|
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iran’s Renaissance How Iranian culture survived oppression by Omayyads and Abbasids and ultimately turned into a far more refined culture and how it eventually declined |
||||||||||
|
As Islam reached various nations for the first time, its message of equality for all with the blessings of a unique God sounded delightful to the conquered nations who had hitherto lived under tyranny and oppression and therefore they accepted Islam wholeheartedly. But after the Four Caliphs, Arab rulers fell into moral decline and forgot the importance of equality in Islam, considering Arab culture to be superior to all other cultures. So, they induced – at times even forced – the conquered nations to adopt Arab culture and civilization. The result was that most conquered nations became Arab and consider themselves to be Arab today: Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq…The Persians or Iranians, however, preserved their own identity and culture. While becoming sincere Moslems – with a tinge of ancient Persian culture added to it – they retained their language which became even richer through borrowings from Arabic. Professor Arberry, the famous British scholar and Orientalist says on the subject: “When Persian emerged as a literary medium, it was decidedly superior to its parent; generations of shaping and polishing made it into perhaps the sweetest, most melodious language of the East…” Thus the Persian language benefited from Arabic to become “the instrument of one of the great literatures of mankind…”  During three centuries the Persians resisted the invasion of Arab civilization and culture: for three centuries they worked with amazing self-confidence to develop their industry, trade, agriculture, sciences and arts including literature and handicraft. They knew from the very beginning that if they were to retain their identity they had to go through a cultural Renaissance. They adopted Islam but also adopted what was worthy of retaining from their pre-Islamic culture and civilization. Suddenly there emerged such great poets as Daghighi, Rudaki, Balkhi, Farrokhi Sistani and Ferdowsi. The last collected what was still known of Persian mythology and history from the earliest times, into 60,000 verses under the title of Shahnameh, often considered to be the greatest literary masterpiece in the Persian tongue. But how did this self-confidence emerge and lead to the great Renaissance? Some scholars consider this to be the result of popularization of the state, i.e. the disappearance of the notion of a god-like king and the shrinking of the gap between the state and the nation. During Omayyad and later Abbasid rules Iranians found their way into the caliphs’ courts as secretaries, ministers and generals. These generals showed so much competence and bravery that soon there emerged small states ruled by Iranians, not god-kings but ordinary men who ate and slept very much like their soldiers. Initially these rulers were appointed by and paid tribute to the caliph and obeyed him but they were Iranian rulers leading their own people to whom they were very close and loyal. They had to respect their people as the nation would not tolerate tyranny and bully. When Mardavich – one such ruler – treated one of his soldiers disgracefully and humiliated him, his own courtiers put an end to his life. Many historians maintain that at this time Iran was so prosperous and so productive for its time that it never again reached these heights until the 20th century, perhaps not even then. Under these popular rulers many dams were built, irrigation systems were developed, trade within the country and with other nations flourished, craftsmen multiplied; workers became experts at their work and agriculture, therefore, became very productive. Some form of banking developed that was not too far from modern banking; standardization of weights and scales were imposed to protect the consumers’ interests; high quality weapons were made everywhere in the country; iron, copper, silver and gold mining prospered; shipbuilding and shipping developed both in the north and in the south and caravans traveled to countries far away… All this culminated in a Renaissance that was the result of popular rule and economic prosperity, somewhat similar to the Italian Renaissance.  Another factor that contributed to this Persian Renaissance was the confrontation of the Persian-Moslem knowledge with the Greco-Roman, in logic and philosophy as well as sciences which resulted in the emergence of such great Persian scholars as Razes, Farabi, Avicenna, Birooni…This Renaissance revealed itself in architecture as well. The general pattern of the Zoroastrian temple and the wide arch above long halls (e.g. as in Taghe Kasra) combined with the shape of the Islamic prayer hall gave beautiful mosques and palaces some of which can still be seen today in many parts of Iran. Schools emerged that became models of later universities, probably somewhat based on pre-Islamic Iranian models. Eventually Persians rose against the caliphs and all over the land large and small kingdoms revolted against them and thus power and authority was further shifted from the political-religious class to the masses. But then the Mongols came and shattered everything. They were uncultivated nomads who had no proper civilization of their own. But, gradually Iranians with their superior culture turned them into Moslems and Iranians. Descendants of Chengiz Khaan, the Mongol invader of Persia, adopted Persian ways of living, dressing, even thinking. They enjoyed Persian literature, particularly poetry and even composed poetry themselves. In time they completely forgot their ancestral way of life and were absorbed into the nation. Again small kingdoms emerged gradually. Then the Tartars came: a barbaric people who knew nothing but warfare; and again, in time, Iranians turned them into proper Persians (they were already Moslems). The descendants of Teymoor (Tamerlane), the Tatar conqueror of Persia, like the descendants of Chengiz became utterly Persian. They delighted in reading the Shahnameh and considered themselves as the continuation of a line of great kings who had ruled this land for millennia. But, eventually the Persians realized that they were weak before such enemies because they had many small kingdoms that were not united, and they decided to unite them into one big, strong empire. The Safavids did this and founded a strong dynasty that lasted 300 years or so. Some of the Safavid kings did much to make the country prosperous and strong. Shah Abbas, a good example, did much to promote industry and trade with the West. He created a strong army that rivaled with that of the Ottomans. Many ambassadors and explorers came to his court from the West and admired Isfahan, the beautiful capital he had built. But with the Safavids came back the “god-king and peasant” social structure with a wide gap between the nobility and the commoners. Once again the Persian Renaissance received a blow perhaps no less severe than the blow it had received from the Mongols and the Tartars. Despotism was back and stayed for some centuries.  Images: K. Movaghar - S. Taheri |
|
Home | About Events | Contact Events | Archive | Subscription | Search |
|
©2003~2005 Events - All rights reserved |