What Has Persia Ever Done for Britain?

Why Persianate Studies matters to modern British society

By Chris Blackburn

Ask a British mayor, local councillor, or prominent public figure to support a charity that helps refugees integrate into society, promotes democracy and human rights, or improves opportunities for women and girls, and the purpose is immediately clear. These are recognisable challenges with tangible benefits for communities across Britain. But introduce Persianate Studies into the conversation and the response might be rather different. What exactly does that mean, and why should it matter to modern Britain?

The answer is surprisingly simple. Persianate Studies explores a vast cultural and intellectual world that historically stretched from Iran and Afghanistan through Central Asia and into the Indian subcontinent. Persian was not simply the language of one country. Much like Latin in medieval Europe or English in international business today, it connected different peoples through literature, administration, diplomacy, and scholarship. Understanding that world helps us understand societies connected to Britain for centuries and still important to its international relationships today.

An important distinction exists between modern Iran as we know it today and the historical idea of Iran—or Persia—which once encompassed vast territories across the Islamic East. After the advent of Islam, many of the eastern Iranian communities came to be known collectively as Khurasan, reflecting a much broader and more fluid civilisational geography than the borders of the contemporary nation‑state.

Indeed, Britain's own history is full of these connections. When the East India Company expanded into India, it encountered sophisticated administrative systems shaped by Persian language and culture. British officials studied Persian to conduct government and diplomacy. Persian manuscripts entered British university and library collections, while trade, imperial expansion, and international politics brought Britain into sustained contact with the wider Persianate world. These relationships helped shape Britain's understanding of Asia and its emergence as a global power.

The intellectual connections stretch back even further. Ancient Greek and Roman writers studied Persian kingship, particularly the achievements of Cyrus the Great. Medieval European scholars inherited accounts of Persia through classical literature and the Bible, while philosophical knowledge developed in the wider Islamic world helped enrich European learning. Even Thomas Jefferson owned copies of Xenophon's Cyropaedia, a classical account of Cyrus. This does not mean that Persia invented Magna Carta or Western democracy, but it reminds us that the history of political ideas has always crossed civilisational boundaries.

Britain's constitutional traditions, from Magna Carta to parliamentary democracy, developed over centuries of argument about justice, authority, and individual rights. Persianate societies were confronting their own questions about legitimate government, religious tolerance, justice, and the responsibilities of rulers. These traditions were different, and none should be romanticised. Nevertheless, they remind us that the pursuit of human dignity and just government has never belonged exclusively to one civilisation.

This is where Persianate Studies becomes particularly relevant to Britain's contemporary challenges. Our relationships with Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia involve diplomacy, trade, security, migration, and development. Understanding the historical connections between these societies provides valuable context for contemporary political and economic developments. It helps explain regional identities, relationships, and sensitivities that modern national borders alone cannot fully capture. For a country seeking to strengthen its international partnerships and navigate an increasingly complex world, such knowledge is an asset rather than an academic luxury.

The same understanding has practical value at home. Supporting refugees is not simply about providing immediate assistance. Successful integration also requires appreciating people's histories, languages, identities, and experiences. Promoting democracy and human rights becomes more meaningful when we recognise that ideas about justice and legitimate government have deep roots in the societies we engage with. Supporting women and girls also means understanding the historical and cultural environments in which barriers to equality have developed, while recognising the voices and achievements of women within those societies.

Britain's international relationships and its domestic social fabric are not separate concerns. The communities that make up modern Britain maintain cultural, commercial, educational, and family connections worldwide. These relationships can strengthen international understanding, create opportunities for cooperation, and contribute to Britain's cultural and diplomatic influence. Persianate Studies offers a way to explore these connections while challenging the mistaken assumption that democracy, justice, and human dignity are exclusively Western concerns imposed upon other societies.

We live in an age when national identity and civilisational differences are increasingly emphasised. Yet history shows that societies have always learned from one another, borrowing ideas, adapting institutions, and building on knowledge developed elsewhere. Much of what we regard as our own intellectual inheritance emerged through precisely these exchanges. Recognising this shared history does not diminish Britain's achievements. It places them within the wider story of human progress.

Persianate Studies helps recover that history while providing knowledge relevant to Britain's future. It complements practical work on refugee integration, democracy, human rights, and opportunities for women and girls, while strengthening our understanding of the countries and communities Britain must continue to engage with.

The question, therefore, is not what Persia has to do with modern Britain. It is how much of our own history, international relationships, and place in the world we overlook when we fail to recognise these connections.