Why did they change Persia into Iran?

Answer 1

During ancient times almost every foreigner referred to the entire country as PERSIA until March 21, 1935, when Reza Shah Pahlavi asked the international community to call the country Iran - a name that the people of Persia, themselves, used to refer to their country since the Sassanian period. "Iran" means "Land of Aryans". The name Persia is still widely used by many Iranians (pronounced: Eeh-raa-niaan) worldwide as well as in many books, documentaries, movies, etc..

Answer 2

The native name of the region is Iran. The name Persia, comes from the Greeks, and so it is common in western countries to call the ancient Iranian Empire, Persia. Either name is acceptable in naming the modern nation.

Answer 3

Iran was always Iran, a derivation of Aryan. The Greeks called it Persia and this persisted until very recently. In 1935 the Shah (king) tried to enforce Iran, but this was not widely accepted, and from 1949 either Iran or Persia was used. Today Iran is accepted, though the term Persian is still used in some contexts.

Answer 4

In 1935, Saeed Nafisi offered to (Reza Shah) to change the name of the Persian name ofIran.

Saeed Nafisi, Reza Shah was a consultant. Saeed Nafisi was believed that the name(Persian) is related to a specific ethnic group, but Iran

Name a country. Live in Iran and Arab nations such as Turks and Persians and Baluchisand Kurds, and Lurs, and many others.

Answer 5

The original name Iran (= Aryan) was overlaid in the west by the Greek name Persia. This persisted until modern times. In 1935 the Shah (king) tried to reinstate Iran as the name, but this was not successful and in 1949 either name use was accepted. In recent years international use has accepted Iran, however the word Persian is used in some contexts.

Answer 6

A:The Muslims under Uthman conquered much of Iran in 644. At this stage, the people of the region were Zoroastrian, with a substantial minority of Christians. Conversion to Islam was not mandatory for the Christians, nor in practice for Zoroastrians during much of subsequent history, but inducements and centuries of persecution gradually eroded the following of these religions, until today most Iranians are Shi'ite Muslims.

Answer 7

Iran was originally known as Persia until 1935 when the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi asked the international community to address the country by its name used internally before that: Iran. This was to represent the modernity of the new state.

In the Iranian (or Islamic) revolution in 1979, Iran officially changed it's name from the Imperial State of Iran to the Islamic republic of Iran. Iran adopted Islam as state religion and the Ayatollah, an Islamic religious rank, the head of state or the Supreme Leader. Presidents and Members of Parliament and city counsels are elected by popular vote every four years.

Answer 8

Persia was one of many countries where the exonym (the name other people call a country) and the endonym (the name the citizens of that country call it) were different. This came about mainly due to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran "Persis", meaning land of the Persians and this has continued long after the fall of Ancient Greece. A current example would be Germany. Germans have an endonym of Deutschland, but English speakers call it Germany, French speakers call it Allemagne, Polish speakers called it Niemcy, etc. The Persian endonym was Iran and in 1935, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran asked that all countries around the world use the term "Iran" in all future correspondence with the state (as opposed to the historic exonym Persia). It has stuck.

Answer 9

In 1935 Iran became the new name for Persia.

Persia was one of many countries where the exonym (the name other people call a country) and the endonym (the name the citizens of that country call it) were different. This came about mainly due to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran "Persis", meaning land of the Persians and this has continued long after the fall of Ancient Greece. A current example would be Germany. Germans have an endonym of Deutschland, but English speakers call it Germany, French speakers call it Allemagne, Polish speakers called it Niemcy, etc. The Persian endonym was Iran and in 1935, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran asked that all countries around the world use the term "Iran" in all future correspondence with the state (as opposed to the historic exonym Persia). It has stuck.

Answer 10

Iran did not have much choice in the matter. At the Battle of Nahavand in 642 C.E., the Arab Muslim armies led by Sa3d ibn Abi Waqqas completely defeated and overwhelmed the Persian Zoroastrian armies of the Sassanid Empire led by King Yazdagerd III and Piruz Khosrow. After the Muslim victory at that battle, the entire Sassanid Empire was subsumed by the Rashidun Caliphate. Most of the Sassanid nobility converted to Islam to stay in power in the new Islamic Empire. As a result, the Persian nobles and kings who would come to take power in the country would consistently be Muslims.

While there were only a few occasions of forcible conversion in the subsequent Persian Empires to Islam (and between the sects of Islam -- Shiites forcibly converting Sunnis, etc.), the level of social and political inequality between Muslims and Non-Muslims (Zoroastrians, Christians, and Jews) drove many to convert to Islam.