Approaches in Reconstructing the History of Iranian People in the Early Period and Middle Ages of Islam (From the fall of the Sassanids to the rise of the Safavids)

The history of people is the expression of the daily living conditions of the masses. Explanations of the daily living conditions are not reflected in the political accounts of official history books. However, we can understand people’s living conditions in different historical periods by using new methods. Accordingly, it is possible to reconstruct the history of the people of Iran in the early period and middle ages of Islam on the basis of political history books as well as legal and literary ones. The method of historiography of the people can be used independently based on historical data. This prevents the researcher from resorting to ideological theories. This article tries to introduce a methodology for writing people’s history. The history of people in Iran does not have an old background nor it is exemplified in numerous sources. The most overriding research in this field is The History of Iranian People by Abdolhossein Zarrinkoob, which is written his book based on political history. The history of people’s historiography in the West is much richer than that of Iran, and its outstanding works can be a good model for Iranian scholars.