It is largely through linguistic similarities that the Iranian peoples have been linked, as many non-Iranian peoples have adopted Iranian languages and cultures. However, other common traits have been identified as well and a stream of common historical events have often linked the southern Iranian peoples, including Hellenistic conquests, the various empires based in Persia, Arab Caliphates and Turkic invasions.
Although most of the Iranian peoples settled in the Iranian plateau region, many expanded into the periphery, ranging from the Caucasus and Turkey to the Indus and western China. The Iranian peoples have often mingled with other populations, with the notable example being the Hazaras, who display a distinct Turkic-Mongol background that contrasts with most other Iranian peoples.[27] Similarly, the Baloch have mingled with the Dravidian-speaking Brahui (who have been strongly modified by Iranian invaders themselves), while the Ossetians have invariably mixed with Georgians and other Caucasian peoples. The Pashtuns vary with some having mingled with fellow Iranian groups such as the Tajiks and Turkic peoples and those to the east who have mingled with Dardic and Nuristani peoples. Moreover, the Kurds are an eclectic Iranian people who, although displaying some ethnolinguistic ties to other Iranian peoples (in particular their Iranian language and some cultural traits), are believed to have mixed with Caucasian and Semitic peoples.[28][18] Modern Persians themselves are also a heterogeneous group of peoples descended from various ancient Iranian and indigenous peoples of the Iranian plateau, including the Elamites.[29] Thus, not unlike the aforementioned example of Germanic peoples including the English, who are both of Germanic and Celtic origin, Iranians are an ethno-linguistic group and the Iranian peoples display varying degrees of common ancestry and cultural traits that denote their respective identities.
