suspendinlight said:
No, didn't understand a word (though if I ever had the time, I would like to learn Farsi due to my interest in Persia).
I just wanted to note to cyrus that the Aryans tribes were happily wandering around as nomads in central Asia for several thousand years before arriving in modern day Iran and settling down. During all of this time the Sumerians, Elamites, Hittites, Egyptians, Akkadians, and others had formed complex societies in the Near East and the Aryans were the barbaric invaders. It's a cycle that repeats throughout human history. A nomadic group of "barbarians" infringes on a civilized society eventually destroying it, only the invaders eventually form a civilized society themselves, which is the eventually invaded by another "barbarian" horde. This is in reference to your comment about Arabs and their pre-Islamic culture, and to duly note that the Aryans were not always the "most cultured".
You're half correct: Iranian Aryans weren't the most cultured group at all times. What you fail to note, however, is that the Aryans, unlike the other nomadic peoples, have a history for tolerance, peace, and justice. When Arabs invaded Iran they burned down the main library in Ctestphion and destroyed perhaps the most magnificent carpet ever made: the spring of Khrosow. The reason was because of zealotry and self-centralism. First, they had no understanding of the work that went into creating such things as arts and books. They simply and naively declared, fronted by the Caliph Omar, that all books, other than the Koran, be burned down officially because the Koran contained all of the useful knowledge in the world. All other books were superfluous by their estimate, of course not realizing that useful information can come from humans and not god. As a result, Iranians can't find much of anything concerning Persian literature before the Islamic era. They also deeply undermined Iran's native language, Parsi (Farsi), and the religion at the time Zoroastrianism in order to expand the role of Arabic and Islam in Iran. They failed, of course with respect to Arabic, but this gives you to what extent they operated to undermine Iranian culture and civilization, which is why Iranians to this day despise most Arabs and went so far as to establish a countering view of Islam: Shia Islam, which was nearly forgotten. The reason that Shia Islam exists today is because of the efforts of Iranians.
The Mongolians, when they gained power, decided to kill millions upon millions of people and leave anyone left alive with pure fear. They engaged in total warfare which, with respect to Iranians, left millions dead from the war and a far higher number to famine. It is said it took 500 years for the population to increase to pre-Mongolian levels. Timerlane, another person affiliated with the Mongolian time period, created huge towers of skulls from dead Iranians in the city of Isfhan (I believe). These are the examples of barbarian invasions of Iran.
Iranian Aryans, however, never had such a history. When they settled in Iran they didn't take much of anything away from the local inhabitants, Elamites especially. Nor did they engage in war and ruthless executions. They didn't undermine the Elamites nor any other civilization, simply built their own. They slowly developed, learning of Mesopotamian and Elamite art and learned how to structure a civilization. The Medes were most prominent in this respect and actually created a very strong state in NE Iran. Once again, I remind you, Iranians haven't invaded, conquered, or deprived anyone of their ideas and culture, merely adapted to them. Finally, perhaps the greatest figure of all time, Cyrus the Great came and unified all of the states within Iran. He then extended the first world empire. However, his rule wasn't marked by intolerance and violence that was nearly homogenously developed by all other kings before him, but one of respect and kindness to the conquered peoples. When he invaded Babylon, he didnt shed a single drop of blood and his army peacefully walked into its streets as friends rather than conquers. There was no looting or raping, only a declaration from Cyrus himself. This is categorized as the first charter of human rights and created an atmosphere where all slavery was abolished, all stolen property of others would be returned, and that all religions were to be respected.
This is how Iran came to be great, because, when we had ultimate power, we didn't abuse it. We didn't enslave peoples, we liberated them and created a state, which incorporated all previously important areas, the world had ever seen. That is what separates Iranian Aryans from those other nomads.
