مجله تاریخ ایران
سال هفدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 94، بهار و تابستان 1403)

he invasion of British, Soviet, and American forces in September 1941 led to the abdication of Reza Shah, resulting in Iran’s involuntary entry into a war that had various implications in political, economic, and social aspects. According to Article B of the Tripartite Agreement, the Iranian government was obliged to place all its communication facilities, including telephone, telegraph, and wireless services, at the disposal of the Allies. Thus, throughout the war, the Allied powers took control of telegraph and postal services. Documents indicate that the unrestricted operation of the Allies in employing the postal and telegraph communication system facilitated their full-scale interference in Iranian domestic affairs, leading to the disruption of the economic system and incurring numerous damages in various sectors of the Iranian economy. This research evaluates and investigates foreign domination over the postal and telegraph systems as an example of these consequences.While in recent years, there has been a growing trend of examining World War II and investigating its causes, backgrounds, and outcomes, many documents and records related to Iran are still preserved in archival centers in the form of data, which can provide a clear narrative of Iran’s situation during and after the war. The present research aims to investigate the conditions of Iran in this period through the lens of the postal and telegraph situation, relying on the available documents in Iranian archival sources. This article seeks to answer the following questions: What were the effects of the Tripartite Agreement imposed on Iran, as a result of the occupation during World War II on the state of Iran's postal and telegraph services? What was the significance of interference in postal and telegraph services for the Allied governments? How did the Iranian government react to foreign interference? This research endeavors to provide clear answers to these questions by using documents and analyzing historical data.

This article uses a descriptive-analytical approach. The subject is initially described comprehensively and then a historical analysis is conducted by utilizing the documents available in Iranian archives.

Following the occupation of the country by foreign forces during World War II, internal affairs in Iran were severely disrupted, and as a result, key sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry, railways, postal and telegraph services, and foreign trade suffered serious damage. These events took place due to the presence of Allied forces. The Allies, through interfering in various political, economic, and social spheres during the war, took control of the country's vital administrative arteries, not only causing disruptions but also inflicting significant financial losses. One of the important economic sectors of the country was the postal and telegraph communication system, which, albeit at great expense, arrived in Iran with British and Russian support and it was a significant source of government revenue. With the occupation of Iran, this source of income fell into the hands of the Allied powers, leading to a decrease in its revenue. Disruption in the operations of merchants and traders, who relied on the postal and telegraph system to conduct business within and outside Iran, resulted in their financial losses. Reduction in the level of services provided by ministries, departments, and organizations related to economic and financial matters, as well as the reduction in the government revenue due to people’s payments for postal and telegraph expenses, are among the consequences of Allied interference in this crucial communication sector. With the occupation of Iran, not only did the postal and telegraph lose its role as an income source, but significant financial burdens were also imposed on the Iranian people and government.

Based on the research findings, the Allies, using the Tripartite Agreement, laid the groundwork for their direct interference in postal and telegraph services. This led to disruptions in trade, a reduction in the level of services provided by ministries, departments, and organizations related to economic and financial matters, a decrease in Iranian government revenue due to people’s payments for postal and telegraph expenses, and ultimately, a reduction in government revenue from this important economic source.

As trade in the Indian Ocean became a branch of global maritime trade, Safavid Iran entered this arena due to its proximity to the Persian Gulf. The English and Dutch East India Companies were born in the first half of the 17th century to take over the exclusive trade of the East and went to the eastern lands, including Iran. Shah Abbas I entered them into Iran’s economic and commercial circuit by signing a contract and granting privileges to use the commercial competition between them for the prosperity and prosperity of the country’s economy. The competition of these two companies to take over Iran’s exclusive trade continued after Shah Abbas. The present article seeks to clarify the effective factors in the competition between British and Dutch East India companies in the Shah Safi and Shah Abbas II periods by using a descriptive-analytical method and using to Iranian and non-Iranian sources. The findings of this research show that the annulment of the silk export monopoly by Shah Safi, commercial contracts of the Iranian government with companies, cash (liquidity), British and Dutch wars in Europe and the Persian Gulf, The export and import of these companies were effective factors in the commercial competition of companies during the period of Shah Safi and Shah Abbas II. Also, the Dutch East India Company was commercially superior to the English Company due to having more liquidity, higher diplomatic power in negotiations with the Safavid court, and better-equipped equipped commercial-military ships.

Iranian governments during the medieval centuries used visions and prophetic dreams to set a connection with the transcendent and divine realm and pretended to be inspired by the sacred-spiritual world. Through a descriptive-analytical approach, the research addressed the fundamental question of the relationship between prophetic dreams function with political legitimacy during the 4th and 5th centuries AH Iran. It showed that dealing with legitimacy challenges was a key concern for Iranian governments during this period. Propagating future political events through prophetic inspiration in the form of dreams was integral to the agenda of those in power and surrounding elites. The birth and survival of leaders amid doubts, achieving seemingly implausible power, establishing and sustaining governance, territorial expansion, suppression of enemies, and even the downfall of their rule were all encompassed in the content of prophetic dreams during these centuries. Additionally, to dispel doubts and have huge impacts on public perception, using symbols with profound meanings embedded with prophetic concepts in dreams was a part of the agenda. However, given the significant overlap of applying these symbols in dreams, it is indicative of their forgery.

Using Spragens’s crisis theory, which oversees the understanding of political theories, the present article has explained the question of the development process and the nature of “constitutional theory” in Iran during the Qajar era. The purpose of this research is to apply Spragens’s theory to understand the nature and explain the development process of constitutional theory in Iran. The results obtained from this research, based on the descriptive-explanatory method, show that the constitutionalism theory did not emerge in the last days of the movement; Rather, it has had a historical-evolutionary process. Regarding its nature, it can be said that the theory of constitutionalism was “the theory of the rule of law” and a movement to “establish freedom” and get rid of tyranny. The development process of this theory by using the theoretical approach of Spragens in the four steps of the problem and observation of disorder; causes of disorder; order and fantasy (rebuilding society); And the prescription phase will be explained.

The loss of national pride of the Iranians since the beginning of the Qajar era as a result of numerous defeats at the hands of Russia and England, and the chaotic consequences of economic and political relations with them, provided the necessary intellectual basis for intellectuals to find the causes of weakness. Among the factors that some pre-constitutional intellectuals focused on in this area was ancient nationalism. Although during the constitutional era, the dominant form of nationalism took on an anti-authoritarian and anti-colonial face, and its antiquarian approach became less important than before, attention to it matured again with the end of the First World War. With the rise to power of Pahlavi I, archaic nationalism became one of the main ideologies of nation-building for government officials. The development of Kasravi's ideas took place at such a time. The present study tries to answer this question by using historical method and analytical descriptive approach: what was Kasravi's attitude towards promoting the discourse of archaic nationalism as a thinker? The results of the research show that although Kasravi was interested in the history of ancient Iran, he opposed some of the extreme components of the antiquarians and considered their promotion as one of the factors weakening national unity.

Following a period of relative hiatus in the relation between Iran and China, efforts were made its revival during the first Pahlavi I era. Merchants and governments of the two countries, in an attempt to resume relations, attempted for an economic trade based on the tea. The main question of this research aims to examine the factors that led to the revival of economic relations between Iran and China during the Pahlavi I era with a focus on the tea trade and its continuation and achievements. This research is made using a descriptive-analytical approach and based on the contents of unpublished documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Archives, as well as some sources and research. The research findings indicate that the efforts to establish relations between the two countries were influenced by factors such as the rise to power of two military figures in these countries, their need to gain international prestige, and the economic interests of a number of Iranian and Chinese merchants. Efforts to establish bilateral relations, through employing Chinese experts in the Iranian tea industry, attempting to revive the export of Chinese tea to Iran, and persuading the officials of the two countries to work for facilitating trade relations began and continued. However, these efforts, were not very productive due to factors such as the geographical distance between the two countries, Iran’s focus on the bill to strengthen the national tea industry, and its lack of interest in a serious relationship with China, and only resulted in the establishment of the Iran Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

Secularism and laicity are two concepts in political science that are usually used interchangeably. However, despite their similarities, these two have many differences. Secularism is a philosophical worldview that looks at the world and explains natural, political, and social affairs and phenomena, which of course is divided into branches. Laicity is a type of government in which the institution of religion and the institution of the state are separated from each other and the government is neutral in matters related to religion and belief. Considering this, the article aims to analyze and interpret the positions of the Fourth National Front to find the relationship between this political trend and these two discourses, and to explain how it accompanies the spiritual-religious trend on the eve of the Islamic Revolution. In addition, It seeks to answer the question of why the National Front, despite its secular and laicity policy, gave in to some of the religious components of the Islamic Republic.

Clergymen were an influential class during the Qajar period, and played a decisive role in the Iranian social and political life at that time. The surviving documents from this period show that clerics played an active role in public benefit, and religious and charitable affairs among other social groups through endowments (Waqf). Endowments, as one of the economic capitals during the Qajar period, increased the influence and prestige of clerics among different classes and played an active social role among them. Nevertheless, the endowment documents related to this group in the Qajar period have been less investigated. Examining the contents of clerics’ endowments will help in obtaining information about the types, uses, and characteristics of the endowments of this social group, as well as acquiring first-handed information about jobs, markets, caravanserais, houses, takyehs and mosquesin the neighborhoods of Barforosh city during the Qajar era.

After the execution of Sayyid Ali-Muhammad the Bab, Mirza Hussein-Ali Nouri (Baha'u'llah) claimed himself to be the person who was to introduce the religion after Babiism and in turn faced the opposition of the Bab's successor, Mirza Yahya Subh-i-Azal. Then, some of the Babi elite compiled works against Baha'u'llah's dawah. This paper aims to answer this question, based on the teachings of the Bab that both Babis and Baha'is considered divine words of God, how well did the Babi opposers of Baha'u'llah build their arguments? Analyzing their works shows that overall, they used Bab's teachings correctly and highlighted the flaw of the Baha'u'llah's dawah reasonably. In this research, the scrutiny of their arguments is done by the Analytical method based on the contents of the Raddiyah of Sayyid Muhammad Isfahani and by presenting similar arguments of other distinguished Babi opposers of Baha'u'llah

The main question of the present article is to determine Kerman statesmen’s approach towards finance and tax collection and the basis for tax resources of Kerman Qara-Khitai. The findings of the research indicate that the tax resources in the Qara-Khitai period included receiving diverse types of taxes from different areas of the Kerman as well as receiving taxes from the surrounding area, which were done in two direct and indirect ways. In the direct method, they collected various taxes by sending tax collectors and deposited the collected taxes to the treasury of the Grand Divan. In the indirect method, the government collected taxes, without direct contact with the people, and sent tax collectors to collect taxes, using Muvada'a (contracting), Mukata (Grant), and Barat (bill of exchange).

The structure and organization of finance in Iran’s bureaucratic system have a long history, but after the constitution in the years 1906 to 1922, a time when economic problems were very severe, the parliament (Majlis) played a new role in explaining approaches, and the process of drafting, approving, and enforcing laws. The legislative process was impacted by the economic needs of the country, political disorders, and the need to recreate a new structure and organization for the Ministry of Finance, which led to the involvement of finance brokers and representatives of the first to the fourth parliaments. A review of the legislative process of finance in this period shows that the political system of the country has been related to the coherence or disintegration of the organization of finance, the entry and exit of foreign brokers and advisors, new approaches and methods in finance and economic issues of the country. The legislative process of finance, the reform and consolidation of the administrative structure, and the role of entrepreneurs, finance brokers, and parliament are examined in a historical manner using documents, laws, and other library resources. The investigation and search among the obtained data indicate that from the beginning of the establishment of the parliament, economic reform and increase of income were discussed, and according to the government’s reliance on tax revenues, it seems taxes must have been the most important reform decision in the years following the constitution. The results show that according to the legislation passed, politicians and parliamentarians prioritized reforming and consolidating the administrative structure, as well as forming the Ministry of Finance.