The Place of Inscriptions in Shi'a Governments during the Third to Fifth Centuries (AH) Emphasizing on the Fatimids and Buyid Dynasty Works

The beginning of the expansion and prosperity of inscriptions in Islamic territory has coincided with the era of Shi'a governments, especially Al-e Buya’s and the Fatimids’ governance. Considering the change in the religious and political structure of the governments and the domination of the Shi'a governments over the Islamic territory from the third century (AH), it is necessary to pay attention to the effect of these developments on the inscription of the buildings. Looking at the history of the formation of Shi'a institutions and the beginning of their organized activities, along with the impact of those activities on the establishment of Shi'a governments in the third to fifth centuries (AH), raises the challenge that there may be a connection between the activities and goals of these groups and institutions and the prosperity of inscriptions during the Shi'a governance in Iran and other parts of the Islamic realm. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the role of Shi'a governments in the evolution of inscriptions in order to provide a category to reread the position of early Islamic art studies and in this regard, it has addressed the basic question that: What are the reasons for the spreading of the inscriptions in the Shi'a governments of the third to fifth centuries (AD)? This research is a fundamental one in terms of purpose, historical and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The required information has been collected using library and field methods. Here, in this research, quantitative information is presented by tables and graphs, and then, they are analyzed qualitatively. The results show that the Shi'a governments in these centuries, which they themselves had gained power through a stream of invitation and propaganda, felt its importance more than ever to expand and deepen Islamic and Shi'a knowledge through the use of all the existing potentials; so, in this regard, they used inscriptions in the buildings. Contrary to the Sunni governments, which had absolute political and military power and did not find any need to use religious propaganda by other methods, inscriptions were a tool for the Shi'a to propagate, and in this way, they had strengthened their belief in the legitimacy of Shi'a and also had encouraged other Muslims to become Shi'a. Therefore, a massive stream was formed in the production and construction of religious and Qur'anic inscriptions in this period, and this trend also brought changes with it. The number of survived inscriptions from Shi'a governments in the third to the fifth centuries (AH) compared to previous governments increased, which may indicate their special interest in using the inscription in the buildings. Also, the number of inscriptions in each building increased; this means that the Shi'a governments during those centuries have used more inscriptions in the buildings which have been most exposed to people and have tried to use the maximum capacity of them in this field. Inscriptions were used in equal numbers and in almost equal proportions in Iran and other parts of the Islamic realm; this shows that the effort to use religious and Qur'anic inscriptions in the building was not a local and regional movement, but a movement originating from the Shi'a religious motion. Shi'a expressions are used extensively in the inscriptions, which distinctively showed the Shi'a content in them. Using the name of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) next to the name of the Prophet (PBUH) and using phrases such as "Al at Taherin" at the end of Salawat and etc., all are to emphasize the connection of the Ahl al-Bayt with the Prophet (PBUH) and the need to obey them. And finally, Qur'anic verses with Shi'a content, which according to the most authoritative Shi'a theologians and thinkers, and based on the words of the Shi'a Imams (AS) and the dignity of the revelation of the verses, emphasize on the legitimacy of Imam Ali (AS) and the high position of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), were also widely used. According to what was stated, finally, it can be concluded that the formation of a systematic flow of propaganda and the prosperity of theological debates in the realm of Shi'a governments are the main reasons for the widespread growth of inscription and the unprecedented variety of its themes and the prevalence of Shi'a religious themes in inscriptions during the third to the fifth centuries (AH); and in this way, the Shi'as used inscriptions in addition to the development of Islamic and Shi'a knowledge to propagate ideas and beliefs, so they used it as a propaganda tool.