Iran: An old civilization and a new nation state

Focus on Geography

Volumn 49, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 20-32

  Mojtahed Zadeh, Pirouz ^a  

^a TARBIAT MODARES UNIVERSITY   (Iran)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CIVILIZATION; STATE BUILDING;

ASIA; EURASIA; IRAN; MIDDLE EAST;

EID: 34249028302     PISSN: 15494934     EISSN: 19498535     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1949-8535.2007.tb00179.x     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. Keith McLachlan, The Boundaries of Modern Iran, The SOAS/GRC Geopolitical Series 2, UCL Press, London 1994, p. 1.
2. Professor Jean Gottmann, whose student (this author) was at Oxford University in the late 1970s, authorized this quotation from his letter, in a separate note dated May 19, 1992.
3. Shahnameh, the Book of Kings, by Abul-Qasem Ferdowsi (d. 1020 AD) is widely praised as the only reliable source in Persian literature that studied the pre-Islamic history of Iran and its association with other political entities of antiquity. Hitherto, little attention has been paid to the way it describes political relations in association with the political organization of the space in the ancient world. Popularly known as an epic account of ancient Persian history, especially of the Sassanid period (224 651 CE), the Shahnameh provides a remarkable description of the development of the concept of state in ancient Persia. It carefully describes how the idea of a vertically organized state evolved in ancient Iran with clearly demarcated boundaries, which influenced such Western political conceptions as "state," "territory," "boundary," and "democracy." Ferdowsi's description of the political geography of the ancient world bears remarkable resemblance to the modern concepts of political geography that evolved in post-Westphalia Europe. Did he, who lived a thousand years ago, well before Westphalia treaty of 1648, learn these ideas from modern Europe, or is it that ancient Persia influenced medieval Europe in terms of the evolution of political thoughts and political geography? This is a fascinating question deserving further exploration with the help of reliable analysis of the ancient world by respectable scholars of our time.
4. Ferdowsi, Hakim Abul-Qasem, Shalmameh, Original text, Javidan publication 1364 (1985), 4th print, Vol. III, Tehran, p. 330.
5. Nayer Nouri, A. H., 1971: Iran's Contribution to the World Civilization, Vol. II., Tehran, p. 196.
6. Templeton, Peter Louis, 1979: The Persian Prince, Persian Prince Publication, London, Templeton, p. 14.
7. The text of this proclamation is in cuneiform Acadian (Akkadian), inscribed on a clay cylinder now in the British Museum's Persian section.
8. Lockhart, L., 1953: Persia as Seen in the West, in A. J. Arbery ed., The Legacy of Persia, Oxford Clarendon Press, p. 326.
9. Masudi, Abul-Hassan Ali Ibn Hussein, Moravvege az-Zahab, Pers. Trans., Bongah-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketab, Tehran 1977.
10. Maqdasi, al-Beshari, Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Marefat al-Aqalim, Lieden 1906.
11. Iliff, J. H., 1953: Persia and the Ancient World, in A. J. Arbery ed., The Legacy of Persia, Oxford Clarendon.
12. Some suggest that the concept of "empire" is perhaps a Roman adoption of the Persian Shahanshahi system (Tavakoli, Ahmad, 1372 (1993): Empratouri, Shahanshah (Empire, Shahanshahi), Ayandeh monthly, Vol. IXX, No. 7-9, Tehran). Moreover, the Romans may have evolved their idea of "senate" on the basis of ancient Persian Mehestan (the House of the Elders), or vice versa.
13. Nayer Nouri, A. H., 1971: Iran's Contribution to the World Civilization, Vol. II., Tehran, p. 188.
14. Nayer Nouri, op. cit., p. 221.
15. Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz, 1974: New Studies on the Royal Road, translation from Victor W. Von Hagen's article in The Geographical Magazine (of June 1974), as appeared in monthly Daneshmand (Scientist) of Tehran, Vol. 11, No. 11 (Series No. 131), September: pp. 4-5 & 56-9.
16. A plate of bronze or other metals is called jam in Persian. Similarly, a goblet of metal or crystal is jam. On the other hand, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh speaks of the legendary Jamshid Shah, founder of Iran, who had a jam showing the world. From this concept comes the mystical "crystal ball" in almost all cultures. This author is of the opinion that Jamshid Shah was none other than Darius the Great, who had the bronze disc "jam" showing a map of the civilized world. There are other reasons supporting this theory, the discussion of which goes beyond the scope of this article.
17. See for instance; Arbery, A. J, 1953: The Legacy of Persia, Oxford Clarendon Press.
18. See for instance; Tavakoli, Ahmad, 1372 (1993): Empratouri, Shahanshah (Empire, Shahanshahi), Ayandeh Monthly, Vol. IXX, No. 7-9, Tehran.
19. Vadiei, K. 1974: Moghadamehi bar Joghrafiay-e Ensaniy-e Iran (An Introduction to the Human Geography of Iran), Tehran University Press, p, 186.
20. Turan is a term used by Ferdowsi (d. AD 1020) in his Shahnameh, the greatest work of epic literature in the Persian language, in reference to peoples of Turkic origin in the eastern fringes of old Khorasan. What constitutes Central Asia now was "Greater Khorasan" during most of the past 20 centuries.
21. Masudi, Abul-Hassan Ali Ibn Hussein (Arab geographer/historian of 4th century AH, Moravvege az-Zahab (Propagator of the Way), Persian translation 1977 by Abul-Qasem Payandeh, Bongah-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketab, Tehran, 464-5.
22. On Anushirvan's administration of justice, see many early Arab and Islamic works of history and geography including: A- Tabari, Mohammad Bin Jarir, Tarikh-e Tabari, Persian translation, 11 volumes, published by Bongah-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketab, Tehran 1974.
23. B- Maqdasi, al-Beshari, Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Marefat al-Aqalim, Liden 1906.
24. C- Biruni, Abu-Reihan, Qanoun-e Masudi, Published in Dakan 1955.
25. D- Ibn al-Faqih, Abu-Bakr Mohammad, Moktasar-e al-Boldan, 279 AH, Liden 1885.
26. E- Ibn Huqal, Mohammad, Surat al-Ardh, London 1938.
27. F- Estakhri, Ebrahim, Al-Masalek val-Mamalek, Liden 1889.
28. G- Hamavi, Abdullah Yaqut, Mo'jam al-Boldan, Cairo 1906.
29. H- Masudi, Abul-Hassan Ali Ibn Hussein, Moravvege az-Zahab, Pers. Trans., Bongah-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketab, Tehran 1977.
30. Ferdowsi, Hakim Abul-Qasem, op. cit., p. 415.
31. Masudi, ibid.
32. Masudi, op. cit., p. 240.
33. Masudi, op. cit., p. 467.
34. Mitrani, David, 1950: Evolution of the Middle Zone, Annals of American Political and Social Science, September.
35. Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz, 1999: Iran va Irani boudan (Iran and to be Iranian), Ettelaat Syasi Eqtesadi (Political Economic Ettelaat) quarterly of Tehran, Vol. XIV, Nos. 3&4 (147-148) and 5&6 (149-150), Tehran Azar & Day and Bahman & Esfand 1378 (winter of 1999), p. 147-8.
36. Ferdowsi, op. cit., p. 394.
37. Wilkinson, ibid.
38. Will Durant, History of Civilizations, Persian translation, Tehran 1988.
39. Nietzsche, Friedrich (1883-85), Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Formally published in 1892.
40. Nayer Nouri., op. cit., 152.
41. Levy, R., 1953: Persia and the Arabs, in A. J. Arbery ed., The Legacy of Persia, Oxford Clarendon Press, p. 61.
42. Maqdasi al-Maruf be-al-Beshari, Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Marefat al-Aqalim (written in 375 AH), second ed. Leiden 1906, p. 18.
43. Filippani-Ronconi, Pio, 1978: The Tradition of Sacred Kingship in Iran, in George Lenczowski ed., Iran under the Pahlavis, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, USA, p. 67.
44. Pourkamal, M., Administration Divisions of Iran, Plan and Budget Organization 1977, Tehran, p. 7.
45. Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz, 2004: Small Players of the Great Game, Routledge/Curzon, London and New York, c. II & III.
46. H. Arfa, Under the Five Shahs, 111-85 (London John Murray, 1964).
47. D. N. Wilber, Iran, 126 (Princeton University Press, 1976).
48. R. Ferrier, The History of the British Petroleum Company, vol. 1, 632-5 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982);
49. J. Marlowe, Iran: A Short Political Guide, 55-7, (London: Pall Mall, 1963).
50. W. E. Griffith, Iran's Foreign Policy, in Iran under the Pahlavis, G. Lenczowski (ed.), 370-1 (Stanford: Hover Institute, 1978).
51. Wilber, op. cit., p. 132.
52. M. Sicker, The Bear and the Lion, 55 (New York, Praeger, 1988).
53. R. W. Cotton, Nationalism in Iran, 198 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1964).
54. R. N. Fry, Iran, 87 (London: Allen & Unwin, 1954.
55. cf. M. T. O'Shea, Chapter 5 (of Modern Boundaries of Iran, K. S. McLachlan (ed.) 1994, London: UCL Press).
56. Unpublished paper of the Tripartite seminar (1981), School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, cf. paper of 14 October 1981.
57. Keith McLachlan, Traditional Regions and National Frontiers of Iran A General Overview, in Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh's "Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran", Universal Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida USA 2006, p.30.
58. For more details on this subject, see: Dr. Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh, Iran and Being Iranian, in Ettelaat-e Siasi va Eqtesadi (Political and Economic Ettelaat), Vol. XIV, Nos. 3&4 and 5&6, Azar va Dey 1378 (December 1999 January 2000) and Bahman va Esfand 1379 (February March 2000).
59. For more information on this subject, see: Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh, Security and Territoriality in the Persian Gulf, Curzon Press, London 1999, section IV.
60. See statement made by U.S. Secretary of State, Madam Albright, on March 17, 2000 at the American-Iranian Association in Washington, international news agencies.
61. For details, see: Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh, Geopolitical Ideas and Iranian Realities, Published by Nashr-e Nei, Tehran 2000, Chapter I.
62. Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh, Iran and Being Iranian, op. Cit.