Guarded Domains of Iran

Stamp of Ahmad Shah Qajar. The term "the Guarded Domains of Iran" is visible on the top of the stamp

The Guarded Domains of Iran (Persian: ممالک محروسهٔ ایران, Mamâlek-e Mahruse-ye Irân), or simply the Domains of Iran (ممالک ایران, Mamâlek-e Irân) and the Guarded Domains (ممالک محروسه, Mamâlek-e Mahruse), was the common and official name of Iran from the Safavid era, until the early 20th century.

The idea of the Guarded Domains illustrated a feeling of territorial and political uniformity in a society where the Persian language, culture, monarchy, and Shia Islam became integral elements of the developing national identity. The concept had previously been used in the form of Eranshahr, the official name of Iran under the Sasanian Empire (224–651), which promoted the concept of Iran as a protected political unit ruled by the state and with a distinct geographical region.

Iran's loss of territory under the Qajars in the 19th-century led to a new understanding of the "Guarded Domains", and consequently, of the extent of the Iranian lands. The loss of territory such as Caucasian provinces and Herat, illustrated the limitations on authority over territories that were historically and culturally part of Greater Iran. Despite their deep-rooted ties, these areas could no longer be sustained as provinces within the Guarded Domains.

History

Early history

The idea of the Guarded Domains illustrated a feeling of territorial and political uniformity in a society where the Persian language, culture, monarchy, and Shia Islam became integral elements of the developing national identity. The concept presumably started to form under the Mongol Ilkhanate in the late 13th-century, a period in which regional actions, trade, written culture, and partly Shia Islam, contributed to the establishment of the early modern Persianate world. The definition of the Guarded Domains' borders was almost identical to that of Eranshahr in the Sasanian-era (224–651) text Letter of Tansar, as well as the description by the 14th-century geographer Hamdallah Mustawfi in his Nuzhat al-Qulub.

The name "Guarded Domains of Iran" alluded to the decentralized administration as well as cultural and ethnic diversity of the country. According to the Iranologist Abbas Amanat; "In this notion of Iran, one may argue, there was a realistic recognition not only of its complexity but also of the inherent necessity for the central state." The concept had previously been used in the form of Eranshahr, the official name of Iran under the Sasanian Empire, which promoted the concept of Iran as a protected political unit ruled by the state and with a distinct geographical region. The Persian term shahr, commonly used to describe a walled city, etymologically refers to a "territory governed by the shah." In essence, shahr embodied the centralized state as it developed within the urban environment, analogous to the Greek idea of the polis.

Safavid era

Historical map of Safavid Iran and its divisions, published in 1736

Despite numerous military and theological assaults, the Safavid order survived as a beleaguered enclave in the Azerbaijan region and eastern Anatolia from the mid-14th century. After coming to power in Iran, the movement instilled a new Shia identity in its subjects and established an imperial state that would form the cornerstone of the country's political sovereignty. Despite the fact that the Safavid shah Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) and his successors were violent and unrelenting, the dynasty managed, in a relatively short period, to unify the diverse array of local dynasties, ethnicities, and cultures that had divided Iran since the time of the Turco-Mongol ruler Timur (r. 1370–1405) a century earlier. The Safavids thus revitalized the Guarded Domains of Iran, which starting from them would serve as the common and official name of Iran until the early 20th century. They promoted a flourishing Persian culture and played a significant role in shaping Islamic philosophy and theology. They also built diplomatic and commercial connections with Europe, leading to some of Iran's first interactions with the modern Western civilization.

Safavid annals began to utilize references to the "Guarded Domains of Iran" more frequently toward the end of Shah Abbas I's rule as a substitute for the "Sublime Safavid State" (Dowlat-e ‘Alliyeh-e Safavieh). By this period, Safavid Iran had developed a sense of confidence and security as a result of driving out the Portuguese, fending off the Uzbeks, and reclaiming Safavid land from the Ottomans. The majority of European reports of Iran in the 17th-century attest to a new era of prosperity made possible by an expanded domestic and international communication network, a rising urban population, a complex understanding of relaxation, and a developing Shia intellectual identity.

Qajar era

Portrait of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, dated 1820

For political and financial reasons, controlling the Guarded Domains was essential to Qajar legitimacy and authority. Qajar assertions of having restored an imperial system of governance relied heavily on this. Under the Qajars, there were no significant changes to land practices, unlike in other historical contexts when governing the land may have led to drastic changes in land tenure or administration or in attempts to alter the natural environment. Instead, they found a purpose in their political authority through their rule of the land. In order to maintain their status as the defenders and distributors of land rights, the Qajar shahs reused the customs and structures of past dynasties.

The Qajar ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar dedicated the majority his political career to establish Qajar sovereignty over the lands that were once ruled by the Safavids. His time and effort were focused on this goal for about twenty years, from the time he managed to escape Zand captivity in Shiraz in 1779 to the time he was crowned himself shah in 1796. After departing Shiraz, Agha Mohammad Khan spent years strengthening authority in northern Iran. After completing this by 1785, he focused on seizing central and southern Iran. By 1794, he had conquered Kerman and Fars and killed his most important rival, the Zand ruler Lotf Ali Khan Zand (r. 1789–1794). In 1796, Agha Mohammad Khan conquered the majority of Khorasan and Georgia, thus gaining control over all the former Safavid lands. With his goal complete, Agha Mohammad Khan officially declared himself shah. According to the Iranian historian Assef Ashraf; "This protracted process of conquest raises various questions, including just how secure Agha Muhammad Khan's - and by extension Qajar - control over the vast regions of Iran was, as well as when, precisely, the Qajar period of rule "began."" It is possible that he thought the conquering the former Safavid territory was essential to his legitimacy because he did not declare himself shah until after he had done so. In the contemporary history book Rostam al-Tavarikh, each year of Agha Mohammad Khan's reign is summarized in a few words, which lists the regions and territories he conquered.

The Guarded Domains developed a new political meaning during the Russo-Persian Wars in the early 18th-century, when it was adopted as a practical means of demanding the defense of Iranian territory against foreign invasion. In Tabriz, a book compiled from a fatwa on jihad, authored by two distinguished Shia jurists from Iraq, includes an introduction where the Qajar minister and statesman Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam emphasized the importance of jihad. He argued that it was a collective religious duty to counter the "disorder brought by the Russian nation within the Guarded Domain."

In order to create prose that resembled a political slogan and acted as a encouragement to defend Iran, Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam experimented with words that rhymed with mahrus. The threat posed by Russia (Rus) to the Qajar domains was considered ominous (manhus). This threat jeopardized not only the territorial integrity of the Qajars but also their honor (namus). Politically, the loss of the Caucasian provinces during the two wars with Russia (1804–1813 and 1826–1828) was devastating because it damaged the Qajar's reputation as the guardian of the Guarded Domains of Iran.

After being defeated by Britain, Iran signed the Treaty of Paris in 1857, in which they agreed to relinquish all territorial claims to Herat or any other area within Afghanistan. The loss of Herat, akin to the earlier loss of the Caucasian provinces, illustrated the limitations on authority over territories that were historically and culturally part of Greater Iran. Despite their deep-rooted ties, these areas could no longer be sustained as provinces within the Guarded Domains.

Fath-Ali Shah (r. 1797–1834) established a semi-autonomous system of princely governments under the authority of the central state. This feature, also used in the Seljuq and Safavid periods, gave new significance to the concept of the Guarded Domains. Senior princes primarily served as provincial governors at Tabriz, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Isfahan, and Mashhad, or as high-ranking officials in the growing Qajar court and army. Smaller administrations were assigned to younger princes. Iran's final borders was determined by its conflicts with Russia, Britain and the Ottoman Empire. This led to a new understanding of the "Guarded Domains", and consequently, of the extent of the Iranian lands. Momtahen al-Dowleh Mirza Mehdi Khan Shaqaqi, writing in the late 19th-century, stated that the Guarded Domains encompassed Ray, Azerbaijan, Khorasan, Sistan, Fars, Larestan, Isfahan, Khuzestan, Kerman, Balochistan, Gilan, Mazandaran, Yazd, Lorestan, Kermanshahan, Qazvin, Kurdistan, Ardalan, and Astarabad.

Sources

• Amanat, Abbas (1997). Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1845118280.
• Amanat, Abbas (2017). Iran: A Modern History. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300112542.
• Amanat, Abbas (2019). "Remembering the Persianate". In Amanat, Abbas; Ashraf, Assef (eds.). The Persianate World: Rethinking a Shared Sphere. Brill. pp. 15–62. ISBN 978-90-04-38728-7.
• Ashraf, Ahmad (2006). "Iranian identity iii. Medieval Islamic period". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume XIII/5: Iran X. Religions in Iran–Iraq V. Safavid period. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 507–522. ISBN 978-0-933273-93-1.
• Ansari, Ali Mir (2012). The Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521687171.
• Ashraf, Assef (2021). "Safavid Nostalgia in Early Qajar Chronicles". In Melville, Charles Melville (ed.). The Contest for Rule in Eighteenth-Century Iran: Idea of Iran Vol. 11. I.B.Tauris. pp. 81–102. ISBN 978-0755645992.
• Ashraf, Assef (2024). Making and Remaking Empire in Early Qajar Iran. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1009361552.
• Behrooz, Maziar (2023). Iran at War: Interactions with the Modern World and the Struggle with Imperial Russia. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0755637379.
• Jackson, Peter (2017). The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion. Yale University Press. pp. 1–448. ISBN 9780300227284. JSTOR j.ctt1n2tvq0. (registration required)
• Kashani-Sabet, Firoozeh (2014). Frontier Fictions: Shaping the Iranian Nation, 1804–1946. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1850432708.

Further reading

• Cronin, Stephanie, ed. (2013). Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions since 1800. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415624336.