Pashai
Pashai. Although Afghanistan is no longer quite the “ethnic mystery” some have called it, there are still segments of its population for which there is little reliable information. Of these, the people who speak what linguists call Pashai particularly stand out. No mention is made of the Pashai speakers in many general works on Afghanistan, and one will look in vain for some indication they exist on most maps which purport to show the distribution of ethnic groups.
There are conflicting positions among specialists regarding the history of the Pashai. Scholars argue that the progenitors of the present day Pashai were expelled from their original homes in the lowlands of classic Gandhara culture by the invasion of Pashto-speaking Afghans from the Suleiman Mountains. They found refuge in the high mountain valleys of the Hindu Kush, where their descendants live today. These descendants, the contemporary Pashai mountain people, ware thus seen as relics of a once higher civilization.
Although historical records indicate that the population of the Pashai area converted to Islam fairly recently, some scholars believe that this is no way means that the Pashai religion of the immediate pre-Islamic period was similar to that found among the pagans of what is now Nuristan. This latter religious system was comprised of symbols, rituals and beliefs strikingly similar to those found in ancient Indo-Iranian religions. According to some scholars, the paganism of the Pashai was rather a debased form of Hindu-Buddhism.
In contrast, there are those who argue that the Pashai are probably not the descendants of lowland refugees but are more likely a popuation that has inhabited their high mountain valleys from a time before the rise of Gandharan civilization. This argument is based mainly on evidence gathered in the course of field research among the Pashai speakers of the Darra-i Nur Valley.
The Pashai are Sunni Muslims who in terms of formal religion are no different from their Nuristani and Pushtun neighbors. There are shrines of famous saints in the area, and it is not unknown for Pashai men to leave their home communities and become followers of well-known Pakistani or Afghan holy men. However, in the remote villages, saints do not play a particularly important role in local politics.
Pashai. Although Afghanistan is no longer quite the “ethnic mystery” some have called it, there are still segments of its population for which there is little reliable information. Of these, the people who speak what linguists call Pashai particularly stand out. No mention is made of the Pashai speakers in many general works on Afghanistan, and one will look in vain for some indication they exist on most maps which purport to show the distribution of ethnic groups.
There are conflicting positions among specialists regarding the history of the Pashai. Scholars argue that the progenitors of the present day Pashai were expelled from their original homes in the lowlands of classic Gandhara culture by the invasion of Pashto-speaking Afghans from the Suleiman Mountains. They found refuge in the high mountain valleys of the Hindu Kush, where their descendants live today. These descendants, the contemporary Pashai mountain people, ware thus seen as relics of a once higher civilization.
Although historical records indicate that the population of the Pashai area converted to Islam fairly recently, some scholars believe that this is no way means that the Pashai religion of the immediate pre-Islamic period was similar to that found among the pagans of what is now Nuristan. This latter religious system was comprised of symbols, rituals and beliefs strikingly similar to those found in ancient Indo-Iranian religions. According to some scholars, the paganism of the Pashai was rather a debased form of Hindu-Buddhism.
In contrast, there are those who argue that the Pashai are probably not the descendants of lowland refugees but are more likely a popuation that has inhabited their high mountain valleys from a time before the rise of Gandharan civilization. This argument is based mainly on evidence gathered in the course of field research among the Pashai speakers of the Darra-i Nur Valley.
The Pashai are Sunni Muslims who in terms of formal religion are no different from their Nuristani and Pushtun neighbors. There are shrines of famous saints in the area, and it is not unknown for Pashai men to leave their home communities and become followers of well-known Pakistani or Afghan holy men. However, in the remote villages, saints do not play a particularly important role in local politics.
Pecewi, Ibrahim
Pecewi, Ibrahim (Ibrahim Pecewi) (Ibrahim Pecevi) (Pecuyli Ibrahim Efendi) (1572/1574-1650). Ottoman historian. Born in Pecs, Hungary, he wrote a history which covers the period from the accession of Suleyman II in 1520 to the death of Murad IV in 1640. It is one of the principal sources for Ottoman history, particularly for the period c.1590-1632.
İbrahim Peçevi was a historian (chronicler) of the Ottoman Empire. He was born in Pécs, Hungary, hence his name, Peçevi ("from Pécs"). His mother was of a Sokollu (Sokolović) Bosnian Serb family. The name of his father is unknown.
He was a provincial official in many places and became a historian after his retirement in 1641.
Peçevi Efendi is famous for his two-volume book Tarih-i Peçevi ("Pecevi's History"), a history of the Ottoman Empire and the main reference for the period 1520–1640. The information about older events Peçevi took from previous works and narrations of veterans. His times are described firsthand and from tales of witnesses. In best traditions of Muslim scholars, Peçevi carefully references all quotations. Peçevi also was one of the first Ottoman historians who used European written sources. He makes references to Hungarian historians.
Ibrahim Pecewi see Pecewi, Ibrahim
Ibrahim Pecevi see Pecewi, Ibrahim
Pecevi, Ibrahim see Pecewi, Ibrahim
Pecuyli Ibrahim Efendi see Pecewi, Ibrahim
Pecewi, Ibrahim (Ibrahim Pecewi) (Ibrahim Pecevi) (Pecuyli Ibrahim Efendi) (1572/1574-1650). Ottoman historian. Born in Pecs, Hungary, he wrote a history which covers the period from the accession of Suleyman II in 1520 to the death of Murad IV in 1640. It is one of the principal sources for Ottoman history, particularly for the period c.1590-1632.
İbrahim Peçevi was a historian (chronicler) of the Ottoman Empire. He was born in Pécs, Hungary, hence his name, Peçevi ("from Pécs"). His mother was of a Sokollu (Sokolović) Bosnian Serb family. The name of his father is unknown.
He was a provincial official in many places and became a historian after his retirement in 1641.
Peçevi Efendi is famous for his two-volume book Tarih-i Peçevi ("Pecevi's History"), a history of the Ottoman Empire and the main reference for the period 1520–1640. The information about older events Peçevi took from previous works and narrations of veterans. His times are described firsthand and from tales of witnesses. In best traditions of Muslim scholars, Peçevi carefully references all quotations. Peçevi also was one of the first Ottoman historians who used European written sources. He makes references to Hungarian historians.
Ibrahim Pecewi see Pecewi, Ibrahim
Ibrahim Pecevi see Pecewi, Ibrahim
Pecevi, Ibrahim see Pecewi, Ibrahim
Pecuyli Ibrahim Efendi see Pecewi, Ibrahim
People of the Book
People of the Book. See ahl al-kitab.
People of the Book. See ahl al-kitab.
Percham
Percham (literally, “banner”). Second major faction that split from the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) in 1967. Babrak Karmal, the Afghan president following the Soviet invasion in December 1979, belonged to this faction. The Perchamis favored more moderate domestic economic reforms and were closer to the Soviets than was the PDPA. They also had more support among the Tajiks, a Persian speaking ethnic group, and among the urban Pakhtuns. The faction published a weekly newspaper called Percham.
In 1977, Percham united with the other major communist faction, Khalq, to overthrow the government of Daud Beureu’eh. After the coup, the Perchamis were quickly eliminated from positions of power. Some were arrested, while others remained abroad, mostly in Eastern Europe. Khalqis accused Perchamis of plotting a coup against them. With the Soviet invasion, the balance of power was shifted in favor of Percham. The Perchamis came to dominate the government. The sought to expand the base of power of the regime and win the war against the partisans known as the Mujahedin. They established a communist dominated National Fatherland Front, expanding the Communist Party, moderating some of the Khalqi reforms, and establishing several security organizations.
Banner see Percham
Percham (literally, “banner”). Second major faction that split from the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) in 1967. Babrak Karmal, the Afghan president following the Soviet invasion in December 1979, belonged to this faction. The Perchamis favored more moderate domestic economic reforms and were closer to the Soviets than was the PDPA. They also had more support among the Tajiks, a Persian speaking ethnic group, and among the urban Pakhtuns. The faction published a weekly newspaper called Percham.
In 1977, Percham united with the other major communist faction, Khalq, to overthrow the government of Daud Beureu’eh. After the coup, the Perchamis were quickly eliminated from positions of power. Some were arrested, while others remained abroad, mostly in Eastern Europe. Khalqis accused Perchamis of plotting a coup against them. With the Soviet invasion, the balance of power was shifted in favor of Percham. The Perchamis came to dominate the government. The sought to expand the base of power of the regime and win the war against the partisans known as the Mujahedin. They established a communist dominated National Fatherland Front, expanding the Communist Party, moderating some of the Khalqi reforms, and establishing several security organizations.
Banner see Percham
Persians
Persians (in Arabic, ‘ajam). In Arabic, a term used by the Arabs to denote the Persians. It is parallel to the Greek word barbaroi (i.e., those who have an incomprehensible and obscure way of speaking). To the Arabs, the barbarians were primarily their neighbors -- the Persians. During the whole Umayyad period, the superiority of the Arabs over the conquered ‘ajam was uncontested. The coming to power of the ‘Abbasids brought the victory of the ‘ajam over the ‘arab. The Persians, having obtained political and social supremacy, soon laid claim to the supremacy of their cultural and spiritual values in the so-called Shu‘ubiyya movement. Another term used by the Arabs to denote the Persians is al-Furs.
Because of its unique position as a land bridge of rugged mountains and barren plains between Europe and Asia, the Iranian Plateau exhibits among its inhabitants a degree of ethnic and linguistic diversity unsurpassed by any other area in Southwest Asia. In this heterogeneous culture area encompassing Iran and Afghanistan, the Persian speaking inhabitants known as Farsiwan or Parsiwan comprise nearly fifty percent of the population.
The Islamization of the Persians was even more consequential. Their religion before the advent of Islam was Zoroastrianism, a belief system based on an eternal conflict between the forces of good and evil. As a universal doctrine, it recognized Ahura Mazda as the God of Good and the Divine Light. An estimated 50,000 Zoroastrians known in Iran as Gabres are concentrated in the area of Yazd and Kerman. A much larger number known as Parsees form small, tightly knit economic and political elites in South Asia and East Africa. Today, nearly all Persians are Shi‘a Muslims of the Ithna Ashari denomination.
The Persians were not the earliest inhabitants of Iran. Archaeological investigations near Behshar on the Caspian coast indicate that as early as 10,000 B.C.T. the Iranian Plateau was already settled by a hunting and gathering people who in many ways resembled those of the Upper Paleolithic Europe.
At the beginning of the third millennium B.C.T., a new ethnic element of Indo-European origin appeared. The newcomers probably left their Eurasian plains in southern Russia as a result of population pressure. Archaeological evidence supports the theory that they were pastoralists affected by drought and in search of pasturage. They came in successive waves but split into two sections. The western branch rounded the Black Sea and spearheaded into Asia Minor; the eastern branch consisted mainly of warrior horsemen who went around the Caspian Sea into the plateau, supplanting the indigenous populations.
The beginning of the first millennium B.C.T. marked the arrival of the Iranians (Aryans). Like others of Indo-European origin who came before them, they penetrated the Iranian Plateau in waves lasting several centuries, apparently using the same Caucasus and Transoxiana routes as the earlier invaders. They were pastoralists and, to a lesser extent, agriculturalists.
The Iranians consisted of several tribal groups: Medes, Persians (Parsa), Parthians, Bactrians, Soghdians, Sacians and Scythians. Over the next four centuries, Iranians formed nuclei of power within certain areas and absorbed the cultural influences of existing civilizations. By the first half of the first millennium B.C.T., they were strong enough to overcome all political obstacles and pave the way for the formation of the first world empire.
Between 625 and 585 B.C.T., the Medes developed an impressive civilization centered at Echbatana, the modern Hamadan. They completely destroyed the powere of Assyria and extended their hegemony far into Asia Minor. Persians, who had initially settled to the northwest of Lake Urmia about the eighth century B.C.T., moved farther south and occupied Parsa, the modern province of Fars, from which they receive their ethnic title. This loosely federated tribal group became a more cohesive political unit under the Achaemenian clan. In 553 B.C.T., Cyrus, the ruler of Parsa, overthrew the Median dynasty and consolidated the Medes and Persians into the great Achaemenid Empire.
From the fifth century B.C.T. to the seventh century of the Christian calendar, the social structure of Persian contained rulers, priests, warriors, artisans, scribes and producers, a structure which became progressively more complex and rigid. Towards the end of this period, a small privileged class dominated a growing mass of disfranchised people with few avenues for mobility. This condition, exacerbated by long and costly campaigns against the Eastern Roman Empire, led to an internal decay which prepared the way for the Arab invasion.
The 13 centuries from the Arab invasion of Persia until today have seen a fluctuation in monarchical powers and also a steady Persianization of the heterogeneous society. Politically, Persians were able to maintain their independence from invaders and their dominance over non-Persian minorities within the country. Since 1925 and the beginning of an intense nationalistic period, including the official adoption of the name “Iran,” governments have sought to spread the use of Farsi and to encourage the best in Persian culture.
Persians are a sedentary people found in every part of Iran and western Afghanistan. Their concentration is in and around a number of cities in the interior of the plateau -- Kerman, Shiraz, Yazd, Isfahan, Kashan, Tehran and Herat in Afghanistan. Each city is the economic and political hub of a dozen or more towns. Each town in turn integrates hundreds of villages into a regional economic network.
Ever since the introduction of Shiism as the national religion of Iran in the Safavid period (1501-1722), the ulama as the interpreters and practitioners of Islam have played an increasingly important role in the social and political life of the nation. They have been, at least for the past 100 years, the vanguard of significant protest movements against despotic rulers or policies which compromised the cultural and political integrity of Iran. The success of the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911), for example, owed much to the ulama supported by the Bazaaris and secular liberals. The subsequent process of secularization of education and judicial system by the Pahlavis gradually undermined the social and moral leadership of the ulama. Nevertheless, they still enjoy the respect and devotion of a sizable segment of the Iranian population.
In the early 1960s the relationship between the bureaucratic state and the ulama entered a new phase when Ayatollah Khomeini began challenging the legitimacy of the Pahlavi regime on grounds that monarchy is incompatible with Islam. The Qur’an and hadith, he stressed, contain all the laws needed for human guidance. It is incumbent upon the ulama to purify Islam and apply its laws. Furthermore, in the absence of the last infallible Imam, who is in occultation, the Islamic jurists must accept the responsibility to govern. Ayatollah Khomeini was imprisoned and then exiled to Iraq. He returned in 1979 to topple the monarchy.
'ajam see Persians
Persians (in Arabic, ‘ajam). In Arabic, a term used by the Arabs to denote the Persians. It is parallel to the Greek word barbaroi (i.e., those who have an incomprehensible and obscure way of speaking). To the Arabs, the barbarians were primarily their neighbors -- the Persians. During the whole Umayyad period, the superiority of the Arabs over the conquered ‘ajam was uncontested. The coming to power of the ‘Abbasids brought the victory of the ‘ajam over the ‘arab. The Persians, having obtained political and social supremacy, soon laid claim to the supremacy of their cultural and spiritual values in the so-called Shu‘ubiyya movement. Another term used by the Arabs to denote the Persians is al-Furs.
Because of its unique position as a land bridge of rugged mountains and barren plains between Europe and Asia, the Iranian Plateau exhibits among its inhabitants a degree of ethnic and linguistic diversity unsurpassed by any other area in Southwest Asia. In this heterogeneous culture area encompassing Iran and Afghanistan, the Persian speaking inhabitants known as Farsiwan or Parsiwan comprise nearly fifty percent of the population.
The Islamization of the Persians was even more consequential. Their religion before the advent of Islam was Zoroastrianism, a belief system based on an eternal conflict between the forces of good and evil. As a universal doctrine, it recognized Ahura Mazda as the God of Good and the Divine Light. An estimated 50,000 Zoroastrians known in Iran as Gabres are concentrated in the area of Yazd and Kerman. A much larger number known as Parsees form small, tightly knit economic and political elites in South Asia and East Africa. Today, nearly all Persians are Shi‘a Muslims of the Ithna Ashari denomination.
The Persians were not the earliest inhabitants of Iran. Archaeological investigations near Behshar on the Caspian coast indicate that as early as 10,000 B.C.T. the Iranian Plateau was already settled by a hunting and gathering people who in many ways resembled those of the Upper Paleolithic Europe.
At the beginning of the third millennium B.C.T., a new ethnic element of Indo-European origin appeared. The newcomers probably left their Eurasian plains in southern Russia as a result of population pressure. Archaeological evidence supports the theory that they were pastoralists affected by drought and in search of pasturage. They came in successive waves but split into two sections. The western branch rounded the Black Sea and spearheaded into Asia Minor; the eastern branch consisted mainly of warrior horsemen who went around the Caspian Sea into the plateau, supplanting the indigenous populations.
The beginning of the first millennium B.C.T. marked the arrival of the Iranians (Aryans). Like others of Indo-European origin who came before them, they penetrated the Iranian Plateau in waves lasting several centuries, apparently using the same Caucasus and Transoxiana routes as the earlier invaders. They were pastoralists and, to a lesser extent, agriculturalists.
The Iranians consisted of several tribal groups: Medes, Persians (Parsa), Parthians, Bactrians, Soghdians, Sacians and Scythians. Over the next four centuries, Iranians formed nuclei of power within certain areas and absorbed the cultural influences of existing civilizations. By the first half of the first millennium B.C.T., they were strong enough to overcome all political obstacles and pave the way for the formation of the first world empire.
Between 625 and 585 B.C.T., the Medes developed an impressive civilization centered at Echbatana, the modern Hamadan. They completely destroyed the powere of Assyria and extended their hegemony far into Asia Minor. Persians, who had initially settled to the northwest of Lake Urmia about the eighth century B.C.T., moved farther south and occupied Parsa, the modern province of Fars, from which they receive their ethnic title. This loosely federated tribal group became a more cohesive political unit under the Achaemenian clan. In 553 B.C.T., Cyrus, the ruler of Parsa, overthrew the Median dynasty and consolidated the Medes and Persians into the great Achaemenid Empire.
From the fifth century B.C.T. to the seventh century of the Christian calendar, the social structure of Persian contained rulers, priests, warriors, artisans, scribes and producers, a structure which became progressively more complex and rigid. Towards the end of this period, a small privileged class dominated a growing mass of disfranchised people with few avenues for mobility. This condition, exacerbated by long and costly campaigns against the Eastern Roman Empire, led to an internal decay which prepared the way for the Arab invasion.
The 13 centuries from the Arab invasion of Persia until today have seen a fluctuation in monarchical powers and also a steady Persianization of the heterogeneous society. Politically, Persians were able to maintain their independence from invaders and their dominance over non-Persian minorities within the country. Since 1925 and the beginning of an intense nationalistic period, including the official adoption of the name “Iran,” governments have sought to spread the use of Farsi and to encourage the best in Persian culture.
Persians are a sedentary people found in every part of Iran and western Afghanistan. Their concentration is in and around a number of cities in the interior of the plateau -- Kerman, Shiraz, Yazd, Isfahan, Kashan, Tehran and Herat in Afghanistan. Each city is the economic and political hub of a dozen or more towns. Each town in turn integrates hundreds of villages into a regional economic network.
Ever since the introduction of Shiism as the national religion of Iran in the Safavid period (1501-1722), the ulama as the interpreters and practitioners of Islam have played an increasingly important role in the social and political life of the nation. They have been, at least for the past 100 years, the vanguard of significant protest movements against despotic rulers or policies which compromised the cultural and political integrity of Iran. The success of the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911), for example, owed much to the ulama supported by the Bazaaris and secular liberals. The subsequent process of secularization of education and judicial system by the Pahlavis gradually undermined the social and moral leadership of the ulama. Nevertheless, they still enjoy the respect and devotion of a sizable segment of the Iranian population.
In the early 1960s the relationship between the bureaucratic state and the ulama entered a new phase when Ayatollah Khomeini began challenging the legitimacy of the Pahlavi regime on grounds that monarchy is incompatible with Islam. The Qur’an and hadith, he stressed, contain all the laws needed for human guidance. It is incumbent upon the ulama to purify Islam and apply its laws. Furthermore, in the absence of the last infallible Imam, who is in occultation, the Islamic jurists must accept the responsibility to govern. Ayatollah Khomeini was imprisoned and then exiled to Iraq. He returned in 1979 to topple the monarchy.
'ajam see Persians
Peuhl
Peuhl. See Fula.
Peuhl. See Fula.
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