Talk:Persia/Archive 1

Fishal 20:09, 2 Apr 2004 (UTC)Hello. I am attempting to turn this article into a definitive description of Persia at defferent stages of history. If you have a different vision of where this page should go, let's talk about it.

This page has really become better than before. Just one thing: I think History of Persia should be renamed/moved to Rulers of Persia, or something like that. --The Phoenix 16:53, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Here's an idea: How about History of Persia redirects to this page, and the current content is renamed Rulers of Persia, List of Persian REulers, List of Persian Monarchs, List of Persian Shahs, etc. --Fishal, 5 June 2004

The idea is very good, but I don't understand why you choose the term kings of Persia. Wouldn't rulers have been better? It's just a minor objection, nothing serious, but I think of the shahs as emperors. –The Phoenix 06:22, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Actually I would have prefered "Persian monarchs." Someone else made the switch before I had the chance. I actually think "List OF kings OF presia" has an awkward sound to it. But stil i don't think it's worth going back and changing everything. --Fishal 20:21, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)

To the curious reader:

Hi friends. If you are reading this, it is because you have seen the notice at the beginning of the Persia article. Please allow me to tell you the story of the whole controversey.

I, Fishal, wrote a good deal of this material. I am no expert, but I researched it reasonably well. Since then, many, many people have tweaked it and checked it for accuracy, and in general it has proved to be a good, factual account of the country of Persia, with a level of detial appropriate for a general article. Plenty of links are on the page for people looking for more in-depth stuff.

However, in hte last couple of weeks, a group (or possibly an individual) has disagreed with the underlying philosophy behind the article, namely, that although it has been led by various rulers, both Persian and non-Persian, Persia has maintained a national and cultural continuity. Conquerors, whether Greek or Arab or Mongol, have both added to and borrowed from Persian culture. The group/individual has objected to this article's apparent neglect of Persia's minority groups. In fact, the he/she/they insist that Persian culture itself is exaggerated, and that, for example, when Persia was ruled by the Azerbaijani Safavid dynasty, it was an Azerbaijani kingdom, not a Persian one. An extreme viewpoint, but one that would still make for a good discussion.

However, he/she/they did not go about trying to make a good discussion, or try to arrive at a compromise position for a well-balanced article. No, he/she/they chose to express their opinions by deleting the entire article and inserting words that better expressed their own opinions. When other Wikipedia users undid their vandalism, a classic edit war ensued. Finally, someone, I think K1, got the administrators to protect the page from editing. The idea was that we could all discuss our opinions here, on the talk page. But, the peopele behind the vandalism have chosen not to participate in any discussion. He/she/they seem to be less interested in retional argument and more interested in forcing their opinions on people by destroying the work of others.

So that brings us here. The article as you see it will probably be frozen htat way for a good while. There is lots of room for improvement, but because of the obnoxious actions of a few people, we're stuck with what we have. Don't worry about the factual content though-- as I said, it's all accurate.

Thanks for reading.

Your friend, Fishal 18:57, 14 Jul 2004 (UTC)