[1] The dehqans started to gradually fade away under the Seljuks and Qarakhanids, due to the increase of the iqta' (land grants) and the decline of the landowning class.
[2][1] The term dehqân descended from Middle Persian dahigān meaning "countryman, peasant, villager" or "farmer".
The term dehqan emerged as a hereditary social class in the later Sassanid era, that managed local affairs and whom peasants were obliged to obey.
[6] As their influence grew, they maintained Persian ethics, ideals and social norms which were later reawakened during medieval times in Islamic Persia.
[7] In early Islamic texts, the dehqans function almost as local rulers under the Arab domain and the term was sometimes juxtaposed with marzabān (“marcher-lord, governor”).