Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Ph.D. student, Department of History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Department of History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran
3
Full Professor of History Department, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
10.22108/jhr.2026.148367.2940
Abstract
Abstract
This study adopts a comparative–analytical approach to examine the mechanisms of political legitimacy, governance, and identity formation in the Sasanian and Safavid states, analyzing the interactive role of religion, power, and ritual in the formation and continuity of statehood in Iran. The central research question investigates how these three components, in two historical periods, became structurally interconnected in producing political authority and social cohesion.
The research hypothesis is based on historical evidence indicating that the Safavids, in the process of state-building, consciously drew inspiration from the Sasanian model of governance and, by reinterpreting the religious and ritual elements of ancient Iran within the framework of Shiʿi theology, established a redefined form of sacred kingship.
The findings, grounded in an analysis of primary sources such as Kārnāmag ī Ardaxšīr ī Pābagān, Dēnkard, Āthār al-Bāqiya, ʿĀlam-ārā-ye ʿAbbāsī, and Kholāṣat al-Tavārīkh, demonstrate that in both periods, official religion and the institution of political power, through the use of rituals, not only stabilized political order but also reproduced a collective and civilizational identity.
The study concludes that through a deliberate adaptation of the Sasanian model, the Safavids successfully reconstructed the enduring nexus of religion, ritual, and power within the structure of the Iranian- Islamic state- an institutional pattern that continued to shape Safavid Iranian–Shiʿi identity and remains influential in certain mechanisms of contemporary governance in Iran
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