dehqan

The dehqân (; , dihqân in Classical Persian) or dehgân (; ) were a class of land-owning magnates during the Sasanian and early Islamic period, found throughout Iranian lands. The dehqans started to gradually fade away under the Seljuks and Qarakhanids, due to the increase of the iqta' (land grants) and the decline of the landowning class. By the time of their dissolution, they had played a key role in preserving the Iranian national identity. Their Islamization and cultural Iranianization of the Turks led to the establishment of the Iranian essence within the Islamic world, something which would continue throughout the Middle Ages and far into modern times.

==Etymology== The term dehqân descended from Middle Persian dahigān meaning "countryman, peasant, villager" or "farmer". The original meaning was "pertaining to the deh" ()—the latter term not in the latter sense of "village" (as in Modern Persian) but in the original sense of "land". Deh (ده / 𐭬𐭲𐭠) has both the same meaning of "village" in Middle Persian and in Modern Persian.