Empire Of The Mind: A History Of Iran, by Michael Axworthy

It is perhaps easy to understand why, in light of the more than 40 years of intense hostility between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, that there would be few genuine histories of Iran that one could find in the United States. I have found one example of a history book that focused on the ancient empires of Persia up to the Islamic conquest, and a translation of the Shahnameh, but scholarly histories of Iran are pretty thin on the ground. Not only is this book an interesting and worthwhile history of Iran, but it is also one that comes with a strong sense of fondness for Persian culture, and also comes with receipts about the frequently frustrate desire on the part of Iran’s people for genuine democracy, as well as their genuine anger that their nation’s progress has so often been hindered by the support of foreign powers for repressive regimes at home. The author also identifies a certain native Persian fondness for accepting the complex aspects of life and being genuinely tolerant of the cultures of others while also intensely proud of their own distinctive culture, which has historically widely influenced not only the Middle East but also Central and South Asia as well.

This book is about 300 pages long and it provides a chronological history of Persia that seeks to justify the nation’s cultural influence throughout the world. The book begins with a preface and acknowledgements, before looking at the origins of Persian culture in Zoroaster, the Achaemenids, and their fateful encounter with the Greeks (1). This is followed by a discussion of the Iranian revival under the Parthians and the Sassanids (2). After this comes a melancholy chapter about Islam and the invasions Persia suffered by the Arabs, Turks, and Mongols, along with a more uplifting story of the Iranian reconquest of Islam through the sufis and the poets (3). After this the author examines Shi’ism and the rise of the Safavids (4). This is then followed by a discussion of the fall of the Safavids, the career of Nader Shah, the interregnum during the 18th century, and the early years of the Qajar dynasty (5). After this the author examines the crisis of the Qajar dynasty in the 19th century, the Revolution of 1905-1911, and the accession of the Pahlavi Dynasty (6). This is followed by a story of how Iran came to despise the United States during the dynasty of the Pahlavis and the revolution of 1979 (7). The following two chapters then deal with Iran since the Revolution, looking at Islamic revival, war (with Iraq), and confrontation with the West (8), and the Iranian predicament from the times of Khatami to Ahmadinejad (9), after which the book ends with notes, a select bibliography, and an index.

One of the conundrums of Persian history is how is it that a nation which long had a powerful influence on others became such a pariah state. The author manages to answer this question largely through a thorough discussion of the crises that beset Persian history starting from the 17th century and the decline of the Safavids, followed by their empire’s fall, which led to an 18th century that was filled with civil wars and the efforts of various dynasties to re-unite Persia, which eventually happened under the Qajar dynasty, whose weakness was then exploited by the British and Russians during a disastrous 19th century. The overthrow of the Qajar dynasty in the 1920s was then followed by an attempt at autocracy by two generations of Pahlavi shahs of obscure background, and then again by the autocracy of the Ayatollahs, which indicates the way that Iran’s desire for a genuine democracy of its own making has long been overthrown by corrupt elites who exploited the political crisis of the nation for their own power. It remains to be seen whether future generations of Persians will be able to overcome the damages of the last 150 years to Persian optimism as well as the tolerant and sophisticated strain of Persian intellectual culture [1]. The combination of civil disorder, abusive tyrannical regimes, and shameful foreign domination and exploitation, as well as periodic famines, have not been kind to the nation for a long while.

[1] This sophistication can be hinted at by poems like the following:

Har kas ke bedanad va bedanad ke bedanand,
Asb-e kherad az bombad-e gardun bejahanad.
Har kas ke nadanad va bedanad ke nadanad,
Langan kharak-e khish be manzel beresanad.
Har kas ke nadanad va nadanad ke nadanad,
Dar jahl-e morakkab ‘abad od-dahr bemanad.

Anyone who knows, and knows that he knows,
Makes the steed of intelligence leap over the vault of heaven.
Anyone who does not know, but knows that he does not know,
Can bring his lame little donkey to the destination nonetheless.
Anyone who does not know, and does not know that he does not know,
Is stuck forever in double ignorance (xi).

Dusham gozar oftad be viraneh-e Tus
Didam joghdi nehaste jaye tavus
Goftam che khabar dari az in viraneh
Gofta khabar inast ke afsus afsus.

Last night I passed by the ruins of Tus
And saw that an owl had taken the place of the peacock.
I asked, “What news from these ruins?”
It answered, “The news is–Alas, alas (67).”