Iranian Politics and Law Quarterly

Iranian Politics and Law Quarterly

Iranian National Identity in course of History

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Faculty of law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The primary objective of this article is to delve into the development of Iranian national identity over the course of history. It aims to explore the emergence of Iran as a distinct political and cultural entity, pinpointing the period when it gained significance as a political entity with defined borders and a unique heritage. Furthermore, the article investigates the contentious debate surrounding whether Iran’s status as a continuous entity with territorial and historical coherence is attributable to modern nationalist ideologies. It questions whether the emphasis on Iran’s pre-Islamic history and identity is a contemporary fabrication, propagated by 20th-century Iranian intellectuals as a form of atavistic political discourse. In addition, the article examines an alternative perspective that posits the existence of Iranian national identity long before the modern era, highlighting historical, cultural, and territorial continuity. Ultimately, the article seeks to determine whether Iranian national identity, nationality, and the concept of the Iranian nation should be regarded as ancient and intrinsic phenomena or as socially constructed organizational frameworks.
Keywords
Subjects

Ahmadi, Hamid. 1998. Qowmiyat va Qowm-garayi dar Iran: Afsaneh va Vaqeiyat [Ethnicity and Ethnic Nationalism in Iran: Myth and Reality]. Tehran: Nashr-e Ney.
Ahmadi, Hamid. 2000. “Naqsh-e Iraniyat va Islamiyat dar hoviyat-e meli-ye Iranian” [The Role of Iranian and Islamic Identity in the National Identity of Iranians]. In Majmueh-ye maqalat-e Goftman-e Iranian [Collection of Articles on Iranian Discourse], Tehran: Edareh-ye Kol-e Omur-e Farhangi-ye Iranian-e Kharej az Keshvar.
Ahmadi, Hamid. 2002. “Jahani shodan, haviyat-e qowmi ya haviyat-e meli?” [Globalization, Ethnic Identity or National Identity?]. Faslnameh-ye Motaleat-e Meli 11: 13-36.
Al-Tai, Ali. 1999. Bohran-e haviyat-e qowmi dar Iran [The Crisis of Ethnic Identity in Iran]. Tehran: Nashr-e Shadegan.
Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Communities. London: Verso.
Armstrong, John. 1982. Nations before Nationalism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Ashraf, Ahmad. 1994. “Haviyat-e Irani” [Iranian Identity]. Goft-o-gu 3.
Baladhuri, Ahmad ben Yahya ben Jabir. 1987. Fotuh al-boldan, translated by Mohammad Tavakol. Tehran: Noqreh.
Bal’ami, Abu Ali Mohammad. 1958. Tarjomeh-ye Tarikh-e Tabari (Tarikh-e Balami), edited by Mohammad Javad Mashkoor. Tehran: Khayam.
Bal’ami, Abu Ali Mohammad. 1963. Tarikh-e Bal’ami, edited by Malek al-Sho’ara Bahar and Mohammad Parvin Gonabadi. Tehran: Amirkabir.
Bavand, Kiyus. n.d. Tarikh-e tatbiqi-ye bastani-ye Iran ta khatameh-ye shahanshahi-ye Daryush-e sevvom [Comparative Ancient History of Iran until the End of the Reign of Darius III]. Tehran: Entesharat-e Gutenberg.
Dinawari, Abu Hanifah Ahmad ben Davud. 2002. Akhbar al-tiwal , translated by Mahmud Mahdavi Damghani. Tehran: Nashr-e Ney.
Eftekharzadeh, Mahmud Reza. 1992. Eslam dar Iran: Shu’ubiyyah, nahzat-e moqavemat-e meli-ye Iran alayh-e Omaviyan va Abbasiyan [Islam in Iran: Shu’ubiyyah, the National Resistance Movement of Iran against the Umayyads and Abbasids]. Tehran: Moasseseh-e Nashr-e Miras-e Tarikhi-ye Eslam va Iran.
Farahvashi, Bahram. 1995. Iranvij. Tehran: Daneshgah-e Tehran.
Gardizi, Abu Said Abdolhay ben Zahak Ibn. 1984. Zayn al-akhbar Gardizi, edited and annotated by Abdolhay Habibi. Tehran: Donya-ye Ketab.
Gnoli, Gerardo. 1989. The Idea of Iran: An Essay on Its Origin. Romaslieden: E.J. Brill.
Herodotus. 1983. Tarikh-e Herodot [Histories], translated by Vahid Mazandarani. Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi.
Hey’at, Javad. 2002. “Nationalism va bastan-garayi dar Iran” [Nationalism and Archaism in Iran]. Navid-e Azarbayjan, nos. 284-286.
Hobsbawm, Eric. 1983. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Homaei, Jalal al-Din. 1984. Shu’ubiyyah. Isfahan: Ketabforushi-ye Sae’b.
Household, Geoffrey. 1994. Bazgasht az Iran (Xenophon) [Return from Iran (Xenophon)], translated by Manuchehr Amiri. Tehran: Entesharat-e Elmi va Farhangi.
Ibn Balkhi. 1984. Fars-nameh, edited and annotated by Guy Le Strange and Reynold A. Nicholson. Tehran: Donya-ye Ketab.
Ibn Nadim, Mohammad. 1973. Al-Fihrist , edited by Reza Tajaddod. Tehran.
Isfahani, Hamzeh ben Hasan. 1987. Tarikh-e payambaran va shahan (Sini al-moluk al-arz va al-anbiya), translated by Jafar Shoar. Tehran: Amirkabir.
Kashani Sabet, Firoozh. 1997. “Fragile Frontiers: The Diminishing Domains of Qajar Iran.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 29: 205-234.
Khaleqi Motlaq, Jalal. 1995. “Kaykhosrow va Kurosh” [Kaykhosrow and Cyrus]. Iranshenasi, no. 1.
Mashkoor, Mohammad Javad. 1998. Tarjomeh-ye Tarikh-e Tabari az Abu Mohammad Balami [Translation of Tabari’s History by Abu Mohammad Balami], with an introduction and annotations by Mohammad Javad Mashkoor. Tehran: Khayam.
Meskoob, Shahrokh. 2000. Zabane Farsi va Hoviate Irani [Persian Language and Iranian Identity]. Tehran, Iran: Rozane.
Mohammadzadeh Golkhadani, Abbas. 2001. “Federalism gami motaali be suy-e plovrālism-e farhangi va qowmi” [Federalism: A Lofty Step towards Cultural and Ethnic Pluralism]. Navid-e Azarbayjan 206.
Momtahen, Hosseynali .1989. Nahzat-e Sho’ubiyeh: Jonbesh-e meli-ye Iraniyan dar barabar-e Khelafat-e Omavi va Abbasi [The Shu’ubiyyah Movement: The National Movement of Iranians against the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates]. Tehran: Bavardaran.
Moqaddasi, Mothahhar ibn Taher. 1970. Afarinesh va Tarikh, translated by Mohammad Reza Shafii Kadkani. Tehran: Bonyad-e Farhang-e Iran.
Moskuyah, Abu Ali Ahmad ben Mohammad Ibn. 1986. Tajareb al-omam, 2 vols., edited by Abolqasem Emami. Tehran: Soroush.
Nöldeke, Theodor. 1948. Hamaseh-ye Melli-ye Iran [The Iranian National Epic], translated by Bozorg Alavi. Tehran: Daneshgah-e Tehran.
Poorpirar, Naser 2001. 12 Qarn Sokut [12 Centuries of Silence]. Tehran: Karang.
Sadr al-Ashrafi, Ziya. 1998. Kasrat-e qowmi va haviyat-e meli-ye Iraniyan [Ethnic Plurality and National Identity of Iranians]. Tehran: Andisheh-ye Now.
Smith, Anthony D. 1971. Theories of Nationalism. New York: Harper & Row.
Smith, Anthony D. 1986. Ethnic Origins of Nations. Oxford: Blackwell.
Tafazzoli, Ahmad. 1997. Tarikh-e adabiyat-e Iran pish az Eslam [History of Iranian Literature before Islam]. Tehran: Entesharat-e Sokhan.
Tha’alibi, Abu Mansur Abdolmalek. 1989. Ghorar akhbar moluk al-fors ya Ghorar al-siyar, translated by Mohammad Fazaeli. Tehran.
Xenophon. 2001. Cyropaedia, translated by Reza Mashayekhi. Tehran: Sherkat-e Entesharat-e Elmi va Farhangi.