Aniran

Anīrān (Modern Persian) or Anērān (Middle Persian) is an ethno-linguistic term that signifies "non-Iranian" or "non-Iran" (non-Aryan). Thus, in a general sense, 'Aniran' signifies lands where Iranian languages are not spoken. In a pejorative sense, it denotes "a political and religious enemy of Iran and Zoroastrianism."

The term 'Aniran' derives from Middle Persian anērān, Pahlavi ʼnyrʼn, an antonym of ērān that in turn denoted either the people or the Sasanian Empire. However, "in Zoroastrian literature and possibly in Sasanian political thought as well, the term has also a markedly religious connotation. An anēr person is not merely non-Iranian, but specifically non-Zoroastrian; and anēr designates also worshipers of the dēws ("demons") or adherents of other religions." In these texts of the ninth to twelfth century, "Arabs and Turks are called anēr, as are Muslims generally, the latter in a veiled manner."

In official usage, the term is first attested in inscriptions of Shapur I (r. 241–272), who styled himself the "king of kings of Ērān and Anērān." Shapur's claim to Anērān reflected the emperor's victories over Valerian and Philip, and staked a claim against the Roman Empire, the enemies of the Sassanid state. This is also reflected in Shapur's inscription on the wall of the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, where the emperor includes Syria, Cappadocia, and Cilicia - all three previously captured from the Romans — in his list of Anērān territories.

The proclamation as "king of kings of Ērān and Anērān" remained a stock epithet of subsequent Sassanid dynasts. Thirty years after Shapur, the Zoroastrian high-priest Kartir included the Caucasus in his list of Anērān territories. In this, Kartir's inscription (also at Ka'ba-ye Zartosht) contradicts Shapur's, which included the same two regions in his list of regions of Ērān.

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