Iran (word)
The
In the geographic sense, ērān was also distinguished from ērānšahr, the Sasanians' own name for their empire, and which also included territories that were not primarily inhabited by ethnic Iranians.[1] Fa:نامهای ایران
In pre-Islamic usage
The word ērān is first attested in the inscriptions that accompany the investiture relief of
The expression "king of kings of the Aryans" found in Ardashir's inscription remained a stock epithet of all the Sasanian kings. Similarly, the inscription "the Mazda-worshipping (mazdēsn) lord Ardashir, king of kings of the Iranians" that appears on Ardashir's coins was likewise adopted by Ardashir's successors. Ardashir's son and immediate successor,
Notwithstanding this inscriptional use of ērān to refer to the Iranian peoples, the use of ērān to refer to the empire (and the antonymic anērān to refer to the Roman territories) is also attested by the early Sasanian period. Both ērān and anērān appear in 3rd century calendrical text written by Mani. The same short form reappears in the names of the towns founded by Sasanian dynasts, for instance in Ērān-xwarrah-šābuhr "Glory of Ērān (of) Shapur". It also appears in the titles of government officers, such as in Ērān-āmārgar "Accountant-General of Ērān", Ērān-dibirbed "Chief Scribe of Ērān", and Ērān-spāhbed "Spahbed of Ērān".[1][9]
Because an equivalent of ērānšahr does not appear in Old Iranian (where it would have been *aryānām xšaθra- or in Old Persian *- xšaça-, "rule, reign, sovereignty"), the term is presumed
In early Islamic times
The terms ērān/ērānšahr had no currency for the Arabic-speaking Caliphs, for whom Arabic al-'ajam and al-furs ("Persia") to refer to Western Iran (i.e. the territory initially captured by the Arabs and approximately corresponding to the present-day country of Iran) had greater traction than indigenous Iranian usage.[10]: 327 Moreover, for the Arabs ērān/ērānšahr were tainted by their association with the vanquished Sasanians, for whom being Iranian was also synonymous with being mazdayesn, i.e. Zoroastrian.[10]: 327 Accordingly, while the Arabs were generally quite open to Iranian ideas if it suited them, this did not extend to the nationalistic and religious connotations in ērān/ērānšahr, nor to the concomitant contempt of non-Iranians, which by the Islamic era also included Arabs and "Turks".
The rise of the
The best known of this literary elite was
In time, Iranian usage of ērān began to coincide with the dimensions of Arabic al-Furs, such as in the Tarikh-e Sistan which divides Ērānšahr into four parts and restricts ērān to only Western Iran, but this was not yet common practice in the early Islamic-era. At that early stage, ērān was still mostly the more general "(lands inhabited by) Iranians" in Iranian usage, occasionally also in the early Sasanian sense in which ērān referred to people, rather than to the state.[1] Notable among these is Farrukhi Sistani, a contemporary of Ferdowsi, who also contrasts ērān with 'turan', but—unlike Ferdowsi—in the sense of "land of the Turanians". The early Sasanian sense is also occasionally found in medieval works by Zoroastrians, who continued to use Middle Persian even for new compositions. The Denkard, a 9th-century work of Zoroastrian tradition, uses ērān to designate Iranians and anērān to designate non-Iranians. The Denkard also uses the phrases ēr deh, plural ērān dehān, to designate lands inhabited by Iranians. The Kar-namag i Ardashir, a 9th-century hagiographic collection of legends related to Ardashir I uses ērān exclusively in connection with titles, i.e. šāh-ī-ērān and ērān-spāhbed (12.16, 15.9), but otherwise calls the country Ērānšahr (3.11, 19; 15.22, etc.).[1] A single instance in the Book of Arda Wiraz (1.4), also preserves the gentilic in ērān dahibed distinct from the geographic Ērānšahr. However, these post-Sasanian instances where ērān referred to people rather than to the state, are rare, and by the early Islamic period the "general designation for the land of the Iranians was [...] by then ērān (also ērān zamīn, šahr-e ērān), and ērānī for its inhabitants."[1] That "Ērān was also generally understood geographically is shown by the formation of the adjective ērānag "Iranian," which is first attested in the Bundahišn and contemporary works."[1]
In the Zoroastrian literature of the medieval period, but apparently also perceived by adherents of other faiths,[10]: 328 Iranianness remained synonymous with Zoroastrianism. In these texts, other religions are not seen as "unzoroastrian", but as un-Iranian.[10]: 328 This is a major theme in the Ayadgar i Zareran 47, where ērīh "Iranianess" is contrasted with an-ērīh, and ēr-mēnišnīh "Iranian virtue" is contrasted with an-ēr-mēnišnīh. The Dadestan i Denig (Dd. 40.1-2) goes further, and recommends death for an Iranian who accepts a non-Iranian religion (dād ī an-ēr-īh).[10]: 328 Moreover, these medieval texts elevate the Avesta's mythical Airyanem Vaejah (MP: ērān-wez) to the center of the world (Dd. 20.2), and give it a cosmogonical role, either (PRDd. 46.13) where for all plant life is created, or (GBd. 1a.12) where animal life is created.[10]: 327 Elsewhere (WZ 21), it is imagined to be the place where Zoroaster was enlightened. In Denkard III.312, humans are imagined to have first all lived there, until ordered to disperse by Vahman und Sros.[10]: 328 This ties in with an explanation given to a Christian by Adurfarnbag when asked why Ohrmazd only sent his religion to Ērānšahr.[10]: 328 Not all texts treat Iranianness and Zoroastrianism as synonymous. Denkard III.140, for instance, simply considers Zoroastrians to be the better Iranians.[10]: 329
The existence of a cultural concept of "Iranianness" (Irāniyat) is also demonstrated in the trial of Afshin in 840, as recorded by Tabari. Afshin, the hereditary ruler of Oshrusana, on the southern bank of the middle stretch of the Syr Darya, had been charged with propagating Iranian ethno-national sentiment.[11] Afshin acknowledged the existence of a national consciousness (al aʿjamiyya) and his sympathies for it. "This episode clearly reveals not only the presence of a distinct awareness of Iranian cultural identity and the people who actively propagated it, but also of the existence of a concept (al-aʿjamiya or Irāniyat) to convey it."[11]
Modern usage
During the
Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the official name of the country is "Islamic Republic of Iran".
References
- Notes
- Naqsh-e Rustam (DNa 14-15), in Darius I's inscription at Susa (DSe 13-14), and in the inscription of Xerxes I at Persepolis (XPh 12-13).[5] In these, the two Achaemenid dynasts both describe themselves as pārsa pārsahyā puça ariya ariyaciça "a Persian, son of a Persian, an Iranian, of Iranian origin." "The phrase with ciça, 'origin, descendance,' assures that it [i.e. ariya] is an ethnic name wider in meaning than pārsa and not a simple adjectival epithet."[4] "There can be no doubt about the ethnic value of Old Iran. arya."[5] "All [the] evidence shows that the name arya "Iranian" was a collective definition, denoting peoples [...] who were aware of belonging to the one ethnic stock, speaking a common language, and having a religious tradition that centered on the cult of Ahura Mazdā."[5]
- ^ The Middle Persian version of this inscription has not survived, but is reconstructable from the Parthian version, in which *ērānšahr appears as Parthian aryānšahr.
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r MacKenzie, David Niel (1998), "Ērān, Ērānšahr", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 8, Costa Mesa: Mazda, p. 534.
- ^ Gignoux, Phillipe (1987), "Anērān", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (1987), "Aryans", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 684–687.
- ^ a b Bailey, Harold Walter (1987), "Arya", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 681–683.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gnoli, Gherardo (2006), "Iranian identity II: Pre-Islamic period", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 13, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 504–507.
- ISBN 9781845110628, page 5
- ^ Markwart, J.; Messina, G. (1931), A catalogue of the provincial capitals of Eranshahr: Pahlavi text, version and commentary, Rome: Pontificio istituto biblico.
- ^ Daryaee, Touraj (2002), Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr. A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History. With English and Persian Translations, and Commentary, Mazda Publishers.
- ^ Gnoli, Gherardo (1989), The Idea of Iran: an essay on its origin, Serie orientale Roma, vol. LXI, Rome/Leiden: Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente/Brill.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ashraf, Ahmad (2006), "Iranian identity III: Medieval-Islamic period", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 13, pp. 507–522.
- ^ Chardin, John (1927), Travels in Persia, 1673-1677, London: Argonaut, p. 126, fasc. reprint 1988, Mineola: Dover.