[20], Strabo, in his Geographica (1st century AD), mentions of the Medes, Persians, Bactrians and Sogdians of the Iranian Plateau and Transoxiana of antiquity:[31]. Ultimately, the various Iranian peoples, including the Persians, Pashtuns, Kurds and Balochis, converted to Islam, while the Alans converted to Christianity, thus laying the foundation for the fact that the modern-day Ossetians are Christian. [71] The Baloch who speak a west Iranian language relate an oral tradition regarding their migration from Aleppo, Syria around the year 1000 AD, whereas linguistic evidence links Balochi to Kurmanji, Soran, Gorani and Zazaki language.[72]. Iranian ethnic group who make up over half the population of Iran, , 10th-century Arab Muslim writer Ibn Hawqal, in his, harv error: no target: CITEREFShapur_Shahbazi2005 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFSchmitt2000 (, harv error: no target: CITEREFSchmitt2008 (. Modern Persian is classified as a continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of the Sasanian Empire, itself a continuation of Old Persian, which was used by the time of the Achaemenid Empire. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [25] In the Bible, particularly in the books of Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemya, it is given as Prs (). [98], Like other Indo-Europeans, the early Iranians practiced ritual sacrifice, had a social hierarchy consisting of warriors, clerics, and farmers, and recounted their deeds through poetic hymns and sagas. New Persian literature flourished after the Arab conquest of Iran with its earliest records from the 9th century,[116] and was developed as a court tradition in many eastern courts. The heart of the storied Persian empire of antiquity, Iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and laterbecause of its strategic position and abundant natural resources, especially petroleumas a factor in colonial and superpower rivalries. The term Persian, meaning "from Persia", derives from Latin Persia, itself deriving from Greek Perss ( ), [24] a Hellenized form of Old Persian Prsa ( ), which evolves into Frs ( ) in modern Persian. Your email address will not be published. Xenophon, in his Oeconomicus,[120] states: "The Great King [Cyrus II]in all the districts he resides in and visits, takes care that there are pardeisos ("paradise") as they [Persians] call them, full of the good and beautiful things that the soil produce.". Islamic festivals are also widely celebrated by Muslim Persians. Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies (Cambridge, September 1995). R. G. Kent. The Greco-Persian Wars resulted in the Persians being forced to withdraw from their European territories, setting the direct further course of history of Greece and the rest of Europe. You can be Iranian and be Mazandarani, Gilaki, Kurdish, Lur, Baloch, Azeri, Turkmen, Arab or another ethnicity. Female: medium: 8-12 lbs. Achaemenid rug and carpet artistry is well recognized. [29][10], Some medieval and early modern Islamic sources also used cognates of the term Persian to refer to various Iranian peoples and languages, including the speakers of Khwarazmian,[30] Mazanderani,[31] and Old Azeri. [90][91][92][93][94][95][96], The Lurs, an ethnic Iranian people native to western Iran, are often associated with the Persians and the Kurds. [78] Contemporary embracement of the legacy of Iran's ancient empires, with an emphasis on the Achaemenid Persian Empire, developed particularly under the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty, providing the motive of a modern nationalistic pride. Until the Parthian era, Iranian identity had an ethnic, linguistic, and religious value. The Persian is not known for a high degree of energetic exercise, so attention must be paid to weight management. Southern European Skin Complexion. [102] Zoroastrianism, a form of the ancient Iranian religion that is still practiced by some communities,[103] was later developed and spread to nearly all of the Iranian peoples living in the Iranian Plateau. [citation needed], Iranian languages were and, to a lesser extent, still are spoken in a wide area comprising regions around the Black Sea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia and the northwest of China. [114][18][113][115] This is due mainly to its geopolitical conditions, and its intricate relationship with the ever-changing political arena once as dominant as the Achaemenid Empire. Most of the ancient Persian empire is in modern-day Iran. However, as they live on the border with many Arabic peoples, over time, a small amount of this genetic ancestry has entered their gene pool. The enclosure of this symmetrically arranged planting and irrigation by an infrastructure such as a palace created the impression of "paradise". The heart of the storied Persian empire of antiquity, Iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and laterbecause of its strategic position and abundant natural resources, especially petroleumas a factor in colonial and superpower rivalries. The Persian language is known to have one of the world's oldest and most influential literatures. Xenophon describes the carpet production in the city of Sardis, stating that the locals take pride in their carpet production. [51] Sintashta settlements are also remarkable for the intensity of copper mining and bronze metallurgy carried out there, which is unusual for a steppe culture. [56] The Parthian language, which was used as an official language of the Parthian Empire, left influences on Persian,[57][58][59] as well as on the neighboring Armenian language. [70] Even though the Achaemenids had extensive contacts with the Greeks and vice versa, and had conquered many of the Greek-speaking area's both in Europe and Asia Minor during different periods of the empire, the native Old Iranian sources provide no indication of Greek linguistic evidence. Update of 30 Mar (2018). [52], Because of the difficulty of identifying the remains of Sintashta sites beneath those of later settlements, the culture was only recently distinguished from the Andronovo culture. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Identifying a Persian Cat: Physical Characteristics and Behavioral Cues. The Tajiks are a people native to Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan who speak Persian in a variety of dialects. The Persian is a medium-to large-sized cat with short, muscular legs, a short back, a cobby, sturdy body and a deep chest. He uses the same analogue as in differentiating German from Germanic or differentiating Turkish and Turkic. One of the most common misconceptions or stereotypes about the Persian people is that they speak Arabic. A History of Russia by Nicholas Riasanovsky, pp. About one-third of its 4,770-mile (7,680-km) boundary is seacoast. From the late 2nd millennium BC to early 1st millennium BC the Iranians had expanded from the Eurasian Steppe, and Iranian peoples such as Medes, Persians, Parthians and Bactrians populated the Iranian Plateau.[57][58]. Reformist elements rose within the government during the last decade of the 20th century, opposed both to the ongoing rule of conservative clergy and to Irans continued political and economic isolation from the international community. [29], The Old Persian and Avestan evidence is confirmed by the Greek sources. Some inhabitants of Iran are not necessarily ethnic Iranians by virtue of not being speakers of Iranian languages. As the Parsa expanded their sphere of political influence, particularly under the Achaemenian dynasty (559330 bce), the entire Iranian plateau became known to outsiders (such as the ancient Greeks) as Persia; its various peoples were designated (collectively) the Persians. [125], The Pazyryk carpet, a Scythian pile-carpet dating back to the 4th century BC that is regarded as the world's oldest existing carpet, depicts elements of Assyrian and Achaemenid designs, including stylistic references to the stone slab designs found in Persian royal buildings. While the Iranian tribes of the south are better known through their texts and modern counterparts, the tribes which remained largely in the vast Eurasian expanse are known through the references made to them by the ancient Greeks, Persians, Chinese, and Indo-Aryans as well as by archaeological finds. Big eyes in Iran are both a beauty standard; most people have big eyes and long eyelashes, which, when combined with tan skin and black arched eyebrows, creates a stunning appearance for their eyes. 2nd ed., New Haven, Conn. MacKenzie D.N. Sintashta material culture also shows the influence of the late Abashevo culture, a collection of Corded Ware settlements in the forest steppe zone north of the Sintashta region that were also predominantly pastoralist. On its western fringes, it overlaps with the approximately contemporaneous, but distinct, Srubna culture in the Volga-Ural interfluvial. This, compared to Finlands 178cm, Canadas ; the UKs 177cm, means they are still of a reasonably large height. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Persians spread their influence to the rest of what is considered to be the Iranian Plateau, and assimilated with the non-Iranian indigenous groups of the region, including the Elamites and the Mannaeans. Chopra, R. M.,"Indo-Iranian Cultural Relations Through The Ages", Iran Society, Kolkata, 2005. public works noun An ancient tradition that has been preserved in Iran and several other countries that were under the influence of the ancient empires of Iran,[129][130] Nowruz has been registered on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. They believe that acting through humility prevents an excess of criticism. Although of diverse ancestry, the Persian people are united by their language, Persian (Farsi), which belongs to the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European language family. The Sintashta culture, also known as the SintashtaPetrovka culture[45] or SintashtaArkaim culture,[46] is a Bronze Age archaeological culture of the northern Eurasian steppe on the borders of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, dated to the period 21001800 BC. Light eyes of a blue, green, and grey color are relatively common among the same minority groups yet, also common in the bulk of the darker-skinned population. Over the following centuries, with the state-fostered rise of a Persian-based Shii clergy, a synthesis was formed between Persian culture and Shii Islam that marked each indelibly with the tincture of the other. The Iranian dominance collapsed in 330 BC following the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great, but reemerged shortly after through the establishment of the Parthian Empire in 247 BC, which was founded by a group of ancient Iranian people rising from Parthia. They are often defined by physical characteristics such as olive and pale skin, large dark or deep blue eyes, and almond shaped eyes. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [77] During the times of the Safavids and subsequent modern Iranian dynasties such as the Qajars, architectural and iconographic elements from the time of the Sasanian Persian Empire were reincorporated, linking the modern country with its ancient past. [100] Various common traits can be discerned among the Iranian peoples. The Persian is usually a medium sized cat, although she is massive and heavily boned. Parthian, London, P. Lund, Humphries 19762001, R.W. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Persians live in a very diverse geographical region. Houtsma et al., eds., The Encyclopdia of Islam: A Dictionary of the Geography, Ethnography and Biography of the Muhammadan Peoples, 4 vols. Nestled on the margins of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, Kurdistan is one of the planet's most volatile regions, and its people are the world's largest stateless group. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, between 616 BC and 605 BC, a unified Median state was formed, which, together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt, became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. Social/Attention Needs: Moderate Tendency to Shed: High Coat: Length: Long The largest empire of ancient history, with their base in Persis (although the main capital was located in Babylon) the Achaemenids would rule much of the known ancient world for centuries. [69] Although the term had developed a derogatory meaning and implied cultural and ethnic inferiority, it was gradually accepted as a synonym for "Persian"[68][70][71] and still remains today as a designation for the Persian-speaking communities native to the modern Arab states of the Middle East. Due to recent migrations, there are also large communities of speakers of Iranian languages in Europe, the Americas. The Proto-Indo-Iranians are commonly identified with the Sintashta culture and the subsequent Andronovo culture within the broader Andronovo horizon, and their homeland with an area of the Eurasian steppe that borders the Ural River on the west and the Tian Shan on the east. As the definition of the God of Iranians, The presence of "East-Eurasian" haplogroup. [13][14][15] Throughout history, the Persian people have contributed greatly to art and science. All of the major Iranian peoples reasserted their use of Iranian languages following the decline of Arab rule, but would not begin to form modern national identities until the 19th and early 20th centuries. The homeland varied in its geographic range, the area around Herat (Pliny's view) and even the entire expanse of the Iranian Plateau (Strabo's designation). Iran has beautiful mountainous regions and some of the best ski resorts on the planet. After over eight centuries of foreign rule within the region, the Iranian hegemony was reestablished by the emergence of the Safavid Empire in the 16th century. In rural areas, which are largely agrarian, social stratification is much less marked. [111] They do however continue to use Avestan as their liturgical language. Qjr rule was marked by the growing influence of the European powers in Irans internal affairs, with its attendant economic and political difficulties, and by the growing power of the Shii clergy in social and political issues. Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. As while the Persians have numerous green or blue-eyed people with red and fair hair, the majority of the Persian people have darker olive skin accompanied by darker hair. Women in Lorestan | Ninara/flickr The official language is Arabic [21][16][22][23], In the Iranian languages, the gentilic is attested as a self-identifier included in ancient inscriptions and the literature of Avesta. Their noses were a distinctive shape thats been described as hooked, wavy, sharp, and curved all at once. The vast majority of Iranians are Muslims of the Ithn Ashar, or Twelver, Shii branch, which is the official state religion. For the inhabitants of the modern country of, "Iranics" redirects here. Other religions that had their origins in the Iranian world were Mithraism, Manichaeism, and Mazdakism, among others. Iran also controls about a dozen islands in the Persian Gulf. In Middle Persian, Shapur says "rnahr xwady hm" and in Parthian he says "arynahr xwady ahm". "[40] One group were the Indo-Aryans who founded the Mitanni kingdom in northern Syria;[41] (c.1500 c.1300 BC) the other group were the Vedic people. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [110] They speak a dialect version of Gujarati, and no longer speak in Persian. They also typically have a flat and pushed-in looking face with chubby cheeks. [86] The oldest attested text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscription,[87] a multilingual inscription from the time of Achaemenid ruler Darius the Great carved on a cliff in western Iran. However, this wasnt wholly accurate, as while the Persians may have been semi-nomadic people who utilized agricultural farming, they were also some of the best warriors in central Eurasia. Key Personality Traits: Affectionate. Analyzed samples of Iranian Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Lurs, Mazanderanis, Gilaks and Arabs cluster tightly together, forming a single cluster known as the CIC (Central Iranian cluster). Studentsshould always cross-check any information on this site with their course teacher. [45] Meanwhile, under the dynasty of the Achaemenids, the Persians formed a vassal state to the central Median power. As an Iranian or Persian guy who knows a bit of history, Iran was called Persia up until around 100 years ago when its name was changed to Iran officially. https://helpfulprofessor.com/persian-people-physical-characteristics/. Sociolinguistic Status of Lori", "TAJIK i. Its been well-documented that Persian women, as well as the men, have some of the worlds most beautiful eyes. The lying, deception, manipulation for the lack of better words deserves our attention. The modern Ossetians are the descendants of the Alano-Sarmatians,[83][84] and their claims are supported by their Northeast Iranian language, while culturally the Ossetians resemble their North Caucasian neighbors, the Kabardians and Circassians. The Himalayan is usually a medium-sized cat although she is massive and heavily boned. As ancient tribes and identities changed, so did the Iranian peoples, many of whom assimilated foreign cultures and peoples.[90]. Subsequent rulersincluding Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia in 330 bce, and the local Ssnian dynasty (ruled 226641 ce)fostered cultural consolidation. Apparently, the Persians themselves knew the story,[27] as Xerxes I tried to use it to suborn the Argives during his invasion of Greece, but ultimately failed to do so. . The sea has an area of about 93,000 square miles (241,000 square km). The Persian people are one of the oldest civilizations that still inhabit their homeland. However, its not uncommon to come across a very light skinned and fair-haired Persian, especially in some of the minority groups across the country. A significant stereotype that was invented in the last few centuries is that Persians are Arabs. [78], The extensive contact between these Scytho-Sarmatian Iranian tribes in Eastern Europe and the (Early) Slavs included religion. [50], The earliest known chariots have been found in Sintashta burials, and the culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the Old World and played an important role in ancient warfare. Several Sintashta towns were built over older Poltavka settlements or close to Poltavka cemeteries, and Poltavka motifs are common on Sintashta pottery. Persian-speaking communities native to modern Arab countries are generally designated as Ajam,[72] including the Ajam of Bahrain, the Ajam of Iraq, and the Ajam of Kuwait. The Persian people are one of the oldest civilizations that still inhabit their homeland. [15], The term Iran derives directly from Middle Persian rn / AEran () and Parthian Aryn. [48], The Sintashta culture emerged from the interaction of two antecedent cultures. From Scythia to Camelot by Littleton and Malcor, pp. The abundant East Iranian-derived toponyms in Eastern Europe proper (e.g. [29][64] Following the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian language (referred to as "Farsi" in Persian after being changed from Parsi) spread from Pars or Fars Province to various regions of the Empire, with the modern dialects of Iran, Afghanistan (also known as Dari) and Central-Asia (known as Tajiki) descending from Old Persian. Due to the central location of Iran, Persian art has served as a fusion point between eastern and western traditions. Confronting the cultural and linguistic dominance of the Persians, beginning by the Umayyad Caliphate, the Arab conquerors began to establish Arabic as the primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire, sometimes by force, further confirming the new political reality over the region. This amounts to approximately 1.6 million people. Genetically speaking, Iranian peoples generally cluster closely with European and other Middle Eastern peoples. In 21st-century Iran there remain a small number of Zoroastrians; larger numbers of Zoroastrians now live in South Asia. [56] Other aspects of this national culture included the glorification of a great heroic past and an archaizing spirit. By the time of the Sasanian Empire, a national culture that was fully aware of being Iranian took shape, partially motivated by restoration and revival of the wisdom of "the old sages" (dngn pngn). With the fall of the Safavids in 1736, rule passed into the hands of several short-lived dynasties leading to the rise of the Qjr line in 1796. [65] The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. From Persis and throughout the Median, Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian empires of ancient Iran to the neighboring Greek city states and the kingdom of Macedon,[112][14] and later throughout the medieval Islamic world,[113][17] all the way to modern Iran and others parts of Eurasia, Persian culture has been extended, celebrated, and incorporated. Their current distribution spreads across the Iranian Plateau, stretching from the Caucasus in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south and from eastern Anatolia in the west to western Xinjiang in the easta region that is sometimes called the Iranian Cultural Continent,[14] representing the extent of the Iranian-speakers and the significant influence of the Iranian peoples through the geopolitical and cultural reach of Greater Iran. [46], At its greatest extent, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from parts of Eastern Europe in the west to the Indus Valley in the east, making it the largest empire the world had yet seen. Compared with worldwide populations, Iranians (CIC) cluster in the center of the wider West-Eurasian cluster, close to Europeans, Middle Easterners, and South-Central Asians. [79] Iran's modern architecture was then inspired by that of the country's classical eras, particularly with the adoption of details from the ancient monuments in the Achaemenid capitals Persepolis and Pasargadae and the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon. Before the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century ce, most Persians followed Zoroastrianism, based on the teachings of the ancient prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra), who lived during the first half of the 1st millennium bce. Most meals include rice, meat (usually lamb), and onions and other vegetables, all uniquely seasoned with saffron, turmeric, rose water, mint, and lime in various combinations. [73] At their greatest reported extent, around the 1st century AD, these tribes ranged from the Vistula River to the mouth of the Danube and eastward to the Volga, bordering the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas as well as the Caucasus to the south. [29] Thus, especially in the Western world, the names Persia and Persian came to refer to all of Iran and its subjects. The "long and narrow" skulls cannot be found farther east than the Black Sea. Material culture is a physical representation of a culture that can be held, tasted, or used. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS (2) Documentation", "ARABIC LANGUAGE v. Arabic Elements in Persian", "ARCHITECTURE vi. Persian Gulf, Arabic Bar Fris, Persian Khalj-e Frs, also called Arabian Gulf, shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that lies between the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Iran. V. Minorsky, "Tat" in M. Th. The thumbs-up gesture is considered rude and has the same connotation as raising one's middle finger for traditional Iranians. The main migration of Turkic peoples occurred between the 6th and 10th centuries, when they spread across most of Central Asia. Quiz, Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Iran, Encyclopaedia Iranica - Neolithic age in Iran, Iran - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Iran - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Be tough in seizing Iran oil, bipartisan senators urge Biden, Iran urges Lebanese sides to reach agreement over president, German FM condemns death sentence for citizen in Iran, US cyberwarriors thwarted 2020 Iran election hacking attempt, push to pacify economic unrest through repression. The northern boundary vaguely corresponds to the beginning of the Taiga. This is false, as they speak a language called Farsi, which is from the Indo-European family. A remnant of the Sogdians is found in the Yaghnobi-speaking population in parts of the Zeravshan valley in Tajikistan. However, the term Persian is still historically used to designate the predominant population of the Iranian peoples living in the Iranian cultural continent. Achaemenid architecture, dating from the expansion of the empire around 550 BC, flourished in a period of artistic growth that left a legacy ranging from Cyrus the Great's solemn tomb at Pasargadae to the structures at Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam. They played an integral part in collapsing some of the most powerful kingdoms in history, such as the Assyrian empire. harv error: no target: CITEREFLawergren2009 (, the languages that are closely related to Persian, some of the world's most powerful empires, 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire, architectural heritage of the Sasanian Empire, "LORI LANGUAGE ii. The name of Ariana is further extended to a part of Persia and of Media, as also to the Bactrians and Sogdians on the north; for these speak approximately the same language, with but slight variations. [34] Lady Mary (Leonora Woulfe) Sheil, in her observation of Iran during the Qajar era, states that the Kurds and the Leks would consider themselves as belonging to the race of the "old Persians". However, as you have mentioned there are different ethnicities living there and the majority are Fars or Parsi (English: Persian). [12][13] Modern Iranian peoples include the Baloch, the Gilaks, the Kurds, the Lurs, the Mazanderanis, the Ossetians, the Pamiris, the Pashtuns, the Persians, the Tats, the Tajiks, the Talysh, the Wakhis, the Yaghnobis, and the Zazas. Persians have contributed to various forms of art, including calligraphy, carpet weaving, glasswork, lacquerware, marquetry (khatam), metalwork, miniature illustration, mosaic, pottery, and textile design.[16]. The term Persian, meaning "from Persia", derives from Latin Persia, itself deriving from Greek Perss (),[24] a Hellenized form of Old Persian Prsa (), which evolves into Frs () in modern Persian. The following are according to 1957 and later linguists: Unlike the Sanskrit rya- (Aryan), the Old Iranian term has solely an ethnic meaning. This age-old tradition was based on the idea that people should protect their family and personal name. A relative paucity of "Indian" haplogroup. Their hair was typically long and tangled, and a large portion of the males had beards to match this. The countrys difficulties led to the ascent in 1925 of the Pahlavi line, whose ill-planned efforts to modernize Iran led to widespread dissatisfaction and the dynastys subsequent overthrow in the revolution of 1979. Diodorus Siculus (1.94.2) considers Zoroaster (Zathrausts) as one of the Arianoi. [51] In all these centuries, Lydia and Pontus were reportedly the chief centers for the worship of the Persian gods in Asia Minor. With her masses of fur, she can appear to be rather large. They are descended from a division of Sarmatians, the Alans who were pushed out of the Terek River lowlands and in the Caucasus foothills by invading Huns in the 4th century CE. Excerpt: "ARYA an ethnic epithet in the Achaemenid inscriptions and in the Zoroastrian Avestan tradition. The Iranian peoples [1] or Iranic peoples [2] are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples [1] [3] who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. [20][28], The Avesta clearly uses airiia- as an ethnic name (Videvdat 1; Yasht 13.14344, etc. However, "traditional" or "doll-face" Persian cats have pointier features like their ancestors. In the early 18th and 19th centuries, scholars suggested that all Aryan peoples were white and fair-haired. [42] Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that the Wusun, an Indo-European Caucasian people of Inner Asia in antiquity, were also of Indo-Aryan origin.[43]. [109] They are primarily located in the western regions of India principally the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, with smaller communities in other parts of India and in South and Southeast Asia. [56], The Parthians and the Sasanians would also extensively interact with the Romans culturally. In 2022 the states push to pacify economic unrest through repression prompted widespread and debilitating protests, which were catalyzed in part by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini while she was in custody for improper attire. Brill and London: Luzac, 191338. Vol. Thomson. [72] A series of Muslim Iranian kingdoms were later established on the fringes of the declining Abbasid Caliphate, including that of the ninth-century Samanids, under the reign of whom the Persian language was used officially for the first time after two centuries of no attestation of the language,[73] now having received the Arabic script and a large Arabic vocabulary. [51] According to Pausanias, as late as the second century AD, one could witness rituals which resembled the Persian fire ceremony at the towns of Hyrocaesareia and Hypaepa. Although no writing in Persian occurred for a period of nearly five centuries after Alexander the Great captured the region, the tradition resumed during approximately the 3rd century ce and continued into the 21st century. [47] The empire extended as far as the limits of the Greek city states in modern-day mainland Greece, where the Persians and Athenians influenced each other in what is essentially a reciprocal cultural exchange.