پژوهش نامه تاریخ اسلام
سال سوم شماره 9 (بهار 1392)

During the reign of Fath Ali Shah, the cities of Herat, Kandahar and Kabul due to their adjacency with India were simultaneously considered as important cities by Shah of Qaiar and British, French and Russian governments. There were also attempts made by the Qajar kings to regain dominance over the regions. The problem of Khorasan Khan’s riot and misuse of the rulers of Dorrani from the present disturbed conditions were the main causes of their rebellion against the central government of Iran and their aggression to other areas of Khorasan. Such problems compelled Fath Ali Shah and the rulers of Khorasan to make constant military expeditions to Heart. At the same time, England and East India Company’s fear of the attacks of Zamanshah and his successors to India made England send ambassadors to Iran for establishing diplomatic relations with Qajar estate and also for provoking Fath Ali Shah to follow an aggressive policy towards Dorrani rulers.
The present research, through using a descriptive-analytical approach, attempts to investigate the reasons for which Fath Ali Shah, contrary to the Safavid and Naderi Shahs, did not succeed at imposing power over these regions and the rulers of these areas were not submitted to him either. The findings of this research reveal that important internal and external factors like unstable, disturbed conditions of Khorasan, independent policies of those rulers, not taking advantage of Khorasan rulers from available conditions in confronting Dorranians, India’s vital importance for England and East India Company contemporary with kingdom of Fath Ali Shah and finally, England’s dual policy in provoking Qajar estate and rulers of Dorrani against each other were among important obstacles in realization of this affair.

Two religious approaches, doctrinal and informational, came to existence along with creation of Sunni schools of jurisprudence (second century A. H) and became highly important during the Safavid period due to the attempts made by Mohammad Amin Astarabadi in expanding informational approach and critiquing the tenets of doctrinal approaches. While, before this era, scientific and jurisprudential were mainly discussed, during this period, political aspects were added and each party attempted to reject, curse and accuse the other one. Famous scientists appeared who tried to reject their rival approach through their own reasoning and win their own school. Among these was Sheikh Bahai (953-1030 A. H) who was a prominent and influential scholar in religious, scientific and cultural fields. The main question is whether he subscribed to doctrinal approach or informational one? What were his activities? The present paper, through studying these two trends, attempts to reveal sheikh Bahai's school of jurisprudence.

The uprising of 1920 or the revolution that is known as "Surat Alasharein" is one of the most important events in modern history of Iraq. This uprising was a response to the invasion of Iraq by the British colonial government after the World War I, on the one hand, and an attempt to establish an independent Shia Islamic State, or at least a non-aligned one, on the other hand. Following the invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi Shiites—led by authorities and clerics who were mostly Iranians—organized a major uprising against the occupying forces. Although this uprising didnt provide Iraq with complete independence, but played a major role in the defeat of the British colonial government policies and establishment of the first national government in Iraq. The main concerns of the present paper are how this uprising took place, what the roots were, what the consequences were, and what the role of the Iranian references living in Atabat was. The main assumption of the present paper is that lack of local political experience in this uprising, along with British serious dominance over the regional policies, can be considered as the serious weak points in obtaining desirable results.

The first two decades of the nineteenth century and especially 1820 A.D/ 1235 A. H are quite important in the political history of Persian Gulf. During this time, the Great Britain’s government with the excuse of fighting pirates attacked the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. This act eventually led to signing a contract ,”A General Peace Agreement” , between the communities of the southern coast of Persian Gulf sheikhs and England. As a result of this contract, the British gained dominance over the region and consequently the rights and sovereignty of Iran in the area were ignored. The Great Britain created a political base in the coast and such organizations led to the development of new Islamic countries in Persian Gulf. The present study attempts to investigate the grounds upon which the General Peace Contract (1820 ) came to existence; as well as the aims followed by the British government and how Iranian government reacted on the issue and its consequences.

Art with all its branches including painting, illumination, portrait painting, music and architecture are among lasting aspects of Islamic culture and civilization. Islamic art is highly integrated with transcendence and Islamic understanding; in a way that mosque as the main religious centre for Muslims is also called “gallery” of Islamic arts. This indicates the high status and elevated position of art among Muslim believers and religious scholars. Among other branches of art, music is quite important from several aspects; in a way that we can consider this amusing and attracting branch of art as mankind’s twin. Of course, Islam has defined music within particular frameworks and religious scholars and Muslim jurists have held certain perspectives with regard to it, which are beyond the scope of this study. However, there have always been songwriters, musicians, and singers in Islamic societies who—through acting in contradiction to the ideas of strict jurists—have amused their listeners with their charming music; in a way that, during the first Islamic century, music grew and developed tremendously in Mecca and Medina and made these two schools surpass the rivals. The main question investigated in this study is what factor or factors contributed to the tremendous growth of music in Mecca and Medina in less than a century. The assumption is that there were policies adopted by the Omavids—particularly Moaviyeh—to make people engaged with luxury and pleasure and separate them from jihad and fighting with corruption and oppression. In this vein, they capitalized on spreading and encouraging various non-political affairs like poetry reading, singing and music among people of Mecca and Medina. Furthermore, the battle of Karbala, Horreh event and capture of holy Mecca are assumed to be among the main factors in making people attracted to charming music and songs played by musicians. The present study, through focusing on this issue, attempts to recognize the outstanding Mecca and Medina music figures.

The present study attempts to explicate the role played by Shiite Mojtaheds in controlling the absolute despotism of Qajar kings. As a case study, it reviews the primary historical resources of Fath Ali Shah Qajar era (1797-1834) and at the same time it takes into consideration the theory of Oriental Despotism and the Asian model of production proposed by Marx and Engels. The main question posed is whether Shiite Mojtaheds—acting independently from the government—succeeded at inhibiting Fath Ali Shah's absolute despotism?
To answer this question, through using descriptive – analytical research method, the primary sources of this era were studied and it was revealed that the above-mentioned theory cannot be employed for accurate and scientific analysis of historical events of the given period. According to historical documents, Shiite Mojtaheds were independent from government and they succeeded at inhibiting the absolute despotism of Qajar kings as well as suppressing their tyranny in numerous occasions.
The present study reveals that the dual relationship between Shiite Mojtaheds and the king was based on approving while threatening Shiite Mojtaheds and following while questioning the legitimacy of the king. This was the mechanism used by Shiite Mojtaheds in limiting the autocracy of the government; which in turn indicates that Iranian society has had mechanisms for limiting the autocratic governments; something which has often been ignored by Western researchers.