A little bit of history...
This weekend, I read “A Very Short Introduction to Iran” by Ali M Ansari, an excellent overview of Iran’s history from Ancient Persia to present day. Ali Ansari is a professor of modern Middle East history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. As a historian of the Middle East, (quite predictably) when I encounter a new culture, my first instinct is to learn as much as I can about its history.
Like many Middle Eastern histories, the history of Persia and modern Iran is rife with misunderstandings and a general lack of awareness of its history beyond a few months years. Even within the Middle East, misinformation about the Persianate world is widespread. Growing up in the Arab world, in my schooling, Iranian history was not given the focus it deserved among the world’s greatest civilizations. In fact, I didn’t learn much about Iranian history except the Islamic Revolution in 1979, as if Iranian history started and ended with 1979!
Some 50 km outside the city of Shiraz sits the majestic ruins of the grandiose ancient city of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (559-330 B.C), known to the world as Persepolis, “the city of the Persians,” named by the Greeks.[1]
According to Ansari, for Iranians, the city is known as “Takht-e-Jamshid” the Throne of Jamshid, one of the great kings of Iranian mythology.
Source: Iran Chamber Society
It might come as a surprise to many (non-Iranians) that Persia was actually a term the Greeks accorded to the Achaemenid dynasty in the sixth century BC because they had come from “Pars” in the southern Iranian plateau. It was under Pahlavi rule of Reza Shah in 1934 that the name was changed from Persia to Iran.[2] Most Persians are very proud of their ancient past, especially the influence of the Sasanian empire whose official religion was Zoroastrianism, the last empire before the Arab/Islamic conquest of Iran in the seventh century.
The influence of pre-Islamic Persian history is pervasive in Iranian culture, for example Nowruz نوروز, the Persian New Year which is celebrated across the Persianate world has its roots in Zoroastrianism. Moreover, the notorious poet Ferdowsi’s شاهنامه Shahnameh, The Book of Kings, an epic 100,000-line poem outlining the story of pre-Islamic Iran as a mix of ancient history and mythology represents the national epic of the Iranian nation.[3]
In the context of Islam, Iran is frequently associated with Shi’a Islam as the largest Shi’a majority country in the Islamic world. However, as Ansari reminds Shi’a Islam did not become the official state religion of Persia until after it was made so by the Safavid dynasty in the sixteenth century. [4] Although the Ottoman empire garners significant attention from historians, the Safavids, a humble Sufi order (tariqah) from Ardabil in Azerbaijan, built also their own vast competing empire, which at its height extended well into Iraq, Bahrain and Armenia.
Since I love history, this was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I look forward to learning more about Iranian history and culture. These are only a few of the fascinating tidbits that I would encourage all to explore further. It is a historical injustice for us to have such a shortsighted view of the Persianate world!
[1]Ali Ansari, A Very Short Introduction to Iran (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 7.
[2]Ansari, A Very Short Introduction, xix.
[3]Ansari, A Very Short Introduction, 11.
[4]Ansari, A Very Short Introduction, 72.
