Iranian peoples
This article is about the group of peoples who speak Iranian languages. For citizens of the country of Iran, see Demographics of Iran.The
Iranian peoples are a collection of
ethnic groups defined by their usage of
Iranian languages and discernable descent from
ancient Iranian peoples.
[ "The Kurds of Iraq: Recent History, Future Prospects by Carole A. O'Leary" â€" Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 6, No. 4 (December 2002) (retrieved 04 June 2006)][ "Iranian peoples" â€" Encyclopedia of the Ukraine (retrieved 04 June 2006)][ "Anthropology, Genealogy & Folkloric Traditions of Iranian Peoples" â€" The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The Iranian peoples live chiefly in the
Middle East,
Central Asia, the
Caucasus, and parts of
South Asia, though speakers of Iranian languages were once found throughout
Eurasia, from the
Balkans to western
China.
[ "Iranian languages" â€" Encyclopedia Britannica (retrieved 04 June 2006)][ "Scope of Iranian languages" â€" Encyclopedia Iranica (retrieved 04 June 2006)] As Iranian peoples are not confined to the borders of the current state of
Iran, the term
Iranic peoples is sometimes used as an alternative in order to avoid confusion with the citizens of modern Iran.
The series of ethnic groups which comprise the Iranian peoples are traced to a branch of the ancient
Indo-European Aryans known as the
Iranians or
Proto-Iranians. Some scant information about the way of life of these early people has been elucidated through archaeological finds in
Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The Iranian peoples have played an important role throughout history: the
Achaemenid Persians established the world's first multi-national state, and the
Scythian-
Sarmatian nomads dominated the vast expanses of Russia and western
Siberia for centuries and gave birth to the infamous
Amazons. In addition, the various religions of the Iranian peoples, including
Zoroastrianism and
Manichaeism, were important early philosophical influences on
Judeo-Christianity. Early Iranian tribes were the precursors to many diverse modern peoples, including the
Persians, the
Kurds, the
Pashtuns, and many other, smaller groups. The southern Iranian peoples survived
Alexander the Great's conquests,
Muslim Arab attempts at cultural dominance, and devastating assaults by the
Mongols, whereas the Iranians of the north were largely assimilated by the
Slavs and other European peoples.
The term
Iranian is derived from
Iran (
lit: "Land of the
Aryans").
[ "Farsi-Persian language" â€" Farsi.net (retrieved 04 June 2006)][ "Iran" â€" The 1911 Encyclopedia (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The old
Proto-Indo-Iranian term
Arya, meaning "noble", is believed to have been one of a series of self-referential terms used by the Aryans, at least in the areas populated by Aryans who migrated south from
Central Asia and southern
Russia. Their ancient homeland was referred to as
Airyanem Vaejah and varied in its geographic range, sometimes referring to
Fars (according to
Eratosthenes), sometimes to the area around
Herat (
Pliny's view), sometimes to the entire expanse of the
Iranian plateau (
Strabo's designation).
[Ibid.]From a
linguistic standpoint, the term
Iranian peoples is similar in its usage to the term
Germanic peoples, which includes various peoples who happen to speak
Germanic languages such as
German,
English and
Dutch, or the term
Slavic peoples, which includes various speakers of
Slavic languages including
Russians,
Bosniaks, and
Serbs.
[ In Search of the Indo-Europeans, by J.P. Mallory, p. 22-23, ISBN 0500276161 (retrieved 10 June 2006)] Thus, along similar lines, the Iranian peoples include not only the
Persians, or
Tajiks, of
Iran,
Afghanistan and
Tajikistan, but also the
Pashtuns,
Kurds,
Ossetians,
Baloch, and a number of other groups. The academic usage of the term
Iranian peoples, or
Iranic peoples, is thus distinct from the state of
Iran and its various citizens (who are all Iranian by nationality, and thus popularly referred to as
Iranians), in the same way that
Germanic peoples is distinct from
Germans. Many citizens of Iran are not necessarily "Iranian peoples", by virtue of not being speakers of Iranian languages, and may not have discernable ties to ancient Iranian tribes.
See also: History of Central Asia, History of the Middle East, History of Iran, History of the Kurds, History of Afghanistan, History of Tajikistan, History of Uzbekistan, History of Pakistan, and History of AzerbaijanRoots
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The extent of the BMAC (after the EIEC). |
Having descended from the
Aryans (Proto-
Indo-Iranians), the ancient Iranian peoples separated from the
Indo-Aryans,
Nuristanis and
Dards in the early 2nd millennium BCE. The
Iranian languages form a sub-branch of the
Indo-Iranian sub-family, which is a branch of the family of
Indo-European languages.
[ "Report for Iranian languages" â€" Ethnologue (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The Iranian peoples stem from early Proto-Iranians, themselves a branch of the
Indo-Iranians, who are believed to have originated in either
Central Asia or
Afghanistan circa 1800 BCE. The Proto-Iranians are traced to the
Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, a
Bronze Age culture of Central Asia. The area between northern Afghanistan and the
Aral Sea is hypothesized to have been the region where the Proto-Iranians first emerged, following the separation of Indo-Iranians tribes.
[ "The Paleolithic Indo-Europeans" â€" Panshin.com (retrieved 04 June 2006)]By the first millennium BCE,
Ancient Iranian peoples such as the
Medes,
Persians,
Bactrians and
Parthians populated the
Iranian plateau, while Iranian peoples such as the Scythians, Sarmatians, and Alans populated the steppes north of the
Black Sea. The
Saka and
Scythian tribes remained mainly in the north, and spread as far west as the
Balkans and as far east as
Xinjiang. Later offshoots, related to the Scythians, included the
Sarmatians, who vanished following
Slavic and other invasions into southern Russia, the
Ukraine, and the Balkans, presumably due to having been assimilated by other tribes.
[ "History of Iran-Chapter 2 Indo-Europeans and Indo-Iranians" â€" Iranologie (retrieved 04 June 2006)] There are only scant references to these early Proto-Iranian invaders in the early writings of the ancient
Assyrians and
Babylonians. Two of the early offshoots of the Proto-Iranians are known:
Avestan speakers in Afghanistan, and
Old Persian speakers in
Fars in southeastern Iran. The Avestan texts known as the
Gathas are believed to have been written by
Zoroaster, the founder of
Zoroastrianism, while Old Persian appears to have been established in written form following the adoption of
cuneiform from the
Sumerians.
[ "The Avestan, etymology and concept by Alexander Lubotsky" â€" Sprache und Kultur. Akten der X. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, 22.-28. September 1996, ed. W. Meid, Innsbruck (IBS) 1998, 479-488. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The
Yaz culture (ca. 1500-1100 BC) may mark the development of
Eastern Iranian and the emergence of
Avestan culture.
The first mentioning by an Iranian tribe of their "Aryan" lineage is from an early inscription known as the
Behistun Inscription, recording a proclamation by
Darius I of Persia that he was of Aryan ancestry and that his language was an Aryan language. The inscription thus provides a link in the Iranian languages to the usage of the term
Arya in early
Indo-Aryan texts.
[ "Old Iranian literature" â€" Art Arena. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] These ancient Persians recognized three official languages (
Elamite,
Babylonian, and
Old Persian), which suggests a
multicultural society.
[ "Darius I the Great by Prof. A. Shapur Shahbazi" â€" Circle of Iranian Studies. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] It is not known to what extent other Proto-Iranian tribes referred to themselves as "Aryan", or if the term has the same meaning in other Old Iranian languages.
Eastern Iranians
While the Iranian tribes of the south are better known through their modern counterparts, the tribes which remained largely in the vast Eurasian expanse are known through the references made to them by the ancient Greeks and Persians, as well as by archaeological finds. In the 5th century BCE,
Herodotus made references to a nomadic people whom he identifies as the
Scythians and describes as having dwelt in what is today southern
Russia.
It is believed that these Scythians were conquered by their eastern cousins, the
Sarmatians, who are mentioned by
Strabo as the dominant tribe which controlled the southern Russian steppe by the 1st millennium CE. These Sarmatians were also known to the
Romans, who conquered the western tribes in the Balkans and sent Sarmatian conscripts, as part of Roman legions, as far west as
Roman Britain. Some tribes of Sarmatians are also identified as the
Amazons of Greek legend, warrior women believed to have lived in a
matrilineal society in which both men and women took part in war, and whose existence has been supported by recently-uncovered archaeological and genetic evidence.
[ "Secrets of the Dead, Amazon Warrior Women" â€" PBS. (retrieved 04 June 2006)]The Sarmatians of the east became the
Alans, who also ventured far and wide, with a branch ending up in
Western Europe and
North Africa, as they accompanied the Germanic
Vandals during their migrations. The modern
Ossetians are believed to be the sole direct descendants of the Alans, as other remnants of the Alans disappeared following Germanic,
Hunnic, and ultimately Slavic invasions.
[ A History of Russia by Nicholas Riasanovsky, pp. 11-18, Russia before the Russians, ISBN 0195153944 (retrieved 04 June 2006)]Some of the Saka-Scythian tribes in Central Asia would later move further south and invade the
Iranian plateau and northwestern
India (see
Indo-Scythians). Another Iranian tribe related to the Saka-Scythians were the
Parni in Central Asia, a tribe that pressured, and ultimately overthrew, the rule of the Greek
Seleucids in Persia. The Parni replaced the Seleucids as the
Parthians, a dynasty that ruled Persia during the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE and became the main rival of the
Roman Empire in the east. It is surmised that many Iranian tribes, including the
Khwarezmians,
Massagetae and
Sogdians, were assimilated and/or pushed out of Central Asia by the migrations of
Turkic tribes emanating out of Siberia.
[ "Jeannine Davis-Kimball, Archaeologist" â€" Thirteen WNET New York. (retrieved 04 June 2006)]The most dominant surviving Eastern Iranians are represented by the
Pashtuns, whose origins are generally believed to be in southern Afghanistan, from which they began to spread until they reached as far west as
Herat and as far east as the
Indus. The
Pashto language shows affinities to
Bactrian, as both languages are believed to be of
Middle Iranian origin. The modern
Ossetians claim to be the descendants of the Alano-Sarmatians, and their claims are supported by their Northeast Iranian language, while culturally the Ossetians resemble their Caucasian neighbors, the
Kabardians,
Circassians and
Georgians.
[From Scythia to Camelot by Littleton and Malcor, pp. 40-43, ISBN 0815335660 (retrieved 04 June 2006)] Various extinct Iranian peoples existed in the eastern Caucasus, including the
Azaris, while some Iranian peoples remain in the region, including the
Talysh[ "Report for Talysh" â€" Ethnologue. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] and the
Tats[ "Report for Tats" â€" Ethnologue. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] (including the
Judeo-Tats,
[ "Report for Judeo-Tats" â€" Ethnologue. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] who have relocated to
Israel), found in Azerbaijan and as far north as the Russian republic of
Dagestan.
Western Iranians
The ancient Persians established themselves in the western portion of the Iranian plateau, and appear to have interacted considerably with the Elamites and Babylonians, while the Medes also intermingled with local
Semitic peoples to the west. Remnants of the
Median language and Old Persian show their common Proto-Iranian roots, emphasized in Strabo and Herodotus' analyses of their languages, which they believed to be very similar to the languages spoken by the Bactrians and
Soghdians in the east.
[ "The Geography of Strabo" â€" University of Chicago. (retrieved 04 June 2006)][ "Iran" â€" The 1911 Encyclopedia (retrieved 04 June 2006)] Following the establishment of the
Achaemenid Empire, the Persian language spread from
Fars 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.
The Avestans' main impact was religious and liturgical, as the early inhabitants of the Persian Empire appear to have adopted the religion of
Zoroastrianism. The other prominent Iranian peoples, such as the Kurds, are surmised to stem from Iranic populations that mixed with Caucasian peoples such as the
Hurrians, due to some unique qualities found in the Kurdish language that mirror those found in
Caucasian languages.
[ "Kurdish: An Indo-European Language By Siamak Rezaei Durroei" â€" University of Edinburgh, School of Informatics. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The
Baloch relate an oral tradition regarding their migration from
Aleppo,
Syria around the year 1000 CE, whereas linguistic evidence links
Balochi to
Kurdish and
Zazaki.
["The Iranian Language Family, Khodadad Rezakhani" â€" Iranologie. (retrieved 04 June 2006)]Later developments
In ancient times, the majority of southern Iranian peoples became adherents of Zoroastrianism,
Buddhism (in parts of Afghanistan and Central Asia),
Judaism and
Nestorian Christianity (largely amongst the Kurds and Persians living in Iraq).
[ The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates by Hugh Kennedy, pp. 12-13, ISBN 0582405254 (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The Ossetians would later adopt Christianity as well, with
Russian Orthodoxy becoming dominant following their annexation into the
Russian Empire, while some converted to Islam due to the influence of the
Ottomans.
Starting with the reign of
Omar in 634 CE,
Muslim Arabs began a conquest of the Iranian plateau. The Arabs conquered the
Sassanid Empire of the Persians and seized much of the
Byzantine Empire populated by the Kurds and others. Ultimately, the various Iranian peoples, including the Persians, Kurds and Pashtuns, were converted to
Islam. The Iranian peoples would later split along sectarian lines as the Persians (and later the
Hazara) adopted the
Shi'a sect, while the majority of other Iranian peoples remained adherents of
Sunni Islam. As ancient tribes and identities changed, so did the Iranian peoples, many of whom assimilated foreign cultures and peoples.
[Ibid. p. 135]Later, during the 2nd millennium CE, the Iranian peoples would play a prominent role during the age of Islamic expansion and empire.
Saladin, a noted adversary of the
Crusaders, was an ethnic Kurd, while various empires centered in Iran (including the
Safavids) re-established a modern dialect of Persian as the official language spoken throughout much of what is today Iran and adjacent parts of Central Asia. Iranian influence spread to the Ottoman Empire, where Persian was often spoken at court, as well as in the
Mughal Empire, which began in Afghanistan and shifted to India. 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 (just as Germans and Italians were beginning to formulate national identities of their own).
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Geographic distribution of the Iranian languages: Persian (green), Pashto (purple), and Kurdish (turquoise), as well as smaller communities of other Iranian languages |
There are an estimated 150 million native speakers of Iranian languages. Currently, most of these Iranian peoples live in
Iran,
Afghanistan,
Tajikistan, western
Pakistan, parts of
Uzbekistan (especially
Samarkand and
Bukhara), the
Caucasus (
Ossetia and
Azerbaijan), and the
Kurdish areas (sometimes referred to as
Kurdistan) of
Turkey,
Iraq, Iran and
Syria. Smaller groups of Iranian peoples can also be found in western
China,
India and
Israel.
Due to recent migrations, there are also Persian, Kurdish and Afghan communities in Europe and the
Americas.
It is largely through linguistic similarities that the Iranian peoples have been linked, as many non-Iranian peoples have adopted Iranian languages and cultures. However, other common traits have been identified as well, and a stream of common historical events have often linked the southern Iranian peoples, including
Hellenistic conquests, the various empires based in
Persia, Arab
Caliphates, and
Turkic invasions.
Although most of the Iranian peoples settled in the
Iranian plateau region, many expanded into the periphery, ranging from the
Caucasus and
Turkey to the
Indus and western
China. The Iranian peoples have often mingled with other populations, with the notable example being the
Hazaras, who display a distinct
Turkic-
Mongol background that contrasts with most other Iranian peoples.
[ "Afghanistan - Hazara" â€" Library of Congress Country Studies (retrieved 04 June 2006)] Similarly, the
Baloch have mingled with the
Dravidian-speaking
Brahui (who have been strongly modified by Iranian invaders themselves), while the
Ossetians have invariably mixed with
Georgians and other Caucasian peoples. Moreover, the Kurds are an eclectic Iranian people who, although displaying some ethnolinguistic ties to other Iranian peoples (in particular their
Iranian language, and some cultural traits), are believed to have mixed with Caucasian and Semitic peoples.
[ "MtDNA and Y-chromosome Variation in Kurdish Groups" â€" Annals of Human Genetics (retrieved 04 June 2006)][ "Kurdish: An Indo-European Language By Siamak Rezaei Durroei" â€" University of Edinburgh, School of Informatics. (retrieved 04 June 2006)] Modern Persians themselves are also a heterogenous group of peoples descended from various ancient Iranian and indigenous peoples of the Iranian plateau, including the
Elamites.
[ The Golden Age of Persia, by Richard Frye, ISBN 1842120115 (retrieved 11 June 2006)] Thus, not unlike the
aforementioned example of Germanic peoples including the
English, who are both of Germanic and
Celtic origin, Iranians are an ethno-linguistic group, and the Iranian peoples display varying degrees of common ancestry and cultural traits that denote their respective identities.
See also: Proto-Indo-European society, Indo-Iranian mythology, Iranian philosophy |
Iranian model displaying traditional attire. |
Many of the cultural traits of the ancient Iranians were similar to other
Proto-Indo-European societies. Like other Indo-Europeans, the early Iranians practiced ritual sacrifice, had a social hierarchy consisting of warriors, clerics, and farmers, and poetic hymns and sagas to recount their deeds.
[ In Search of the Indo-Europeans, by J.P. Mallory, p. 112-127, ISBN 0500276161 (retrieved 10 June 2006)]Following the Iranian split from the
Indo-Iranians, the Iranians developed an increasingly distinct culture. It is surmised that the early Iranians intermarried with and
assimilated local cultures over a long period of time, and thus a
caste identity was never needed or created by the Iranians—in sharp contrast with the
Indo-Aryans.
[Ibid.]Various common traits can be discerned amongst the Iranian peoples. For example, the social event
Norouz is an Iranian festival that is practiced by nearly all of the Iranian peoples as well as others in the region. Its origins are traced to
Zoroastrianism and pre-historic times.
Some Iranian peoples exhibit distinct traits that are unique unto themselves. The Pashtuns adhere to a code of honor and culture known as
Pashtunwali, which has a similar counterpart amongst the
Baloch, called Mayar, that is more hierarchical.
[ "Pakistan - Baloch" â€" Library of Congress Country Studies (retrieved 04 June 2006)]Religion
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Mazar-e-Sharif's Blue Mosque in Afghanistan is a structure of cobalt blue and turquoise minarets, attracting visitors and pilgrims from all over the world. Many such Muslim architectural monuments can be attributed to the efforts of the Iranian peoples who are predominantly followers of Islam today. |
The early Iranian peoples may have worshipped various deities found throughout other cultures where
Indo-European invaders established themselves.
[ "History of Iran-Chapter 2 Indo-Europeans and Indo-Iranians" â€" Iranologie (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The earliest major religion of the Iranian peoples was
Zoroastrianism, which spread to nearly all of the Iranian peoples living in the Iranian plateau.
Modern speakers of Iranian languages mainly follow
Islam. Some follow
Judaism,
Christianity and the
Bahá'à Faith, with an unknown number showing no religious affiliation. Of the Muslim Iranian peoples, the majority overall are followers of the
Sunni sect of Islam, while most Persians and Hazaras are
Shi'a. Shi'a Islam and Sufism in Iran are both thought to be affected by
Persianism. The Christian community is largely represented by the
Russian Orthodox denomination, followed by Ossetians and
Nestorians.
Judaism is followed mainly by
Persian Jews,
Jews of Afghanistan,
Kurdish Jews, and
Mountain Jews (of the Caucasus), most of which are now found in
Israel. The historical religion of the Persian Empire was Zoroastrianism and it has some followers. They are known as the
Parsis in India, or
Zoroastrians in Iran and Pakistan.
Turkic influence
In matters relating to culture, the various
Turkic-speaking minorities of Iran (notably the
Azerbaijani people) and Afghanistan (
Uzbeks and
Turkmen) are often conversant in Iranian languages, in addition to their own Turkic languages, and also have Iranian culture to the extent that the term
Turko-Iranian can be applied.
[ Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, edited by Robert Canfield, ISBN 0521522919 (retrieved 04 June 2006)] The usage applies to various circumstances that involve historic interaction, intermarriage, cultural assimilation, bilingualism, and cultural overlap or commonalities.
Notable amongst this synthesis of Turko-Iranian culture are the Azeris, whose culture, religion, and significant periods of history are linked to the Persians.
[ "Azerbaijan-Iran Relations: Challenges and Prospects" â€" Harvard University, Belfer Center, Caspian Studies Program (retrieved 04 June 2006)] Certain theories even suggest that the Azeris are descendants of
ancient Iranian peoples who lost their Iranian language (see
Ancient Azari language) following the Turkic invasions of Azerbaijan in the 11th century CE. In fact, throughout much of the expanse of Central Asia and the Middle East, Iranian and Turkic culture has merged in many cases to form various hybrid populations and cultures, as evident from various ruling dynasties such as the
Ghaznavids,
Saljuqs, and
Mughals.
Iranian cultural influences have also been significant in
Central Asia, where Turkic invaders are believed to have largely mixed with native Iranian peoples of which only the
Tajik remain, in terms of language usage. The areas of the former Soviet Union adjacent to Iran, Afghanistan, and the Kurdish areas (such as
Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan) have gone through the prism of decades of Russian and
Soviet rule that has reshaped the Turko-Iranian cultures there to some degree.
Genetic testing of Iranian peoples has revealed many common genes for most of the Iranian peoples, but with numerous exceptions and regional variations. Genetic studies conducted by
Cavalli-Sforza have revealed that Iranians cluster closely with European groups and more distantly from Near Eastern groups. Some of the common genetic markers may stem from the ancient Proto-Iranians and parallel the spread of Iranian languages, which may have also been adopted through a process of assimilation by indigenous peoples and thus account for the diversity found amongst the Iranian peoples. Nonetheless, preliminary genetic tests suggest common origins for most of the Iranian peoples:
|
Gene clusters from Cavalli-Sforza's "The History and Geography of Human Genes" |
Populations located west of the Indus basin, including those from Iran, Anatolia and the Caucasus, exhibit a common mtDNA lineage composition, consisting mainly of western Eurasian lineages, with a very limited contribution from South Asia and eastern Eurasia (fig. 1). Indeed, the different Iranian populations show a striking degree of homogeneity. This is revealed not only by the nonsignificant FST values and the PC plot (fig. 6) but also by the SAMOVA results, in which a significant genetic barrier separates populations west of Pakistan from those east and north of the Indus Valley (results not shown). These observations suggest either a common origin of modern Iranian populations and/or extensive levels of gene flow amongst them.[ "Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor" â€" University of Chicago, American Journal of Human Genetics (retrieved 04 June 2006)]
Basically, the findings of this study reveal many common genetic markers found amongst the Iranian peoples from the
Tigris to the areas west of the
Indus. This correlates with the
Iranian languages spoken from the Caucasus to Kurdish areas in the
Zagros region and eastwards to western Pakistan and Tajikistan and parts of Uzbekistan in Central Asia. The extensive gene flow is perhaps an indication of the spread of Iranian-speaking peoples, whose languages are now spoken mainly upon the Iranian plateau and adjacent regions. These results relate the relationships of Iranian peoples with each other, while other comparative testing reveals some varied origins for Iranian peoples such as the Kurds, who show genetic ties to the Caucasus at considerably higher levels than any other Iranian peoples except the
Ossetians, as well as links to Europe and Semitic populations that live in close proximity such as
Jews and Arabs.
[ "MtDNA and Y-chromosome Variation in Kurdish Groups" â€" Annals of Human Genetics (retrieved 04 June 2006)]["Georgian and Kurd mtDNA sequence analysis shows a lack of correlation between languages and female genetic lineages" - American Journal of Physical Anthropology(retrieved 14 June 2006)]["Comparing DNA Patterns of Sephardi, Ashkenazi & Kurdish jews" - Society For Crypto Judaic Studies (retrieved 14 June 2006)]["Genes and people in the caspian littoral: A population genetic study in northern Iran" - American Journal of Physical Anthropology (retrieved 14 June 2006)]According to a recent study, the ancestors of the Kurds were from an old Mediterranean
substratum, i.e.
Hurrian and
Hittite groups. According to this study the
Aryan ancestry of the Kurds and other Iranian-speaking populations in Anatolia is not supported by genetic analyses
[Arnaiz-Villena, Karin, Bendikuze, a.o. in "National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)", published in PubMed - PMID: 11380939, "HLA alleles and haplotypes in the Turkish population: relatedness to Kurds, Armenians and other Mediterraneans", 2001, (LINK)].
Ultimately, genetic tests reveal that while the Iranian peoples show numerous common genetic markers overall, there are also indications of interaction with other groups, regional variations, and cases of genetic drift. In addition, indigenous populations may have survived the waves of early Aryan invasions as cultural assimilation led to large-scale language replacement (as with some Kurds, Hazaras and others). Further testing will ultimately be required and may further elucidate the relationship of the Iranian peoples with each other and various neighboring populations.
Speakers of Iranian languages in modern times include:
*
Bakhtiaris
*
Baloch*
Gilanis*
Hazara*
Kurds*
Laks*
Lurs*
Mazandaranis*
Ossetians*
Pashtuns
*
Persians:*
Tajiks:*
Tats*
Talyshi
*
Wakhi*
ZazasNote:
Azeris are, due to historical ties with various ancient Iranians
[The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies, Iranian Peoples: Azaris, Language of Azeri People and Pan-Turkism by Mohammad Taghi Sabokdel] and their cultural ties with Persians
[The Columbia Encyclopedia: Azerbaijan], sometimes included as an Iranian people, although the modern
Azerbaijani language is a
Turkic language and the issue remains debated.
[The Iranian: Who are the Azeris? by Aylinah Jurabchi] (See
Origin of Azerbaijani people for more details)
*
Airyanem Vaejah*
Ancient Iranian peoples*
Indo-Iranians*
Greater Iran*
Turko-Iranian
* Banuazizi, Ali and Weiner, Myron (eds.).
The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East), Syracuse University Press (August, 1988). ISBN 0815624484.
* Canfield, Robert (ed.).
Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2002). ISBN 0521522919.
* Curzon, R.
The Iranian Peoples of the Caucasus. ISBN 0700706496.
* Derakhshani, Jahanshah.
Die Arier in den nahöstlichen Quellen des 3. und 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr., 2nd edition (1999). ISBN 964-90368-6-5.
*
Frye, Richard,
Greater Iran, Mazda Publishers (2005). ISBN 1568591772.
* Frye, Richard.
Persia, Schocken Books, Zurich (1963). ASIN B0006BYXHY.
* Kennedy, Hugh.
The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, Longman, New York, NY (2004). ISBN 0582405254.
* Khoury, Philip S. & Kostiner, Joseph.
Tribes and State Formation in the Middle East, University of California Press (1991). ISBN 0520070801.
* Littleton, C. & Malcor, L.
From Scythia to Camelot, Garland Publishing, New York, NY, (2000). ISBN 0815335660.
* Mallory, J.P.
In Search of the Indo-Europeans, Thames and Hudson, London (1991). ISBN 0500276161.
* McDowall, David.
A Modern History of the Kurds, I.B. Tauris, 3rd Rev edition (2004). ISBN 1850434166.
* Nassim, J.
Afghanistan: A Nation of Minorities, Minority Rights Group, London (1992). ISBN 0946690766.
* Riasanovsky, Nicholas.
A History of Russia, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2004). ISBN 0195153944.
* Sims-Williams, Nicholas.
Indo-Iranian Languages and Peoples, British Academy (2003). ISBN 0197262856.
*
H. Bailey, "ARYA: Philology of ethnic epithet of Iranian people", v, pp. 681-683, Online-Edition in Encyclopaedia Iranica*
Shahbazi, A. Shapur. Iraj: the eponymous hero of the Iranians in their traditional history, Online-Edition in ''Encyclopaedia Iranica*
Ethnologue report for Iranian*
Encyclopedia Britannica: Iranian languages*
The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies: Iranian languages and lierature*
The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies-Articles on: Anthropology, Genealogy & Folklores of the Iranian peoples*
Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor, Am. J. Hum. Genet., 74:827-845, 2004*
"THE ORIGIN OF THE PRE-IMPERIAL IRANIAN PEOPLES", by Oric Barirov*
Lost Civilizations: The Scythians
