Is Farsi or Persian the dominant language or the means of communication between the peoples and countries of the region?
Author: Yaqub Yasna, writer and researcher, a member of the Sangar Advisory Board
Nowadays, some people complain that Persian is an obstacle to the spread and development of local and ethnic languages and is the dominant language. I suggest that we take a realistic look at the Persian language and the local and ethnic languages in the region's countries before making any prejudices and judgments.
Let's start with the question: is Persian a special ethnic language or a mediator between ethnic groups and the language of education, market, society, and politics?
Let's look at the local and ethnic languages in the countries of the region, which languages are local and ethnic, and which cultural identity group they belong to. Kurdish, Luri, Balochi, Dari of Zoroastrians, etc. in Iran are Iranian languages of Iranian ethnic groups and are not Persian. Also, Pashto, Pashshai, Shughni, etc. in Afghanistan are Iranian languages spoken by Iranian ethnic groups. Similarly, the Pamir language group, Yaghnabi language, and... in Tajikistan and Central Asian countries are Iranian languages of Iranian ethnic groups and are also not Persian.
These Iranian ethnic groups in the countries of the region have their own non-Persian languages. So which ethnic group speaks Persian? Are those who speak Persian a distinct ethnic group?
Persian is not the language of any particular Iranian or non-Iranian ethnic group, but rather a language that was formed, transformed, and developed after the adoption of Islam as a means of communication between various ethnic groups in Khorasan and the countries of the region, and became the language of all Iranian and non-Iranian peoples. Persian, before being a specific language used by Iranian peoples, is the language and means of communication of non-Iranian peoples who lived in Khorasan and the countries of the region, using it as a means of communication, a language of civilization and multi-ethnic empires, most of which were Turkic and Mongolian.
Indeed, Persian is considered a linguistic sub-branch of Indo-European Iranian languages, but its speakers include both Iranian and non-Iranian ethnic groups. Those who speak Persian in Iran today are not necessarily of Iranian origin, but rather of Arabic, Turkic, etc. Today in Iran, Persian is the medium of mass communication, however, the indigenous Iranian ethnic groups, such as the Kurds, Baloch, Lurs, etc., are quite critical of the influence of Persian and want their ethnic and local languages to prevail in official relations.
Seyed Ali Khamenei, Haddad Adel, and... are Iranians of Arab descent but speak Persian. Also, Parviz Natel Khanlari and... are several Iranian scholars and writers who have Turkic roots. The fact that the Pashtuns in Afghanistan are against the Persian language is because the Pashtuns are also an Iranian ethnic group, and their language is one of the Iranian ethnic languages. Similarly, the Kurds, etc., who are somewhat critical of the Persian language in Iran, are Iranian ethnic groups, and their languages are Iranian languages.
Persian was the language of the multi-ethnic empires of the region, the language of civilization, economy, and power. Persian language in the region does not have ethnic hegemony, but rather cultural and media hegemony. Politically and religiously, the Turks, Mongols, and Arabs mainly used Persian in the countries of the region, and Turkic and Mongol emperors and religious missionaries, mainly of Arab origin, used Persian as a means to spread their power and religion.
Today, some of the Persian-speaking population in the cities of the region are ethnically descendants of the Turkic and Mongol emperors and Arab missionaries, while the Iranian ethnic groups of the region generally live in their ethnic zones and have their ethnic language. There is currently no ethnic group called “Fars” or “Pars” in Iran, Afghanistan, and the countries of the region. Although the Achaemenids are mentioned in history as Persians, there are no such people today. It is not known whether these people in Iran are Kurds, Lurs, Baluchis, etc., or whether they are part of the Persian-speaking community. Persian is also not the native language of the Zoroastrians of Iran. They have another language other than Persian. They call their language Dari, and Persian is their second language.
It would be better for all of us, people of different origins who have used Persian for years, not to seek inflammatory and unfounded labels for this language and not to weaken it unintentionally, since this language as a medium of mass communication is a sign of our cultural, linguistic and literary unity and solidarity.
Just as Bedil of the Mongolian Barlas tribe in India speaks Persian, so do the Pashtun, Uzbek, Hazara, Tajik, Pashshai, Shughni, Nuristani, etc. in Afghanistan, and the Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Turk, Arab, etc. in Iran. This language has been and will be a medium of communication, education, culture, literature, and politics among them, establishing cultural and linguistic unity among peoples and countries.
The truth is that, except for Persian, no other language in the region has the media, communication, and cultural capabilities of Persian to function as a common medium of communication between peoples and countries. So, at least let us not leave the threshing floor and set it on fire to get one grain of wheat.
