History of the Zaza people

The first mention of the word "Zaza" appears on the Behistun Inscription. The text of the inscription is a statement by Darius I of Persia. In the inscription Darius says, “there (is) a town Zazana by name along the Euphrates…” [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/behistun.html] . However, the connection between the Zaza people and the town Zazana referred to by Darius is questionable.

It is generally believed that the Zazas immigrated to their modern day homeland from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Some Zazas use the word Dimli (Daylami) to describe their ethnic identity. The word Dimli (Daylami) also describes a region of Gilan Province in today’s Iran. The Zazaki language also shows similarities with Gilaki, Mazanderani and others spoken by the southern shores of the Caspian Sea.

Paul Ludwig’s study

German linguist Paul Ludwig’s study on the Zazaki language draws four conclusions about the history and language of the Zazas: [http://www.azargoshnasp.net/languages/zazaki/zazakipositionof.pdf] . According to him:
#In ancient times (approx. late 2nd millennium B.C.) there was a continuum of closely related Northwestern Iranian dialects spoken from the northwest to the northeast of present Iran.
#Later, but still in pre-Achaemenian times, the forefathers of the Kurds and Baluchis of today were the first to split off and move south and southeast, respectively. Possibly Zazaki was still spoken in this period around the ancient region of Daylam, south of the Caspian Sea.
#Centuries later, maybe during the rise of the Parthians, and the accompanying movement of various tribes from the ancient province of Parthia, the Goran and Zaza tribes made their home in northern Mesopotamia, forming the furthermost western link in the chain of Northwestern Iranian people.
#Centuries later, maybe during the Sassanid period, all Northwestern dialects were influenced and superseded by Middle Persian. In the west Zazaki was driven more to the north and northwest by Kurdish, but still remained in contact with the northern chain of Northwest dialects (Azari, Talysi, Sangiseri, Mazanderani, Gilaki) for some time.

The Zazaki and Parthian languages

According to another study conducted by Jost Gibbert, an Iranologist from Frankfurt University, Zazaki and Parthian, an extinct middle Iranian language, show strong similarities [http://home.arcor.de/fidemes/zaza-tarih.pdf] . According to him, Zazaki’s roots probably come from Parthian, to which Zazaki shows interesting phonetical, morphological, and lexical similarities.

ee also

* Zaza people
* Zazaki language