Persians

Quick Facts: Who was Persians?

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Persians

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An indigenous Iranian ethnic group originating from the Iranian Plateau, central to ancient empires.

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Origins & Early Life

Persians, or Persian people, are an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to the Iranian plateau that comprise the majority of the population of modern-day Iran. They have a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language. In the Western world, "Persian" was largely understood as a demonym for all Iranians rather than as an ethnonym for the Persian people, but this understanding shifted in the 20th century. The Persians are descended from ancient Iranian peoples who migrated to Persis (also called "Persia proper" and corresponding with Iran's Fars Province) by the 9th century BC. Although Persians, Kurds, and other Iranian tribes originally migrated from Central Asia to Iran in the second millennium BCE, genetic evidence suggests that modern Iranians are mostly descended from the ancient indigenous populations of the Iranian Plateau, rather than being primarily descended from only Central Asian migrants, depending on the ethnic group.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Alongside the various ethnicities and cultures that they were contemporaries with, they established and ruled some of the world's most powerful empires, which are widely recognized for their massive cultural, political, and social influence in the ancient Near East and beyond. Persians have contributed greatly to art and science, and Persian literature is one of the world's most prominent literary traditions both inside and outside of Iran. The regional prestige of their civilization was the basis for the development of many noteworthy Persianate societies, especially among the Turkic peoples, throughout Central Asia and South Asia. In contemporary terminology, Persianate peoples from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are known as Tajiks, with the former two countries having mutually intelligible Persian varieties called Dari and Tajiki, respectively; whereas those from the Caucasus (primarily in the Republic of Azerbaijan and in Dagestan, Russia), albeit heavily assimilated, are known as Tats. Historically, however, the terms Tajik and Tat were used synonymously and interchangeably with Persian.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Some groups continue to use Tajik and Persian interchangeably. For example the Qashqai tribes of Iran continue to refer to all Persian-speakers as Tajiks, and Afghan Pashtuns often refer to Persian-speakers as Farsiwans (Parsi-ban/Persian). Additionally, many influential Persian-speaking figures, such as Rudaki and Rumi, hailed from outside of Iran's modern borders—to the northeast in Afghanistan and Central Asia, and, to a lesser extent, to the northwest in the Caucasus proper. Additionally, several Persian dynasties ruled Greater Iran from outside of modern-Iran's borders. The Samanid Empire, whose founder Saman Khuda hailed from Balkh, ruled much of Greater Iran from Bukhara (present-day Uzbekistan).

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Persians

True or False: “The term 'Persian' was exclusively used by Western scholars throughout history to denote only the people of modern-day Iran.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): Historically, 'Persian' was often used as an exonym for all Iranians, and various groups outside modern Iran have also been referred to using related terms.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Persians