فصلنامه مطالعات فرهنگی اجتماعی خراسان
پیاپی 4 (بهار و تابستان 1386)

The history of medicine is one of the most ancient histories of the nations and using curing methods undoubtedly precedes the compilation of history and is as old as the man’s genesis. Due to having different climates, Iran has a history of more than thousand years in traditional medicine and plant therapy; and different medical plants are available all over the country. Traditional medicine has a long history in Birjand as well and dates back to Achaemenians as Herodotus states. While presenting the history of medicine, the present study introduces different medical plants as well as the illnesses and the way they are treated. Using other means such as religious beliefs and spiritual inspirations (prayers, alms, vows) to cure illnesses are also discussed.

Man and his culture move arm in arm and this accompaniment is both important and complex but is considered as a simple phenomenon. This is partly due to diminishing the role of culture and denying its strength and partly due to the methods and tools used to consider culture. The present study tries to show that although public culture and administrative culture are different, they have something in common. Both have a deep and complex structure, convey different concepts, and include different levels. Behaviours, values and basic hypotheses are three levels considered in this study to determine the significance of the culture and its effect on social life and administrative culture. The significant role culture plays in regional development with regard to ten-level criteria can be determined through conducting qualitative studies.

Since education has got a high position in different societies and is a key to development, this study compares tradition and modernism in Iran during constitution through presenting women’s obstacles in establishing modern girls’ schools. The study tries to show that despite the fact that Iran had an access to western technology during Qajar, lack of both strong cultural foundation and appropriate traditions caused fundamental problems in women’s education. Having an established cultural foundation could undoubtedly speed up education process.

The most important, effective, and useful event happening in Iran after constitution was the establishment of new schools. Before that, the educational system in Iran was a traditional one and some old schools in religious education were also running. South Khorasan was also affected by constitutional revolution and the first school called Shokatieh was established in Birjand and some other areas in Ghaenat by Mohammad Ibrahim Khan Alam known as Shokat- Al- Molk in 1325 A. H. It was the first school established in Khorasan province and in the east of Iran. This study tries to show the formation, development, and the managing system of Shokatieh schools in Birjand and to consider factors affecting their establishment. This is a documentary study and most information is taken from documents in the archive of Astan Ghods Razavi central library.

The present study considers some poems and proverbs to depict the people’s attitudes regarding material life and eternal life and the factors affecting their attitudes through looking at regional legends. Two kinds of attitudes to material life and eternal life, temporary and permanent, have been taken into account. Temporary attitudes characterize people’s hopelessness and lack of confidence to material life and result from some historical events such as tribal invasion, or natural disasters such as earthquake, incurable diseases, etc. Permanent attitudes stem from cultural, religious, and traditional nature of the people in the region. The advantage of this attitude is having a positive tendency to material life and a strong belief in eternal life.

Endowment is an admirable Islamic tradition having different functions in the society. It has been a great help for some years for the low-income people in the society and giving breakfast to fasting people is a good example. This study tries to figure out the endowed properties dedicated to this in Birjand, Sarbisheh, and Darmian. The results show that during 1209-1405 A. H., 21 endowed properties have been spent to feed fasting people.

The increasing process of urbanisation in recent decades, along with extensive rural emigration as well as the economic, social, and political changes are the most important factors creating an uneven urban system in the whole country and in south Khorasan province. A tendency to urbanization has caused an uneven distribution of urban system and network and has led to intensive regional inequality. A scientific and hierarchical distribution of urban systems can make a consistently developed environment. The present study tries to determine the status of different cities in south Khorasan with regard to the province urban system to find the most convenient solution to make an equal distribution of population in the urban system.

Folkloric resources in big Khorasan province is very rich as a result of existing different tribes having various traditions and proverbs. Khorasan tribes’ folkloric culture is a precious source originating from their ancestors’ thoughts and morals so that this culture has surrounded the peoples’ lives and traditions at present. Proverbs express some pure and rich points as metanomy. Each proverb has two or more meanings including different aspects. Most proverbs express some historical events as well as people’s mental status and include literary, economic, and allegorical aspects written in a polyphonic prose affected by the decent accent of the region. This study tries to consider the proverbs used in Khoosf area in a local accent and to analyse them socially and psychologically.

Ibn Hesam was born in the ninth century in Khoosf village, which is now a town near Birjand, and his tomb is a sacred place for Gnostics. Although all Muslim poets have composed poems to praise god and prophet Mohammad, there are a few who have been seriously dealing with religious issues including Naser Khosrow Ghobadiani, Molavi, Saadi, Atar, ….Ibn Hesam is the first poet who devotes 95 percent of his poems to religious issues such as Islam history, prophet Mohammad’s life, great people living during prophet Mohammad’s life, the reasons for prophet Mohammad’s prophecy, and praising prophet Mohammad, imam Ali, Fatemeh, and other infallible imams. His long couplet-poem, Khavaran nameh, is also the most famous religious work. Ibn Hesam had a very simple rural life and was living on farming. He did not have enough money even to provide some papers and he has written some of his poems on his shovel-handle. He has complained the inequalities and oppression in his society for so many times. He has composed his poems without any expectations and only for his real love to god, Quran, prophet Mohammad, infallible imams, and the people. He has had a very pious life and, therefore, has never had any relation with the royal court and the courtiers and has even criticised them every now and then for what they had been doing.