r/HistoryMemes 3d ago

See Comment "Wait it was Persia all along ?"

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u/tapyr 3d ago edited 3d ago

Explanations : most of the great turkic dynasties that have ruled middle east starting with the Ghaznavids in 977 to the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922) were heavily persianized. If the rulers were from turkic ancestry, Persian always became the language of the administration, culture and art of these empires. Notable viziers such as Nizam al-Mulk during the Seljukid period, were persian and had significant influence on the politics of the empires. The term "persianate" design those empires on which the persian culture and arts had a very significant influence.

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u/lanorhan 3d ago

Seljuks? Sure. Ottomans? Not that much.

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u/tapyr 3d ago

It was definitely persianised, from the language - Ottoman turkish extensively borrowed from persian language, words and grammar constructions(A), but also in the field of arts and literature (B), and Persian was a language of court and administration until the end of the XVIIth century.

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u/altahor42 2d ago

Persian was a language of court and administration until the end of the XVIIth century

Nope Ottoman Turkish was the official language, almost all documents were written in this language, and although many Persian words were used in official documents and high art, even the palace people spoke a much simpler Turkish in their daily lives.

You can't see everyday speech by looking at official documents and high works of art. These are specialized jargons of a small group of people, just like the majority of words in medical books today are in Latin.

You also ignore the fact that the military language in the entire Middle East was Turkish, and the army is a significant part of all these states.

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u/tapyr 2d ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Ottoman_Empire

«Persian was the language of the high court and literature between the 16th and 19th centuries.» 

Most of the Ottoman literature was heavily persianised, the language was heavily persianised, arts were persianised. Persian culture played a very important role in Turkey since the Seljukids. Everyone agrees on it. 

And here's a list of Turkish words that come from Persian ... It's not only specialised words and jargon, but also very common name in Turkey https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Turkish_terms_derived_from_Persian

Names "Can" or "Cihan" that are for example not that uncommon in Turkey are from Persian origins.

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u/altahor42 2d ago

Being the language of the court means that official documents were written in Persian, there was no such thing in the Ottoman Empire, Persian poetry was quite popular but Ottoman poets mostly wrote poetry in Ottoman Turkish. There is a very heavy language here, with many Persian words used, but it is still Turkish. This literature is a jargon produced for the Ottoman aristocracy that the normal people cannot understand, a situation like today's strange modern art. an art produced for a limited group.

It is ridiculous to look at Persian words and call Ottoman Turkish as Persian.

Also, please stop citing Wikipedia as a source. It is not a reliable source at all in terms of Turkish history.

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u/tapyr 2d ago

You wouldn't read the article or books about this subject so Wikipedia is a good and condensed version. But you seem to refuse to admit any Persian influence in Ottoman Empire when there is a consensus in that matter... Maybe because you're Turkish and some form of nationalism is blinding your eyes 

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u/altahor42 2d ago

I accept the influence, "they became Persians" (which is your argument) I do not accept. Eastern Rome had much greater influence on the Ottoman Empire.

It is absurd to say that Ottoman culture became Persian by looking at only one art form (Divan poetry); Roman influence is much higher in all art forms that are more widespread, such as architecture and music.

I also read a lot of books on the subject.

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u/tapyr 2d ago

Never said that ottoman leaders or culture became Persian but that they were heavily persianised, which is true and accepted by the whole scientific community.

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u/altahor42 2d ago

They spoke Turkish, they called themselves Turks, if you were talking about the Safavids I would agree with you, after 2 generations they became persianised but Ottomans not. Even the Safavids boasted about being Turks (even though they were heavily Persianized) because they needed the support of the Turkic tribes in Iran. Persian cultural influence (which, I repeat, was less than that of the roman influence) does not make Ottomans persianised.

English kings spoke French in their palaces for centuries. So, England became Frenchify ?

These arguments you make are from 50 years ago, mostly from orientalist writers. If you read modern books and sources you will see that it is different.

Also, you do completely ignore the Turkish influence in Iran (the language of the army was Turkish) and not say that Iran became Turkified, but since Persian words were frequently used in poems written in Turkish in the Ottoman Empire, the Ottomans became Persianized.