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Greater Iran (in Persian: ایران بزرگ pron: Iran-e Bozorg, also ایران‌زمین pron: Iran-zameen) is a term for the entire region where Iranian languages were once or are today spoken, as well as areas that were part of various empires based in Persia. The Encyclopedia Iranica uses the term Iranian Cultural Continent , and other names such as Greater Persia or Persian cultural continent have also been used, especially in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Obviously, "Greater Iran" has had no fixed boundaries, nor even a fixed definition. While some sources specifically define Greater Iran to include the current republics of Iran, Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, and Central Asian Republics , other sources such as Richard Nelson Frye give a more broader definition and define it to have included "much of the Caucasus, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, with cultural influences extending to China, India, and the Semitic speaking world." According to Frye, "Iran means all lands and peoples where Iranian languages were and are spoken, and where in the past, multi-faceted Iranian cultures existed."

In the work Nuzhat al-Qolub (نزهه القلوب), the medieval geographer Hamdollah Mostowfi writes:

چند شهر است اندر ایران مرتفع تر از همه
Some cities of Iran are better than the rest,
بهتر و سازنده تر از خوشی آب و هوا
these have pleasant and compromising weather,
گنجه پر گنج در اران صفاهان در عراق
The wealthy Ganjeh of Arran, and Isfahan as well,
در خراسان مرو و طوس در روم باشد اقسرا
Merv and Tus in Khorasan, and Konya (Aqsara) too.

A detailed list of these provinces follows in this article.

Background

Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy writes:

"Many Iranians consider their natural sphere of influence to extend beyond Iran's present borders. After all, Iran was once much larger. Portuguese forces seized islands and ports in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century, the Russian Empire wrested from Tehran's control what is today Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, and part of Georgia. Iranian elementary school texts teach about the Iranian roots not only of cities like Baku, but also cities further north like Derbent in southern Russia. The Shah lost much of his claim to western Afghanistan following the Anglo-Iranian war of 1856-1857. Only in 1970 did a UN sponsored consultation end Iranian claims to suzerainty over the Persian Gulf island nation of Bahrain. In centuries past, Iranian rule once stretched westward into modern Iraq and beyond. When the western world complains of Iranian interference beyond its borders, the Iranian government often convincesd itself that it is merely exerting its influence in lands that were once its own. Simultaneously, Iran's losses at the hands of outside powers have contributed to a sense of grievance that continues to the present day."

In Persian, Greater Iran is called Iranzamin (ایران‌زمین) which means "The Land of Iran". Iranzamin was in the mythical times opposed to the Turanzamin the Land of Turan, which was located in the upper part of Central Asia.

In the pre-Islamic period, Iranians distinguished two main regions in the territory they ruled, one Iran and the other Aniran. By Iran they meant all the regions inhabited by ancient Iranian peoples. That region was much vaster than it is today. This notion of Iran as a territory (opposed to Aniran) can be seen as the core of early Greater Iran. Later many changes occurred in the boundaries and areas where Iranians lived but the languages and culture remained the dominant medium in many parts of the Greater Iran.

As an example, the Persian language was the main literary language and the language of correspondence in Central Asia and Caucasus prior to the Russian occupation, Central Asia being the birthplace of modern Persian language. Furthermore, according to the British government, Persian language was also used in Iraqi Kurdistan, prior to the British Occupation and Mandate in 1918-1932 .

With Imperial Russia continuously advancing south in the course of two wars against Persia, and the treaties of Turkmanchai and Golestan in the western frontiers, plus the unexpected death of Abbas Mirza in 1823, and the murdering of Persia's Grand Vizier (Mirza AbolQasem Qa'im Maqām), many Central Asian khanates began losing hope for any support from Persia against the Tsarist armies. The Russian armies occupied the Aral coast in 1849, Tashkent in 1864, Bukhara in 1867, Samarkand in 1868, and Khiva and Amudarya in 1873.

Again Patrick Clawson:

"Iran today is just a rump of what it once was. At its height, Iranian rulers controlled Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Many Iranians today consider these areas part of a greater Iranian sphere of influence."

"Since the days of the Achaemenids, the Iranians had the protection of geography. But high mountains and vast emptiness of the Iranian plateau were no longer enough to shield Iran from the Russian army or British navy. Both literally, and figuratively, Iran shrank. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Azerbaijan, Armenia, much of Georgia, and Afghanistan were Iranian, but by the end of the century, all this territory had been lost as a result of European military action."

Treaties

• 1639 Treaty fo Zuhab: Persia loses Baghdad and modern Iraq to the Ottoman Empire.
• 1813 Gulestan Treaty: Iran loses control over large areas of the Caucasus.
• 1828 Turkamanchay Treaty: Signed by Fath Ali Shah. Imperial Russia gains sovereingty over the Caucasus.
• 1857 Paris Treaty: Signed by Nasereddin Shah. Iran loses Herat and parts of Afghanistan in exchange for the evacuation of Iran's southern ports by Great Britain.
• 1881 Akhal Treaty: Signed by Nasereddin Shah. Iran loses Merv and parts of Khwarazmia in exchange for security guarantees from Imperial Russia.
• 1893: Iran further loses regions near the Atrak river that were entitled to it from the Akhal Treaty. This treaty was signed by General Boutsoff and Mirza Ali Asghar Amin al-Sultan on May 27, 1893.
• 1907: Persia was to be carved up into three regions, according to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907.
• 1970: Iran abandons sovereignty rights over Bahrain to Great Britain in exchange for Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa islands in the Persian Gulf.

Maps

Persianates and Provinces of Greater Iran (Persia)

Central Asia

"Khwarazm is one of the regions of Iran-zameen, and is the home of the ancient Iranians, Airyanem Vaejah, according to the ancient book of the Avesta." Modern scholars believe Khwarazm to be what ancient Avestic texts refer to as "Ariyaneh Waeje" or "Iran vij". These sources claim that Urgandj, which was the capital of ancient Khwarazm for many years, was actually "Ourva": the eighth land of Ahura Mazda mentioned in the Pahlavi text of Vendidad. Michael Witzel, a researcher in early Indo-European history, believes that Iran vig was located in what is now Afghanistan , the northern areas of which were a part of Ancient Khwarezm and Greater Khorasan. Others such as University of Hawaii historian Elton L. Daniel believe Khwarazm to be the "most likely locale" corresponding to the original home of the Avestan people , while Dehkhoda calls Khwarazm "the cradle of the Aryan tribe" (مهد قوم آریا). Today Khwarazm is split between several central Asian republics.

Superimposed on and overlapping with Chorasmia was Khorasan which roughly covered nearly the same geographical areas in Central Asia (starting from Semnan eastward through northern Afghanistan roughly until the foothills of Pamir). Current day provinces such as Sanjan in Turkmenia, Razavi Khorasan Province, Nothern Khorasan Province, and Southern Khorasan Province in Iran are all remnants of the old Khorasan. Until the 13th century and the devastating Mongol invasion of the region, Khorasan was considered the cultural capital of Persia.

Tajikistan

The national anthem in Tajikistan, "Surudi Milli", attests to the Perso-Tajik identity, which has seen a large revival, after the breakup of the USSR. [[Tajik language|Th

1. Frye, Richard Nelson, Greater Iran, ISBN 1-56859-177-2 p.xi
2. Patrick Clawson. Eternal Iran. Palgrave. 2005. Coauthored with Michael Rubin. ISBN 1-4039-6276-6 p.9,10
3. Dehkhoda Dictionary, Dehkhoda, see under entry "Turan"
4. Homayoun, N. T., Kharazm: What do I know about Iran?. 2004. ISBN 964-379-023-1, p.78
5. Patrick Clawson. Eternal Iran. Palgrave. 2005. Coauthored with Michael Rubin. ISBN 1-4039-6276-6 p.30
6. Patrick Clawson. Eternal Iran. Palgrave. 2005. Coauthored with Michael Rubin. ISBN 1-4039-6276-6 p.31-32
7. Homayoun, N.T., Kharazm: What do I know about Iran?. 2004. ISBN 964-379-023-1, p.111
8. Farahvoshi, Bahram. Iranovich, Tehran University Press. 1991, p.8
9. Javan, Musa. Tarikh-i Ijtima'i Iran-i Bastan (The social history of ancient Iran), 1961, p24
10. Daniel, E., The History of Iran. 2001. ISBN 0-313-30731-8, p.28
11. Lorentz, J. Historical Dictionary of Iran. 1995. ISBN 0-8108-2994-0