Contemporary Authors

Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Amanat , Abbas: IRAN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A504217570/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=33390661. Accessed 17 May 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A504217570

What does it mean to be Iranian?
Lior Sternfeld
Iran Times International (Washington, DC). 43.24 (Aug. 30, 2013): p7.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Iran Times International
http://www.iran-times.com/
Full Text:
Iran Facing Others: Identity Boundaries in a Historical Perspective Abbas Amanat and Farzin Vejdani, eds., New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2012, ISBN 9780230102538

Iranian national identity continues to be an engaging subject for a myriad of articles, books, and conferences. This evolving debate examines both ancient text, such as the Shahnameh, and recent cutting-edge research. Still, the question of what Iranian nationalism consists of, and what contributes to its ever-changing character, is not yet exhausted.

This volume of 12 articles (and an introduction by Abbas Amanat) brings new approaches to the academic conversation. Its goal is to investigate the geographical and cultural boundaries of Iranian nationalism. Ferdowsi's Shahnameh anchors the discussion as the most influential text on perceptions, both by foreigners and Iranians, of the Iranian identity question. Amanat notes that throughout the ages the Shahnameh served Iranians not only as an "epic tale and [for its] captivating storytelling values, but also as a supreme model for governance."

The book is divided into four sections. Each deals with different facets of Iranian national identity: cultural exclusion, encounters with other empires, modern nationalism construct, and internal "others."

In the introduction, Amanat sets the ground for the entire volume. He points out inherent tensions: territorial integrity vs. cultural spheres; centralized ethnicity vs. tribal and multi-denominational histories; and international connections vs. local development. He surveys the evolution of Iran from the days of the Arab invasion (as remembered through poetry) to the Islamic Republic. A recurring theme in the volume as a whole is the essentiality of hostile encounters to the forging of national identity, be it domestic encounters between competing factions or foreigners contesting the national ethos.

Amanat presents an interesting argument in his discussion of the "Nationalist identity in the Pahlavi era." He points out the appeal and historical connection Iranian nationalism had to the minorities. As proof, he presents the failures of local nationalisms to develop in the periphery and hinterland, despite the attempt to create them (Kurdish and Azeri movements). This argument departs from much of the existing scholarship that ascribes these failures to the balance of power between the superpowers (USSR and Britain) and Iran. It does, however, support the general agreement that the Pahlavi era national identity was as inclusive as possible and reflected the values of a state-sponsored "Greater Iran."

Dick Davis' chapter, "Iran and Aniran: the shaping of a legend," returns to the Shahnameh and underscores its significance in the Iranian self-perception, and how it fused myth and history into the modern Iranian national consciousness. A fascinating argument that is presented in this chapter concerns the role of race in the Shahnameh and in the legacy of ancient Iran. Davis analyzes the protagonists' genealogy and holds that "Kay Khosrow, the paradigmatically perfect Iranian king of the poem's first half, only has one indisputably Iranian grandparent; the other three are from Turan."

This problematizes the reading of the Shahnameh as a nationalistic text that was placed as the paragon of "pure Iranianism." Davis shows that the contrary is true; the text offers favorable views of foreigners, welcoming them to the greater Persian Empire. This chapter also traces the roots of the Arab-Persian animosity in the Shahnameh: "The oppressor of Iran, the potential destroyer of its people and its heritage, turns out to be not Turan, or India, or China, or even the demonic world, which had been the constantly evoked adversaries of the poem's legendary narratives, but a man who comes from Arab stock."

In the next chapter, Sunil Sharma explores the evolvement of the "'Ajam" concept. Sharma examines what values are inherent in this term, in multiple literary traditions. The old cultural animosity between the Arabs and the Persians appears in the contrasting definitions of this word. As Sharma shows, one of the concepts represented by "'Ajam" is cultural conquest over the Arabs. Sharma's article helps to define the ever-changing boundaries of Persian literature. Using literary traditions from Iran, India, and Europe, Sharma evaluates their different perspectives and looks at how their content changed following the transition within the Persianate world.

In chapter three, "Iranian History in Transition," Touraj Atabaki studies the ninth-century revolt of Babak Khorramdin. He compares historical fact with the contemporary interpretations of this story by different sects, and studies how it was used as a model for Iranian nationalism. Khorramdin's revolt against the 'Abbasid caliphate was used to teach modern Iranians what their 'true' nature is.

Of course, the interpretations vary according to who was teaching about the revolt. Some describe Babak Khorramdin as a warrior for independent Iran and the sovereignty of its people, and defender of its rich history; Marxists (including Tudeh members) see him as a fighter against injustice and exploitation; yet others decry him as an infidel and see him as an "other."

This story was also used to make territorial claims, in which Khorramdin's geographical "spheres of influence" were emphasized. Atabaki shows that some of these narratives were prominent enough to appear in official history textbooks. He demonstrates how historians of the Islamic Republic suffered from selective amnesia when writing about Khorramdin. They chose which details to put forward (Khorramdin's Azeri background and the actual revolt) while neglecting to mention others (the success of his campaign). In this period, the story was used to contextualize contemporary struggles in Azerbaijan, where Khorramdin has remained an icon.

The second part, "Empires and Encounters," opens with an article by Fariba Zarinebaf, "Rebels and Renegades on Ottoman-Iranian Borderland." It makes a great contribution in more than one aspect. First, it sheds new light on a much-neglected part of borderland studies: the geographical and political conditions there created hybrid identities that could not have been created elsewhere. Second, the Ottoman-Safavid rivalry is very much under-studied. Zarinebaf examines political practices in the frontier provinces, showing how local governors maneuvered between central government demands, their private interest, and local subjects' wants.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Methods like changing loyalties, and thus changing the borders between the two empires, were endemic and reflected the very same hybridism that is embedded in the frontier gray-zone. The nature of this rivalry also sheds an interesting new light on mixed identities: the Ottomans appealed to the Qizilbash to facilitate Ottoman takeovers; Janissaries crossed the border to serve the Safavids; Turkoman-Azeri heterodox Sufi orders challenged Ottoman orthodox Islam. This chapter opens new grounds for future research and new reading of both Ottoman and Safavid historiographies.

Chapters 5 and 6 deal with more recent encounters between Iran and Russia and Britain. In chapter 5, Rudi Matthee investigates why, despite aggressive and violent encounters, Russia does not have as infamous a reputation in Iran as Britain. The Iranians feared Russia's expansionist tendencies and despised "ominous Russia" (Rus-e manhus), but also looked at Russia as the premier European or Western superpower that balanced the Ottoman Empire and opened a door for Iranian modernization. The "Russian legacy" may also be less notorious than it could and should have been because of the relative weakness of the Qajar central government; since the Qajars were not perceived as rigid defenders of the Iranian borders, the legacies could become less confrontational.

Chapter 6 focuses on the impressions of the Iranian encounter with the British Empire during the Qajar era. The encounter with Britain instigated conflicting trends within the Iranian public sphere. On the one hand, Britain represented modernity and power, and in many senses became a source of emulation. On the other hand, the ruthless exploitation of Iran's resources, the corruption, and the interference with Iran's domestic issues kindled hatred that lasted longer than Britain's actual presence in Iran. Amanat analyzes this tension, arguing that Britain is Iran's ultimate external "other."

Chapter 7 too concentrates on the Anglo-Iranian relationship. H. Lyman Stebbins' article, on the period from 1890 to 1919, examines the impact of the British presence on the emergence of anti-imperial movements and their impact on shaping national identity. His focus becomes more interesting when he shifts the location of the research from Tehran to South Iran, where the British presence was much more massive. The interactions between the British and the tribes in the Gulf region created unique national consciousness that served the Qajar state to some extent; later, they helped the Pahlavi dynasty to portray Britain as a threat and to "other" it.

The third part of the volume, "Nationalism and the Appropriation of the Past," deals with historiographical criticism. Afshin Matin-Asgari's "The Academic Debate on Iranian Identity" criticizes the academic discourse regarding Iranian nationalism. Matin-Asgari argues that this discourse is based on false presumptions and therefore misleading and partial. He calls for the abandonment of the paradigm of continuous national history from the pre-modern era to today; instead, he maintains, we should understand early Iran as an empire. The model of the multi-ethnic empire (much like the contemporary European empires) explains premodern Iran better than the model of an eternal nation. Matin-Asgari offers a compelling argument about the failure of the academic craft in posing alternatives to the nation-state model, even when another, better fitting model is in sight. This chapter's greatest value, if so, is in its valid criticism of generations of Iranian studies' academicians.

Houchang Chehabi's chapter, "Iran and Iraq: Intersocietal Linkages and Secular Nationalism," criticizes the historiography that, extrapolating from relatively recent animosity between Iran and Iraq, portrays this rivalry as eternal. Chehabi shows that the communities of Iran and Iraq were much more intertwined than we currently think. Family relations, commerce, religion-and more-connected people; the anti-Arab Iranian discourse or the anti-Persian Iraqi discourse are recent constructions stemming from political disputes rather than historic cultural tensions.

The last part of the book, "Self-Fashioning and Internal Othering," concentrates on three minority communities and the process of "othering" they underwent. In chapter 10 Daniel Tsadik examines how the identity of the Jewish community evolved throughout the ages. The delicate connection between the Jewish minority and the Muslim majority produced yet again a unique hybrid identity comprised of Muslim and Jewish motifs, national Iranian components, and Persian culture and history. Zionism became a factor in the second half of the twentieth century and influenced the community in two prominent ways. First, a quarter of the Jewish population migrated to Israel-some were wholeheartedly Zionist, while others sought refuge from inter-religious tensions. Second, Jews were suspected as Zionist sympathizers and, in times of rising Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the Iranian community had to confront their Muslim compatriots who showed solidarity with the Palestinians.

Otherwise, during the Pahlavi era Jews were well integrated in Iran's economy and society. Tsadik shows that in 1966 about a third of Tehran's textile merchants were Jews; Jews also were overrepresented among physicians and university professors, and held high positions in banks and government offices. Tsadik also underscores their large participation in the Communist Tudeh party. Overall, this article thoroughly shows the modifications of Jewish Iranians' identity in response to their changing environment.

Mina Yazdani's "The Confessions of Dolgoruki: the Crisis of Identity and the Creation of a Master Narrative" focuses on the condition of the Baha'i community following the publication, in the 1930s, of a forged memoir that presented Baha'ism as part of a greater Russian conspiracy to destroy Muslim unity in Iran. Parts of the Iranian population were convinced that this text was genuine; in the wake of its publication, the status of the Baha'is deteriorated. Yazdani suggested that the aftermath of the publication is part of the postcolonial identity crisis and involved conflicting ideas, such as Islamism and racist nationalism. The analysis of the text evokes the instance of the "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," which was created in Tsarist Russia to serve similar aims of "othering" the Jews in Russia.

The last chapter, Monica Ringer's "Iranian Nationalism and Zoroastrian Identity: Between Cyrus and Zoroaster," deals with the Zoroastrian community. Ringer discusses the unique role Zoroastrians played in Iranian history. Frequently, they are regarded as retainers of the genuine Iranian culture. However, as politicized religion became increasingly important in Iran in the 1960s and 1970s, the Zoroastrians started to play up their ethnic identity which they shared with the Muslim majority, and which hence was more acceptable to the Iranian Muslim public than their religious identity.

To conclude, this volume very usefully helps us understand intricate details of Iranian national identity. It is a well-rounded tome that helps the reader to better understand not only identity issues but also contextualizes it within Iranian history and literature. The different chapters can be used for all levels of courses on Iran and for almost any subfield, be it history, literature or sociology.

This book review first appeared in Iranian Studies, the journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies, and is reprinted with the permission of the editor, Homa Katouzian.

Lior Sternfeld

University of Texas at Austin

Sternfeld, Lior

Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Sternfeld, Lior. "What does it mean to be Iranian?" Iran Times International [Washington, DC], 30 Aug. 2013, p. 7. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A343947013/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c3aa80f0. Accessed 17 May 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A343947013

5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 1/12
Print Marked Items
Is There a Middle East? The Evolution of
a Geopolitical Concept
Karen Culcasi
Journal of World History.
24.3 (Sept. 2013): p710+.
COPYRIGHT 2013 University of Hawaii Press
http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
Full Text:
Is There a Middle East? The Evolution of a Geopolitical Concept. Edited by MICHAEL E. BONINE,
ABBAS AMANAT, and MICHAEL EZEKIEL GASPER. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2011.
344 pp. $80.00 (cloth); $24.95 (paper and e-book).
The short answer to this book's leading question is an assertive yes. There is indeed a Middle East. Edited
by the late Michael Bonine, a geographer, Abbas Amanat and Michael Ezekiel Gasper, both historians, Is
There a Middle East? The Evolution of a Geopolitical Concept brings together an impressive array of
scholars with wide-ranging areas of expertise. Through ten rich chapters (divided into three sections), this
book illustrates how the term, the idea, and the framework of the Middle East has been constructed as an
abstract geopolitical (and economic) entity over the last several decades. As the editors briefly outline in the
preface and introduction, the book follows the evolution of the concept of the Middle East, but also seeks to
problematize it and to examine the impacts of its construction.
The first section of this book addresses the multiple ways that the term "Middle East," as well "Near East"
and several others terms, have evolved. Tracing its usage in several European languages in the nineteenth
century, Yilman posits that it was the Eastern Question, or European geopolitics of the weakening Ottoman
Empire, from which the Middle East emerged. With great detail, Yilman shows that the Middle East is a
Eurocentric construction that emerged from geopolitical discourse. Adelson's chapter furthers Yilman's
point by arguing that the term gained widespread acceptance in the United States and the United Kingdom
as a geopolitical relic of the post-World War II and Cold War eras. In the third chapter, Bonine adds a
geographical analysis by summarizing the fluctuations of geographical delineations of the Middle East in
world-regional geography textbooks, atlases, and maps. In the final chapter of this section, Rouighi
provides an in depth study of how different institutions within the Maghrib use this Eurocentric concept. He
highlights that the concept is not widely adopted, but when it is used, it generally refers to somewhere east
of the Maghrib.
With the premise of the book well established in the first section--that there are incredible variations and
ambiguities of this term, of its Eurocentric origins, and the lack of internal adoption--the second section
provides depth and detail on various constructions of the Middle East. Khazeni's chapter looks at the
inclusion and exclusion of Central Asia as part of Middle East showing how boundaries became fixed on
maps only in nineteenth century amid the great imperial rivalries of Britain, Russia, and Persia. Sood
examines vernacular geographies in the eighteenth century through the writings of merchants working and
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 2/12
living around the Arabian Sea. His rich discussion shows that geography was relative; there were no clear
boundaries, frontiers, or states. In the third chapter of this section, Varisco considers how the Holy Land, as
a geographical precursor to the Middle East, was perceived by pilgrims. Varisco stresses, in contradiction to
Edward Said, that this region was idealized as a utopia and hence not inferior to Europe. The last chapter of
this section draws on environmental history to debunk myths that Arabs mishandled and degraded the land.
In her analysis, Davis provides an impressive and much-needed critique of some foundational stereotypes of
the Middle East, whilst critiquing the colonist narrative that was used to justify their control of the "fragile"
land and people.
The third section of this book then moves on to examine the contemporary Middle East from a global
perspective. Gelvin provides a political economic history of the region, underscoring the global connections
of the economic order. Hazbun's chapter similarly examines global connections but through a critical
geopolitical lens. His chapter is a sustained discussion that addresses how the discourse of Middle East
"exceptionalism" (that the Middle East is inherently different from the West) has framed public and official
understandings of post--9/11 geopolitics and justified American foreign policies in the region.
The eclecticism of perspectives and foci presented in this book make for a valuable contribution to any
aspect of Middle East studies. Even with the diverse chapters, this edited collection clearly and superbly
demonstrates the construction of the Middle East as an abstraction, highlighting its Eurocentric origins and
lack of acceptance from within. Though this book has many great contributions, there are of course some
ways the book could have been strengthened.
First, a more sustained critical perspective could have helped one of the book's mains goals of
problematizing the Middle East. Not only does the book reify and support the continued usage of the term
Middle East (see chapter 3 specifically), but at times some of the all too familiar stereotypes of the Middle
East (i.e., as a place of political extremism, resentments, and oil, and as lacking agency to change) are
recycled (see the introductory chapter specifically). Both Bonine and Adelson make a cautionary statement
about conflating and homogenizing such a vast area, but a more sustained critique is warranted. It is notable
that literary scholars and feminist perspectives are absent from this book, and perhaps such contributions
might have added a more critical perspective. Another area that could have been developed is an analysis of
the impacts or effects of the use and evolution of the concept today. Though Hazbun does examine the
effects of discourses today, and there are inklings of such points scattered elsewhere, the book misses the
chance to probe into the ways in which the general public imagines this place, as well as how foreign
policies are implemented today. A smaller concern is the lack of editorial discussion. Editorial introductions
to each section were absent. These would have been immensely useful for weaving together some main
arguments and similar themes between the chapters.
Noting these few concerns, any professional or advanced student who focuses on the Middle East should
read this book, as it can help to question the "object" of many people's studies and curiosities. Ultimately,
what this books highlights is that even though the Middle East has Eurocentric geopolitical origins and that
it is a fluid concept, it is a concept that is very meaningful, very much here to stay, and thus very much in
need of critique.
KAREN CULCASI
West Virginia University
Culcasi, Karen
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Culcasi, Karen. "Is There a Middle East? The Evolution of a Geopolitical Concept." Journal of World
History, vol. 24, no. 3, 2013, p. 710+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A376206472/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0fdbcf4f.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 3/12
Gale Document Number: GALE|A376206472
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 4/12
Is there a Middle East?: the evolution of a
geopolitical concept
D.J. Timothy
CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.
49.10 (June 2012): p1947.
COPYRIGHT 2012 American Library Association CHOICE
http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/about
Full Text:
49-5865
DS44
2011-26603 CIP
Is there a Middle East?: the evolution of a geopolitical concept, ed. by Michael E. Bonine, Abbas Amanat,
and Michael Ezekiel Gasper. Stanford, 2012. 319p bibl index alp ISBN 9780804775267, $80.00; ISBN
9780804775274 pbk, $24.95
This well-edited work focuses on geographically prescribed definitions of one of the most heavily contested
and tumultuous parts of the world, touching on many sensitive, albeit crucial, elements currently (and
historically) facing this region. Above all, the book's contributors highlight the geophysical, cultural, and
historical difficulties associated with identifying a region whose boundaries have heretofore eluded precise
definition and delineation. Nonetheless, the individual authors are able to argue for or against the Middle
East's regional identity as it is, and has been, mediated by politics, the natural environment, religion,
migration, colonialism, Eurocentrism, cartographic precision or lack thereof, and societal identity. The first
two sections illustrate the historical development of the concept of the "Middle East" as it was defined in
early maps and colonial writ. These sections are particularly useful because they clarify the definition of the
region by insiders and outsiders. The final part of the book deals with decisive contemporary issues as the
region continues to identify itself as a simultaneity of ancient and modern, and holds its place in a
globalized world. Themes include US foreign policy toward the region, war, and terrorism. Summing Up:
Recommended. ** Upper-division undergraduates and above.--D. J. Timothy, Arizona State University
Timothy, D.J.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Timothy, D.J. "Is there a Middle East?: the evolution of a geopolitical concept." CHOICE: Current Reviews
for Academic Libraries, June 2012, p. 1947. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A291615865/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=32b94f70.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A291615865
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 5/12
Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism
Reference & Research Book News.
25.3 (Aug. 2010):
COPYRIGHT 2010 Ringgold, Inc.
http://www.ringgold.com/
Full Text:
9781845119812
Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism.
Amanat, Abbas.
I.B. Tauris & Co.
2009
286 pages
$36.00
Paperback
Library of modern religion; 4
BP63
This collection of 10 articles written by Amanat (history, Yale U.) over the course of twenty years are
thematically unified by their attention to apocalyptic and messianic aspects of Shi'a Islam and to their
influence over judicial, clerical, and ritualistic dimensions of Shi'ism in Iran and its neighbors. Beyond that
theme, the articles traverse broad chronological and topical ground, offering examinations of such subjects
as the Nujtavi movement of the 15th to 17th century, the reactions of mujtahids (religious scholars) to
Christian evangelicalism in the early 19th century, the nature of the clerical hierarchy and the emergence of
the "source of emulations" in the 19th century as the form of clerical authority, the changes in
understandings of clerical authority promoted by Ayatollah Khomenei, the role of the American "Great
Satan" in achieving discipline over the revolutionary self and its roots in the demonology of Cold War
propaganda, and expressions of popular piety in contemporary Iran. Distributed in the US by Palgrave
Macmillan.
([c]2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism." Reference & Research Book News, Aug. 2010. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A233055209/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6fbcf762.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A233055209
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 6/12
Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah
Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-
1896
Michel M. Mazzaoui
The Historian.
61.3 (Spring 1999): p649.
COPYRIGHT 1999 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc.
Full Text:
Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896. By Abbas Amanat.
(Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997. Pp. xix, 536. $45.00.)
The author of this book is an established authority on the modern history of Iran, especially the period of
the Qajar dynasty (1895-1925). The bibliography in the present volume lists as many as 21 of his writings,
all of which deal with various aspects of Qajar history. In this monograph, Abbas Amanat has chosen the
life and times of Nasir al-Din Shah, the longest ruling monarch of the Qajar dynasty, who reigned from
1848 to 1896 (the date of 1831 in the title was the year of his birth). Three rulers preceded him (Agha
Muhammad Khan, Fath Ali Shah, and Muhammad Shah) and three rulers came after him (Muzaffar al-Din
Shah, Muhammad Ali Shah, and Sultan Ahmad Shah)--all of whom deserve a biography like this one.
The discussion, which covers the main events of the Shah's reign, concentrates on the first half of his reign
from 1848 to 1871, making the reader wonder if a second volume is to be expected. Amanat intends to
answer a fundamental question: "How did monarchy, the centerpiece of an ancient political order, withstand
and adjust to the challenges of modern times, both international and domestic? (Preface, xiii). Keeping his
subject under close scrutiny, the author hints at an answer that emphasizes the Shah's "nascent patriotism"
which in turn "helped preserve his kingdom's territorial integrity" (xvi).
The remainder of the book discusses various premises in meaningful details and in an original and attractive
style. This is done in nine lengthy chapters and an epilogue. The treatment is chronological throughout the
study with sometimes curious titles and subtitles that some readers might not find very helpful in following
the general threads of the story, for example, "A Mirror for the Prince"; "Machination and Mutiny"; "An
Inadvertent Victim"; "The Prophet and the Priests"; "Ruinous Fever"; and "In the House of Oblivion" Many
of these titles sound more like novels than chapters in a scholarly biography.
The author ends his book with a useful list of abbreviations, notes, and a comprehensive bibliography,
divided into unpublished Persian sources, unpublished European sources, published works in Persian and
Arabic, and published works in European languages.
The work deals primarily with this one ruler, Nasir al-Din Shah, but throughout its pages there is discussion
of the Iranian monarchy and the position of the Shah in the imperial system. Amanat spells this out by
stating that "Increasingly the Qajar Shah upheld his royal supremacy over the `Guarded Domains' of Iran
not so much by military force and administrative surveillance as by royal grandiosity, symbolic
punishments and rewards, and sheer political maneuvering" (13). This view is applied to his subject in the
Epilogue: "Nasir al-Din's monarchy was built on the symbolism of might and sovereignty and on the image
of the Shah's religiosity and rectitude" (440).
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 7/12
The mixture of narrative history and analytical reflections on Iran's monarchical traditions found in this
book is, in the opinion of this reviewer, the strength of Amanat's Pivot of the Universe. It is a work of
<> tahlil-o-tajziyeh ("<>"), which could easily
serve as a model for similar undertakings in Persian Qajar history, and even in contemporary Arab and
Ottoman Turkish history. The book also contains a great collection of pictures with informative captions,
including some curious caricatures by Nasir al-Din himself. Some errors mar the text. For example, Ali was
not "the Third Shi'ite Imam" (487, n. 41). He was the first. There are also quite a number of spelling and
typesetting errors.
Michel M. Mazzaoui
University of Utah
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Mazzaoui, Michel M. "Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-
1896." The Historian, vol. 61, no. 3, 1999, p. 649. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A55426763/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a18c0b03.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A55426763
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 8/12
Shari'a; Islamic law in the contemporary
context
Reference & Research Book News.
23.1 (Feb. 2008):
COPYRIGHT 2008 Ringgold, Inc.
http://www.ringgold.com/
Full Text:
9780804756396
Shari'a; Islamic law in the contemporary context.
Ed. by Abbas Amanat and Frank Griffel.
Stanford U. Press
2007
249 pages
$45.00
Hardcover
KBP440
Under the weight of massive propaganda by Western interests, shari'a is now widely considered
synonymous with the oppression of women, cutting off of heads, and other barbarities. Here Western
historians, law scholars, social scientists, and others look at Islamic law in the context both of Islamic
society and the modern world generally.
([c]20082005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Shari'a; Islamic law in the contemporary context." Reference & Research Book News, Feb. 2008. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A174601195/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9ff96a6e. Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A174601195
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 9/12
Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah
Oajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-
1896
Todd Lawson
Canadian Journal of History.
33.1 (Apr. 1998): p137+.
COPYRIGHT 1998 University of Toronto Press
http://www.usask.ca/history/cjh/
Full Text:
Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Oajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896, by Abbas Amanat.
Berkeley, California, University of California Press, 1997. xxiii, 536 pp. $45.00 U.S.
Amanat treats the question "how did monarchy, the centerpiece of an ancient political order, withstand and
adjust to the challenges of modern times, both international and domestic?" The lens through which this
investigation is pursued is the life of one of the more successful monarchs in history (if success is judged by
length of reign). Nasir al-Din (1831-96) came to the throne through a gauntlet of intrigue and betrayal at the
age of seventeen in 1848 and remained there until his assassination in 1896, making his life, if not his reign,
roughly parallel to Victoria's (1837-1901). It is only natural that such a comparison be made in that
"Britain" (like "Russia") is a major character in this exceedingly interesting and beautifully written book --
written in a style that can appeal to both the specialist and the nonspecialist. In the process of describing the
rise of the Qajar dynasty out of its tribal matrix, Amanat sheds much light on a period beginning with the
demise of the great Safavid dynasty and empire (frequently dated at 1722) and, because of a truly revelatory
epilogue that takes the reader up to the present, with no terminus ad quem, although the official stopping
date is 1871 which the author holds represents the end of the first phase of Nasir ad-Din's reign. Ultimately,
this book is about many things: the relationship between nomadic tribalism and royalty, the relationship
between religion and state, the relationship between a boy who would be king and his parents, the education
of the boy, the encounter of east and west in the nineteenth century, the nature of Iranian court intrigue, the
influence of the harem (including the shah's favourite cat), megalomania, the modern formation of
Afghanistan, Shi'ism and geopolitics (the Anglo-Persian confrontation had nothing to do with Islam) and, of
course, political power and how to keep it.
The volume consists of nine chapters, which are supplemented by forty fascinating illustrations. One very
clear map and a useful genealogical tree appear just before the introduction (pp. 1-21). Notes (pp. 451-504),
bibliography (pp. 505-518), and index (pp. 519-536) supply a technically near-perfect critical apparatus
(apart from one or two errors in Arabic transliteration, for example, pp. 70-71 & 521) which reflects the
care taken in producing the book as a whole -- something worthy of remark these days.
As an Islamicist, I was very interested in the way this Qajar monarchy under <> in nineteenth century Iran. In some ways, as the author suggests
(p. 407) a certain pattern of policy and attitude established by the young shah would be reflected in the
Pahlavi period (1925-79) which was brought to a dramatic (if not cinematic) end by the revolution of the
Mullas led by Khomeini. Indeed, the world was flummoxed in the face of a successful "Third World"
revolution of religious inspiration. But Nasir ad-Din seems to have taken religion more seriously than his
Pahlavi successors. Perhaps this was due to the Babi threat which welcomed him to the throne and a few
years later actually made an assault on his life. The Babi movement from the very beginning had isolated
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 10/
two segments of the Iranian polity for special condemnation and challenge: 1) the shah and his ministers
and 2) the Shi'ite clergy. Moreover, these challenges had been put forth in the name of a realized Shi'i
messianism, a profoundly momentous current in Iranian history. Amanat points out that after the Babis were
neutralized by the combined forces of the clergy and the government, the shah would face no further serious
threat to his authority until the famous tobacco protests in 1891-92. Having quashed the odious Babi heresy,
he remained irreversibly the "King of the Shi'ites" and defender of the faithful despite his somewhat
scandalous behaviour both at home and abroad. The question naturally arises: had the Pahlavi's faced
similar challenges at the beginning of their reign, it is possible there would have been no Islamic revolution
at all. The political lessons learnt by Nasir al-Din Shah would stand him in such good stead that it would be
only by assassination that his power could be taken from him. Reza Shah Pahlavi, on the other hand,
attempted to compete with the Islam of the Shi'ite clergy by actually starting his own religion -- the
disgraced Reza Shah was run out of his own country by the Muslim faithful.
But, the lasting image, despite his great success and longevity, is of a frightened bird in a sumptuously
ornate gilded cage. It seems that Nasir al-Din Shah was destined to thus dramatize his close kinship with his
royal cousins throughout the world.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Lawson, Todd. "Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Oajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896."
Canadian Journal of History, vol. 33, no. 1, 1998, p. 137+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A20856376/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=89be4458.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A20856376
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 11/1
Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah
Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-
1896
Michael Cook
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History.
28.3 (Winter 1998): p504+.
COPYRIGHT 1998 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/
Full Text:
This book is a "case study of monarchy in transition" (xvii). The transition in question starts from a past
that, without much strain, could be described as medieval; it extends some way toward a future that -
despite the recent efforts of the Mollahs - is to a significant degree modern and Westernized. Falling
haplessly between the two stools is the undignified and unsympathetic figure of Nasir al-Din Shah,<< a neglected child who grew up to be a spoilt but often frustrated adult.>> From his accession in 1848 to his
rather pointless assassination in 1896, he ruled Iran in a manner that was thoroughly uninspiring, and yet
clever enough to postpone the deluge - the Constitutional Revolution and the Anglo-Russian occupation -
until the early years of the next century.
The book begins with the Qajar dynastic background and a sketch of the early life of Nasir al-Din. It then
covers the first half of his reign (from 1848 to 1871) in rich and colorful detail; this is the core of the book.
By contrast, the period after 1871 is relegated to an epilogue, with the possibility of a companion volume to
come.
Even for the period from 1848 to 1871, the book should not be mistaken for a general history of Iran. It
does, of course, touch on many wider themes in the history of the country. At one point, for example, the
women of Tehran force their way onto the political stage, physically attacking representatives of the state
during riots against the high price of bread. Similarly, British and Russian envoys come and go, often with
dramatic effect. But the book is not a contribution to the social history of Iran, nor to the understanding of
the thinking behind the foreign policies of the powers. And while the British and French archives are
extensively used alongside Iranian sources, those of Russia are left untouched.
Instead, the focus of the work is on Nasir al-Din, his ministers, his relatives, his wives, his concubines, what
they were up to, and what they liked to think or have it thought they were up to. The result is a readable and
fascinating study. It is<> in these
decades. Thus European doctors competed with local counterparts, whereas astrology seems to have
remained a native preserve. In the fantasy of world conquest, Napoleon became a role model alongside such
traditional worthies as Jenghiz Khan, Tamerlane, and Nadir Shah. But in real life, ferocious invasions of
India gave way to touristic excursions to Europe, and the thrill of looting was replaced by the gentler
pleasures of shopping. In the course of these travels, the Pivot of the Universe displayed a grasp of
European table manners that greatly relieved an anxious Queen Victoria, but he never quite mastered the
recalcitrant and elusive linguistic structures of French.
The book is open to two obvious criticisms. One is editorial carelessness. The other is that the author has
little to say about the wider phenomenon of which the book is presented as a case study. Yet <>
5/17/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1526575933683 12/
<>
Michael Cook Princeton University
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Cook, Michael. "Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896."
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 28, no. 3, 1998, p. 504+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A20436570/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a08ac8f2.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A20436570