Gabr
Gabr(Persian:گبر;alsogeuber,geubre,gabrak,gawr,gaur,gyaur,gabre) is aNew Persianterm originally used to denote aZoroastrian.
Historically,gabrwas a technical term synonymous withmōg,"magus",denoting a follower ofZoroastrianism,and it is with this meaning that the term is attested in very early New Persian texts such as theShahnameh.In time,gabrcame to have apejorativeimplication and was superseded in literature by the respectableZardoshti,"Zoroastrian".
By the 13th century the word had come to be applied to a follower of any religion other thanIslam,and it has "also been used by the MuslimKurds,Turks,and some other ethnic groups in modified forms to denote various religious communities other than Zoroastrians, sometimes even in the sense ofunbeliever."[1]As a consequence of the curtailment of social rights, non-Muslims were compelled to live in restricted areas, which the Muslim populace referred to asGabristans.[2]
In the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish versiongâvur,borrowed into English via French as "giaour",was used to refer toChristians.This is sometimes still used today in former Ottoman territories and carries a strong pejorative meaning.[3]
The etymology of the term is uncertain. "In all likelihood,"[1]gabrderives from theAramaicgabrā,speltGBRʼ,which – in writtenMiddle Iranian languages– serves as an ideogram that would be read as an Iranian language word meaning "man." (for the use of ideograms in Middle Iranian languages, seePahlavi scripts). During theSasanian Empire(226-651), the ideogram signified a free (i.e. non-slave) peasant ofMesopotamia.Following the collapse of the empire and the subsequent rise of Islam, it "seems likely thatgabrused already in Sassanian times in reference to a section of Zoroastrian community in Mesopotamia, had been employed by the convertedPersiansin the Islamic period to indicate their Zoroastrian compatriots, a practice that later spread throughout the country. "[1]
It has also been suggested thatgabrmight be a mispronunciation of Arabickafir"unbeliever," but this theory has been rejected on linguistic grounds both phonetic and semantic: "there is no unusual sound inkafirthat would require phonetic modification ",[1]andkafiras a generic word probably would not refer to a specific revealed religion such as Zoroastrianism.[1][4]
See also
[edit]- Majus,the Arabic word for a Zoroastrian.
- Gabrōni,a name forZoroastrian Dari language,a northwestern Iranian language used by Zoroastrians inYazdandKerman.
- Zoroastrians in Iran
- ajam,"illiterate", non-Arab, Iranian
- People of the Book
- dhimmi,"protected"
- Irani
Bibliography
[edit]- ^abcdeShaki, Mansour (2001),"Gabr",Encyclopedia Iranica,vol. 10, Costa Mesa: Mazda
- ^Savory, R. M. (2003), "Relations between the Safavid State and its Non-Muslim Minorities",Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations,14(4): 435–458,doi:10.1080/0959641032000127597,S2CID145469731
- ^Entangled Histories of the Balkans: Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies.BRILL. 13 June 2013. p. 44.ISBN978-90-04-25076-5.
- ^Bausani, A. (1965), "Gabr",Encyclopedia of Islam,vol. II (2 ed.), Leiden: Brill
Further reading
[edit]
- Gholami, S. (2022). "On the terminology designating the Zoroastrians of Iran and their language".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies.85(1): 47–72.doi:10.1017/S0041977X22000313.
- "Gabars",Encyclopædia Britannica,Chicago: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2007