THE CULTURAL COMMONALITIES OF IRAN AND UZBEKISTAN (From the perspective of the Persian language and literature history)

Abstract

Iran and Uzbekistan are both countries with a very old history and are influential countries in the culture and civilization areas in Asia. Although the new political identity of Uzbekistan has not been formed recently since its independence, the historical background of this land and its important and crucial cities and great personalities and thinkers of this country is clear and evident. Uzbekistan, as part of the historical Transoxiana region, has been the ground for many cultural, linguistic, literary, and political events for its neighboring lands. Iran is also an ancient country with wide geographical latitude and longitude that has had a special effect on the cultures of different nations and ethnic groups in different historical eras. The overlap of these two cultures throughout history has led to the emergence of rich and dominant culture, in which the characteristics of Iranian-Islamic culture can be clearly observed. In the present study, cultural commonalities between these two countries were briefly investigated and identified with an emphasis on Persian language and literature as two important cultural origins. The common historical inseparable roots, common cultural and political history, influence on the formation, prevalence, and identification of Persian language and literature along with the similarity of traditions, rituals, and social beliefs are among the main factors in the formation of a close cultural relationship between Iran and Uzbekistan.