The Local Worlds of Early Modern Iran

This course explores the history of early modern Iran through the lens of local and regional history. Organized as a province-by-province journey across the Iranian world, it examines the histories of Iran's regions under four successive dynasties - the Safavids, Afsharids, Zands, and Qajars. Over the course of the quarter, students will investigate the political, social, economic, and cultural development of different provinces from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the Constitutional Revolution of 1906. Particular emphasis will be on the primary sources available for reconstructing the history of these regions and on the methodological challenges of writing local history in early modern Iran.