September 24, The Iran Project � Islamic Republic of Iran Culture House in New Delhi began the courses of Persian language teaching in the University of Delhi, department of history.

Attending the opening ceremony of the Persian language teaching course in the University of Delhi�on Saturday, Iran's cultural attach� in New Delhi Ali Dehgahi referred to the Iran-India common culture and said many books on the history of Middle India were written in Persian.

Many of the manuscripts in the libraries of India, considered primary sources, are also in Persian, Dehgahi noted.

He also said that Persian language classes are now being held in different Indian universities, like Islamic National�University, Jamia Hamdard and Jawaharlal Nehru University, adding that many words in Hindi, especially Urdu, are borrowed from the Persian language makes it easy to learn the language.

Stressing the importance of Persian language in studying the history of Middle India, a professor of history at the University of Delhi said learning Persian language is of great importance for the students of history.

Persian language is now the official language in Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan but in the past, it had been spread from Mediterranean to the Indian subcontinent.

Persian language has been the official language of the Indian people for 800 years and now there are several million Persian manuscripts in India�s library.