Posted on 11/10/2004 9:45:56 AM PST by Liberals are Evil Socialists!
When "Persia" became "Iran" This article is a part of "Persia or Iran" by Professor Ehsan Yarshater, published in Iranian Studies, Vol. XXII, No.1, 1989.
In 1935 the Iranian government requested those countries which it had diplomatic relations with, to call Persia "Iran," which is the name of the country in Persian.
The suggestion for the change is said to have come from the Iranian ambassador to Germany, who came under the influence of the Nazis. At the time Germany was in the grip of racial fever and cultivated good relations with nations of "Aryan" blood. It is said that some German friends of the ambassador persuaded him that, as with the advent of Reza Shah, Persia had turned a new leaf in its history and had freed itself from the pernicious influences of Britain and Russia, whose interventions in Persian affairs had practically crippled the country under the Qajars, it was only fitting that the country be called by its own name, "Iran." This would not only signal a new beginning and bring home to the world the new era in Iranian history, but would also signify the Aryan race of its population, as "Iran" is a cognate of "Aryan" and derived from it.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent out a circular to all foreign embassies in Tehran, requesting that the country thenceforth be called "Iran." Diplomatic courtesy obliged, and by and by the name "Iran" began to appear in official correspondence and news items.
At first "Iran" sounded alien (for non-Iranians), and many failed to recognize its connection with Persia. Some (Westerners) thought that it was perhaps one of the new countries like Iraq and Jordan carved out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, or a country in Africa or Southeast Asia that had just been granted independence; and not a few confused it with Iraq, itself a recent entity.
As time passed and as a number of events, like the Allied invasion of Iran in 1941 and the nationalization of the oil industry under Prime Minster Dr Mohammad Mosaddeq, put the country in the headlines, the name "Iran" became generally accepted, and "Persia" fell into comparative disuse, though more slowly in Britain than in the United States.
Apparently Sanskrit "Aryan", Persian "Iran" and Celtic "Ireland" all come from the same Indo-European root, meaning "noble".
Ummm... There was a Revolution in 1979.
I did hear that the Irish got bagpipes from near Iran. (Iraq actually). :^)
BTTT.
oh oh - history fundamentalists - now there's a bunch of troublemakers. We'll finally discover that we are all descended from the same one man & one woman..........what were their names again?......someone help me out here!
Given that history, you have to wonder why no government since it was installed has taken effective efforts to change the name. The name says it all.
So much for centuries of history with the name "Persia" going down the tubes. Even though "Iran" originated from a racist and oppresive regime like Nazis, that racism and oppression is still prevalent today especially against non-Islamics.
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works
That's nobody's business but the Turks
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
Hehehehe! Thanks! :)
Iran has a lot of other ethnic groups besides the Persians, including Azeris, Kurds, and Arabs. Azeris and Arabs speak languages that aren't even in the same language family as Persian.
In ancient times NW Iran was inhabited by the Medes, who were hard to tell apart from the Persians. One man's Mede was another man's Persian.
Where were you born? St. Petersburg.
Where did you go to school? Petrograd.
Where do you live now? Leningrad.
Where do you want to live? St. Petersburg.
An old lady in the village liked to fly a flag and naturally flew the flag of the country her village belonged to.
One day an official comes up to her and tells her she has to take down the Soviet flag--the village is definitely going to be part of Poland.
"Thank goodness," she replies. "I don't think I could have stood another one of those cold Russian winters."
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