مجله تاریخ ایران
سال پنجم شماره 1 (پیاپی 69، زمستان 1390و بهار 1391)

As an ancient port on Khuzestan’s coast of Persian Gulf، Mahruban has had a special role in the international marine trade. Apart from a number of references in a few historical sources، there is some historical and archeological evidence such as the chinaware pieces of Mahruban which bear testimony to the currency of their trade، at least، since the Sassanid era. Islamic historical sources from 9th to 13th century consider Mahruban as a secondary port overshadowed by the flourishing port of Siraf. Even after the earthquake of Siraf which left it in ruins، Mahruban was simply called a little port on the western coast of the Persian Gulf، somewhere between Mesopotamia، and the two provinces of Khuzestan and Fars. Yet، the archeological remains especially the chinaware pieces detected by the Iranian-Japanese historians and archaeologists in an earth survey dowsing in Mahruban archaic site in may 2006 bore testimony to the expansion of the trade that geographically had reached China and temporally had survived until the 14th century. The present article tries to answer the following: Regarding the historical and archaeological evidences، how much was the temporal and local range of chinaware trade in Mahruban port? The hypothesis upon which the research is based is that although with the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate and the collapse of Baghdad as their capital as well as the fall of Isfahan by the Mongol invasion both the sea route of Iraq to India via the Indian Ocean، and the inner Persia’s roads toward Mahruban port were weakened، Mahruban flourished once more in the mid 14th century so that much cotton from the inner Persia was traded for chinaware from the Far East.

Since the death of Xusrō II Parviz in the February of 628 A. D to the coronation of Yazdgerd III in the June of 623 A. D، more than ten kings most of whom were stooges of the powerful Iranian noblemen and king electors and whose genealogies، duration of reigns and even the order by which one succeeded the other are still unknown and unclear ascended to the unstable throne of Sasanid kingdom. One shining example of such historical obscurity is observed in relation with the reign of Gošnasb-deh/ Pērōz Gošnasb-deh and Xwarrah-zād Xusrō/ Farroxzād Xusrō. The major question is whether Gošnasb-deh and Pērōz Gošnasb-deh were the one and the same king and if so and if Pērōz was simply the royal name of Gošnasb-deh، did he come to the throne after the death of Bōrān or after the death of Āzarmīgduxt? One also needs to ask whether Xwarrah-zād Xusrō and Farroxzād Xusrō were the one and the same and if so، did he ascend to the throne after the death of Āzarmīgduxt or after the death of her two successors، Xusrō son of Mīhr-Gošnasb and Pērōz Gošnasb-deh?

Tamerlane، through his three sporadic invasions of Persia (Iran)، India، Syria، Egypt، and Asia Minor، provoked crisis and caused a number of changes in the regions’ political، social، cultural and economic structures. One of his moves was fighting a war with Yildirim Bayezid. This particularly deconstructive war، which can well be considered as a major landmark in both regional and worldwide turmoils that ensued، deserves a close study and extensive research. Applying a historical method and making use of primary sources، the researcher of the present study has attempted to identify the causes and effects of such a historic event. Findings indicate that expansionist measures of Yildirim Bayezid to rush to seize the territory of neighboring Muslim Beyliks and to overrun Kastamonu، his allied emirate، as well as Amasya، Sivas، and Kayseri – all of which disturbed the structural order of the region’s political units and heightened people’s dissatisfaction with him، thus leading to the formation of the circle of opponents abroad – paved the way for the alliance between the opponents and Tamerlane. On the other hand، forming a coalition of Persian Sultans against Tamerlane and assuming its leadership as well as storming into Arzanjan exposed Bayazid to Tamerlane’s blind rage and his territory to his full-scale invasions. In fact، ambassadors who came to the court of Tamerlane from Europe، statesmen who tried to incite his desire for revenge and Bayazid’s scribes and secretaries whose provocative remarks were directed at Tamerlane all contributed to inducing him، a man with more than thirty years of experience in successive victories، to the war’s point of no return

A part of Asvaran as the cavalry of the Sassanid Army joined Muslims. Not only did they continue their military activities in expanding Islamic conquests but also، having resided in Basra and Kufa، played a major role in the political، economical and cultural activities of these cities. At the time of the Ommayyad، they attended the anti-Ommayyad movements also became interested in the intellectual movements against determinism which were favored by the Ommayyad. Due to their support of such anti-Ommayyad movements، a number of Asvaran were sent on exile to the frontiers with Syria. In Syria، they had an important role in the political and cultural changes of the Islamic World.

Sadollah Darvish، one of the reactionaries of the Jungle Movement، is most known to scholars of this field. Although his outstanding positions of authority during the Jungle Movement in Gilan (1920 1921) such as the headship of Rasht’s Constabulary، the military police and Mazandaran''s Red Army as well as his appointment by Mirza Kochak Khan as an ambassador to negotiate with the federal government and Theodor Rothstein، have turned him to one of the leading figures of the Jungle Movement at that time. Yet، disregarding such an important role and performance، scholars have long tended to marginalize Sadollah Darvish as regards the events of that Movement. Strangely enough، his being a non-native as well as lack of scholarly awareness of his political background and fate have all added to the inefficiency of historically objective scientific research done in the field. Having a critical approach towards the memoirs of Sadollah Darvish and matching them against other present documents، the present article aims at studying the causes of his turn to political activities including the Germanophil measures he took in the course of the First World War and his effective presence in the Jungle Movement.

In the sixth decade of the sixth century، during the reign of Khosrow I (Anushiravan)، there occurred a rebellion led by Anushazad، his own son. Although this rebellion broke out at the top of the pyramid of power in the Sasanian era، different sources differ on its nature and the ends to which it was put; some emphasize the pertinacious persistence of the prince on his Christian faith; some relate his leap to seize the throne of his moribund fatherl; Still some other pinpoint prince’s being Zandik and the Mazdakite nature of his rebellion. It seems، however، that some see the marked differences between the sources، the actual event and the time it had occurred i. e. when the king was on his death bed more in favor of the prince’s claim to the throne rather than his Christian faith or being Zandik. Anushazad was the eldest son of Khosrow Anushirvan and his rebellion which ended in his imprisonment and blindness basically excluded him from the list of claimants to the throne and gave Hormozd، an alleged son of the king، an opportunity to come to the throne. This paper attempts to explore the nature of this rebellion.