SUMMARY:

This is a Russian translation of the forum “In and out of Persian” published on the website of Comparative Studies in Society and History. Nile Green, Michael Fisher, Farina Mir, and Christine Philliou focus on Sumit Guha’s article, “Empires, Languages, and Scripts in the Perso-Indian World,” which explores the long historical trajectory of Persian as an imperial language, particularly in South Asia. Responding to the article, forum participants expand on Guha’s original arguments by examining the sociolinguistics of Persian literacy, the impact of state policy and printing technology on language use, and the complex interplay between language, power, and identity across various imperial contexts, including the British East India Company and the Ottoman Empire. Guha’s concluding remarks synthesize these diverse perspectives, reinforcing the idea that language choices in imperial systems are shaped by a dynamic mix of pragmatic needs, bureaucratic structures, religious ideologies, and emerging technologies like print capitalism.