Modern Iran: Caliphs, Kings, and Jurisprudents

Modern Iran: Caliphs, Kings, and Jurisprudents explores the changes in Iranian identity that have taken place in ancient, medieval, and contemporary times. Students learn how this identity has been transformed from an abstract Zoroastrian order into a vibrant Shi'ite creed rooted in ancestor worship.

Readers learn about the earliest stages of Iran's development, including the Rashidun Caliphs, the Umayyads, and the Abbasids. They study the impact of the Mongols, Safavids, and Qajars. Later chapters discuss the rise of the Pahlavis, Islamic Iran, and the rule of the jurisprudents. The book concludes with a consideration of what lies ahead for modern Iran, as well as a comprehensive summing up of Iranian identity.

Detailed and comprehensive, Modern Iran is well-suited to courses in Islamic studies, particularly Shi'ite Islam, Iranian studies, and Iranian culture and identity. With its clear commitment to placing Iran in appropriate and accessible historical and cultural contexts, the book is also an excellent supplemental text for classes on Iran and the west.

Iraj Bashiri holds a Ph.D. in Iranian linguistics from the University of Michigan. Dr. Bashiri is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Minnesota. He has taught numerous courses including Persian fiction and poetry, Islam and the West, contemporary Iranian society, and cultures of the Silk Road. A prolific writer, he has published works such as The Ishraqi Philosophy of Jalal-al-Din-Rumi, The Fiction of Sadeq Hedayat, Prominent Tajik Figures of the Twentieth Century, and The Samanids and the Revival of the Civilization of Iranian Peoples. Currently Dr. Bashiri is involved in research on the history of the Civil War in Tajikistan.