Among the factors influencing the psychology of historical individuals are the “great” cultural tradition in which he or she participates, the local expressions of this tradition, the sex roles defined by society, the traditions of one's economic class, the local child-rearing practices, and the personal history of the individual. For the Near East, the study of the influence of such factors on individuals is in its infancy, and any remarks made here will be tentative. After listing some cultural factors operative in Islamic and Iranian society, we shall look at one leader--Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī--who both reflects the interaction of some of these factors and shows some highly individual features.

Islam as a comprehensive religio-political-legal theory inculcates considerable conformity of behavior--more of behavior than of belief, unlike some religions. The central importance of religious law and of conformity to it have frequently been noted.

The major goal of this study is to examine the origins, development and peculiarities of the Iranian peasants’ extra-economic obligations to the landlords and the body representing them, the state, in the period between the fourth and the seventeenth centuries. Defining feudalism as a mode of production, it focuses only on the various obligations of the Iranian peasantry during this; period in an attempt to show that the feudal characteristics of servile obligations existed in Iran, reaching their heights under the Mongols in terms of legal attachment to the soil.

Feudalism is viewed as a mode of production which has two complementary aspects: the productive forces and the relations of production. A feudal economy is marked by a more or less “static” pattern of reproduction since the surplus product is spent for non-productive purposes. The act of production is largely individual in character, and the division of labor is rudimentary. Feudalism is also identified with a natural economy, i.e., an economy in which the product is produced not for sale, but for personal use.

A decade ago, amidst general enthusiasm for nation-building activities, Samuel Huntington raised the question of whether political institutions might not decay as well as grow. Although he provided but a few guidelines to symptoms of institutional decay, he did introduce a healthy measure of skepticism into the literature on political development. This skepticism is particularly warranted in the case of representative institutions.

Throughout much of the Middle East, the life of both political parties and legislatures at the national level have tended to be more formal than real. Institutionbuilding has been attempted at the local level, too, although local politics has received far less attention from students of comparative politics. This essay discusses the roles of political representatives at the local level and the impact of the political milieu upon the way in which these roles are shaped and interpreted by their occupants.

Having lost Transcaucasia to the Russians some one-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Persian scholars have ignored the history of this region which once was a part of Iran under the Qajars. Russian and Armenian sources, although numerous, have tended to emphasize Russian rule in the area. They have also failed to utilize primary sources, such as those in archives, have neglected to record the favorable aspects, and instead have concentrated on a blanket condemnation of Persian rule in the Caucasus. Although it is true that Muslim rule, especially in the Qajar era, was particularly oppressive towards the Christian population of Transcaucasia, some bright moments did exist. This study, based on primary and archival sources, focuses on one such period in a specific area: the governorship of Ḥusayn Qulī Khān Qazvinī in the Khanate of Erevan (Eastern Armenia) during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Before discussing the khān's twenty-year tenure in Erevan, a biographical and historical sketch is in order.