Aniran

Aniran is an ethno-linguistic term that signifies "non-Iranian" or "non-Iran." Thus, in a general sense, 'Aniran' signifies lands where Iranian languages are not spoken. In a pejorative sense, it denotes "a political and religious enemy of Iran and Zoroastrianism."citation|last=Gignoux|first=Phillipe|chapter=Anērān|volume=2|year=1987|title=Encyclopedia Iranica|location=New York|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|chapter-url=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v2f1/v2f1a035.html: 30-31]

The term 'Aniran' derives from Middle Persian "anērān", Pahlavi "ˀnyrˀn", an antonym of "ērān" that in turn denoted either the people or the state of Sassanid Iran.citation|last=MacKenzie|first=David Niel|chapter=Ērān, Ērānšahr|year=1998|volume=8|title=Encyclopedia Iranica|publisher=Mazda|location=Costa Mesa|chapter-url=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v8f5/v8f545.html] However, "in Zoroastrian literature and possibly in Sasanian political thought as well, the term has also a markedly religious connotation. An "anēr" person is not merely non-Iranian, but specifically non-Zoroastrian; and "anēr" designates also worshipers of the "dēws" ("demons") or adherents of other religions." In these texts of the 9th-12th century, "Arabs and Turks [i.e. Turkmens] are called "anēr", as are Muslims generally, the latter in a veiled manner."

In inscriptions

In official usage, the term is first attested in inscriptions of Shapur I ("r." 241-272), who styled himself the "king of kings of "Ērān" and "Anērān"." Shapur's claim to "Anērān" reflected the emperor's victories over Valerian and Philip, and staked a claim against the Roman Empire, the enemies of the Sassanid state. This is also reflected in Shapur's inscription on the wall of the Ka'ba-ye Zardosht, where the emperor includes Syria, Cappadocia, and Cilicia - all three previously captured from the Romans - in his list of "Anērān" territories.

The proclamation as "king of kings of Ērān and Anērān" remained a stock epithet of subsequent Sassanid dynasts. Thirty years after Shapur, the Zoroastrian high-priest Kartir included Armenia and the Caucasus in his list of "Anērān" territories. In this, Kartir's inscription (also at Ka'ba-ye Zardosht) contradicts Shapur's, which included the same two regions in his list of regions of "Ērān".

In scripture and folklore

Although first attested in a Sassanid-era proclamation, "anērān" - like "ērān" - is conceptually several centuries older, appearing in the Younger Avesta as "anairya" where it denotes the "Turanians" (the identification of the Turan/Aniran with a particular place is a historically distinct development, see above and below). These "Turanians" of Aniran, apparently the traditional enemies of the Avestan-speaking peoples, appear in Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology as the noxious folk of the sixteen lands created by Angra Mainyu ("Vendidad" 1.18). These lands lay beyond the the world river that encircled the sixteen lands created by Ahura Mazda, the first of which was Airyanem Vaejah, where the Iranians lived.

In the 9th-12th century Zoroastrian texts, the legendary Turanian king and military commander Afrasiab is (together with Dahag and Alexander) the most hated among the beings that Ahriman (Avestan Angra Mainyu) set against the Iranians ("Zand-i Vahman Yasht" 7.32; "Menog-i Khrad" 8.29)citation|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan|chapter=Afrāsīāb|title=Encyclopedia Iranica|volume=1|year=1983|location=New York|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul: 570-576]

In the "Shahnameh", the poet Ferdowsi draws on Zoroastrian scripture (with due attribution) and retains the association of "Aneran" with the Turanians. The poet however specifically places them beyond the Oxus river and identifies the Turanians as "Turks" (the Turkmen). From the point of view of Ferdowsi's home in Khorasan, this identification coincides with the Avestan notion (e.g. Vd 7.2, 19.1) that the lands of Angra Mainyu (MP: Ahriman) lay to the north. The two sources do however diverge with respect to details: In the Avesta, Sogdiana (Avestan "Sughdha", present-day Sughd & Samarqand) is not Aniran - Sogdiana is one of the sixteen lands created by Mazda, not one of the lands of Angra Mainyu.

Nonetheless, for Ferdowsi the division between Iran and Aniran is just as rigid as it is in the Avesta: When the primordial king Fereydun (Avestan "Thraetaona") divides his kingdom - the whole world - among his three sons, he gives the Semitic lands in the west to the eldest, the lands of the north to his middle son Tur (Avestan "Turya", hence the name "Turanian"), and Iran to his youngest ("Shahnameh" 1.189citation|last=Dhalla|first=Maneckji N.|year=1922|title=Zoroastrian Civilization|location=New York|publisher=OUP: 5-6] ). In the story, this partition leads to a family feud in which an alliance of the two elder sons (who rule over the Aniranian lands) battle the forces of the youngest (the Iranians). The Iranians win.

For Ferdowsi, the Turanians/Aniranians (often used interchangeably) are unquestionable the villains of the piece. The conflict with Iranians is the main theme of the "Shahnameh" and accounts for more than half of the text. The deaths of heroes and other admirable figures are frequently attributed to Turanians. So also "Shahnameh" 5.92,citation|last=Williams Jackson|first=A.V.|year=1899|title=Zoroaster, the prophet of ancient Iran|location=New York|publisher=Columbia UP: 130-131] that has a Turanian raider named Tur-Baratur killing the 77-year-old Zoroaster in Balkh.

Bibliography