Persian, predominant ethnic group of Iran (formerly known as Persia). 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.
Persian evokes an ancient civilization known for its empires, literature and artistic traditions. It refers to a specific cultural and ethnic heritage that has influenced much of the Iranian...
Modern Persian, also known as New Persian is the linguistic continuation of Middle Persian, itself a successor to Old Persian, the language of ancient Iran up to about 330 BCE.
Scholars recognize three major dialect divisions of Persian: Farsi, or the Persian of Iran; Dari Persian of Afghanistan; and Tajik, a variant spoken Tajikistan in Central Asia.
Modern Persian is a continuation of Middle Persian, an official language of the Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE), itself a continuation of Old Persian, which was used in the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE). [20][21] It originated in the region of Fars (Persia) in southwestern Iran. [22]
Scholars recognize three major dialect divisions of Persian: Farsi, or the Persian of Iran, Dari Persian of Afghanistan, and Tajik, a variant spoken Tajikistan in Central Asia.
Persian language and culture continued to prevail after the invasions and conquests by the Mongols and the Turks (including the Ilkhanate, Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Khwarazmians, and Timurids), who were themselves significantly Persianized, further developing in Asia Minor, Central Asia, and South Asia, where Persian culture flourished by the ...
The history of the Persian language is divided into three eras: Old Persian (ca. 525 BC- 300 BC), Middle Persian (c. 300 BC- 800 AD), and Modern Persian (800 AD to the present day).