When Persia became Iran
- From: Mark <blueriverday@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:17:43 -0700 (PDT)
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.
******
Mark
.
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