Investigating the dimensions of hard influence in Ferdowsi Shahnameh with an approach to espionage

One of the manifestations of the traditional influence paradigm in political science discussions is espionage, which, because of its tangibility and visibility, falls under the category of hard influence. In international relations, obtaining information from political, military, economic, etc. rivals have a necessary and effective role in seeking the supremacy of nations and helps them to determine fundamental strategies. Hence, the spies try to provide comprehensive information on the quality and quantity of the enemy's potential capabilities through their actions in order to be able to influence the political and military rival and to achieve the desired goals. In other words, it is possible to change political currents through the use of espionage tactics and access to vital competitors' information. In general, in international relations, the principle of power is of particular importance and is at the heart of the study of international politics. Examining the exact dimensions of the act of infiltration (espionage) in the enemy shows that power is a means to an end. The nature of a government's foreign policy goals and the skill of nations in using their capabilities to achieve foreign policy goals are directly linked to the principle of foreign influence and espionage. Hence, intrusion (espionage) is defined as a type of communication with aliens with the intention of changing or stabilizing the behavior of reciprocal forces. A government tries to influence another government or governments in various ways; because it has set specific goals for itself, the realization of which is possible by having comprehensive information on economic, political, military issues of the rival. Consequently, the process of infiltration and espionage plays a crucial role in international politics. Espionage is not an emerging phenomenon of the present century and is common in the political culture of civilizations. Of course, it must be acknowledged that the techniques used for espionage have changed over the centuries and become more sophisticated today. However, the importance of maintaining the survival of governments has always led to this issue in security and intelligence issues. Ferdowsi's Shahnameh is one of the most important epic works in Persian which narrates the efforts of the Iranian nation and the governments in this land to push back the foreigners from the borders and protect the people from the enemies.


This research has been compiled based on descriptive-analytical method and inductive method (part to whole) and to collect data and analyze it, documentary studies including books, articles, etc. have been used. Also, the statistical population of the research, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and the sample size, include all the verses drawing on the espionage category. The general structure of the article is such that first the main concepts of the research are explained, namely influence and espionage, and in the main part, various headlines are addressed to issues such as tools, goals and motives of spies and its political and governmental positions.


The spy is described as a "detective" in the Shahnameh. This word indicates that the spy in the first step must be a person who is aware of various issues and with special expertise and skill seeks to gather information from the enemy. In other words, the spy in sensitive situations must, in addition to recognizing critical points and threats and external and internal influencing factors, recognize the negative actions affecting the security of the government and the territorial integrity of the land and have a comprehensive knowledge of its details and generalities. And finally, by transferring it to its own forces, to be effective in neutralizing undesirable political events. Therefore, the spy is at the forefront of the fight against enemy threats. The tactics and tasks of the spies described in the Shahnameh have a classical approach and naturally do not have the complexities of espionage in the contemporary era. However, the results obtained through espionage are important.
Espionage and obtaining military and political information from a rival group play a role in the survival or extinction of a civilization. “Today, information is considered as one of the national resources of any country and supports any planning, policy-making and management” (Davoodi Dehaghani et al., 2018, p. 54). Spying on outsiders and gathering information is a public duty in the early stages, and spreading a culture of intelligence cooperation will protect society from all kinds of crime and threats, and deterrence should be based on gathering sources of information and their analysis. (Also see Peterson, 2005, p. 212). Information is a means to an end (See: Gill & Phythian, 2007, p. 1). Deceptive influence based on strategic deception is manipulating the audience's mentality and making computational mistakes through forging and creating information. Influential actors take a series of actions to deceive, confuse, seduce, or hasten the decision-makers to make unrealistic estimates. In fact, the purpose of deceptive influence is to deviate from the opponent's decisions by providing guided and sometimes erroneous information and forcing him to act or not to act in the national interests of his own country or to the detriment of his own interests (See: Bagheri Choukami, 2016, p. 20).
Spying and gathering information through trained manpower is difficult, time consuming, costly and dangerous, and if the mission is revealed and disclosed, it creates problems for the target country and the country of origin (Borisudi & Goodman, 2005, p. 129). Espionage in classical and traditional form is conducted based on observation and information with emphasis on human senses and creativity (see: Locker, 2001, p. 48). Human resources, considering their discernment and initiative, review and analyze situations in order to take advantage of opportunities and constantly increase their access to the goal (see: Yaghoubi & Ishaqifar, 2013, p. 12). Rostam's goal and motivation in this infiltration was to access sensitive and public information. This espionage should be considered military. “The purpose of military reconnaissance is to obtain knowledge and information about the armed forces in times of peace and war. The enemy seeks to steal the country's defense intelligence, and obtains information about the types and size of weapons, the number of armed forces, and the form of their organization, and that this type of espionage is taken into consideration in the laws of most countries” (Evera, 1992, p. 237).
One of the important issues in espionage is the ideological unity of spies. Believing in a common ideology between the spy and the organization is the surest way to get it; because with this idea, such a person considers himself obliged to serve and work with the necessary faith and commitment (see: Almjan, 1990, p. 209). The world's intelligence and counterintelligence agencies generally list four motives for espionage as money, ideology, coercion, and selfishness. No spy is potentially as useful as an ideologically motivated agent. Ideology and school are binding and permanent motives and are considered as the most stable motives. Spy, which is influenced by positive ideological motives, acts because of its commitment to a specific subject (see: Friedel, 2003, p. 39). One of the fundamental goals in the issue of infiltration is to identify the enemy’s strategy and provide appropriate solutions to deal with it. “The essence of a serious threat is the use of military force and even killing, and its target is mainly the territory or military power of the other side. The aim and intention of the enemy is mainly to secure geopolitical, political, economic and sometimes doctrinal interests” (Ahmadian, 2015, p. 40).
Spies sometimes obtained classified and vital information about the enemy's military structure. “Spying is the acquisition of classified information without the permission and knowledge of its owner. Espionage is usually an organized, transnational crime; because in it, the vital information of a country is provided to the country or other countries through an organized system and human resources” (Karimi, 2015, p. 67). Espionage is carried out with specific planning and goals to dominate predetermined interests (see: Mir Mohammadi, 2013, p. 37). Hence, the intelligence knowledge enables the prevention of crimes and security breaches and the confrontation of threats and vulnerabilities by obtaining news and information, and by mastering the peripheral issues and anticipating inaccessible events. (See: Jamshidian, 2009, p. 12). The main task of a spy is to report from within the enemy's decision-making body. (See: Nirmal & Astana, 2012, p. 229) Access to the classified and special information has always been the main key to the success of political actors (see: Security Studies Group, 2008, p. 70).


The most important manifestation of the hard influence in the Shahnameh is the preparation and acceleration of the espionage process, or in other words, the security influence in the political and military structure of the enemy. The study of espionage techniques in Shahnameh shows that the realm and scope of influence includes objective and real space. The spies’ actions to infiltrate the enemy were mission-oriented and of an intelligence and security nature. The main function of this infiltration was to gather strategic information and news, identify the weaknesses and strengths of the enemies, estimate their military tools and weapons, be aware of the geographical conditions of the camps and infiltrate key and sensitive points to facilitate the control process. The method of obtaining information was limited in a human and physical way based on positivism through observation. As a result, this infiltration has a one-dimensional and simple structure, and in this regard, the type of infiltration and espionage should be considered as a case and as an agent or spy infiltration in the target group. The human targets were spies, commanders and military elites of the enemy. Influential actors include the states involved (Iran, Turan, Rome) and the parties involved (kings and their internal opponents) who were using the capabilities of the intelligence services and achieving their security, intelligence and military objectives. The sphere of this influence in Shahnameh is of tactical-military and intelligence. Ferdowsi considers the two great qualities of "commitment" and "expertise" to be necessary for spies, and believes that by creating these two qualities, detectives will achieve great success in carrying out their missions. In general, the scope of the spies’ duties under Ferdowsi includes the following: a) obtaining information from foreign forces; b) monitoring internal social movements; c) ensuring the security of the passage or location of military and national leaders; d) making suggestions to the Shah to adopt appropriate political and military strategies and analyze them; and e) surveillance of soldiers and military leaders of local forces.