Believe it or not, Persians are thought to be the oldest breed of cats, but at the same time, there are numerous different versions of where the Persian cat began. It is widely believed, however, in all versions that the Persian cat originated in the country that was once known as Persia, which is now modern day Iran.
The popular version of the Persian cat history is that Persians were introduced first to Italy, around 1620, by Pietro della Valle and that they were brought from Turkey to France by Nicholas Claude Fabri de Peiresc about the same time. These are documented instances, and again, they fit into all versions of the Persians history.
It is generally thought that the next move when the Persian was introduced from France into Britain. At this time they did not have the long hair that they have today. Historians believe that what happened then is that the Persian was bred with the Turkish Angora cat and this accounts for their long hair. Not everybody agrees with this and some people think that the Persian was bred with the African wildcat and this accounts for the long hair.
There is no doubt, in any version, that Persians were always considered to be cats of high value. They were considered to be rare, and they were favored by royalty. In fact, there was a point in time where royalty were the only people who owned Persians ? or at the very least that Persians were only owned by people of royalty and/or wealth.
A number of people do think that the Persian is a descendant of Felis Libyca, which in case you didn’t know is a cat that originated in Africa and Asia. The same people believe that the Persian was introduced into Europe much earlier than 1620, saying that the Persian was introduced in the 1500s by the Romans and Phoenicians.
One thing of which we can be sure is that in the early 1900s these very special cats were introduced into the United States and Canada. At this time they started gaining popularity as a breed, and now they are considered the most popular cat in the world. In today’s world they are highly acclaimed for their abilities both as a show cat and as a pet.
