During the 19th century the monarchy was only the most dominant of several powerful groupings within Iranian society, the others being the tribal leaders, the landlords, and the mujtahids, Shi’i Muslim theologians and scholars empowered to interpret and administer religious law (the only law in force).1 Their religious control over the Iranian people and identification with popular anti-foreign struggles following the war with Russia, an independent source of wealth through a religious tax, and control over the law courts and education were the roots of their power. The growth in the mujtahids' appeal during the 19th century was partially attributable to the growth of Western influence.2 Iranian traders were upset by foreign competition and Muslims, in general, were offended by the arrogance and behaviour of Western infidels. As a result many people turned to the mullahs to voice their grievances.3 The rivalry between Great Britain and Russia for strategic and economic advantage largely shaped Iran’s history from the 19th century onwards. Both countries deemed their presence in Iran to be absolutely vital in the pursuit of their individual imperial goals, but ultimately neither could attempt to annex or colonise Iran without incurring the risk of a major war.4 In this way Iran's independence was simultaneously guaranteed and compromised:5 guaranteed, excluding extraordinary circumstances, by a strategic stalemate which transformed the opposition into the more economic realm; compromised, because the Qajar Shahs were forced to play an unending balancing act between the two.6
In 1872, economic rivalry between Russia and Great Britain entered a new phase when Nasir ed-Din Shah granted a British subject a "comprehensive country-wide...
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19 Ibid, p. 800.
20 Cottam, p.21.
21 Upton, p.37.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.
24 The Times, 31 July 1912, p. 12, c.c.
25 T.H.V. Motter, The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia (Washington, D.C., Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the US Army: 1952) p.157.
26 Mansour Bonakdarian, ‘The Persia Committee and the Constitutional Revolution in Iran’ in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 18, No. 2 (1991), pp. 198.
27 Ibid.
28 A.C. Millspaugh, Americans in Persia (Washington, D.C., The Brookings Institution, 1946) pp.17-18.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Motter, p.158.
33 Millspaugh, p.18.
34 Ibid.
35 J.M. Balfour, Recent Happenings in Persia (London, Read Books: Republished in 2008) cited in Upton, p.142.
36 Millspaugh, p.19.
37 Upton, p.39.
38 This account of the Qajars is derived in part from Upton, p.3-10.
Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran’s beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran...
Prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran was ruled by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and furthermore, not governed by religion. The Shah’s White Revolution launched a series of reforms in 1963 that are indicative of where women’s rights for Iran were heading prior to the Islamic revolution. The reforms included, giving women the right to vote, run for office and to become lawyers and judges. This large of a reform in regards to women’s rights, was far more drastic than anything Iran had experienced in the past, and the shock of these “extreme” measures, received a large backlash from over 90% of the population1, the Shia Muslims.
Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1993 Cawkwell, George (2006). The Greco-Persian Wars. Oxford University Press.
In the sixth century B.C, the land that we now call Iran was the center of the largest empire in the world. The kings of Ancient Persia( such as Cyrus the Great) were the leaders of a great civilization that made amazing advances in laws, goverment and communication. Founded in 550 B.C by King Cyrus the Great, the Persian Empire spanned from Egypt in the west to Turkey in the north, and through Mesopotamia to the Indus River in the east. Unlike most empires at that time, the Persian kings were benovelent rulers, and allowed a diverse variety of diffrent people with diffrent ethnic backgrounds. The Persian empire was split into three diffrent empires with three diffrent time periods but the first empire was called the Achaemenid Empire. It began with King Cyrus the Great and ended with King Darius III.
Shahîd, Irfan. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century. Washington, D.C: Dumbarton Oaks, 1984.
Greece and Persia are two of the four great empires that rose to the top rapidly. Both empires have well organized political systems that greatly influenced the way later governments were structured in the United States and Europe. Greece and Persia empire’s structures weighed greatly on their development and growth, but the diverse topographies of Greece and Persia also made a vast impact. These features affected the cultures and even how the political government changed overtime.
The introduction to Persepolis gives a great deal of background information to the unrest in Iran leading up to the Islamic revolution. Iran had been in a state of unrest for “2500 years” (page11). Iran was ruled by foreign nations and exploited by the western world for its rich expanses of oil. In 1951 the prime minister of Iran tried to take back his country’s wealth by nationalizing
I am here today to talk to you about the Persian Empire. One of the reasons I chose this topic is that I am Persian myself. Another reason for me choosing this topic is that there is a large Persian community in Lower Mainland.
Ludwig, P. (1999). Iranian Nation and Islamic Revolutionary Ideology. Die Welt des islams. 39(2). 183-217.
Arjomand, Said Amir. “Iran's Islamic Revolution in Comparative Perspective.” World Politics, Volume 38, Issue 3 (1986. 4), 383-414.
To understand the changing role of women starting during the Islamic Revolution, it is important to briefly review the lives of Iranian women and the role of Islam during the final years of the secular regime of the Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was disliked by the majority of Iranian population, but his secular and prominent Western attitude allowed for some reforms of women’s rights in Iran. For example, in 1963 he created a reform program which would eventually be known as the “White Revolution,” which included suffrage for women (Beck and Nashat 114). This decision led to a violent reaction, especially from strong Islamic leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini, whom would eventually play a pivotal role in the revolution and women’s rights. Although the Shah allowed for women’s reform, he was popularly known as a dictator and appeared to be in complete favor of maintaining a traditional patriarchal society.
Fleming, Sean Michael. "Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia." Library Journal 15 Feb. 2006
Nagle, D. Brendan. “The Second Persian Invasion” The Ancient World; A social and Cultural History. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
While Persian financial support undeniably contributed to the Spartan’s victory over Athens in the Peloponnesian War, modern historians have over-emphasized the importance of that assistance to their eventual victory. Persian money allowed the Peloponnesian forces to stay in the fight, which had quickly dissolved into a war of attrition after the Athenian’s defeat at Syracuse. However, there were several negative aspects of the Persian/Peloponnesian alliance which detrimentally affected Sparta’s ability to effectively wage war against Athens. Included in this was the tendency for Persian Satraps to withhold pay and reinforcements, or to provide that pay irregularly. Additionally, Persia’s insistence that Sparta recognize their control over all Ionian cities prior to any treaty being completed led
Although the Iranian Revolution was both a political and religious movement in that it resulted in major shifts in government structure from an autocracy to a republic and that Islamic beliefs were fought to be preserved, it was more a religious movement in that the primary goal of the people was to preserve traditional ideology and in that the government became a theocracy intertwined with religious laws and desires of the people. Although the Iranian Revolution was caused by combination of political and religious motivations and ideas, the desires of the people supporting the movement were more dominantly religious ideas that were wished to be imposed in society and in a new government. The Shah, or king, of Iran at the time was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who had developed relations with nations in the “western” world, specifically with the United States. The United States supported the White Revolution, which was a series of social reformations the Shah made to remove Islamic values, law and tradition from the government to boost the country’s economy (White Revolution, 2010).... ...