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A Royal Romance: The Cult of Cyrus the Great in Modern Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2021

ALI ANSARI
ALI ANSARI*
Affiliation:
University of St [email protected]
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Abstract

This article looks at the continuing fascination with the idea of monarchy in Iran, dismissed and condemned after the revolution but gradually rehabilitated through an engagement with the Shahnameh and a reinvigorated interest in ancient Iran. The interest in Sasanian Iran, as the cradle for the development of Islamic civilisation, has in turn enabled a popular re-acquaintance with Achaemenid Iran, previously frowned on for its association with Mohammad Reza Shah but legitimised by the enthusiastic endorsement of the figure of Cyrus the Great by President Ahmadinejad. This political myth of Cyrus the Great reflects the changing political dynamics of the Islamic Republic and the need to appropriate popular nationalist iconography to the state.

Keywords

MonarchyShahnamehSasanian IranAchaemenid IranCyrus the Greatpolitical mythnationalism
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 2021 , pp. 405 - 419
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Asiatic Society

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References

1 ‘Why Iranians are lapping up Shah memorabilia’, The Guardian, 17 June 2015; Iranians celebrating ‘Cyrus the Great Day’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-8QwyWHGFU (accessed 17 February 2021).

2 According to Herodotus, The Histories (London, 2003), p. 452, the Persians regarded Cyrus as ‘a father’. This new rendition appended the term ‘nation’.

3 Calculating 2500 from 559 bc would actually take us to 1941, the date of the accession of Mohammad Reza Shah (a coincidence that he is unlikely to have missed). The year 1971 was largely adopted for logistical convenience and the date had been postponed several times. In 1976 when the Shah decreed the use of a new ‘imperial’ calendar, the date was set at 2535.

4 For a discussion of these developments, see Aghaie, K. S., ‘Islamist Historiography in Post-Revolutionary Iran’, in Iran in the 20th Century: Historiography & Political culture, (ed.) Touraj Atabaki (London, 2009), pp. 244–247Google Scholar. Motahhari's book was Khadamat-e Motaqabel-e Islam va Iran (The mutual contributions of Islam and Iran to each other).

5 A. Zarrinkub, Do Qarn Sokut (Two Centuries of Silence), (Tehran, 1384/2006), p. 372; this edition, the twentieth, published in the Islamic Republic comes with a preface by Mottahari to warn the reader of the ‘dangers’ of the text, a ‘health warning’ that probably served to enhance the popularity of the text.

6 The relevant passage has been quoted to good effect in Arjomand, S. A., The Turban for the Crown (Oxford 1988), p. 76Google Scholar.

7 See Malcolm, J., Sketches of Persia (London, 1827), pp. 135–140Google Scholar, which recounts the Caliph Harun al Rashid's discovery and visit to the tomb of Anoushiravan.

8 The first charge in this respect was directed towards President Rafsanjani whose affection for ceremonial drew the sarcastic epithet, ‘Akbar Shah’.

9 One might go so far as to say that in political terms he had become a surrogate for Mohammad Reza Shah.

10 See Khalkhali, S., Ayyam-e Enzeva: Khaterat-e Ayatollah Khalkhali avalin hakem-e dadgahha-ye enghelab (Tehran, 1380/2001), pp. 223–306Google Scholar.

11 Mirkhond, History of the Early Kings of Persia: from Kaiomars, the first of the Pishdadian Dynasty to the Conquest of Iran by Alexander the Great (London, 1832), p. 341. For the Persian original, see Mirkhwand, Tarikh-Rawżat aṣ-ṣafāʾ fī sīrat al-anbiyāʾ w-al-mulūk w-al-khulafā (The History the Gardens of purity in the biography of the prophets and kings and caliphs), (ed. and corrected) J. Kiyanfar (Tehran, 1380/2001), 1, pp. 731–732.

12 See J. Grogan, The Persian Empire in English renaissance Writing, 1549–1622 (London, 2014), and P. Springborg, Western Republicanism & the Oriental Prince (Cambridge, 1992).

13 E. G. Browne, A Year Amongst the Persians (London, 1893), p. 109.

14 The first example of this being Xenophon's Cyropaedia, though Reza Zarghamee has argued that Xenophon's reading may have been his own understanding of the contemporary Persian (heroic) myth of Cyrus.

15 For details, see the recent excellent book by Steele, R., The Shah's Imperial Celebrations of 1971 (London, 2020)Google Scholar.

16 Mohammad Reza Shah, eulogy at the tomb of Cyrus the Great, Pasargadae, 12 October 1971.

17 Mottahedeh, R., The Mantle of the Prophet (London, 2009), p. 327Google Scholar.

18 H. Amini, ‘The Greatest Party in the world’, BBC, interview with Shahrokh Golestan. Golestan was responsible for making the festival film. When he showed a copy to the Shah the latter reportedly asked, “Where are the people?”

19 On the continuing controversy over the cost, see Steele, Shah's Imperial Celebrations, pp. 132–137, who provides the most detailed breakdown and suggests that the more exaggerated figures are misplaced, and certainly unsourced.

20 For the identification of Cyrus with the Quranic Dhul-Qarnayn, see Merhavy, E., ‘Religious Appropriation of National Symbols in Iran: Searching for Cyrus the Great’, Iranian Studies 48, 6, 2015, pp. 942–943CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 ‘Irna be naql az ayatollah haeri shirazi: ma bayad melli-garayi ra be shedat jedi begirim’ (Ayatollah Haeri hirazi to IRNA: we should take nationalism very seriously), Ayandehnews.com 18 Shahrivar 1390/9 September 2011.

22 J. Jones, ‘The Evil Empire’, The Guardian, 8 September 2005, http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/sep/08/architecture (accessed 17 February 2021).

23 A. Moaveni, ‘300 Sparks Outcry in Iran’, Time, 13 March 2007; M. Joneidi ‘Iranian anger at Hollywood ‘assault’’, BBC News Online, 16 March 2007; S. Stalinsky, ‘Iran goes beserk over ‘300’’, New York Sun, 23 March 2007; T. Daryaee, ‘Go Tell the Spartans’, Iranian.com, 14 March 2007; the controversy over 300 of course followed on from that over Oliver Stone's Alexander which probably irritated the Greeks more than the Iranians. See, G. Esfandiari, ‘Oliver Stone's Alexander stirs up controversy’, Radio Free Europe, 28 January 2005; the rage continues, see S. Kemali-Dehghan, ‘Iran to sue Hollywood over a series of films, including the Oscar winning Argo’, The Guardian, 12 March 2013.

24 M. Schulz, ‘UN Treasure Honors Persian despot’, Spiegel Online, 15 July 2008.

25 See the Persian newspaper Iran dated 23 July 2013, in which Khamenei's brother Ayatollah Mohammad Khamenei declares that Cyrus and his children promoted monotheism. The interview from which this statement is highlighted is a discussion of the ‘inherent’ monotheism of the Iranians.

26 The claim was made by his Vice President Hamid Baqai and reported in Keyhan, 29 Shahrivar 1389/20 September 2010.

27 Ahmadinejad's interview relating to the cylinder can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaOxn7Igs9A (accessed 17 February 2021); at the official unveiling in Tehran in 2010, the cylinder is described by Iranian TV as the first declaration of ‘human rights’, a description which would not have gone amiss with the shah, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhbFrD_BpB8 (accessed 17 February 2021).

28 See, for example, ‘Edea-ye ‘maqam-e amniati’ dar bare-ye ‘ehtemal-e eqteshash’ dar marasem rooz-e koroush’ (The claims of ‘security officials’ on the ‘likelihood of rioting’ in the commemorations of the day of Koroush), Radio Farda, 5 Aban 1396/27 October 2017.

29 ‘Dar-khast namayande Shiraz baraye bargozari-ye marasem-e rasmi ‘rooz Koroush’ (The request of the deputy from Shiraz for the commemoration of an official ‘Day of Koroush’), Radio Farda, 5 Aban 1396/27 October 2017. The Persian date is 7 Aban which in 2020 fell on 28 October.

30 See, for example, ‘Be monasebat zad-rooz koroush-e Kabir’ (On the occasion of the birthday of Cyrus the Great), ILNA, 6 Aban 1399/27 October 2020. See also Steele, Shah's Imperial Celebrations, p. 143.

31 See the congratulations offered by Trump's special envoy on Iran, Eliott Abrams on 28 October 2020, https://twitter.com/ManotoNews/status/1321497459634237440?s=20 (accessed 17 February 2021).

32 The apparent enthusiasm for the Cyrus Cylinder among the American public when it was displayed in various venues in the United States was covered in the Iranian press, ‘Esteqbal cheshmgeer-e sharvandan Emrikayi as ‘manshoor-e koroush’’ (the enthusiastic welcome of American citizens for the Cyrus Cylinder), ISNA, 5 Farvardin 1392/25 March 2013. See also Steele, Shah's Imperial Celebrations, p. 143 on the unveiling of a ‘cylinder’ monument in Los Angeles in 2018.

33 Notably, both Presidents Obama and Trump have been identified as ‘latter day Cyrus’, the former implicitly, the latter very much explicitly, see ‘Unparalleled privilege: why white evangelicals see Trump as their saviour’, The Guardian, 11 January 2020. Trump's association with Cyrus gained momentum after his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.