Persianization

Persianization or Persianisation is a sociological process of cultural change in which something non-Persian becomes Persianate. It is a specific form of cultural assimilation that often includes language assimilation. The term applies not only to cultures, but also to individuals, as they acclimate to the Persian culture.

Historically, the term was commonly applied to changes in the culture of non-Iranian peoples living within the Iranian cultural sphere, especially during the early- and middle-Islamic periods such as Arabs, and various Caucasian (such as Georgian, Armenian, and Dagestani), and Turkic peoples including the Seljuqs, Ottomans, and Ghaznavids. The term has also been applied to the transmission of aspects of Persian culture, including language, to the non-Persian peoples in area surrounding Persia (modern-day Iran), such as Turkey and Central Asia.

History

Pre-Islamic Period

Unlike the Ancient Greeks or the Roman Empire, the ancient Persian Achaemenid Empire was not concerned with spreading its culture to the many peoples it conquered. Arguably the first recorded episode of persianization dates back to Alexander the Great, who after conquering the Persian Empire in the 4th century BCE adopted Persian dress, customs, court mannerisms, married a Persian princess, Stateira II, and made subjects cast themselves on their faces when approaching him, in Persian-style, known to Greeks as the custom of proskynesis (a symbolic kissing of the hand that Persians paid to their social superiors). Persian dress and practices were also observed by one Peucestas, who was later made satrap of Persis, where he conciliated the favour of the Persians to his rule, in exchange for those of Macedonians.