By highlighting the uses of Persian across early modern Eurasia in places as diverse as China, Siberia, and even England, the volume represents an exceptionally important contribution to our understanding of what constituted this world.”-Andrew Peacock, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic History, University of St. Reviews 'A tour de force of erudition.' - Asian Review of Books 'Disassociated from methodological nationalist agendas, the collection presents a comprehensive overview of the contributions and constraints of cosmopolitanism in the Persianate world, spanning from the Ottoman Empire, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India, China, and of course, Iran.' - Middle East Journal“This is the first volume to examine seriously the notion of a ‘Persianate world’ extending far beyond the traditional strongholds of Iran and India. Spanning the ages of expansion and contraction, The Persianate World offers a critical survey of both the supports and constraints of one of history’s key languages of global exchange. Fourteen essays trace Persian’s interactions with Bengali, Chinese, Turkic, Punjabi, and other languages to identify the forces that extended “Persographia,” the domain of written Persian. From Siberia to Southeast Asia, and between London and Beijing, this book shows how Persian gained, maintained, and finally surrendered its status to imperial and vernacular competitors. A world historical inquiry into pre-modern cosmopolitanism, The Persianate World traces the reach and limits of Persian as a Eurasian language in a comprehensive survey of its geographical, literary, and social frontiers.

Yet despite its recognition as a shared language across the Islamic world and beyond, its scope, impact, and mechanisms remain underexplored. Learn more at Persian is one of the great lingua francas of world history. A free open access ebook is available upon publication.

The Persianate World by Abbas Amanat