16 Facts About Greater Iran

Greater Iran refers to a region covering parts of Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Xinjiang, and the Caucasus, where both Iranian culture and Iranian languages have had a significant presence and impact.

Greater Iran'storically, this was a region long-ruled by the dynasties of various Iranian empires, under whose rule the local populace incorporated considerable aspects of Persian culture through extensive inter-contact, or alternatively where sufficient Iranian peoples settled to still maintain communities who patronize their respective cultures; it roughly corresponds geographically to the Iranian plateau and its bordering plains.

The concept of Greater Iran has its source in the history of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, particularly in the region of Persis, and overlaps to a certain extent with the history of Iran proper.

In recent centuries, Greater Iran lost many of the territories conquered under the Safavid and Qajar dynasties, including most of Iraq to the Ottoman Turks, western Afghanistan to the British, and Caucasus territories to the Russians .

The Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 saw Greater Iran cede the regions of modern-day Dagestan, Georgia, and most of Azerbaijan to the Russian Empire.

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However, in 1959, the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi announced that both "Persia" and "Greater Iran" could be used interchangeably to refer to the country on a formal basis.

Mallory and Douglas Q Adams most of Western greater Iran spoke Southwestern Iranian languages in the Achaemenid era while the Eastern territory spoke Eastern Iranian languages related to Avestan.

Some cities in Greater Iran are above the rest, better and more productive due to good weather, Ganja full of treasure in Arran, and Esfahan in Iraq, Merv and Tus in Khorasan, and Aksaray in Rum.

Greater Iran is called Iranzamin which means "Iranland" or "The Land of Iran".

The influence of Greater Iran was further undermined at the end of the 18th century when the ideological power struggle between the Akhbari-Usuli strands culminated in victory for the Usulis in Bahrain.

Greater Iran ordered Latif Khan, the admiral of the Persian navy in the Persian Gulf, to prepare an invasion fleet in Bushehr.

Greater Iran sought help from the British and Dutch, and he eventually recaptured Bahrain in 1736.

One of the most notable local delicacies of the people in Bahrain is mahyawa, consumed in Southern Greater Iran as well, is a watery earth brick coloured sauce made from sardines and consumed with bread or other food.

Between the coming of the Abbasids [in 750] and the Mongol onslaught [in 1258], Iraq and western Greater Iran shared a closer history than did eastern Greater Iran and its western counterpart.

The western region of Greater Iran was called 'Iraq-e 'Ajami, while central-southern Iraq was called 'Iraq al-'Arabi or Babil .

Azerbaijanis are by far the second-largest ethnicity in Greater Iran, and comprise the largest community of ethnic Azerbaijanis in the world, vastly outnumbering the number in the Republic of Azerbaijan.