The Reasons of Development of Shi’a Hegemony in Safavid Era

Cultural-religious dimensions and its intellectual roots in Safavid era (907-1187 after hijrah), has been somehow investigated by the researchers. However, the application of some theories can strengthen the analytical views towards the study of historical eras and cultural changes. The present article tries to investigate the elements of cultural hegemony of Shi’a in Safavid era on the basis of theory of Gramsci hegemony being considered as one of most important political-cultural theories in the 20th century by relying on the historical documents as well as the descriptive-analytical method. According to the findings of this article, the elements such as developing the clerical organization playing the role of intellectual institute, supporting the outstanding jurisprudents as the cultural elites for the propagation of formal religion of government, propagating the religious traditions and sticking to the sacred issues of Shi’a with the purpose of unification of common culture are considered as the reasons of development of this hegemony.