Ajam - WikiHQ

thumb|A letter sent into [[Qajar Iran|Iran from the Ottoman Empire in 1839, with Keshvâr-e ʿAjam () referring to Iranian lands.]]

(, ) is an Arabic word for a non-Arab, especially a Persian. It was historically used as a pejorative—figuratively ascribing muteness to those whose native language is not Arabic—during and after the Muslim conquest of Iran. Since the early Muslim conquests, it has been adopted in various non-Arabic languages, such as Turkish, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Kurdish, Malay, Sindhi, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and Swahili. Today, the terms and continue to be used to refer to anyone or anything Iranian, particularly in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. Communities speaking the Persian language in the Arab world exist among the Iraqis, the Kuwaitis, and the Bahrainis, in addition to others. A number of Arabs with Iranian heritage may have the surname (), which has the same meaning as the original word.

Etymology

According to traditional etymology, the word Ajam comes from the Semitic root ʿ-j-m. Related forms of the same root include, but are not limited to:

mustaʿjim: mute, incapable of speech
ʿajama / ʾaʿjama / ʿajjama: to dot – in particular, to add the dots that distinguish between various Arabic letters to a text (and hence make it easier for a non-native Arabic speaker to read). It is now an obsolete term, since all modern Arabic texts are dotted. This may also be linked to ʿajām / ʿajam "pit, seed (e.g. of a date or grape)".
inʿajama: (of speech) to be incomprehensible
istaʿjama: to fall silent; to be unable to speak
'aʿjam: non-fluent

Homophonous words, which may or may not be derived from the same root, include:

ʿajama: to test (a person); to try (a food).

Modern use of "ajam" has the meaning of "non-Arab". In general, during the Umayyad period ajam was a pejorative term used by Arabs who believed in their social and political superiority, in early history after Islam. However, the distinction between Arab and Ajam is discernible in pre-Islamic poetry.

Colloquial use

According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth, "by the 3rd/9th century, the non-Arabs, and above all the Persians, were asserting their social and cultural equality () with the Arabs, if not their superiority () over them (a process seen in the literary movement of the ). In any case, there was always in some minds a current of admiration for the ʿAǰam as heirs of an ancient, cultured tradition of life. After these controversies had died down, and the Persians had achieved a position of power in the Islamic world comparable to their numbers and capabilities, ʿAjam" became a simple ethnic and geographical designation." Thus by the ninth century, the term was being used by Persians themselves as an ethnic term, and examples can be given by Asadi Tusi in his poem comparing the superiority of Persians and Arabs.

Accordingly: "territorial notions of 'Iran' are reflected in such terms as , , or , the Arabicized form of / (Persia). The ethnic notion of 'Iranian' is denoted by the Persian words or , and the Arabic term (inhabitants of Persia) or , referring to non-Arabs, but primarily to Persians as in (Persian kingdom) or (Persian kings)."

As a pejorative for Persians

During the Umayyad period, the term developed a derogatory meaning as the word was used to refer to non-Arab speakers (primarily Persians) as illiterate and uneducated. Arab conquerors in that period tried to impose Arabic as the primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire. Angry with the prevalence of the Persian language in the Divan and Persian society, Persian resistance to this mentality was popularised in the final verse of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh; this verse is widely regarded by Iranians as the primary reason that they speak Persian and not Arabic to this day. Under the Umayyad dynasty, official association with the Arab dominion was only given to those with the ethnic identity of the Arab and required formal association with an Arab tribe and the adoption of the client status. The pejorative use to denote Persians as "Ajam" is so ingrained in the Arab world that it is colloquially used to refer to Persians as "Ajam" neglecting the original definition and etymology of the word.

Other non-Arabs

According to The Political Language of Islam, during the Islamic Golden Age, 'Ajam' was used colloquially as a reference to denote those whom Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula viewed as "alien" or outsiders. The term was initially used to refer to speakers of languages derived from Middle, Old and New Persian (Farsi), and especially those of a Shia background, but considering countries like Bahrain has speakers of various different languages (and especially Iranian languages) it can be seen as a broader term encompassing several ethnic groups, those of a Sunni background (particularly Achomis of a Sunni background) are often intentionally conflated with Huwala Arabs, and sometimes refer to their language as either "Ajami" or "Holi."

The Abbasid Iraq Al-Ajam province (centered around Arax and Shirvan).
The Kurdish historian, Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, uses the term Ajam in his book Sharafnama (1597 CE) to refer to the Shia Persians.
In the Eastern Anatolia region, Azerbaijanis are sometimes referred to as acem (which is the Turkish translation of Ajam).
Mahmood Reza Ghods claimed modern Sunni Kurds of Iran use this term to denote Persians, Azeris and Southern Kurds. According to Sharhzad Mojab, Ecem (derived from the Arabic ‘ajam) is used by Kurds to refer to Persians and, sometimes, Turks.
Adjam, Hajjam, Ajaim, Ajami, Akham (as Axam in Spain for ajam), Ayam in Europe.
It is also used as a surname.
Azania a word related to the Arabic word ʕajamiyy, meaning "foreign" non speaking Arabic). The Greeks likely reworked the word into a familiar form. It is used to describe some tribes extending from Kenya to Mozambique and perhaps South Africa.

References

External links

Unearthing a Long Ignored African Writing System, One Researcher Finds African History, by Africans