From the Balkans to Bengal: How Persian culture has left an imprint around the globe

From the Balkans to Bengal: How Persian culture has left an imprint around the globe Submitted by Imran Mulla on Wed, 03/18/2026 - 14:48 Since the start of the Iran war, in India and Pakistan there has been a renewed interest in Iran’s cultural ties with South Asia A Mughal miniature from 1574 to 1575 shows the Emperor Akbar's troops in pursuit of enemies (Wikimedia Commons) Off In March 1986 Sayyid Ali Khamenei , who would three years later become Iran ’s supreme leader, gave a speech at a major conference in Tehran on the Indian poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal. Iqbal lived in British India and engaged in the politics of that land. He died in 1938 and never visited Iran.