Iranian Identity in the Stories and Metaphors of Beyhaqi Illustrated History of the Ghaznavid Period

Identity is one of the most complex concepts in the field of humanities and social sciences; A multifaceted phenomenon that reveals different principles and meanings from dissimilar perspectives. In a general view, identity can be considered as the result of the dialectic of the mental system and social and cultural structure. By adopting an identity view, the history of the report is not merely events, and the historian does not appear to be purely a static and inactive reporter, but the historian and his work have identities that find meaning in the general structure of other identities. National identity has several subsets, the most important of which is the status of language in its various dimensions, attention to national and ancient culture, and reference to ancient national beliefs and convictions. The history of Beyhaqi is one of the valuable historical monuments of the history of Iran in the Islamic period. The study of Iranian identity in this work is a matter for reflection. This research has been done by a descriptive and analytical method based on library data. The findings of the study indicate that although the Ghaznavid era should be considered a period of "weak Iranian identity" and the main reason was the non-Iranian roots of the rulers and the influence of the Baghdad caliphs in Iran, but Beyhaqi, like Ferdowsi, revived other Khorasanis. Persian literature has accomplished great efforts and in the margins of history has expressed the ancient Iranian customs, national ceremonies and Iranian poems and proverbs. During the mention of history, Beyhaqi has quoted verses from poets such as Rudaki, Ansari, Bo Hanifa Scafi, Daqiqi Labibi and a number of unknown poets on various occasions in order to take a step towards preserving and spreading the Persian language and literature and reviving Iranian culture. He has quoted 319 Persian verses and 290 Persian proverbs in the volumes of the history of Beyhaqi, and in contrast, he has used only 128 Arabic verses and 77 Arabic proverbs; moreover, he has also referred to ancient Iranian customs in four cases.

1. Examining the relationship between historical and political developments and the category of national identity. 2. Inspecting the fields of confrontation and conflict of Iranians with the phenomenon of intellectual invasion of foreign ethnic groups and the description of Abolfazl Beyhaqi's civil behaviors and cultural struggles.

Research questions:

 1. What was the process of identity in the history of Beyhaqi? 2. What effect did social currents in the Ghaznavid period have on the national identity of Iranians?