What The Persians Did For Us

The recent victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the presidential election caused a stir. The Iranian population and the international community see the outcome as fraudulent. Since then, this agitation has led to mass protests all over Iran and in other countries where the Iranian diaspora is present.

Because of the current events, the general opinion against Iran is rather negative. It seems like we have forgotten about the cultural richness of this country formerly known as Persia. Its official language is Farsi, or Persian. In 1935, Persia became Iran; which means, “Land of the Aryans”.

Contrary to popular belief, the Aryans were a nomadic people from Eurasia and specifically from north of the Caspian Sea area. They began to move from their location circa 1700 B.C. They spread out to Western Europe, Southern Europe, India and eastern Iran too. They all spoke a language related to each other. This led to the fact that most European languages except Finnish, Sámi, Hungarian, Basque, Estonian and Maltese are Indo-European languages. But also Farsi and other South Asian tongues like Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Punjabi.

Some 19^th century writers proposed the idea that there was an “Aryan” race corresponding to the parent Indo-European language. Hitler and other proponents of racist ideology took up this theory but scholars rejected it later on. Although the Western culture strongly associates the term “Aryan” with Nazi Germany, it’s still in use in for its original meaning in indigenous Indian and Iranian languages.

In our daily vocabulary, we use numerous words of Persian origin. There are approximately 300 words in the English language, such as Angel, Calendar, Cash, Cheque, Orange, Paradise, Peach, Pyjamas, Rose, Sugar, Tulip etc…

What’s more, Persian carpet, walnuts, hazelnuts, Pistachio nuts, pilau, kebab, naan (bread) yoghurt, spinach, saffron (the world’s most precious spice), rice, grapes, lemon, rose and perfume-were all originated in Persia.

The Persian culture has made a great deal of contribution to humanity in several fields:

- The Invention of Wine: Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest wine, a vintage produced by Stone Age people 8,000 years ago. The discovery took place in Northern Zargos Mountains of modern day Iran.

- Tulips: in fact, the flower and its name hailed from the Persian Empire where it was first cultivated. Nevertheless, the tulip was brought in Europe in the 16^th century. Clusius, who was well known for his work in Vienna and Prague with medicinal herbs, laid the foundations of the Dutch tulip breeding and the bulb industry today.

- The introduction of paper to the West: Paper was invented in China around the 1^st century. The Persians began using it before the 8^th century when it was introduced to Europe. Paper was preferred above parchment because the paints would cover the page.

- The Yakhchal is an ancient natural refrigerator: in 400 B.C., the Persians created this subterranean dome to store ice and sometimes food as well. The underground space combined with the thick heat-resistant construction material would keep the outside heat from reaching the interior space yearlong.

- Ice creams: In 400 B.C. too, they produced a cool pudding made from vermicelli and rosewater that they would store in their aforementioned yakhchals. This chilled treat tastes a bit like a blend of sorbet and rice pudding, and was often mixed with fruits and saffron.

- The biscuit: it is believed that the earliest cookie-style cakes date back to Persia A.D. It was one of the first countries to cultivate sugar as luxurious cakes and pastries in large and small versions were well known in the Persian Empire. According to historians, sugar originated either in the lowlands of Bengal or elsewhere in Southeast Asia. It spread to Persia and then to the Eastern Mediterranean. With the Muslim invasion of Spain, then the Crusades and the developing spice trade, the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe.