In this article, a summary of the book written by Michael Pearson is presented that addresses the social, political, and cultural dimensions of performing the Hajj by Indians during the 10th-13th centuries A.H. Here, the analyses and statistics presented in the book are discussed. Introducing the references and researches related to the topic of the research, as well as the purposes, significance, and limitations of the research based on the order of the chapters, the present article first discusses the date of Hajj at the beginning of a new era, i.e., the period which is under the discussion, then it focuses on the Hajj’s focal position in Muslims’ social and spiritual thoughts; and finally, it analyzes the relationship between the Mughal king of India and the Hajj and Holy Shrines in that period. Explaining the western perspectives on performing the Hajj in general and performing the Hajj by Indians in particular, introducing the influential components in performing the Hajj by Indians in the concerned fiṭrah and analyzing it in a historical way, and presenting new information about performing the Hajj by Indians are the innovations of this research.

Safi bin Vali Ghazvini was an Iranian writer in the Aurangzeb Gurkani court. Due to the request of Aurangzeb’s daughter, Zieb al-Nesa Baygum, Safi wrote a book in Persian called Anis al-Hajjaj, a commentary on his Hajj journey in 1087 A.H. Anis al-Hajjaj is probably the only text available from the Middle Ages and probably the oldest Persian text in the description of the Hajj journey from India through the sea route; therefore, it has a special historical value in the history of the Indian Muslims’ Hajj journey. More than a travelogue in which the author’s notes and memoirs with regard to his Hajj journey are recorded, this book is a guidebook for Indian pilgrims; a feature that makes it an important work. The function of this work as a guidebook for the pilgrims led some of its manuscripts to include the beautiful artistic illustrated pictures of the maps of the cities located along the route, as well as the rites of pilgrimage and Hajj caravans of Muslim nations. The result of this research is that Anis al-Hajjaj is a work created as a guide to the pilgrimage of Hajj from India, and it was almost certainly written for the court.

The famous Imamia jurists believe that performing Taqsir (cutting the hair and nails) and the rites of Mecca on the night of Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice) is permissible for female pilgrims who fear from menstruation. Most of the earlier and later jurists have not dealt with the precept of other women and the permission or impermissibility of night Taqsir and then their performance of Mecca rites on the night of Eid al-Adha. It is understood from the above said fatwa that premature Taqsir and performing the rites of Mecca are restricted to the excused women. Some contemporary jurists have also clarified or at least been cautious about this matter and some other contemporary jurists maintain that it is understood from narrations that female pilgrims whose duty is to sacrifice are allowed, after appointing an agent for performing the sacrifice on the day of Eid, to perform Taqsir at night and to go to Masjid al-Haram to perform the rites of Mecca at night.The results of this research, which has been done through documentary and library and content-analyzing method, show that the narrations, as the main religious proof of this precept, clearly signify the latter opinion and reliable proofs indicating impermissibility are not strong enough.

Hajj is one of the forts of Islam and has been one of the most important religious, political and cultural arenas of Muslims. During the Seljuk period, changes were made in this field. Because Hajj before the Seljuqs has faced a lot of problems, until the caravans of Iran from the early fifth century AH were less successful in Hajj. In accordance with the religious and political legitimacy of their government to support the Abbasid caliphate and the Holy Shrines and to carry out political, military and civilian measures, the Seljukis made great efforts to deliver Hajj caravans annually and to provide the security and well-being of the Hajjis. Though there were problems affecting Hajj's journey, it caused disruption, but Hajj Iranians remained firmly established over the course of the second half of the fifth century until the Mongol invasion. This article tries to study the role of the Seljuk in the political competition on Hajj between the Abbasid caliphate and the Fatimids and the actions taken during the Seljuk period for the Hajj hypothesis based on the sources.

Abstract Iran and India are two big neighbors with a long-standing history and common ethnic and historical origins, whose relations have often been friendly since ancient times. These relations developed significantly in the era of the Safavid reign in Iran, especially during the period of the establishment of the Safavid dynasty as well as the reign of the descendants of Amir Timur Gurkani in India. These two dynasties had friendly and close relations in most of this time. One of the most influential external factors in this regard was the presence of a common enemy called Uzbek in their vicinity, in Samarkand which influenced the political developments of these two states. Taking refuge of Iran by Homayoun Shah and border disputes over the city of Kandahar also played a role in the rise and fall of the Safavids relations with Indian Gurkhanids. But performing the Haij by Iranians through India can be considered as one of the areas of interaction and relations with this country. The purpose of the present paper is to identify and investigate the factors affecting the Safavids relations with the Gurkanids in the political dimensions, and the history of the relations between these two states in the mentioned period. The hypothesis of the present research is that the danger of Uzbeks for both countries as well as the efforts of Iran and India to dominate the strategic city of Kandahar were important factors in the ups and downs of the relations between the Gurkanids and Safavids which also influenced performing the Hajj. The study concluded that, despite the obstacles in developing the relations between Iran and India, Iranian pilgrims had to go Hajj through India due to the presence of many Iranians in India and the hostile relations of the Ottoman government with Iran.

Following the propagation of Islam in Iran and considering hadj being considered as the most important religious traditions, the dispatching of numerous caravans from the eastern lands of caliphates as the Rakab ol- Khorasan towards holy shrines got prevalent. This religious trip stopped at times due to the difficulties and hazards of long pathway. After the collapse of Abbasid caliphate (132-656 A. H) and the division of the lands under their domination as well as the increase of the internal and external disputes among the Iranian dynasties in order to achieve authority and to develop territory led to long lasting unsafety on the ways towards Hejaz and Iraq so that, the possibility of constructive activities and better services in favor of caravans was not possible. Moreover, the increase of disputes among the sects, the advent of radical groups and the prevalence of rubbery among Arab tribes led to the occasional stoppage of hadj caravans. Following the descriptive- analytical and the library research method, the present research is to consider the effect of unsafety as an independent variable on the trend of pilgrimage to Mecca by the people from Khorasan from the beginning of the third century to the middle of the fifth century.