EARLY MONGOL RULE IN THIRTEENTH-CENTURY IRAN (original) (raw)
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Rashīd al-Dīn and the making of history in Mongol Iran
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Sufis and Sultans in Post-Mongol Iran
Iranian Studies, 1994
One of the least-studied eras of Iranian history is that between the invasion of Changiz Khan (Genghis Khan) in the early 13th century and the establishment of the Safavid Empire early in the 16th. This was a time of unprecedented political upheaval when much of the Iranian world became subject to rule by Mongols and Turks. The period between the collapse of the (Mongol) Il-Khan dynasty in 1335, however, and the consolidation of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane) in the 1380s was an age of regionalism par excellence and one of cultural florescence. The most important of the minor dynasties that flourished at this time were the Muzaffarids in Fars, Iraq-i 'Ajam and Kirman (1314-93), the Jalayirids in Iraq, Kurdistan and Azarbaijan (1336-1432), and, in Khurasan, the Karts at Herat (1245-1389) and the Sarbidars at Sabzavar (1336-81). The period between approximately 1200 and 1500 was also crucial for Iran's religious identity.' The Mongol invasions ushered in an age of religious transition during which tensions between Sunni and Shi'i subsided and differences between schools of law became less important. The Mongols' destruction of the Isma'ilis or Assassins was greeted with relief by Sunnis. But their murder of the caliph was a catastrophe, at least on the theoretical level. Henceforth, political legitimacy would be granted not by caliphal approval but through descent from Changiz Khan. The Mongols themselves were not initially partial to a particular religious persuasion. If anything, the earlier Mongol age "was a period of coexistence of the various Muslim religious views. This coexistence amounted almost to a *This article is based on a chapter in my doctoral dissertation, "The Kart Dynasty of Herat: Religion and Politics in Medieval Iran" (Columbia University, 1992). I am most grateful to Profs. Richard W. Bulliet, Jo-Ann Gross, Carl W. Ernst and Simon Digby for comments on earlier drafts, and to Haideh Sahim for invaluable assistance. 2. Mazzaoui, Origins of the Safawids, 38. 3. Bausani, "Religion Under the Mongols," 543. Ghazan, dressed in a woolen cloak (suJ) was converted by a Kubravi shaykh from Khorasan (Charles Melville, "Pa-dshaihi Islacm: The Conversion of Sultan Mahmud Ghazan Khan," in Pembroke Papers 1 [1990], Persian and Islamic Studies in honour of P. W.
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This book explores the causes and consequences of Chinggis Khan's invasion of Khorasan in the 13th century. It discusses Chinggis Khan's charismatic leadership qualities that united all nomadic tribes and gave him the authority to become the supreme Mongol leader, which helped him to invade Khorasan. It also focuses on the rise of the Muslim cities in Khorasan where many Muslim scholars kept their intellectual brilliance and made Khorasan the cultural capital of the Muslims. This study apprises us of Chinggis Khan's war tactics and administrative system which made his men extremely strong and advanced despite their culture remaining barbaric in nature. His progeny also followed a similar policy for a long time until all Muslim cities were fully destroyed. The work also focuses on the rise of many sectarian divisions among the Muslims which brought disunity that eventually led to their downfall. Thus, this study underscores the importance of revitalization of unity in the...
SUMMARY With the Mongol invasion of Persia and the founding of the Ilkhanate in 1258, the stage was set for the sometimes difficult encounter between Islamic and Mongol law, which has often been described as a 'clash.' This paper will look at factors which smoothed the encounter by allowing coexistence and compromise between Mongol and Islamic law. While many Mongols were willing to allow Muslims to practice their own law, Muslim objections to Mongol legal practices were also tempered by several factors, including the previous acceptance of 'secular' forms of trial such as the mazalim; the source of law being in religion rather than the ruler, which allowed Islamic legal practices to easily continue; and the possibility interpreting events in moral rather than strictly religious terms. Thus, the attitudes of both the conquerors and the conquered contributed to Mongol rule creating relatively small and painless ripples in the Persian legal landscape.
From Genghis Khan, Nasir al-Din al Tusi and Hulagu to Timur (Tamerlane)
https://megalommatiscomments.wordpress.com, 2023
Pre-publication of chapter XXIV of my forthcoming book “Turkey is Iran and Iran is Turkey – 2500 Years of indivisible Turanian – Iranian Civilization distorted and estranged by Anglo-French Orientalists”; chapter XXIV constitutes the Part Ten {Fallacies about the Times of Turanian (Mongolian) Supremacy in terms of Sciences, Arts, Letters, Spirituality and Imperial Universalism}. The book is made of 12 parts and 33 chapters. ------------------- First pre-published on 29th June 2023 here: https://megalommatiscomments.wordpress.com/2023/06/29/from-genghis-khan-nasir-al-din-al-tusi-and-hulagu-to-timur-tamerlane/