Introduction
Language, as the primary vehicle for transmitting cultural values and customs, plays an extraordinarily significant role in the development of culture in its broadest sense. Among all cultural elements, language constitutes the most essential expression of ethnic characteristics and is undoubtedly the principal component of collective identity. It represents the most fundamental cultural factor in the formation and continuity of collective identity. In the history of Iran, language has played a foundational role in linking diverse peoples and sustaining Iranianness (Īrānīyat).
Focusing on ancient Iran, this study examines the position of Iranian languages and scripts—from Old Persian to Pahlavi—in reinforcing Iranian identity. It demonstrates how Iranian states, particularly during the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods, employed language and script as instruments of cultural policy, social integration, and the reproduction of national identity.
The central question of this research is to what extent the Iranian monarchs’ deliberate attention to Iranian language and script contributed to consolidating the “Idea of Iran” and preserving cultural continuity in the face of foreign domination and influence.

Literature Review
Aside from several studies on the history of the Persian language and Iranian identity that address Iranian historical self-consciousness, awareness of the name of the land, its geographical boundaries, and nationalist movements (see Ashraf et al., 2022; Ahmadi, 2007), and despite scattered articles concerning the Persian language in the Islamic period and its role in Iranian nationalism (Sāket, 2007: 190–240), no independent and comprehensive study has yet examined the role of Persian language in Iranian identity during antiquity or the deliberate policies of Iranian monarchs regarding Iranian script in the ancient period.

Methodology
The research adopts a descriptive–analytical method based on library research. Data were extracted from Achaemenid inscriptions, Pahlavi texts, Greek, Roman, Syriac, and Islamic historical sources, as well as modern Iranological scholarship. Through a comparative approach, the linguistic policies of the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods are examined and analyzed, and the relationship between language, religion, political authority, and collective identity is elucidated.

Findings
The findings indicate that Iranian languages were present across the Iranian plateau even prior to the formation of the Median and Achaemenid states. However, during the Achaemenid period, with the official use of Old Persian in royal inscriptions, language became an instrument for expressing political authority and imperial identity. Although Elamite and Aramaic were employed in the administrative structure of the Achaemenid Empire, the conscious use of Old Persian in monumental inscriptions reflects an emphasis on Iranian identity at the apex of power.
During the Parthian period, the Parthian language was strengthened alongside indigenous traditions, preparing the ground for the revival of national elements. Yet the apex of identity-oriented linguistic policy is observable in the Sasanian era. The Sasanians emphasized Pahlavi as an official and cultural language, gradually eliminated Greek from inscriptions and coinage, and undertook the collection and redaction of religious and historical texts in order to establish a conscious connection with the Achaemenid heritage.
The translation of scientific, philosophical, and medical works from Greek, Syriac, and Indian languages into Pahlavi generated a cultural movement that transformed the Iranian language into a medium of scholarship and instruction. Reports concerning centers such as Gundēshāpūr indicate that Pahlavi was the dominant language in the production and transmission of knowledge. Even Jewish and Christian religious texts within the Sasanian realm were translated into Pahlavi, reflecting a policy of cultural integration centered upon the Iranian language.
The emphasis placed by rulers such as Shapur II and Khusrow I on the Persian language, alongside their efforts to collect and codify the Avesta and national texts, demonstrates their profound understanding of language as a means of preserving political and religious cohesion.
Islamic geographers and historians report that although Ērānshahr encompassed a diversity of dialects, these existed within a framework of closely related Iranian languages, allowing for mutual intelligibility among different peoples. This linguistic cohesion constituted one of the most prominent features of Iranian identity.
Even after the fall of the Sasanian Empire, Persian endured as the bearer of Iranian culture. The migration of Iranians to Central Asia, China, and even Japan, accompanied by the preservation of Pahlavi script and language, indicates that Iranian language had become the principal marker of their identity. The continuation of this tradition laid the foundation for the emergence of New Persian and the perpetuation of the Idea of Iran in the Islamic period.

Discussion
Historical analysis demonstrates that Iranian language and script were not merely instruments of communication but functioned as ideological and identity-forming forces. Iranian states—particularly the Sasanians—recognized this potential and consciously employed language in the reconstruction of national identity. The gradual removal of foreign elements from official writing, the translation of foreign works into Pahlavi, and the emphasis on national narratives in the Khwadāy-Nāmag tradition all served to strengthen the“Idea of Iran.”
Unlike many territories conquered by Muslim armies that lost their native languages, Iran, owing to its deep cultural and linguistic foundations, preserved its language and even elevated it to the status of a major cultural and literary language of the Islamic world. This demonstrates that the linguistic policies of the ancient period laid the structural foundations for the continuity of Iranian identity.
In sum, the Persian language—through its historical continuity from Old Persian to Pahlavi and subsequently to New Persian—has constituted one of the most fundamental pillars of Iranian identity. Iranian script, as the vehicle of this language, played both a symbolic and functional role in preserving cultural continuity. Thus, Iranian language and script were not merely reflections of Iranian identity but active agents in its production and reproduction throughout history.

Bibliography

- ‘Alīyārī Bābelqānī,‘Alī. (2015). The Elamite Version of the Bisotun Inscription of Darius the Great. Tehran: Markaz. [In Persian]
- Ādurfarnbag son of Farrukhzād; Ādurbād son of Umēd. (2021). Dēnkard IV: Transcription, Translation, Glossary and Study. By Maryam Reżā’ī. Tehran: Nashr-e ‘Elmī. [In Persian]
- Aeschylus,(1953). The Complete Greek Tragedies, Edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, Crncago, IllInOIs, USA, The University Of Chicago Press.
- Aliyev, Iqrar. (2012). History of Atropatene (Ancient Azerbaijan). Translated by Mahnāz Ṣadrī. Tehran: Qoqnoos. [In Persian]
- al-Mas‘ūdī, ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn (2003). Murūj al-Dhahab, Vol. I. Translated by Abū’l-Qāsem Pāyandeh. Tehran: ‘Elmī va Farhangī. [In Persian]
- al-Mas‘ūdī, Abū’l-Ḥasan ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn (2009). al-Tanbīh wa’l-Ishrāf. Translated by Abū’l-Qāsem Pāyandeh. Tehran: ‘Elmī va Farhangī. [In Persian]
- al-Muqaddasī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. (1982). Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma‘rifat al-Aqālīm, Part II. Translated by ‘Alīnaqī Monzavī. Tehran: Sherkat-e Mo’allifān va Motarjemān. [In Persian]
- al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr. (1996). History of al-Ṭabarī (Ta’rīkh al-Rusul wa’l-Mulūk). Translated by Abū’l-Qāsem Pāyandeh. Tehran: Asāṭīr. [In Persian]
- Āmūzgār, Jaleh. (2007). “Oral Tradition in Ancient Iran.” In Language, Culture, Myth. Tehran: Moeīn. [In Persian]
- Ashraf, et al. (2022). Iranian Identity from Antiquity to the End of the Pahlavi Period. Translated and compiled by Ḥamīd Aḥmadī. Tehran: Nashr-e Ney. [In Persian]
- Badī‘, Amīr-Mehdī. (2007). Greeks and Barbarians: The Other Side of History, Vol. II. Translated by A. Rūḥbakhshān. Tehran: Tūs. [In Persian]
- Barthold, V. (1990). “On the Iranian National Epic”. Translated by Kay Kāvus Jahāndārī. In Yaḥyā Mahdavī & Īraj Afshār (eds.), Seventy Articles: A Cultural Tribute to Gholamhossein Yousofi. Tehran: Asāṭīr. [In Persian]
- Boyce, M, (1995)," Diaspora, In Pre-Islamic times", Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VII, Fasc. 4: pp. 373-374.
- Briant, Pierre. (2013). The Achaemenid Empire, Vols. I–II. Translated by Nāhīd Furūghān. Tehran: Qaṭreh. [In Persian]
- Christensen, Arthur. (2000). Iran under the Sasanians. Translated by Rashīd Yāsemī. Tehran: Donyā-ye Ketāb. [In Persian]
- Dandamayev, M. A. (2002). Political History of the Achaemenids. Translated by Khashāyār Bahārī. Tehran: Kārange. [In Persian]
- Daryā’ī, Touraj & Khodādād Rezākhānī. (2017). From the Oxus to the Euphrates: Ērānshahr and the Sasanian World. Translated by Maryam Bījvand. Tehran: Morvārīd. [In Persian]
- Daryā’ī, Touraj. (2004). The Sasanian Empire. Translated by Mortażā Sāqebfar. Tehran: Qoqnoos. [In Persian]
- Daryaee, T, (2008). “Kingship in Early Sasanian Iran”. in The Sasanian Era, The Idea of Iran, vol. 3, III, eds. V. S. Curtis and S. Stwart, London, I. B. Tauris: pp. 62-64;
- de Jong, Albert (Kreyenbroek, Philip G.). (2012). “Zoroastrianism in the Achaemenid Period.” In The World of the Achaemenids: History, Society and Art. Translated by Khashāyār Bahārī. Tehran: Farzān Rūz. [In Persian]
- Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. (1998). “Zoroastrianism”. In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. III/2: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods. Translated by Ḥasan Anūshah. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, pp. 291–339. [In Persian]
- Frye, Richard N. (1989). The Heritage of Ancient Iran. Translated by Mas‘ūd Rajabniyā. Tehran:‘Elmī va Farhangī. [In Persian]
- Frye, Richard N. (1994). “The Political History of Iran under the Sasanians”. In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. III/1. Translated by Ḥasan Anūshah, pp. 217–276. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]
- Gnoli, Gherardo. (2022). “The Formation of the Idea of Iran and Iranian Identity in Antiquity”. In Iranian Identity from Antiquity to the End of the Pahlavi Period. Tehran: Nashr-e Ney. [In Persian]
- Göbl, Robert. (1994). “Sasanian Coinage”. In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. III/1, pp. 429–446. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]
- Gutas, Dimitri. (2002). Greek Thought, Arabic Culture. Translated by Moḥammad Sa‘īd Ḥanā’ī Kāshānī. Tehran: University Publishing Center. [In Persian]
- Gyselen, Rika. (2021). “The Parthian Language in the Early Sasanian Period”. In The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires, pp. 129–139. Tehran: Qoqnoos. [In Persian]
- Hallock, R. T. (1969). Persepolis fortification tablets. Vol. XC II. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.:487 & 582
- Henkelman, W. F. M, (2011). “Cyrus the Persian and Darius the Elamite: a Case of Mistaken Identity”. in Herodotus and the PersianEmpire, Edited by Robert Rollinger, Brigitte Truschnegg, Reinjold Bichler, Wiesbaden,Pp.587-633
- Henkelman, Wouter (2003). PERSIANS, MEDES AND ELAMITES Acculturation in the Neo-Elamite Period,i n: G. B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, R. Rollinger, eds., Continuity of Empire (?) Assyria, Media, Persia. Padova, S.a.r.g.o.n. Editrice e Libreria, pp. 181-231
- Henkelman, Wouter. (2013). Other Gods Who Are: Studies in Achaemenid History. Translated by Mortażā Sāqebfar. Tehran: Tūs. [In Persian]
- Herodotus (2019). The History Of Herodotus, Translated By; G. C. Macaulay. This edition was created and published by Global Grey.
- Ibn al-Nadīm, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. (2002). Al-Fihrist. Translated by Muḥammad Riḍā Tajaddud. Tehran: Asāṭīr. [In Persian]
- Imoto, Eiichi. (2009). Asuka and Pars: The Advance of Iranian Culture to the East. Translated by Qudratollāh Zākirī. Tehran: Institute for Cultural and Social Studies. [In Persian]
- Kārnāmag ī Ardaxšīr ī Pābagān. (2007). Translated by Bahrām Farahvashī. Tehran: University of Tehran. [In Persian]
- Kāvīānī Pooyā, Ḥamīd. (2022). History of Medicine in Ancient Iran. Tehran: Traditional Iranian Medicine Press. [In Persian]
- Kennedy, Hugh. (2019). “The Survival of Iranianness”. In Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis & Sarah Stewart (eds.), The Rise of Islam, pp. 16–37. Translated by Kāẓem Fīrūzmand. Tehran: Markaz. [In Persian]
- Kent, R (1953). Old Persian: grammar, texts, lexicon, New Haven, Conn: American Oriental Society
- Khāleqī-Moṭlaq, Jalāl. (2018). Footprints of Many Years: Twenty Articles on the Shāhnāmeh, Persian Literature, and Iranian Culture. Edited by Mahnāz Moqaddasī & Hūman ‘Abbāspūr. Tehran: Hamīsheh. [In Persian]
- Lazard, Gilbert. (2005). The Formation of the Persian Language. Translated by Mahastī Baḥrīnī. Tehran: Hermes. [In Persian]
- Lecoq, Pierre. (2003). The Achaemenid Inscriptions. Translated by Nāzīlā Khalkhālī. Tehran: Farzān Rūz. [In Persian]
- Letter of Tansar to Gushnasp. (1975). Edited by Mojtabā Mīnovī. Tehran: Khārazmī. [In Persian]
- Macuch, Rudolf. (1963). “The Aramaic Language in the Achaemenid Period”. Journal of the Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Tehran, 10(2): 174–202. [In Persian]
- Moḥammadī Malāyerī, Moḥammad. (1996). History and Culture of Iran, Vol. II: The Heart of Ērānshahr. Tehran: Tūs. [In Persian]
- Movsēs Khorenats‘i. (2001). History of the Armenians. Translated by Edik Baghdasarian (Germānik). Tehran: Author. [In Persian]
- Payne, R.E (2016). "Iranian Cosmopolitanism: World Religions at the Sasanian Court", in: Myles Lavan,R.E.Payne and J. Weisweiler (eds), Cosmopolitanism and Empire Universal Rulers, Local Elites, and Cultural Integration in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, New york: Oxford university press, P.209-211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/abstractairanica.45961
- Rāste-Bāzashkī-ye Moghān. (2004). Report by Rahām Asheh & Mas’ūd Mīrshāhī. Tehran: Asāṭīr. [In Persian]
- Sāket, Moḥammad Ḥossein. (2004). “The Persian Language as the Messenger of Islam and Iranian Identity”. In Ḥamīd Aḥmadī (ed.), Iran: Identity, Nationality, Ethnicity, pp. 190–240. Tehran: Institute for Humanities Research and Development. [In Persian]
- Sarton, George. (1978). Introduction to the History of Science. Translated by Aḥmad Ārām. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr & Franklin. [In Persian]
- Shaked, S. (1986). “Iranian Loanwoed in Middle Aramic”.Encyclopedia Ianica, II. E. Yarshater,(edit.), Routledge and Kengan Paul, London, Boston and Henley.
- Shayegān, Raḥīm. (2021). “The Arsacids and Commagene”. In The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires. Translated by Mahnāz Bābā’ī. Tehran: Qoqnoos, pp. 29–57. [In Persian]
- Skjærvø, P.O, (1985). “Thematic and Linguistic Parallels in the Achaemenid and Sasanian Inscriptions”. Papers in the Honour of Professor Mary Boyce, Ac. Ir. 25, Leiden: pp. 593-603.
- Strabo, (1961). The Geography of Strabo,With an english translation by Horace Leonard Jones, Ph.D., LL.D. Cornell univkrritt, Vol. VII William Heinemann LTD,Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard university press: 177.
- Sūdāvar, Abol‘Alā. (2005). Farr-e Īzadī in the Kingship Ideology of Ancient Iran. Tehran: Nashr-e Ney. [In Persian]
- Tafazzoli, Aḥmad. (1999). A History of Iranian Literature before Islam. Edited by Jaleh Āmūzgār. Tehran: Sokhan. [In Persian]
- Tao, Wang. (2014). “The Parthians in China: A Reconsideration of Historical Reports”. In Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis & Sarah Stewart (eds.), The Parthians. Translated by Kāẓem Fīrūzmand. Tehran: Markaz, pp. 111–133. [In Persian]
- Translation of al-Ṭabarī’s Tafsīr. (1977). Edited by Ḥabīb Yaghmā’ī. Tehran: Tūs. [In Persian]
- Wolski, Józef. (2004). The Parthian Empire. Translated by Mortażā Sāqebfar. Tehran: Qoqnoos. [In Persian]
- Xenophon (1992). Anabasis, Translated by: Carlson.L.Brownson, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
- Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī. (2004). Mu‘jam al-Buldan, Vol. II. Translated by ‘Alīnaqī Monzavī. Tehran: Cultural Heritage Organization. [In Persian]
- Yarshater, Ehsan. (1994). “Preface”. In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. III/1, pp. 9–100. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]
- Yarshater, Ehsan. (2019). “The Re-Emergence of Iranian Identity after the Conversion to Islam”. In The Rise of Islam, pp. 6–16. Tehran: Markaz. [In Persian]
- Zaehner, R. C. (2010). The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism. Translated by Teymūr Qāderī. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]