پژوهش های تاریخی (Sep 2022)
Analysis of Three Theological-Jurisprudential Approaches of Safavid Historians in Legitimizing the Wars of Shah Ismail I to Establish the Safavid State
Abstract
Contrary to the view that evaluates how Shah Ismail Safavid gained power and established a state solely through the mechanism of military power, the study of the war narratives to found this state shows the opposite trend. In other words, the leaders of the Safavid movement, as well as the historiographical sources of the Safavid era, emphasizes the acquisition of legal and legitimate power by Shah Ismail I in the wars to establish the Safavid state. This article explained why and how this was the case with a historical approach and through resource analysis. The results showed that in the wars he waged to establish the Safavid state, Shah Ismail I demonstrated military actions against his rivals and opponents, in addition to using the sword power of the Ghezelbas, based on Shari’a law. This attitude was reflected in the historiography of the Safavid period in the form of three theological-jurisprudential approaches. The first and second approaches were based on the establishment of the Safavid state based on the philosophy of Jihad in Dar al-Kufr and the struggle against the heretics and hypocrites. The introduction of such a view in historical narratives gave the necessary religious and political legitimacy to Shah Ismail’s wars and also justified the establishment and longevity of the Safavid state. Relying on such an attitude also legitimized elimination of non-Muslim and Muslim rivals. The third approach was to fight the Baghiyan and Taghiyan. This view was a precise justification for recreating King Ismail's wars in Muslim lands. Introduction In some researches related to the history of Iran, a point of view has been put forward that considers how the Safavids gained power and founded the state based solely on the force of the sword of the Qazalbash tribes and without paying the least attention to the foundations of legitimate power. As an example, Zibakalam writes about the structure of power in Iran: "A tribe's rise to power was primarily based on its military force." (Zibakalam, 1382: 89). Based on such a hypothesis, he believes that "the early Safavid sultans, with the help of many wars, eventually succeeded in establishing a central power, the peak of which was during the time of Shah Abbas Kabir (1588-1629)" (Ibid.: 92). In addition, Homayun Katoozian also writes in his theoretical description entitled "Authoritarian Government: Comparative Theory of Government, Politics, and Society in Iran" as this: "The final test of legitimacy was the ability to acquire and maintain power. Sometimes when the rebels came to power, it was not because they had a legal or traditional right; rather, it was simply because they were able to seize power." (Homayun Katoozian, 1380: 14). It seems that Zibaklam and Katouzian's opinions contain a part of the historical reality of building power in Iran, especially in the Safavid era because the sword force of tribes has played an important role in gaining power by ruling dynasties. However, such a view is a kind of reductionism in the expression of historical facts since it neglects the issue of the legitimacy of gaining power, as well as justification of the government's long-standing state, which has been the focus of the Safavid sultans and their sympathetic historiographical sources. In other words, contrary to the general trend of Iran's political history after Islam, by which families and ruling dynasties have usually taken power by winning wars and almost without specific cultural or religious claims, the Safavids have sought to gain political power in addition to relying on the military force of the Turkic Qazlbash tribes with specific religious claims (cf. Sefat Gol, 1381: 10-12). The study of historical narratives related to the military events during the rise of Shah Ismail and his efforts to gain power and establish the Safavid government also shows the same issue. The young leader of the Safavid political-military movement has tried to legitimize the basis of his military actions to gain power and his confrontation with non-Muslim and Muslim political rivals based on religious attitudes. In particular, the study of historical sources also indicates that the effort to recreate these events lawfully and legitimately has been done consciously. Therefore, the important goal of this research was to analyze the narratives of the historiography sources of the Safavid era in line with Shah Ismail's pretense of military actions based on religious attitudes. Three important theological-jurisprudential approaches of the Safavid era historians in terms of giving legitimacy were found to analyze Shah Ismail’s wars for founding the state. Materials and Methods This article was done using the historical research method. By referring to the historical sources and documents of the Safavid era, the author tried to write and categorize the contents. Then, with a historical approach, the categorized materials were analyzed to clarify the research issue. Discussion of Results and Conclusions Legitimate military actions based on the laws of Shari’a and their reflection in the form of 3 theological-jurisprudential approaches in the historical narratives of historiography sources could be useful and effective on several levels for the Safavid movement and the government that built this dynasty. First, from the very beginning, the Safavids, who were aware of the religious claims of the Ottomans, made their military and governmental actions based on the rules of Sharia. In this way, compared to the rival government, they created a distinct religious identity for themselves. Second, the sensitivity of Iran's internal powers towards the previous actions of Sheikh Junid and Sheikh Haider continued strongly during the reign of Shah Ismail. Therefore, the military operations had to be done to gain political power under the pretext and proper justification. The most appropriate reason for legitimizing Shah Ismail's power-seeking military activities was pretending to carry out an important religious decree like Jihad against infidels and heretics in the strongly religious atmosphere of this period. For this reason, in the historical narratives attributed to the leaders of this movement in the process of building the Safavid government, the philosophy of Jihad with the infidels and heretics was many times announced as the important goal of the Safavid government establishment. Third, the issue of concentration and longevity of the Safavid government was the attention of the leaders of this dynasty, especially Shah Ismail, from the very beginning. Undoubtedly, realization of such a goal was possible by building solid religious and legitimate foundations because in the religious atmosphere of the beginning of the Safavid era, the legitimacy of gaining a political power and applying it to the people was also heavily influenced by religion and the laws of Sharia when ideology played a decisive role in the social and political relations. In this way, from the very beginning, the Safavids placed the claim of being assigned by the family of Imamate to propagate and support the spread of the Twelver Shia religion in the center of their attention. According to the plan of such a view, they sought to draw their government along the historical rule and Imamate of Shia. Therefore, an effort was made to establish the foundation of Shah Ismail's military actions based on the rules of Sharia. Accordingly, the findings of this article showed that all the efforts of the young leader of the Safavid movement during the wars of this state, as well as representation of these events in the historical sources of this period, were based on the fact that religious rules had to be followed by Shah Ismail I to acquire a legitimate power. Therefore, 3 theological-jurisprudential approaches in the narratives of the historiographical sources of the Safavid era were formulated by the historians of the Safavid era to legitimately recreate Shah Ismail’s wars for the establishment of this state. The first and second narratives were based on Shah Ismail's pretense and emphasis on Jihad in Dar al-Kufr and fighting against heretics and hypocrites, which was reflected in a utilitarian form in the historical narratives of this period. In addition to the high spiritual reward of implementing these orders and showing the Safavids’ growing movement as a religious movement, formulation of such traditions based on the recent theological-jurisprudential attitude played a special role in legitimizing Shah Ismail’s wars and following the issue of the Safavid government longevity. Also, by relying on the concepts, the elimination of Muslim and non-Muslim political opponents and rivals was justified. The religious and political credibility of Shah Ismail and the Safavid dynasty was promoted in a religious manner along with the prominent and legitimate Islamic governments. The third approach was making a war with the Baghy companions and Ṭaghiyān. This point of view was a special method that was proposed by pro-Safavian historians with the aim of justifying Shah Ismail's war with his Muslim rivals. It seemed that this approach was raised more and more in parallel with the gradual growth of theological-jurisprudential debates and the increase in the historians’ experiences in the Safavid era in the following periods. Perhaps, planning such an attitude, drawing a special religious and governmental position for Shah Ismail, as well as instilling the right to establish the Safavid government along with the historical Shia government and Imamate, were considered by the historians.
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