Forms of Land Ownerships in Sistan from the Safavid to the Second Pahlavi eras

The purpose of this research is to study the forms of land ownership in Sistan from the Safavid era until the era of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The research hypothesis is that ownership in Sistan was affected by political and governmental trends. Using library and descriptive-analytic method، this research describes various ownerships in Sistan and their consequences on the basis of historical records and reports. Findings/ The findings show that in Sistan in the Safavid era various types of ownership existed but during the era of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar all lands were owned by the government until Reza Shah، for the first time، took some measures for dividing lands among the people of Sistan. However، despite expectations، these efforts did not lead to the complete improvement of the lives of farmers and retaining of their rights. Nevertheless، this may be regarded as the first step toward relative improvement and the stabilization of private ownership.