فصلنامه پژوهش های تاریخی
سال چهارم شماره 4 (پیاپی 16، زمستان 1391)

Bilankuh or Valyankui is one of the historic neighborhoods in Tabriz. This neighborhood is known with the name"Bilankuh" since Tabrizian dignitaries and sages are buried there. Their graves in Bilankuh have always been of special importance; the graves of nobles such as Akhisa`d al-Din (the well-known sage of the sixth century), Kamal al-Din Mas`udKhujandi (the poet and sage of the eighth century), Kamal al-Din BehzadHarati (the great writer of the tenth century) and so on are located in the neighborhood. In Ilkhani Period, a collegiate town called Rab-e-Rashidi was established there by Khaje Rashid al-Din Fazl Allah Hamadani and doubled its importance. Hence, the 14th AD century is considered as the era of boom and prosperity. This area has also been taken into consideration during the following eras. The existence of various valuable works and monuments related to different historic phases reveals the significance of the neighborhood. The sages and dignitaries` attention to the area, especially from the 12th AD century on, made them have their graves and shrines placed there. Therefore, presenting the results of field studies about the remains and traces of these graves and monuments is one of the main aims of this article.

After the vicissitudinous relations between Iran and Ottoman during the Safavid and Afshar dynasties, such relations continued even during the Qajar dynasty. Meanwhile, the factors affecting the relations between the two countries, from the beginning of the formation of the Safavid government to the extinction of Qajar, were more or less the same: 1. the importance of holy shrines. 2. Pilgrims and 3. Kurds who have been referred to, in some texts, as frontier nomads are the three most important factors. In the areas of modern Iraq where Kurds inhabit, Babanemirate was located and at the beginning of the Qajar dynasty, Abd al-Rahman Pasha governed there. For about three decades, he ruled over one of the most significant regions between the two countries, as an Ottoman emir, but with an Iran-oriented approach. During his kingdom, he came as a refugee to Iran several times and was supported by Fath Ali Shah to get back to power again. Correspondences between authoritative Iranian and Ottoman statesmen in order to support him, campaigns and fights for and against him, and the actions done in Iran in respect of him all emphasize his important status and reputation in Iran. Abd al-Rahman Pasha`s interest in, from one side, and Iran`s supportive activities towards him, from the other side, are of critical importance because of several reasons: he ruled over some parts of Ottoman territory and Baban as a frontier region, he used to pay tax to Iran for a short period of time and his interest in Iran was considered ungracious and unforgivable to Ottomans. For all these reasons, the relations between the two countries (obedience and disobedience of the Pasha of Baban) are valuable issues.

The issue of succession as one of the enduring issues in the history of Iran has had lots of implications and reflections on political, social, and economic arenas of the country. This article attempts to evaluate and analyze one of the outcomes of the issue of succession, e.g. removing and murdering Qajar ministers, in the context of political culture and in relation with the issue mentioned. The present article, taking advantage of a new approach, starts with an answer to the question: “why did the issue of succession during Qajar dynasty led to removing ministers who had a hand in the process of succession?.” The hypothesis proposed in this article is: the issue of succession and interference of Qajar ministers, regarding political distrust existing in the political culture of Iran, made the Qajar kings suspect and mistrust their ministers and be afraid of losing their own position; all these matters ended to murdering the ministers as a result of the issue of succession and political distrust.

After the Europeans presented the idea of constructing railroad in Iran in the era of Nasseri, some Iranian scholars considered the issue and not only defined the necessities, advantages, and the way the work should be done but also made a direct relation between railroad and progress and development of the Iranian society, in their plans and thoughts. The relation between the railroad and progress mentioned in the written records of these scholars is an issue that is studied in with an analytic method in this article, taking advantage of the works and plans left behind by scholars in Akhtar newspaper, texts and documents. Finally, the Question “what role did the Iranian scholars define for the railroad in entering the era of colonialism?” is answered.

During the previous periods of Iran`s judicial system, sages and clergymen always had the position to judge. The matter became more serious after shi`ism became official in Safavid period. After Pahalavi dynasty took the power, modernization penetrated all aspects and elements of the country; consequently, the traditional judicial system based on conventions and religious law was not protected against modernization. Such changes in the official and executive structure of the country resulted in reactions from people and, especially, sages and clergymen, specifically in the judicial system where Shia clergymen traditionally used to consider their own responsible for judging. As Pahlavi government took an approach to steer clear of a religious judicial system and turn to a conventional judicial system, it faced more resistance from them. The present article seeks to reveal what special campaign those who were influential in renovating the judicial system had and how that ended to the codification of civil law based on Jafari jurisprudence.

India was one of the most significant commercial copartners of Iran, especially during the late Safavid Period. In spite of that, the reasons for the growth of trade exchanges, the amount of export and import, and the quantity of the commercial interactions between the two countries in this period are not studied comprehensively. In the period, lots of merchants, factors, and various minorities who had a hand in ports, cities and business centers of the two countries were settled and then formed a huge cycle of exchange. Based on what is mentioned, several fundamental questions are raised: how was the formation of the ethnic structure involved in the commercial cycle of the two countries and what role did it play in this process? Of whom did the ethnic structure involved in the commercial cycle of the two countries consist? What role did they play in this process? And what kinds of goods of what amount and volume did they exchange? In order to figure out such issues, first of all, the composition of these ethnic groups and the quantity of their involvement are investigated and then the type of goods exchanged, the volume of the two countries` exports and imports, and barriers existed in their commercial process have been studied. The studies reveal that a great mass of various types of goods were exchanged, especially by the merchants who were of different religious minorities. Besides, business interactions with India had a growing process until the time Iran`s strict policies dominated the exports and imports. But, during the last years of Safavid kingdom, because of several reasons mentioned in the next pars, the process gradually deteriorated.

The historic precinct called SangBast is located in 35 Km away from the south of Mashhad. The area includes remains of a ruined city surrounded by a defensive wall and a moat around that. There is a collection of dilapidated buildings out of the boundaries of this city, around the tomb belonged to ArsalanJazeb who was the ruler of Tous during the kingdom of Sultan Mohammad Ghaznavid (998-1030 AD). In this article, the objective is to pay special attention to Arsalan Hazeb`s tomb as a part of a chamber-like mosque, among a collection of welfare buildings that seem to have been built by him. Furthermore, the usage of the buildings in the texture surrounding the tomb and the way they are related to each other are analyzed.