The name is not Daryay Khazar
Updated May 2014
A Great Historical Blunder
I have seen so many Iranian people wrongly call the Caspian Sea ; Daryay Khazar which bothers me very much. Recently I came across to a book named “Answer to History” written by the Ex-Shah of Iran
My reasoning is; aside from the “Khazar” mistake all the wrong things that we had learned in our high-school history books such as praising the two Iranian dynasties of Samanian and Taherian were written in “Answer to History” as well.
My reasoning is; aside from the “Khazar” mistake all the wrong things that we had learned in our high-school history books such as praising the two Iranian dynasties of Samanian and Taherian were written in “Answer to History” as well.
In reading history books, written by the European historians, I have learned that the above two dynasties were the main cause and the reason for the continuation of the Arab occupation in Iran which subsequently had resulted in the Turkic, Mongolian, and Turkmen invasions and continuous foreign occupations totaling over 900 years.
The reason that the two above dynasties were praised in Iranian school books were; as I indicated in my memoir posted on this blog, http://maziaraptin.blogspot.com/2012/04/reza-shah-vs-mohammad-reza-shah.html
In 1941 the British exiled Reza Shah and installed Crown Prince Mohammad Reza as the Shah of Iran. From that point-on the mullahs became active in Iran
Note: The two dynasties of Saamaanian and Taherian where the reason for Islamization of Persia, the Turks, and the Mongols.
Please read; "The Empire of the Steppes, a History of Central Asia" by Rene Grousset; a mid. 20th century French historian (university professor).
Also, in case of Taherian, read "Maziar", a book written by Saadegh Hedaayat.
Please read; "The Empire of the Steppes, a History of Central Asia" by Rene Grousset; a mid. 20th century French historian (university professor).
Also, in case of Taherian, read "Maziar", a book written by Saadegh Hedaayat.
This inspired me to write this article and clarify those mistakes. Hopefully this will catch the attention of the future Iranian scholars and the mistakes will be corrected.
During Mohammad Reza Shah’s reign at least three different names were being used for the Caspian Sea in school text books, and also on the maps of Iran
1- Daryay Khazar/ Bahr-e Khazar;
2- Daryay, or Bahr-e Tabarestan, the “T” was the Arabic “Tayn”
3- Daryay Mazandaran
In relying on those foreign sources above, the top two names are incorrect.
a) Calling the Caspian Sea , Daryay Khazar is equivalent to calling The Persian Gulf “Khalige Arabi”. The Khazars were a Tartar turkic people that used to live in North West of Caspian Sea (present day Ukraine
By the late 13th century the Khazar people, as an ethnic entity, seized to exist and the area that used to be called Khazaria gave its name to “Crimea ”. The French historian Rene Grousset in his book “The Empire of the Steppes a History of Central Asia” indicates that “the Khazars were by far the most civilized people of Turkic people”. Also according to historian and linguist Barthold, “the Khazar language and the old language of the Bulgars belonged to the ancient Western Turkic group”.
Note: The Khazar tribe at one point, around 11/12th century A.D., had reached the peak of their power; ruling most part of Northwest and North of Caspian sea region, but as it can be seen on the map above , they had never ruled any part of Persia.
Apparently some times in the past, an uninformed Iranian scholar, for some unknown reason, had used Khazar for the Caspian Sea and gradually the name became accepted by the future Iranian historians and subsequently it found its way into the text books and on the maps of Iran.
By the late 13th century the Khazar people, as an ethnic entity, seized to exist and the area that used to be called Khazaria gave its name to “
Note: The Khazar tribe at one point, around 11/12th century A.D., had reached the peak of their power; ruling most part of Northwest and North of Caspian sea region, but as it can be seen on the map above , they had never ruled any part of Persia.
Apparently some times in the past, an uninformed Iranian scholar, for some unknown reason, had used Khazar for the Caspian Sea and gradually the name became accepted by the future Iranian historians and subsequently it found its way into the text books and on the maps of Iran.
b) Tabarestan is an Arabized version of “Tapourestan” which was the ancient name of Mazandaran. The name Tapourestan was derived from the name of “Tapour People” that used to live in ancient Tapouria (South of Caspian Sea area). The name Mazandaran, according to “Sadegh Hedayat”, evolved some times after 9th or 10th century AD. The story is that Maziar the Spahbod of Tapourestan, from about late 210s Tazi calendar (830s AD), was anticipating imminent Arab invasion to Tapourestan. He started building walls across the Western Tapourestan which stretched hundreds of kilometers. In every few meters across the wall there was an opening called “Maaz” (crack) for the guards to be able to see the other side of the wall and detect the approach of the enemy soldiers. The number of the Maazes was so numerous. All the areas inside the wall used to be called “Maaz andaroon” which gradually within a few centuries the whole state acquired the name Maaz andaroon, (officially Mazandaran) but the Mazanadaranies still pronounce it “Mazenderoon”.
As we can see, Daryay Mazandaran is the new version of Daryay Tapourestan (not Tabarestan). But the more ancient and correct name is “Daryay Kaaspy or Caaspy. The reason is; the Aryans that emigrated from Europe to the East consisted of three different major branches. The largest branch of Aryan that scattered from Mesopotamia to Central Asia was the Casps (the ancestors of present day Iranians). After they settled in the new land they named the sea up north Daryay Casp or Caspha, and present day Ghazvin (Caspin) area Darvazehi Casp (Caspian Gate).
With above in mind we should call the Caspian Sea either Daryay Mazandaran or if we want to be more in line with the international community we could call it “Daryay Caspian”.
The following info by "Wikipedia encyclopedia" clearly shows that the Khazar tribe had no Iranian connection:
The Khazars (Greek: Χάζαροι, Hebrew: כוזרים (Kuzarim),[4] Turkish: Hazarlar, Tatar: Xäzärlär, Arabic: خزر (khazar), Russian:Хазары, Persian: خزر,Latin: Gazari[5][6]/Cosri[7]/Gasani[8][9]) were a semi-nomadic Turkic people who created the most powerful Western steppe empire, Khazaria, between the late 7th and 10th centuries. Astride a major artery of commerce betweennorthern Europe and southwestern Asia, Khazaria became one of the foremost trading emporia of the medieval world, commanding the western marches of the Silk Road and played a key commercial role as a crossroad between China, theMiddle East, and European Russia.[10][11] For some three centuries (c. 650–965) the Khazars dominated the vast area extending from the Volga-Don steppes to the eastern Crimea and the northern Caucasus[12]
Khazaria long served as a buffer state between the Byzantine empire and both the nomads of the northern steppes and theUmayyad empire, after serving as Byzantium's proxy against the Sassanid Persian empire. The alliance was dropped around 900 CE., as Byzantium began to encourage the Alans to attack Khazaria and weaken its hold on Crimea and the Caucasus, while seeking to obtain an entente with the rising Rus' power to Khazaria's north, which it aspired to convert to Christianity.[13]Between 965 and 969, the Kievan Rus ruler Sviatoslav I of Kiev conquered the capital Atil and destroyed the Khazar state.
Beginning in the 8th century, the Khazar royalty and notable segments of the aristocracy converted to Judaism; the populace appears to have been multi-confessional—a mosaic of pagan, Muslim, Jewish and Christian worshippers—and polyethnic.[14] A modern theory, that the core of Ashkenazi Jewry emerged from a hypothetical Khazarian Jewish diaspora, is now viewed with scepticism by most scholars[who?], but occasionally supported by others. This Khazarian hypothesis is sometimes associated with antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
Note: In Answer to History, Mohammad Reza Shah also had a great deal of praise for Shah Esmail and Shah Abbas Safavi. Even though those two Shahs have done some services for the country, they had their dark sides that Mohammad Reza Shah did not point it out. To learn about their dark sides please read my article titled “What is wrong with us the Iranians”. It could be found on this blog: http://maziaraptin.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-is-wrong-with-us-iranians.html
And also on PayameAshena Magazine site. www.Ashena.com
And also on PayameAshena Magazine site. www.Ashena.com
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