مجله مطالعات ایرانی (Jun 2022)

Historical study of the position and the structure of the Iranian bureaucracy after Islam until the end of the Safavid period

  • ali Khademi pour,
  • ali rahimi sadegh,
  • Iraj jalali

DOI
https://doi.org/10.22103/jis.2021.18137.2216
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 41
pp. 99 – 132

Abstract

Read online

Introduction The term "court" has generally been applied to the central government at various times, and in this sense, especially in the Supreme Court, where governmenl affairs are conducted and the state organization is opposed to the military organization, these courts have changed over time. Bureaucracy in French (Bureaucratie) is made up of two parts (bureau) meaning desk and office and the suffix (cratie) meaning "rule". Its Persian equivalent is "bureaucracy". In fact, bureaucracy means a system of rational and lawful functioning. From a theoretical point of view and in the field of historical studies, from the point of view of many historians, the bureaucracy system is a set of the most important institutions that always determine the quality of the performance of governments and governments to their nations and also the degree of survival. And these governments have survived throughout history. Looking at the history of Iran before and after Islam, it can be clearly said that the issue of bureaucracy and the way of governing the country and the phenomenon of bureaucracy has always been one of the important historical features that has a great impact on governance and bureaucracy in many other countries. It manifests itself to the extent that some historians believe that the way of governing, bureaucracy, bureaucracy and administration of the country that has existed throughout history in many countries of the world is somehow taken and modeled on the common bureaucracy of Iran in different historical periods. Methodology This article uses the method of historical research, relying on the main sources to study the history, position and structure of post-Islamic Iranian bureaucracy until the end of the Safavid period. Discussion According to researchers, regarding the history of the court system, one of the human achievements that the world owes its possession to the Iranians is the art of statehood and administrative organization. Therefore, in the field of Iranian judicial system, independent works or in the context of historical studies and researches have been compiled in different periods, each of which has studied the issue of bureaucracy in a specific period of Iranian history, but what is less researchers and historians have paid attention to the knowledge of the Iranian bureaucratic system along with identifying the functions, spirits, attitudes and characteristics of each dynasty and political, social, cultural and economic factors cause or inhibit the fundamental change in the Iranian bureaucratic system throughout history. In the history of post-Islamic Iran, with the formation of semi-independent governments in different parts of Iran, including the eastern regions of Iran, such as Taherians and Saffarians, we see the re-establishment of bureaucracy and the creation of different types of Iranian courts so that each dynasty of the Iranian sultans ruling Iran after Islam until the end of the Safavid period, including (Taherians, Saffarians, Samanids, Al-Buwayh, Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Khwarezmshahis, Mongol Ilkhans, Timurids and Safavids) to manage government affairs and also to manage society affairs by following the example of the former bureaucratic systems that ruled Iran, by making changes and developments, by creating their own bureaucratic systems, tried to manage government affairs regularly and expand their influence and control over the political developments of their society. Conclusion The results of this study show that the bureaucracy system in Iran has a historical antiquity that has undergone many changes and developments throughout history according to different historical situations and necessities and needs, despite all the historical ups and downs of the Iranian bureaucracy system. In addition to being stable, it has been able to be a model and basis for the ruling political systems in order to establish an administrative, political and systematic system for governance.

Keywords