Investigation and analysis of Iranian identity in the context of assimilation of Ilkhans with Iranian society

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of the History Department of Seyyed Jamaluddin Asadabadi University

2 PhD student of Islamic history of Lorestan University. Lorestan .Iran

Abstract

Following the fall of the Sassanian Empire in the first century of the Hijra and the subsequent Mongol invasions of Iran in the seventh century of the Hijra, which led to the collapse of the geographical, national, and social structures of Iran, Iranian historians sought to reproduce Iranian identity in the form of an idealized and symbolic community, in light of political, cultural, and geographical components. This research, utilizing descriptive and analytical methods along with Benedict Anderson's theory of the "imagined community," aims to answer the fundamental question of how Iranian historians of the Ilkhanate period reproduced Iranian identity and based on which approaches and components. The findings of the study indicate that Iranian historians during the Ilkhanate period had a shared ideal and perception of the culture, geography, and history of the Iranian land in ancient times. Through the power of imagination, creativity, and symbolism, and by employing approaches such as the redefinition of the concept of political power structures, othering, analogy-making, and alignment, as well as components such as the emphasis on the divine glory (farah), the Iranian style of governance, cultural achievements, and the geography of the Iranian territory, they sought to redefine the Iranian symbolic community and articulate the rationale for the existence of the Iranian state. In fact, the most significant action taken to achieve this aim was the intervention in the realm of history and historiography, whose importance and function lay in legitimization, and the historians of this period dedicated their efforts in this direction.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Historical Researches of Iran and Islam
Volume 18, Issue 35 - Serial Number 35
November 2025
Pages 110-131

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History

  • Receive Date: 24 April 2024
  • Revise Date: 10 August 2024
  • Accept Date: 05 September 2024

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