Historical Sciences Studies

Abstract Guaranteed purchase of wheat to achieve self-sufficiency and to support producers and consumers has been one of the policies implemented by the governments since the era of the first Pahlavi. But sometimes not only have those goals not been met, they have had disastrous consequences. World War II was one of the instances in which the government initiated a monopoly and guaranteed purchase of wheat from landowners and farmers to provide the people with the bread at a reasonable price. But in practice this policy was not implemented properly. The purpose of this article is to investigate the government’s exclusive and guaranteed purchase of wheat during World War II and to study the consequences of this policy. A descriptive-analytical approach is used for this purpose. The study argues that the exclusive purchase of wheat by the owners and farmers at cheap prices and selling it to the consumer at subsidized prices was in favor of the urban consumer and disadvantaged the rural producer and the government. Other consequences of this policy include hoarding wheat, prebuying, farmers’ reluctance to grow wheat, migration to cities, famine, high prices, dependence on foreign imports, and the government’s budget deficit.

Abstract In the history of Iran, the prevalence of infectious diseases has always been one of the main causes of population reduction. These diseases have inflicted serious damages on the economy and society throughout history. Although there is little information about these diseases in the pre-Islamic period in historical texts, there are many detailed reports on the prevalence of infectious diseases, especially plague and cholera, and their mortality rate in the historical texts of the Islamic period; These reports provide valuable information for researchers who focus on this field. In the Safavid period, despite some advancements in general healthcare, and although the central government had established hospitals and healthcare centers, infectious diseases continued to be prevalent and caused huge mortalities; so much so that professional books on infectious diseases and especially on cholera were written in this period. This article seeks to make a historical study on the prevalence of infectious diseases in the Safavid period of Iran to examine the views of religious scholars, historians, physicians and travel book writers on the disease and the cause of its spread, as well as the therapies provided by Iranian and traditional physicians in the treatment of these diseases. Upon examining the historical texts of the Safavid period, it is clear that although most people, historians and clerics of this period thought that divine retribution is the main cause of these diseases, the doctors and a small number of historians believed natural factors such as polluted water and unfavorable weather were the main causes of infectious diseases. Therefore, it can be said that the epistemology and worldview of different social classes has played an important role in their beliefs on the treatment of infectious and contagious diseases.

Abstract Due to its geographical location, Gilan, since the arrival of Islam until the Safavid era, was always under the rule of local families and was not usually under the direct control of the central government. Only in the Safavid period, Shah Abbas I (d. 996-1038 AH/ 1588-1629 AD) put an end to the reign of local governments through the expansion of the influence and domination of the central government over Gilan. Since then, Gilan’s affairs were governed by agents and rulers appointed by the central government. During the reign of Karim Khan Zand (d. 1163-1193 AH/ 1750-1779 AD), Hedayatullah Khan was appointed as the governor of the province, but due to various reasons and factors, his relationship with the central government changed. Through a descriptive-analytical method, this paper seeks to answer the question of why and how Hedayatullah Khan’s relationship with the central government changed. The findings of this study show that Hedayatullah Khan’s relations with the central government were influenced by factors such as the weakness of the central government, the military empowerment of the ruler of Gilan, and the establishment of political and economic relations with the neighboring governments. The ruler of Gilan, by resorting to political, military and economic measures and suppressing the local readers, sought to maintain his power and that of his subordinates against the central government and other political claimants.

Abstract Greco-Persian Wars are among the most important events of ancient history. The most important issue regarding studying these wars has been the scarcity of sources. While no Persian or Asian sources have mentioned these wars, Greek sources have detailed them. Herodotus ends his book with the battle of Mycale and the siege of Sestos (479 BC). Other Greek sources retell scattered accounts on these wars that make it difficult to study them after the Battle of Mycale. It is told that the Achaemenids’ defeat at the Battle of Mycale and Sestos terminated the Persians’ naval presence in the Aegean waters, and the maritime dominance over the main Mediterranean passage to the Black Sea and the western coast of Asia Minor (Ionia) was put an end to. But this article argues that the Achaemenids still had important bases in the Mediterranean sea which enabled them to continue the conflicts up to three decades after the Battle of Mycale until the two sides agreed to a peace called Peace of Callias (449 BC).

Abstract The Gilan Revolutionary Movement (1915-1921) is one of the most important movements in the contemporary history of Iran. It has been constantly discussed by the experts from political and historical perspectives. Over the years, several historical studies have been done on this movement in the form of books, articles, artworks, and literary works by Iranian and non-Iranian writers and researchers. Each of these works contains important points about the emergence of this movement, the causes of its failure, and its leaders’ thoughts and actions, in particular Mirza Kuchik Khan. “Iranian poetry,” or according to Russian Literature researchers “Iranian cycle,” of Velimir Khlebnikov, a prominent twentieth-century poet of Russian literature, are among the works which have been influenced by the Gilan Revolution. The remarkable feature of these poems is that the poet himself was a member of a group of Russian revolutionary speakers and artists who entered Gilan from Baku with Red Army troops and witnessed some of the events of the last years of the Jungle Movement. This article aims to acquaint Iranian audiences with the views of contemporary Russian intellectuals and elites of the Russian Revolution of October of 1917 on this important event in the contemporary history of Iran, the Gilan Revolution, which is said to have been influenced by the Russian Revolution.

Abstract Al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat are among the Arabian ideas which are mentioned in the Quran and which, throughout history, have been studied by many scholars. While the common idea is that these goddesses are “daughters of Allah” or “Banat Allah,” in the vast majority of the early Islamic sources, such a identifiation is not attributed to them and even the daughters of Allah have mostly been specified as angels. This study examines the nature of these goddesses and their relationship with the idea of "daughters of Allah". Considering pre-Quranic sources as well as the verses of the Quran, this study conducts a critical reading of the early Islamic literature.The most important questions are as follows: who are al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat? How are they introduced in pre-Quranic sources, the Quran, and the early Islamic sources? What is the relationship between these Arabian goddesses and the idea of "daughters of Allah" in each of these sources? And how these sources help us to understand the nature of these deities? The findings of this study indicate that although the Arabian goddesses are not referred to as "daughters of Allah" in the Quran and pre-Quranic sources, given the contradictions and differences in the early Muslims Material, this belief can be considered possible among pre-Islamic Arabs.

Abstract This article touches at a somewhat neglected aspect of traditional local governments in Iran. Financial resources seem to play a pivotal role in the formation of any local power. The article focuses on a case of local government in precolonial southern Caucasia, i.e. the Khanate of Shirvan, one of those several local Iranian rules in southern Caucasia which was annihilated after Tsarist Russia’s conquest of the region. Central to this study is the nature and quality of the economic resources available to the local governor as well as the mechanism through which he managed these resources to maintain and exert his power. The main reason behind this selection is the publication of “The 1820 Russian Survey of Shirvan Khanate.” This invaluable source gives us a wealth of statistical data on the financial resources of Shirvan Khanate before its annexation to Tsarist Russia. These data are analyzed within a socioeconomic framework to determine the amount of financial resources available to the Khan. This study demonstrates that the Khans of Shirvan enjoyed an advantageous position as they held control of considerable economic resources and these resources were of crucial importance for their local rule.

Abstract One of the challenges of the constitutional movement was the drafting and approval of the Constitution. Based on the second article of the amendment to the Constitution, five qualified mujtahids were responsible for legislative processes. During the drafting of the constitution, Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri proposed the supervision of a board of mujtahids. It was approved by the legislators as the second article of the amendment to the constitution. The question is why the intellectual faction of the first National Consultative Assembly, who insisted on the separation of religion from politics and opposed to the interference of mullahs in politics, accepted this article which allowed the supervision of a number of mullahs on parliamentary bills. This paper claims that the intellectual faction did not approve of this supervision, but they accepted it only because they intended to silence the religionists. It argues that the legislators of the intellectual faction were in fact forced to accept the supervision of mullahs on the parliamentary bills since they were under the pressure of the religionists outside and inside the parliament who would have accused them of being Baha’is or atheists if they had showed any disagreement with Nouri’s proposition.

Abstract Bernard Lewis was a contemporary Orientalist and a theorist in the field of history of Islam. He has authored many books and articles on this subject. Studying the history of Islam, he concludes that the unity of the Islamic society must be destroyed and the great countries of the Middle East must be divided into smaller countries that have less power and serve the interests of the West. This has become known as the New Middle East theory among researchers. In this study, all of Lewis’s written and oral works are analyzed. The results of this research show that he intends to create a balance of power between the countries and even between Islam, Judaism and Christianity by adopting two strategies: Westernization and disintegration of the Middle East based on the accepted characteristics of Westerners such as patriotism and democracy. In this regard, he proposes that Western countries, especially the United States, should try to overthrow and reduce the influence of domestic and foreign hegemonies in the region, including Russia, Iran, and Iraq. He initially proposed this theory using historiographical methods, but towards the end of his life encouraged Western countries to wage war and create chaos in the region and to confront the Islamic society.

Abstract Persians, as cultural and economic mediators between the east and west, caused cultural exchanges between China and the western world. Up to the 16th century, Chinese culture and civilization was introduced to the west from Persians’ points of view. Persian merchants travelled to China regularly and played the main role in the cultural and economic exchanges between these two countries. Travellers and merchants’ information entered geographical, historical, and literary texts and was transferred from generation to generation for centuries. One of the most important aspects of this cultural exchange are Chinese toponyms which were transferred to western texts through Persian and Arabic texts. Most of these toponyms went through phonetic and semantic changes and entered western texts in Persian or Arabic forms. On the other hand, Chinese toponyms, because of their phonetic features, were recorded with different spellings, so these toponyms were recorded in various forms in Islamic texts. This has caused difficulties for researchers; therefore, any information about the location of Chinese toponyms is of crucial importance. “Māchin” and “Khίtā” are two of these toponyms. They are often used in Islamic text and are key terms in Muslims’ geography. In spite of the extensive use of these two toponyms in historical, geographical, and literary texts, no research has been done on them and, thus, Muslim geographers and historians’ understanding of them remains unclear. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to study the geographical, historical, and astronomical texts of Muslims in order to examine their geographical conception of these two toponyms.