The language has managed to survive deliberate efforts as well as the test of time to work its way out of problems into present time and not diminish.
Persian language is one of the oldest languages spoken in the world. It shares common roots with Sanskrit, which is one of the oldest languages spoken in the history of mankind. It was prevalent in the Iranian plateau and the Indian subcontinent for successive centuries.
However, it has gone grave changes in status and importance in the subcontinent in recent decades due to certain political transformations in India.
Gradually, other languages have gained momentum by scholars and statesmen in India and new ones have emerged like Urdu which is a deviation of Persian. This language is used today by people in more than ten countries, and many literary works have been written in it in India.
Professor Azarmidokht Safavi is the founder of the Persian Language Research Institute at Aligarh Muslim University of India. She is an ardent lover of the Persian language and literature. Although, her mother tongue is Hindi, and English is the official language of India, she speaks Persian fluently.
In an interview with IRNA in New Delhi, she spoke about her love for the language and outlined the reasons for the robust structure of the Persian language faculties in her country.
She said, “When you look for the origin of the Persian language in the history and scholarly researches, you find that it is one of the Indo-European languages, which is very similar to the ancient Sanskrit , and most of the words, including Father and Mother, are shared by both languages.”
Noting that “for around 700 to 800 years, Persian was the official language of India,” she said, “About its academic value, today in most universities in India we have Persian departments and they offer programs from Bachelor to PhD.”
About the impact and influence of the Persian language on India's culture, Professor Safavi said, “We have many books in the Persian Language from 16th century and before, from the times before India's independence.”
“In 16th and 17th centuries Hinduism, mysticism and their beliefs have been written in Persian and sent to Iran and from there to the whole world, and that has led to the recognition of Hindu religion in the world.”
'During British colonization, they decided to focus on a policy of developing regional languages in order to demote Persian language. To help things improve, the government of Iran since 50 years ago, up until now supported Persian Language, to extend it in India,' she said.
Safavi, appreciated the relentless support of the Islamic Republic of Iran for teaching Persian language in India, adding, 'The Iranian government annually invites a number of Persian language students of advanced courses to Iran for about a month, for free or charging the students only a small amount on the courses.”
“In this regard, centers such as the Sa'adi Foundation and the Persian Academy have close cooperation to run such projects.”
As a final point on her interview with IRNA, she expressed her hope to see the Persian language blossoming again in her country for the lovers of the language to be able to experience a remarkable development of the Persian language in future.
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Indian Professor:
Persian still thriving and flourishing in India
Oct 3, 2018, 5:06 PM
News ID:
83053552
New Delhi, Oct 3, IRNA – Persian language is so deeply rooted in India that even today, nearly a century and a half after losing its status as the sub-continent’s official language, it still maintains its academic and literary importance.
