Iranian peoples

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The Iranian peoples are a collection of ethnic groups defined by their usage of Iranian languages and their descent from ancient Iranian peoples.[1][2][3] The Iranian peoples live chiefly in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and South Asia, though speakers of Iranian languages were once found throughout Eurasia, from the Balkans to western China.[4][5] As Iranian peoples are not confined to the borders of the current state of Iran, the term Iranic peoples is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the citizens of Iran. The series of ethnic groups which comprise the Iranian peoples are traced to a branch of the ancient Indo-European Aryans known as the Iranians or Proto-Iranians. Archaeological finds in Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East have elucidated some scant information about the way of life of these early peoples. The Iranian peoples have played an important role throughout history: the Achaemenid Persians established one of the world's first multi-national states and the Scythian-Sarmatian nomads dominated the vast expanses of Russia and western Siberia for centuries with a group of Sarmatian warrior women possibly being the inspiration for the Greek legend of the Amazons.[6][7] In addition, the various religions of the Iranian peoples, including Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, are believed by some scholars to be important early philosophical influences on Judeo-Christianity.[8] Early Iranian tribes were the ancestors of many peoples, including the Persians, Kurds, Pashtuns and many other smaller groups. The southern Iranian peoples survived Alexander the Great's conquests, Muslim Arab attempts at cultural dominance and devastating assaults by the Mongols, whereas the Iranians of the north were largely assimilated by the Slavs and other European peoples.