Frangistan

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Frangistan (

Persians in particular, during the Middle Ages and later historical periods to refer to Western or Latin Europe
.

Frangistan literally means "Land of the

Kingdom of France (although its eastern parts came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire
).

This name was in contrast to the name used by Arabs for their longstanding Eastern Christian neighbors the

Rûm (derived from "Rome", i.e. the medieval Eastern Roman Empire with its capital in Constantinople
).

As the Franks (French) formed a substantial part of the force of the First Crusade, and Old French became the dominant language in the crusader states of the 12th century (notably the Principality of Antioch), the term Frank as used in the Levant could mean any Western European (Latin) Christian (whether Frankish, Saxon, Flemish, etc.). Frangistan was not a clearly defined area and may have referred to any land perceived to be Western European Christian by contemporary Muslims.

Conversely, Christians generally called Muslims

Arabia and Mauretania
, respectively.

The term Frangistan was still in use in the time of the

Modern Persian, and without any negative connotation.[4] In Hindi in present-day India
, all Europeans in general are still referred to as Firang.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary
  2. ^ Bernard Lewis, "Some Reflections on the Decline of the Ottoman Empire", Studia Islamica, No. 9. (1958), pp. 111–127.
  3. Nasser al-Din Shah
    from His Third Journey to Farangestān (Europe))    , edited by Dr. Mohammad Esmā'eel Rezvāni & Fātemeh Ghāzihā, Iranian National Documents Organization Publishing, Tehran, 1378 Solar A.H. (1999).
  4. ^ Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary
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