A Persian View of the Steppe Iranians

Abstract

By the turn of the second to first millennium BCE, the Iranian-speaking tribes of the Steppe Bronze Cultures had parted into two main groups: those who migrated south eventually into the plateau which bears their name to this date, and those who expanded their domain within the steppes, westward into the Volga and Pontic regions and beyond, and southward well into the Caucasus and Cen tral Asia. These two main branches of the same people evolved in the very different ways, characteristic to other societies living in the southern and northern Eurasia.Nevertheless, as South and North Iranians -even if separated by deserts and mountains -were often immediate neighbors, they kept influencing each other as long as the Iranian pastoralist riders ruled the Eurasian Steppes. After all, many of the vicissitudes undergone by Persia since the dawn of her history have been related to the Steppe warriors, and, on the other side of the coin, much of what we know today about the history of the Scythians, Sarmatians, and Alans are due to their interactions with the Iranian civilization in Western Asia.In addition to these two groups, which I shall call South and North Iranians for simplicity, we may yet identify a third group: those of Central Asia, whom are usually referred to as Eastern Iranians in scholarly literature. These consist of the settled Chorasmians, Sogdians, and Bactrians, among others, who were the immediate southern neighbors of the nomadic Sacae, Massagetae, Dahae, and Chionites of the area from the river Jaxartes up to the Kazakh Steppe. The proximity to the plains of Central Asia made the region a frequent prey to nomadic invasions, and kingdoms were made and unmade as a result. T a b l e 1. approximate chronology of the rulers of Iranian-speaking lands Centuries Western Steppes Iranian Plateau Central Asia 8-6 Bce Cimmerians? Medes Massagetae 6-3 Bce Scythians Achaemenids Sakas 3 bce-3 Ce Sarmatians Arsacids Sakas 3-7 Ce Alans Sasanians Chionites, Hephthalites, Turks

Social innovation in health and community-driven engagement as a key strategy for addressing COVID-19 crisis challenges: insights and reflections from the multicultural society of Iran

“…Iran is an interesting example of a country with great diversity in ethnic, linguistic, religious, and cultural groups, including Persians, Kurds, Lurs, Mazandaranis, Gilakis, Azerbaijanis, Arabs, Balochi, and Turkmens. The nation is also home to several minority groups, including tribal Turkic groups, Talysh, Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians, Jews, Circassians, Russians, Koreans, and Iraqis ( 11 ). The differences and cultural diversity in Iran can pose different behavioral reactions during health-related crises in the community.…”