Tahqiqāt-e Târix-e Eqtesâdi (Economic History Studies of Iran)

Abstract On October 7, 2009 a silk prayer rug from Safavid era was introduced and sold in London Sotheby’s auction. This prayer rug is known as the second highest-price rug which has been sold in this international auction. In the auction catalogue,this prayer rug has cautiously been dated back to Shah Abbas I period.  Nonetheless, reviewing the text of this prayer rug and its textual and artistic signs and evaluating them against historical documents reveal other facts. This article studies the characteristics of this prayer rug and reviews its textual and artistic signs. Moreover, it introducesthe reason and socio-political background which resulted in its knitting. The result of this article reveals that this prayer rug had been knitted upon the order of MirzaMakhdumSharifi, the minister of Shah Ismail II, and it speaks of his seeking refuge to Ottoman Empire and his appointment as the Mecca’s Chief Justice.

Abstract Employing a descriptive research method, the present paper aims atinvestigatingthe amounts and types of glass-wear imports during the Qajar era. This study shows that the highest amount of import of the glass-wears was from Russia. Convenient connecting routs and fast and easy transportation facilitated this matter significantly. Such imports from Russia included consumableand usable glass-wear products. Contrariwise, imports from European countries via OttomanEmpire were mainly of decorative nature and were used by the wealthy class of the society, duringQajar era. Although the noticeable growth in glass-wear consumptioninstigatedsome efforts for producing these products locally; however,the majority of the glass artworks in the Iranian museumsbelong to the European countries and Russia, which were all imported to the countryduring Qajar era.

Abstract The present paper is aimed at reviewing the evolution of industrial development in Iran,using library-oriented research method. To that aim, both theoretical and empirical evolutionsofthe industrial development wereinitially reviewed.The results indicate that although no particulartransformationhas happened in the theoretical aspects of industry and industrial development in Iran, yet since the 13^th century, there has been significant transformation with regard to empirical aspects of industrial development. Theseempirical industrial developments can be classified into three time periods: From the startof the 13^th century(AH) up to the end of Qajar era;from the start of Pahlavidynasty up to the Islamic Revolution inIran; and from the Islamic Revolution inIran up to the current era. The review results show that althoughIranhas been one of the leading countriesin the field ofindustrialdevelopmentplans, yet lack orshortage ofinstitutionalprerequisites forinitial industrialdevelopment,on the one hand, and historical domination of government over industry, on the other hand, haveall impeded industrial culture to grow. These factorshave also ledto chaotic institutional environment for industrialdevelopment in Iran. Thus, despite being an industry holder, the country has not been industrialized.  Accordingly, it is suggested that special attention be paid to industrial institutionaldevelopment in Iranthrough increasingregulatoryroleof the government and decreasingits intervening role.

Abstract During Sassanidera, Iranian societyhad beenclassified intodifferentclasses. Although in some resources the likelihood of social class promotion has been refuted, there are somepieces of evidence confirming the possibility of moving from one class to another. Moreover, it seems that the classified society of Sassanid era was largely characterized by the professionalization and distinctive identity of each social class .This made the professions be transmitted to children in the families. Having inherited their ancestors’ experiences, they also transmitted them to next generations. This transmission process was also extended tothe early Islamic period (like medicine running in the Bukhtishudynasty). The present paper aims at elaborating on and explicating the issue through adopting a descriptive-analytic research method and referring to resources. 

Abstract Heresy (Ilhad) in Islamic jurisprudence and theology science refers to denial of existence of the sole God, rejection of God, denying Islam religion, converting to another religion as well as committing sin at Masjid Al-Haram. Nevertheless, during history, the ruling class of the society and leaders of religious sects have repeatedly resorted to heresy (Ilhad) accusation for the sake of eliminating their opponents and seizing their properties. During Seljuk dynasty, the relationship of the government with Abbasid dynasty, which was based on custodianship of political and religious tribes overIslamiclands,came to a new stage andconsequently influenced the attitudes and instances of heresy. This research, besides examining the instances of heresy during Seljuk dynasty and characteristics and ideologies of those individuals accused of heresy, intends to investigate whether heresy accusation during Seljuk dynasty wasmore influenced by political and social conditions or originated from religious attitudes and prejudices. The required data for this study was collected by library research method and was analyzed by using a descriptive-analytic approach. This research reveals that the political inclination of the government played a key role in the dependency of the Seljuk to the government, the religious prejudice of the ruling government and intellectuals,andthe social and religious atmospheres.  In other words,political and religious factors were jointlyat work in accusing different groups and thinking schools to heresy.

Abstract During Qajar period, the judicial system and the institute of prison suffered from many defects due to lack of codified laws. This matter resulted in formation of reform ideology. In the present research, the situation of prisoners as well as scholars who expressed their theories whenMirzaHossein Khan Sepahsalar came to power have been studied. What has been addressed is whether reforming judicial system and institute of prison was due to changes in the legal structure or it was the result of changes in the social and political structure of society. The assumption is that these theories had been expressed as a result of changes to the political structure of the society and thus could not have been enacted due to failures in the political reforms. The findings of the study indicate that the dominance of autocracy in the society at Qajar period, prior to the Constitutional government, prevented changes in the legal structure to occur, and accordingly judicial system reform proposal could not be accomplished in practice.