The Comprehensive History of Iran ( fa, تاریخ جامع ایران, italic=yes) is a twenty-volume book series about various aspects of
Iran's political, social and cultural history from pre-Islamic times to the extinction of the
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...
.
[
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] The research, compilation and writing of this multi-volume book has lasted for 14 years. The first five volumes of this series narrate the period of ancient Iran and the other 15 volumes narrate the history of Iran in the Islamic period, political, social, cultural, scientific, literary and artistic history. One hundred and seventy foreign and domestic authors have been used to write this multi-volume book.
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Formation and release
The book ''The Comprehensive History of Iran'' has been prepared for fourteen years by more than 170 researchers, under the supervision of
Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi
Seyyed Mohammad-Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi (born 1942 in Najaf, Iraq) is an Iranian historian, theologian and writer.
He was the curator of the National Library of Iran from 1997 to 2005 and founder of Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia
...
and under the auspices of the
Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation.
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Ten volumes of this book were unveiled in 2014 and its complete collection released on June 16, 2015 in the presence of a group of thinkers and local officials, including
Ali Jannati
Ali Jannati ( fa, علی جنتی, born 1949) is an Iranian politician and former diplomat who served as counselor to the head of Iranian presidential administration, in the second cabinet of Hassan Rouhani. He was minister of culture from 15 A ...
, then Minister of
Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran, and
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...
, Chairman of
Expediency Discernment Council
The Expediency Discernment Council of the System ( fa, مجمع تشخیص مصلحت نظام ''Majma'-e Taškhīs-e Maslahat-e Nezām'') is an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Co ...
, at the
Encyclopaedia Islamica
The ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'' is an encyclopedia on Islamic and Iranian studies published by Brill, comprising a projected 16-volume translation of selected articles from the new Persian ''Dā'erat-ol-Ma'āref-e Bozorg-e Eslāmi'' ( fa, دائ ...
Center.
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Cooperators
A total of 167 people have collaborated in preparing this twenty-volume book. Their names and responsibilities are listed below:
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Supervisions[
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Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi
Seyyed Mohammad-Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi (born 1942 in Najaf, Iraq) is an Iranian historian, theologian and writer.
He was the curator of the National Library of Iran from 1997 to 2005 and founder of Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia
...
Consultants
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Iraj Afshar
Iraj Afshar ( fa, ایرج افشار; 8 October 1925 – 9 March 2011) was a bibliographer, historian, scholar, professor, and an iconic figure in the field of Persian studies. Afshar was a professor emeritus of the University of Tehran. He ...
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Sharaf al-Din Khorasani
*
Enayatollah Reza Enayatollah Reza ( fa, عنایتالله رضا; June 18, 1920 in Rasht – July 20, 2010 in Tehran) was an Iranian historian and professor of philosophy, a former member of the Iranian Communist Party, and a former Iranian military officer. He ...
*
Javad Tabatabai
Seyyed Javad Tabatabai ( fa, سید جواد طباطبایی; born 14 December 1945 in Tabriz, Iran) is an Iranian philosopher and political scientist. He was Professor and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University o ...
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Fathollah Mojtabaei
Editors
The Ancient Iran section
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Hassan Rezayi Baqbidi
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Mahmoud Jafari Dehaqi
Mahmud is a Romanization of Arabic, transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad (name), Muhammad''.
...
The Islamic Period section
*
Mohammad Sadegh Sajjadi
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
Authors[
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Pre-Islamic section
Islamic Period section
Volumes
This twenty volumes book is the largest book described in the
history of Iran
The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian S ...
and its first five volumes are dedicated to the history of pre-Islamic Iran and the next fifteen volumes are dedicated to the history of post-Islamic Iran. The book was originally scheduled to be published in fourteen volumes, which was later expanded to twenty volumes.
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] This 20-volume book contains more than 55 main titles, 160 sub-titles and about 300 more sub-titles.
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Volume One
History of ancient man on the Iranian Plateau
The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature in Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. It comprises part of the Eurasian Plate and is wedged between the Arabian Plate and the Indian Plate; situated between the Zagros ...
and pre-Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
civilizations; Aryan arrival in Iran, the Medes
The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, the ...
era and part of the political history of the Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
.
Volume Two
Continuation of Achaemenid history to the Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
era, scattered governments or sectarian monarchies, the Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
era, and finally the mythological history of Iran is examined in this volume.
Volume Three
Economic and social history of Iran from the beginning to the end of the Sassanid
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
period; Administrative and military organizations in Iran; And finally, Iranian archeology and art during the reigns of the Medes and the Achaemenids.
Volume Four
Research in pre-Islamic Iranian art and architecture; Religions and education in Iran.
Volume Five
Research in Iranian language and literature, historiography, geography, philosophy and other sciences.
Volume Six
History of Iran from Islamic Conquest
The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...
to appearance of Semi-Independent and Independent Governments; Topics such as the conquest of Iran and the last days of the Sassanid government; Iran in the era of Arab ethnic rule, Iranians and the rise of the Abbasid state; Iranian Ministry and Bureaucracy and part of the Eastern and Western governments of the Islamic era.
Volume Seven
History of Iranian states in Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
, northern Iran, central and western and southern Iran from Tahirid dynasty
The Tahirid dynasty ( fa, طاهریان, Tâheriyân, ) was a culturally Arabized Sunni Muslim dynasty of Persian dehqan origin, that ruled as governors of Khorasan from 821 to 873 as well as serving as military and security commanders in ...
to Kakuyids
The Kakuyids (also called Kakwayhids, Kakuwayhids or Kakuyah) ( fa, آل کاکویه) were a Shia Muslim dynasty of Daylamite origin that held power in western Persia, Jibal and Kurdistan (c. 1008–c. 1051). They later became ''atabegs'' (g ...
and the history of their administrative and political organization.
Volume Eight
The Buyid dynasty
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...
, Ghaznavids
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...
, and Iranian traces in the Seljuq dynasty
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
era and some smaller dynasties in western Iran, such as the ''Bani Sekman'' in Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and the ''Karabakh monarchs''.
Volume Nine
History of Iran from ''Atabakan'' to part of the Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
; In this section, the period of dynasties called Atabakan, from Atabakan of Azerbaijan to Injuian; Areas of Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
Invasion; Genghis Khan's successors, the establishment of the Ilkhanate government, are discussed, and the political-administrative organizations of these periods are studied.
Volume Ten
Trail of the Ilkhanate until the rise of the Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...
; In addition to the second period of the Ilkhanate to the Turkmens
Turkmens ( tk, , , , ; historically "the Turkmen"), sometimes referred to as Turkmen Turks ( tk, , ), are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-weste ...
era and the important period of the Timurid Empire
The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani ( Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Turco-Mongol empire ...
and part of the Safavids.
Volume Eleven
Continuation of Safavid era, the periods of Afsharid dynasty
The Afsharid dynasty ( fa, افشاریان) was an Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan eth ...
and Zand dynasty
The Zand dynasty ( fa, سلسله زندیه, ') was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand (1751–1779) that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later quickly came to expand to include much of the rest o ...
reign.
Volume Twelve
The Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
era, religious developments, Iran's foreign relations with the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and powerful European states, the context of the uprising Constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
revolution, the role of social classes in political and social developments, the arrival of a new civilization in Iran and many other issues are also discussed. In the appendices of this volume, the Khanates of Central Asia, the Khanate
A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire.
Mong ...
s of ''Ganjeh'' and ''Sheki'' and ''Qarabagh'', Hormuz and the Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
have been studied.
Volumes Thirteen and Fourteen
History of Science and Literature; Contains topics such as the role of Iranians in translating scientific works into Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, the era of composing scientific works, philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and theological
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
sciences in Iran and among Iranians, astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
and mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, natural science
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s and medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
, hospitals, religious sciences and jurisprudential religions, Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
and its sects, historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
and a few other topics.
Volumes Fifteen to Seventeen
It includes the history of Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
and literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
from the beginning of the Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
era to the end of the Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
era. In this volume, Persian literature in the cultural realm of Iran is discussed according to literary periods. The period of literary return, constitutional literature, popular literature, newspapers and journalism, literature of Iranian ethnic groups, history of education and many others are among the chapters of these volumes.
Volumes Eighteen and Nineteen
For the history of Iranian art
Persian art or Iranian art () has one of the richest art heritages in world history and has been strong in many media including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and sculpture. At different times, influences ...
and Iranian architecture
Iranian architecture or Persian architecture (Persian: معمارى ایرانی, ''Memāri e Irāni'') is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC w ...
, it includes handicrafts, decorative arts, plays, rituals, music and architecture.
Volume Twenty
It is dedicated to the topics of social history, legal system in Iran, religions and sects in Iran, social classes and public life.
Critique
There have been some criticisms for The Comprehensive History of Iran book series, including: Some chapters of ancient Iran (pre-Islam section), such as the history of the Medes
The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, the ...
, have nothing new to say and are merely interpretations of Persian translations of the works of earlier orientalists.[
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] The method of references used in the first five volumes is different from the next fifteen volumes and is unusual and has no special logic. It does not uniformly present the true meaning of history.[
] Some parts of the book are copied and duplicated from the book Encyclopedia of Iran from the same publisher. The inadequacy of some sections is astounding. Some sections are not written by historians and are a kind of political interpretation based on specific texts. In some cases the writers are outstanding or the best in their field, in some cases they are mediocre and in some cases they are weak. Lack of serious study of the history of Iran in the twentieth century, especially the Pahlavi era and the Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
and performance of Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, نظام جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Neẓām-e jomhūrī-e eslāmi-e Irān, known simply as ''Neẓām'' ( fa, نظام, lit=the system) among its supporters) is the ruling state a ...
. The way the book was presented was very promotional.[
][
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] This book has been prepared with great haste. This book is just a chronicle, without regard to new information and references to a large volume of new books and research. The articles do not have the right ending and conclusions. The book's editing is incomplete and some of the reviews have been personalized.[
]
See also
* The Cambridge History of Iran
''The Cambridge History of Iran'' is a multi-volume survey of Iranian history published in the United Kingdom by Cambridge University Press. The seven volumes cover "the history and historical geography of the land which is present-day Iran, as we ...
* Encyclopædia Iranica
''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Scope
The ''Encycl ...
* Encyclopaedia Islamica
The ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'' is an encyclopedia on Islamic and Iranian studies published by Brill, comprising a projected 16-volume translation of selected articles from the new Persian ''Dā'erat-ol-Ma'āref-e Bozorg-e Eslāmi'' ( fa, دائ ...
* Iran Between Two Revolutions
''Iran Between Two Revolutions'' is a book by Ervand Abrahamian that was published in 1982 by Princeton University Press in New Jersey, United States. This book has been translated into Persian and published many times in Iran. The book has ele ...
* Foucault in Iran
''Foucault in Iran: Islamic Revolution After the Enlightenment'' is a book by Iranian-born American historian, sociologist, and professor Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi as a groundbreaking reassessment of Michel Foucault's writings specially on the I ...
References
External links
Unveiling of The Comprehensive History of Iran - Picture report
Unveiling ceremony of book the comprehensive history of Iran - Picture report
The Comprehensive History of Iran on Amazon
The comprehensive history of Iran on Bibliographia Iranica
The Comprehensive History of Iran in 20 Volumes
The Comprehensive History of Iran on goodreads
{{DEFAULTSORT:The Comprehensive History of Iran
History books about Iran
History of Iran
Books about Iran
Iranian studies