فصلنامه تاریخ روابط خارجی
پیاپی 52-53 (پاییز و زمستان 1391)

The current article seeks to study ‘women endowments in Iran and Anatolia’ and is centered on three main axes, ‘Endowment’, ‘Women’, and ‘Similarities between the Safavid and the Ottoman’. Safavid dynasty and the Ottoman Empire create similar circumstances in Iran and Anatolia under which the economies flourished and that caused the sultans to express their benevolence in the form of social endowments. At the time, a climax was observed in terms of endowments to an extent that even the middle class was inclined towards it. Due to this vast social inclination towards this issue, some administrative bodies were constituted to manage the huge flow of endowments, one body for the royal endowments and another for the public ones. This atmosphere and the reports that show their affluence set the stage for women social and economic participation in endowments.

The first Iranian inhabitants of Anatolia date back to the establishment of the Ottoman state in the 14th century. After the Safavid-Ottoman battles which resulted in the annexation of the Arabic territories to the Ottoman Empire, there was a rise in the number of the Iranians who went on pilgrimage to Iran and Hejaz. Since the beginning of the 18th century and in the wake of Iran-Ottoman bloody battles, trade obstacles were removed and the trade routes, which had been barred for more than two centuries, were opened. As a result, the majority of Iranian merchants used Asia Minor trade routes instead of those in the Persian Gulf and Russia. The trade activities through Asia Minor routes made the intermediary merchant settle in the Ottoman Empire.From the very beginning, the Iranian community living in the Ottoman Empire was at odds with the policies exerted by the Ottoman rulers. During the Safavid dynasty, the hostility between the two countries was reflected in the status of Iranian community living in the Ottoman territory. During the rule of the Qajars, the rights of Iran as an Islamic country was recognized semi-officially in the Ottoman Empire, a situation which had a huge impact on the Iranian diaspora in the Ottoman territories.Perusing the huge amount of documents pertaining to that era, its seems that Iranian community in the Ottoman Empire was mainly exposed to the following difficulties: 1- excruciating unfair taxes on Iranian pilgrims in the Ottoman territoty, 2- imposing a ransom (Jazzieh) on Iranians who were considered among the ‘Zemme’ community, 3- expropriation of the deceased Iranians in the Ottoman territory, 4- Issuing decrees on inviting the Iranians to the Asgari sect, 5- banning the marriage of Iranian men to Ottoman women. The paper seeks to assess the five axes mentioned above through referring to Iranian and Ottoman resources and authentic resources and analyze the Ottoman policy towards these issues and finally study the impact of Iran-Ottoman relations on the Iranian diaspora in Istanbul.

During the 19th century a significant number of Iranians commuted to the Ottoman Turkey or even lived there. In the texts and documents of the Qajar era we can find a multitude of data on the Ottoman Turkey which reflect the various civilizational and cultural situations of that time. It is very important to have scientific approach towards collecting, compiling and analyzing this data as a means to better understanding the circumstances under which modernization burgeoned in the two countries. The books of travel of itinerary accounts written by the travelers of that time contain a huge amount of detailed descriptions about the Ottoman Turkey of the time. The current article undertakes to assess Mirza Saleh Shirza’s book of travel which is important with regard to the first penetration of modern thought into Iran. As the reader can follow the prosperity and progress of Russia and England in the accounts given by Mirza Saleh in his book of travel, he can also observe the decline of the Ottoman Empire after its zenith.

The interaction between the internal and external factors of Iran’s Foreign Policy in the 16th century which coincided with the country’s rise to power promoted the foreign policy. It wasn’t until the 19th century when Iran encountered the European political power. The interventions in this era were mainly related to Iran-Turkey conflicts and a short period of engagement with Russia. Iranian Foreign Policy in this era was mostly aimed at reinvigorating the country’s past glory and magnificence of the 16th century. Especially in the 18th century when the country faced its sorrowful collapse and were defeated in many battles. Dr. Ramezani has employed the dynamic trilateral model theory for analyzing the Safavid foreign relations from the rise to its final decline and the rule of Nadir Shah. He has a realistic approach and concentrates on the centrality of Iran-Ottoman relations in order to assess the decline of the Safavid dynasty. The text is from the first chapter of the ‘Iran’s Foreign Policy, from 1500 to 1941 written by Dr. Rouhollah Ramezani.

As documented in many Iranian and Ottoman historical resources, the 16th and 17th century conflicts and rivalries between Iran and the Ottoman Empire were heavily tainted by ideological and religious trends. Leafing through historical accounts of the battles that the two countries waged one could clearly observe fanatical literature profoundly rooted in ideology. To some extent, the role of ideology in forming the relations between Iran and the Ottomans and the deepening of rivalries is reflected in this resources. The ideology lost its weight in mutual relations of the next centuries and was replaced by a diplomatic framework of mutual respect. Osman Pasha History is among the resources which reflects the ideological atmosphere reigning over the mutual relation between Iran and the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. Hence, the book stands as an ideal historical resource for understanding the ideological atmosphere that permeated the 16th century and formed the mutual relations between the two countries.

Tanzimat was the reformist movement in the Ottoman Empire. Amir Kabir’s embassy in Erzurum and a year prior to his removal from the embassy corresponded to one term of Mustafa Rashid Pasha’s chancellery. During his embassy in the Ottoman Empire, Amir Kabir took advantage of his time to closely observe the developments. He was acquainted with Mustafa Rashid Pasha, the reformation architect in the Ottoman Empire, and for that reason he made references to the reforms in the Ottoman Empire when he embarked upon his reformation in Iran. After his short chancellery and his untimely death, the reformations that Amir had started were aborted and he couldn’t reap the valuable results of his work.After Amir’s death, Mirza Aghakhan Nouri reigned over the country during two dark decades, and then Mirza Hossein Khan Sepahsalar was assigned as chancellor. Prior to becoming the chancellor of Iran, Sepahsalar had served in the Ottoman Empire as the Minister Plenipotentiary of Iran for 12 years and was a close observer of social and political developments. He was affected by the Tanzimat movement during his ministry there. Mirza Malkam Khan Nazemoddoleh was another Iranian intellectual politicians who was affected by the Ottoman developments inspired by the Tanzimat movement.The three Iranian statesmen mentioned above had closely observed the developments in the Ottoman Empire and were perhaps affected by it. In this paper, after a short literature review, we will evaluate and analyze them through analytical and critical method and will assess the extent to which the three statesmen were affected by the development during Tanzimat era.

Following the breakup of the Great Seljuq Empire, the descendants of Soleiman ben Ghatlemish (a branch of Seljuqs’ royal family) exerted control over some parts of Asia Minor and founded the Seljuk Dynasty. The dynasty, much like most of eastern Islamic rules, could not withstand the massive Mongol invasions and were ultimately subjugated to the Ilkhanates. Rich natural resources in Anatolia and its vast revenues drove the Ilkanate relations with the semi-independent state of Rum Seljuqs towards economic grounds. This economic approach affected other areas of mutual relations, in a way that the Rum Seljuqs lost their political independence in the beginning and later on their bureaucratic and economic control waned and by the 8th century (Hijri calendar) they had given way to the Turk invaders. The nature of economic relations with the Ilkhanates affected the social and political situation in Asia Minor

After the First World War, Iran and the Ottomans were afflicted with vast internal problems and external threats. International great powers’ intentions of redefining the political map of the Middle East, and the attempts of the ethnic and religious groups who didn’t have independent states of their own to take advantage of this opportunity, posed serious challenges to Iran and the Ottomans. The mains burgeoning stage of these challenges were the Northwest Iran and East Anatolia. With Turk nationalist consolidating their position in the Anatolia, Iranian statesmen, headed by Ahmad Qavam, sought to interact with the Ankara government. During the fateful era of 1919 to 1925 which witnessed the establishment of new political systems in Iran and Turkey, the Kurd issues and Iran’s concern over pan Turk activities in Azerbaijan State were the main influential factor in mutual relation. These issues persisted through the time when Reza Khan was the prime minister and into his monarchy.

Studying the mutual relations between Iran and Turkey is of great importance specifically with regard to their geopolitical position and regional status, cultural and religious commonalities, values and similar lifestyle, understanding of each other’s civilization, history, religion and promoting societal relations between the countries. Literature, culture and art are perhaps the perfect entrance for studying the issue. As Herodotus once said; history is an attempt at preserving the documents and deeds of great people to save them from oblivion and for that reason the article seeks to study the lives of influential people who have been important in the consolidation and promotion of mutual ties and will provide us with the opportunity to unveil the truth of history. With that background in mind, the authors have assessed the biographies and historical accounts related to the influential figures. However, given the need for brevity in writing and limited time, the biographies mentioned in this article (Evelyn and Samin Baghtcheban) have been reduced to their brief account on the historical circumstances of their time, their ideas and commentaries. The hope remains that there will come a day when Iranian and Turk researcher work on common grounds and compile the biographies of these figures who are influential persons in the two countries’ mutual relations and present them in elegant volumes which will be an enduring treasure for future generation.

The current paper seeks to study the mutual ties between Iran and Turkey in different epochs. The main discussion presented in the paper is that Iran and Turkey are two important regional actors of different roles and influence, which at the same time are complementary to one another, and whose influence and power in the region have been consolidated in the course of history. As a result of contemporary changes in the geopolitics of the Middle East there have been ups and downs in Iran-Turkey mutual relations. It is safe to say that the relations between Iran and Turkey, in a historical perspective from the Safavid dynasty to the present time, have always been that of confrontation, opportunistic maneuvers, cooperation and also mirrored regional conflict and rivalries. Despite political, cultural and economic heterogeneity and divergent factors in the mutual relations, the two countries have always observed the terms of peaceful coexistence and amity and have held extensive interactions and cooperation in different areas. However in some historical period cooperation and convergence have been more outstanding in the mutual relations.

The history of interaction between the Iranian and Turkish elements in Iraq dates back to the age of Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasid caliphs employed Turkish slaves, as a counterpart for Iranian bureaucrats, to create proportionate political atmosphere in their caliphate court. Despite the passing of many centuries, Iraq turned out to be a land where Iranian and Turkish policies went through phases of encounter, rivalry and occasionally cooperation.Nowadays, with the sweeping change in Iraqi political system and the collapse of Baghdad, those old relations has started to resurface once again. The article seeks to study the closest historical period in the light of archived documents and prepare a report on the current status of relations.