Dmitry Shlapentok: How Iran is using history to bolster nationalism
[The writer is associate professor of History at Indiana University South Bend in the United States.]
THE history of Iran - as of any other nation - has never existed outside its political context. Iran's recent increased interest in its Achaemenian past, as seen in events ranging from the strong official response to the Hollywood film 300 to the organisation of global exhibitions featuring artifacts from its pre-Islamic past, could be a sign of a vital change in the ideology and geopolitical posture of the regime.
The Achaemenid empire, founded in the 6th century BC, was probably the first universal empire in history, barring possibly the Assyrian empire. It is regarded by the majority of historians as the beginning of Iranian national history.
The last shah was especially fond of the Achaemenids. His reasons were manifold. Shah Mohamad Reza Pahlavi's father Reza Shah, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, was a man of humble origin who wished to provide a direct link between himself and the glorious and legitimate rulers of Iran's past. The appeal to the Achaemenids was intended to underline Iranians' difference from other Muslim people of the region, such as the Turks and, especially, the Arabs.
The appeal to ancient Iranian history not only demonstrated that Iranians had been around in the Middle East as a major power long before the Arabs, but also underscored the splendour of Iranian culture, which had its own indigenous sources and was not just to be attributed to the Arabs who brought Islam to the land.
But even more so, the Achaemenian connection was directed against Islam, which was seen as a symbol of medieval backwardness, and meant to spur the development of Iran into a modern Western-style state. Since modernisation had benefited the upper classes almost exclusively, Islam emerged as the ideology of the downtrodden and even of some of the middle class, for example, those students who had problems finding employment.
Iran's enchantment with the Achaemenids took a breather after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic which ended the shah's regime, blasted the Achaemenids as precursors of the shahs.
Still, as time progressed, the eschatological and indeed anti-state ideology of the revolution that disconnected past and present started to change. It evolved along lines not unknown in previous great revolutions of the modern era: the Russian and Chinese revolutions.
Both these revolutions discarded the state and the historical legacies from the very beginning, only to rediscover them in the latter stages. In Russia, Stalin rediscovered the glory of Ivan the Terrible while, in China, Mao Zedong did the same with the First Qin Emperor.
The Iranians followed suit.
The current Iranian government is making it clear that the Achaemenids have become a point of special attention. Indeed, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a rare visit last month to the ruins of Persepolis, the Achaemenian capital, where he made a statement that not just foreigners but each and every Iranian should visit the place to understand the glory of ancient Iranian history - and, as he implied, the greatness of the Iranian state - and the creation of one of the greatest global empires.
Present-day problems were conveniently de-emphasised or interpreted in a way to please Iranian pride. For example, one Iranian sent a letter to an Internet newspaper proclaiming that, in the Battle of Thermopylae, it was not Persians/Iranians but the Greeks who had the advantage. The latter nevertheless were completely defeated by Persian/Iranian valour and military genius....
The Achaemenids, if one would believe the Iranians, were ahead of their time in scientific discoveries and management techniques. It was the Achaemenids who built the first great roads in history and dispatched government inspectors to various parts of the immense empire to acquire first-hand knowledge of world events....
What are the implications of this rise in nationalism among the Iranian elite and the growing Iranian middle class? There are two, as I saw from some recent encounters with Iranians.
At a conference in Turkey, I met a well-educated young man who spoke impeccable English. While he clearly liked Western, including American, culture and lifestyle, he was full of nationalistic vigour and stated firmly that the United States was playing with fire and would pay dearly if it ever attacked Iran. He said young Iranians, regardless of their brushes with the mullahs, are fiercely nationalistic and would fight desperately not so much for the religion of Shi'ism but for their motherland. And that they understand well the national interests of Iran and are not to be trifled with.
The other option was presented by the representative of the Iranian embassy in Turkey. An extremely friendly man, he painted a positive picture of the resurgence of nationalism. Iranians loved the US, he said, pointing out that several million lived there. And Iran would be happy to engage in detente of a sort with the US.
So which will it be? War, or the sharing of influence in the Middle East? Neither option will be easy for them. However, the descendants of the great Achaemenids - similar to many other Asian nations - have awakened from millennia of slumber to request what they regard as their patrimony.
THE history of Iran - as of any other nation - has never existed outside its political context. Iran's recent increased interest in its Achaemenian past, as seen in events ranging from the strong official response to the Hollywood film 300 to the organisation of global exhibitions featuring artifacts from its pre-Islamic past, could be a sign of a vital change in the ideology and geopolitical posture of the regime.
The Achaemenid empire, founded in the 6th century BC, was probably the first universal empire in history, barring possibly the Assyrian empire. It is regarded by the majority of historians as the beginning of Iranian national history.
The last shah was especially fond of the Achaemenids. His reasons were manifold. Shah Mohamad Reza Pahlavi's father Reza Shah, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, was a man of humble origin who wished to provide a direct link between himself and the glorious and legitimate rulers of Iran's past. The appeal to the Achaemenids was intended to underline Iranians' difference from other Muslim people of the region, such as the Turks and, especially, the Arabs.
The appeal to ancient Iranian history not only demonstrated that Iranians had been around in the Middle East as a major power long before the Arabs, but also underscored the splendour of Iranian culture, which had its own indigenous sources and was not just to be attributed to the Arabs who brought Islam to the land.
But even more so, the Achaemenian connection was directed against Islam, which was seen as a symbol of medieval backwardness, and meant to spur the development of Iran into a modern Western-style state. Since modernisation had benefited the upper classes almost exclusively, Islam emerged as the ideology of the downtrodden and even of some of the middle class, for example, those students who had problems finding employment.
Iran's enchantment with the Achaemenids took a breather after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic which ended the shah's regime, blasted the Achaemenids as precursors of the shahs.
Still, as time progressed, the eschatological and indeed anti-state ideology of the revolution that disconnected past and present started to change. It evolved along lines not unknown in previous great revolutions of the modern era: the Russian and Chinese revolutions.
Both these revolutions discarded the state and the historical legacies from the very beginning, only to rediscover them in the latter stages. In Russia, Stalin rediscovered the glory of Ivan the Terrible while, in China, Mao Zedong did the same with the First Qin Emperor.
The Iranians followed suit.
The current Iranian government is making it clear that the Achaemenids have become a point of special attention. Indeed, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a rare visit last month to the ruins of Persepolis, the Achaemenian capital, where he made a statement that not just foreigners but each and every Iranian should visit the place to understand the glory of ancient Iranian history - and, as he implied, the greatness of the Iranian state - and the creation of one of the greatest global empires.
Present-day problems were conveniently de-emphasised or interpreted in a way to please Iranian pride. For example, one Iranian sent a letter to an Internet newspaper proclaiming that, in the Battle of Thermopylae, it was not Persians/Iranians but the Greeks who had the advantage. The latter nevertheless were completely defeated by Persian/Iranian valour and military genius....
The Achaemenids, if one would believe the Iranians, were ahead of their time in scientific discoveries and management techniques. It was the Achaemenids who built the first great roads in history and dispatched government inspectors to various parts of the immense empire to acquire first-hand knowledge of world events....
What are the implications of this rise in nationalism among the Iranian elite and the growing Iranian middle class? There are two, as I saw from some recent encounters with Iranians.
At a conference in Turkey, I met a well-educated young man who spoke impeccable English. While he clearly liked Western, including American, culture and lifestyle, he was full of nationalistic vigour and stated firmly that the United States was playing with fire and would pay dearly if it ever attacked Iran. He said young Iranians, regardless of their brushes with the mullahs, are fiercely nationalistic and would fight desperately not so much for the religion of Shi'ism but for their motherland. And that they understand well the national interests of Iran and are not to be trifled with.
The other option was presented by the representative of the Iranian embassy in Turkey. An extremely friendly man, he painted a positive picture of the resurgence of nationalism. Iranians loved the US, he said, pointing out that several million lived there. And Iran would be happy to engage in detente of a sort with the US.
So which will it be? War, or the sharing of influence in the Middle East? Neither option will be easy for them. However, the descendants of the great Achaemenids - similar to many other Asian nations - have awakened from millennia of slumber to request what they regard as their patrimony.