HiStOrY oF PeRsIaN CaTs

Persian Cats are the most popular cat breed today. They are known for having gentle, sweet personalities and also for their beautiful long hair. They make great companions and are not very demanding.
The Persian cat is one of the oldest cat breeds in history. Other names for it include "Persian Longhair" or "Longhair". The ancestors of today's Persian cats were brought into Europe in the 1600s. Traders would come from Persia and Iran with jewels, spices and occasionally a longhaired cat. This is where they get the name Persian. However, there are even hieroglyphic references to these cats that date as early as 1684 B.C. During the 1800s, this cat became a symbol for wealth and prosperity among the Europeans. The Persian was also one of the first cats to be in competitions and to be registered. They were not called Persians until 1960; before that they were just called Longhairs.
Even though the white Persian is the color that is usually photographed and seen on television, Persians come in uncountable numbers of colors. For competition the colors are divided into seven divisions, which are the solid color division, the silver and golden division, the shaded and smoke division, the tabby division, the particolor division, the bicolor division and the Himalayan division. Their coat is very long and flowing.