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In 1722, the Safavid empire collapsed. An empire that ruled for over two centuries, in its heyday it spanned parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and present-day Iran. The decades following its fall were ones of unrest and discord, and it was only with the rise of the Qajars in the 1780s that a level of stability was restored. Assef Ashraf devotes this book to an analysis of the making of the Qajar empire. It adopts a socially-oriented approach to political history - an approach that examines the discourse and political practices, and the centers and peripheries, of empire. Each chapter focuses on a particular practice that was at the heart of Qajar governance - land administration, gift giving, marriage, political correspondence, provincial diplomacy, and territorial conquest and tribal relations. By situating the formation of Qajar Iran in its early nineteenth-century context, Ashraf highlights the overarching themes of transition and change.
‘Making and Remaking Empire is a milestone in the study of early Qajar Iran. Through sensitive readings of baroque texts and by drawing on an impressive range of archival material, Ashraf succeeds in moving beyond conventional political history to offer a sociologically and anthropologically informed reading of the human relations and codes of behaviour at the heart of Qajar governance. Ashraf’s study transcends the stale binary of state and society and invites us to revisit this formative period in the emergence of modern Iran with a fresh, unbiased perspective.’
Dominic Parviz Brookshaw - University of Oxford
‘Grounded in extensive research and considered reflection on key issues as well as on sources, this book provides a knowledgeable and intellectually stimulating account and interpretation of socio-political developments in the area. It offers important and creative insights that have the potential to transform the historiography of Iran in the so-called Qajar era, for example in its creative exploration of notions of ‘empire’. It gives a powerful and convincing demonstration of the value of a ‘social approach’ to politics and governance whether in its discussion of elite affiliation to the emergent Qajar regime or its consideration of the relations of regional, central, and local politics and administration. Assef Ashraf’s clear and thorough analysis of the many-sided ‘making’ of the Qajar state fill an important gap in the historiography of modern Iran.’
Joanna de Groot - University of York
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