''Azari or the Ancient Language of Azerbaijan'' () is a

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions." Tre ...

written by the Iranian scholar

Ahmad Kasravi Ahmad Hokmabadi Tabrizi ( fa, سید احمد حکم‌آبادی تبریزی, Ahmad-e Hokmabadi-ye Tabrizi; 29 September 1890 – 11 March 1946), later known as Ahmad Kasravi ( fa, احمد کسروی, Ahmad-e Kasravi), was a pre-eminent Iran ...

in 1925, about the history of the

Azeri language Azerbaijani () or Azeri (), also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish, is a Turkic language from the Oghuz sub-branch spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people, who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan where the North Azerbaija ...

. This book has been approved by orientalists. In this book, Kasravi, using numerous documents and manuscripts, argues that the

Old Azeri Old Azeri (also spelled Adhari, Azeri or Azari) is the extinct Iranian language that was once spoken in the northwestern Iranian historic region of Azerbaijan (Iranian Azerbaijan) before the Turkification of the region. Some linguists believe th ...

language (also known as "Azeri" or "Azari") should not be categorized as a member of the

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic l ...

, but as an

Iranian language The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are grouped ...

, a descendant of the

Median language The Median language (also Medean or Medic) was the language of the Medes. It is an Old Iranian language and classified as belonging to the Northwestern Iranian subfamily, which includes many other languages such as Old Azeri, Gilaki, Mazandar ...

. This treatise, which was Kasravi's first serious work, was very influential worldwide and led to a new theory in Iran about the existence of Iranian roots in the Azeri language. In the words of the ''

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...

'':

Concept

Kasravi's motivation for writing the work was political. He published the work in a period of raging controversy between papers based in Iran,

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

(i.e. Turkey) and Baku (i.e. Azerbaijan SSR) on the Origin of the Azerbaijanis. Kasravi, after studying both arguments, concluded that the claims of the Turkish journalists were unfounded and non-academic, and the replies of the Iranian journalists were not "founded in a knowledge of history". In this book, Kasravi first proposed the theory that the language of the region of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

in northwestern

Iran 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 ...

was a language of the

family until a few centuries before the Turkic domination in this region. According to historical evidence, he named this language Azeri. This book made Kasravi famous in

Iranian studies Iranian studies ( fa, ايران‌شناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...

circles and he became a member of scientific circles abroad. The first edition of the book, and consequently the processing of theory, was based only on historical contexts. Later, Kasravi studied linguistics and in later editions of the book, he also dealt with this theory according to its linguistic foundations. Kasravi's research motivated researchers to search for the remains of that historical language in different parts of Azerbaijan and find other examples of this language. Iranica adds: Kasravi's historical monuments have been recognized by other scholars.

Vladimir Minorsky Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geography, ...

says about Kasravi: "Kasravi has the spirit of an honest historian. He is meticulous in detail and in presentation"

Legacy

The treatise ''Azari or the Ancient Language of Azerbaijan'' started a new wave in historiography and linguistics in Iran. Since the publication of this treatise, various researches based on this book have been done for the etymology of Azeri language. Later, foreign and Iranian professors, linguists, and orientalists wrote articles in support of the Azeri treatise.

References

{{Reflist Books by Ahmad Kasravi Persian-language books Treatises Historical linguistics books Academic works about linguistics 1925 non-fiction books Azerbaijan (Iran) Historiography of Iran