Journal of History and Culture
Year:2019 | Volume:51 | Issue:1 (102)|Papers Count:6

The Holy Quran, as the basic scripture of the Islam, contains a host of references to the events and persons at the early days of Islam. Informed by these references, this holy scripture is sometimes considered as a historiographical work, with some scholars even speaking of the historiographical style of the Qur'an, which has also been the subject of several books and articles. This paper delves into this issue, and by distinguishing the two concepts of "historical text" and "historical document", seeks to answer the question, "Can Qur'an be considered as a historical work? " and "What implications can it have for the studies of the early Islam’ s history? " The results of this article reveal that although the Qur'an cannot be exactly categorized as a historical book, it offers an account of the historical events during the era of prophet Muhammad (pbuh), which makes it into a unique primary document.

The Ilkhanid era is one of the most important periods in Persian historiography and prominent historical works were composed at this time. Given that these works were usually dedicated to the institution of power, poets and authors sought to please the rulers of time. Hence, using a variety of linguistic and rhetorical devices, as well as community-based discourses, they strived to legitimize the Mongol kings. One of these strategies involved attributing divine dignity (Far Izadi) to the Mongol kings and comparing them to the Iranian ideal kings. This study investigates the application of religious discourse in order to sanctify Genghis Khan in three historical books of poetry including Mostufi’ s Zafarnameh, Kashmani’ s History in Verse and Tabriz’ s Book of Kings. To this end, this paper elaborates on the pure essence of the Genghis ancestors, how the Mughal empire was related to the Unseen world and its divine glory, as well as the belief in the relationship between the Mongol invasion to Iran and the Genghis’ divine mission. According to the results, two different approaches could be identified in these works: Kashani and Mostufi have recruited various strategies to portray an ideal picture of Khan Mughal, but Tabrizi has been fairly reluctant in establishing Mongolian legitimacy and has sufficed to a brief mentioning. Khwaja Rashid al-Din also has adopted an intermediate approach in Jama'at al-Tavarikh. The idea of Genghis sanctification, which is evident in this recent work, has reached its zenith in Kashani’ s History in Verse and Zafarnameh.

The influential role of women in government decisions and their covert and overt lobbies in succession-related issues have been pivotal to stabilized rule of Qara Khitai government as well as their deterioration and decline. The present study uses a descriptive-analytical method to investigate the power and influence of three influential women in Qara Khitai history, Oke Khatun, Turkan Khatun, Padeshah Khatun, within the framework of Š tefan Lux's Theory of Power. He rejects active conflict as a determining element of power. The main question of this paper is concerned with the influence and lobby of women in the issue of succession in Qara Khitai ruling system. The findings of the study suggest that the intervention of women in the form of anti-war and lobbying strategies through various strategies such as politically motivated marriage, seduction, lure, propaganda and political campaigns, among other things, have been effective in transferring power.

Travelogues have a special place in historical studies due to their wealth of valuable information, and historians at all times have employed travelogues as first-hand sources in their research. Ibn Jubayr’ famous travelogue (045-414 AH/1140-1111), who made three visits to the East, is a description of his first travel. In addition to the pilgrimage to the Mecca, he toured cities in the territory between Andalusia and Hejaz and visited Acre, Sicily and Carthage on his way back. Ibn Jubayr, like other Muslim travel writers, had a keen eye for the scientific and educational situation, especially educational institutions in the lands he visited, and has provided invaluable and detailed information on this subject. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, this paper aims to analyze educational institutions through the spectacle of Jubayr after presenting a brief account of Ibn Jubayr’ s reports on this subject. Based on the findings of this study, it is not surprising that Ibn al-Jubayr’ s obsession with detailed depiction of educational institutions in some areas, especially Levant, has resulted in his neglect or negligence in elaborating on other institutions, such as the grand mosque attributed to Fatimids owing to his religious beliefs. In addition, a description of architectural elements, financial and welfare issues, financing strategies and the number of educational institutions, their religious affiliation as well as some specific educational practices in these centers are also other aspects of educational institutions examined by Ibn Jubayr.

The emigration of Armenians living in Jolfa to Isfahan during the reign of Shah Abbas, which was driven by economic and political considerations, gave rise to numerous consequences. The special attitude of the Safavid government to the Armenians along with Shah Abbas's tolerant religious policies towards the Christians gradually convinced the Pope that the capacity of the Christians residing in the Iranian plateau, especially the Armenians, could be exploited to strengthen the Catholic Church against the Sunni Ottoman government. Hence, the special envoys of the Pope (the Carmelite), since their arrival in Iran (1016 AH/1608 AD) constantly strived to persuade Armenians into converting to Catholic Christianity. The Carmelite priests resorted to diverse strategies to accomplish this end. For instance, in light of the commercial-economic role of the Armenians inhabiting in Jolfa, they offered trade concessions and privileges to Armenians in some periods by means of cooperation with the European governments in a bid to lure Armenian businessmen of Jolfa. Initially, the Armenians of Jolfa held a positive attitude to the Carmelite, but soon afterwards, the disclosure of the ulterior motives of the Pope's envoys led to the confrontation of these two. It even culminated in the expulsion of Carmelite priests from Jolfa. The authors of this paper aim to explore the relationship of the Pope's envoys with the Armenian of Jolfa and shaed light on its consequences.

The Mongol Ilkhanids’ (653-736 AH) emphasis on commercial routes and the revival of the economic structure led to business growth and prosperity. Under this new structure, Abarkouh (Abarquh) was placed on the route of Iraq's communication paths with Fars, Shabankareh, Kerman, Khorasan and Khuzestan, and was therefore put on the political and economic map of that time. Under these circumstances, a mint called Tavous was established in this city. According to the findings of this study, the coinage in this mint started in the early Ilkhanid period and continued until the early Safavid period. The coins in Tavous Mint were not made of mono metal, but rather forged with gold, silver and copper coins with labels such as "Tavous", "City of Tavous" and "Abarquh". The designs, inscriptions, and religious themes on both sides of the coins altered in accordance with the monetary system utilized in each dynasty. For this reason, it is not strange to see Shiite and Sunni themes as well as Persian, Arabic, Uighur and Chinese scripts on these coins.