فصلنامه مطالعات تاریخ اسلام
پیاپی 59 (زمستان 1402)

As the third great invaders to Iran, the Mongols took control of all affairs for a considerable period of time. They had neither a civilizational nor a religious characteristic, unlike the Greeks and Arabs. Thus, they did significant harm to the political and religious foundation of Iranian society. The government and religion have always coexisted in Iran, with the Shah serving as both the nation's protector and the head of the country's official religion. During the period of the Mughal patriarchs, however, the government was in the hands of deserters with a primitive view of politics. Aside from that, they did not attempt to govern by religion, in contrast to the Muslim Arabs. Such viewpoint led to the decline of Iran's politics and religion, which has been described as vulgarity in some Persian writings. With the Mongols' dominion, this devastation, which dates back to the fifth century AH, reached a deplorable state. Such devastation was characterized by lack of wisdom in society, and consequently in politics and religion. As one of the foremost figures in Persian literature, Obeid Zakani represented this harm in his works. This paper aims to study the impacts of such degeneration from the viewpoint of Obeid Zakani, using a descriptive-analytical method. We also suggest that he can be characterized as a thinker of degeneration. Zakani not only describes the damage caused by degeneration, but also offers a solution for it, i.e. utilizing wisdom and justice. This paper asserts that degeneration is a long-term outcome of invasion and also mentions that Zakani's depiction of decline is focused on the reign of Al Muzaffar and the consequences of the Mongols’ invasion.

In the elementary school textbooks published between 1925-1941, a narrative of the history of the Parthians in Iran has been formulated, which has significant discourse and ideological aspects. Accordingly, the students were exposed to a newly-crafted narrative of the ancient history of Iran in which the rise of the Sasanians was like the victory of light over darkness, and nationalism over xenophilia. In this narrative, not only were the Parthians not considered as Iranian, but there was also a kind of domination of non-Iranian spirit over the Iranian identity, which was terminated by the rise of the Sassanids, and thus a period of national salvation began. The main question of the present research is that which discourse and ideological contexts influenced the dominant narrative in the mentioned texts and turned it into an anti-Parthian narrative, and on the contrary, the Sassanians became known as the saviors of Iran from darkness and ruin? The hypothesis is that ideological requirements, legitimizing requirements as well as the strengthening of a sense of nationalism among elementary school children led to the emergence of a narrative, the focus of which was denial, humiliation and trying to abandon the Parthian heritage.

After the decline of the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and the Sulayhid Ismaili rule, Al-Mutawakkil `Ala Allah Ahmad bin Sulayman (d. 566 AH) revolted in Yemen in the year 532 AH and managed to control the northern regions of the country. He revived Zaydism, which had been in a state of political isolation and stagnation for a century, and is known as the initiator of the second era through his political and cultural endeavors. The question is how did Al-Mutawakkil manage to revive Zaydism in the political and cultural spheres? This paper aims to evaluate the role of Al-Mutawakkil's political and cultural power by identifying the factors and obstacles to his progress, using a descriptive-analytical approach and relying on library historical resources. Some of Al-Mutawakkil's efforts include supporting Zaydi scholars, establishing peace among tribes, and reviving religious limits and rulings. It is concluded that despite the activities of the Husayniyya and the Mutrafiyah, due to the lack of solidarity among Zaydis of Sa'dah and Sana'a, tribal prejudices, the dispersion of their supporters, and the rivalry among local rulers, Al-Mutawakkil was able to authoritatively unite the northern regions of Yemen.

The first step of the Russi’s expansionism in the Caucasus was trying to acquire knowledge about this land and its people, which manifested itself in the form of “Orientalism”. Communicating with the ethnicities and Khans of the region, the creation of the Caucasus defense line and its expansion to the south was an important and final step in the conquest of the Caucasus. In order for establishing their sovereignty in the Caucasus and exploiting its natural resources, the Russians set up a new administrative system in the form of the Caucasus administrative- territorial unit. This descriptive-analytical research seeks to answer the question of how the Caucasus administrative-territorial unit was formed in the political geography of Tsarist Russia. The findings show that the process of integrating the Caucasus into the territory of Tsarist Russia was a gradual process in the form of a long-term strategy. This was achieved by combining the scientific achievements of orientalists and the actions of Russian military forces. The establishment of military bases in strategic places and settlement of Christian tribes in these places was very effective in stabilizing and consolidating the defense line of the Caucasus.

Maqṣad al-rāghib fī faḍāʾil ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib is the short title of a book that has been of interest since at least from the 11th century AH due to its unique content and quotations from old or missing sources, and it has been among the sources of Shiite scholars, such as Shaykh Hur al-Amili and Allama Majlisi. Most of them consider the author to be "Husayn b. Muhammad b. al-Hasan", as one of the scholars of the 5th century AH. In this research, after introducing the work and the only known manuscript of it, which is dedicated to the virtues of the twelve Imams and Hazrat Zahra (PBUT); various opinions expressed about the author, and the reason for the wrong attribution of the book to the mentioned person is discussed. Then, the process performed on the manuscript - to remove two leaves from the first leaf of the original manuscript - is explained. Some data about the author's father was discovered on the first page, which paved the way for identifying him. The searching the sources of Islamic biographies brought forward a hypothesis that was confirmed by the examination of the pieces of evidence in the manuscript and the text of the work, and led to the identification of the author, i.e. Khalil b. Husayn al-Musilī, who lived in Mosul and Erbil in the 7th century A.H. Moreover, the full title was found to be as follows: Kitāb Maqṣad al-rāghib al-Ṭālib fī faḍāʾil al-Imam ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib wa ahl-i Baytihī Nujum al-Samā wa Masābīh al-Dujā wa Sufun al-Naja Alayhim al-salāt wa al-salām. This research opens doors for more Shiite history studies in Mosul during the 7th century AH.

The palm is a symbol that is known as "khamsa" in many religions and cultures around the world. Some Iranian artists such as Hossein Zenderoudi, Parviz Tanavoli, Sadegh Tabrizi, Masoud Arabshahi, Faramarz Pilaram, Mansour Ghandriz, Naser Owaisi and Jazeh Tabatabai, who belong to Saqqakhana movement, took a new approach in their works towards the elements and rituals of traditional and religious arts, such as symbols Ashurai, especially the hands of Abbas (AS) in the Battle of Karbala. Now the question is that: what are the meanings and implications of the image of the palm of Abbas (AS) in the works of Iranian artists of the Saqqakhana movement? This research uses qualitative method, with a descriptive-analytical approach and desk study method for gathering data. The results showed that in the works of these artists, the image of the palm of Abbas (AS) is reminiscent of conforming to him and the sacred meaning of his intercession. This symbol is accompanied by a symbol of bowl and six-pointed star, which show the Battle of Karbala and refer to him as the “Saqqah” (i.e. water carrier) and “Alamdar” (i.e. pioneer) in this battle.