548: A wider region that included most of Transoxiana (encompassing Bukhara and Samarqand in present-day Uzbekistan ), extended westward to the Caspian coast and to the Dasht-e Kavir southward to Sistan , and eastward to the Pamir Mountains . Greater Khorasan is today sometimes used to distinguish the larger historical region from the former Khorasan Province of Iran (1906–2004), which roughly encompassed

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3058-615: Is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages . Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran , Afghanistan , and Tajikistan in three mutually intelligible standard varieties , respectively Iranian Persian (officially known as Persian ), Dari Persian (officially known as Dari since 1964), and Tajiki Persian (officially known as Tajik since 1999). It

3197-664: Is a continuation of Middle Persian , an official language of the Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE), itself a continuation of Old Persian , which was used in the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE). It originated in the region of Fars ( Persia ) in southwestern Iran. Its grammar is similar to that of many European languages. Throughout history, Persian was considered prestigious by various empires centered in West Asia , Central Asia , and South Asia . Old Persian

3336-628: Is a direct descendant of Middle and Old Persian. Gernot Windfuhr considers new Persian as an evolution of the Old Persian language and the Middle Persian language but also states that none of the known Middle Persian dialects is the direct predecessor of Modern Persian. Ludwig Paul states: "The language of the Shahnameh should be seen as one instance of continuous historical development from Middle to New Persian." The known history of

3475-850: Is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan , as well as within other regions with a Persianate history in the cultural sphere of Greater Iran . It is written officially within Iran and Afghanistan in the Persian alphabet , a derivative of the Arabic script , and within Tajikistan in the Tajik alphabet , a derivative of the Cyrillic script . Modern Persian

3614-616: Is attested in Old Persian cuneiform on inscriptions from between the 6th and 4th century BC. Middle Persian is attested in Aramaic -derived scripts ( Pahlavi and Manichaean ) on inscriptions and in Zoroastrian and Manichaean scriptures from between the third to the tenth centuries (see Middle Persian literature ). New Persian literature was first recorded in the ninth century, after the Muslim conquest of Persia , since then adopting

3753-425: Is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian remains largely intelligible to speakers of Contemporary Persian, as the morphology and, to a lesser extent, the lexicon of the language have remained relatively stable. New Persian texts written in the Arabic script first appear in the 9th-century. The language is a direct descendant of Middle Persian, the official, religious, and literary language of

3892-528: Is eventually restored to the Pishdadians, but they divide their world realm between three different branches of the royal line, creating three new kingdoms: one in the west, one in the east ( Turan ), and Greater Iran in the centre of the world, later equated with the Sasanian concept of Ērānshahr . This results in an ongoing feud and lengthy war between the Iranians and Turanians which ultimately causes

4031-460: Is not actually attested until 600 years later when it appears in the Sassanid era (224–651 AD) inscriptions, so any form of the language before this date cannot be described with any degree of certainty. Moreover, as a literary language, Middle Persian is not attested until much later, in the 6th or 7th century. From the 8th century onward, Middle Persian gradually began yielding to New Persian, with

4170-475: Is one of Afghanistan's two official languages, together with Pashto . The term Dari , meaning "of the court", originally referred to the variety of Persian used in the court of the Sasanian Empire in capital Ctesiphon , which was spread to the northeast of the empire and gradually replaced the former Iranian dialects of Parthia ( Parthian ). Tajik Persian ( форси́и тоҷикӣ́ , forsi-i tojikī ),

4309-585: Is one of the earliest attested Indo-European languages. According to certain historical assumptions about the early history and origin of ancient Persians in Southwestern Iran (where Achaemenids hailed from), Old Persian was originally spoken by a tribe called Parsuwash , who arrived in the Iranian Plateau early in the 1st millennium BCE and finally migrated down into the area of present-day Fārs province. Their language, Old Persian, became

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4448-535: Is referenced as one of the two first living creatures, the other being a bull, without explaining how they were created. In the yashts , or hymns of the Avesta, there are scattered references to characters who subsequently figure in Shahnameh , including the Pishdadians. These are usually in the context of a brief reference to the character sacrificing to the gods in order to ask for their wishes to be granted with short descriptions of their attributes. Further details of

4587-495: Is the appropriate designation of the language in English, as it has the longer tradition in western languages and better expresses the role of the language as a mark of cultural and national continuity. Iranian historian and linguist Ehsan Yarshater , founder of the Encyclopædia Iranica and Columbia University 's Center for Iranian Studies, mentions the same concern in an academic journal on Iranology , rejecting

4726-489: Is the only author that overtly claims that Jam al-Shidh's downfall was because he was tricked by Iblis. Al-Dahhak, who Tabari says the Persians call Biswarasb, then seizes power. He was a descendant of Jayumart and a "wicked sorcerer" who ruled for a thousand years after Jam al-Shidh, "displaying tyranny and oppression". Eventually, Kabi initiates an uprising against al-Dahhak. The latter is defeated in battle by Afaridhoun,

4865-458: Is through the 11th-century Iranian national epic , the Shahnameh , that the canonical form of their legends is known. From the 9th century, Muslim writers, notably Tabari , re-told many of the Pishdadian legends in prose histories and other works. The Pishdadian kings and the stories relating to them have no basis in historical fact, however. According to the Shahnameh , the Pishdadians were

5004-491: The Encyclopædia Iranica notes that the Iranian, Afghan, and Tajiki varieties comprise distinct branches of the Persian language, and within each branch a wide variety of local dialects exist. The following are some languages closely related to Persian, or in some cases are considered dialects: More distantly related branches of the Iranian language family include Kurdish and Balochi . The Glottolog database proposes

5143-506: The Kalila wa Dimna . The language spread geographically from the 11th century on and was the medium through which, among others, Central Asian Turks became familiar with Islam and urban culture. New Persian was widely used as a trans-regional lingua franca , a task aided due to its relatively simple morphology, and this situation persisted until at least the 19th century. In the late Middle Ages, new Islamic literary languages were created on

5282-470: The Achaemenids , the first historical Persian dynasty. The etymology of Pishdadian (from Persian : پيشداد , pišdād ) is usually thought to mean “those who first promulgated laws”. However, an alternative view is that it comes from paradhata , a word from the Avesta, meaning “created before [others]” or “first created”. The most canonical account of the mythical early kings of Iran is provided by

5421-428: The Avesta ), who was brought to life by Ahura Mazda , the creator deity of Zoroastrianism. In the Shahnameh , Gayomard is the first king of the world and, wearing animal skins and living in the mountains, he teaches humankind how to feed and dress itself and lays down the rules of kingship. During Gayomard's rule, Siyamak , his son, is killed in a battle with the evil deity, Ahriman . Ahriman is, in turn, defeated in

5560-699: The Battle of the Oxus River . The next year, Ibn Amir concluded a peace treaty with Kanadbak , an Iranian nobleman and the kanarang of Tus . The Sasanian rebel Burzin Shah , of the Karen family , revolted against Ibn Amir, though the latter crushed the rebels in the Battle of Nishapur . After the invasion of Persia under Rashidun was completed in five years and almost all of the Persian territories came under Arab control, it also inevitable created new problems for

5699-668: The British colonization , Persian was widely used as a second language in the Indian subcontinent . It took prominence as the language of culture and education in several Muslim courts on the subcontinent and became the sole "official language" under the Mughal emperors . The Bengal Sultanate witnessed an influx of Persian scholars, lawyers, teachers, and clerics. Thousands of Persian books and manuscripts were published in Bengal. The period of

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5838-589: The Ghilji Pashtuns from Kandahar and became part of the Hotaki dynasty from 1722 to 1729. Nader Shah recaptured Khorasan in 1729 and chose Mashhad as the capital of Persia. Following his assassination in 1747, the eastern parts of Khorasan, including Herat were annexed with the Durrani Empire . Mashhad area was under control of Nader Shah's grandson Shahrukh Afshar until it was captured by

5977-525: The Mongol subjugation of Khorasan, carrying out the task "with a thoroughness from which that region has never recovered." Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, the majority of Islamic archaeological efforts were focused on the medieval era, predominantly in areas near what is today Central Asia . Under Caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ), the Rashidun Caliphate seized nearly

6116-705: The Qajar dynasty in 1796. In 1856, the Iranians, under the Qajar dynasty, briefly recaptured Herat; by the Treaty of Paris of 1857 , signed between Iran and the British Empire to end the Anglo-Persian War , the Iranian troops withdrew from Herat . Later, in 1881, Iran relinquished its claims to a part of the northern areas of Khorasan to the Russian Empire , principally comprising Merv , by

6255-470: The Shahnameh , an Iranian tradition of writing epics about mythological heroes lasted for about 300 years. The only significant one to contain material on the Pishdadians was the Garshasp-nama , which opens with a retelling of some of the stories of the Shahnameh . The mythical kings of the Shahnameh have parallels with characters in the much earlier Avesta, which likely reached its final form by

6394-455: The Shahnameh , an epic poem of the early 11th century composed by Abolqasem Ferdowsi , a Persian poet from Tus in Khorasan . Considered to be a globally significant literary masterpiece, the poem is a history of Iran from its mythic beginnings to the Muslim conquest at the end of the Sasanian period , and opens with the story of the Pishdadian kings. Ferdowsi's work was the culmination of

6533-674: The Sultanate of Rum , Turkmen beyliks of Anatolia , Delhi Sultanate , the Shirvanshahs , Safavids , Afsharids , Zands , Qajars , Khanate of Bukhara , Khanate of Kokand , Emirate of Bukhara , Khanate of Khiva , Ottomans , and also many Mughal successors such as the Nizam of Hyderabad . Persian was the only non-European language known and used by Marco Polo at the Court of Kublai Khan and in his journeys through China. A branch of

6672-617: The Treaty of Akhal (also known as the Treaty of Akhal-Khorasan ). Khorasan has had a great cultural importance among other regions in Greater Iran . The literary New Persian language developed in Khorasan and Transoxiana and gradually supplanted the Parthian language . The New Persian literature arose and flourished in Khorasan and Transoxiana where the early Iranian dynasties such as Tahirids , Samanids , Saffirids and Ghaznavids (a Turco-Persian dynasty) were based. Until

6811-658: The Turkic , Armenian , Georgian , & Indo-Aryan languages . It also exerted some influence on Arabic, while borrowing a lot of vocabulary from it in the Middle Ages. Some of the world's most famous pieces of literature from the Middle Ages, such as the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi , the works of Rumi , the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám , the Panj Ganj of Nizami Ganjavi , The Divān of Hafez , The Conference of

6950-491: The ezāfe construction, expressed through ī (modern e/ye ), to indicate some of the relations between words that have been lost with the simplification of the earlier grammatical system. Although the "middle period" of the Iranian languages formally begins with the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, the transition from Old to Middle Persian had probably already begun before the 4th century BC. However, Middle Persian

7089-430: The mountains of central Afghanistan . Sources from the 10th century onwards refer to areas in the south of the Hindu Kush as the Khorasan Marches, forming a frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan . First established in the 6th century as one of four administrative (military) divisions by the Sasanian Empire , the scope of the region has varied considerably during its nearly 1,500-year history. Initially,

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7228-479: The " Persianized " Turko-Mongol dynasties during the 12th to 15th centuries, and under restored Persian rule during the 16th to 19th centuries. Persian during this time served as lingua franca of Greater Persia and of much of the Indian subcontinent . It was also the official and cultural language of many Islamic dynasties, including the Samanids, Buyids , Tahirids , Ziyarids , the Mughal Empire , Timurids , Ghaznavids , Karakhanids , Seljuqs , Khwarazmians ,

7367-421: The "Persian scholars", Tahmurath was succeeded by his brother's son, Jam al-Shidh. Muslim authors typically attribute meanings to al-shidh such as "shine" or "radiance" and, in one instance, that his full name, including Jam , meant "brightness of the moon". Tabari says that his soubriquet was given to him "because of his beauty". Tabari goes on to relate that "Persian scholars" claim that Jam al-Shidh initiated

7506-449: The Avestan references on some of the stories relating to the mythic kings, but still do not provide full narratives in the manner of the Shahnameh . In some instances, the descriptions are at variance with both the Shahnameh and the Avesta. From the 9th century CE, most Muslim “ universal histories ”, that is histories of the world purportedly from the creation , include an account of the Pishdadian kings. The most important of these, and

7645-572: The Birds by Attar of Nishapur , and the miscellanea of Gulistan and Bustan by Saadi Shirazi , are written in Persian. Some of the prominent modern Persian poets were Nima Yooshij , Ahmad Shamlou , Simin Behbahani , Sohrab Sepehri , Rahi Mo'ayyeri , Mehdi Akhavan-Sales , and Forugh Farrokhzad . There are approximately 130 million Persian speakers worldwide, including Persians , Lurs , Tajiks , Hazaras , Iranian Azeris , Iranian Kurds , Balochs , Tats , Afghan Pashtuns , and Aimaqs . The term Persophone might also be used to refer to

7784-469: The Iranians and the Turks. Following Manushihr's death, Tabari says that Frasiyab conquered and ruled over Persia until Zaw, a descendant of Manushihr, is chosen as king. Zaw drives out Frasiyab and was “praised for his rule and behaved well towards his subjects”. He was succeeded by Kayqubadh (Kay Qobod) the first of the Kayanian line of kings. In order to be imbued with political legitimacy, several ancient and medieval Iranian dynasties claimed descent from

7923-426: The Khorasan division of the Sasanian Empire covered the northeastern military gains of the empire, at its height including cities such as Nishapur , Herat , Merv , Faryab , Taloqan , Balkh , Bukhara , Badghis , Abiward , Gharjistan , Tus and Sarakhs . With the rise of the Umayyad Caliphate , the designation was inherited and likewise stretched as far as their military gains in the east, starting off with

8062-500: The Middle Ages, and is because of the lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The standard Persian of Iran has been called, apart from Persian and Farsi , by names such as Iranian Persian and Western Persian , exclusively. Officially, the official language of Iran is designated simply as Persian ( فارسی , fārsi ). The standard Persian of Afghanistan has been officially named Dari ( دری , dari ) since 1958. Also referred to as Afghan Persian in English, it

8201-429: The Ottoman Empire all spoke Persian, such as Sultan Selim I , despite being Safavid Iran's archrival and a staunch opposer of Shia Islam . It was a major literary language in the empire. Some of the noted earlier Persian works during the Ottoman rule are Idris Bidlisi 's Hasht Bihisht , which began in 1502 and covered the reign of the first eight Ottoman rulers, and the Salim-Namah , a glorification of Selim I. After

8340-459: The Persian language can be divided into the following three distinct periods: As a written language , Old Persian is attested in royal Achaemenid inscriptions. The oldest known text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscription , dating to the time of King Darius I (reigned 522–486 BC). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran , Romania ( Gherla ), Armenia , Bahrain , Iraq , Turkey, and Egypt . Old Persian

8479-425: The Persian language, a language historically called Dari, emerged in present-day Afghanistan. The first significant Persian poet was Rudaki . He flourished in the 10th century, when the Samanids were at the height of their power. His reputation as a court poet and as an accomplished musician and singer has survived, although little of his poetry has been preserved. Among his lost works are versified fables collected in

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8618-401: The Persian model: Ottoman Turkish , Chagatai Turkic , Dobhashi Bengali , and Urdu, which are regarded as "structural daughter languages" of Persian. "Classical Persian" loosely refers to the standardized language of medieval Persia used in literature and poetry . This is the language of the 10th to 12th centuries, which continued to be used as literary language and lingua franca under

8757-487: The Perso-Arabic script. Persian was the first language to break through the monopoly of Arabic on writing in the Muslim world , with Persian poetry becoming a tradition in many eastern courts. It was used officially as a language of bureaucracy even by non-native speakers, such as the Ottomans in Anatolia , the Mughals in South Asia, and the Pashtuns in Afghanistan. It influenced languages spoken in neighboring regions and beyond, including other Iranian languages,

8896-459: The Pishdadian kings, as told in the Shahnameh , are summarised below together with their equivalent antecedent characters in the Avesta and the later Pahlavi texts, principally the Denkard and the Bundahishn . Unlike Ferdowsi, the other Muslim authors who include the Persian mythic kings in their histories, sought to adapt the stories to fit Islamic chronology and thinking. Tabari presents several lines of descent of pre-Islamic Persians and claims

9035-399: The Pishdadians and the other mythic kings and heroes were seen as a “ mirror for princes ”. Rulers continued to commission lavishly illustrated prestigious manuscripts of the work, such as the Shahnameh of Shah Tahasp or the Great Mongol Shahnameh as even possession of fine copies of the stories enabled a ruler to accrue political legitimacy. The Shahnameh and its legends have played

9174-406: The Pishdadians. Prior to the Muslim conquest of Persia , this included the Sasanians, who claimed descent from both the Pishdadians and the Kayanians. Even Muslim dynasties after the conquest claimed Pishdadian descent, for example the Samanids . Late medieval kings and rulers of Iran were highly influenced by the stories of the mythic kings of the Shahnameh . The values and behaviours attributed to

9313-428: The Sasanian Empire (224–651). However, it is not descended from the literary form of Middle Persian (known as pārsīk , commonly called Pahlavi), which was spoken by the people of Fars and used in Zoroastrian religious writings. Instead, it is descended from the dialect spoken by the court of the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon and the northeastern Iranian region of Khorasan , known as Dari. The region, which comprised

9452-427: The Sassanids (who were Persians, i.e. from the southwest) from the preceding Arsacids (who were Parthians, i.e. from the northeast). While Ibn al-Muqaffa' (eighth century) still distinguished between Pahlavi (i.e. Parthian) and Persian (in Arabic text: al-Farisiyah) (i.e. Middle Persian), this distinction is not evident in Arab commentaries written after that date. "New Persian" (also referred to as Modern Persian)

9591-407: The Seljuks, the Sultanate of Rum , took Persian language, art, and letters to Anatolia. They adopted the Persian language as the official language of the empire. The Ottomans , who can roughly be seen as their eventual successors, inherited this tradition. Persian was the official court language of the empire, and for some time, the official language of the empire. The educated and noble class of

9730-456: The Zoroastrian myths of the Pishdadians’ conflict with evil into the concept of mankind's struggle against satanic forces. Tabari, like Ferdowsi, is thought to have included the lost Xwadāy-nāmag among the sources he used. Tabari's History was an important influence on the Muslim historiography that followed him, and the most significant subsequent Persian development of this genre was the mid-10th century Tarikhnama of Bal'ami . Ostensibly

9869-441: The area of Lake Urmia in the records of Shalmaneser III . The exact identity of the Parsuwash is not known for certain, but from a linguistic viewpoint the word matches Old Persian pārsa itself coming directly from the older word * pārćwa . Also, as Old Persian contains many words from another extinct Iranian language, Median , according to P. O. Skjærvø it is probable that Old Persian had already been spoken before

10008-574: The caliphate. Pockets of tribal resistance continued for centuries in the Afghan territories. During the 7th century, Arab armies made their way into the region of Afghanistan from Khorasan. A second problem was as a corollary to the Muslim conquest of Persia, the Muslims became neighbors of the city states of Transoxiana . Although Transoxiana was included in the loosely defined "Turkestan" region, only

10147-557: The centers, respectively, of the westernmost, northernmost, central, and easternmost quarters. Khorasan was first established as an administrative division in the 6th century (approximately after 520) by the Sasanians , during the reign of Kavad I ( r.  488–496, 498/9–531 ) or Khosrow I ( r.  531–579 ), and comprised the eastern and northeastern parts of the empire. The use of Bactrian Miirosan 'the east' as an administrative designation under Alkhan rulers in

10286-604: The city of Balkh , "the oldest city of the world's cities". For Tabari, the conflict begins in Oshahanj's reign and its origins are unclear: The Persians say...that he [Oshahanj] meant (to inflict) punishment upon and revenge upon rebellious human beings and Satans. Again they mention that he subdued Iblis and his armies and forbade them to mix with human beings. Writing a document on a white sheet, he imposed covenants upon them enjoining them not to confront any human being...They further mention that Iblis and his armies rejoiced at

10425-457: The code fas for the dialects spoken across Iran and Afghanistan. This consists of the individual languages Dari ( prs ) and Iranian Persian ( pes ). It uses tgk for Tajik, separately. In general, the Iranian languages are known from three periods: namely Old, Middle, and New (Modern). These correspond to three historical eras of Iranian history ; Old era being sometime around the Achaemenid Empire (i.e., 400–300 BC), Middle era being

10564-512: The collapse of the Sassanid state, Parsik came to be applied exclusively to (either Middle or New) Persian that was written in the Arabic script . From about the 9th century onward, as Middle Persian was on the threshold of becoming New Persian, the older form of the language came to be erroneously called Pahlavi , which was actually but one of the writing systems used to render both Middle Persian as well as various other Middle Iranian languages. That writing system had previously been adopted by

10703-529: The continuing struggle with the demons in Tahmurath's reign, and notes that "God gave him so much power that Iblis and his Satans were submissive to him". Other Muslim historians gave Tahmurath the title Divband or Demon-binder, and added a number of mythological events to his story. For example, Biruni relates that Tahmarath was warned of the Flood 231 years before it happened. Tabari says that, according to

10842-557: The core of Persian people 's perspective of Iran's history and informs their sense of national identity. This is reflected in the fact that Iranians persist in calling Persepolis , the site of the Achaemenid capital, by its mythological name, Takht-e Jamshīd (the “Throne of Jamshid”). Persian language Russia Persian ( / ˈ p ɜːr ʒ ən , - ʃ ən / PUR -zhən, -⁠shən ), also known by its endonym Farsi ( فارسی , Fārsī [fɒːɾˈsiː] ),

10981-400: The death of Oshahanj. This was because his death enabled them to enter the dwellings of the children of Adam... Tabari reports that "the Persians say" that Oshahanj's successor was Tahmurath. He adds that there are differences of opinion on Tahmurath's exact pedigree, although both the pedigrees that he mentions claim that Tahmurath's ultimate ancestor was Oshahanj. Tabari makes brief mention of

11120-662: The devastating Mongol invasion of the 13th century, Khorasan remained the cultural capital of Persia. It has produced scientists such as Avicenna , Al-Farabi , Al-Biruni , Omar Khayyam , Al-Khwarizmi , Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (known as Albumasar or Albuxar in the west), Alfraganus , Abu Wafa , Nasir al-Din al-Tusi , Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , and many others who are widely well known for their significant contributions in various domains such as mathematics, astronomy , medicine, physics , geography , and geology. There have been many archaeological sites throughout Khorasan, however many of these expeditions were illegal or committed in

11259-527: The downfall of the Pishdadians and their replacement by a new dynasty, the Kayanians . In all, as narrated in the Shahmaneh , there are ten kings considered to be Pishdadian: Hushang , Tahmuras , Jamshid , Zahhak , Fereydun , Iraj , Manuchehr , Nowzar , Zav and Garshasp . However, Zahhak, Zav and Garshasp are unrelated to the other monarchs. These stories are not found in the Avesta. Gaya Maretan

11398-424: The early days of the Muslim conquests , Arab armies were divided into regiments drawn from individual tribes or tribal confederations ( butun or ‘asha‘ir ). Despite the fact that many of these groupings were recent creations, created for reasons of military efficiency rather than any common ancestry, they soon developed a strong and distinct identity. By the beginning of the Umayyad period, this system progressed to

11537-537: The entire Persia from the Sasanian Empire . However, the areas of Khorasan weren't conquered until c.  651 during the caliphate of Uthman ( r.  644–656 ). The Rashidun commanders Ahnaf ibn Qays and Abd Allah ibn Amir were assigned to lead the invasion of Khorasan. In late 651, the Rashidun army defeated the combined forces of the Sasanian and the First Turkic Khaganate in

11676-400: The envy of the other descendants of Fereydun, leading to a lengthy feud and series of wars which eventually caused the downfall of the dynasty. The Shahnameh tells how the Iranians, having no confidence in the last of the Pishdadians, replaced them with another mythical dynasty, the Kayanians . Tabari repeated many of the same stories in his History , with some variations. As with many of

11815-446: The eventual conquest. In July 738, at the age of 74, Nasr was appointed as governor of Khorasan. Despite his age, he was widely respected both for his military record, his knowledge of the affairs of Khorasan and his abilities as a statesman. Julius Wellhausen wrote of him that "His age did not affect the freshness of his mind, as is testified not only by his deeds, but also by the verses in which he gave expression to his feelings till

11954-652: The extent of its influence on certain languages of the Indian subcontinent. Words borrowed from Persian are still quite commonly used in certain Indo-Aryan languages, especially Hindi - Urdu (also historically known as Hindustani ), Punjabi , Kashmiri , and Sindhi . There is also a small population of Zoroastrian Iranis in India, who migrated in the 19th century to escape religious execution in Qajar Iran and speak

12093-414: The first Iranian dynasty, pre-dating the historical Achaemenids , and ruling for a period of over two thousand years. Their progenitor was Keyumars , the first human and the "Zoroastrian Adam ". He was followed by his descendants who, as kings of the world, fought demons and improved the lives of humankind by introducing them to new knowledge and skills. His most renowned successor, Jamshid , established

12232-488: The first king, likely reflecting the position of late Sasanian sources. Tabari says that “most Persian scholars assume” that Jayumart is Adam , others that he is the son of Adam and Eve , others again “have many diverse statements”, and non-Persians say he is one of a number of other biblical figures ( Gomer , Japheth or Noah ). He also says that he was a lord in Tabaristan and Fars and that “everyone agrees” that he

12371-468: The following phylogenetic classification: Greater Khorasan The extent of the region referred to as Khorasan varied over time. In its stricter historical sense, it comprised the present territories of northeastern Iran , parts of Afghanistan and southern parts of Central Asia , extending as far as the Amu Darya (Oxus) river. However, the name has often been used in a loose sense to include

12510-555: The formation of ever-larger super-groupings, culminating in the two super-groups : the northern Arab Mudaris or Qaysis , and the south Arabs or "Yemenis" ( Yaman ), dominated by the Azd and Rabi'ah tribes. By the 8th century, this division had become firmly established across the Caliphate and was a source of constant internal instability, as the two groups formed in essence two rival political parties, jockeying for power and separated by

12649-577: The formation of many modern languages in West Asia, Europe, Central Asia , and South Asia . Following the Turko-Persian Ghaznavid conquest of South Asia , Persian was firstly introduced in the region by Turkic Central Asians. The basis in general for the introduction of Persian language into the subcontinent was set, from its earliest days, by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic and Afghan dynasties. For five centuries prior to

12788-476: The formation of the Achaemenid Empire and was spoken during most of the first half of the first millennium BCE. Xenophon , a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BCE, which is when Old Persian was still spoken and extensively used. He relates that the Armenian people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like

12927-553: The land. A theme of the Muslim writers is the Pishdadian kings' struggle with Iblis and the demons. For Bal'ami, the conflict begins with Jayumart and is positioned as a blood feud . Jayumart flees Mesopotamia , where he was in a dispute with the rest of his family, and settles on Mount Damavand . There he encounters demons living in the region. A conflict ensues and he defeats them, but the demons murder Jayumart's son Pashang and, in revenge, Jayumart kills some of those involved in killing his son. The other demons are forced to build

13066-410: The language of the Persians. Related to Old Persian, but from a different branch of the Iranian language family, was Avestan , the language of the Zoroastrian liturgical texts. The complex grammatical conjugation and declension of Old Persian yielded to the structure of Middle Persian in which the dual number disappeared, leaving only singular and plural, as did gender. Middle Persian developed

13205-588: The later, more developed, Zoroastrian tradition. Sitting between the Avesta and the Shahnameh are Middle Persian or Pahlavi Zoroastrian texts, such as the Denkard , the Bundahishn and the Ayādgār ī Jāmāspīg . Although they are nearly contemporaneous with the Shahnameh , they may embed stories and traditions from much earlier sources and provide a link with the ancient Avestan texts. They give more detail than

13344-424: The main elements of civilization, but, as a result of his pride and hubris, was overthrown by the evil tyrant Zahhak . Following a popular insurrection against Zahhak, the throne was eventually restored to the Pishdadians. However, the next king, Fereydun , divided the world between his three sons with his youngest, Iraj , receiving Iran , the choicest portion, after whom it is named. Iraj and his successors aroused

13483-479: The major portion of Khorasān, as two of the four main capitals of Khorasān (Herat and Balkh) are now located in Afghanistan. Ghobar uses the terms "Proper Khorasan" and " Improper Khorasan" in his book to distinguish between the usage of Khorasān in its strict sense and its usage in a loose sense. According to him, Proper Khorasan contained regions lying between Balkh in the east, Merv in the north, Sistan in

13622-437: The manufacture of weaponry, iron tools, cloth and other materials, and created the four classes of society: soldiers, religious scholars, secretaries, artisans and cultivators. He then subdued the demons and "forced them to cut stones and rocks from the mountains". However, Iblis persuades him that he is a god. As a consequence, Jam al-Shidh then requires his subjects to worship him, which prompts his overthrow and execution. Tabari

13761-446: The medieval Muslim writers, he intermixed these stories with narratives relating to Quranic figures, and stories of the prophets , to give them a distinctively Islamic perspective. The stories of the Pishdadian kings have been politically and culturally influential in Iranian society. Both in antiquity and the Middle Ages, ruling dynasties claimed descent from them in order to be imbued with their prestige and political legitimacy. Into

13900-433: The middle of the first millennium BCE. However, the Avesta gives only brief references to the characters involved, using different or variant names, with little detail of the myths that later find their full expression in the Shahnameh . These are mainly in the yashts or Avestan hymns. Although these references are brief, it is clear from the context and the way they are presented that they allude to stories very similar to

14039-432: The middle-period form only continuing in the texts of Zoroastrianism . Middle Persian is considered to be a later form of the same dialect as Old Persian. The native name of Middle Persian was Parsig or Parsik , after the name of the ethnic group of the southwest, that is, "of Pars ", Old Persian Parsa , New Persian Fars . This is the origin of the name Farsi as it is today used to signify New Persian. Following

14178-560: The military installations at Nishapur and Merv , slowly expanding eastwards into Tokharistan and Sogdia . Under the Caliphs , Khorasan was the name of one of the three political zones under their dominion (the other two being Eraq-e Arab "Arabic Iraq" and Eraq-e Ajam "Non-Arabic Iraq or Persian Iraq"). Under the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, Khorasan was divided into four major sections or quarters ( rub′ ), each section based on

14317-401: The modern era, the tales of the Shahnameh continue to pervade all aspects of Iranian culture and, as part of that, the Pishdadians remain central to Iranians’ sense of the roots of their own history and national identity. The Pishdadian kings are figures in Persian mythology , about whom a number of legends are recorded in Zoroastrian texts, including the Avesta , and in the Shahnameh ,

14456-573: The most prominent men of the Marwanid period". Asad's arrival in Khorasan found the province in peril: his predecessor, Muslim ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi , had just attempted a campaign against Ferghana and suffered a major defeat, the so-called " Day of Thirst ", at the hands of the Turgesh Turks and the Soghdian principalities of Transoxiana that had risen up against Muslim rule. From

14595-536: The most widely spoken. The term Persian is an English derivation of Latin Persiānus , the adjectival form of Persia , itself deriving from Greek Persís ( Περσίς ), a Hellenized form of Old Persian Pārsa ( 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 ), which means " Persia " (a region in southwestern Iran, corresponding to modern-day Fars ). According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the term Persian as

14734-466: The nationalist movement of the time. The academy was a key institution in the struggle to re-build Iran as a nation-state after the collapse of the Qajar dynasty. During the 1930s and 1940s, the academy led massive campaigns to replace the many Arabic , Russian , French , and Greek loanwords whose widespread use in Persian during the centuries preceding the foundation of the Pahlavi dynasty had created

14873-448: The necessity of protecting the Persian language against foreign words, and to the standardization of Persian orthography , were under the reign of Naser ed Din Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1871. After Naser ed Din Shah, Mozaffar ed Din Shah ordered the establishment of the first Persian association in 1903. This association officially declared that it used Persian and Arabic as acceptable sources for coining words. The ultimate goal

15012-414: The next period most officially around the Sasanian Empire , and New era being the period afterward down to present day. According to available documents, the Persian language is "the only Iranian language" for which close philological relationships between all of its three stages are established and so that Old, Middle, and New Persian represent one and the same language of Persian; that is, New Persian

15151-732: The northern part of Greece). Vardar Yenicesi differed from other localities in the Balkans insofar as that it was a town where Persian was also widely spoken. However, the Persian of Vardar Yenicesi and throughout the rest of the Ottoman-held Balkans was different from formal Persian both in accent and vocabulary. The difference was apparent to such a degree that the Ottomans referred to it as "Rumelian Persian" ( Rumili Farsisi ). As learned people such as students, scholars and literati often frequented Vardar Yenicesi, it soon became

15290-483: The official language of the Achaemenid kings. Assyrian records, which in fact appear to provide the earliest evidence for ancient Iranian (Persian and Median) presence on the Iranian Plateau, give a good chronology but only an approximate geographical indication of what seem to be ancient Persians. In these records of the 9th century BCE, Parsuwash (along with Matai , presumably Medians) are first mentioned in

15429-550: The one that provides the most comprehensive coverage of traditional pre-Islamic Iranian narratives – what the Iranologist Ehsan Yarshater called Iranian “national history” – is Tabari 's History of the Prophets and Kings , written in Arabic during the early 10th century. His narrative intertwines an account of the mythical Persian kings with biblical stories and the prophets of Islam , and integrates

15568-638: The present territories of northwestern Afghanistan as well as parts of Central Asia, played a leading role in the rise of New Persian. Khorasan, which was the homeland of the Parthians, was Persianized under the Sasanians. Dari Persian thus supplanted Parthian language , which by the end of the Sasanian era had fallen out of use. New Persian has incorporated many foreign words, including from eastern northern and northern Iranian languages such as Sogdian and especially Parthian. The transition to New Persian

15707-647: The region during the following centuries. Persian continued to act as a courtly language for various empires in Punjab through the early 19th century serving finally as the official state language of the Sikh Empire , preceding British conquest and the decline of Persian in South Asia. Beginning in 1843, though, English and Hindustani gradually replaced Persian in importance on the subcontinent. Evidence of Persian's historical influence there can be seen in

15846-602: The reign of Sultan Ghiyathuddin Azam Shah is described as the "golden age of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature was illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence and collaboration with the Persian poet Hafez ; a poem which can be found in the Divan of Hafez today. A Bengali dialect emerged among the common Bengali Muslim folk, based on a Persian model and known as Dobhashi ; meaning mixed language . Dobhashi Bengali

15985-733: The ruling elite of Transoxiana was partially of Turkic origins whereas the local population was mostly a diverse mix of local Iranian populations. As the Arabs reached Transoxiana following the conquest of the Sassanid Persian Empire, local Iranian-Turkic and Arab armies clashed over the control of Transoxiana's Silk Road cities. In particular, the Turgesh under the leadership of Suluk, and Khazars under Barjik clashed with their Arab neighbours in order to control this economically important region. Two notable Umayyad generals, Qutayba ibn Muslim and Nasr ibn Sayyar , were instrumental in

16124-519: The same region is possibly the forerunner of the Sasanian administrative division of Khurasan, occurring after their takeover of Hephthalite territories south of the Oxus. The transformation of the term and its identification with a larger region is thus a development of the late Sasanian and early Islamic periods. Early Islamic usage often regarded everywhere east of Jibal or what was subsequently termed Iraq Ajami (Persian Iraq) , as being included in

16263-668: The site of a flourishing Persianate linguistic and literary culture. The 16th-century Ottoman Aşık Çelebi (died 1572), who hailed from Prizren in modern-day Kosovo , was galvanized by the abundant Persian-speaking and Persian-writing communities of Vardar Yenicesi, and he referred to the city as a "hotbed of Persian". Many Ottoman Persianists who established a career in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul ) pursued early Persian training in Saraybosna, amongst them Ahmed Sudi . The Persian language influenced

16402-644: The sources agree that al-Kirmani stood at the time as the most prominent man in Khorasan and should have been the clear choice for governor. His Yemeni roots (he was the leader of the Azd in Khorasan), however, made him unpalatable to the Caliph. Khorasan became the headquarters of the Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyads . It was led by Abu Muslim , who himself belonged to Khorasan. This province

16541-489: The south, Nishapur in the west and Herat, known as the Pearl of Khorasan , in the center. Improper Khorasan's boundaries extended to as far as Hazarajat and Kabul in the east, Baluchistan in the south, Transoxiana and Khwarezm in the north, and Damghan and Gorgan in the west. During the Sasanian era, likely in the reign of Khusrow I , Persia was divided into four regions (known as kust Middle Persian), Khwārvarān in

16680-573: The standard Persian of Tajikistan, has been officially designated as Tajik ( тоҷикӣ , tojikī ) since the time of the Soviet Union . It is the name given to the varieties of Persian spoken in Central Asia in general. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa for the Persian language, as its coding system is mostly based on the native-language designations. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses

16819-717: The standard Persian. The Hazaragi dialect (in Central Afghanistan and Pakistan), Herati (in Western Afghanistan), Darwazi (in Afghanistan and Tajikistan), Basseri (in Southern Iran), and the Tehrani accent (in Iran, the basis of standard Iranian Persian) are examples of these dialects. Persian-speaking peoples of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan can understand one another with a relatively high degree of mutual intelligibility . Nevertheless,

16958-407: The stories, although it is difficult to judge the extent to which he did this. Although Ferdowsi was a Muslim writing for a Muslim audience, the Shahnameh is seen as “non-Islamic” (albeit monotheistic) and partly reflecting a Zoroastrian perspective. Ferdowsi excludes Islamic cosmology and chronology from the Shahnameh and makes the pre-Islamic Persian myths the core message of the epic. Following

17097-646: The subsequent murder of Iraj, his favourite son. In the case of Tabari, Afaridhoun gives the lands of the Turks, Khazars and China to Tuj; Rum, the lands of the Slavs and Georgia are allocated to Sarm; and Ērānshahr, the "centre of the World”, becomes the domain of Iraj. Tabari says that Sarm and Tuj ruled the earth for 300 years after they had killed their brother. Manushihr, a descendant of Iraj, becomes king and avenges Iraj's murder, by killing Sarm and Tuj. Manushihr's rule

17236-558: The term has been source of great nostalgia and nationalism, especially amongst the Tajiks of Central Asia. Many Tajiks regard Khorasan as an integral part of their national identity, which has preserved an interest in the term, including its meaning and cultural significance, both in common discussion and academia, despite its falling out of political use in the region. According to Afghan historian Ghulam Mohammad Ghobar (1897–1978), Afghanistan's current Persian-speaking territories formed

17375-529: The throne to Khorasan following the Arab invasion in the western parts of the empire. After the assassination of the king, Khorasan was conquered by Arab Muslims in 647 AD. Like other provinces of Persia it became a province of the Umayyad Caliphate . The first movement against the Arab conquest was led by Abu Muslim Khorasani between 747 and 750. Originally from Isfahan , scholars believe Abu Muslim

17514-485: The use of Farsi in foreign languages. Etymologically, the Persian term Farsi derives from its earlier form Pārsi ( Pārsik in Middle Persian ), which in turn comes from the same root as the English term Persian . In the same process, the Middle Persian toponym Pārs ("Persia") evolved into the modern name Fars. The phonemic shift from /p/ to /f/ is due to the influence of Arabic in

17653-537: The very end of his life". However, in the climate of the times, his nomination owed more to his appropriate tribal affiliation than his personal qualities. In 724, immediately after the rise of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743) to the throne, Asad's brother Khalid al-Qasri was appointed to the important post of governor of Iraq , with responsibility over the entire Islamic East, which he held until 738. Khalid in turn named Asad as governor of Khorasan. The two brothers thus became, according to Patricia Crone , "among

17792-441: The west, apāxtar in the north, nīmrūz in the south and Khorasan in the east. Since the Sasanian territories were more or less remained stable up to Islamic conquests, it can be concluded that Sasanian Khorasan was bordered to the south by Sistan and Kerman, to the west by the central deserts of modern Iran, and to the east by China and India. In the Sasanian era, Khorasan was further divided into four smaller regions, and each region

17931-530: The western portion of the historical Greater Khorasan. The name Khorāsān is Persian (from Middle Persian Xwarāsān , sp. xwlʾsʾn' , meaning "where the sun arrives from" or "the Eastern Province"). The name was first given to the eastern province of Persia (Ancient Iran) during the Sasanian Empire and was used from the late Middle Ages in distinction to neighbouring Transoxiana. The Sassanian name Xwarāsān has in turn been argued to be

18070-597: Was already complete by the era of the three princely dynasties of Iranian origin, the Tahirid dynasty (820–872), Saffarid dynasty (860–903), and Samanid Empire (874–999). Abbas of Merv is mentioned as being the earliest minstrel to chant verse in the New Persian tongue and after him the poems of Hanzala Badghisi were among the most famous between the Persian-speakers of the time. The first poems of

18209-574: Was more a matter of political and territorial gain. Tahir had helped the Caliph subdue other nationalistic movements in other parts of Persia such as Maziar 's movement in Tabaristan . Other major independent dynasties who ruled over Khorasan were the Saffarids from Zaranj (861–1003), Samanids from Bukhara (875–999), Ghaznavids from Ghazni (963–1167), Seljuqs (1037–1194), Khwarezmids (1077–1231), Ghurids (1149–1212), and Timurids (1370–1506). In 1221, Genghis Khan 's son Tolui oversaw

18348-578: Was part of the Iranian world that had been heavily colonised by Arab tribes following the Muslim conquest with the intent of replacing Umayyad dynasty which is proved to be successful under the sign of the Black Standard . Between the early 16th and early 18th centuries, parts of Khorasan were contested between the Safavids and the Uzbeks . A part of the Khorasan region was conquered in 1722 by

18487-597: Was patronised and given official status under the Sultans of Bengal , and was a popular literary form used by Bengalis during the pre-colonial period, irrespective of their religion. Following the defeat of the Hindu Shahi dynasty, classical Persian was established as a courtly language in the region during the late 10th century under Ghaznavid rule over the northwestern frontier of the subcontinent . Employed by Punjabis in literature, Persian achieved prominence in

18626-520: Was probably Persian. It's possible he may have been born a slave. According to the ancient Persian historian Al-Shahrastani , he was a Kaysanite . This revolutionary Shi'a movement rejected the three Caliphs that had preceded Ali . Abu Muslim helped the Abbasids come to power but was later killed by Al-Mansur, an Abbasid Caliph. The first kingdom independent from Arab rule was established in Khorasan by Tahir Phoshanji in 821, but it seems that it

18765-524: Was ruled by a marzban . These four regions were Nishapur, Marv, Herat and Balkh. Khorasan in the east saw some conflict with the Hephthalites who became the new rulers in the area but the borders remained stable. Being the eastern parts of the Sassanids and further away from Arabia , Khorasan region was conquered after the remaining Persia. The last Sassanid king of Persia, Yazdgerd III , moved

18904-613: Was taught in state schools, and was also offered as an elective course or recommended for study in some madrasas . Persian learning was also widespread in the Ottoman-held Balkans ( Rumelia ), with a range of cities being famed for their long-standing traditions in the study of Persian and its classics, amongst them Saraybosna (modern Sarajevo , Bosnia and Herzegovina), Mostar (also in Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Vardar Yenicesi (or Yenice-i Vardar, now Giannitsa , in

19043-484: Was the “father” of the Persians. In later life he took the name “Adam” and became a tyrant. His son and daughter, Mari and Mariyanah were the ancestors of kings. According to Tabari, his successor, Oshahanj, was the first king to introduce laws and rule with justice and fairness. Until his rule, humans lived on fruit and clothed themselves with leaves. He built them homes, and taught them to eat meat, use animal skins for clothing, cut trees, mine and work metals and cultivate

19182-492: Was to prevent books from being printed with wrong use of words. According to the executive guarantee of this association, the government was responsible for wrongfully printed books. Words coined by this association, such as rāh-āhan ( راه‌آهن ) for "railway", were printed in Soltani Newspaper ; but the association was eventually closed due to inattention. A scientific association was founded in 1911, resulting in

19321-517: Was “described as just and generous”. Towards the end of his reign, he is attacked by Frasiyab, king of Turan (that is of the Turks) and a descendant of Tuj. An agreement is made whereby the boundary between their realms is set by having an Iranian archer shoot an arrow from a mountain and where it lands will form the frontier. The arrow landed near Balkh at the Oxus river, which becomes the boundary between

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