Historical Sciences Studies

Abstract The present study examines the relationship between “living memory” and “official history” in the context of intellectual, cultural, and identity developments in modern and postmodern societies. The central issue of the research is the conflict between lived memories and informal narratives of marginalized groups and official memory organized by political and cultural institutions; a memory that, in the process of modern nation-building, has transformed history into an ideological tool for representing a homogeneous past and marginalized diverse memories. The present study, drawing on Pierre Nora’s theoretical framework of “lieux de mémoire” (sites of memory) and employing the method of critical discourse analysis, offers a new perspective on history. It explores the relationship between memory, history, and sites of memory, and examines the capacity of these sites to represent, revive, and sustain suppressed memories. The results show that the memory-making policies of modern states-nations have turned history into a tool for consolidating power and dominant discourse by marginalizing the memories of minority groups.in response to this trend," sites of memory"can provide a means to grasp the true past and maintain continuity with it. In addition to reconstructing collective identity, the sites can also offer the opportunity to resist historical amnesia, revive neglected narratives and marginalized voices,thereby preserving plural collective memory against dominant official histories. The main achievement of the research is to highlight the role of memory sites in reviving multilayered narratives, confronting historical homogenization, and providing a critical framework for reinterpreting cultural identity and fostering polyphonic historiography; which allows for a deeper and multidimensional understanding of the process of memory-making and historical representation

Abstract The present study, entitled “A Comparative Study of the Narrative of Shah Abbas’s Confrontation with the Nuqtavis in Safavid Sources,” seeks to compare the accounts of Khuzani and three other historians of this period, in order to reveal the unique information contained in their reports as well as the aspects of similarity and difference among their narratives. The aim is to determine how the comparative analysis of these sources leads to the emergence of diverse interpretations concerning the Nuqtavi affair and to the formation of contradictory understandings in the reader’s mind. The Nuqtavi order was founded in 800 AH by Mahmud Pasikhani, and its activity continued during the Safavid era; as signs of their cooperation with the Nizari Muhammad-Shahi sect can be observed during the reign of  Isma‘il and The reign of Tahmasp was accompanied by his violent treatment of the Nuqtavis. regarding the reign of Shah Abbas, it must be said that each historian of this period reflected the story of the Shah’s confrontation with the Nuqtavis in his own manner. Among them, Khuzani’s narrative has not been considered in any of the previous scholarly studies. The findings of this research indicate that Khuzani offers a unique narrative in such cases as the key role of ‘Inayat-Kal Isfahani in dealing with the Nuqtavis, mentioning the scholars present at the trial of Darvish Khosrow, and depicting the massacre of the Nuqtavis of Qazvin. Furthermore, with regard to the introduction of their narratives and issues such as Shah Abbas’s alleged inclination toward the Nuqtavi order, the way in which he became aware of their deviations, the chronology of related events, the method of proving Darvish Khosrow’s guilt in court and the selection of Yusufi Tarkeshdoz for kingship, there exist similarities and differences between Khuzani’s account and those of other historians. Ultimately, the author of this study argues that the fading of ideological prejudices over time and Khuzani’s lack of fear of the Safavid political apparatus—due to his residence in India—gave him the opportunity to present the event with a more realistic and independent perspective compared to the other three sources.

Abstract This study offers a critical discourse analysis of the 1953 Iranian coup through Foucault's power-knowledge framework, examining how three competing narratives_the Pahlavi regime's official version, the American political establishment's classified accounts, and revolutionary counter-narratives_constructed fundamentally different historical truths. The research demonstrates how each discourse developed distinct mechanisms for producing and legitimizing knowledge: the Pahlavi state employed institutionalized history-writing committees and educational censorship to promote its "national uprising" narrative; American authorities utilized sophisticated document classification systems and strategic disclosure timelines to frame events within Cold War geopolitics; while revolutionary forces created alternative epistemological spaces through underground cassette tapes and samizdat publications that reinterpreted the coup as anti-imperialist resistance. These findings reveal how historical truth emerges not from objective facts but from complex power struggles over representation, where control of narrative production becomes instrumental in shaping collective memory and political legitimacy. The study highlights the dynamic interplay between dominant knowledge systems and resistant counter-memories, showing how marginalized groups can challenge hegemonic historical accounts through innovative dissemination strategies. By comparing these competing truth regimes_their validation criteria, authentication protocols, and dissemination channels_the research provides a nuanced understanding of how power operates through knowledge production, offering broader insights into the political nature of historical consciousness and the contested processes through which societies construct meaning from past events

Abstract Investigating ancient musical traditions, specifically within the Elamite civilization, is inherently complex due to the paucity of extant textual documentation. Despite Elam’s two millennia of profound cultural synthesis with neighboring powers—including Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, and the Achaemenid Empire—it remains an under-represented domain in the historiography of Iranian music, with prior research largely confined to organological descriptions and basic functional roles of instruments. Adopting a descriptive-analytical framework and comparative methodology, this study integrates material culture—such as reliefs, glyptic arts (seals), inscriptions, and surviving artifacts—with archival data and cross-cultural analyses. This research scrutinizes fundamental inquiries into instrument morphology, plectrum techniques, tuning systems, ensemble configurations, and the prevailing musical textures of Elam. By postulating hypotheses regarding melodic texture (monophony vs. heterophony), potential scalar systems (tetrachordal and heptatonic), and the occurrence of the tritone interval within Mesopotamian modal structures, this paper seeks to reconstruct a nuanced perspective of the Elamite soundscape. The findings demonstrate that Elamite music was a highly structured, ritualistic practice; through a rigorous re-interpretation of iconographic and archaeological evidence, a viable reconstruction of this ancient musical heritage is achieved.

Abstract In the mid-twentieth century, as state archaeologists unearthed Persepolis and the Pahlavi regime cast the site as a symbol of Iran’s pre-Islamic grandeur, the director of Shiraz’s National Library was composing a different kind of monument. Ali-Akbar Basiri’s Secrets of Persepolis, a lengthy narrative poetry written in Persian, reframed the Achaemenid site not as a symbol of secular nationalism, but as a spiritual landscape animated by Sufi metaphysics. In Basiri’s poem, the architectural layout of Persepolis becomes a spiritual topography: each palace represents a distinct stage on the path toward perfection. Darius, imagined as an embodiment of the insān-i kāmil, serves as the poet’s guide along this journey, which is illuminated by the Prophet and Imam ʿAlī. Written after the 1953 coup, during a period of ideological fracture and renewed debates over national identity, Basiri’s work quietly challenged the dichotomy between Iran’s Islamic and pre-Islamic pasts. Drawing on his connections to Shiraz’s literary and intellectual circles, as well as his proximity to ongoing archaeological discoveries, Basiri composed a vision of Iranian identity that neither glorified ancient kingship nor dismissed it, but sought to reconcile it with the language of mystical unity. This article situates Secrets of Persepolis within the larger landscape of Pahlavi-era cultural politics and examines how the poem embodies a syncretic effort to bridge divided temporalities. The article thus contributes to three overlapping fields: first, the study of nationalism and identity in twentieth-century Iran; second, the reception of antiquity in Islamic cultural contexts; and third, the role of mystical literature in modern Iranian intellectual history. By situating Secrets of Persepolis alongside both earlier Islamic texts and contemporaneous nationalist projects, the study highlights the poem’s role in mediating a longstanding cultural tension between two overlapping but often compartmentalized pasts

Abstract The historical sources rarely mention music and instruments during the Parthian period. Archaeological evidence reveals the existence of several musical instruments in the Parthian period. The influence of Achaemenian and Greek art and culture can be seen in the music of the Parthian period. yet, there is no precise information about female musicians and their position. But, archaeological evidence shows women as musical instrument players. Depictions of female musicians in archaeological evidence are sources for studying the position of women in music. The purpose of this research is to understand the position of women in the music and society of the Parthian period and their instruments. Another goal of this research is to identify the instruments used by women during this period. The most important questions of this research are: What musical instruments did women use during the Parthian period? What was their status and role in Parthian society? This research has a descriptive-analytical approach. its data gathered from various library resources. The results of this research say that women played an active role in musical activities. According to terracotta, wall paintings, Nisa rhytons and reliefs, women played music alone or with men. Women were more active during the Parthian period than in previous periods (Elamite, Achaemenid and Seleucid period). Archaeological evidences have been discovered from of Susa, Bard e Neshāndeh, Nisa, Dalverzin Tepe, Airtam, Nippur, Babylon, Uruk, Hatra, Dura-Europos, Seleucia, and Olbia. They in playing stringed instruments (harp, string, and lute), percussion instruments (tambourine, cymbal and castant), and wind instruments (flute, reed and double reeds). It also seems that female musicians are only shown playing certain instruments, which could indicate that women are more skilled in those instruments than male. According to available sources, women played instruments as musician, singer, and dancer in religious ceremonies, feasts, and celebrations after victories

Abstract The book Mirsad al-'Ibad by Najm al-Din Razi is a mystical work encompassing ethical and political themes. Drawing inspiration from the concept of divine charisma (farr-e izadi) and Islamic political thought, Razi presents the king as the shadow of God and His divine vicegerent on earth, who, through mystical practice, attains the ethical and spiritual qualities necessary to achieve divine approval. Unlike the world-rejecting approach of some Sufis, Razi emphasizes the king’s role in reconstructing socio-political order amid the crises of the Islamic Middle Ages, particularly the Mongol invasions. In pre-Islamic Iran, the concept of kingship, centered on farr-e izadi, portrayed kings as representatives of God, granting them political legitimacy within the framework of Iranshahri thought. After the advent of Islam, Iranian elites integrated this concept with Islamic intellectual and political principles, adapting and perpetuating it. This study, focusing on the first chapter of the fifth Baba of Mirsad al-'Ibad and employing a descriptive-analytical approach, examines Razi’s politico-mystical thought within the framework of Islamic epistemology, the Ash'ari school, and Iranshahri traditions. The findings indicate that Najm al-Din Razi, by synthesizing religious and mystical concepts, proposes an idealized model of kingship that not only addresses the administration of justice and the establishment of social order but also redefines the ruler as a spiritual wayfarer on the path to divine proximity

Abstract Toponymy, as a key branch of historical geography, plays a significant role in analyzing spatial and cultural transformations in human societies. Place names serve as essential tools for gaining deeper insights into the complex relationship between humans and their environment throughout history, reflecting cultural changes, population movements, and socio-political transformations over the centuries. Focusing on the toponyms Suraq, Duraq, Falāḥīyeh, and Shādegān in southern Khuzestan, this study highlights, on the one hand, the capacity of toponymic studies to reconstruct spatio-historical developments and, on the other, their value in revealing the inseparable ties between spatial identity, natural factors, and socio-political processes. The main goal of this research is to reassess part of Khuzestan’s territorial history by tracing the historical background, spatial changes, and semantic connections of these four toponyms, in order to answer whether they refer to distinct locations across different historical periods or to a shared geographical context. The study employs a comparative analysis of Syriac, Greek, and Arabic geographical-historical texts, travel accounts, geographic coordinates, historical maps, and archaeological evidence. The integrated data indicate that these place names have undergone multiple spatial and temporal transformations from antiquity to the present. Based on archaeological, linguistic, historical, and geomorphological evidence, four key locations have been identified: Tel Tendy and Ja Nišīn (as the probable sites of ancient Suraq and Duraq in present-day Rāmshīr County), the village of Madīneh (as Old Duraq in Shādegān County), and Falāḥīyeh (as New Duraq and the original nucleus of modern Shādegān). These areas appear to have shifted gradually from east to west and then southwest along the Jarrāḥī River over time, due to environmental changes—such as the evolution of alluvial fans—and human interventions. While the available data shed partial light on these transformations, the limited extent of previous research and the destruction of many sites in recent decades underline the need for targeted archaeological surveys, satellite imagery analysis, and interdisciplinary approaches to either confirm or revise these hypotheses.

Abstract This study investigates the process of transition and the adoption of modern smallpox treatment methods in Qajar-era Iran. Prior to the introduction of Western medical practices, understanding, prevention, and treatment of smallpox were predominantly grounded in humoral theory, religious doctrines, and popular traditions. Practitioners attempted to manage the disease by integrating theoretical medical knowledge with practical experience; however, these approaches demonstrated limited effectiveness in controlling the spread and mortality of smallpox. The introduction of cowpox vaccination from Western countries represented a novel intervention that challenged the traditional medical paradigm, eliciting resistance from multiple societal groups, including traditional physicians, religious authorities, and segments of the general population. Gradual acceptance of this modern method necessitated physician education, public awareness initiatives, and observation of successful outcomes in patients. Governmental measures played a pivotal role in promoting and ensuring the implementation of vaccination, thereby mitigating public fear and social resistance. Analysis of this transitional process reveals that the shift in treatment practices extended beyond medical techniques, catalyzing transformations in societal attitudes, cultural beliefs, and health-related social structures. This historical experience offers a compelling example of the complex interplay between science, culture, social norms, and political authority in the adoption of medical innovations

Abstract In the narratives of Aristotle's life, it is mentioned that he traveled and stayed in the cities of Atarneus and Assos in northwest Asia Minor, under the rule of a local ruler named Hermias, after the death of Plato. At the end of the Achaemenid period and after the changes of the era of Artaxerxes III (359/58 - 338 BC), Hermias was able to gradually expand his power in that region and through Aristotle and some other students of Plato's Academy, he became an important factor in Philip II - the ruler of Macedonia - becoming aware of the internal condition of the Achaemenid Empire; to the extent that his political alliance with Philip faced a harsh reaction from the Persians and he lost his life over that pact. Although Aristotle praised Hermias and slandered Persians in his writings, by carefully examining the political and diplomatic developments between the ruler of Atarneus and the king of Macedonia, it can be concluded that the Achaemenid Empire had accurate and clear information about the political events of the Greek city-states and Macedonian kingdom and by removing Hermias, and probably Philip himself, has helped the Greeks a lot to gain their lost independence. However, the Greeks did not take advantage of the opportunity for unity and lost the independence of their city-states to Philip's son, Alexander, shortly after. In this research, it has been tried to show, based on the analytical method and using library sources, that the Achaemenid Empire, to strengthen the Treaty of Antalcidas, made its efforts to maintain the independence of the Greek city-states against the Macedonian hegemony before the emergence of Alexander by removing the Macedonian-oriented elements, but the conflicts among the Greeks and Alexander's promptitude and violence in suppressing his Greek opponents caused the loss of this historical opportunity.

Abstract Since the emergence of newspapers in Iran, the publication of historical materials has constituted one of their most prominent thematic domains. Historical content in the press reflects prevailing societal attitudes toward the past and its interpretive frameworks. Employing a descriptive–historical approach, the present study seeks to identify and classify the historical content published in Iranian periodicals from their inception to the end of the Qajar era. An examination of 226 periodicals from the Qajar period identifies 227 items of historical content, a finding that highlights the significant presence of historical writing within the press discourse of the time. At a historical juncture marked by emerging political and intellectual transformations, the press assumed an educational and reform-oriented role, and history functioned as an effective instrument for promoting public awareness and legitimizing political and social reforms. The rearticulation of the historical past was conceived as a strategy for consolidating national identity and responding to external threats. By foregrounding historical heritage, periodicals actively contributed to the construction of cultural cohesion. Furthermore, the appeal of historical subjects enhanced readership and strengthened the economic viability of the press. Taken together, these factors enabled the Iranian press of the Qajar era to generate a wide and diverse range of historical content and to exert a formative influence on the shaping of collective historical memory.
 

Abstract Parthian Stations, written by Isidore of Charax, a first-century BCE geographer, is a distinctive work that systematically records roads, stations, and strategic points across the Parthian Empire. More than a geographical text, it serves as a vital primary source for analyzing the military and political dynamics of the era. The book provides detailed data on distances between cities, locations of caravanserais, and key commercial and military routes that shaped power relations between Rome and the Parthians. While previous studies have emphasized its economic value—viewing it as a guide to East-West trade routes—this research argues that the work should be seen as an intelligence tool for understanding Roman military and security strategies against the Parthians. The “Stathmoi” style, with its focus on precise distances, frontier fortresses, rivers, mountains, and natural barriers, reveals a tactical function: it likely served as an operational map for troop movements and logistical planning. The book’s emphasis on western regions and Mesopotamia highlights Rome’s efforts to identify and control critical border zones. Its data were later used in Roman campaigns, especially during Trajan’s wars (53–117 CE), enhancing operational efficiency, troop mobility, and resilience against Parthian cavalry tactics. Thus, Parthian Stations is not merely a dry geographical record but a reflection of Roman intelligence and security policy aimed at balancing power and expanding influence in the ancient East. Its significance lies not only in mapping Parthian Iran but also in revealing the strategic networks of the Roman Empire

Abstract This study examines the nature, functions, and objectives of endowments (waqf) established by state officials in the province of Mazandaran during the period of the Qajar dynasty (1210–1344 AH). By employing qualitative content analysis of surviving waqf deeds, the research seeks to uncover patterns in the types of endowed properties, their intended uses, and their temporal and spatial distribution. The study identifies fourteen waqf deeds created by officials holding various titles, including brigadier generals, sardars, khans, beglerbegis, a kalantar, and a mustawfi. The findings reveal considerable diversity in the types of endowed assets, including agricultural lands, shops, caravanserais, pastures, gardens, qanats, coffeehouses, castles, and residential buildings. These assets reflect the economic resources available to officials and their strategic use of productive property to ensure sustainable revenue streams. The purposes of the endowments were equally diverse, ranging from financing religious ceremonies—particularly mourning rituals for Imam Husayn—to supporting descendants, aiding the poor and needy, funding educational activities, and promoting public welfare. Temporal analysis shows that 36% of the endowments were established during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah, 50% during Mozzafar al-Din Shah, and 14% during Ahmad Shah Qajar, indicating a peak in endowment activity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Geographically, the highest concentration of waqf deeds is observed in the cities of Sari and Nur. Overall, the study demonstrates that state officials played a significant role in sustaining and expanding the waqf institution, contributing to the social, religious, and economic fabric of the region