{{pp|small=yes}} {{Short description|Cultural assimilation of Persian traits}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Multiple issues| {{More citations needed|date=November 2008}} {{Original research|date=October 2009}} }}
'''Persianization''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɜːr|ʒ|ə|ˌ|n|aɪ|ˈ|z|eɪ|ʃ|ə|n}}) or '''Persification''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɜːr|s|ᵻ|f|ᵻ|ˈ|k|eɪ|ʃ|ə|n}}; {{langx|fa|پارسیسازی، پارسِش}}), is a [[sociology|sociological]] process of cultural change in which a non-[[Persians|Persian]] society becomes "[[Persianate society|Persianate]]", meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the [[Persian language]], [[Culture of Iran|culture]], [[Persian literature|literature]], [[Persian art|art]], [[Music of Iran|music]], and identity as well as other socio-cultural factors. It is a specific form of [[cultural assimilation]] that often includes a [[language shift]]. The term applies not only to cultures, but also to individuals, as they acclimate to Persian culture and become "Persianized" or "Persified".
Historically, the term was commonly applied to refer to the cultural shift in non-[[Iranian peoples]] living within the [[Greater Iran|Persian cultural sphere]], particularly during the [[History of Islam|early and middle Islamic periods]], such as various [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]] (such as [[Georgians|Georgian]], [[Armenians|Armenian]] and [[Dagestan]]i) and [[Turkic peoples]], including the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuks]], the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], and the [[Ghaznavids]].<ref>Bhatia, Tej K., ''The handbook of bilingualism'', (2004), p.788-9</ref><ref>Ravandi, M., ''The Seljuq court at Konya and the Persianisation of Anatolian Cities'', in Mesogeios (Mediterranean Studies), vol. 25-6 (2005), pp157-69</ref> The term has also been applied to the adoption of aspects of Persian culture, including language, by non-Persian peoples living in the regions surrounding the [[Iranian plateau]] ([[Name of Iran|Persia]]), such as [[Anatolia]] and the [[Indian subcontinent]].
==History==
===Pre-Islamic period=== Unlike the [[Ancient Greeks]] and the [[Roman Empire]], the ancient Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]] was not concerned with spreading its culture to the many peoples that it conquered. Arguably, the first recorded episode of persianization dates back to [[Alexander the Great]], who, after conquering the Persian Empire in the 4th century BCE, adopted Persian dress, customs and court mannerisms; married a Persian princess, [[Stateira II]] and made subjects cast themselves on their faces when approaching him, in Persian-style, known to Greeks as the custom of [[proskynesis]], a symbolic kissing of the hand that Persians paid to their social superiors. Persian dress and practices were also observed by [[Peucestas]], who was later made [[satrap]] of [[Persis]], where he conciliated the favour of the Persians to his rule in exchange for those of the Macedonians.<ref>Arrian, [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book7a.asp vii. 23, 24, 26]; [[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius]], ''Bibliotheca'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_03bibliotheca.htm cod. 82], [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_03bibliotheca.htm cod. 92]; Diodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+17.110.1 xvii. 110], xviii. 3, 39; [[Junianus Justinus|Justin]], ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus'', {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030902223449/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans13.html#4 xiii. 4]}}</ref>
===Early Islamic period to 15th century===
After the fall of the [[Sasanian dynasty]] in 651, the [[Umayyad]] Arabs adopted many of the Persian customs, especially the administrative and the court mannerisms. Arab provincial governors were either persianized [[Arameans]] or ethnic Persians; certainly, [[Persian language|Persian]] remained the language of official business of the caliphate until the adoption of [[Arabic]] toward the end of the 7th century,<ref>Hawting G., ''The First Dynasty of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750'', (London) 1986, pp. 63-64</ref> when, in 692, minting began at the caliphal capital, [[Damascus]]. The new Islamic coins evolved from imitations of Sasanian and [[Byzantine]] coins, and the [[Pahlavi scripts|Pahlavi script]] on the coinage was replaced with Arabic.
The [[Abbasids]], after 750, established their capital in what is now [[Iraq]], eventually at [[Baghdad]]. A shift in orientation toward the east is discernible, which was encouraged by increased receptiveness to Persian cultural influence and the roots of the Abbasid revolution in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], now in [[Afghanistan]]<ref>Kennedy H., ''The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates'', London, 1986, pp. 134-37</ref> A proverb complained about the Persianization of morals by Turks.<ref name="Weatherford2016">{{cite book|author=Jack Weatherford|title=Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World's Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-tgiDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA367|date=25 October 2016|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-7352-2115-4|pages=367–}}</ref>
===16th to 18th centuries=== Two major powers in [[West Asia]] rose, the Persian [[Safavids]] and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Turks. The Safavids reasserted Persian culture and hegemony over [[South Caucasus]], [[Eastern Anatolia]], [[Mesopotamia]] and other regions. Many khans, begs and other rulers adopted Persian customs and clothing and patronized Persian culture. They founded the city of [[Derbent]] in the [[North Caucasus]] (now in [[Dagestan]], [[Russia]]). Many ethnic peoples adopted many aspects of Persian culture and contributed to their persianization.
===Modern era===
In modern times, the term is often used in connection with non-Persian speakers like the [[Azeris]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Stavenhagen |first=Rodolfo |title=Ethnic Conflicts and the Nation State |year=2002 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=0-312-15971-4}}</ref> [[Lurs|Lors]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=تاریخچه عدم خودآگاهی قومی در بین لُر ها !! – ولات {{!}} سایت شخصی نورعلی مرادی بئوار الیما |url=http://volat.de/2019/10/13/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%DA%86%D9%87-%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A2%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87%DB%8C-%D9%82%D9%88%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%8F%D8%B1-%D9%87%D8%A7/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |language=fa-IR}}</ref> and the [[Kurds]].<ref>Margaret K., ''The official Persianization of Kurdish'', Paper presented at the Eighth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Leeds, England, (August 1975).</ref>
It has been argued that modern [[Iranian nationalism]] was established during the [[Pahlavi dynasty|Pahlavi]] era and was based on the aim of forming a modern [[nation-state]].<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> What is often neglected is that Iranian nationalism has its roots before the Pahlavi, in the early 20th century.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> On the eve of [[World War I]], [[Pan-Turkist]] propaganda focused on the [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]-speaking lands of Iran, the Caucasus and [[Central Asia]].<ref name="RecastingAtabaki">Touraj Atabaki, "Recasting Oneself, Rejecting the Other: Pan-Turkism and Iranian Nationalism" in Van Schendel, Willem (Editor). ''Identity Politics in Central Asia and the Muslim World: Nationalism, Ethnicity and Labour in the Twentieth Century''. London, GBR: I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited, 2001:
{{blockquote|As far as Iran is concerned, it is widely argued that Iranian nationalism was born as a state ideology in the [[Reza Shah]] era, based on philological nationalism and as a result of his innovative success in creating a modern nation-state in Iran. However, what is often neglected is that Iranian nationalism has its roots in the political upheavals of the nineteenth century and the disintegration immediately following the Constitutional revolution of 1905–9. It was during this period that Iranism gradually took shape as a defensive discourse for constructing a bounded territorial entity – the "pure Iran" standing against all others. Consequently, over time there emerged among the country's [[intelligentsia]] a political [[xenophobia]] which contributed to the formation of Iranian defensive nationalism. It is noteworthy that, contrary to what one might expect, many of the leading agents of the construction of an Iranian bounded territorial entity came from non Persian-speaking ethnic minorities, and the foremost were the Azerbaijanis, rather than the nation's titular ethnic group, the Persians.
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In the middle of April 1918, the Ottoman army invaded Azerbaijan for the second time.
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Contrary to their expectations, however, the Ottomans did not achieve impressive success in Azerbaijan. Although the province remained under quasi-occupation by Ottoman troops for months, attempting to win endorsement for pan-Turkism ended in failure.
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The most important political development affecting the Middle East at the beginning of the twentieth century was the collapse of the Ottoman and the Russian empires. The idea of a greater homeland for all Turks was propagated by pan-Turkism, which was adopted almost at once as a main ideological pillar by the Committee of Union and Progress and somewhat later by other political caucuses in what remained of the Ottoman Empire. On the eve of World War I, pan-Turkist propaganda focused chiefly on the Turkic-speaking peoples of the southern Caucasus, in Iranian Azerbaijan and Turkistan in Central Asia, with the ultimate purpose of persuading them all to secede from the larger political entities to which they belonged and to join the new pan-Turkic homeland. It was this latter appeal to Iranian Azerbaijanis which, contrary to pan-Turkist intentions, caused a small group of Azerbaijani intellectuals to become the most vociferous advocates of Iran's territorial integrity and sovereignty. If in Europe 'romantic nationalism responded to the damage likely to be caused by modernism by providing a new and larger sense of belonging, an all-encompassing totality, which brought about new social ties, identity and meaning, and a new sense of history from one's origin on to an illustrious future',(42) in Iran after the Constitutional movement romantic nationalism was adopted by the Azerbaijani Democrats as a reaction to the irredentist policies threatening the country's territorial integrity. In their view, assuring territorial integrity was a necessary first step on the road to establishing the rule of law in society and a competent modern state which would safeguard collective as well as individual rights. It was within this context that their political loyalty outweighed their other ethnic or regional affinities. The failure of the Democrats in the arena of Iranian politics after the Constitutional movement and the start of modern state-building paved the way for the emergence of the titular ethnic group's cultural nationalism. Whereas the adoption of integrationist policies preserved Iran's geographic integrity and provided the majority of Iranians with a secure and firm national identity, the blatant ignoring of other demands of the Constitutional movement, such as the call for formation of society based on law and order, left the country still searching for a political identity.}}</ref> The ultimate purpose of persuading these populations to secede from the larger political entities to which they belonged and to join the new pan-Turkic homeland.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> It was the latter appeal to Iranian Azerbaijanis, which contrary to [[Pan-Turkist]] intentions, caused a small group of Azerbaijani intellectuals to become the strongest advocates of the territorial integrity of Iran.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> After the constitutional revolution in Iran, a romantic nationalism was adopted by Azerbaijani Democrats as a reaction to the pan-Turkist irredentist policies emanating from modern [[Turkey]] and threatening Iran's territorial integrity.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> It was during this period that Iranism and linguistic homogenization policies were proposed as a defensive nature against all others.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> Contrary to what one might expect, foremost among innovating this defensive nationalism were Iranian Azerbaijanis.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> They viewed that assuring the territorial integrity of the country was the first step in building a society based on law and modern state.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> Through this framework, their political loyalty outweighed their ethnic and regional affiliations.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> The adoptions of this integrationist policies paved the way for the emergence of the titular ethnic group's cultural nationalism.<ref name="RecastingAtabaki"/> [[Lurs|Lors]] are among other Iranian ethnic groups that are subject to ethnic and linguistic assimilation<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url=https://www.cgie.org.ir/popup/fa/system/contentprint/156308}}</ref>
According to [[Tadeusz Swietochowski|Tadeusz Świętochowski]], in 1930s, the term was used to describe the official policy pursued by [[Reza Shah|Reza Shah Pahlavi]] to assimilate the ethnic minorities in Iran (Iranians as well as Non-Iranians). In particular, within this policy the [[Azerbaijani language]] was banned for use on the premises of schools, in theatrical performances, religious ceremonies and in the publication of books.<ref name="Tadeusz Swietochowski p.122">Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. p.122, {{ISBN|0-231-07068-3}}</ref> Swietochowski writes:
{{blockquote|The steps that the Teheran regime took in the 1930s with the aim of Persianization of the Azeris and other minorities appeared to take a leaf from the writings of the reformist-minded intellectuals in the previous decade. In the quest of imposing national homogeneity on the country where half of the population consisted of ethnic minorities, the Pahlavi regime issued in quick succession bans on the use of Azeri on the premises of schools, in theatrical performances, religious ceremonies, and, finally, in the publication of books. Azeri was reduced to the status of a language that only could be spoken and hardly ever written. As the Persianization campaign gained momentum, it drew inspiration from the revivalist spirit of Zoroastrian national glories. There followed even more invasive official practices, such as changing Turkic-sounding geographic names and interference with giving children names other than Persian ones. While cultivating cordial relations with Kemalist Turkey, Reza Shah carried on a forceful de-Turkification campaign in Iran.<ref name="Tadeusz Swietochowski p.122">Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. p.122, {{ISBN|0-231-07068-3}}</ref>}}
==Mughal Empire== The [[Mughal Empire]] was an Islamic imperial power that ruled a large portion of the [[Indian subcontinent]] and [[Afghanistan]]. From 1526, the Mughals invaded [[Hindustan]], from their initial base in [[Kabul]], and they eventually ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by the late 17th and the early 18th centuries, and lasted until the mid-19th century. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the [[Timurids]] who had embraced [[Persian culture]], converted to [[Islam]] and resided in [[Turkestan]], and they were the ones responsible for the spread of Persian and Islamic culture in [[Central Asia]]. At the height of their power around 1700, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinent and Afghanistan, spreading Persian culture, just as their predecessors the Turkic [[Ghaznavids]] and the Turko-Afghan [[Delhi Sultanate]] had done. In general, from its earliest days, Persian culture and language was spread in India by various Persianised Central Asian [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] and [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] dynasties.<ref>Sigfried J. de Laet. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PvlthkbFU1UC&dq=persian+language+in+anatolia&pg=PA734 ''History of Humanity: From the seventh to the sixteenth century''] UNESCO, 1994. {{ISBN|978-9231028137}} p 734</ref>
[[Babur]], the founder of the [[Mughal Empire]], identified as [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] and [[Chagatai language|Chagatai Turkic]], and his origin, milieu, training and culture were Persian culture. He was largely responsible for the adoption of the culture by his descendants and for the spread of Persian cultural in the Indian Subcontinent (and Afghanistan), resulting in brilliant literary, artistic and historiographical achievements. Many architectural masterpieces such as the [[Taj Mahal]], [[Humayun's Tomb]] and the [[Badshahi Mosque]] are in the Persian-Islamic style, with Persian names. [[Persian language|Persian]] was the official language of the Mughal courts.
==By country== ===Afghanistan=== By 1964, the Afghanistan Constitution cited [[Dari]] as one of its two official languages alongside [[Pashto]].<ref name=":1" /> Although the latter is the designated national language, Dari remains the ''lingua franca''.<ref name=":1" /> There are modern initiatives that attempt to "Pashto-ize" all governmental communication.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan|last=Dupree|first=Louis|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1980|isbn=0691030065|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=66}}</ref> Since Dari is the language of the bureaucracy, Persian-speaking Afghans dominated it.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982|last=Kakar|first=Mohammed|publisher=University of California Press|year=1997|isbn=0520208935|location=Berkeley, CA|pages=57}}</ref> Persianization is especially seen in the case of the "[[Kabulis]]", the long-established families from [[Kabul]] (usually [[Pashtuns]] completely immersed in Persian culture). Persianization is also reinforced by the incidence of urbanization in the country, which influenced the characteristics of the [[ethnic groups of Afghanistan]]. The two most significant ethnic groups in Afghanistan are the Pashtuns, who are speakers of the Pashto language, and the [[Tajiks]], who are Persian speakers. While Pashtuns dominated the country since they constitute the majority of the population of Afghanistan, Persian culture still permeated. In the early [[history of Afghanistan]] as an independent country, many Pashtuns moved into urbanized areas and adopted Dari as their language. As a result, many ethnic Pashtuns in Afghanistan identify themselves as Tajiks{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} but still have Pashtun names (such as a last name with the suffix "-zai") simply because they speak Dari and are assimilated into Tajiki culture in the country within a process known as "[[de-tribalization]]". {{cn|date=April 2023}} The Hazara ethnic group speak a dialect of Persian called [[Hazaragi]]. Possibly Hazaras used to speak their previous native language that contained more of their native Turkic and Mongolic words within the vocabulary (before Hazaragi). However over the course of centuries, as the native language got extinct (just like some of the other [[Turkic languages]] and [[Mongolic languages]] that got extinct), the Hazaras adopted Hazaragi, a dialect of the Persian language, hence the result of Persianization. There are many Turkic and Mongolic words still preserved and used in the Hazaragi vocabulary.<ref>{{Citation |last=Monsutti |first=Alessandro |title=Hazāras |date=2017-07-01 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/hazaras-COM_30419?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=hazara |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE |access-date=2023-04-29 |publisher=Brill |language=en}}</ref> According to other versions: they are the autochthones of the area, representing a stock of population preceding the invasions by Indo-European speaking people; or they are of mixed race as a result of several waves of migration.<ref name="HAZĀRA ii. HISTORY">{{Cite web|title=HAZĀRA ii. HISTORY|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hazara-2/|website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]}}</ref> In this context, the idea that Hazaras speak Hazaragi, an eastern dialect of Farsi, reflects the historical process of Persianization, while their possible descent from the Hephthalites highlights the deep layers of Central Asian ancestry that shaped their identity. The survival of Turkic and Mongolic elements within Hazaragi can therefore be seen as linguistic evidence of these ancestral connections, although such lexical items make up only about 10–15% of the vocabulary, with the core 85–90% derived from Persian. This linguistic balance reflects the Turkic and Mongolic makeup of the Hazaras, while their possible broader descent from the Hephthalites points to even deeper historical roots.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Monsutti |first=Alessandro |title=Hazāra ii. History |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |date=15 December 2003 |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hazara-2/ |access-date=22 September 2025}}</ref>
=== India === [[Image:Taj Mahal in March 2004.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] era [[Taj Mahal]] in [[Agra]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India unites Persian and Indian cultural and architectural elements; it is among the most famous examples of Indo-Persian culture as well as a symbol of the greater [[Indian culture]] as a whole.]] {{main|Indo-Persian culture|Persian language in the Indian subcontinent}} [[Medieval India]] during the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and [[Mughal Empire]] was heavily influenced by the Persian language and culture.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chatterjee |first1=Kumkum |title=Mughal Culture and Persianization in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Bengal |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195698800.001.0001/acprof-9780195698800-chapter-8 |website=The Cultures of History in Early Modern India |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=English |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195698800.001.0001 |date=2009|isbn=978-0-19-569880-0 }}</ref> The resulting [[Indo-Persian culture]] produced poets, such as [[Amir Khusrau]].<ref name="Syed2022">{{cite web |last1=Syed |first1=Shahinda |title=From the Achaemenids to the Mughals: A look at India's lost Persian history |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/india-persian-history-lost-achamenids-mughals |publisher=Middle East Eye |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=English |date=30 May 2022}}</ref> The influence of Persian on [[Old Hindi]] led to the development of the [[Hindustani language]], which further developed into the present-day [[Standard language|standardized]] [[Variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]]. Hindi is one of the [[22 official languages of the Indian Republic|22 official languages]] of [[India]] and the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of [[North India]]. Urdu is an [[Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India|Eighth Schedule language]], the status and cultural heritage of which are recognised by the [[Constitution of India]], also having official status in certain Indian states and territories, such as [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Delhi]], [[Telangana]] and [[West Bengal]].<ref name="Syed2022"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Urdu is the additional official language of which among the following states of India?1. Telangana2. Uttar Pradesh3. Bihar4. West BengalChoose the correct optio - GKToday |url=https://www.gktoday.in/question/urdu-is-the-additional-official-language-of-which |publisher=GK Today |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=English}}</ref>
Persianization of [[Kashmiri people|Kashmiris]] began in the 14th century with the establishment of the [[Kashmir Sultanate]]. With time, Indic or [[Sanskrit]] influences on both the [[Kashmiri language]] and [[Culture of Kashmir|culture]] gradually decreased along with the increase in [[Iran|Persian]] and [[Central Asia|Central Asian]] influence. In modern times, Kashmiris are one of the most persianate ethnic groups in India.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaw |first=Mushtaq A. |date=2010 |title=Central Asian Contribution to Kashmir's Tradition of Religio-Cultural Pluralism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41928559 |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=237–255 |jstor=41928559 |issn=0008-9192}}</ref>
===Pakistan=== {{See also|Persian and Urdu}} Geographically, [[Pakistan]] lies at the intersection of the [[Iranian plateau]] and [[Indian subcontinent]]. [[Urdu]], the national medium of [[Pakistan]], is an [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian language]] that has been historically influenced by [[Persian language|Persian]]. Various [[Languages of Pakistan|languages spoken in Pakistan]] from the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan language family]] as well as the [[Iranian languages|Iranian language family]] have also been influenced by Persian, itself a [[Western Iranian languages|Western Iranian language]]. The Pakistani national anthem, ''[[Qaumi Taranah]]'', is written almost entirely in Persian. The name "Pakistan", with both ''Pak'' ({{Langx|fa|پاک|label=none|lit=pure}}) and the place-name suffix of ''[[-stan]]'', are drawn directly from the Persian language. These modern linguistic developments are rooted primarily in the rule of various [[Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent|Indo-Islamic dynasties]] on the [[Indian subcontinent]], most notably the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]], who established Persian and later Urdu as official and court languages across the region during the [[British India]] era as well as after the [[partition of India]].
The presence of [[Iranian peoples]] such as the [[Pashtuns]] and the [[Baloch people]] in western Pakistan has solidified [[Persianate society|Persianate culture]] in the country; this presence was further boosted following the influx of [[Afghans in Pakistan|Afghan refugees]] into Pakistan as a consequence of the [[Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)|Afghanistan conflict]].
=== Tajikistan === In March 2007, the [[Tajik President]], [[Emomali Rahmon]] changed his surname from ''Rakhmonov'' to ''Rahmon'', getting rid of the [[Eastern Slavic naming customs|Russian "-ov" ending]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=13 April 2007|title=Рахмонов стал Рахмон, Каримов остался Каримовым [Rahmonov Became Rahmon, Karimov Remained Karimoiv]|url=http://www.avesta.tj/government/233-d.html|access-date=20 May 2016|website=Avesta.Tj|publisher=Avesta News Agency}}{{dead link|date=July 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and removed his patronymic of ''Sharipovich'' out of respect for [[Culture of Tajikistan|Tajik culture]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 March 2007|title=Президент Таджикистана сменил фамилию и подкорректировал имя|url=http://www.segodnya.ua/world/prezident-tadzhikictana-cmenil-familiju-i-podkorrektiroval-imja.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611073059/http://www.segodnya.ua/world/prezident-tadzhikictana-cmenil-familiju-i-podkorrektiroval-imja.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2016|access-date=20 May 2016|website=Сегодня}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=21 March 2007|title=Президент Таджикистана отрезал от своей фамилий Русское окончание (in Russian)|url=http://www.lenta.ru/news/2007/03/21/name|access-date=2 June 2014|publisher=Lenta.ru}}</ref> Following the move, a large number governments officials and civil servants Tajikified their own names. In April 2016, this practice became officially mandated by law<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 April 2016|title=Tajikistan Bans Giving Babies Russian-Style Last Names|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/tajikistan-bans-giving-babies-russian-style-last-names/27708093.html|access-date=20 May 2016|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|publisher=RFE/RL}}</ref> for newborn Tajik children, with children from minority and mixed families retaining the right to their traditional surnames.<ref>{{Cite web|date=29 April 2020|title=В Таджикистане узаконили запрет на русифицированные фамилии и отчества|trans-title=Tajikistan legalizes ban on Russified surnames and patronymics|url=https://rus.ozodi.org/a/30582923.html|access-date=3 July 2025|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|publisher=RFE/RL|archive-date=17 June 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250617142510/https://rus.ozodi.org/a/30582923.html|url-status=live|quote=[...], для русских и других представителей национальных меньшинств предусмотрено исключение, в соответствии с которым им разрешается использование окончаний «-ов/-ова», «-вич/-овна» и так далее. Напомним, что в Таджикистане проживают представители более чем восьмидесяти народов и национальностей.|trans-quote=[...], an exception is provided for Russians and other representatives of national minorities, according to which they are allowed to use the endings "-ov/-ova", "-vich/-ovna" and so on. It should be mentioned that representatives of more than eighty peoples and nationalities live in Tajikistan.}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Turco-Persian tradition]] *[[Iranian peoples]] **[[Persians]] * [[Pan-Iranism]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Cultural assimilation|sp=ize}}
[[Category:Cultural assimilation]] [[Category:Persian culture]] [[Category:Word coinage by language]]