HISTORY OF IRAN AND CENTRAL ASIA

This is one of the characterising courses within the "Vicino e Medio Oriente " curriculum of the Corso di Laurea in "Lingue, Culture e Società dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea".
The course contributes to the attainment of the teaching goals of the Corso di Laurea in the area of historico-cultural skills.
The main goals of the course are: to provide a general overview of the history of Iran and Central Asia until the contemporary age. Subsequently we will consider the basic events characterizing the history of Iran and Central Asia from the late Sasanian age to the formation of the Arab (Omayyad and Abbasid) caliphate. This will be followed by an analysis of the history of the Saljuq empire and the Mongol age until the rise of the Safavids. In the conclusive part the course will focus on the history of Iran between 17th and 20th centuries.

At the end of this course, the students will be able to contextualize news, events, monuments, etc. in the historical-dynastic periodization employed in historical scholarship on the Iranian world in the Islamic age (post 622 AD), and to engage a more in-depth study of specific aspects of the history of the Iranian region in the Islamic age, giving due consideration to the principal subjects of contemporary debate in the field.

No specific qualifications are required.

Some chapters from the texts listed in bibliography are primary references. They should be integrated with photocopies and articles supplied during the course. The program will be structured as follows:

1 - Geographical features of the Iranian area
2 - The Sasanian empire and the religions of the Iranian world (Zoroastrism - Manicheism - Buddhism - Christianism)
3 - The Arab conquest and the Omayyad period
4 - The Abbasid 'revolution' and the Iranic period of the Abbasid caliphate
5 - The Abbasid caliphate and the translation in Arabic of ancient works
6 - Harun al-Rashid's caliphate.
7 - al-Ma'mun; al-Mutawakkil and the slave soldiers
8 - Tahirids and Samanids and the Great Emirate (935); the Buyid dynasties (945-1055)
9 - The Oghuz tribes and the great Selgiuk sultanate.
10- The end of the great sultanate; the Khwarazmshah's empire and the Mongol invasions
11 - The Ilkhanid period; the Muzaffarids and the Jalayrids; the Chagatayid Khanates of Central Asia
12 - The Timurid age.
13 - Shah Isma'il and the Safavid Iran.
14 - The Afghan invasion and Nader Shah; the Afghan empire; Karim Khan-e Zand
15 - The Qajar dinasty and the European pressure on the Iranian area; the constitutional revolution; Reza Khan (later Reza Shah); the second World War and the destitution of Reza Shah; Mohammad Reza Pahlevi and the Iranian revolution; the endo of the Zahir Shah's reign in Afghanistan.

Mandatory texts:

On-line materials available on moodle; to receive a password please write to cristoforetti@unive.it

B. Scarcia Amoretti, Il mondo musulmano, Carocci, Roma, 2013 (2a ed.): Cap. 1, Cap. 3 (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4), Cap. 4 (4.1, 4.2, 4.4), Cap. 5 (5.1, 5.3), Cap. 6 (6.1, 6.2, 6.3), Cap. 7 (7.1, 7.4, 7.5).

M. Bernardini, Il mondo iranico e turco (Storia del mondo islamico, VII-XVI secolo. Vol. II), Einaudi, Torino, 2003:
Capp. I, II, III, IV, VII.

Silvio Marconi, Il giardino-paradiso. iVersanti, Roma, 2000: pp. 19-58.

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Further readings:

H. Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, Pearson Education, 1986.

D. Morgan, Medieval Persia 1040-1797, Pearson Education, 1988.

A. Bausani, I Persiani, Sansoni, Firenze, 1962.

On the geography of the area:

Cambridge History of Iran – vol I

On Iran e Afghanistan:

R. Redaelli, L'Iran contemporaneo. Roma: Carocci, 2009.

C. Degli Abbati, O. Roy, Afghanistan: l'islam afghano dalla tradizione alla radicalizzazione talibana. Genova: AGIC, 2002.

Josef Wiesehöfer, La Persia antica, Il Mulino (978-88-15-09031-7), pp. 152.

Articles and photocopies will be provided during the course.

The oral exam will require the student to answer at least three open questions about the Iranian history during the Islamic period.

oral

During the exam, will be assessed:
1) the student's presentation skills and knowledge of the mandatory and chosen texts (10 points)
2) the ability to correlate the topics studied through the chosen texts with previous knowledge and/or with other similar topics (10 points)
3) and knowledge of the methodologies adopted by the authors of the chosen texts (10 points).

Regarding the grading scale, scores will be assigned according to the following criteria:
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of a sufficient knowledge of the topics covered in the syllabus and ability to correlate them with broader knowledge acquired through reading additional materials agreed with the teacher;
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of a fair knowledge of the topics covered in the syllabus and ability to correlate them with broader knowledge acquired through reading additional materials agreed with the teacher;
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of a good or excellent knowledge of the topics covered in the syllabus and ability to correlate them with broader knowledge acquired through reading additional materials agreed with the teacher;
D. Honors will be awarded in the presence of an outstanding knowledge of the topics covered in the syllabus and ability to correlate them with broader knowledge acquired through reading additional materials agreed with the teacher.

Conventional didactic method (frontal lectures.)