ASSOCIATIONFOR IRANIAN STUDIES

انجمن ایران پژوهی

Association for Iranian Studies Founded in 1967

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESSDear Members,

IhopethiscolumnfindsallAssociationforIranianStudiesmembersingoodspiritsduringtheNowruzholidayseason.Sinceassumingoffice,I’vebeenworkingwithmembersoftheAISCounciltocontinuetheadministrativereforms of Past PresidentDaryaee, and, to help organizematters for the2020conference.

Tanzimat-e Hasaneh

OneofthefirstordersofbusinessfortheAISCouncilatourFebruarymeetingwastoenactguidelineswithregardstotravelreimbursementsandhonorariumforofficers.Therehadbeennosetpolicyinplaceandthisledtosome confusion and irregularities in the past. We also began using thesoftware“GSuite”toarchiveandsharefiles,trackexpenses,andtofacilitatewebconferencemeetingsforAISCouncilandAISExecutiveCommittee.Wealsoputoutacalltorecruitanewtreasurerforthesociety.OurExecutiveDirector had been serving as acting treasurer for years. I am pleased toreportthatJamesGustafson,whoisonthefacultyatIndianaStateUniversityandamemberoftheAISCouncil,hasagreedtoserveinthisrole,effectiveMay2019.HejoinstheExecutiveCommitteeatatimewhenwestillhavework todo to restorebankingservice forAIS in theUnitedStatesand inimprovingtheAISfinancesanddiversifyingfundingsources.Wehavealsoinstituted a more transparent nominating process for the upcoming FallElections.TheNominatingCommittee,perrecentannouncement,hasalmostcompleteditstaskofpreparingaslateofcandidatesforAISCouncilandforPresident Elect (my old job). Please look for announcements about theelectionthiscomingfall.

http://associationforiranianstudies.org AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

PleaseusethelinkbelowtoaccessashortfilmontheTwelfthBiennialConferenceoftheAssociationforIranianStudies,

heldattheUniversityofCalifornia,Irvine,August14-17,2018:

https://vimeo.com/290795254?ref=fb-share&1

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PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS CONT’D

Looking Forward to AIS 2020 in Salamanca, Spain: August 25th-28th

We expect the conference webpage to be open soon withinformationontheconferencesettingandconferencehotels.Justasforpreviousconferences,youhaveanopportunitytosubmitproposalsfororganizedpanels(uptofourpresenters,onechairand/ordiscussant),roundtables(uptoeightpresentersandonemoderator)andindividualpapers. Pre-organized panels and roundtables are much preferred!Lookforanannouncementwhentheproposalsubmissionpageisopen.ThedeadlineforproposalswillbeJuly15,2019. Ever complain that youcouldnot seeapresentationbecauseanotherpanelwasscheduledatthesametime?Ofcourseyouhave!Whatwearegoing to try thisconference is tocreatesometimeandspaceforposterexhibits.Foranadditionalregistrationfee,and,subjectto theavailabilityofspace,authorswhohavebeenaccepted intotheprogramwillalsohaveanopportunitytofeaturetheirpaperinaposterexhibit space overlooking the book exhibitor space. Timewill be setasideinthedailyscheduleforauthorstobeavailabletodiscusstheirpapersovercoffeewithcuriouspassers-byandfellowexhibitors.

More Things We’ll Need to do in 2020

Asidefromtheconference,AISCouncilandExecutiveCommitteewillneedto improvepolicies insupportof theAISmission. Someofthesepoliciesarefiscal:improvinginstitutionalmembership,lookingatnew strategies to develop funds to support AIS publications andconferences,andlookingforefficienciesinadministrativecosts.Otherpoliciesare,atroot,aboutintellectualoutreach.Howdowebringmoreareas of research into dialoguewithin Iranian Studies? How dowebringinsightsfromIranianStudiesintomoreareasoftheacademy?Asyou thinkaboutyourpaneland roundtableproposals thinkabout thebenefitsofinvitingacolleaguewhoisnewtoIranianStudiesorfromanacademic discipline that is underrepresented within Iranian Studies.Thinkabout includingadiscussantormoderator fromoutsideIranianStudies who can engage your panel on theory, methodology, or incomparativeanalysis.Iamlookingforwardtolearningmoreabouttheexcellentworkyouarealldoingthroughthenewsletter,thejournal,and,ofcourse,the2020conference.

Camron Michael AminThe University of Michigan-Dearborn

MEMBER NEWSHouri Berberian’s bookRoving Revolutionaries: Armenians and the Connected Revolutions in the Russian, Iranian, and Ottoman WorldshasbeenpublishedwithUniversityofCaliforniaPress,2019.

Willem FloorhaspublishedthevolumeKermanshah. City & Province 1800-1945.Washington,D.C.:MAGE,2018. 591p incl. index;with illustrations.Hehasalsowritten with Jaap Otte “European Ceramics in Iran in the 19th and early 20thCenturies,” American Ceramic Circle Journal XX,2019,pp.117-43;andwithGholamVatandoust,“Juwak-kari,aNeglectedPersianArtFormorQajarPaintingsonWood,” Adle Nameh. Studies in Memory of Chahriyar Adle ed. Alireza Anisi. Tehran:Pazhuheshgah-eMirath-eFarhangi,1379/2018,pp.229-61.Finally,hehastranslatedtogetherwithHasanJavadiandHormuzEbrahimnejad,Lazzat al-Nisa. The Pleasure of Women.Barcelona:M.Moleiro,2018,201p.illustrated.

Ali Gheissari has published two new volumes:Fruits of Gardens by Hājj Mirzā Mohammad Tehrāni: A Philosophical Miscellany in Arabic and Persian in late Qajar Iran, c. 1914 (Fawāka al-Basātin: Montakhabāti Falsafi, Eʿteqādi, Revāʾi dar Avākher-e Qājāriyeh, asar-e Hājj Mirzā Mohammad Tehrāni), Complete Arabic and PersianText,incollaborationwithAli-RezaAbāzari,eds.withanIntroductionbyAliGheissari,Qom:Nashr-eMovarrekh,January2019,431pp.;andMajalleh-ye Estebdād(JournalofDespotism),completesetofalesser-knownperiodicalpublishedin1907-08,duringtheIranianConstitutionalRevolution,ed.,withanIntroductionandadditionsbyAliGheissari,Tehran:Nashr-eTārikh-eIran,April2019,744pp.

AIS 2019OFFICERS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE2019

CAMRON MICHAEL AMINPRESIDENT

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN

ALI GHEISSARIJOURNAL EDITOR

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO

RIVANNE SANDLEREXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

JAMES GUSTAFSONACTING TREASURER

INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

TOURAJ DARYAEEPAST-PRESIDENT

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

COUNCIL 2019

CAMRON MICHAEL AMIN RIVANNE SANDLERTOURAJ DARYAEE

MATTHEW P. CANEPAROSE WELLMAN

JAMES GUSTAFSONMARYAM MOAZZENNAGHMEH SOHRABI

FARZIN VEJDANIMARYAM N. SABBAGHIARNOLD ALAHVERDIAN

FOR PAST COUNCILS AND BOARDS, PLEASE VISIT:

HTTP://ASSOCIATIONFORIRANIANSTUDIES.ORG/ABOUT/OFFICERS/2018

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

NEWS FROM THE ASSOCIATIONSave the date! AIS 2020 in Salamanca, Spain, in August 25-28, 2020 DearAISmembers,With great pleasure I announce that theFaculty ofPhilology at theUniversity ofSalamanca,Spain,willhostourThirteenth Biennial Iranian Studies Conference in August 25-28, 2020. Onlineregistrationisnowopenforparticipantsonthefollowinglink:https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2020 Salamanca,oneofthemostbeautifulcitiesinSpainandUNESCOheritage,iseasilyreachablebytrain(http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html)orbybus(https://www.avanzabus.com/) directly from Terminal 1 and Terminal 4 of MadridBarajas-AdolfoSuárezInternationalAirport(MAD). Salamancaisalsowellknownforhostingoneoftheoldestuniversitiesintheworld. Indeed, theUniversity of Salamanca celebrated its 800th anniversary lastyear.ItsFacultyofPhilology,locatedatPlazaAnayainfrontofamajesticcathedral(https://www.usal.es/facultad-de-filologia),isdistributedinthreemainbuildings,twoofwhicharepalacesandinlessthan50mwalkingdistancefromeachother.Thesewillbeourconferencevenue. Thecitypossessesmorethan10,000hotelvacancies,mostofthemeitherinthecentreorveryclosetoit,exactlywheretheFacultyofPhilologyislocated.Therearemanyhotels andaccommodationpossibilities in the centre of the city,whichmakes lodging very comfortable for the attendees of the conference. But pleasedon’t forget tobookyouraccommodation inadvance,becausemany touristsvisitSalamancainAugust!IfyouwouldliketobehostedinaRenaissancepalace,30rooms have already been blocked at the Colegio Arzobispo Fonseca (https://colegiofonseca.usal.es/),butyouwillalsofindalistofsomeotherexcellenthotels(someofthempalacesaswell)inthecityatquiteaffordableratesatthefollowinglink:https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2020/accommodation Thecitycentrefeaturesalargevarietyofrestaurantsandtapasbarsofeverysort,whereparticipantscanbedelightedwiththelocalfood,famousinSpainforitshighquality.Sightseeingtourswillbearrangedforparticipants interested inexploringthehistoricalmonumentsofSalamancatorecoverfromhoursofstimulatingscientificdiscussions. Ontheacademicside,pleaseletmeremindyou,firstly,thatweencouragepanelsessionsonspecifictopicsof IranianStudiesfrommanyfieldsofresearch,andsecondly,thattheAIS2020willnotonlyacceptpapers,butalsoprintedpostersandpre-recordeddigitalpostersthatwillbeexhibitedinourconferencevenue. IverymuchlookforwardtowelcomingyouinSalamancaandwishyouaninspiringAIS2020IranianStudiesConference.

Yours,MiguelÁngelAndrés-Toledo

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MEMBER NEWS CONT’D

Nioucha Homayoonfar has published the book Taking Cover: One Girl’s Story of Growing Up during the Iranian Revolution,NationalGeographicChildren’sBooks,2019.

Chad Kia’sbookArt, Allegory and the Rise of Shi’ism in Iran, 1487-1565willshortlybepublishedwiththeUniversityofEdinburghPress,June2019.

Vera B. Moreenhaspublishedthefollowingarticles:• “TheJewsofIranintheSeventeenthandEighteenthCenturies,” in The Cambridge History of Judaism. Vol.7. Eds.JonathanKarpandAdamSutcliffe. CambridgeUniversityPress,2018.Pp.1046-1057.• “ABriefHistoryofJudeo-PersianLiterature,” in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton: 1935-2018. Ed. Sabine Schmidtke.Piscataway,NJ:GorgiasPress.Pp.479-483.• “Judeo-PersianLiterature,” in A History of Persian Literature. Vol. 9, Persian Literature from Outside Iran, the Indian Subcontinent, Anatolia, Central Asia, and Judeo-Persian.Ed.JohnR.Perry:London:I.B.Tauris&Co.Ltd,2018.Pp.390-409.

Sussan Siavoshi’sbookMontazeri:The Life and Thought of Iran’s Revolutionary Ayatollah(CambridgeUniversityPress,2017)hasbeenawardedthe2018BiennialHoushangPourshariatiIranianStudiesBookAward.SussanSiavoshihasalsobeenappointedtoserveasamemberofthe2019MESABookAwardsCommitteetoselectwinnersforMESA’sthreebookawards:theAlbertHouraniBookAward,theNikkiKeddieBookAward,andtheFatimaMernissiBook. Lior B SternfeldhaspublishedBetween Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century IranwithStanfordUniversityPress,2018.

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

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NEWS FROM THE ASSOCIATION CONT’D

Program Committee for AIS Biennial Conference 2020

IampleasedtoreportthatourProgramChair,MiguelAngelAndresToledo,hasorganizedtheprogramcommitteeforourconferenceonAugust25–28,2020attheFacultyofPhilologyoftheUniversityofSalamanca.Wewillbeissuingaformalcall for proposals later this month. The website will be open May 15 to receiveproposalsforindividualpapers,panels,roundtables,and-forthefirsttime-posterexhibits.ThesubmissiondeadlineisJuly15,2019.Intheinterim,pleasemakesureyourmembershipisup-do-dateasyourmembershipwillneedtobeactiveinorderforyoutopre-registerandsubmityourproposals. Iwanttoacknowledgethatmanymorepeopleofferedtoparticipateontheprogramcommitteethanwecouldaccommodate.Somethingtellsmethatspiritofvolunteerism is going to translate into somewonderful pre-organized panels androundtablesforourProgramCommitteetoconsider. LetmeacknowledgeandthankthemembersofAIS2020ProgramCommitteeinadvance.

Besttoall,Camron Michael Amin

AISPresident ListofProgramCommitteemembers:AgnesKorn(CNRS,France),AmyMalek(CollegeofCharleston),AnoushaSedighi(PortlandStateUniversity),AntonioPanaino (University ofBologna),CarloCereti(UniversityofRome),ChiaraBarbati(ÖsterreichischeAkademiederWissenschaften,Vienna),ClaudineGauthier(UniversityofBordeaux),EnricoRaffaelli(UniversityofToronto),HailaManteghi(WestfälischeWilhelmsUniversitätMünster),JaneLewisohn(SOAS,London),KevanHarris(UCLA),MariaSubtelny(UniversityofToronto),MatteoCompareti (Shaanxi Normal University, China), Mirjam Künkler (University ofGottingen),MostafaAbedinifard(UniversityofBritishColumbia),NahidSiamdoust(YaleUniversity),PeymanJafari(UniversityofAmsterdam),ShaulShaked(HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem), Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine), YuhanVevaina(OxfordUniversity)

From the Editor of Iranian Studies

TheIranian Studiesjournaliscurrentlyinitsfifty-secondyearofcontinuouspublication, and with international distribution and recognition it is the leadingacademicperiodical inthefieldofIranianstudies.ThelatestdataprovidedbythepublishersshowthejournalhasreceiveditshighestImpactFactortodate.Weowethisachievementtothejournal’ssuccessiveeditorialteamswhosecommitmentanddedicatedhardworkhashelpedthejournalbecomethepremieracademicforuminthefield,andtoapromisingpoolofscholarsworldwidewhosecontributionshaveexpandedthefieldofIranianstudiesindepthandscope. Thejournalwelcomesnewadditionstoitscoreeditorialteam:CameronCross(UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor)asnewAssociateEditor forClassicalPersianLiterature;HusseinBanai(IndianaUniversity,Bloomington)andNormaClairMorruzzi(University of Illinois,Chicago) jointly asAssociateEditors in the general field ofSocialSciences;andDomenicoIngenito(UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles)andAriaFani(UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley)asBookReviewEditorsrespectivelyinClassical and Modern Persian Literature. Ali Akbar Mahdi, the journal’s valuededitorialcolleague,hasjoinedthegeneralEditorialBoard. Asofitslastissuein2018,Iranian Studieshasaddedanewsectiondedicatedto occasional contributions in the form of notes on primary sourcematerial andarchivalreports.Thesenotesthatmayvaryinlengthareintendedtointroducetothescholarly community hitherto little known or altogether new material relevant todifferentaspectsofIranianstudies.Thematerialthatarepresentedinthesenoteswill be supported by a scholarly infrastructure in order to better introduce andcontextualizetheirsubjectmatter.ThejournalwelcomescontributionsbyscholarstointroducevarioustypesofsourcematerialorarchivalreportsrelatingtoallaspectsofIranianstudies. Beginning with 2019, the print edition of thejournal will be published as three double issuesannually.Inthenewformatthereaderswillfindabetterbalancebetweendiverserangeofmaterialfromarticlesand book reviews tomemorial notes and occasionalreports on primary researchmaterial. Change in theformatoftheprintedition,however,willnotimpacttheregularpublicationofthejournal’sonlineedition.

Ali GheissariEditor-in-Chief,Iranian StudiesDepartmentofHistory,UniversityofSanDiegohttp://associationforiranianstudies.org/Journal

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

StartingonMay15th,2019,youwillbeabletosubmityourpaper,panel,androundtableproposalsforAIS2020.

Rightnow,youcanupdateyourmembership,pre-registerfortheconferenceandreviewinformationabouttheconferencesite,theUniversityofSalamanca,Spain.Remember,onlycurrentmemberswhohavepre-registeredmaysubmitproposals.

Hereisalinktogetstarted:https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2020

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MikołajBolczykispreparingaPhDdissertationonSeyyedBaha’uddinMajruhandhismasterpieceAzhdaha-ye khodi (Ego-Monsters)whileKhalilAhmadArab isinterestedinmodernDariliterature,especiallyZiya-SiyamakHeravi,aswellasanimalstudies.Bothhavepresented theirworkduringvariousconferencesandseminars,inter alia,theSt.PetersburgInternationalConferenceofAfghan Studies(St.Petersburg,Russia,27–29June2017)andtheWorld Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (Seville,Spain,16–20July2018). Although it is the smallest sectionsof theDepartment of IranianStudiesatJagiellonianUniversity, theAfghanStudiesSection is involved in various scientificmeetingsandseminarsaswellaspopularscienceevents,suchascelebrationsoftheNouruz—Iranian new year—or theAfghan Culture Week in Bytów (10–14October2014).

Iranian Studies at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

Iván Szántó

TheDepartmentofIranianStudiesoftheEötvösLorándUniversity,FacultyofHumanities,isthecenterofPersianlinguisticandculturalstudiesinHungary,andoneof themainCentral European institutions devoted to the research of Iran and thePersian-speakingworld (includingAfghanistan andTajikistan). Its courses offer anintroduction to classical and modern Persian languages, literature, linguistics andgrammatical studies; regional history, historiography, art, and religions of the Pre-Islamic and Islamic periods. The programs encompass BA,MA, and PhD levels.Besidesitseducationaltasks,theDepartmentofIranianStudiesisalsoengagedinresearch,especially inPersianphilology, linguistics,andarthistory,servingas thevenueofscholarlygatherings,includingtheupcoming15thErnstHerzfeldColloquiumofIslamicArtandArchaeology(Spaces and Frontiers of Islamic Art and Archaeology, 4-6July2019).

ISIS Newsletter Volume 46, Number 2 March 2013

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PROGRAM NEWS Iranian Studies at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland

Mateusz M. Kłagisz

In the autumnal AIS Newsletter,thefirstpartofaresearchreportonIranianStudiesatJagiellonianUniversity,Krakow,Poland,waspublished.At that time,aKurdishStudiesSectionaswellastheresearchprojectOrientalia Polonica. Polish Traditions of Research on the Orientwereshowcased.Thistime,asannounced,theAfghanStudiesSectionwillbedepicted. ThehistoryofAfghanstudiesinKrakowstartedinthe1960swhenWojciechSkalmowski,whoheldaPhDinlinguisticsfromHumboldtUniversityBerlin,atthattimeintheGDR,deliveredseverallecturesonthegrammarofthePashtolanguage.Unfortunately, his sojourn in Krakow was short-lived because he obtained ascholarshiptotraveltoIran.DuetothedifficultpoliticalsituationinPoland,hedecidedlater tomove toBelgium insteadof returning tohisnativecountryandcontinuedresearchonthePashtolanguageandliteraturethere.Skalmowskiwasthefirsttotranslate Khushhal-khan Khattak (17th c.)—the forefather of classical Pashtoliterature—intoPolishpoetry—theforefatherofclassicalPashtoliterature. Regular Pashto language classes started onlywhen JadwigaPstrusińska,who studied in Afghanistan between 1973–6 at the Faculty of Philology andHumanitiesof theUniversityofKabul, returned toPoland in1976.Shehadbeenteaching the Pashto and Dari languages, holding classes on the literature andculturesofAfghanistanuntilherretirementin2011.Atthattime,sheprepared,inter alia, a collection of Dari and Pashto texts dedicated to the students—it was apioneeringprojectthatforalongtimeservedstudentsofIranianStudiesinKrakowasabasicsourceoftheirknowledgeaboutthevariousliterarytraditionsofAfghanistan.Jadwiga Pstrusińska also organised the Afghan Archivewhich consists of about3,000books,scientific/populararticlesandmagazines,politicalleafletsandposters,AfghanpressandvariousmaterialspublishedbytheAfghanoppositioninthe1980s. Since2007theAfghanStudiesSectionhasbeenrepresentedbythreepeople:MateuszM.Kłagisz,whoholdsaPhDinlinguistics,andtwoPhDstudents—MikołajBolczykandKhalilAhmadArab.KłagiszconductsoccasionalPashtoclassesandlectures on various issues related to the history of (pre)modernAfghanistan.HiscurrentresearchisdevotedtopropagandapostersprintedbyAfghancommunistsinthe 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; the results have been presented in three articlespublishedinthePolish Journal of Arts and CultureaswellasduringtheAfghanistan in Academia Workshop(October20th2018,SOAS,London).

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

MazdaPublishersnowpublishesthefirstseriesinKurdishStudiestobeestablishedintheUnitedStatesandelsewhere.

Formoreinformation,seehttp://www.mazdapublishers.com/series/bibliotheca-iranica-kurdish-studies-series

Special Journal Issue:The 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution TheMichigan Quarterly Review,theflagshipliteraryjournaloftheUniversityofMichigan, is releasing a special Spring 2019issuefocusedonIrantocoincidewiththe40thanniversaryoftheIranianRevolution.Theissueisguest-editedbyscholar,author,andUniversityofMichiganprofessorofIranianHistoryandCultureKathryn Babayan. “Revolutions,” writes Babayan, “are extraordinary events; they proclaim adecisivehistoricalmomentthatsimultaneouslyprojectsanewfutureanddemandsareinterpretationof thepast.The IranianRevolutionof1979wassuchamoment.”Babayanworkedcloselywith theMQR team tobring together “Glimpsesof livesscatteredacrosssocialclasses,ethnicitiesandcontinents,”inspiredbya“commondesiretograpplewiththeaftermathoftherevolution.” This issuewasconceivedofwhenKhaled Mattawa,MQR’sEditor-in-Chief,enteredintoconversationwithBabayanaboutthedegreetowhichIranianliterature“hasnotgainedtheinternationalattentionitmerits.”Mattawanotedthat“Beinganenemynation,Iran,atleastintheUnitedStates,isseenthroughanarrowprismthatlimitswhatisexpectedofIranianculture.” The Spring 2019 issue of MQR includes new fiction and poetry from theIraniandiasporaaswellastranslationsofworkfromemergingandnotablewritersinIran.PoetsfromtheIraniancanon,includingSohrabSepehri,QeysarAminpur,RezaShafi’iKadkani,andSayyedAliSalehisharespacewithpoets from thediasporasuchasRogerSedarat,FatemehShams,AmirSafiandLeilaEmery.ShortfictionfromHosseinMortezaeianAbkenarandNilofarShidmehrappearalongsideessaysfromM.R.Ghanoonparvar,SalarAbdoh,andAmyMotlaghaswellastranslationsfromscholarsFranklinLewisandDickDavis.

Inadditiontotheprintjournal,aspecialfolioofwritingonIran isnowavailableatMQROnline.Thiswork includesan interview with the Iranian muralist, and MQR cover artist, Mehdi Ghadyanloo, a conversation between celebratedtranslatorsIlanStavansandSaraKhalili,andaninterviewwithcritically-acclaimedwriterPorochistaKhakpour. OnApril23rdtheissuewilllaunchatLiteratiBookstoreinAnnArborwithreadingsfromcontributorsMasonJabbariandShahlaFarghadani,aswellasMQRstaff. AsweincreasinglyhearIranmentionedinthenightlynewsweneed,morethanever,textsthatchallengeourassumptionsand,asMattawasaysintheforwardforthisissue,“attempttorenderIranianlifeinitscomplexityandlife-affirmingresilience.”Forinquiriesaboutthisissueandforbulkorderspleaseemailusmqr@umich.edu

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LIBRARY AND ARCHIVESPre-1979 Revolution Iranian Political Pamphlet Collection TheUniversityofOklahomahasacquiredasubstantialcollectionofprimarysourcematerial relating to the 1979 Iranian revolution. The collection comprisesapproximatelythreehundreditems,mostlyconsistingofpamphletsandshortpoliticaltracts produced by intellectuals, student activists, and political partiesworking tooverthrowthePahlavimonarchy.MuchofthematerialwasprintedandcirculatedbyleftistandIslamistoppositiongroupsresidinginEuropeandNorthAmericanduringthe 1960s and 1970s. The bulk of thematerial is in Persian. Some items in thecollection are also in English, French, and Arabic. Among the Persian languagesources are numerous translations from material originally in Russian, German,French,Arabic,Chinese,andVietnamese.Collectively, thematerial illustrates theglobalcurrentsofthoughtandpoliticsthatshapedmuchoftheanti-Shahactivismintheyearsprecedingthe1979revolution.Whilemanyoftheitemsinthiscollectionare unique, the “OUPre-1979Revolution IranianPoliticalPamphletCollection” isintended to supplement the substantial collections housed at other libraries andresearchinstitutions,suchasthe“IranianPoliticalOppositionLiteratureCollection”at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California, the University of Manchester’s“Nashriyah: digital Iranian history” archive, and material held at Amsterdam’sInternationalInstituteforSocialHistory.Smallercollectionsandindividualitemsmayalsobefoundatothermajorresearchlibraries. The collection is housed at theUniversity ofOklahoma’sBizzellMemorialLibrary. Thislinkprovidesformoreinformation,includingaresearchguideandPDFcatalogueofthecollection.

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

DĀNESH: The OU Undergraduate Journal of Iranian Studies

TheOUUndergraduateJournalofIranianStudiesDĀNESHisapeer-reviewedundergraduatejournal,editedbyateamofstudentsattheUniversityofOklahoma.

Sinceitsfoundingin2016,DĀNESHhasbeendedicatedtohighlightingtheresearchofagrowingundergraduateprograminIranianStudiesatthe

UniversityofOklahoma.

Thecurrentissueisavailablehere.

Fakhral-Din’s son isnamedOstād ʿAli b.OstādFakhral-Dinb.Ostād ʿAliNajjār [Generation 3]–after thenameofhisgrandfather.He isknown forhavingworkedinBābol(forthemausoleumofSolṭānMoḥammadṬāḥerb.Musā)andinBābolsar (Ebrāhim Abu Javāb Mausoleum). The two wooden doors he signeddocumentacareerofatleast30years,between876/1471-2and906/1500. AnotherconnectionmightbeestablishedwithOstādMoḥammadb.OstādʿAliNajjār [belonging to Generation 2], supposedly a brother of Fakhr al-Din. Hisprofessional activity is recorded at least between 841/1437 and 858/1454, whichcorresponds roughly to the same period as his brother’s career. In 841/1437, he signedawoodendoorforEbrāhimAbuJavābMausoleuminBābolsar,thatistosay,atthesameplacewherehisnephewOstādʿAliworkedsixty-fiveyearslater. (b) The second family of woodworkers that I studied also spans threegenerations (from ca. 1460s to 1500s). Ostād AḥmadNajjār b. Ḥosayn-e Sarāviconstitutestheearlieststageofthislineage[Generation 1].Heisrecordedforhavingworked several times inBābol, on theEmāmzādeofQāsemb.Musā al-Kāẓem,between870/1465and888/1483. Atleasttwoofhissonsbecamewoodworkersaswell[Generation 2].OneisShamsal-Dinb.OstādAḥmadNajjār-eSāri,whosename isassociatedwith twowoodendoorsmadeinBābolsar(forthemausoleumofBibiSokine),andwithtwowoodencenotaphs,onebeingmadeinSāri(fortheEmāmzādeof‘Abbās).HisothersonisḤosaynb.OstādAḥmadNajjār-eSāriAḥmadNajjār.Heisknownforhavingmadedoubledoorsbetween873/1468and890/1485,inLimrāsk(EmāmzādeBolandEmām), Sāri (mausoleum of Shāhzāde Ḥosayn), and in Bābol in the very samemonumentwherehisfatherhadalreadyworkedpriorhim. Ḥosayn’s son constitutes the last stage of this lineage [Generation 3].Moḥammadb.OstādḤosaynNajjār-eSāri is identified througha singlepieceofworkmadeduringhisyouthfulcareer(894/1488-1489):awoodencenotaphkeptinthemausoleumofShāhzādeḤosayn,inSāri,thatistosay,inthesameplacewherehis father already worked. It appears that, besides a legacy of skills, these twolineagesofcraftsmenassumealsoalegacyofworkingplaces.

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RESEARCH REPORTTracing Woodworkers’ Families in Fifteenth-Century Mazandaran (Iran)Sandra Aube (CNRS, Paris)

TheprovinceofMazandaran (Northern Iran)housesa corpusofmedievalmausoleums associated with a substantial group of woodworks, chiefly woodendoorsandcenotaphs.Datedtotheperiodbetween1420and1510,manybearthesignatureofawoodworker(or“carpenter,”najjār).Aboutfiftywoodenpieceshavebeenidentified,keptinsituorscatteredinmuseums’collections. Thewoodworkers’milieuinmedievalIranisbarelyknown.Unlikecalligraphersorarchitects,woodworkersusuallydonotappear inbiographicalorotherPersiansources. Many wooden works of art have now vanished, and woodworkers’corporations have been little studied. In this context, the significant amount ofwoodworkers’ signatures found in fifteenth-century Mazandaran deserves to becarefullyanalyzed.Thisremarkablecorpusprovidesnewperspectivesandsuggeststhatthecorporationbenefitedfromanimprovedstatusduringthisperiod.Interestingly,thisrepertoireincludesnamesthatareoccasionallyrepeated,constitutinganopeningtorestituteacraftsman’scareer,whiletheonomasticsmakeitpossibleto identifyfamiliesofwoodworkers.

Ihaverecentlytracedtwoofthesefamiliesintwoarticles:(a)“SkillsandStyleinHeritage:TheWoodworkerFaḫral-DīnandhisSonʿAlīintheMazandaran(Iran,ca.1440-1500),”1 and (b) “Family Legacy VersusRegional Style:TracingThreeGenerationsofWoodworkersinMāzandarān(Iran, ca. 1460s-1500s)”2. The composition of theselineagescanbesummedupasfollows:(a) Regarding the first family studied, we are able toestablishthreegenerationsofmasters(ostād),spanningfromca.1440 to1500.OstādFakhral-Dinb.Ostād ʿAli[Generation 2]wasawoodworkeractivearoundthe1440sinSāri,wherehesignedawoodendoorfortheEmāmzādeYāḥyā. According to his name, his father was also acraftsman(OstādʿAli,[Generation 1]),whoseworkremainsunknown.

1in:Channels of Transmission. Family and Professional Lineages in the Early Modern Middle East, S.AubeandM.Szuppe(eds.)[EurasianStudiesSpecialIssue,15/2,2017],p.283-303.2 forthcomingin:Families, Authority and Knowledge in the Early Modern Middle East. Dynamics of Transmission (15th-17th c.),Ch.Werner,M.Szuppeetal.(eds.).

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

Woodendoor,mausoleumofShāhzāde

Ḥoseyn,Sāri.

Photo:SandraAube2018

Cenotaph,mausoleumofShāhzādeḤoseyn,Sāri.

Photo:SandraAube2018

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WhilemedievalwoodworksfromIranhavemostlybeenlostandwoodworkersremainanonymous,theselineagesareofgreatinterestforunderstandingthelegacyofamaster,asitwaspassedontohisson(s),journeymen,andassistant(s).Insomecases, the remaining pieces ofwork also offer a rare opportunity to analyze theevolutionofasinglewoodworkeroverthecourseofhisprofessionallife. Inthisway,thetwoaforementionedarticlesevidencedthestronghomogeneitythat prevailed within the decorative repertoire employed among each lineage –presumably family workshops. These two lineages give examples of repeatedcompositions,designandofcoursetechnique.Fashionablemodelsevolvedlittleandweretransmittedovergenerations.Developinganindividualartisticstylewasclearlynot the purpose of artistic expression in this context. But this coherent style isincontestablyimpregnatedbyfifteenth-centuryregionaltrends.SeveralofthedecorativemodelsobservedweretransmittedacrossMazandaranfromoneworkshoptoanother.Most mazandarani woodworks known from this period share a similar repertoire,illustrated–amongotherexamples–byaspecifickindoffriezesofinterlacedbraidswithdots,bypeculiar“fishscale”backgrounddecorations,or,forexample,byaparticulartypeofheart-shapedtrefoilsorquatrefoils.TheseformsarenotfoundinTimuridorTurkmen repertoires. Despite some features that occasionally appear to be morespecifictosomefamilyateliers,thetypologydevelopedonmazandaraniwoodworksconsequentlyowesmoretoaregionalstylethantoaworkshop. A strong regional style prevails also for funerary architecture in fifteenth-century Mazandaran. The monuments where woodworks were initially standingpresentaconsistenttypology.Aroundfiftymausoleumshavealreadybeenidentified.Threekindofplansareobservable:thesquare-type3,theoctagonal-type4,andthecircle-type. But all these mausoleums share the same architectural typology: acentered-plan,blindarches,apyramidalroofwithaveryspecificmuqarnascornice,anddiscreet light-blue tiledecorations. Interestingly, thisarchitecturalmodel issocloselyrepeatedthatit issometimespossibletofindseveralmausoleumssharingexactlythesameplan(includingsamesizeandproportions).Thisisillustrated,forinstance,with thesquare-typemodel that isminutelyrepeated in theplansof theGonbad-eGabriinĀmol,theZaynal-‘ĀbedinMausoleuminSāriandtheEmāmzāde‘Abdal-ṢālehinMarzrud(alldatedtothefifteenth-century).ThespecificMazandaranitypologyisnotfoundinotherregions.Somecenteredmausoleumswithpyramidalroofremain,forinstance,intheneighboringregionofGilan,butwithamuchmoresimpleelevationandwithoutthespecificmuqarnascorniceanddecorations.

3 SeeitspresentationinSandraAube,“LemausoléeZaynal-‘ĀbedinàSāri:Contributionàl’étudedestours-tombeauxduMāzanderānauXVesiècle,”Studia Iranica44/1(2015):33-54.4 SeeSandraAube,“Lemausoléed’ĀqāShāhBāluzādeàĀhudasht(Iran).ArchitectureetdécorsdesstructuresfunérairesdansleMāzanderānauXVesiècle,”Studia Iranica47/2(2018)[forthcoming].

TheTimuridorTurkmenarchitecturesalsodonotfeaturethisprecisearchitecturaltypology. The fifteenth-century Mazandarani type of mausoleums is thus verydistinctive.BothMazandaraniwoodenworksofartandarchitectureclearlypresentstrongregionalfeaturesallalongthefifteenthcentury. Ongoing research in this area still has a lot to discover. The architecturaltypologydeservestobeminutelyanalyzed.Thepositionandextensionofthethreetypes of plans across Mazandaran sketch a network of regional workshops.Concerningwoodenworksofart,manyinscriptionsstillhavetobetranscribedandtranslated,inordertocompleteanimportantrepertoireofwoodworkersinMazandaranduring the fifteenth century. Other lineages of woodworkers have to be studied.Furthermore,muchcomplementarywoodworksarewaitingtobeidentified.Ihavenotdiscussedonethedifficultiesofsuchastudy,whichisthestateofpreservationofthesemausoleums(manyhavingbeenheavilyrestored)andthescatteringoftheirpreviouslyassociatedwoodworks.Despitethisfact,theongoingstudyoffifteenth-centurywoodworks inMazandaranalreadysheds lightonanewregionalcorpus,developingitsowntypology.Thenumberofwoodworkers’signaturesisremarkable,allowingthestudyofanoutstandingnetworkofwoodworkerswithfamilylineages.Medievalcraftsmenhavelongbeenconsideredtohavehadarathermodestsocialstatus and to have remainedmostly anonymous. In someways, the remarkableprevalence of Mazandarani woodworkers’ signatures might illustrate the socialrecognitionofthecorporationduringthisperiod.

This research was conducted within the research program DYNTRAN:“DynamicsofTransmission:Families,AuthorityandKnowledgeintheEarlyModernMiddle East (15th-17th centuries),” a collaborative project of the CNRS Mondesiranienet indienand thePhilippsUniversitätMarburg,with thepartnershipof theInstitutfrançaisd’archéologieorientale(IFAO,Cairo).ItwasfundedbytheDeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)(2015-2018,ANRFRAL-14-009-01).

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

Left:MausoleumofZaynal-‘Ābedin,Sāri

Right:MausoleumofĀqāShāhBāluzāde,Āhudasht.

Photos:SandraAube2014

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RESEARCH REPORTAmulets from Early Islamic IranSarah Kiyanrad (University of Heidelberg, Germany)

SomeeightyyearsafterthepublicationofBessAllenDonaldson’spathbreakingmonograph The Wild Rue,whichdevotesachapterto“TalismansandSigns”, theresearchinIranianamuletsisstillinitsinfancy.Whileanumberofstudiesonaspectsofbothpre-IslamicandIslamicamuletculture(s)inIranhasappearedsincethen,1 a “HistoryofIranianAmulets”isstilllacking–ifsuchanundertakenisactuallypossibleanddesirable,giventhediversityofthefield–andweareingreatneedoffurtherin-depthanalysesofregionallyorhistoricallyconfinedamuletenvironments. Althoughthematerial turnhasleftitsimprintonIranianStudies,itisamajorchallenge,particularlyinhistoricalresearch,tobringtogetherdescriptionsofobjectsinwrittensourcesandtheevidenceprovidedbyremainingartifacts(and,ifacquiredin situ,theirarchaeologicalcontexts).Oneusuallyiseithertrainedasahistorianoran archeologist and thus lacking one set of requisite skills necessary to theinvestigationofagiventextorobject(or:text-bearingobject).Besides,itshouldalsobementioned that Iranianamuletculturewasneverconfined toonly (pre-Islamic)Zoroastrian/Mazdean or later Islamicate amulet culture respectively, but literallymergedalargenumberoftraditionsandlanguages,whileatthesametimeallowingfordistinctamuletsubcultures.Moreover,manyobjectshithertoatourdisposalhadbeenpurchasedontheartmarketandareofunknownprovenance,andthissituationisaggravatedbyalackofeditions(ofboththeobjects’inscriptionsandmanuals). 1Forexample:A.D.H.Bivar,“AParthianAmulet,”Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, UniversityofLondonVol.30,No.3(1967),512–525;PhilippeGignoux,Incantations magiques syriaques, Louvain, 1987;P.O.Harper et al., “ASeal-Amulet of theSasanianEra: Imagery andTypology, theInscription,andTechnicalComments,”Bulletin of the Asia InstituteNewSeries,Vol.6(1992),43–58;Shaked,“NotesonthePahlaviAmuletandSasanianCourtsofLaw,”Bulletin of the Asia InstituteNewSeries,Vol.7,Iranian Studies in Honor of A. D. H. Bivar(1993),165–172;RikaGyselen,Sceaux magiques en Iran sassanide,Paris,1995;ChristaMüller-Kessler,“AMandaicGoldAmuletintheBritishMuseum,”Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental ResearchNo.311(Aug.,1998),83–88;KamyarAbdi,“BesintheAchaemenidEmpire,”Ars Orientalis29(1999),111+113–140;idem,“NotesontheIranianizationofBesintheAchaemenidEmpire,”Ars Orientalis32,Medes and Persians: Reflections on Elusive Empires (2002),133–162;SheilaS.Blair,“AnAmuletfromAfsharidIran,”The Journal of the Walters Art Museum Vol. 59, Focus on the Collections (2001), 85–102; Venetia Porter and Jürgen Wasim Frembgen,“SilberamulettemitInschriftenausIranundAfghanistan,“in:JürgenWasimFrembgen,ed.,Die Aura des Alif. Schriftkunst im Islam,Münchenetal.,2010,192–209;ZivaVesel,“TalismansfromtheIranianWorld:AMillenaryTradition,” inPedramKhosronejad,ed.,The Art and Material Culture of Iranian Shi´ism.Iconography and Religious Devotion in Shi´i Islam,NewYork,2012,254–275;DāriyūshRaḥmāniyānandZahrāḤātamī,“Siḥrvajādū,ṭilismvataʿvīdh,vadunyā-yizanāndarʿaṣr-iqājār,”Justārhā-yitārīkhī3/2(1391),27–44;Ḥamīd-RiżāKhvārazmīandḤusain-AllāhTavakullī,“Ṭilismvaṭilism-shikanīdarfarhang-iʿāmma-yi Jibāl-bāriz-i Jīruft,” Farhang va adabīyāt-i ʿāmma 5/16 (1396), 137–160; Sarah Kiyanrad,“SasanianamuletpracticesandtheirsurvivalinIslamicIranandbeyond,”Der Islam95(2018),65–90;TobiasNünlist,“DevotionandProtection:FourAmuleticScrollsfromSafavidPersia,”in:YukaKadoi,ed.,Persian Art: Image-Making in Eurasia,Edinburgh,2018,78–101.

Amuletsarestillbeingperceived insomepublicationsas formingapartof‘magic’, a notion that somewhat servesasa terminological category for ‘strange’ practices(andwhatisconsideredasstrangeis,ofcourse,bothinfluencedbyculturalconceptionsof the ‘normal’and theeyeof thebeholder).Havingsaid that, ithasbeendemonstratedthat‘magic’isa“floatingsignifier”andwhilewecanofcourseanalyze “first-order” discourses onmagic and should do so, the term itself is noappropriate“secondorder”scientificcategory.2 Inthefollowing,IwillbrieflyintroducesomefindingsaboutamuletcultureinEarlyIslamicIran.3Thesearebasedonwrittensourcesaswellas155script-bearingamulets(pendants[66],amuletcases[86]andamuletscrolls[3])datingfromthe8ththroughearly13thcenturyCEandkeptinmuseumsandcollectionsmostlyinEuropeandtheUnitedStates–andthusrepresentingdoubtlesslyonlyaverysmall,butstillrelevantpercentageofwhathascomedowntous.AsIamnoarcheologist,Ihaveusuallyreliedontheinformationsuppliedontheartifacts’provenienceanddating.Furthermore, for sakeof feasibility, I decided to focuson specimens inscribed inArabicand/orPersian.Lastbutnotleast,althoughlapidarieselaborateonpropertiesascribedtocertaingems,itisusuallyhardtojudgewhetheragiven,non-script-bearing object was used as amulet, mere adornment, or fulfilled one of countless other uses…(hencetherestrictiontoscript-bearingartifacts;butsincewearenomoreabletoobservehowapersonusedagivenobject,heretooonecanonlytalkaboutalikelypossibilityofamuleticuse–basedonculturalpatternsofamuletusage). Tosomeextentincontrasttopre-Islamicspecimens,remainingArabicandPersianamuletsfromEarlyIslamicIranonlyseldomlyrevealintheirtexthowtheywere denoted; but one observes a whole array of different notions in religious,geographical,historical,lexicographicalwritingsetc.(whileunfortunatelytheirdividesoften remain unclear). Among the 36 terms used to denote amulets we find forexample ʿazīma, chishm-panām, ḥadīd, and taʿ līqa. In general, the terms eithermirrortheobjects’materiality(ḥadīd),theirfunction/modeofaction(ʿazīma, chishm-panām)orthewayofwearingthem(taʿ līqa).Furthermore,somenotionsalsopointtothephenomenonofculturaltransferand(terminological)continuitiesinIranianamuletculture.For instance,apsūn/afsūnandnīrang/nīranj in theEarly Islamiccenturiescouldbeusedinordertorefertoamulets.Theselastnotionsalsoreflecttheoral-writtencontinuum:bothaspokenprayerandawrittenamuletcouldbereferredtoasnīrang,forexample.Thisaspectfurthermoreindicatesthatamulets–smallobjects,usuallywornonthebodyandeffectivebymediationofahigherpower–werewellconceivedasbeingpartofreligiouspractice.

2 Bernd-Christian Otto, “Magie im Islam. Eine diskursgeschichtliche Perspektive,” in: SebastianGüntherandDorotheePielow,eds.,Die Geheimnisse der oberen und der unteren Welt. Magie im Islam zwischen Glaube und Wissenschaft,Leiden/Boston,2019,517–519.3AsexaminedinmyPhDthesis,publishedunderthetitleGesundheit und Glück für seinen Besitzer. Schrifttragende Amulette im islamzeitlichen Iran(bis1258),Wiesbaden,2017.

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It comes as no surprise then that during the investigated centuries,manyscript-bearingamuletscontainQur’anicversesorevenwholesurahs.Thelastthreesurahs–actuallyquiteoftensurahCXII,al-Ikhlāṣ –are foundvery frequentlyonamulets.SurahCXIIis,forexample,theonlysurahtraceableonamuletcasesinoursample(fivespecimens).Othercommontextualelementsare(alloranumberof)the99namesofGod (al-malik, for instance), personal names (bothof thewearerorproducer),blessingformulae,oftenalreadypointingtoakindofstandardized,non-personalizedamuletproduction(e.g.al-salāma wa-l-saʿāda li-ṣāḥibihi),theshahāda, namesofthezodiac,anddeliberatelyappliedPseudo-scriptaswellasundeliberatelyapplieddegeneratedscript(whichprobablyhintsatthescribehavingcopiedthetextfromsomemanualormodel).Pseudo-scriptisanelementconsideredtobeespeciallyeffective:strangesignsandscript,nolongerunderstandablepresumablyevenfortheproducerswerethoughttobeendowedwithaspecialefficacy.Wehenceoftenencounter the ideaofdeployingancientscriptssuchasSyriacorHebrewon theamulets,or forexamplecharakteres / Brillenbuchstaben / theSevenSeals.Evenwell-knowninscriptions,forexampletheshahādawithitsnumerousalifsandlāms, occasionallywerealienatedonamuletsandreducedtoverticalstrokes(Fig.1)–wasthis a way of rendering the inscription evenmore effective or simply due to therespectivecopyist,whowasnotquiteacquaintedwiththescript,ordidhemakeuseofanalreadydegenerated“mastercopy”? Apart from the textualcontent,amuletscancontain iconographicelementssuchasborders/lines,floralandvegetaldecoration,animals(birds,lions,dogsetc.)and humans. The form of the object itself may also be relevant to the intendedpurpose;afishshapedamulet,forinstance,couldbeanindicationofanallegedwishforfertility.Althoughmanuals,elaboratingeitheronthequalitiesofQur’anicverses(khawāṣṣ al-āyāt)oronamuletsingeneral(suchasal-Būnī’s[d.1225]famousShams al-maʿārif al-kubrā)cangiveahintastothefunctionofamuletswithcertainversesonthem,andalthoughdifferentsources–frompoetrytohistoriography–tellusalotaboutpotentialfunctionsofamulets,unlessanamuletdoesnotindicateitsproperfunction,wecanoftenonlyguesswhatitwasmadefor.Here,amuletscrollsofferinvaluablehelp,sincetheyoftenpreciselyelaborateontheirfunctions–thankstothelarge space available (scrolls canmeasuremore than 10meters in length). Thenumberofamuletscrollshithertoattributedtopre-MongolIranwithcertaintyisverysmall;yet,examplesfromneighboringculturescangiveinsightintothediverseaimsthesemultifunctionamuletswere intendedtoserve(purposesalsobeingfoundinamuletmanuals).Forexample,ablock-printamulet,probablyfromEgypt,hasthefollowingfunctionswrittenonit:4

4KarlR.Schaefer, Enigmatic Charms. Medieval Block Printed Amulets in American and European Libraries and Museums,Leiden/Boston,2006,105–106(Arabic),109(Englishtranslation).

Thisisamagnificentamulet[ḥijāb]/andtheimperviousfortressthatsuffices,bythegrace/ofAllah,theSublime,fortheeyeandthevision,/forfever,forrash,migraine,/beatings,forasthma,/ splenitis, difficulty in childbirth, / crying children, female jinn; / for love, for obedience, foracceptance;/foradmissionto(thepresenceof)kings/andnotables;fordifficultyinspeaking,/forthwartingofwitchcraftandfortheresolutionofdifficulties;/andfortheliberationofprisonersandforprocuring/livelihood;forthedrawingoflots/andforthecastingofarrows;fortheracing/ofhorses;fortravelindaytime/andbynight;foreveryillnessandsymptom.

Theamuletdisplaysarangeofdifferentapplicationfields(diseases,childbirth,upbringing, love,obedience,acceptance,fightagainstwitchcraft,gambling,travel)whichdemonstratethatsuchanobjectcouldbeusedbymenandwomenlikewise.The fact thatwefindsimilar listsofpurposeson later Iranianartifacts,dating forexampletotheSafavidera,5makesithighlyprobablethatthesearecommonaimsamuletsaddressednotonlyintheory(asmirroredinmanuals)butalsoinpractice. Onthebasisofmanuals,certaintextualelementstypicalofamuletscanbeidentified:Especiallylongeramulettextsmention1)theclient;2)thepurpose;they3)repeatedly evokeGod;and4)featureacertainformulaatthebeginning/end.However,smallsizeamuletsmadefrommetalorstoneusuallydisplayonlyoneortwooftheseelements. TheremainingEarlyIslamicamuletsaremadefromquitediversematerialssuch as stone, metal, and paper. Whereas for example Mandaean scrolls wereusuallyfabricatedfromleadorgold,theproducersofArabicandPersianspecimenspreferred paper and parchment. While manuals often instruct the reader to usesophisticatedmaterials, suchasgazelleparchmentor silk, respective specimenshaveseldomlycomedowntous.Allinvestigatedamuletcasesconsistofmetal(Fig.2),mostofthemofgold(50objects).Thethreeamuletscrollsaremadefrompaper.Mostamuletpendants,too,consistofmetal,thoughfivespecimensarecarvedfromstone.Fourof thesestonependants imitate the formof cylindricalamulet cases.Besides the technical aspects of amulet production (revealed by the objectsthemselves),onecantracetheritualsofamuletproductioninwrittensources.

5 ASafavidamuletscroll(Nünlist2018,90)givesitspurposesinPersian;amongthemarethewardingofftheplague,animalsandferociousbeasts,theEvilEye,defamers,enviers,andcalamities,aswellasthewishforfortune,helptobereceivedbyahigh-rankingperson,andluckinwaragainsttheunbelievers.

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

Fig.1:Silverpendant;Nishapur,10thc.;diam.1.9cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 40.170.246

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Among the importantdetermining factors for theproductionofaneffectiveamulet(obviously,notallamuletshelpedthewearertoreachhis/heraim,thustheremusthavebeenreasonsforthefailure)weretheidentificationofanappropriatetime(day,hour,astrologicalconstellations)andplace;astateofritualpurity,recitations,and fumigations.Certainly not everybodyhad the financialmeans toapproachaprofessionalamuletscribecommandingthewittiesttechniques;thosewhodidnothad tomakedowithprefabricatedamuletsavailableon thebazaaror ask someliteratepersontowritedownversess/heconsideredeffective.Onceatemporarilyemployed amulet hadmet its purpose – or failed to do so – amulets had to bedisposed.Although theirphysicaldestructionwas thebestoption to render them“harmless”,wemayimaginethatthisoftenwasnotthefirstchoice,because,assaidbefore,manyamuletscontainedreligiousinscriptions.Asaresult,theywereofteneitherburiedordepositedinasafeplace. Despiteallobstaclesmentionedabove, it isworthwhileresearching Iranianamuletcultures further.Firstofall,amuletshave thepotential tocontribute to thewritingofahistoryofthesubaltern–whereothertextskeepsilentabouttheneedsandsorrowsof“ordinarypeople”,certainamuletsmaytellhistoryfrombelow.Sincelife confronted humans with numerous challenges, amulets meeting differentpurposesvirtuallyaccompaniedpeople(ofcourse,notallpeople)fromthecradletothegrave; they reflecton temporaryhardships, fearedsicknesses,andunfulfilleddesires.Changes in amulet culture display altering historical circumstances.Thisstatementistrivial,butitsimplicationsbecomevividwhenobserving,forexample,ashiftfromparchmenttopaperasstartingmaterial,orareplacementandredefinitionof pre-Islamic iconographieswith Islamic symbols. Furthermore, new techniques,suchastheblockprint,allowedforchangesinamuletproductionandthusthetextualcontentoftheobjects.Onecouldalsodwellonthesocio-economicaspectofamuletproduction,witha continuumof cheap ready-to-wearobjectspurchasableon thebazaar on the one hand, and highly professionalized and personalized objects,writtenbyamuletexpertsontheotherhand–andtherespectivepowerrelations,aswellasthefearofmaliciousamuletsfabricatedbyhostilepersons,whichhadtobecounteredwith other amulets time and again (a phenomenon recently coined as“economyoffear”)6.6JohannaSchott,“ÖkonomiederAngst.NordafrikanischeundwestafrikanischeMagieimVergleich,”in:SebastianGüntherandDorotheePielow,eds.,Die Geheimnisse der oberen und der unteren Welt. Magie im Islam zwischen Glaube und Wissenschaft,Leiden/Boston,2019,476–511.

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Fig.2:Silveramuletcase;Iran,11thc.;3.2x2.9cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1978.415

Iranian Studies Vol. 52, Number 1, May 2019 hasbeenpublished:http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cist20/current.

AISmembersareabletoaccessthecurrentaswellasallbackissuesofthejournalbyloggingintotheirmembershipaccountandvisiting

Publications/Journal/JournalArchives.

TheHaftCraft Music Ensemble,madeupofmembersoftheBelgianNationalOrchestraiscrowdfundingitsnewCDfeaturingCompositionsbyIranianComposers,includingMahdisGolzarKashani(TheLittleBlackFish,forstringquartetandbassoon),AliRadman(Masnavi,forbassoon,stringquartet,andsoprano),IdinMofakham(HomageA’AbolhasanSaba,forduoviolinandcello),MahdisGolzarKashani(ThisisCrime/JormInAst,forbassoon,stringquartetandsoprano),VahidTaremi(Khamoosh,forstringquartet),VahidTaremi(“OPeople’’forbassoon,stringquartet,and

soprano),BahramOsqueezadeh(Changi,forbassoon,stringquartet,andsoprano).

Pleaseconsiderdonatingat:https://www.voordekunst.nl/projecten/6010-debuut-cd-variations-on-a-persian-theme-1

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THE PERSIAN REGION OF LARISTAN AND ITS ROLE IN INDO-AFRICAN CULTURAL TRANSFERS Iván Szántó, Department of Iranian Studies, Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest)

Thisresearchprojectattemptstore-evaluatetheintermediaryroleoftheso-calledKazaruniya,areligiousorganizationwithastrongeconomicleverageintheIndianOcean trade, during its heyday in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.DatingbacktothelastdecadesofthefirstmillenniumCE,thisSufiordercameintobeinginKazarun,atownonthecrossroadsbetweentheSouthernIranianmainlandandthePersianGulf.Whileitsearlyhistoryremainsobscure,itseemstohaveplayedanactiveroleintheconversionoflocalZoroastrianstoIslamandlaterinthespreadof Islam in SouthAsia and beyond, by virtue of its diffusion along the land andmaritimerouteslinkingIranwiththeIndianOceancoasts.AftertheMongolconquestofIran,thecenterofgravityoftheordershiftedtoIndia,butitslinkstoKazarunviaLaristanremainedvital.

ISIS Newsletter Volume 46, Number 2 March 2013

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“TAQ KASRA: WONDER OF ARCHITECTURE” ON DVD “Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture” is thefirst-ever documentary film on the world’s largestbrick vault. TaqKasra, also called theArchwayofKhosrow,wasbuiltbetweenthe3rdand6thcenturyBCEasaSasanian-eraPersianmonument.Itisthe onlyvisibleremainingstructureoftheancientcityofCtesiphon,locatedintoday’sIraq, which served as a royal capital of the Persian Empire in the Parthian andSasanianerasforovereighthundredyears,andremainedthecapitaloftheSasanianEmpireuntiltheMuslimconquestofPersiain651AD. TaqKasrawasinseriousdangerofISISattacksin2014–16andthiswasthemain motivation for documentary-maker Pejman Akbarzadeh, based in theNetherlands,totraveltoIraqatthattimeandfilmthearchbeforeitwouldpotentiallybedestroyed. The30-minutedocumentaryexplores variousaspectsof the siteandalsoportraystheenormousimpactofthe20th-centurywarsandideologicalpoliciesonthisancientstructure.Thefilmisproducedbythe“Persian-DutchNetwork”,fundedbytheSoudavarMemorialandToosFoundations. 10Internationallyrecognisedscholarsandarchitectsare interviewedinthefilm(inorderofappearance):Mr.HosseinAmanat,Persian-Canadianarchitect;Prof.EdKeall,formerdirectorofRoyalOntarioMuseum’sNearEasternDepartment;Prof.Touraj Daryaee, director of the Center for Persian Studies at the University ofCalifornia; Dr. Ute Franke, State Museums of Berlin; Dr. Vesta Sarkhosh-Curtis,BritishMuseum;Dr.AliMozaffari,AustralianResearchCouncil,DeakinUniversity;Dr.MahmoudMullakhalaf,IraqiAmbassadortoUNESCO;Dr.QaisHuseenRasheed,HeadofIraqiStateBoardofAntiquities;Dr.MiroslavZeman,ProjektyZeman,Prague;andProf.RobertHillenbrand,UniversityofEdinburgh. ThefilmpremieredattheSchoolofOrientalandAfricanStudies,UniversityofLondon(SOAS)inFebruary2018andsubsequentlyscreenedatvariousinternationalconferences, museums and universities including the Smithsonian Institution’sFreer|SacklerGalleryinWashingtonDC,PennMuseum,YaleUniversity,theNationalGallery of Victoria inMelbourne and the 12thConference of the Iranian StudiesAssociationatUCIrvine. Citedasan“Impressivefilm”bytheBBCPersianService,thefilmisessentialforviewers interested inAncientNearEastern,PersianandSasanianhistory,art,archaeology or architecture. Please consider organizing a screening in yourcommunity,universityormuseum.More at www.TaqKasra.com

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

TombofShaykh‹Umaral-Kazaruni,ca.7341333.FridayMosque,Khambhat,Gujarat,India.

PhotographSzalomeSzántó

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ISIS Newsletter Volume 46, Number 2 March 2013

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RESEARCH REPORT CONT’D

BydrawingattentiontoagroupofportablearchitecturalelementsoriginatingfromKhambhat,Gujarat,andscatteredbetweenKhambhat,Lar,Mogadishu,Kilwa,andSoutheastAsia,onemayrecontextualizethematerialwithinthenetworkoftheKazaruniorder.ItcanbesuggestedthattheIndianandIranianoccurrencesoftheseprestigiousmarble itemsfrequentlyoverlapwith thedocumentedbranchesof thisinstitution;and,tofurtherdevelopthispostulation,itisreasonabletosuggestthatinthoseAfricanlocationswheresimilarobjectsareattestedwithoutanyaffiliation,suchvestigesmaybeall that is left of anotherwise vanishedSwahili presenceof theKazaruniya. This assumption is substantiated by written accounts which are ourmainsourcesabouttheactivitiesoftheorderandwhoseauthorsoutlinearemarkablycloseitinerarytothedistributionofthistypeofartwork.Inotherwords,evenintheabsenceofdetails regarding the livingconditionsofAfricanseafarers,our textualsourcesmayimplicitlyrefertotheindispensabilityoftheKazaruniorderinoverseastravel.Conversely, thissuggestionmayexplainandcontextualizetheconcomitantEast African availability of this portable architecture the prestige of which wasotherwiseunparalleledintheregion,andthismaysubstantiatethemoregeneralizedstatementsinearlierliteratureaboutlateMediaevalartpatronageacrosstheIndianOcean. AKashanlusterceramicmihrab,incorporatedintheGujaratimarblecarvingatMogadishu,Somalia,addsanextralayertothesemaritimeconvergences.TogetherwithaverysimilarmihrabfromLar(nowinShiraz),itpointstotheintermediaryroleof theKazarun-Laristan-Hormuz link in theGujarat-EastAfricanetwork.ResidentGujaratimerchantsinLar,probablyaffiliatedtotheKazaruniya,mayhaveshippedsuchensemblesfromIrantoAfrica.Inanearliercontributionbythepresentauthor,agroupofmid-fourteenth-century(Injuid)brassbowlshavealsobeenlinkedtothesamereligiousorder.Atthisperiod,theMongolsmayhavepushedthemainthrustofKazaruniactivityoutofIran,strengtheningitsGujaratileg,butbythelateIlkhanid“PaxMongolica”,especiallyduringtheInjuDynastyofFarsprovince,anewequilibriumiscreatedwherebyanIranianrenaissanceluredmanyGujaratibusinessesbacktoIran.Thenameof‛AbuIshaqInju(1343-1357),invoking‛AbuIshaqKazaruni(963-1035),thefounderoftheorder,issymbolicinthisrespect.

RESEARCH REPORTEscape from Isolation:Iran-Malaysia Relations during the Mahathir Years, 1981-2003Rowena Abdul Razak, University of Oxford

In July 2016 during an interview with the Iranian Students’ News Agency(ISNA),MahathirMohammad (not ingovernmentat that time) spokeof thegoodrelationsofhiscountrywithIran,citingthemanyIranianslivinginMalaysiaasanindicator.1Amajority-SunninationthatconsidersShi‘ismaheresydoesnotseemthelikeliestofhavensforIranians.Andyet,MalaysiaandIranhaveenjoyedcloserelations since the 1979 revolution. In October 2016, Iranian President HasanRouhanipaidanofficialvisittothenPrimeMinisterNajibRazakinMalaysia,withthepromiseofdeepeningbilateral trade ties.Every IranianPresidentsinceHashemiRafsanjani’svisitin1994,hasmadeanofficialvisittoMalaysia. Whatexplainsthe“specialrelationship”betweenthetwonations?Intheearly1980s,soonaftertherevolutionoverthrewtheShah,thenewrepublic’sinterestsandworldviewsconvergedwithMalaysia’sinanalmostserendipitousway.UnderMahathir’spremiershipatthetime(1981-2003),Malaysia,aformerBritishcolony,underwentanidentitymakeover,usingrhetoricakintotheIslamicRepublic’svisionofitsownpoliticalfuture.Butthisrelationshipthathadrootsinanti-Westernposturing,woulddevelopintoadeeperconnection,primarilyinthefieldoftradeandeconomiccooperation.

1Siavash Edalat, “ISNAExclusive interviewwithMahathirMohammad,” Iranian Students’ News Agency,9July2016,Accessed10May2017,http://en.isna.ir/news/95040110208/ISNA-exclusive-interview-with-Mahathir-Mohammad

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

MarblegravestonefromtheSultans’Cemetery,14thcentury,KilwaKisiwani,Tanzania,Berlin,EthnologischesMuseum.

Photo:EthnologischesMuseum

RouhaniandMahathirdiscussbilateraltiesattheUNGeneralAssemblyinNewYork,September2018

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yearcelebrationofthePersianEmpireheldinPersepolis,theMalaysianAgong at thetime,TunkuAbdulHalim,wasinattendance,notlongafterdiplomaticrelationswereofficiallyestablishedbetweenIranandMalaysia.5ForeignpolicyunderthelastPahlavishahwascolouredbyitsspecialrelationshipwiththeUS,itsneedtomaintainnationalcohesion,andtoplayakeyregionalrole.6Assuch,theIranian-Malaysianrelationshipneverachievedanyparticulardepth.Itwasonlyreallyduringthe1990sthatKualaLumpurandTehranenjoyedacloserworkingrelationship.

Escape from Isolation via the East Inthewakeofthe1979revolution,Iranunderwentchangesinitspoliticalidentitythataffected its foreignpolicy, grounding its political system inan Islamicdoctrine thatcoloured how its foreign relationswould be shaped.7 AyatollahRuhollahKhomeinifocusedonexportingtheIslamicrevolution,whichsawthereplacementofthecountry’sdiplomatswithIslamistideologues.8OneoftheprincipalpillarsofIran’srevolutionaryideologyincludedsolidaritywithThirdWorldcountries,andwiththis,theenhancementofSouth-Southrelations.9ThisconvergedwithachangeinMalaysia’sownoutlookontheworldandalsomadeitaprimecandidateasthenewIran’sinternationalally. MahathirisknowntohaveglobalisedMalaysianforeignpolicy.Healsocreateda foreign economic policy that mainly relied on three norms: firstly, that it wasprincipled;secondly,thatitwasreliableandthirdly,thatitwaspragmaticaswellasflexible.10Priortothis,Malaysiahadremainedconservative,keepingtoitscolonialregionalneighbours.UnderMahathir,Malaysiabegantopromoteitselfasadynamiccountry with an advanced developing economy that required foreign directinvestmentsaswellasgreateraccesstothewiderworld.Hischarismacannotbedeniedasakeycomponentofhisforeignpolicy,onethathasleftalastingimpressionon theMuslimworld.Hemadepan-Islamismapillarofhispolicy,attractingnon-Westerncountriesevenmorestronglythroughchampioningthe“underdog.”However,therewasasubtleunderlyingdistinctioninthispan–Islamicoutlook:thecentralityofMalaysia’sSunniidentitywasneverignored.BelowthesurfacelayafundamentalwearinessandsuspicionofShi’ism.11SuchadistinctionwouldresultinagenerallyfriendlybutcautiousattitudetowardsIran. 5ShireenTHunter,Iran and the World, Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade,(Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,1990),1616AlidadMafinezamandAriaMehrabi, Iran and its Place Among Nations, (Connecticut:Praeger,2008),45;47-497ArshinAdib-Moghaddam,Iran in World Politics, The Question of the Islamic Republic,(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,2008),328It issuggested that is thecauseof thenegativeeffecton theknowledgethat Iranianspossessabouttheworld.AlidadMafinezamandAriaMehrabi,Iran and its Place Among Nations,(Connecticut:Praeger,2008),499ShireenTHunter,Iran and the World, Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade,(Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,1990),16610SyedHamidAlbar,DefenceandForeignMinisterunderMahathir, interviewwiththeauthor,26December2018,KualaLumpur.11SyedHamidAlbar,DefenceandForeignMinisterunderMahathir, interviewwith theauthor,26December2018,KualaLumpur.

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Inanacademicenvironment that ismainly interested in Iran’s relationswithbiggerpowers,anexaminationof its relationshipwithsmallernations likeMalaysiaimpartsafullerpictureofIran’spositionintheworld.2Thisresearchreportwillbeginwithadiscussionofwhytherelationshipevolvedtobecomerelativelycloseinthefirstplace,whichwillthenbefollowedbyanexaminationofhowitconsolidated,diplomaticallyandeconomically.Iwillthenaddressthequestionofthetwocountries’relationshipinlight of the Sunni-Shi‘a schism, where ultimately political and economic benefitsoutweighedsectarianconsiderations.TheabilityofIrantoenjoyacloserelationshipwithaSunninationlikeMalaysiaraisesthequestionwhetheritsrivalrywithitsArabneighboursisperhapsmoreregionalthansectarian,allowingtheRepublictodevelopstronger tieswith thenon-Arab Islamicworld.Thisat leastappears tobe thecaseespeciallyintwoinstances:intheaftermathofthe1979revolutionandafter9/11.

Malaysia’s Foreign Policy under Mahathir (1981-2003)OneofthereasonswhythebilateralrelationshipdevelopedrelativelycloselyduringtheMahathiryears,washisdecisiontoembracetheIslamicRepublic,andhisabilityeventorideonthepopularityoftheIranianrevolutioninMalaysia.Thisisnottosaythattherehasnotbeentensionbetweenthetwonations,especiallywithsurgesofSunnichauvinisminMalaysia.Similarly,IranhasbeenapprehensiveofthespreadofSunniideologyfromMalaysiaandIndonesiathatcouldpotentiallydamageIranianrevolutionarydogma.3Theseissuesmovedintotheforegroundinthepost-Mahathirera (since2003),aswasevidencedby the increase inanti-Shi‘i fatwas issued inMalaysiaandthegeneralincreaseofsuspicionoverIranians’intentionsinMalaysia,whichdidresultinsomesouringofTehran-KualaLumpurties.Anotherkeyissueintherelationshipisthedrugtrade,butthatisbeyondthescopeofthisresearchreport. BeforetheestablishmentoftheIslamicRepublicin1979,PahlaviIranenjoyedcloserelationswithMalaysia.IranhasalongandcomplicatedrelationshipwiththeBritish,whileMalaysiahadasimilarexperienceasaformerBritishcolony.ItshouldnotbeignoredthatthelatterpolicywascharacteristicofIran’seffortstosupportthelatentdecolonisationmovement,asembodiedintheUNResolution1514passedinDecember1960.4Bothweremonarchies–inthecaseofMalaysia,severalsultansrotating their terms to serveastheKing(Agong)ofMalaysia.Attheinfamous2,500th

2ArshinAdib-Moghaddam,Iran in World Politics, The Question of the Islamic Republic,(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,2008).3ShireenTHunter,Iran and the World, Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade,(Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,1990),163;In1996,theFatwaCommitteeforReligiousAffairsinMalaysiabrandedShi’ism as deviant, which overturned a 1984 decision saying that it was acceptable. Under theInternalSecurityAct,severalShi’aMalaysianswereplacedunderarrest.RogerShanahan,“Malaysiaand its Shi’a Problem” in Middle East Institute, 25 July 2014, http://www.mei.edu/content/map/malaysia-and-its-shi%E2%80%98-%E2%80%9Cproblem%E2%80%9D4ShireenTHunter,Iran and the World, Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade,(Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,1990),165

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Westandtodeveloptheeconomythroughalternativesources,whichfittedinwellwith thenew republic’sownoutlook.Forexample,by looking toJapan,MahathirsuccessfullydevelopedthetechnologyforProton.17IranalsoenjoyedcloserelationswithJapanineconomicsandtrade,evenaftertherevolution.Japan’sappreciationforIran’sgeopoliticalpositioninthegulfencouragedbilateralcloseness.18 IntheaftermathoftheIran-Iraqwar,IranwasinabetterpositiontoconsolidatetherelationshipwithKualaLumpur.In1994,PresidentHashemiRafsanjanimadeanofficialvisittoMalaysiatofocusonbilateralrelationsandenhancingtradeagreements.Thiswasafollow-uptrip fromMahathir’sownvisit to Iranayearbefore.Thetwocountriesexchangedpetroleum, commoditiesandmanufacturedproducts,withavolumeoftradenowamountingtoUS$120million.19 AnotherkeyreasonthatIranbegantolookeastwardsintheaftermathoftheIran-IraqwarwasbecauseapproachestotheWesthadbeenrebuffed.Rafsanjanitriedtoattractlarge-scaleinvestmentfromtheUS,evenofferingacontracttoanoilcompanyamountingtoUS$1billion.However,inthesamebreath,RafsanjanisaidthattheUSgovernmentowedIranapologies,callingouttheUS’bullyingofIran.20 The deal was rejected by the Clinton administration in March 1995, which wasfollowedafewmonthslaterwiththeexecutiveorderbanninganyUStradewithIran.TheIran-LibyaSanctionsAct(ILSA)waspassedinAugust1996,21affectingtradewith Malaysia, one of the countries that also enforced the ban. The trade bancompelledIrantodeepenitseconomicrelationshipwithChina,RussiaandEurope,whichitdidwellintotheAhmadinejadadministration.22 17AlanChong,KSBalakrishnan,“Intellectualiconoclasmasmodernizingforeignpolicy:thecasesofMahathirbinMohamadandLeeKuanYew”inThe Pacific Review,1March2015,29:2,24018ShireenTHunter,Iran and the World, Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade,(Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,1990),16219“IranpresidentvisitsMalaysia,”UPI,17October1994,Accessed30May2017,http://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/10/17/Irans-president-visits-Malaysia/2897782366400/20 ElaineSciolino,“IranianLeaderSaysUSMoveonOilDealWreckedChancetoImproveTies”inTheNewYorkTimes,16May1995,http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/16/world/iranian-leader-says-us-move-on-oil-deal-wrecked-chance-to-improve-ties.html21AlidadMafinezamandAriaMehrabi, Iran and its Place Among Nations, (Connecticut:Praeger,2008),5022 In July 2005, Iran was invited by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), first as anobserverandnowasamember.TheSCOisanattempttocounterbalancetheexpansionofUSeconomicandmilitaryinfluenceinCentralAsia.AlidadMafinezamandAriaMehrabi,Iran and its Place Among Nations,(Connecticut:Praeger,2008),50-51

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Asa reaction to the fallof theshah,Mahathir (thendeputyprimeminister)spokeofhisgovernmentbeingunsureastothedirectionoftherevolution,thinkingitwouldhaveasocialistoutcome.12ButwhentheIslamicgovernmentwasestablished,MalaysiaprofesseditsadmirationforIran’s“returntoIslam,”andopeneditsdoors.One of Mahathir’s ministers, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar described the Iranianrevolutionas “attractive,”whereKhomeiniwas regardedasaboldfigureofanti–imperialism.13HashemiRafsanjanifirstmadeatriptoKualaLumpurasspeakerofthehousein1981.AyearlatertheIranianembassywasreopenedintheMalaysiancapital.Sincethen,therelationshiphasmanifestedinseveralofficialvisits,andmanytrade and economic agreements – everything from oil, carpets to non-alcoholicbeers.MahathiralsoregardedIranasanimportantmarketforProton,thenationalcar company that he established. After the 1979 revolution, he recognised anopportunitytoseekanewmarketandmoveawayfromheavyrelianceonWesternmarkets.14 SincehisappointmentasPrimeMinisterin1981,Mahathirhadareputationforbeingdeeplyanti-colonialandfirmlyrejectinganyfragmentsofneo-colonialism.15 Hisalmostauthoritarianstyleofgoverningledtothesuccessfullaunchingofseveralcampaignsthatnotonlyendearedhimtothenon-westernworldbutmadehimits shiningprince.InretaliationtotheincreaseoffeesforinternationalstudentsintheUnitedKingdom,manyofwhomwereMalaysians,Mahathirlaunchedhis“BuyBritishlast”campaign.Mahathir’sstandingup toLondonwasattractive toThirdworldistsworldwide,includinginIran,whereitstruckadeepsenseofhistoricalresentment. Iranwasthrownintoturmoilformostofthe1980sduetoitswarwithIraq.Yetsomekeydevelopmentsoccurredduringthisperiod,thatfurtherhelpedtoendearMalaysiatoIran.Launchedin1982,Mahathir’s“LookEast”campaignsourcednewmarketsandtradingpartnerswithinAsia.16ThiscomplementedmanyoftheoutlooksoftheIslamicRepublic.WhereastheUSusedtobetheclosestallyoftheShah’sregime,theIslamicRepublicsoughtcloserrelationswiththerestoftheworld.Inhiscampaign,Mahathiraimedtocurtailintellectualandcommercialdependenceonthe

12InterviewwithDrMahathirMohamed.13SyedHamidAlbar,DefenceandForeignMinisterunderMahathir, interviewwith theauthor,26December2018,KualaLumpur.14SyedHamidAlbar,DefenceandForeignMinisterunderMahathir, interviewwith theauthor,26December2018,KualaLumpur.15Unlike the previousPrimeMinisters,whowereBritish-educated,Mahathir studiedmedicine inSingapore,andhadadifferenttrajectorythatwasmoreMalaybased.AlanChong,KSBalakrishnan,“Intellectualiconoclasmasmodernizingforeignpolicy:thecasesofMahathirbinMohamadandLeeKuanYew”inThe Pacific Review,1March2015,29:2,23916AlanChong,KSBalakrishnan,“Intellectualiconoclasmasmodernizingforeignpolicy:thecasesofMahathirbinMohamadandLeeKuanYew”inThe Pacific Review,1March2015,29:2,241-243

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TheyearsofMahathir’sfirstpremiership(1981-2003)sawtheestablishmentanddeepeningofIran-Malaysiaties.WhileforeignpolicyunderNajibRazak(2009-2018)sawclosenesstotheWestandSaudiArabia,therehasbeenarecentturnofoutlook.Mahathirmadeasurprisingreturntopowerin2018,beingelectedPrimeMinisteragainattheageof93.InSeptember2018,hemetwithpresidentRouhaniat the recent UNGeneral Assembly session, reinforcing the closeness betweenMalaysiaandtheIslamicRepublic.Withthere-impositionofsanctions,Iranisalsoforced toseeknewmarketsandeconomicpartners–a role thatMalaysia isnotunhappytoembrace.28 Despite the religious differences, Iran placed its economic interests withMalaysiaabovethefactthatMalaysiaregardsShi’ismasdeviant.TheforeignpolicyandeastwardvisionunderMahathir’stermsinofficeinthe1980sand1990sprovidedtherightconditionsforIran’sescapefromisolation.MalaysiahasbeenareliableallyforIranwhenitneededtoimproveitsinternationalstanding:intheaftermathofthe1979revolutionandagainafter9/11.Mahathir’spoliciesandhisstrongpositionwithintheOICandinSouth-SouthrelationswasanimportantfactorforIrantodeveloptherelationship. Iran’s close tieswith a deeplySunni and friendly nation likeMalaysiaduringthisperiodhashelpedenhanceitspositionwithinthewiderMuslimworld.

28 Bernama,“MahathirmeetsthreeworldleadersaheadofUNgeneralassembly,”27September2018, https://www.thesundaily.my/archive/mahathir-meets-three-world-leaders-ahead-un-general-assembly-updated-GUARCH580819

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DespiteadherencetotheILSA,MalaysiadidnotentirelystopitstradewithIran, especially with regard to oil. In April 1998,Malaysia’s national oil companyPETRONAS,togetherwithFrance’sTotalandRussia’sGazprom,wentaheadwithaUS$2billiongasprojectinIran.Inanactofdefiance,theheadofPETRONASrefusedtomeetwiththeUSassistantsecretaryofenergy.23Yearslater,whenPrimeMinisterNajibRazaktemporarilyhaltedtheexportofgastoIran,Mahathirpubliclyspokeofhisdisagreement.HisvisionhelpedIranestablisheconomictieswithamajoroilcountry.Furthermore,MahathirhaspubliclysupportedIran’snuclearprogramme,oftencallingouttheUSonitsdoublestandards.24 However, itwouldbenearlyadecadebeforeaheadofstatecametoKualaLumpur.PresidentMohammadKhatami,whospokeofa“DialogueamongCivilisations”ratherthanaclash,madehisfirsttriptoMalaysiainJune2002.Thelate1990shadseenIranimproveitsinternationalimage,particularlytowardstheendoftheClintonpresidency,culminatingintheUSgovernment’sacknowledgementofitsinvolvementinthe1953coup.Inthewakeof9/11,highontheagendawasterrorismandaspecialmeetingwasheldtodiscusshowtheOrganisationofIslamicConference(OIC)couldtacklethis issue.At themeeting inPutrajaya,Mahathir’snewadministrativecapital,leadersfromacrosstheMuslimworldgathered.PresidentGeorgeWBushinJanuary2002namedIranamemberofthe“axisofevil”anditwasimperativetostartseekingoutoldfriendsandallies.Malaysia’sministerofforeignaffairsatthetimeSyedHamidAlbarsaidthatitdidnotpayanyheedtoBush’sclassificationofIranandreinforcedMalaysia’s freehand indictating itsown foreignpolicy.The Iranianambassador toMalaysia,MohamedQasimMohebAli,declaredthatTehranwaswillingtocooperatewithKualaLumpurtoshowaunited“Islamic”front.25Indeed,withregardstotheanti-Shi’amovementsthatdidemergeduringtheMahathiryears,IranchosetoignorethemoutofthegreaterneedforastrongoutwardrelationshipwithMalaysia.26ThecurrentIranianambassadortoKualaLumpur,MarziehAfkham,alsohasstressedtheneedtolookbeyondtheSunni-Shi’aschismandtofocusinsteadonthecommonalitiesofthetwocountries.27TheabilityofIrantoenjoyacloserelationshipwithaSunninationlikeMalaysiapaintsitsrivalrywithitsArabneighboursaslikelymoreregionalthansectarian. 23BBCWorldService,“MalaysiatoPressAheadwithIranGasDeal”inBBCNews,8April1998,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/75818.stm24Most recently,Voice ofAmerica, “Mahathir:UShasdouble standard concerningMuslims”, 27October 2009, https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-02-16-voa27-66376582/547356.html; Seealso,TehranTimes,“Iranisimportanttous,saysMalaysianex-Primier”,25April2010,https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-02-16-voa27-66376582/547356.html25PayvandNews,“PresidentKhatamiarrivesinMalaysiaforathree-dayvisit”,21July2002,http://www.payvand.com/news/02/jul/1041.html26RogerShanahan,“MalaysiaanditsShi’aProblem”inMiddleEastInstitute,25July2014,http://www.mei.edu/content/map/malaysia-and-its-shi%E2%80%98-%E2%80%9Cproblem%E2%80%9D27MarziehAfhkam,“Iran-MalaysiaTies:ToStrengthenCommonalities”inNew Straits Times,5November2016,https://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/11/186135/iran-malaysia-ties-strengthen-commonalities

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

InAISnewsletterFall2018,thefilmmakerVahidNami(directorof“SultanMohammadthepainter’’)introducedhis

newprojectonHamadani’sJāmiʿ al-tawārīkh,whichexaminestheimpactofthefirstTabrizschoolsofpaintingduringthe

Ilkhanidperiod(1256–1353)onminiaturesinJāmiʿ al-tawārīkh.Despitethefactthattheresearchandpreparationsare

completedfortheplannedfilm,VahidNamiisnotabletoproducethefilmforlackoffunds.Please

considercontributingtomaketheproductionofthisfilmpossible.

Thefilmmakercanbecontactedhere.

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THE 2,500TH YEAR CELEBRATION OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE: A RECOLLECTION OF RECENT IRANIAN HISTORYFranklin T. Burroughs, Ed.D. Theyearwas1971,theoccasionthe2,500-yearCelebrationofthePersianEmpireandthesitewashistoricPersepolis,theceremonialcapitalofthe6th-century-B.C.AchaemenidEmpire. AtthetimeoftheCelebration,UNESCOhadnotdeclaredtheruinsofPersepolisaWorldHeritageSitebutdidsoin1979,thesameyeartheIslamicRevolutiondestroyedthe monarchy and established the Islamic Republic. The UNESCO declarationincreasedthenumberofWorldHeritageSitesinIrantonineteen,andthesitescontinuedtoencouragetourism,particularlyEuropeantourism,evenaftertheRevolution.TheU.S.-IrannucleardealcouldprobablyhaveincreasedthenumberofAmericantouristssubstantiallyhadPresidentDonaldTrumpnotwithdrawnfromtheagreement. Planning for the Celebration began in the early 1960s and involved theimprovement of the airport in nearby Shiraz, the construction of a highway toPersepolis,theestablishmentofanelaborateTentCityonsiteandatremendousamountofpublicity,muchofwhichwasprepared inor translated intotheEnglishlanguage. My participation in the Celebration focused on the English-languagetranslationsandpublications. The translation and publication activities were assigned to theMinistry ofCourt, a unit of government serving primarilyMohammedRezaShahPahlavi (r.1941-1979). The specific department within theMinistry was the Department ofProtocol, which had responsibility for not only the publications related to theCelebrationbutalso forplanningandarranging the incomingandoutgoingcourtvisitsaswellastheaccreditationofforeignambassadorsandconsuls.TheunittowhichIwasassignedfocusedontheEnglish-languagepublicationsrelatedtotheCelebrationandtheinvitedheadsofstateand/ortheirrepresentatives. Thesettingfortheactivitiesrelatedtopublicationsandvisitingdignitarieswasarelativelynew,multi-storybuildingnotfarfromtheroyalpalaceinNorthTehran.Thenearbyhomesreflectedaffluenceandsocialstatus.Oncleardays,MountDamavand,thesecondhighestvolcanoinAsia,wasvisiblefrommanyofthewindows. The staff was small and consisted primarily of carefully selected Iraniannationals.Theagesofthegroupmembersrangedfromthemid-twentiestothelate-sixties.Tomyknowledge,Iwastheonlynon-Iranianstaffmember. Ijoinedthestaffin1970,approximatelyoneyearpriortothecelebration.Theplanninghadalreadybeenunderwayforsomenineyears,andIhadjustreturnedfromSaudiArabiawhereIhadservedasaconsultanttotheSaudiGovernmentandhadassumedthepositionofProfessorofEnglishattheNationalUniversityinTehran(nowShahidBeheshtiUniversity).

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Throughouttheworkday,anarmedguardstoodwatchattheentrancetothebuilding,andasecondguardremainedatalltimesintheroomwhereweworked.TheonlyindividualsotherthanthestaffmembersallowedintheworkareaweretheChiefofProtocolandmembersoftheRoyalCourt. Myworkdaybeganintheafternoonandextendedintotheevening,sometimeslateintothenight.Uponarrivalattheoffice,IwouldgenerallyfindseveralEnglish-languagemanuscriptsonmydeskwithnotesattached.Thenoteswouldmostoftenstatethat“reviewandediting“wereneeded.Iwouldreadthemanuscripts,makethecorrectionsIfeltwerenecessaryandsubmitthecorrecteddocumentstoaparticulargentleman.Attimes,thatsamegentlemanwouldsitwithmeanddiscussaparticulardocumentasIreviewedit.Heusuallyaskedaplethoraofquestions.MostofthemanuscriptsassignedtomewereshortandrelatedtosomephaseofIranianhistoryorculture.IassumedtheywerebeingpreparedforuseduringtheCelebration. Oneeveningthegentleman,whomIcametorefertoasmy‘workpartner’,presentedwhatappearedtobetheoutlineofaprogram.Iglancedatthedocumentandimmediatelyasked,“IsthistheschedulefortheCelebration?” “Yes,”thegentlemanreplied.“AndHisMajestytheShahiseagertolookatitonceyouhaverevieweditandmadethenecessarycorrections.HeisaskingthatthecorrectionsintheEnglishtranslationsbemadeimmediatelyandthecorrecteddocumentbesubmittedtohimbeforetheendoftheevening.” Needlesstosay,excitementaswellasapprehensionsetin.Ireviewedandcorrectedeachlinewithgreatcare.IdefinitelywantedtopleaseHisMajesty.Atthattime,theShah’sapprovalmeantalotifoneplannedtospendconsiderabletimeinIran andwanted to progress professionally. I completed the review early in theeveningandturnedthecorrecteddocumentovertomy‘workpartner.’Ileftworkthatnightwithbothelationandtrepidation.Ihardlyslept.IhadjustservedaseditorforHisMajestytheShahofIran. Thenextafternoon,Ienteredtheworkareawithsomeexcitementbutalsouncertainty.HadtheShahapprovedofmywork,orhaditnotmethisexpectations?Andwhenmy‘workpartner’approachedme,Iposedthatveryquestiontohim.Hemerelylookedatmeandsmiled.“HisMajestyverymuchlikedthetranslationandaskedme to congratulate youona jobwell done.” Iwanted to jump for joy butrealizedthatIneededtokeepmycomposureifIweretoenjoyanyprestigeamongmyratherconservativeofficemates.

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Overthenextfewweeks,myco-workersandIcontinuedtorefinetheprograminaccordancewiththesuggestionsandupdatesprovidedbyHisMajestyand/ortheMinister of Court. The Celebration schedule as well as the guest list becameincreasingly complicated; ourworkflow increased substantially.ByOctober1,wewereworkinglateintothenight.EarlyinSeptember,eachofuswasassigneddignitariesforwhomweweretoprepareandmonitorschedules.Wewouldnotnecessarilybe indirectcontactwiththeassignedheadsofstateortheirrepresentativesbutwouldberequiredtomakecertain their requestswere fulfilledand theirneedsmet.Thedignitaries towhomIwasassignedweretheFirstLadyofthePhilippinesImeldaMarcosandherdaughter as well as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne of theUnitedKingdom.BoththeDukeandthePrincessrepresentedQueenElizabethII,whowasadvisednottoattendbecauseofsecurityconcerns. Preparingandrevisingtheschedulesaswellascarryingoutthedignitaries’requestsprovedtobequitechallenging.Forexample,PrincessAnnewantedtogohorsebackridingimmediatelyafterarrivinginTehran,andPrincePhiliplikedtofindabit of vodkaandstrawberriesathisbedsideeachevening.The requestsweresuccessfullymet,andallthedignitariesseemedtoenjoythemselves. Mywife,MahinMolavi,andIwerenot includedinthelistofdignitariesbutwereinvitedtotraveltoPersepolisbyairwithagroupofIraniandiplomats.We,ofcourse,acceptedtheinvitationandhadthepleasureofobservingthemilitaryparadewithitshistoricalgearandarmamentsondisplay. Wearrivedat thesiteof theparadeearly in theafternoonandreturned toTehranearlyintheeveningaftertheparade.WeattendedtheeventastheguestsoftheRoyalCourt.Thedayprovedtobememorable. Queen Farah arranged a number ofmusical and theatrical events for theCelebration,butsomeofthemwerenotreallyappropriateforIranoracceptabletothemorereligiousmembersofthepopulation.Reportsindicatedthatsomeoftheeventsborderedonthetawdryandoffendedthemorereligiouscitizens,particularlytheresidentsofShirazandthesurroundingareas. ThroughouttheCelebration,securitywasamajorconcern.TheShahchosePersepolisasthepreferredsiteforthefestivitiesbecauseofitsisolation,andIran’ssecurityservicestookintocustodyanyonewhoseemedtobeapotentialtroublemaker.AttheendoftheCelebration,theShahissuedawardsknownas“neshans”,and Iwas honored to receive one such award aswell as a formal statement ofrecognition formywork on theCelebration.Both documents grace awall inmyhomeoffice. TheCelebrationwas intendedtoshowcaseIran’s longmonarchicalhistoryandthecountry’sadvancementsunderMohammadRezaShah.Perhapsitachievedthatobjective,butitalsoservedasaprecursoroftheoverthrowofthemonarchyandtheestablishmentoftheIslamicRepublicin1979.

CALL FOR APPLCIATIONS MUSTAFA BARZANI SCHOLAR FOR GLOBAL KURDISH STUDIES, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (WASHINGTON, DC)

TheSchoolofInternationalService(SIS)atAmericanUniversity(AU)invitesapplicationsforafull-time,non-tenuretrackfacultyappointmentforFall2019.Rankisdependentonexperienceandstatureinthefield.Thisappointmentisa9-monthtermpositionwithsuccessiverenewablere-appointmentforadditionalone-yeartermandwillcommenceonMonday,August26,2019andrunthroughMay31,2020. ThedecisiontocreatethispositionwasaresultoftheSchool’sexperiencewithseveralprominentpractitioners,oneofwhomisretiringattheendofthisAcademicYear.Thepositionwillrequiretheincumbenttoteachtheequivalentofoneundergraduateorgraduatecourseinthesecondsemester,andifrenewed,foreachsemesterofthefollowingyear.FellowsarerequiredtobeinresidenceatAUandtomakeapresentationofresearchinprogresstotheAUcommunity.AllfacultyareexpectedtoholdofficehoursandparticipateinSchoolandUniversityactivitiesandservice.ApplicantsshouldsharetheSchool›scommitmenttodiversityandinclusion. We are seeking candidates at all career stages who have a PhD or itsequivalent,andwhospecializeinoneormoreofthefollowingthematicareas: 1. Kurdish history, culture, politics, and international relations;2. Peaceful coexistence between the global Kurdish community and other states and peoples; and3. Cooperation and conflict resolution within the global Kurdish community. ThesuccessfulcandidatewillassumedutiesasearlyasJuly1,2019butnolaterthanAugust26,2019.WewillgivefirstconsiderationtoapplicationsreceivedbyApril1,2019,butwillconsiderapplicationsuntilthepositionisfilled.CandidatesshouldsubmitthefollowingmaterialsonInterfolioathttp://apply.interfolio.com/60489.AcomprehensiveCurriculum Vitæ,apersonalstatementoutliningrelevantscholarshipor experience, a plan for research while holding the fellowship, and teachingexperience.Candidateswillbeaskedtosubmitthenamesandcontactinformationfor three professional references who will receive from Interfolio a request for aconfidential letter of recommendation. If applicable, we encourage applicants tosubmit any sample teachingmaterials and student evaluations from courses theapplicanthastaughtinthepast. Compensationandbenefitsarecompetitive.Queriesaboutthesearchmaybesenttosisfacultyaffairs@american.edu.Queriesabouttheonlineapplicationsystemmaybesenttohelp@interfolio.com.

MEJLIS INSTITUTE SUMMER SCHOOLIN LANGUAGES (ARMENIAN, PERSIAN, TURKISH) AND CONNECTED HISTORIES Yerevan, Armenia

July15-August15,2019 Mejlis Institute is pleased to announce theopeningof applications for the2019intensivesummerprogramthatwilltakeplacebetweenJuly15andAugust15,lasting fourweeks.Theprogramwillconsistof threeparallel languagecourses–Armenian, Persian and Turkish – and a series of seminars devoted to topics inconnectedhistoriesofArmenia,IranandAnatoliafromthemedievalperiodonwards. The program is primarily, though not exclusively, targeted at advancedundergraduateandgraduatestudentswishingtostudyeitherArmenian,PersianorTurkish and interested in topics of intercultural connections. While applicants ofdifferentlevelswillbeconsidered,preferencewillbegiventothosewhohavealreadyachievedtheintermediateoradvancedlevels.Apartfromlearningintheclassroom,studentswillbeable topractice their languageskills inconversationswith fellowparticipantsfromArmenia,TurkeyandIran. MA and PhD students engaged in research and interested in working onparticularsourceswillalsobegivenanopportunitytoreceiveadditionalguidanceonindividualbasis.Applicationdeadline:May1,2019,Programfee1400USD,financialaidoptionsareavailable.For more information please visit https://mejlisinstitute.org/overview-1

Gingkopublicationsisdelightedtoannouncetherecentpublicationofthefollowingthreevolumesinitsseries:

1.Iran, Islam and Democracy: The Politics of Managing Change(byAliM.Ansari)2.The Age of Aryamehr: Late Pahlavi Iran and its Global Entanglements(byRohamAlvandi)3.Javanmardi: The Ethics and Practice of Persianate Perfection(editedbyLloydRidgeon)

MoreinformationonallGingkotitlescanbefoundhere:https://www.gingko.org.uk/publishing/our-titles/

AIS Newsletter | Volume 40, Number 1 | May 2019

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CALL FOR APPLCIATIONS CONT’D AmericanUniversityisanequalopportunity,affirmativeactioninstitutionthatoperatesincompliancewithapplicablelawsandregulations.TheUniversitydoesnotdiscriminateonthebasisofrace,color,nationalorigin,religion,sex(includingpregnancy,age,sexualorientation,disability,maritalstatus,personalappearance,genderidentityandexpression,familyresponsibilities,politicalaffiliation,sourceofincome,veteranstatus,anindividual›sgeneticinformationoranyotherbasesunderfederal or local laws (collectivelyProtectedBases) in its programsandactivities.AmericanUniversityisatobaccoandsmokefreecampus. AmericanUniversityisanAA/EOemployer.Womenandminoritiesareencouragedtoapply.

Digital Research Archives

In collaboration with the University ofCalifornia, Irvine’s Jordan Center forPersianStudies,theOUFarzanehCenterhas launched an initiative to digitize theprint-runoftheNameh-ye Iran-e Bastan: The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies. This bilingual English-Persianjournal,specializinginthehistory,culture, languages, and archaeology ofancient Iran, was published from 2001-2014, under the editorship of Dr. TourajDaryaee, at the University of California,Irvine.The digitization of this journal will beaccompanied by an online platform,makingthisresourceavailabletostudents,scholars, and the general public fromaroundtheworld.

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“One of those rare books that gives profound insight into a very different culture.”

—Geoffrey Squires, translator of Hafez: Translations and Interpretations

of the Ghazals

“Meskoob was and is, through his writing, one of the most influential scholars and public intellectuals of Iran.”

—Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami, New York University

Paper $24.95s 978-0-8156-3617-5 ebook 978-0-8156-5460-5

“Ebrahimi’s compelling analysis of graphic novels, photography, and film by diasporic Iranian women offers a refreshing per-spective on how artistic expres-sion disrupts the vilification and dehumanization of Iranians.”

—Nasrin Rahimieh, University of California, Irvine

“An important contribution to cultural studies in that it steers us away from only making a paranoid critique of our world and instead reaches to the pos-sibility of ethical democracy.”

—Dina Georgis, author of The Better Story: Queer Affects

from the Middle East

Paper $24.95s 978-0-8156-3655-7 ebook 978-0-8156-5482-7

A unique foray into cultural attitudes on Iranian masculinity and sexuality, Unveiling Men argues that a discussion of gen-der and sexual transformations during the interwar period is crucial for understanding debates on Orientalism, Aryan nationalism, Iranian feminism, and secularism.

Paper $24.95s 978-0-8156-3603-8 ebook 978-0-8156-5449-0

— N ew f ro m —

Syracuse University Press

Order online atSyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu

or call: 800-848-6224