Azari or the Ancient Language of Azerbaijan

Azari or the Ancient Language of Azerbaijan
AuthorAhmad Kasravi
LanguagePersian
GenreNon-fiction, history
Published1925
Publication placeIran
Preceded byZabân-e Pâk 
Followed byUprising of Sheikh Mohammad Khiabani 
From article series about:
Ahmad Kasravi
Ahmad Kasravi
Works
Historical Research
Religious criticism
Linguistics
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Azari or the Ancient Language of Azerbaijan (Persian: آذری یا زبان باستان آذربایجان, romanized: Âzari yâ Zabân-e Bâstân-e Âzarbâyjân) is a treatise written by the Iranian scholar Ahmad Kasravi in 1925, about the history of the Azeri language. This book has been approved by orientalists. In this book, Kasravi, using numerous documents and manuscripts, argues that the Old Azeri language (also known as "Azeri" or "Azari") should not be categorized as a member of the Turkic languages, but as an Iranian language, a descendant of the Median language.[1]

This treatise, which was Kasravi's first serious work,[2] was very influential worldwide[3] and led to a new theory in Iran about the existence of Iranian roots in the Azeri language.[4]

In the words of the Encyclopædia Iranica:[5]

This book enjoyed worldwide scholarly success. The publication of this work can also be considered an affirmation of the indestructible bond of Turkophone Iranians to Iran. Investigating the linguistic relationship of the Iranians of the past was just as much an assertion of their linguistic unity in the future as a means of demonstrating that every Iranian rejoiced in the same, continuous identity.

  1. ^ Manafzadeh, Ali Reżā (2012). "KASRAVI, AḤMAD i. LIFE AND WORK". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume XVI/1: Kashan–Kašši , Abu ʿAmr Mohammad. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 87–92. ISBN 978-1-934283-33-2. He shows that the word āẕari found in most books of medieval history, especially those from the first centuries of Islam, is the name of the old language of Azerbaijan that was related to the Iranian languages and was a descendant of the language of the Medes with no relationship to Turkish.
  2. ^ Katouzian, Homa. "Ahmad Kasravi On Literature". Foundation for Iranian Studies. 20.
  3. ^ Manafzadeh, Ali Reżā (2012). "KASRAVI, AḤMAD i. LIFE AND WORK". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume XVI/1: Kashan–Kašši , Abu ʿAmr Mohammad. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 87–92. ISBN 978-1-934283-33-2.
  4. ^ Fathi, Asghar (1986). "Kasravi's Views on Writers and Journalists: A Study in the Sociology of Modernization". Iranian Studies. 19 (2): 167–182. doi:10.1080/00210868608701674. ISSN 0021-0862. JSTOR 4310526.
  5. ^ Manafzadeh, Ali Reżā (2012). "KASRAVI, AḤMAD i. LIFE AND WORK". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume XVI/1: Kashan–Kašši , Abu ʿAmr Mohammad. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 87–92. ISBN 978-1-934283-33-2.