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Note I became aware of this excellent article after I wrote this:

Origin_of_the_name_Khuzestan

This article is written to show where the name Khuzestan came from and how it has been used since its earliest attestation. The reason to write this article is that recently I came upon a forgification in Wikipedia from a UNPO site which stated: "When the (Ahwaz) emirate was dissolved by Reza Khan in 1936 it was renamed Khuzestan"!

We shall show some maps and historical sources in order to show that such an assertion is baseless.

Sassanid era

The Old Persian word Hūjiya "Elam"[1] appears abundantly in many texts and on Achaemenid inscriptions at Naqsh-e Rustam[2], and on Darius's epigraphs at Persepolis and Susa among others[3] Hūjiya, or its Greek counterpart Uxi[4], were names used to refer to the land or the peoples inhabiting Susiana. In Middle Persian, Hūjiya "Elam, Susiana Province" became Huź "Susiana", and the modern form of this word is Xuz.[5] As with Sistan, the common Persian ending -stan "land, region" was added at some point. The Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon by Roland G. Kent of The American Oriental Society, lists the following chains of derivation:

Ūvja → Awaz → Xuz
Ūvja → Ux → Xuz
Ūvja → Xuz → Hobuj
Ūvja → Hobuj → Xuz → Hoz
Ūvja → Hobuj → Xuz → Hoz → Ahvaz

Whereas in some Iranian dialects such as Luri and Bakhtiari (also based in and around Khuzestan), the sound "h" is sometimes used for pronouncing Kh, the words oo, hoo and Khuz have in the process of time been added to the suffix -estan, and the word oojestan has gradually changed to Hujestan, forming the word Khuzestan. Such conversions derive from the fact that in ancient Persian dialects and in Pahlavi language, the sound "oo" was changeable to "hoo" as in such words like Oormazd --> Hoormazd or Ooshmand --> Hooshmand. And Hoordad has also been pronounced Khordad and Khoortat.


Proably the oldest source using the name Khuzistan is the Parthian form of the Sassanid inscriptions of Kartir and Shapur. In it, the Parthian text uses the term Hwzstan obviously the forerunner of modern Khuzistan. Note Ahvaz is is the Arabic plural of the New Persian Khuz, a cognate of Old Persian Huzziya, which denoted the inhabitans of Elam[6].

Kartir Naqsh-e Rajab inscription states[7][8]:

Similarly, Shapur I states[9][10][11]:


According to Professor. Peter Christensen, after the first Sassanid-Roman wars[12]:

Islamic Era

The Hodud al-Alam, finished in 982, states under: Khuzestan states:[13][14]

Similarly Al-Muqaddasi under Khuzestan writes[15]:

Ahvaz is its center and its cities are Shush, JundiShapur, Shushtar, ‘Askar, Duraq, Ramhormoz

Among famous Persian poets, one can mention Sa'adi, Nezami and Attar who have mentioned Khuzestan[16][17][18][19].

Among the many other books, one can mention the Al-Kamil of Ibn Kathir and the Surat al-Ard of Ibn Hawqal who uniformly use Khuzestan centuries before political issues of today.

Qajar Era

During the Safavid era, the name Arabistan gained usage in parallel with Khuzestan. Nevertheless, during the Qajar era, the term Khuzestan had wide currency. For example the D'arcy agreement of 1908. It has also been used by the Lebanese Encyclopedia of 1878 under Khuzestan which it mentions as a province of Iran.

Here are some examples. Barnard Shipp in 1897 sates in chapter XXXVII of his book:"The Indian and Antiquities"[20]:

George French Angas in the appendix of his book[21] published in 1847 states:

Ebenezer Cobham Brewer in his book: The Reader's Handbook of Allusions, References, Plots and Stories writes[22] under the word Ben'demeer:

.



Butrus al-Bustani, the Lebanese scholar in his Arabic Encyclopedia states under Khuzestan writes:[23]:

Maps

Ibn Howqal

10th century map of the World by Ibn Hawqal.


We note that this 10th century map by an Arabian traveller directly states the area as Khuzestan.

1748

1748 map of Persia with Chusistan(Khuzistan) clearly spelled out

1748 map of Persia with Chusistan(Khuzistan) clearly spelled out

1907

Note Khuzestan and Arabistan are both used with Arabistan in paranthesis denoting the area of Khuzestan which has no paranthesis.

File:The Russo-British Pact in 1905.jpg
Map showing the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Russian and British spheres of influence in Persia. Note Khuzestan and Arabistan are both used with Arabistan in paranthesis denoting the area of Khuzestan which has no paranthesis.


We note that this 10th century map by an Arabian traveller directly states the area as Khuzestan.

Conclusion

The governement of Iran chose the ancient name Khuzestan which was used continously from the Sassanid/Parthian era (and has its root in the Old Persian Huziya) till the Qajar era as the standard name for Khuzistan. During the Safavid and Qajar era, the area was also called Arabistan, but Khuzistan was still used as shown by the maps and Qajar era documents. Given that Khuzistan was the older name, it became the standard name during the Pahlavid era. But the argument that the name Arabistan or Ahwaz (which is really a city originally) was changed to Khuzistan is invalid, since the name Khuzistan has always been used and it predates Arabistan by at least 1400 years.


References

  1. ^ Kent, Roland (1953). Old Persian: Grammar, Texts & Lexicon (American Oriental Series, 33). American Oriental Society. pp. page 53. ISBN 0940490331. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ See here
  3. ^ See here.
  4. ^ Afshār, Īraj. Nigāhī bih Khūzistān: Majmūʻahʹī az Awz̤āʻ-i Tārīkhī, Jughrāfīyāʾī, Ijtimāʻī, Iqtiṣādī-i Minṭaqah. pp. page 66. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help) Library of Congress DS 324 .K49 A37 1987
  5. ^ Kent, Roland (1953). Old Persian: Grammar, Texts & Lexicon (American Oriental Series, 33). American Oriental Society. pp. page 53. ISBN 0940490331. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ Encyclopeda Iranica, "Ahvaz", C.E. Bosworth [1]
  7. ^ MacKenzie, David Niel (trans.) (1970). "The Kartir Inscriptions". Henning Memorial Volume. London: Lund Humphries. ISBN 0-85331-255-9. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartir"
  8. ^ Sassanika: Kerdir’s Naqsh-e Rajab inscription accessed August 2008
  9. ^ M. Sprengling, "Shahpuhr I, the Great on the Kaabah of Zoroaster (KZ)," AJSI, 57 (1940), 341-420.
  10. ^ M. Sprengling,Third Century Iran, Sapor and Kartir (Chicago,1953), with photographs.
  11. ^ Sassanika THE INSCRIPTION OF SHAPUR I AT NAQSH-E RUSTAM IN FARS accessed August 2008
  12. ^ Peter Christensen, The Decline of Iranshahr: Irrigation and Environments in the History of the Middle East, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1500 (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1993. pg 69
  13. ^ - ناشناخته، حدود العالم من المشرق الى المغرب، تصحيح منوچهر ستوده، تهران، ١٣٤٠، ص ١٥٧-١٦٤. Original Persian: ناحيتى ست كه مشرق وى پارس است و حدود سپاهان، و جنوب وى درياست
  14. ^ Hudud al-Alam ("the regions of the world"): a Persian geography, 372 A.H.-982 A.D., translated and explained by V. Minorsky; with the preface by V.V. Barthold. Karachi : Indus Publications, 1980.
  15. ^ مقدسى، احسن التقاسيم فى معرفة الاقاليم، ترجمهء علينقى منزوى، تهران، ١٣٦١، ج٢/ ٥٥٤-٥٥٥. Al-Muqaddasi, ‘The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions’, a translation of his Ahsan at-taqasim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim by B.A. Collins, Centre for Muslim Contribution to Civilization, Garnet Publishing Limited, 1994.
  16. ^ http://rira.ir/rira/php/?page=search&mod=public&obj=home&id=0&q=%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86+
  17. ^ Sa'adi:این شکر نفرستادمی به خوزستان
  18. ^ Nezami: ز گنجه فتح خوزستان که کرده است؟
  19. ^ Attar: گر در همه خوزستان زین شیوه شکر خیزد
  20. ^ By Barnard Shipp Published by Sherman & co., printers, 1897 Original from Harvard University. pg 383 [2]
  21. ^ Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand: Being an Artist's Impressions of Countries and People at the Antipodes ... By George French Angas Published by Smith, Elder, and co., 1847. pg 277.[3]
  22. ^ The Reader's Handbook of Allusions, References, Plots and Stories By Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Published by Cassell & Co., 1880. Original from Oxford University. pg 98. [4]
  23. ^ Mohit Tabatabai, nazari beh Khuzestan, intishaarat edaareyeh nashriyaat vezaarat 'etelaa'at. pg 17-19.