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Iran History

Written By: Dr. Ali Akbar Soboot

Translated by: Dr. Yunus Jaffery

India and Iran are the friends of each other

Both of them belong to the race of Faridun and Jamshid.

Their friendship is divine.

A friend they know the modes of each other’s voices.

India and Iran, whose people belong to the same racial stock, share many things in common. They are Eastern, Asians and originate from the same race. Besides their political, economical and regional relations, they also have deep-rooted cultural relations, the likes of which are difficult to find parallels elsewhere.

These relations go back in history to several thousand years. If we retrace this history back to the origin of these nations, we find that they are Aryan and come from the same origin. There was the time, when they lived together and had the same culture. We can find elements of this common culture in the ancient civilizations of both the nations. In the earliest chapters of the Vedas, we find the word Asura mentioned with the particular reverence. This is the same word, which was pronounced in Persia as Ahura. This is because the letter “S” of Indian languages always changes into “h” in Persian. The words like Som and Sindh have changed in Persian into Hom and Hind. The conclusion that can be derived with these examples is that when the Vedas were compiled the word Asoura or Ahura was sacred and had a similar sense of reverence for both the nations. In the same manner in the sacred books of the Persians of pre-Islamic days we find some words, which are related to Hinduism (for example: Aryaman, Mitra and Aramaiti).

In the performance of the prayers, their rituals too have been similar. For example, Brahmins call the extract of the tree called Hom by the Persians Soma or Soma Rasa (both Zoroastrian as well as the Hindu priests admit the sanctity of this extract). Besides, the names of several legendary heroes and kings are also common. They are like Zoroastra and Dharatrashtra, which leads to the belief that both nations probably originated from the same stock, and sometime before 1400B.C. both probably had the same civilization.

After some point, the tribes and clans of both the nations separated like two branches from the one trunk of a tree. One of them migrated towards the plateau that it named Iran and the other settled down in the region that they called Hindustan. Both the nations preserved their heritage after their separation and developed it independently in their homelands. With all that they also exchanged their views by binding cultural ties with each other.

The kings of Mauryan dynasty (321c-184B.C.) like Ashoka (232-73B.C.) established the biggest empire in Northern India. They established their relations with Persia the field of architecture and in stone carving and design of inscriptions they followed the style that prevailed in Persia during the reign of Darius I (C.550-486B.C.) Excavations done in the vicinity of Patna, the capital city of Bihar on the bank of the Ganges, have revealed that the capital of the Mauryas was in the surroundings of that area. The Hundred Pillars Hall that has been discovered there is exactly the same as the Apadana Hall at Takht-e-Jamshid in the city of Fars. This is indicated by remnants of the plinths of stone pillars, stone carvings and even the wooden pillars, which are still to be found there. A number of inscriptions that have dating from the time of Ashoka have been carved in Kharoshti script, which reached India from western Asia and Persia. This script developed in parallel to the Brahmi script with its several styles that originated in the North West part of Hindustan. The epigraphs of the time of Ashoka, found on the pillars and rocks also remind us of the inscriptions of the time of Achaemenian rulers of Persia. This also shows that this style of         making inscriptions had been derived from the rulers of Persia.

After the invasion of Alexander the Great (356-322B.C.), and during the reign of his successors, many monasteries and the centres of Buddhist teachings functioned for more than a thousand years in the Eastern and Northern regions of Persia, especially at Bulkh and Bukhara. Some of those who preached and propagated Buddhism in Persia, were princes of the Arscacian dynasty (256B.C-224A.D). These princes played important role in spreading Buddhism at the above-mentioned centers, which had a great impact on the art and culture and also influenced the cults of Sadducism and Manichaeism. The first was the state religion of Persia while the other spread more than any other religion of Persia in the world.

With the advent of Buddhism in Persia, many Iranians recorded the life history of Buddha, his traditions and teaching. Those were later translated in to several Asian, African and European languages within two thousand years. These translations have left their impact in the books of literature, ethics, religion and mysticism of the several nations of the world.

During Sassanid period (652B.C-224A.D), the Persian and Indian maintained cordial relations, particularly at the time of the decline of Sassanid empire, when its border touched the boundaries of India. The most important evidence that still exists are the paintings on the walls of Ajanta caves. The paintings of the caves number one and two were made during the early days of the seventh century of Christian era. In these paintings,  Pulakesin, the ruler of South India has been shown to receive the envoy of Sassanian king Khusrow parwiz (590-628A.D). It is quite evident from the dresses, arms, ornaments and the facial features that they were the Persians. The coins that were current in India from 7^th to 12^th century A.D. were of the same standard that prevailed in Persia. These coins are quite similar in weight, designs and the figures that were minted on them, which were borrowed from the coins of Sassanid period. Besides that, at several places in South India we find tablets inscribed in Pahlami script that was in use in Persia in pre-Islamic days. Amongst them, six are carved on stone crosses of churches of that region. These churches were under the influence of a Syriac church sect that reached southern India via Persia before the advent of Islam.

It is during this period that Barzya, the great Persian sage came to India. He brought with him the book of Kalila Damna, which was rendered by the Persians into Pahlavi and then into Arabic. Later it was translated into Persian after the advent of Islam, and is considered one of the most important pillars of Persian literature. From the stories in this book we come to know that the game of chess was brought from India to Persia and the Persians gave the game of backgammon as gift to Indians. The Persians also brought with them thousands of the Indian musicians, singers and dancers, introducing Indian music were introduced to Persia.

After the invasion of Islam, relations between India and Iran spread in many ways:

1.      Perhaps the most obvious is the migration of Zoroastrians to India successively for several centuries and their influence over Indian subcontinent.

In the seventh century of Christian era, we come across a region called the Plain of Zoroastrians in Sindh province. During the region of Akbar the Great (1542-1605) the Zoroastarians took more active part than before in the political and social life of India. One of their priests, Dastur Mahrji Rana, attended the meetings that were organized by that king and explained to him the tenets of Zoroastrianism. During 18^th and 19^th centuries of Christian era, Zoroastrians played vital role in the development of Bombay city (now called Mumbai). They pioneered the publishing of daily newspapers in western India, founded the first printing presses in Bombay, started cloth mills and the moving pictures industry. The wealthy Zoroastrians also invested their capital in commercial shipping, financial institutions, insurance companies and the banking system, railways, telegraph, press and steel industries; thus becoming  a very strong economic and industrial power in Bombay. They also established a very large cultural institute known as The Kama Institute and took an active role in the socio-political growth and development of the greater Bombay region. They brought the industrial revolution and modernized the industry of India. After the independence of the country many Zoroastrians were appointed as the chancellors, vice chancellors of Bombay University, mayors of the municipal corporations, members of parliament, commanders of the armed forces and represented the country in the political circles abroad. The Zoroastrians have also produced such outstanding personalities that they have found a lasting place in the history of this country: Dada Bhai Naurooji, the founder of congress party and the third president of that party, Field Marshal Manik shaw, Dr. Homi Bhabha the great scientist, Jamshid, the founder of steel industry at Jamshedpur, the family of Godrejes and the Tatas.

The influence of the elements of ancient Persian culture and Zoroastrianism over Indian culture is a vast subject.  One dimension of this is the impact of Zoroastrianism on the Urdu language and its literature.

2. Research work done by the Iranians about the life and teachings of the Buddha during the last ten centuries.

Shaykh Suddq Ibn-e-Babwayeh (d. 381 A.H.) is considered one of the three great jurisprudents of Shiite School. He has wrote about sixty pages about the Mahdi (the twelfth Imam expected to return in order to purify Islam) . In his book he mentions some of the teachings of Buddha.

3. Some of the descendents of Buddhists, who embraced Islam and obtained high positions in the Islamic world:

The ancestors of Barmacides were the curators of the main Vihara of Balkh. One of them was Ja’far who had great influence over Harun al Rashid (763-809 A.D.) the fifth Abbasid Caliph who was the most powerful and vigorous among all the Abbasid Caliphs. He wrote the life history of the Buddha in Arabic and also translated those parts of the book Kalila o-Damna, which are related to the teachings of the Buddha. 

4. The Persians have such a high opinion of the Buddha that they have imagined that he belonged to the celestial world.

They believe that he was a contemporary of Tehmuras, the third king of Persia of the Pishdadian dynasty. He had forecasted about the coming of Prophet Mohammad, Imam Ali and Imam Mahdi (PBUT).

In our time the Persian writers who have written articles and composed poems in praise of the Buddha are Bahar (poet laureate), Sadiq Hidayat, Mohammad Hajazi (the short story writers), Ali Asghar Hikmat (the historian), Sohrab Sepehri, Mahdi Akhwan-e-Salis and Faridun kar (the poets). Ali Asghar Hikmat has paid his homage to Buddha in the following verse:  

Look at the Buddha in this world of earth and clay.

He was a perfect manifestation of the essence of saintliness.

5. The efforts made by Iranians to introduce Indian culture and philosophy to their countrymen and the people of the world  

Abu Rehan Al Birumi was the first Persian who introduced Indian culture and philosophy by writing his valuable book, Tahqiq Ma ul Hind (Research Work About India). This work is considered as an authentic source about the culture of ancient India. Besides that he also wrote about twenty treatises related to Indology. Mir Ghayas ud Din Ali Saifi Hasani of Qazwin translated some parts of Mahabharata. the Persian scholar Abul Qasim Mir Fendriski compiled the lexicon of Mahabharata in the 18^th Century. Allama Mohammed Husayn Tabatabaii, the contemporary commentator of the Glorious Quran highly praised the Upanishads and delivered several lectures on them.