Rethinking Persianate Identity: Reflections on Mana Kia’s Persianate Selves
Growing up with a mix of South Asian and Persianate influences, I often wondered about the fluidity of cultural identity—how language, literature, and history shape belonging beyond national borders. Reading Mana Kia’s Persianate Selves, I found a framework that challenges rigid notions of identity. Kia argues that before nationalism, Persianate identity was not defined by ethnicity or birthplace but by adab—a shared ethical and literary culture that connected people from the Balkans to Bengal. Persian was not just a language; it was a learned tradition that bound diverse communities together.
But as much as I admire this vision of a connected world, I also question its accessibility. Kia’s focus on adab suggests a certain openness, yet Persianate culture was still shaped by exclusion. Mastery of Persian and its literary forms was largely a privilege of elites—what about women, non-elites, or those who existed on the margins of this cultural order? I also wish Kia had expanded more on how Persianate belonging persisted beyond Mughal India and Iran, particularly in places like Afghanistan or the Ottoman Empire.
Still, Kia’s book resonates with me because it offers a way to think beyond nationalism’s constraints. Persianate identity did not disappear—it evolved. Today, as someone studying histories of Muslim communities and legal traditions, I see echoes of Kia’s argument in the fluid identities of those I research. Her work reminds me that belonging isn’t always tied to place; sometimes, it’s about the stories, texts, and traditions we carry with us.
~FS
