Creating Chain of Equivalence of Mahdavi Discourse in the Safavid Era

When an issue like Mahdism goes beyond the limits of ideological realms and becomes a socio-political phenomenon, it has the necessary capacity to be studied as a discourse. Mahdism had such a capacity in the Safavid era. To conduct the present historical-analytical study based on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the research question is: How was the political-social structure of the Safavid era able to establish such a relatively comprehensive equivalence chain? In this regard, the hypothesis of the research is that through one of the principles of the discourse, namely, the chain of equivalence, Mahdism has found a way to bring the society into a remarkable convergence regardless of gender, ethnic, geographical, political, and even religious differences. The findings of the study show that the articulation of Safavid rule based on Mahdism, in parallel with the creation of a chain of equivalence through the generality of belief in the savior as discourse mechanisms, has succeeded in creating social convergence regardless of existing differences. The deep constructions of the Safavid hegemonic structure, including historiography and historiography, and positions and jurisprudential texts of Shia scholars, have made it possible to create this chain.