نشریه تاریخ نامه ایران بعد از اسلام
پیاپی 27 (Summer 2021)

Nowruz and Mehregan were among the celebrations of ancient Iran that were held in the court in the first Abbasid era. Giving gifts by Iranians on Nowruz and Mehregan was one of the main reasons for holding these celebrations in the Abbasid court. The population context of Baghdad, which was predominantly Iranians, had an impact on the celebration of Nowruz and Mehregan. The Abbasids held Nowruz ceremonies to the satisfaction of the Khorasanians and the Iranian ministers, including the Barmaki and Sahl dynasties. The Abbasid caliphs, like the Sassanids, made public ceremonies at the court and allowed the people to hold various ceremonies. In this article, the description, manner and reasons for the survival of Nowruz and Mehregan in the Abbasid court of the first era are discussed.

The conflict between the Akhbārīs and Uṣūlīs dates from the time of Mawlá Muḥammad Amīn Astarābādī (d. 1033/1624). However, limited usage of the two terms can be traced back to before that period. Kitāb al-Naqḍ, written by ʿAbd al-Jalīl Qazwīnī Rāzī (d. 560/1165), is one of the few Imāmī sources that contains a group of references to a similar conflict between the Shiʿa Uṣūlīyyah and Shiʿa Akhbārīyyah. The former term, in particular, repeatedly appears in the book. The aim of this paper, adopting a conceptual approach to history, would be to demonstrate that the Akhbārī/Uṣūlī terms in medieval Iran do not refer to a legal concept, nor to the dispute between the moderate/extremist Shiʿis in that context. Despite the first impression which the term conveys, it will be suggested that the term “uṣūlīyyah” does not have its roots in uṣūl al-fiqh (Islamic legal methodology), but rather, refers to some specific rational uṣūl (principles) usually applied to uṣūl al-ʿaqāʾid (Islamic theological principles). That is, “uṣūlīyyah,” according to Qazwīnī, refers to those whose religious knowledge has been based on rational principles. However, the Akhbārī-Uṣūlī terminology introduced by Qazwīnī cannot be paired with the historical Shiʿi schools and figures of his period. If we consider the social and political pressures under which Iranian Imāmīs were living, it will appear that employment of such terms has had a strategic purpose. In this case, calling most of his contemporaries “uṣūlīs,” and attributing controversial Shiʿi beliefs to the Akhbārīs, Qazwīnī has attempted to exonerate Imāmīs from their accusations, and to improve their social position.

History of the nations and national identity has always been considered one of the major issues in the social sciences and political geography. The identity of each nation is primarily related to the circumstances under which that particular nation has emerged and evolved. Thus, every country is independent when it has primarily an independent national personality. The origin and evolution of the concept of Iran has gained a considerable attention in the context of national identity since the establishment of the Medes 705 BC Government in the Iranian Plateau. After the fall of the Sassanids 636 AD and the emergence of independent and semi-independent governments in Iran, this concept lost its particular geopolitical framework, but in the historical process, Iran's political identity was based on a geographical integration and at one point in history, some historians recreated this concept in their works and applied it as a sign of a new evolution in line with reviving the geographical, cultural, and political and social dimensions. With the formation of the Safavid government in Iran and its reliance on the revival of Iranian land based on the heritage of ancient borders, the Iranian concept has transcended the cultural and ethnic aspect as a socio-political and basic concept for the national identity. This research is based on the theory of return in historical sociology with the method of content analysis, has been an attempt to prove the role-playing factors in the development and consolidation of Iranian identity,

From the time of the Mongol invasion of the Ismaili castles to the present day, one of the points of concern for many people has been the reason for Khajeh Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's collaboration with prominent Muslim scholars and non-Muslim Mongols. Many have accounted Khajeh’s political behavior during the rule of Ilkhanate as his hostility towards denominations and the Sunnis. Many others have known it as part of his opportunistic character and claimed that he has done so to achieve a certain political status. However, by carefully studying the works of Khajeh, one could find other logical and fundamental reasons for Khajeh’s behaviors that unfortunately have been mostly disregarded. By reading his works, many Islamic legal, historical, psychological, philosophical, and other kinds of reasons can be found that deserve paying attention. Khajeh’s prominent personality trait is related to philosophy and Kalaam (scholastic theology); hence, it only makes sense to seek the reason behind this collaboration in Khajeh’s frame of thought. Khajeh’s most important work in this area is Akhlaaq e Naasiri, in which the most important topic is Madina Faazila. From the time of the Mongol invasion of the Ismaili castles to the present day, one of the points of concern for many people has been the reason for Khajeh Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's collaboration with prominent Muslim scholars and non-Muslim Mongols. Many have accounted Khajeh’s political behavior during the rule of Ilkhanate as his hostility towards denominations and the Sunnis. Many others have known it as part of his opportunistic character and claimed that he has done so to achieve a certain political status. However, by carefully studying the works of Khajeh, one could find other logical and fundamental reasons for Khajeh’s behaviors that unfortunately have been mostly disregarded. By reading his works, many Islamic legal, historical, psychological, philosophical, and other kinds of reasons can be found that deserve paying attention. Khajeh’s prominent personality trait is related to philosophy and Kalaam (scholastic theology); hence, it only makes sense to seek the reason behind this collaboration in Khajeh’s frame of thought. Khajeh’s most important work in this area is Akhlaaq e Naasiri, in which the most important topic is Madina Faazila.

Iran suffered three catastrophic famines in the seventy-five-year span of 1869 to 1944. The population in 1945 was unchanged from that of 1840, a classic case of a Malthusian catastrophe. This article aims to assess the impact of the famines on Iran’s population level. It is first shown that the human losses in the Great Famine of 1869-1873 have been vastly understated in much of the literature. Two-thirds of the population was lost. Barely had Iran recovered its 1869 population when the Great Famine of 1917-1919 in World War I had carried off nearly half of the population. Finally, World War II and the resulting 1942-1944 famine and typhus epidemic had claimed a quarter of the population and again restored the 1840 population level. Only after 1945 was Iran able to shake off the Malthusian trap into which it had fallen for more than a century.

Constitutional Revolution, as a significant turning point in the history of Iran, shook Iranian society. What has been more or less neglected in examining this movement is the role of non-Iranian forces. The Caucasian, especially, the Georgians should be considered as the most passionate and self-sacrificing pro-constitutional forces who spared their lives for the victory of the Iranian movement. The question of this paper is what was the role and performance of the Georgian forces in Constitutional Revolution? The hypothesis is that, despite the persecution of the Russian Tsarist government, Georgian revolutionaries organized by parties such as Hemmat and Ejtema'iyun Amiyuun, presented in the battlefields of Tabriz and Guilan and, due to their precious experiences, played vital role in the success of the constitutionalists. On the other hand, Georgian press could form public opinion in favor of the revolution, inform about Iran's events, and create a stir among the Iranian Mojahedin by focusing on news of the events in Iran. It should not be neglected that Iranians presence in the Caucasus cities, especially Tbilisi, also helped to transfer revolutionary concepts to Iran and to fan the flames of the revolution.