#aph Iran

[peonycats]

[glitchinnf]

first time drawing him its so messy oh my god

[kuehmiyue]

[REPOST FROM OLD ACC]

still my favorite tbh

original

[irithnova]

Iran: Mongolia maybe if you converted to Islam like your children did then you wouldn't be in such a mess

Mongolia: They converted to Islam and died

[itstokkii]

so this was the ottoman safavid war of 1616-18 huh.............

sketch dump of the one time the bukharan khanate and the Ottoman empire dropped a collab

[vahvah]

Well, I think the situation around the perception of iranian history and greek history in fandom is quite similar.

Let's be honest, for most people there is only Ancient Greece (by which they mean the history of the classical greek city-states + hellenistic period + roman period, we are not particularly touching on the dark ages and bronze age Mycenaean Greece, not to mention earlier times), which they - following the manga/anime canon - separate from modern Greece. And there is modern Greece, which, in general, began its independent existence in the first half of the nineteenth century, when a small piece of territory in the southern Balkans gained independence and was called “Hellas”. At best, they have ottoman rule as a kind of “preparatory period” when the canonical Iraklis grew up, did not understand anything and did not really decide anything. And at the same time, modern Greece is the son of Ancient Greece, who loves to be nostalgic about his cool mother, who did something great there more than two thousand years ago. Cool, yeah.

Likewise, for most people there is "ancient Persia" (before the conquest of the Islamic Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries AD) and "modern Iran", which they count from the Islamization of the Iranian plateau. In the manga canon, we have a character called "Persia", who people unthinkingly identify with the Achaemenid state, the Parthian Arsacid state, and the Sassanid state. In fanon, he (“Persia”) actively interacts (at war) with Rome, interacts with China and India in much rarer cases, and the mangaka also mentioned that he has descendants, one of which is “modern” Iran, yes. And, of course, there is an incredible amount of time devoted to the Achaemenid period (but not the greco-persian Wars, which shocked me when researching the fandom). Cool, yeah.

But you know what's surprising? None of this makes any sense.

If we take Greece... no, we take greek culture, we will understand that it has continuously developed, without gaps, from the time of the classical polis until the present moment, BUT, if you really want to find a watershed, then this is late antiquity. Why? Because in late antiquity, the pagan hellenes, living in their separate city-states as citizens, became christian rhomeans, subjects of the vast Eastern Roman Empire (which in fact is still perceived as a Republic). The roman "imperial" identity replaced the greek polis identity - although the greek language still dominated in the East, especially after the Avar conquest of the Balkans, when the Empire lost the latin-speaking provinces. The perception of “hellenic” identity was very complex, it experienced a revival, especially in the 13th century, when the roman/latin identity began to be associated with the germans/italians/franks, enemies of the Eastern Empire, but this is if we are talking about intellectuals - the people considered themselves rhomeans. And guess what? The conquest of Constantinople in 1453 did not change anything! There was no break or fracture! The Church of Constantinople continued to be the guardian of this identity even in the absence of christian imperial power! And the people who started the Greek Revolution in the 19th century did not strive to create a small national state, no, in their eyes ALL of Anatolia and the Balkans were the historical lands of the Eastern Roman Empire, which they considered their country. The fascination with ancient pagan Greece is something that was brought from the West, which despised “Byzantium”.

And if you look at Iran, the real boundary between "ancient" and "modern" history is the conquest of Alexander the Great. Because - this will amaze many - but until the second half of the 19th century in Iran itself they knew nothing about the ancient history of the country! The first historical event preserved in chronicles and art, say, the "Shahnameh" of Ferdowsi, is the conquest of Alexander, which has nothing to do with the real one (I will only say that Alexander is considered a descendant of the iranian royal dynasty there). In Iran, they knew almost nothing about the greco-persian wars, about the Seleucids, about the parthian Arsacids and the roman-parthian wars! The real history in Iranian perception began only with the Sassanids, who were at enmity with “Rum” - but, first of all, not with Western, decrepit Rome, but with Eastern Rome! It was “Byzantium” that was “Rome” for the Iranians and for the entire Middle East until the 19th century, while the Western “latins” were the “franks”. Moreover, I want to note that the complete forgetting of the history of the country before Alexander in Iran began even under the Sassanids - largely because ancient persian was a cuneiform language, and cuneiform was forgotten (as for the iranian epic, its oldest part is eastern iranian in origin, western iranian, persian, it becomes only from the time of Ardashir the First). But the arab conquest and adoption of islam did not have such consequences! And when the revival of iranian culture and the new persian language began in the 9th-10th centuries A.D., it was a revival, albeit rethought, of Sassanian identity.

In short, while it makes sense to separate Ancient Greece from "Byzantium", it makes no sense to separate "Byzantium" from modern Greece. And the history of modern Iran begins with the Sassanids, not Islamization.

[raunak-draws-stuff]

yeah i think about them a normal amount

[nyeobium]

He's so tired of getting laughed at by the King and Queen

[pearlescentplums]

compilation of comic strips i drew from 2021 (so the art kinda sucks), once again to mask my preoccupation with university

[gruzdoesstuff]

in Iran there's a saying "if you add milk to the tea you'll make her a widow"? And in central asia it's kinda contrary- salty tea with milk is kinda popular (and tbh I can totally see why, if you never tried it, you have to try). And as a honorary Turk, Tajikistan also drinks tea like that. So their father-daughter bonding moments must be difficult when it comes to drinks 🤭

[mcnjushcge]

if there was any justice in this world hws China/India/Iran would have canonically been a disaster trio of besties who have known each other before most of the europeans were even a thought (and have definitely explored each others’ bodies)…….they’re Real to me but still

[peonycats]

I've been staring at Iran for two hours now...

Would Iran be a girl?? A boy?? Gnc?? I've not seen u use any pronouns for them up until now idfk how to compliment the way u draw Iran 💀

AH..... IM SO FLATTERED 🥺 you're too kind anonymous, im sure however your compliment them iran will take it smugly graciously! Here's something i drew of them recently!

as always transp below the read more!

[mytale0]

I personally think Iran go pray to the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in Shiraz, mostly because it's pink

Slay gurl

[redbayly]

Portrait of Ancient Persia from the Hetalia manga series with his family (Persia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya). His wives Bactria (far left), Parthia (second from left), and Media (far right), and his young daughter Iran. Persia did have additional territories he kept as concubines, but Media, Bactria, and Parthia were his main consorts. Media was Persia's first and primary wife. Media had once been a major power in the east and she never forgot that despite her short reign, often acting as though she was not a captured territory but an equal partner with her husband. During her time as an empire, she went toe-to-toe with the kingdoms of Lydia and Babylonia. When Persia rose to power after Cyrus the Great rebelled against and overthrew the Median monarchy, Media and her people were still treated with respect and given high positions at court. Her power and importance were retained no matter who ruled her; in fact, Greece considered Persian sympathizers to be "Medianized" rather than "Persianized." She was a scholar and scientist, fascinated with uncovering the mysteries of the world, and Persia relied heavily on her wisdom. Persian kings also were referred to as kings of "Persia and Media." Both Parthia and Bactria had been Media's handmaids before Persia took them as his wives. Bactria was deemed an exceptional beauty and was considered one of sixteen perfect Iranian lands created by Ahura Mazda, the chief god of Zoroastrianism. As her lands were always governed by the crown prince of the empire, Bactria was often tasked with guarding the king's heir-apparent. She was devoted to Persia and, when Alexander the Great and Macedonia showed up and caused trouble, Bactria was the first to begin rebellions against the invaders. When she, herself, was captured and forced to adopt Greek customs, she spied on her Hellenistic rulers and reported back to Persia until she was able to dismantle the Indo-Greek kingdom. She also sometimes encountered China (who called her "Daxia") and became an important business partner of his in the Silk Road. Parthia was always an ambitious woman. Despite having spent a long time as an underling for Media, and, later, a secondary wife for Persia, she schemed for many years to be the dominant nation in the region. When Persia began to experience trouble after Alexander's generals carved up the empire, Parthia saw her opportunity to establish her own empire. She was relentless and vicious in her expansion, even threatening Rome on multiple occasions. Her aims were not entirely selfish, though, as she used her empire-building as a chance to keep Persia alive; though she had him locked in his quarters until he managed to sneak away and rise to power once more as the Sasanian Persian Empire. Little Iran (whose human name was "Parysatis," though she later changed it to "Parisa") would one day take on her father's legacy as a great empire. When Persia was killed during the Muslim conquest, little Iran was taken in by the Umayyad Caliphate, who treated her as inferior because she wasn't an Arab and refused to abandon her Persian culture. Iran never forgave her father's murderer and eventually overthrew him in support of the new Abbasid Caliphate. She eventually grew frustrated with the Abbasids, too, and began rebelling at any opportunity. Throughout the constant changing of power and the invasions, Iran clung to memories of her father and did everything she could to preserve his culture. It was during the Mongol invasion and rule that the last shreds of Iran's innocence ended, leaving her a very hard and angry young woman. The death and destruction she witnessed scarred her for the rest of her life. She eventually managed to rise above the conquests to become the Safavid Empire (and, later, the Afsharid Empire), so strong and powerful that she terrified both the Ottoman and Mughal Empires. Dynastic changes, civil wars, the slaughter of rebellious khanates, WWII, interference from foreign countries, and an outright revolution led her to become what she is today. Despite being quick to anger, she is deeply intelligent and loves learning, dedicating much of her free time to studying anything she can - even things her current bosses might not approve of.

[irithnova]

This fandom sucks sometimes I'm sorry but like there are artists I know of who produce genuinely amazing artwork and they feel discouraged/disheartened because it barely gets any notes because oh no you didn't draw the same fucking 5 white boys this fandom has been obsessed with since forever.

From what I've seen, in order for a non white character to even have a chance of competing with the most mediocre white character art, the art has to be insanely good. Even then its not garuanteed. And those are for popular non white characters.

Of course there are exceptions but this is what I've seen from being in this fandom for like around 7 years.

Why do I see shitty fruk sketches get more notes than aph Iran art which took the artist a week to make. What the fuck.

White people in this fandom preach so much about representation but will reblog the most mundane art of England and barely glance at a fantastic piece of Japan.

How the fuck is sealand a more interesting character to some of y'all over non white characters. How the fuck is Canada more popular than China.

Even now, years later, the way some of y'all characterise non white characters in your shitty fanfics is racist as fuck. Let's not even get started with the Sinophobia.

Anyways I know a bunch of pissed of white people and pick-mes are gonna send me hate anons for this idgaf. It's makes me so sad to see brilliant artists and writers just want to give up because y'all hate non white characters for some reason even though you want to preach about "muhh representation."

[itstokkii]

top 5 funniest situationships turkey had:

1. iran

2. iran

3. iran

4. iran

5. iran

honorable mention saudi arabia but idk if anyone's gonna throw hands at me for saying it,