Iranian Historiography and National Identity

Historical past is always a part of individual and social identities. The style of writing of a historian is related to his concerns for the preservation of his identity and his past.
While discussing the way of formation of Iranian identity and its basic features, the present article tries to study the development and historical changes in the Iranian identity. Also attempts has been made to study the role of history and historiographical ideas of the Iranian historians in restoration, revival, change and continuity of the Iranian identity.
The present article studies the Iranian identity in the thought of Iranian historians in three stages: ancient, Islamic and contemporary periods in the light of Iranianism, Islamism and modernism.