Ērān-šahr
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The modern Persian name of Iran () means "the land of
Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
s". It derives immediately from the 3rd-century
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
(
Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944 ...
spelling: 𐭠𐭩𐭫𐭠𐭭, ''ʼyrʼn''), where it initially meant "of the Iranians", but soon also acquired a geographical connotation in the sense of "(lands inhabited by) Iranians". In both geographic and demonymic senses, ''ērān'' is distinguished from its antonymic ''
anērān Anērān (Middle Persian, ) or Anīrân (Modern Persian, ) is an ethno-linguistic term that signifies "non-Iranian peoples, Iranian" or "non-Greater Iran, Iran" (non-Aryan). Thus, in a general sense, 'Aniran' signifies lands where Iranian languages ...
'', meaning "non-Iran(ian)"... 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. :Fa:نام‌های ایران


In pre-Islamic usage

The word ''ērān'' is first attested in the inscriptions that accompany the investiture relief of
Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...
(''r.'' 224–242) at Naqsh-e Rustam. In this bilingual inscription, the king calls himself "Ardashir,
king of kings King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
of the Iranians" (
Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
: ''ardašīr šāhān šāh ī ērān'';
Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
: ''ardašīr šāhān šāh ī aryān''). The Middle Iranian ''ērān''/''aryān'' are oblique plural forms of
gentilic A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
''ēr-'' (Middle Persian) and ''ary-'' (Parthian), which in turn both derive from Old Iranian ''*arya-'', meaning "'Aryan,' i.e., 'of the Iranians.'". This Old Iranian ''*arya-'' is attested as an ethnic designator in
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
inscriptions as
Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...
''ariya-'', and in Zoroastrianism's Avesta tradition as
Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...
''airiia-''/''airya'', etc.. It is "very likely" that Ardashir I's use of Middle Iranian ''ērān''/''aryān'' still retained the same meaning as did in Old Iranian, i.e. denoting the people rather than the empire. The expression "king of kings of the Iranians" 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, Shapur I (''r.'' 240/42–270/72) extended the title to "King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians" ( pal, MLKAn MLKA 'yr'n W 'nyr'n ''šāhān šāh ī ērān ud anērān''; grc, βασιλεύς βασιλέων Αριανών ''basileús basiléōn Arianṓn''), thus extending his intent to rule non-Iranians as well, or because large areas of the empire was inhabited by non-Iranians. In his trilingual inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, Shapur I also introduces the term '' *ērānšahr''. Shapur's inscription includes a list of provinces in his empire, and these include regions in the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
that were not inhabited predominantly by Iranians. An antonymic ''anērānšahr'' is attested from thirty years later in the inscriptions of
Kartir Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩𐭫 ''Kardīr'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd-century. His name is cited in the inscriptions ...
, a high priest under several Sasanian kings. Kartir's inscription also includes a lists of provinces, but unlike Shapur's considers the provinces in the Caucasus ''anērānšahr''. These two uses may be contrasted with ''ērānšahr'' as understood by the late Sasanian '' Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr'', which is a description of various provincial capitals of the ''ērānšahr'', and includes Africa and Arabia as well.. Notwithstanding this inscriptional use of ''ērān'' to refer to the
Iranian peoples The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separat ...
, 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 Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...
. 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".. 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 to have been a Sasanian-era development. In the Greek portion of Shapur's trilingual inscription the word ''šahr'' "kingdom" appears as ''ethnous (genitive of "ethnos")'' "nation". For speakers of Greek, the idea of an Iranian ''ethnos'' was not new: The mid-5th-century BCE
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
(7.62) mentions that the
Medes The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, the ...
once called themselves ''Arioi''. The 1st century BCE
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
cites the 3rd-century BCE
Eratosthenes Eratosthenes of Cyrene (; grc-gre, Ἐρατοσθένης ;  – ) was a Greek polymath: a mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria ...
for having noted a relationship between the various Iranian peoples and their languages: "
rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...
beyond the
Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
.. Ariana is extended so as to include some part of
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, Media, and the north of
Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...
and Sogdiana; for these nations speak nearly the same language." (''
Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
'', 15.2.1-15.2.8). Damascius (''Dubitationes et solutiones in Platonis Parmenidem'', 125ff) quotes the mid-4th-century BCE Eudemus of Rhodes for "the Magi and all those of Iranian (''áreion'') lineage". The 1st-century BCE
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ;  1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
(1.94.2) describes Zoroaster as one of the ''Arianoi''.


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. 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. 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
Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
in the mid-8th century ended the
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
policy of Arab supremacy and initiated a revival of Iranian identity. This was encouraged by the transfer of the capital from Syria to Iraq, which had been a capital province in Sasanian, Arsacid and Archaemenid times and was thus perceived to carry an Iranian cultural legacy. Moreover, in several Iranian provinces, the downfall of the Umayyads was accompanied by a rise of de facto autonomous Iranian dynasties in the 9th and 10th centuries: the Taherids, Saffarids and
Samanid The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Kho ...
s in eastern Iran and Central Asia, and the Ziyarids, Kakuyids and
Buyid The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...
s in central, southern and western Iran. Each of these dynasties identified themselves as "Iranian", manifested in their invented genealogies, which described them as descendants of pre-Islamic kings, and legends as well as the use of the title of
shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
anshah by the Buyid rulers. These dynasties provided the "men of the pen" (''ahl-e qalam''), i.e. the literary elite, with an opportunity to revive the idea of Iran. The best known of this literary elite was
Ferdowsi Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
, whose ''
Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...
'', completed around 1000 CE, is partly based on Sasanian and earlier oral and literary tradition. In Ferdowsi's take on the legends, the first man and first king created by Ahura Mazda are the foundations of Iran. At the same time, Iran is portrayed to be under threat from Aniranian peoples, who are driven by envy, fear and other evil demons ( ''dew''s) of Ahriman to conspire against Iran and its peoples. "Many of the myths surrounding these events, as they appear n the ''Shahnameh'' were of Sasanid origin, during whose reign political and religious authority become fused and the comprehensive idea of Iran was constructed." 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. 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.). 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." That "Ērān was also generally understood geographically is shown by the formation of the adjective ''ērānag'' "Iranian," which is first attested in the ''
Bundahišn ''Bundahishn'' (Avestan: , "Primal Creation") is the name traditionally given to an encyclopedic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known. Although the ''Bundahishn'' d ...
'' and contemporary works." In the Zoroastrian literature of the medieval period, but apparently also perceived by adherents of other faiths, Iranianness remained synonymous with Zoroastrianism. In these texts, other religions are not seen as "unzoroastrian", but as un-Iranian. 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 ' ( "Religious Judgments") or ' ( "Book of Questions") is a 9th-century Middle Persian work written by Manuščihr, who was high priest of the Persian Zoroastrian community of Pārs and Kermān, son of Juvānjam and brother of Zādspram. The work ...
(''Dd.'' 40.1-2) goes further, and recommends death for an Iranian who accepts a non-Iranian religion (''dād ī an-ēr-īh''). 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. 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. This ties in with an explanation given to a Christian by Adurfarnbag when asked why Ohrmazd only sent his religion to Ērānšahr. Not all texts treat Iranianness and Zoroastrianism as synonymous. ''Denkard'' III.140, for instance, simply considers Zoroastrians to be the better Iranians.. The existence of a cultural concept of "Iranianness" (Irāniyat) is also demonstrated in the trial of
Afshin Afshin ( fa, افشین / ''Afšīn'') is a common Persian given name, which is a modern Persian word derived from Avestan. Afshin was used by the Sogdians. Historically, it was the princely title of the rulers of Osrushana at the time of the Mu ...
in 840, as recorded by Tabari. Afshin, the hereditary ruler of Oshrusana, on the southern bank of the middle stretch of the
Syr Darya The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
, had been charged with propagating Iranian ethno-national sentiment.
Afshin Afshin ( fa, افشین / ''Afšīn'') is a common Persian given name, which is a modern Persian word derived from Avestan. Afshin was used by the Sogdians. Historically, it was the princely title of the rulers of Osrushana at the time of the Mu ...
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."


Modern usage

During the
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
era (1501–1736), most of the territory of the
Sasanian empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
regained its political unity, and Safavid kings were assuming the title of "''Šāhanšāh-e Irān''" (Iran's king of kings).. An example is Mofid Bafqi (d. 1679), who makes numerous references to Iran, describing its border and the nostalgia of Iranians who had migrated to India in that era. Even Ottoman sultans, when addressing the
Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...
and Safavid kings, used such titles as the "king of Iranian lands" or the "sultan of the lands of Iran" or "the king of kings of Iran, the lord of the Persians". This title, as well as the title of "''Šāh-e Irān''", was later used by Nader Shah Afshar and Qajar and
Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944 ...
kings. Since 1935, the name "Iran" has replaced other
names of Iran In the Western world, ''Persia'' (or one of its cognates) was historically the common name used for Iran. On the Nowruz of 1935, Reza Shah officially asked foreign delegates to use the Persian term ''Iran'' (meaning the land of Aryans in Persian ...
in the western world.
Jean Chardin Jean Chardin (16 November 1643 – 5 January 1713), born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book ''The Travels of Sir John Chardin'' is regarded as one of the finest ...
, who travelled in the region between 1673 and 1677, observed that "the Persians, in naming their country, make use of one word, which they indifferently pronounce ''Iroun'', and ''Iran''. ..These names of Iran and Touran, are frequently to be met with in the ancient histories of Persia; ..and even to this very day, the king of Persia is call'd ''Padsha Iran'' 'padshah''='king' and the great vizier, ''Iran Medary'' .e. ''medari''='facilitator' the ''Pole of Persia''"., fasc. reprint 1988, Mineola: Dover. Since the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
of 1979, the official name of the country is "Islamic Republic of Iran".


References

;Notes ;Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Iran (Word) Iran, Etymology of History of Iran Persian words and phrases Historical geography of Iran hr:Terminologija Irana i Perzije#Naziv „Iran“