Journal of History and Culture
Year:2020 | Volume:51 | Issue:2 (103)|Papers Count:12

The bulk of studies on the Umayyad era have highlighted the Arabism of the Umayyad governors and agents and their contempt for non-Arabs. Nevertheless, in the Umayyad bureaucracy, the Iranian characteristics inherited from the Sassanid period and the activities of the Iranian bureaucrats are clearly visible. The Umayyads were indebted to the pre-Islamic bureaucracy of Iran not only on the account of their ignorance and organizational demands, but also due to the skills and competencies of the Iranians in this domain. This paper, by considering criteria such as explicit reports in these sources regarding the Iranian origin of bureaucrats and also signs that lend credit to this argument, seeks to identify bureaucratic Iranians in this period. By doing so, this paper challenges Umayyad Arabism inherent in the bureaucracy governing eastern lands of the Caliphate.

With the rise of the Fatimids in the Maghrib at the beginning of the fourth century AH, the clash of Islamic states entered a new level. The efforts of the Fatimid ruling system to establish an all-inclusive Ismaili caliphate elicited a backlash from the Abbasid and Umayyad of Andalusia in the east and west of the world of Islam. Although a raft of historical and political obstacles inhibited an official and practical alliance between the two governments to confront the Fatimids, each state adopted specific measures to deal with Fatimids, prevent the expansion of their territory, curb their power and debilitate their strength. According to the findings of this historical study, the Abbasids, by thwarting the Fatimid domination in Egypt, erecting a defensive barrier by establishing the Ikhshidid dynasty and casting doubt on the Fatimid lineage. Meanwhile, deterring the expansion of Fatimid occupation in Iraq played a crucial role in provoking and fueling the internal crisis in the West. The Umayyads of Andalusia also responded to Fatimid opposition by espousing groups that opposed the Fatimid caliphate, disputing the caliphate, orchestrating military actions, and consolidating their presence in the Maghrib. As a result of these actions, the Fatimids faced a plethora of internal crises and revolts and tapered off their power for putting up a unified and inclusive front against Abbasid and Umayyad governments.

The conquest of Iran by the Muslim Arabs that marked the fall of the Sassanid dynasty, as well as the questions about its justifications and consequences, have been extensively discussed by historians from a variety of angles. Hence, there are divergent views on the rationales underlying their rapid and unpredictable domination over the great Sassanid territory. For example, references have been made to the reconciliation of some Iranian aristocratic and ruling families with the Arabs for economic and religious purposes. However, no independent and systematic research has explored the non-economic and non-religious goals and motives of the Iranian aristocracy in reconciliation with the Arabs so far. This study, utilizing a descriptive-analytical method, strives to explore the political, social, military, and security stimuli of the Arab conquerors. According to findings, the urgency to protect one’ s life, maintain former positions, promote one’ s socio-political status in the new ruling system, exploit Arab military force to get rid of traditional rivals, and be realistic about surviving the military crisis and regaining power impelled a class of Iranian aristocrats to pursue the strategy of reconciliation with the Arab invading forces.

The status and importance of the qibla in the religious obligations of Muslims has placed locating qibla at the center of Muslim scholar’ attention. When Muslims arrived in Andalusia in 93 AH, one of their initial projects was the construction of the first mosque on the peninsula, which necessitated finding qibla in this land. Until the second half of the 3rd century AH, when mathematical methods and qiblafinding instruments were not yet common, qibla-locating, influenced by the popular astronomical knowledge of pre-Islamic Arabs, was determined by astronomical observations of sunrise and sunset. This study aims to investigate how qibla was located by Andalusian astronomers and jurists before the advent of mathematical methods. The paper discusses different ways of locating qibla in Andalusia, focusing on ancient Andalusian landmarks and ancient texts, along with an explanation of some recent European research. The findings suggest the divergence of viewpoints in the first qibla-finding methods in Andalusia so that their qibla – locating methods were not as precise as mathematical methods later adopted by astronomers.

Ancient sources about conducts and lifestyle (Seereh), Hadith, Rijal (knowledge of men), classes, jurisprudence (Fiqh) and interpretation (Tafsir), in addition to providing specialized information, offers insights into a raft of other topics, including the current administrative positions in the Prophet’ s ruling system. Recognition and analysis of such data can acquaint us with aspects of the socio-political life of early Islam, shedding light on the context of the revelation of Quranic verses and Prophet’ s narrations. Most of studies in the contemporary era have approached this issue from various angles in order to analyze the history of the early Islam. Revisiting the background of these analyses is the subject of the present paper. That is, by reviewing the history of Islamic civilization, we explore an array of scientific trends that have strived to analyze common administrative positions in the "the Prophet’ s city", addressing issues such as the history of efforts and approaches to identifying administrative positions of that time, intellectual trends prompting such efforts, perspectives they have offered to researchers, unresolved issues, and major theoretical and practical challenges facing such studies.

The Ilkhanids ruled their territories by means of two administrative institutions, (the Diwan) and the Emirate. At the top of the Emirate were senior commanders called the Noyans, who played a crucial role in political events such as succession developments, from the dawn to the fall of the Ilkhanid dynasty. There are heated debates about some of Noyans in the Ilkhanid period such as Nowruz and Chupan. However, there are lesser-known emirs such as the Tokuchar that understanding their role and function can shed light on various dimensions and important role of the Emirate in the developments of the Ilkhanids. The present study adopts a descriptive-analytical method to explore the factors underlying the power of Ilkhanate as well as factors shaping the political behavior of the Tokuchar Nouyan. The findings suggest that the high status of the military aristocracy was the key factor contributing to the promotion of the Noyans in the political structure of the Ilkhanid government. Tokuchar, as a crown-bestower, had a prominent role in ascension and deposition of at least five Ilkhans (Ahmad Taghudā r, Arghun, Gikhā to, Bā idu, and Ghā zā n). The political behavior of the Emirs the like of Tokuchar provoked a heavy and costly rivalry between the Noyans and different Yurts, with the four-year (690-94 AH) internal battles over succession being conspicuous instances of such rivalries.

Biographies have a special place as a source of research in social history. Although the main focus of biographies is on the life and memoires of poets and orators, the peripheral information stated amidst the biographies can play an effective role in supplementing and sometimes correcting the information obtained from historical sources. Among the biographies of the Safavid period, Taḏ kera-ye Naṣ rā bā di is of special importance both in terms of the abundance of biographies and the sheer volume of peripheral information, especially the author's painstaking effort to document the life of different segments of society. This article, which uses a library method and a descriptive-analytical approach, seeks to answer the question, “ What role does Taḏ kera-ye Naṣ rā bā di play in explaining the social situation in the Safavid period? ” The findings suggest that although the social information in this work are presented indirectly amidst the biographies of poets and orators of this era, the author’ s special attention to different classes of society, especially the general public, and their hobbies, beliefs and customs and social interactions, not only demonstrates the challenges facing different social strata of his era, but also males the book an invaluable resource of information that can shed light on various aspects of Safavid social life, especially its late period.

Tahmasebi Fā lnā meh is one of the few Iranian works of art that bring together information from various sources and Iranian-Islamic ideals (Shiite and Sufi). The multiplicity of sources shaping the content of this book has led to the production of a work that is variegated and hybrid in its application of visual elements. Since artistic imagination is a crucial factor in the embodiment of reason in the tangible, it is possible to study how meaning is shaped in works of art through techniques inspired by the analysis of imagination. In this paper, one of the methods of imaginationoriented analysis proposed by Gilbert Durand has been adopted to analyze an illustration in Tahmasebi Fā lnā meh. The research data was obtained by observing and decomposing the image into its components. Also, the information required for analysis was also attained from library research before applying Durand’ s imagination method of analysis. The results indicate that the artist of the illustration has drawn on all twelve structures explained by the Durand to express the theme of immortality in his portray of Resurrections Day.

The intellectuals of the Constitutional era, along with other strata of the society, have played a vital role in transmitting and promoting the concepts of Western modernity to Iranian society. This mission was partially accomplished through the translation of Western works. The characteristics of Iranian modernity, the efforts of Iranian intellectuals in the Constitutional era to bring the discourse of modernity to Iran and the importance of translation in this regard have been the subject of many studies, particularly in the field of comparative literature. Given the paucity of research on this subject in Translation Studies, the present study was conducted to bridge this gap and explore the awareness-raising function of translation as well as the nexus between intellectual discourse and translation in this period. In this library research, the seminal works of Talibov Tabrizi are examined within the framework of postcolonial studies by adopting a text analysis approach in order to shed light on his role in conveying the components of the modernity discourse to Iran. It is because the intellectual discourse in the Constitutional era characterizes a discourse that arises from the translation and cultural translation of modernity.

The present article seeks to describe the political life of Mirza Reza Arfa al-Dawla with emphasis on the record of his performance as a diplomat in the Ottoman Empire. In this paper, drawing on diverse sources such as memoirs, newspapers, archival documents and other studies, the diplomatic records of Arfa in Istanbul are evaluated. The research posits that Mirza Reza Arfa al-Dawla, as Iran's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, took advantage of his diplomatic skills and good relationships with the Ottoman sultan to pave the way for the peaceful resolution of issues between the two countries. The findings suggest that addressing the border problems triggered by the displacement of tribes and the Ottoman government's military invasion to Iran, striving to settle the problem of military service of Iranian citizens born to an Ottoman mother, raising Iran's customs tariff, contributing to the exemption of Iranians living in Istanbul from paying deferred tax on Iranian schools, hospitals and cemeteries, obtaining the permission to perform Iranian and Shiite religious rites freely in Mecca and Medina, and cooperating with the Saadat Association to resolve the case regarding the report of Wahhabeing, the Ottoman ambassador to Iran, on Iranians' disrespect to Sunni sacred rituals, which provoked the wrath of Tawfiq Pasha, Ottoman Foreign Minister Ottoman Empire, are among the challenges facing and measures taken by Mirza Reza Arfa al-Dawlah in the Ottoman Empire.

The structure and form of any paintings, in addition to reflecting the inner spirit of the artist, can be influenced by environmental factors, which are sometimes associated with social factors or swayed by political events of the time. In light of the changes in the structure of modern Iranian painting in 1968-2011 period, the question that arises is “ What environmental factors have affected the structure and diverse trends of modern Iranian painters? ” It appears that variables such as social, political and cultural events as well as the pace of communication developments have a huge bearing on structural changes in modern Iranian paintings in each decade. Therefore, this study aims to explore environmental-cultural variables along with the structure of works in each decade. The results of this descriptive-analytical research suggest that environmental factors could be spilt into two general categories of internal and external factors. The internal factors encompass social and cultural changes in each period such as the Islamic Revolution and the Cultural Revolution movement, art festivals and journals, IT expansion, the opening and development of art galleries, the increasing passion of young people for art and the proliferation of schools and external factors. It also embraces the relatively strong presence of Iranian artists in international festivals, the sale of Iranian works of art in global markets, the invitation of foreign artists, and trips of Iranian artists abroad. Overall, it seems that the transformation of the Iranian painting structure in this period has already been influenced by new approaches to art in the West.

The right to a healthy environment has been recognized as a human right by many governments in recent decades. As the title of the Islamic Republic of Iran implies, the Iranian Constitution is inspired by religious teachings, including the conduct and lifestyle the Prophet (PBUH) and the Infallible Imams (AS). In this context, we can investigate the degree of compatibility between the elements of environmental rights stipulated in the constitutional rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the conduct of the Prophet and the Infallible. In this article, using a descriptive-analytical method, people's right to a healthy environment and environmental protection strategies such as observing personal and social health, protecting animal rights, preserving natural vegetation, preventing water, soil, and air pollution and moderating consumption in the lifestyle of the Prophet and the Infallible are studied. They are further analyzed within the framework of the constitutional rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran, international contexts, constitutional principles and ordinary laws pertained to the right to a healthy environment. Finally, some solutions are presented to foster the right to a healthy environment in the Islamic ruling.