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How Muslim Arabs Conquered Iran
Is it the Persian or Iranian New Year?
Although news about Iran doesn’t deluge our headlines any longer, as it did the days and weeks after Ms. Mahsa Amini’s murder, we continue to hear and see trickles of news about Iran and Iranians. And it’s a good time to talk about Iran, because it’s the Persian New Year on March 20th — just 2 days from now.
In this episode, my guest, Dr. Khodadad Rezakhani of Leiden University, takes us from the Black Sea to the Iranian plateau to talk about Persians & Iranians. Are these terms interchangeable? He also tells us which one is more appropriate: the Persian or Iranian New Year? From there we talk about Eranshahr, and why that important term developed during the Sasanian Empire as opposed to earlier empires, namely the Achaemenid and Parthian. Dr. Rezakhani describes the importance of the Sasanian Empire in history, and how this mighty empire pummeled the Byzantine Roman Empire and then, suddenly, fell to Muslim Arabs. Throughout our conversation, he debunks many myths about Iran and world history.
To learn more about Dr. Rezakhani, you can visit his academic homepage.
And click here to listen: PODCAST
In addition, below are links to other episodes about Iran:
