Farsi is also spoken in parts of turkey and afghanistan. They call their language dari not to be confused with the dari of afghanistan. Language became a sanctuary where the past history of iran was celebrated so as to maintain national identity. The zoroastrian holy book, called the avesta, was written in the avestan language, which is closely related to vedic sanskrit. Zoroastrianism was the state religion of three persian dynasties, until the muslim conquest of persia in the seventh century a. The relationship of vedic sanskrit and avestan old persian. Recent impetus for the study of the non iranian languages in iran has come from the turkological programs at the universities of mainz and uppsala, spearheaded by lars johanson, who developed an exquisite theoretical framework for language contact, codecopying, diffusion, and typology. And it was in these times that another group, the nonmuslims who had preferred paying tax and levy to accepting islam 5, attempted to marshal their heritage. Linguistic composition map of iran, color coded map of all. Religion a thousand years of the persian book exhibitions. Bibles in other languages christian book distributors.
I ranib ook is the first and best iranian online bookshop, supply, and great source of persian farsi books. The written zoroastrian holy book, called the avesta, dates back to between 600 and bc, but the traditions it is based on are more ancient. Influence of religious identity on a foreign language. It asserts that the persian language is the lingua franca of the iranian nation and as such, bound to be used through all official government communications and schooling system. Comparative linguistic suggests a common ancestor for the indoaryan languages of northern india2 and the iranian languages. Over many centuries, it absorbed arabic vocabulary and many turkish elements, swelling. Online shopping for books from a great selection of christian living. Roles of the court, religion, and sufism in persian prose writing shahrokh meskoob, ali banuazizi foreword and author interview, michael hillmann translator, john perry on. It was used to write the avesta, the holy book of the zoroastrian religion iran s dominant religion before islam. Old iranian until 400 bc, middle iranian 400 bc 900 ad, and new iranian since 900 ad. Zoroastrian refugees, called parsis, escaped muslim persecution in iran by emigrating to india. The holy bible in todays persian language version for iranian farsi. When data is available, the languages spoken in each country are broken down according to the percent of the total population speaking each language as a first language. From the tenthcentury seminal shahnameh book of kings by ferdowsi to the works of contemporary writers, the persian language has changed very little in the last millenium.
This is the largest iranian online library in both english and persian languages, with books on history, science, culture, philosophy, religion, iran and other subjects, banned by islamic republic of iran. The religious texts of the zoroastrian faith of ancient persia are referred to as the. The term avesta from the pahlavi, or middle persian, avestak is used to denote the sacred literature of the early iranian people, which preserves the earliest collections of an iranian language. This entry will discuss the non iranian languages spoken in iran in the course of its history as the result of various peoples settling in parts of iran and interacting with iranian speaking peoples who began to migrate to iranian territories at the beginning of second millennium b. Iranian textbooks, content and context 6 in the persian language and literature textbook for the fourth grade of primary school, the famous nationalist story of arash kamanghir, based on the epic poetry of abulghasem ferdowsi, the epic poet of iran, has been infused with external religious sentiment p. Linguists typically approach the iranian languages in. Religious texts in iranian languages son of the gathas with the vedic literature on the one hand, and a simi lar comparison with the later zoroastrian literature.
This common ancestor, known scientifically as indo iranian is not attested in any form, oral or inscribed. It is the language of iran formerly persia and is also widely spoken in afghanistan and, in an archaic form, in tajikistan and the pamir mountain region. Many iranians understand arabic, the language of the koran the sacred text of islam. The vast majority of iranians are muslims of the ithna.
The religion of those peoples has been reconstructed by means of common elements contained in the sacred books of iran and india, mainly the avesta and the vedas. Under ancient persian rule, many jews returned from exile to the province that became known as yehud judah, the second temple was. It was the predominant religion in the region until conquered persia zoroastrians in iran have had a long history reaching back thousands of years, and are the oldest religious community of iran that has survived to the present day. What is the name of the holy book of parsis and when was. Zoroastrianism or mazdayasna is one of the worlds oldest continuously practiced religions. The iranian languages form the major eastern branch of the indoeuropean group of languages, itself part of the larger indo iranian family. Religious texts are texts related to a religious tradition. The iranian or iranic languages are a branch of the indo iranian languages in the indoeuropean language family that are spoken natively by the iranian peoples the iranian languages are grouped in three stages. We have gathered all banned books by islamic republic, under one roof in ipc persian library. What to read to understand the 1979 iranian revolution. The denkard middle persian, acts of religion, the bundahishn, middle persian, primordial creation the menogi khrad, middle persian, spirit of wisdom the arda viraf namak middle persian, the book of arda viraf the saddar modern persian, hundred doors, or hundred chapters. In addition, the constitution also recognizes the arabic language as the language of islam, giving it a formal status as the language of religion, and regulates its spreading within the iranian national curriculum.
The language of iran is closely akin to that of northern india, and, hence, the people of the two lands probably had common ancestors who spoke a common indoaryan language. Displayed is a page from the gathas, in the middle persian language pahlavi, and its translation into modern persian. It was the language of the hakhamaneshid, the persian empire of cyrus and darius. Major features of zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell. Culture of iran history, people, clothing, traditions. It is the official language of iran, and two varieties of persian known as dari and tajik are official languages in afghanistan and tajikistan, respectively. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couplets twoline verses, the shahnameh is one of the worlds longest epic poems.
Communities exist in tehran, as well as in yazd, kerman and kermanshah, where many still speak an iranian language distinct from the usual persian. The iranian languages routledge language family series. Iranian languages are spoken in iran, afghanistan, tajikistan, and parts of iraq, turkey, pakistan, and scattered areas of the caucasus mountains. Modern persian, a part of the indo iranian branch of the indoeuropean languages, is a language of great antiquity. The kurds and turkmen are predominantly sunni muslims, but iran s arabs are both sunni and shi. When the christian church in persia made itself formally independent of the patriarchate of antioch early in the 5th century, the reasons for this step seem to have been not so much doctrinal as political or nationalistic. Small communities of christians, jews, and zoroastrians are also found throughout the country. The iranian languages routledge language family series windfuhr, gernot on. They differ from literary texts by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual practices, commandments or laws, ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and for creating or fostering a religious community. The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world.
The oldest part is the gathas, which includes a collection of hymns and one of the oldest examples of religious poetry attributed to the prophet zoroaster ca. While the number of living religions is staggering, nearly 75 percent of the population belongs to one of five religions. The basic beliefs and history of a religion is often found in its sacred or revered texts. It is also a language of extraordinary grace and flexibility. The religious philosophy of zoroaster divided the early iranian gods of the protoindoiranian tradition into ahuras and. Estimated to have between 150 and 200 million native speakers. The heart of the persian empire of antiquity, iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and as a factor in superpower rivalries. Some people might, therefore, be interested in learning more about the language. The term zand is a contraction of the avestan language word zainti. This entry provides a listing of languages spoken in each country and specifies any that are official national or regional languages. Here is the best place for presenting rare, old, new and precious titles to buy them through the earth biggest persian online bookstore. The qissai sanjan is a tale of the journey of the parsis to india from iran. Zoroastrianism now has an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 worshipers worldwide.
Iran, a mountainous, arid, and ethnically diverse country of southwestern asia. Ascribed to the teachings of the iranianspeaking spiritual leader zoroaster also known as zarathushtra, it exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom, ahura mazda wise lord, as its supreme being. The religious texts of the zoroastrian faith of ancient persia are referred to as the avesta. Several of the biblical books set in the achaemenid period are thought by scholars to have been redacted during the earlier period of the second iranian empire, that of the parthians c. Their language is also called gavri or behdini, literally of the good religion. The iranian language family is part of the indo iranian or aryan 1 language group, itself the major eastern branch of the indoeuropean languages. The book of kings is a long epic poem written by the persian poet ferdowsi between c. Displayed is a page from the gathas, in the middle persian language pahlavi. To investigate any possible effect of religious identity on language learning in iran, the current research is an attempt to shed light on the relationship between religious identity and learning cultural aspects of english as a foreign language among iranian advanced language learners.
Religious texts in iranian languages videnskabernes selskab. From the first major protest of the postrevolutionary era to todays social media campaigns, iranian women have played crucial roles in contesting iran s revolution, and this book. That empire came to an end with the greek invasions led. The azerbaijanis speak a turkish dialect known as azeri. The writing of many shahnameh book of kings came into vogue. The languages of iran and north india underwent evolution so it was not. In this insightful study of iranian cultural history and national identity, the late shahrokh meskoob. Iranians introduction, location, language, folklore.
Iranian languages, subgroup of the indoiranian branch of the indoeuropean language family. The relative authority of religious texts develops over time and is derived from the ratification. Linguists typically approach the iranian languages in historical terms because they fall readily into three distinct categoriesancient, middle, and modern iranian. In contrast, the avestan language texts remained sacrosanct and continued to be recited in the. With the events in iran today, people are more and more exposed to the persian language, in signs and speeches. Persian language, also called farsi, member of the iranian branch of the indo iranian language family. Christianity, islam, hinduism, buddhism and judaism. Avestan language, also called incorrectly zend language, eastern iranian language of the avesta, the sacred book of zoroastrianism. So, what are the holy books of the five major world religions. Iranian national identity and the persian language. A very few christian texts in sogdian, syriac, turkish, and new persian were found at other sites nearby in the turfan oasis, for example, qurtuqa, qoco, and.
Iranian languages, subgroup of the indo iranian branch of the indoeuropean language family. A thousand years of the persian book examines the richness and variety of the persian book and its literary tradition. Persian language, also known as farsi, is the most widely spoken member of the iranian branch of the indo iranian languages, a subfamily of the indoeuropean languages. Persian biblefl persian edition american bible society on.
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