
r/IranicHeritage

"Sometimes I wonder how this nation, with all its history, has fallen into such darkness? Last night, I stayed awake until late, pondering whether a day will come when reason and knowledge prevail over this land?" - Mohammad Ali Foroughi
During the Ilkhanid (Mongol) period of Iran, when a palace was built for Abaqa Khan in the ancient city of Takht-e Soleyman, the palace walls were adorned with lustrous seven-color and golden tiles, their motifs inspired by the stories of the Shahnameh.
From Adrian Goldsworthy’s “Rome and Persia”
The Sophytos Inscription found in Afghanistan. Dating exactly to the 2nd century BC. Commissioned by a Greek Satrap of Kandahar, named Sophytos, to permanently secure his personal family legacy.
Translation:
Stele of Sophytos
For a long time the house of my ancestors had been thriving
when the unbeatable violence of the triple Fates destroyed it.
But I, Sophytos of the stock of Naratos, all together so small
and pitiably bereft of the support of my parents,
practiced the excellence of the Muses and The Shooter
mixed with noble prudence
and devised a way to build up my ancestral home again:
with fruit-bearing money taken from elsewhere,
I went away from home determined not to come back
until I acquired the greatest abundance of good things.
For this reason I went on merchant ships into many a city
and acquired sound and far-reaching wealth.
Surrounded by praise, I came back to my homeland after innumerable years,
and a delight I proved to be to my well-wishers.
And both the paternal house that was rotten
I made at once stronger out of new means
and, with the tomb having fallen to the ground, I built another one;
and while still alive I set up by the road this telling stele.
Would that my sons and grandchildren keep this house of mine so,
for I have accomplished these enviable deeds.
PSA: Dari is a dialect, not a language
Countless times I’ve seen people on Reddit refer to Dari as a language, it is not. Dari is a dialect of the Persian language, pure and simple.
While it’s true that in 1964 the Afghan govt changed the official name to Dari from Farsi/Persian, the move was driven by ethno-nationalist and political motives, not linguistics. It was partly done to separate the shared Persianate heritage between Iran and Afghanistan.
It’s correct to refer to it as Dari Persian. Otherwise we may as well say American and Australian are also distinct languages.
Thank you for reading my rant