The Baha I Communities Of Iran 1851 1921 Volume 2 The South Of Iran

The early histories of all the Baha'i communities of southern Iran are narrated here for the first time. Drawing on original sources including manuscript histories, letters, family records and material previously published only in Persian, Dr Moojan Momen provides a panoramic yet detailed account of the largest and the smallest Baha'i communities during the period 1851 to 1921. During this time they acquired characteristics that differentiated them from the rest of the population - their ethos and outlook, their system of administration and social institutions - and the persecution they faced as a result. The study of the religious minorities in Iran is still at an early stage. In particular, the Baha'i community has received relatively little attention, despite being the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran. Moojan Momen sets out to remedy this situation. Using a narrative style, he presents an account of the Baha'i communities in the southern half of Iran, province by province, during the early years of their formation and development. The starting point is the execution of the Bab in 1850 and the holocaust of 1852 when the shah gave orders for the extermination of the Babi community and thousands of Babis were killed. Set against the background of the turmoil in the social and economic conditions in Iran, the book stretches across the period of the leadership of the Baha'i community by Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. The book traces the developments in the Iranian Baha'i community as it emerged from the Babi community and, under the guidance of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, became less parochial and more global in its outlook, seeking education and raising the position of women in its local communities. By the period of the leadership of 'Abdu'l-Baha, these communities were making a notable difference, with the establishment of modern schools, the promotion of the education and social role of women, the development of health facilities and the building of modern public baths. In all these areas the Baha'is were at the forefront of modernity and development in Iran. However, each upsurge in the activities of the Baha'i community resulted in an upsurge of persecution. This book is an important contribution to the knowledge of the early days of the Baha'i Faith, the development of the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran and the emergence of modernity in the Middle East.

In 1844, a young merchant from Shiraz called Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad declared himself the ‘gate’ (the Bab) to the Truth and, shortly afterwards, the initiator of a new prophetic cycle. His messianic call attracted a significant following across Iran and Iraq. Regarded as a threat by state and religious authorities, the Babis were subject to intense persecution and the Bab himself was executed in 1850. In this volume, leading scholars of Islam, Baha’i studies and Iranian history come together to examine the life and legacy of the Bab, from his childhood to the founding of the Baha’i faith and beyond. Among other subjects, they cover the Bab’s writings, his Qur’an commentaries, the societal conditions that underlay the Babi upheavals, the works of Babi martyr Tahirih Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, and Orientalist Edward Granville Browne’s encounters with Babi and Baha’i texts.

Despite growing interest in the Baha'is of Iran, research on the history of this often-persecuted minority community has been limited by the accessibility of primary sources. 'The Baha'is of Iran, Transcaspia and the Caucasus' will help to fill this gap by assembling for the first time original material from Russian archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These sources provide crucial information concerning the rise of the early Baha'i community - and their precursors, the Babis - as well as their relations with local, national and foreign authorities. This comprehensive two-volume set showcases in Volume 1 letters from the Rozen collection from diplomats, army officers and scholars, describing developments concerning the Baha'is in Iran and Russia. Furthermore, in Volume 2 it draws together the reports and correspondence of Russian diplomats and officials, detailing the dramatic events of the persecutions of the Babis and Baha'is and the reactions of the Iranian and Russian states to these communities. Together these two volumes thus provide not only insights into the history of the Babis and Baha'is in Iran, Transcaspia and the Caucasus, but also the perspective of one of the players of the Great Game of diplomacy and power in the region. The authors present the complete texts in their original languages, providing both annotated translations and analytical introductions which supply background information on the Babi and Baha'i religions as well the personalities and events represented in the volumes and the significance of Babi and Baha'i studies within Russian Orientalism. Combining original sources with discerning analysis, this set is an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers and all readers interested in Babi and Baha'i history, the history of religion and minorities, Russo-Persian relations or Qajar Iran.

A succinct and highly readable narrative of modern Iran from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

'...her short analysis of the Iranian armed forces in the 1980s is first-rate, so too is her much more substantial section on women and the state in Iran...As well as offering useful insights into the workings of the Islamic state in Iran, this readable book also provides a warning of the struggles ahead in many other Muslim societies.' - Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Times Higher Education Supplement ;Islam has been the driving force shaping the ideology and the power base of the Iranian revolution. This volume engages critically with the Islamic perspective and promises offered by the revolution. Looking at the rise of the religious institution as a revolutionary force, the author observes their post-revolutionary policies in the domains of politics, economics, education, the armed forces and women's status. In the event, the volume demonstrates that the Iranian government has failed to deliver on most, if not all, of its Islamic pledges.

Since precious few architectural drawings and no theoretical treatises on architecture remain from the premodern Islamic world, the Timurid pattern scroll in the collection of the Topkapi Palace Museum Library is an exceedingly rich and valuable source of information. In the course of her in-depth analysis of this scroll dating from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, Gülru Necipoğlu throws new light on the conceptualization, recording, and transmission of architectural design in the Islamic world between the tenth and sixteenth centuries. Her text has particularly far-reaching implications for recent discussions on vision, subjectivity, and the semiotics of abstract representation. She also compares the Islamic understanding of geometry with that found in medieval Western art, making this book particularly valuable for all historians and critics of architecture. The scroll, with its 114 individual geometric patterns for wall surfaces and vaulting, is reproduced entirely in color in this elegant, large-format volume. An extensive catalogue includes illustrations showing the underlying geometries (in the form of incised “dead” drawings) from which the individual patterns are generated. An essay by Mohammad al-Asad discusses the geometry of the muqarnas and demonstrates by means of CAD drawings how one of the scroll’s patterns could be used co design a three-dimensional vault.

In a series of short stories that both inform and amuse, this book transports the reader across the windswept shores of the Caspian Sea and provides a provocative view of the wars, peace, intrigues, and betrayals that have shaped the political geography of this important and volatile region. The demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the eclipsing of the old Iranian-Soviet regime of the sea have given rise to new challenges for the regional actors and unprecedented opportunities for international players to tap into the area's enormous oil and gas resources, third in size only behind Siberia and the Persian Gulf. This book explores the historical themes that inform and animate the more immediate and familiar discussions about petroleum, pipelines, and ethnic conflict in the Caspian region.