East European Studies

The post-Abbasid period is marked by the revival of the Persian culture in the eastern fringes of the Islamic empire. Since Arabization was never successful in the Entire Persian speaking region of Persia and Khorasan, the region was long politically independent even before the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate, the fall of the caliphate gave the region a chance to resurface the Iranian national identity and Persian culture in the region. The 9th and 10th centuries of Hijra were the time when this cultural revival was at its peak.
    The reawakening of Persian identity led to the movement of revival and continuation of Persian language during that period. Great poets like Ferdowsi played an important role in the revival of the Persian language and soon it became the lingua franca of the entire central Asia, Persia, Khorasan, and even the Indian Subcontinent. Most of the elite who adopted and promoted Persian language were not necessarily of Persian origin, most of them were Turks but they regarded the Persian language and culture as the most the most highly esteemed one. Thus the loss of Arabic influence in the eastern part of Islamic empire in the post-Abbasid period created a vacuum, which was eagerly and willingly filled by the Persian influence and culture in the region.
    This reawakening of the Persian culture and society brought long lasting influence in the entire region, not only in the form of language as most of the languages spoken in the region, particularly in the Indian subcontinent the influence of the post-Abbasid Persian culture has left very strong marks. The language, cuisine, dressing, customs and traditions are all very much inspired by the Muslims in the Indian Subcontinent particularly during the Mughal period. The influence in Central Asia was also long lasting, but was later marginalized or diminished after the Russian occupation of Central Asia. Islam in the eastern half of the Islamic empire also has its own distinct characteristics and is more often marked by Sufism and also known as Persian version of Islam, which is more Sufi oriented than the Arabic Islam now commonly known as Wahabism.
    The above-mentioned facts explicitly depict that the revival of Persian culture and society after the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate brought profound and long lasting influence and changes in the history of Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Indian Subcontinent, and it is still felt today.