Historical Sciences Studies
Year:2010 | Volume:1 | Issue:2 (2)|Papers Count:7

As far as it is known, the tombs of many famous kings of Achaemenid Dynasty have been explored so far, such as the tomb of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae, the tombs of Darius I, Xerxes the Great, Ardashir I and Darius II in Naqsh‐e Rustam, the tombs of Ardashir II and Ardashir III and unfinished tomb of Darius III in Persepolis. However, there has been no identified tomb ascribed to Cambyses II the conqueror of Egypt. In spite of inscriptions on one of the clay tablets mentioning the tomb of Cambyses II to be in Narezzash (modern neyriz) – to the place where a sheep was monthly sent for ritual ceremonies by the governor of Persepolis – most researchers have sufficed to repeat Hertzfeld’s theory based on which he first announced in 1935 the unfinished structure of “Takht-e Rustam” in northern part of Persepolis and near Naqsh-e Rustam to be the tomb of Cambyses II.This paper tries to investigate into the above mentioned theory by using archeological data, tablets and historical texts. For this purpose firstly the short reign of Cambyses II is studied and then the geographical position and the remnants of a stone structure known as Takht-e Rustam, a castle next to it and Naqah-e Rustam historical places – particularly the Ka’aba of Zoroaster which are all located in the north of Persepolis. In the end it is indicated that the ruins in the north of Marvdasht plain are the reminder of Pasargadae plain which is very likely to be founded by Cambyses. Thus, the unfinished structure of Takht-e Rustam is most likely to be Cambyses’ tomb resembling the tomb of Cyrus the Great which was left incomplete due to his sudden death and succeeding of Darius. After he passed away, another tomb was built for him in Neyriz and was buried there.

During late Qajar era, Khorramshahr has gradually turned to an important center in Iran’s economic and political sector. Situated close to Basra and on the other hand at the confluence of the Karun River and Arvand Rud, near The Persian Gulf, Navigability on this waterway that the city is situated on its banks and its easy accessibility to Persian Gulf, the increasing importance of Oil Issues, as well as the Britain Presence in the region and its' interests, were all considered as the main reasons why the case of this part of Iran had been taken into the British economic and political agenda.Iran’s Efforts to its seaports’ affairs such as establishing custom posts, passport checking offices and southern ports agency were all evidences of authority's intention to keep its rule and presence in the region, however, Sheikh Khaz’al rule in Khuzistan initiated disputes and conflicts between Newly‐Established Bodies of Khuzestan on behalf of the Government of Iran and him, and also his protector, Britain. In this paper the relations between these three players and the course of events has been studied.

On the ruins caused by the Mongols’ invasions, a dynamic centre of civilization was built by the outstanding scholar, famous mathematician and astronomer and praiseworthy jurisprudent and theologian, Khwajeh Nasir al-Din Tusi. The characteristic features of this man of knowledge prompted the establishment of this centre of civilization. The shining section of this centre was the observatory of Maraghah that attracted students and scholars from all over the world.After expressing some generalities on this centre of civilization, this paper will provide a list of dignitaries who had come to Maraghah in order to meet Khwajeh and benefit from the research findings that were existed in that unique center.

During the Safavid rule, due to the close relationship between the government and the structure of religious institution, the economic life of many religious leaders was based on the bureaucratic salaries and aids granted by the government. However, after the fall of Safavids and transfer of the Shia scientific and juridico-religious centres (i.e. seminaries) from Iran to the holy cities of Iraq, a major economic development occurred to the financial sources of the Shia clergy. The deprivation of ulama (religious leaders) andmujtahids (jurisprudents) from the government’s financial support put them in a situation that they were compelled to rebuild their social and economic structures on new foundations by revising those structures. In this situation, the relationship betweenulama and bazaar (the market) allowed them utilizing a new financial source. Despite an old relationship existing betweenbazaar and the Shia clergy, it seems that a new notion of the unity between bazaar and the clergy living in the holy cities of Iraq had been formed since the second half of the 19th century.This paper intends to study the nature and quality of mutual relationship of the Iranian and Iraqi bazaars with the clergy living in the holy cities of Iraq, as well as the effect of the two countries’ political structures on the intensity of this relationship.

Understanding the historical events and developments of Iran during Seljuq era sustains some major limitations and deficiencies comparing with other historical periods of Iran after the advent of Islam, due to certain circumstances of historiography and historical resources of that time. Lack of formal policy of Seljuq rulers in supporting historians and avoidance of the majority of historians from political and governmental decision-making centers, and consequently their non-access to the documents, news, and events pertinent to ruling policies, have all led the historiography of this era to be founded on a cluster of holistic and scattered news about the historical events of that period. Furthermore, most of the historical works of that era were composed during the end of Seljuq ruling in Iraq and in western territories and only focus on administrative and political areas of Iraq-e Arab and and Iraq-e 'Ajam. This fact has caused us to have merely a fragment of scattered information about the first half of Seljuqs’ rule and developments in eastern territories of their dominion. Besides, unfortunately a number of the most important historical works compiled during that era have been destroyed in the course of time and only names and some general pieces of news about them remained in a few historical and literary works and this issue has doubled the problems of studying the history of developments during that era.

Tabriz Resistance Movement took revolt, uprising place in order to revive the Constitutionalism in Iran. The mujahids (‘militants’) led by Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan embarked on defending Constitutionalism. Being informed of the shelling of Majles (‘the assembly’) in Tehran, the opponents of Constitutionalism in Tabriz sought to wipe out the signs of Constitutionalism there and to gain domination over the city. The militants’ social basis was the city’s oppressed poor people. From the beginning the villagers were subject to the atrocities of the opponents of Constitutionalism. Landlords established links with Sattar Khan, and thus groups of rural militants were formed. The landlords provided the city’s subsistence, besides resistance and struggle. The landlords’ efforts in assisting urban militants provided the pretext for the extensive enmity and hostility of the heads of anti‐constitutional forces against them. During the whole period of Tabriz Resistance Movement, Azerbaijan’s villages suffered a lot of afflictions and hardships. Thus, Tabriz Resistance Movement during the Minor Dictatorship Era should not be studied merely as an urban phenomenon. The present paper intends to study the landlords’ position and role in the continuation of the resistance against the Minor Dictatorship.

The Sassanid rulers’ endeavor to establish an empire led to a substantial change in the previous ruling system and to the foundation of a new order. The founders of the empire enjoyed the legacy of Parthian and other preceding rules. They were fully acquainted with the concept of Shahanshahi (‘king of kings’) which aroused in Parthian and other preceding rules on the one hand, and with Zoroastrian religious thoughts inherited from the remaining dynasties in Pars after Achaemenids on the other. The principal task of the new rulers was to combine these two categories and the Zoroastrian religion facilitated it, since it reckoned kingdom and religion to accompany each other and that kingdom was considered desirable if it protected the religion.Zoroastrian religion provided the necessary facilities for establishment and continuity of the empire to pay for this protection. One of such facilities was the fire‐temples and their commissionaires. Sassanid kings took advantage of these facilities in many ways for their political benefits; the impression of fireplace on the coins, construction of numerous fire‐temples and the establishment and consecration of the Atash Bahram (‘Fire of Victory’) in those temples as well as destruction of pagodas, churches and Div-khanahs (‘demon houses’) and rebuilding them as fire‐temples were accomplished among such measures. Therefore, the lives of some kings, priests, aristocrats and people at Sassanid era were devoted to sacred fire and fire‐temples. The principal subject of this paper is investigating the political, social and economic functions of fire temples during Sassanid era.