State Studies

Appling NORTH et al.'s "Natural State" Theory to Interpret SAFAVID's State Evolution from Rise to Its Peak

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Mazaher Ziaei

PhD, Department of Industrial Management, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/tssq.2024.79699.1516
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Investigating how the Safavid state emerged and flourished in today’s Iran territory is very useful for understanding Iran's history and current situation. Interpreting states' evolution over time requires a theory that considers the dynamics of the internal relations of individuals in the government organization and the mutual effects the society in the economic, political, and social fields over time. A look at the mass of studies about the Safavids shows that despite the many efforts made, there are still many differences of opinion about the causes of the emergence, peak, and decline of the Safavid era. It is expected that the use of more comprehensive theories in interpreting state developments will contribute to the coherence of interpretations of common understanding in this field.
Recently, three experts centered on Douglas North, the joint winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics, have presented a conceptual framework for development, which they claim can be used to interpret and analyze the written history of mankind and the relationship between historical developments and development.
Background
The North et al. conceptual framework attracted the attention of Iranian researchers and it has been used in the research (Ziaei, 1402) to interpret the developments of the Sasanian state from the beginning to its fall, and in (Qarakhani et al. 1400) for the Pahlavi state. One research, with the same theoretical framework was conducted by (Ostad and Heydari 1400) for the Safavids, although its title seems to include the entire Safavid period, its purpose is to investigate the causes of the downfall of the Safavids. Also, in the theoretical framework of North et al., the changes in the government are the changes in the coalition, which can be analyzed by the principle of double balance, as described in the theoretical part, but in this research, this capacity is neglected and in some cases, the concepts of other theoretical frameworks are used.
Goal
The aim of this is to use the conceptual framework of the "natural state" to provide a new interpretation of the progress of Safavid dynasty from the beginning to the end of Shah Abbas I's reign, which is expected to be more comprehensive and coherent than the existing interpretations.
Methodology
The period from the Safavid sect era to Abbas I is divided into seven periods.

From endowment management to country government (1300-1499)
From the coalition of warriors to the government of an empire (1514-1499)
The containment of Qazalbashan by the break down Ismail (1514-1524)
War of the elders in the presence of the child king (1524-1533)
Stable and durable coalition (1576-1533)
Civil war and shaky alliances (1576-1589)
The perfect coalition (1629-1589)

For each period, at first, the related part of the theoretical framework is presented, then state evolution is interpreted according to the combination of the coalition’s members, their relative political power, and environmental conditions.
Findings
The results show that the initial coalition of the Safavid state, which was formed by the absolute dominance of the Shah and the strong role of the Qizelbashs and Sufis, with some ups and downs reached its peak during the period of Abbas I. This coalition includes the king, wardens, governors of kingdoms and Khalsa states, pastoral and professional soldiers, jurisconsult, bureaucrats, courtiers, and on its margins were merchants, architects, doctors, and some other elites. The geographical size of the Safavid state during the last conquests of Ismail I and the time of the death of Abbas I did not differ much, and except for around the beginning of the kingdom of Abbas I, it had little fluctuations during this period.
The characteristics of the Safavid coalition are:
 1) The axis of this coalition was a dynasty with a long history was urban, with a religious attraction among the society and especially acceptance among the military of the alliance. It had economic, political facilities and military command experience. This family was always above all, more or less the manifestation of the hopes of the members, the arbiter and the speaker of the conflicts and the controller of all the members of the coalition. In other words, the axis of the coalition was often "people of religion", "people of the sword", "people of the pen" and "people of economic accounting" at the same time.
2) Although the military force always played an important role in the coalition, it was fragmented and as a result, one of them couldn't dominate the entire coalition. They were basically the defenders of the coalition and they competed to the extent that the coalition would not fall apart.
3) The composition of the members, their role and power were such that it provided various military and economic rents to the coalition and to some extent provided the growth of some economic activities. The whole coalition and especially its axis, unlike most of the great Mongol and Turkish empires, was not alien to agriculture, urban life and trade, but promoted trade and urbanization.
Conclusion
According to the theory of "natural state" by North et al. the relation of the Safavid coalition to the development of Iran It can said:
- The Safavid state was not an absolute European state or a national state, but the rule of a single government over the current territory of Iran for more than two hundred years accelerated and facilitated the achievement of a centralized state in the following years.
- The role of religion in this coalition has been much more complicated than in Europe, and it seems that each of the different points of view in this field has only dealt with a part of these complexities.
- From an organizational point of view, no organization was formed outside the state, but the juris consults had an organization parallel to the state to some extent
- In terms of the government's support for organizations outside the government, it can be said that no organization of this kind was formed, but the scholars recently had an organization that was somewhat parallel to the government.
- The dominance of the militaries, especially nomads, in the coalition and the consecration of officials and individuals caused the discussion on the powers of the coalition members, especially the restrictions on the king's powers, to not lead to official and written agreements like what happened in Europe.

Keywords

Limited access order
Natural state
Safavids
Development
Historical interpretation
Subjects
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State Studies
Volume 10, Issue 38
Autumn 2024
Pages 75-120

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