فصلنامه پژوهش های تاریخی
سال پانزدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 59، پاییز 1402)

One of the hidden aspects of the differences between Bani Hashem and the Umayyads is the difference in the attitude of these two dynasties to the details of power, including the ‘distance of power’. Power distance, which is of interest to anthropologists, analyzes the distribution and accumulation of political power and the relationship between people and those in power. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory has listed this component as one of the six axes of the cultural difference of societies. Emphasizing the issue of power distance, the present study examines historical statements about the behavior of the power of the two Quraysh dynasties and presents an analysis of the role of the dominant viewpoint in each of these two dynasties. According to this research, the desire to be seen as generous, the emphasis on the display of power, ethnocentrism, trying to maintain economic superiority, unconventional and purposeful generosity, and the utilitarian view of others and public property, are the issues that show that Bani Umayyah believed in a great power distance. On the other hand, simple living, a noble view of others and public property, humility, kindness to subordinates, and avoiding tribalism are some of the evidence that show Bani Hashem's emphasis on low power distance. Based on this, it should be said that the difference of opinion about the power distance was the main source of the difference in the attitude of the Umayyad and Hashem families towards the economy, society, and politics.

When an issue like Mahdism goes beyond the limits of ideological realms and becomes a socio-political phenomenon, it has the necessary capacity to be studied as a discourse. Mahdism had such a capacity in the Safavid era. To conduct the present historical-analytical study based on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the research question is: How was the political-social structure of the Safavid era able to establish such a relatively comprehensive equivalence chain? In this regard, the hypothesis of the research is that through one of the principles of the discourse, namely, the chain of equivalence, Mahdism has found a way to bring the society into a remarkable convergence regardless of gender, ethnic, geographical, political, and even religious differences. The findings of the study show that the articulation of Safavid rule based on Mahdism, in parallel with the creation of a chain of equivalence through the generality of belief in the savior as discourse mechanisms, has succeeded in creating social convergence regardless of existing differences. The deep constructions of the Safavid hegemonic structure, including historiography and historiography, and positions and jurisprudential texts of Shia scholars, have made it possible to create this chain.

Jewish traders in Iran in the early Islamic centuries were very famous for the slave trade than anything else. The geographers of the first centuries have mentioned a group of Jews called the Radhanites who traveled to different places and took trade goods, including slaves, to different places. They transported slaves from Europe to Byzantium and to the Islamic world and caused the growth and development of this trade. It seems that various wars in Europe and Asia had an impact on the subject of the slave trade, and Jewish traders contributed greatly to the expansion of the slave trade. In any case, despite the prosperity and expansion of the slave trade in the discussed period, this issue has not been much reflected in the historical sources of this period, and even in new studies, it has been less discussed and concentrated on. Therefore, the present study tries to investigate the role of Jewish merchants in the slave trade in Iran from the early Islamic centuries to the end of the 4th century Hijri based on the limited resources available from this period and using a descriptive-analytical method. For this purpose, efforts will be made to collect historical data from library sources and categorize and finally analyze them using the method of historical studies.

The discussion of women and the issues related to them in Arab society before Islam has been one of the topics of attention of Iranian researchers in recent years and they have published dozens of articles in research journals. What is important is how to reflect the status of pre-Islamic Arab women in this type of research. The critical analysis of these articles both shows the angles of the researchers' attitude towards the status of women in this period - despite the division of the Arab society into pre-Islamic and post-Islamic ones, which indicates a kind of transition, especially in relation to the status of women - and also specifies To what extent they have presented a new achievement and finding to the scientific community without stereotypical approaches.For this purpose, the following article examines the topic discussed in more than thirty articles that have been published in the last two or three decades using the method of historical analysis and inspired by the method of content analysis in extracting concepts and categories.The findings of the research show that in most of the articles, researchers emphasize the violation of women's human rights in this period by presenting repeated concepts and categories and the inappropriate situation of their bio-social conditions, which is caused by the lack of attention to scientific and research principles in examining the conditions. Environmental and cultural Arab society has been depicted without prejudice.Although in some articles, the scientific and research approach based on historical and literary data shows a different situation, but the number of these articles compared to the stereotypical approaches and black and white view of the period before and after Islam. it's limited.

Iranian government’s inability to have control over local people and powers in the southern part of the country, where the oil was discovered, was one of the main obstacles and challenges for British authorities who sought to exploit the oil resources. Establishing wide and deep relations with the local rulers like Bakhtiaris, Bani-Kaab Sheikhs, and Hayat Davoudi lords was England’s solution to overcome this challenge. Focusing on this policy, this study aims to take a closer look at the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company’s activities in Hayat Davoud territory and discuss the company’s policies toward the lords of this tribe from the end of Qajar dynasty to the fall of Reza Shah Pahlavi. The quality of relations between the British company and Hayat Davoud lords and also the consequences of the shift of power from Qajar Kingdom to Pahlavi on these relations have made the basic questions of this study. The findings indicate that expanding the area of the company’s operations toward the deeper southern part of the country and involving the Hayat Davoud territory resulted in numerous contracts and agreements between the two sides which brought both political and economic profits for the old and local lords of the region. However, these beneficial relations were badly affected by the new kingdom (Pahlavi). On the other hand, the company following the new cabinet's foreign policy in England, decided to lower the level of relations with the local powers especially the Hayat Davoud lords in favor of strengthening the ties with the central government in Tehran. The outcome of this sudden shift was a severe clash between Hayat Davoudi lords and the Pahlavi administration which finally removed these old local powers from their historical position.

Several factors, including conquests, trade, and the migration of various groups, influenced the Central Asian Turks’ conversion to Islam. Before the Muslims conquered Central Asia, which began in 652 AD/32 AH with the surrender of Māhūy Marzbān to Abd Allah ibn Amir, the governor of Basra, worshiping the ancestors’ spirits and the spirit of the sky and natural manifestations had been prevalent among the Turks. Of course, some tribes of Turks were also Buddhist, Nestorian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian. Therefore, they were familiar with monotheistic religions; however, gradually and due to factors after the initial resistance against the Muslim army, Islam became the religion of the majority of Turks. Groups such as Sufis, hermits, and Sayyids (Sadat) also played a role in this important matter. Considering the significance of the institutionalization of Islam among the Turks, the present study seeks to answer the question of whether it is possible to assign a stronger role to Sadat than the Sufis in the Islamization of the Turks. As findings demonstrate, the main reason for Sadat’s migration to Central Asia was its distance from the capital of the caliphate. Since Sadat considered the caliphs usurpers of the government, they were always angry with the caliphs. Thus, they were forced to migrate in order to maintain security, and while being close to the Turkic tribes, they joined with them and even participated in protecting frontiers. In addition, by engaging in various occupations such as trade and industry, they gradually became a part of the Turkic community. The Sadat elders’ cultural activities, mostly done through teaching Islamic thoughts and reciting news and biographies (Sunnat) of the Prophet Muhammad and the elders of Islam, were very effective in a more complete understanding of Islam. The Sufis, mainly migrating from Khorasan due to the pressure of critics of Sufism to find safe areas to promote their ideas, went to those regions. Their teachings were devoid of reproach and torment, so they were more attractive to some people. As a result, because Sadat was present in the region by holding classes and solving Sharia problems, mentioning hadiths and writing books, it can be said that they played a more effective role in the institutionalization of Islam among the Turks than the Sufis.