Theater state and the formation of early modern public sphere in Iran : studies on Safavid Muharram rituals, 1590-1641 CE /
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During the Safavid period, the Shi'i Muharram commemorative rites which had been publically practiced since the 7th century, became a manifestation of state power. Already during the reign of Shah 'Abbas I (1587-1629) the Muharram rituals had transformed into an extraordinary rich repertoire of ceremonies and ceremonial spaces that can be defined as 'theater state'. Under Shah Safi I (1629-1642) these ceremonies ultimately led to carnivalesque celebrations of misrule and transgression. This first systematic study of a wide range of Persian and European archival and primary sources, analyzes how the Muharram rites changed from being an originally devotional practice to an ambiguous ritualization that in combination with other public arenas, such as the bazaar, coffeehouses or travel lodges, created distinct spaces of communication whereby the widening gap between state and society gave way to the formation of the early Iranian public sphere. Ultimately, the Muharram public spaces allowed for a shift in individual and collective identities, opening the way to multifaceted living fields of interaction, as well as being sites of contestation where innovative expressions of politics were made. In particular, the construction of the new Isfahan in 1590 is linked with the widespread proliferation of the Muharram mortuary rites by discussing rituals performed in major urban spaces.
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1 online resource (404 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004207561 :
1569-7401 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Minhāj al-ʿulā : Risalaʾī dar bāb-i ḥukūmat-i qānūn /
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In the beginning, Qajar rulership (1210-1344/1796-1925) pretty much reflected the traditional, top-down leadership common among the Turkic tribes from which this dynasty had come forth. It was only under Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh Qājār (r. 1264-1313/1848-96) that serious attempts at reforms were made, initially under Chancellor Mīrzā Taqī Khān, in office between 1264/1848 and 1268/1851. However, Amīr Kabīr's energetic initiatives met with internal resistence, leading to his downfall and subsequent murder in a bathhouse in Fin Garden, Kashan, in 1268/1852. In the years following, Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh introduced various administrative initiatives, but ineffectiveness and internal resistence remained important impediments to genuine reforms. Well-structured and lucid, the present work by Abū Ṭālib Bihbihānī is one of several memoranda on reform that were sent to the shah in the course of his reign. Focussing on the separation of powers as codified in European constitutional law, many of its suggestions were implemented in Iran's first constitution of 1906-07.
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1 online resource. :
9789004405592
9789648700909
East and west of Zagros : travel, war and politics in Persia and Iraq 1913-1921 /
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C.J. Edmonds published articles in orientalist journals and co-authored with Taufiq Wahby A Kurdish-English dictionary (Oxford, 1966). He published his memoirs of Iraq, Kurds, Turks, and Arabs : politics, travel and research in North-Eastern Iraq, 1919-1925 (London - New York, 1957), but his Persian memoirs remained unpublished. It tells how, after studying oriental languages in Cambridge, he became Consular Officer in Bushire, participated in British campaigns in Mesopotamia during First World War. As a Political Officer in Luristan Edmonds was in charge of the oil fields' security and was sent to Northern Persia after the war, a direct witness of the Jangal upheaval and the 1921 coup d'Etat.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-338) and index. :
9789047426905 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Politics, patronage, and the transmission of knowledge in 13th-15th century Tabriz /
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In Politics, Patronage and the Transmission of Knowledge in 13th - 15th Century Tabriz , an international group of specialists from different disciplines investigate the role of Tabriz as one of the foremost centres of learning, cultural productivity, and politics in post-Mongol Iran and the Middle East. While standard accounts of Islamicate history have long presented the 13th to 15th centuries as the bottom of the decline paradigm of old, the present volume demonstrates the vibrancy and originality of the intellectual and cultural production of this period by focusing on Tabriz among other capitals of the region. The volume particularly explores the transmission of knowledge and institutional and cultural patronage in the post-Mongol period. Contributors include Reuven Amitai , Nourane Ben Azzouna , Sheila Blair , Devin DeWeese , Joachim Gierlichs , Birgitt Hoffmann , Domenico Ingenito , Robert Morrison , Ertuğrul Ökten , Judith Pfeiffer , Johannes Preiser-Kapeller , F. Jamil Ragep , and Patrick Wing .
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004262577 :
1569-7401 ;
The Mongols' Middle East : continuity and transformation in Ilkhanid Iran /
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The Mongols' Middle East: Continuity and Transformation in Ilkhanid Iran offers a collection of academic articles that investigate different aspects of Mongol rule in 13th- and 14th-century Iran. Sometimes treated only as part of the larger Mongol Empire, the volume focuses on the Ilkhanate (1258-1335) with particular reference to its relations with its immediate neighbours. It is divided into four parts, looking at the establishment, the internal and external dynamics of the realm, and its end. The different chapters, covering several topics that have received little attention before, aim to contribute to a better understanding of Mongol rule in the Middle East and its role in the broader medieval Eurasian world and its links with China. With contributions by: Reuven Amitai, Michal Biran, Bayarsaikhan Dashdondog, Bruno De Nicola, Florence Hodous, Boris James, Aptin Khanbaghi, Judith Kolbas, George Lane, Timothy May, Charles Melville, Esther Ravalde, Karin Rührdanz
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004314726 :
0929-2403 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ästhetik, Politik und schiitische Repräsentation im zeitgenossischen Iran /
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In Ästhetik, Politik und schiitische Repräsentation im zeitgenössischen Iran zeigt Christian Funke die Verflechtungen von Politik, Protest und schiitischer Materialität in der Islamischen Republik auf. Das Buch legt anschaulich und vielschichtig dar, wie die Proteste von 2009 und die ›Grüne Bewegung‹ mit umfassenderen Diskursen über Demokratie, Identität, Geschichte und Gegenwart sowie Religion und Politik verknüpft waren. Funkes Argument fußt auf Interviews und intensiver Feldforschung und umfasst ein breites Themenfeld von Farben über Banknoten bis hin zu städtischer Raumordnung. Funke bietet einen neuen Ansatz zur Theorie und Methodologie von Religionsästhetik und wirft ein neues Licht auf die › Grüne Bewegung‹ , indem er die islamischen Ressourcen freilegt, mittels derer sich ihr Protest artikulierte. In Aesthetics, Politics, and Shiʿi Representation in Contemporary Iran Christian Funke explores the entangled relationship between politics, protest and Shiʿi materiality in the Islamic Republic. He shows how the post-election protests of 2009 and the 'Green Movement' were part of larger discourses on democracy, identity, the present and the past, and religion and politics. Funke's argument is based on extensive fieldwork and interviews. He covers a broad array of topics, ranging from the interpretation of colours to the use of banknotes to the emergence of an urban spatial order. Funke offers a novel approach to the methodology and theory of material religion and by revealing the Islamic undercurrents in the 'Green Movement', his book provides a new and more appropriate picture of protest and religion in Iran.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004347342 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The policy of Darius and Xerxes towards Thrace and Macedonia /
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In The Policy of Darius and Xerxes towards Thrace and Macedonia Miroslav Vasilev analyses in detail the policy of the Persian kings towards their European possessions in the years 514-465 BC. The book examines the status of Macedonian rulers under the Persian kings, as well as the status of the Thracian territories conquered as a result of the campaigns of Darius and Megabazus. In addition, the author localizes many tribes, rivers, lakes, mountains, and other geographical features of primary importance in defining the territorial span of the European lands conquered by the Persians. Vasilev examines literary sources, epigraphic evidence, coins, and archaeological finds relevant to the topic.
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1 online resource (xi, 257 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004282155 :
2352-8656 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.