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Iranian studies (Persian:ايرانشناسیIrânšenâsi), also referred to asIranology andIranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, language, art and culture ofIranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field ofOriental studies.
Iranian studies is broader thanPersian studies, which is the study of thePersian language andliterature specifically.[1] The discipline of Iranian Studies focuses on broad trends in culture, history, language and other aspects of not onlyPersians, but also a variety of other contemporary and historical fellowIranian peoples, such asKurds,Lurs,Gilakis,Talysh,Tajiks,Pashtuns,Ossetians,Baluchis,Scythians,Sarmatians,Alans,Parthians,Sogdians,Bactrians,Khwarazmians, andMazandaranis.
The medieval Persian poetFerdowsi, author of the Iranian national epic theShahnameh, can be considered the founder of Iranian studies in the sense that in his work he made a deliberate effort to highlightPersian culture andIranian civilization. Ferdowsi's work follows earlier semi-historical works such as the lost Sasanian-eraKhwaday-Namag.
An important work of Persian historiography is theTarikh-i Mas'udi ofAbulfazl Bayhaqi (995-1077), whose fluent prose style was highly influential on subsequentPersian literature. Persian historical writing reached its peak two centuries later with theJami al-Tawarikh ofRashīd al-Dīn Fadhl-allāh Hamadānī (1247–1318). Other important historical works include theTarikh-i Jahangushay byAta-Malik Juvayni and theZafarnamah ofSharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, a history of the Persianized conquerorTimur (Tamerlane; 1370–1405).
Among the most prominent scholars of Iranian Studies in Iran during the twentieth century may be countedBadiozzaman Forouzanfar,Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub,Zabihollah Safa,Mojtaba Minovi, Mohsen Abolqasemi,Ahmad Tafazzoli,Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, and Fereydoon Joneydi. TheLoghat-nameh byAli-Akbar Dehkhoda is the largest comprehensive Persian dictionary ever published, in 15 volumes (26,000 pages).
Germany historically has one of the more prolific places for research and writings about Iran, outside of Iran itself.[2] Iranian studies (German:Iranistik) in German-speaking countries goes as far back as 1654 AD and the publication ofGolestan Saadi with translation byAdam Olearius.[2] Classical Iranology in German began in the early nineteenth century with the research and writings ofGeorg Friedrich Grotefend.[2]
Iran studies programs in Germany are atFreie Universität Berlin and theGeorg-August-Universität Göttingen.
The emergence of comparative Indo-European linguistics and the translation of the Avesta happened in the late eighteenth century, by French scholarAbraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron.[3]
Iranian studies programs in France are atSorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3, and theFrench National Centre for Scientific Research.
The earliest recorded Swedish visitors to Iran were in the 17th century, withBengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1591–1643) andNils Matsson Kiöping [sv] (c. 1621–1680).[4] However a Swedish gold coin from 1700s was found in an Iranian bazaar, which may indicate earlier contact between the cultures.[4] Early Swedish scholars of Iranian studies includedNathan Söderblom (1866–1931),Henrik Samuel Nyberg (1889–1974),Geo Widengren (1907–1996),Stig Wikander (1908–1984), and Sven Hartman (1917–1988). Among contemporary Swedish Iranologists areBo Utas (b. 1938), Carina Jahani (b. 1959), andAshk Dahlén (b. 1972).[4]
A major European scholarly organization devoted to Iranian Studies is theSocietas Iranologica Europaea, founded in 1981.[5] TheIran Heritage Foundation was founded in 1995 and is based in London.[6] They support Iranian studies at several universities and sponsors a wide range of public cultural events.
Other Iran studies programs in the United Kingdom are at theUniversity of Cambridge, the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS),Durham University,University of Oxford,University of St Andrews,University of London, and theLibrary for Iranian Studies.
There are Iran studies programs in theAustrian Academy of Sciences, Austria;Jagiellonian University, andWarsaw University in Poland; theUniversity of Salamanca in Spain; and theScandinavian Society for Iranian Studies (SSIS) at various locations in Scandinavia.
A. V. Williams Jackson was an earlyAmerican scholar onIndo-European languages and worked as aColumbia University professor. Jackson was known for producing a grammar of theAvestan language. The monumentalEncyclopedia Iranica project was started in 1985 and led by retired Columbia University professor,Ehsan Yarshater.
Richard N. Frye developed Iranian studies program in the 1950s atHarvard University inCambridge, Massachusetts.
An Iranian studies program was created at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963 in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) that was established by Wolf Leslau a few years before, in 1959. The doctoral program at UCLA is the largest program in North America, and was the home institution of Professor emeritus Hanns-Peter Schmidt who used to read Old Iranian and Old Indic (Indo-Iranistik), and is now led byM. Rahim Shayegan who also specializes in Ancient Iran.
In 2021, UCLA hosted an Indo-Persian Musical Confluence gathering, which spanned several days and was focused on the history between thesitar andsetar instruments.[7]
During theIranian Revolution (1978–1979) the American academic centers in Iran were closed and their assets seized. Over the past three decades since then, lack of funding and the difficulty of research travel to Iran have been major obstacles to Iranian Studies scholars that are based in North America.
Other universities in the United States where Iranian Studies classes are offered include theUniversity of Chicago;Princeton University;Stanford University;Massachusetts Institute of Technology; theUniversity of Arizona; theUniversity of Oklahoma; theUniversity of Maryland; theUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor;Ohio State University;Quinnipiac University;University of Texas at Austin;University of Virginia;University of Washington; andIndiana University, Bloomington. Within theUniversity of California system, programs in Iran Studies are taught at the University of California, Los Angeles,University of California, Irvine, andSan Francisco State University.
TheInternational Society for Iranian Studies (previously known as the Society for Iranian Studies) was founded by a group of Iranian graduate students in 1967 and began producing a journal,Iranian Studies. The field expanded considerably during the 1970s, with a number of Americans having served in thePeace Corps in Iran taking up academic positions. Close relations between Iran and the US facilitated the growth of academic programs as well as theAsia Institute inShiraz and theAmerican Institute of Iranian Studies.
TheUniversity of Toronto has an Iranian studies program.The Yarshater Lectureship in Avestan and Pahlavi Languages established at theUniversity of Toronto is one of the most prestigious honor in the field.[8]
In 2021, the University of Toronto partnered with theEncyclopaedia Iranica Foundation for a multiyear partnership to create theIranian Women Poets andIranian Cinema digital projects.[9][10]
TheAmerican Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) is a nonprofit founded in 1967, formed to promoted Iranian and Persian studies in American educational institutions.[11][12] TheFoundation for Iranian Studies is a nonprofit founded in 1981 in Bethesda, Maryland, and since 1982 they host an oral history program.[13] TheIlex Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 in Boston, Massachusetts, formed to study Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilizations.
TheIran Heritage Foundation (IHF) is a nonprofit founded in 1995 byAli Ansari in the United Kingdom;[14] and the parallel organization the Iran Heritage Foundation America is a nonprofit founded in 2010 in New York.
TheSocietas Iranologica Europaea (SIE) was founded in 1983 in Rome,[15][16] with members from European and non-European countries. SIE works to promote and support Persian and Iranianphilology, linguistics, literature, history, religions, art, archaeology, philosophy, ethnology, geography, human sciences, andjurisprudence.[16]
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