Reshaping of Iran From Zoroastrian to Muslim: A History of Cultural Transformation
| Author: | Writer, Rashna | |
| Year: | 2013 | |
| Pages: | 532 | |
| ISBN: | 0-7734-4492-0 978-0-7734-4492-8 | |
| Price: | $299.95 + shipping | |
| (Click the PayPal button to buy) | ||
The conquest of Sasanian Iran by the Arabs, newly galvanized by Islam, brought to a close Zoroastrian Iran which would henceforth become an integral part of the Islamic world. This book examines the transformation of the country and its impact on the diminished Zoroastrian community; and investigates Zoroastrian-Muslim relations in Iran, from the early post-conquest era to the present time.
Reviews
“The long, noble, yet vexed history of Zoroastrians and Zoroastrianism is an integral part of humanity’s record. Their story of faith and fortitude for the past 1,800 years is finely gathered, judiciously analyzed and exquisitely narrated in Rashna Writer’s incisive inquiry."
-Prof. Jamsheed K. Choksy
Indiana University
-Prof. Jamsheed K. Choksy
Indiana University
Table of Contents
FOREWORD by Jamsheed K. Choksy
HISTORICAL TIMELINE
GLOSSARY
MAP: IRAN IN THE ISLAMIC ERA
PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
The Final Years of Sasanian Iran
The Sasanian Monarchy and Parthian Dynastic Leverage
Christian and Jewish Subjects of Sasanian Monarchs
Zoroastrianism’s Integral Link with Iran
Arabs Exploit Sasanian Weakness
CHAPTER TWO
The Arab Military Conquest of Iran
Early Arab Forays into Iranian Territory
From Skirmishes to Victories
Military Conquest and Consolidation of Arab Power
Yazdgerd III’s Flight
The Conquest of Khorasan
CHAPTER THREE
Transition from the Umayyad to the Abbasid Caliphate
Abu Muslim Instigates Abbasid Revolt
Abbsaid Rule in Iran
National Iranian Dynasties
CHAPTER FOUR
The Consolidation of Islamic Rule
Law and the State
Administration
Cultural Assimilation
Maw?? and dhimm?s
Assimilation
CHAPTER FIVE
From Zoroastrian to Muslim:
The Conversion of Iran
Uneven Adoption of Islam
Iran’s Intellectual Rebuttals
The Shu?biyyah:
A Critique of the Foreigner
The Sh?hn?meh: A Tone Poem
Muslim /Non-Muslim Demarcations
Discriminatory taxation
Dhimmitude: Entrenching Segregation
Attempts at Reviving
Iran’s ‘Glorious Past’
CHAPTER SIX
Contraction of the Zoroastrian Community
Variations in the Pattern of Conversion
A Programme of Conversion
Acceleration of the Rate of Conversion
Ninth-Century Watershed
CHAPTER SEVEN
Shia Islam: Redefining a National Identity
Islamic Law
Imami Shiism
The Sasanian legal Code as Outlined in the Matikan-I Hazar Datestan
The Reshaping of Iran
CHAPTER EIGHT
Emasculation of the Zoroastrians in the Safavid Era
The Safavids Declare their Shia Allegiance
Systematic Persecution of the Zoroastrian Minority
The Afghan Campaign and the Zoroastrians of Kerman
CHAPTER NINE
The Qajar Dynasty: Further Denigration of the Zoroastrians
A Political Clergy
Further Denigration of the Zoroastrians
The Amelioration Society
Foreign Observations of Iran’s Zoroastrians
Keikhosrow Shahrokh: An Outstanding Zoroastrian
CHAPTER TEN
The Pahlavi Dynasty: An Era of Religious Tolerance
The Pahlavi Dynasty:
Creating a New Iran
Respite for Zoroastrians
Muhamman Reza Pahlavi’s Extravagant Ambitions
The Shah and his Zoroastrian Subjects
CHAPTER ELEVEN
From Religious Tolerance to Islamic Revolution
The Intellectual Rationale Behind the Islamic Revolution
The Politicisation of Zoroastrian Symbols
Khomeini: The Shah’s Nemesis
Zoroastrians in the Islamic Republic
CODA
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
HISTORICAL TIMELINE
GLOSSARY
MAP: IRAN IN THE ISLAMIC ERA
PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
The Final Years of Sasanian Iran
The Sasanian Monarchy and Parthian Dynastic Leverage
Christian and Jewish Subjects of Sasanian Monarchs
Zoroastrianism’s Integral Link with Iran
Arabs Exploit Sasanian Weakness
CHAPTER TWO
The Arab Military Conquest of Iran
Early Arab Forays into Iranian Territory
From Skirmishes to Victories
Military Conquest and Consolidation of Arab Power
Yazdgerd III’s Flight
The Conquest of Khorasan
CHAPTER THREE
Transition from the Umayyad to the Abbasid Caliphate
Abu Muslim Instigates Abbasid Revolt
Abbsaid Rule in Iran
National Iranian Dynasties
CHAPTER FOUR
The Consolidation of Islamic Rule
Law and the State
Administration
Cultural Assimilation
Maw?? and dhimm?s
Assimilation
CHAPTER FIVE
From Zoroastrian to Muslim:
The Conversion of Iran
Uneven Adoption of Islam
Iran’s Intellectual Rebuttals
The Shu?biyyah:
A Critique of the Foreigner
The Sh?hn?meh: A Tone Poem
Muslim /Non-Muslim Demarcations
Discriminatory taxation
Dhimmitude: Entrenching Segregation
Attempts at Reviving
Iran’s ‘Glorious Past’
CHAPTER SIX
Contraction of the Zoroastrian Community
Variations in the Pattern of Conversion
A Programme of Conversion
Acceleration of the Rate of Conversion
Ninth-Century Watershed
CHAPTER SEVEN
Shia Islam: Redefining a National Identity
Islamic Law
Imami Shiism
The Sasanian legal Code as Outlined in the Matikan-I Hazar Datestan
The Reshaping of Iran
CHAPTER EIGHT
Emasculation of the Zoroastrians in the Safavid Era
The Safavids Declare their Shia Allegiance
Systematic Persecution of the Zoroastrian Minority
The Afghan Campaign and the Zoroastrians of Kerman
CHAPTER NINE
The Qajar Dynasty: Further Denigration of the Zoroastrians
A Political Clergy
Further Denigration of the Zoroastrians
The Amelioration Society
Foreign Observations of Iran’s Zoroastrians
Keikhosrow Shahrokh: An Outstanding Zoroastrian
CHAPTER TEN
The Pahlavi Dynasty: An Era of Religious Tolerance
The Pahlavi Dynasty:
Creating a New Iran
Respite for Zoroastrians
Muhamman Reza Pahlavi’s Extravagant Ambitions
The Shah and his Zoroastrian Subjects
CHAPTER ELEVEN
From Religious Tolerance to Islamic Revolution
The Intellectual Rationale Behind the Islamic Revolution
The Politicisation of Zoroastrian Symbols
Khomeini: The Shah’s Nemesis
Zoroastrians in the Islamic Republic
CODA
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX