Persophilia (Persian:پارسی دوستی, pârsi dusti) is the feeling or expression of interest in, respect for, and appreciation ofPersians on the part of a non-Persian. More specifically, aPersophile is someone who has a strongly positive predisposition or sympathy towardsPersia and the Persian people, with an admiration for theirlanguage andliterature,culture (art,music,cuisine, etc.),history, orgovernment. The earliest use of the word may have been by theRoyal Numismatic Society of theUnited Kingdom in 1838,[1] referring to a Cypriot king ofMarion. The opposite sentiment is known asPersophobia.[2]
Foreign admiration of Persian society was especially prevalent during and after the reign ofCyrus the Great, who founded theAchaemenid Empire around 550 BC. He is held in high regard inJudaism for the role he played in ending theBabylonian captivity and enabling thereturn to Zion, as the eponymousEdict of Cyrus granted permission to theJewish people to return to theLand of Israel and rebuild theTemple in Jerusalem following thefall of Babylon, thus marking the beginning of theSecond Temple period; Cyrus is the only non-Jew to be revered as aMessiah (מָשִׁיחַ) in theHebrew Bible, as noted inIsaiah 45:1, which states that he was anointed byYahweh.[3] Many leaders ofancient Greece who gave themselves Persian titles or names during the Achaemenid era were considered Persophiles.[4]Alexander the Great, who lived two centuries after Cyrus, was an avid admirer of Cyrus' style of governance and of Persian customs as a whole, and implemented the same model for hisMacedonian Empire, while striving to mixGreek culture withPersian culture in order to tie the two civilizations together. Likewise, the Macedonian satrapPeucestas gained the support of his subjects inPersis due to his Persophilic tendencies.[5] InPhoenicia, somekings of Sidon, namely those who implemented policies giving special rights to the Persians, may also be referred to as Persophiles.[6]
In theCaucasus, some historical leaders are notable for their pro-Persian policies, such asStephen I of Iberia, who sided with theSasanian Empire during theByzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, in spite of the fact that his father had openly favoured theByzantine Empire.[7]
Harun al-Rashid andAl-Ma'mun, twoArabs who ruled theAbbasid Caliphate in the 8th and 9th centuries, are described by British scholarPercy Sykes as Persophiles, owing to their pro-Persian policies.[8]
The Persian language, as well as other aspects of Persian society, enjoyed a special status in theIndian subcontinent, particularly amonglocal Muslims. Persophilia is considered to have reached its peak under theMughal Empire, where it was used in cultural and legal contexts, and so valued by Mughal ministers likeAbdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, although the language later declined vis-à-visEnglish, which was asserted throughoutBritish India.[9] However, it remained a popular choice for Indian Muslim poetry, alongside theUrdu language.
One of the most prominent contemporary Persophiles was the BritishIranologistEdward Granville Browne, who participated in thePersian Constitutional Revolution in 1906.
The phenomenon of Persophilia has been explored by several Persian academics, such asHamid Dabashi, who publishedPersophilia: Persian Culture on the Global Scene in 2015.[10]
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