About Us

     The Persian language is the most widely spoken language in Iran. It is an Indo-Iranian language: a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. Spoken by 130 million people, these Persian-speaking peoples reside mainly in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. There are also significant numbers in many other countries including Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Israel, Turkmenistan, Oman, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America. Before British colonisation, the Persian language was the lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent and a widely used official language of most Muslim dynasties in the Indian subcontinent, such as the Delhi Sultanate, the Bengal Sultanate, the Mughal Empire and their successor states, and the Sikh Empire. In 2024, the government of India has decided to include Farsi as one of the nine classical languages of India in our New Education Policy-2020.

    The University Department of Persian is one of the oldest departments in the B.R. Ambedkar Bihar University. Established in 1971, it is recognized both within and outside India for its contribution to Persian Language and Literature. The department offers the following programmes:

      1. M.A Persian

      2. Ph.D.

The mission of the Department is to offer quality academic programmes in order to develop students’ capacity to compete and thrive in the contemporary global order. Our syllabi for the MA programme are constantly revised and updated which enables us to keep pace with the fast changing landscape of Persian Studies. The Department also offers a robust research programme which is marked by an interdisciplinary thrust which recognizes the need to draw upon and engage with multiple academic fields and disciplines. This is in tune with NEP (2020) and its emphasis on the promotion of Indian Classical languages.

The Department is driven by the core values of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, compassion and inclusiveness. The departmental goals are:

To enable students develop a broad range of skills including general communicative competence and sophisticated reading and writing skills.

To develop a framework for effective teaching pedagogy for courses in Literature and Language.

To enable students hone their critical abilities for the comprehension, appreciation and evaluation of literary texts.

To reap the demographic dividend by providing employment to students not only in academic institutions but also other organizations and thereby enhance the academia-industry linkages.

To create a conducive atmosphere in the department for faculty, scholars, students and staff and thereby contribute to a healthy work culture for all.

To redress the grievances of all stakeholders within the department.

Vision

        The Department's vision is aligned to the larger vision of the institution. The University Department of Persian is committed to promote excellence in teaching and research and foster a spirit of critical enquiry.