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چکیده

تفسیر تحولات دولت ساسانیان به عنوان دولتی که بسیاری از رویه هایش مبنایی برای دولت های بعدی ایرانی بوده است، می تواند به تعمیق شناخت تاریخ ایران کمک کند. تفاسیر متنوع و گاه ناسازگاری برای تحولات مهم، ظهور این دولت، اقدامات شاهان بزرگ، جنبش مزدکیان و سقوط آن ارائه شده است. فرض این مقاله این است که استفاده از یک چارچوب نظری برای همه حوادث، تفسیر جامع تر و یکپارچه تری را فراهم می کند. چون واضعان چارچوب مفهومی «دولت طبیعی» آن را چارچوبی برای تفسیر تاریخ مکتوب بشر دانسته اند، پرسش اصلی پژوهش حاضر این است که آیا چارچوب مفهومی دولت طبیعی، قادر به ارائه تفسیری رضایت بخش از تحولات دولت ساسانی است؟ بنابراین روش پژوهش تحلیلی-توصیفی و کتابخانه ای است. در چارچوب مفهومی دولت طبیعی، دولت ائتلافی از نخبگانی است که کنترلشان را بر فعالیت های سیاسی، نظامی، اقتصادی، دینی و اداری جامعه طوری اعمال می کنند که بیشترین رانت برایشان فراهم شود؛ بنابراین تحولات در دولت همان تغییرات در اعضای ائتلاف یا اهمیت آنها در اثر تغییر در منابع رانت، قدرت اعضا و شرایط محیطی است. در این مقاله قابلیت رضایت بخش این چارچوب برای تفسیر تحولات و حوادث مهم در دولت ساسانی، با توجه به نقش اعضای ائتلاف در تولید رانت و اعمال خشونت، در یک دوره بندی پنج گانه و توضیح ویژگی های هر دوره نشان داده می شود.

Using the Conceptual Framework of "Limited Access Order" to Interpret the Changes in the Sassanid State

Interpreting trends in the Sassanid state, the practices of which have been the basis for subsequent Iranian states, can deepen the knowledge of Iran's history. Various interpretations have been presented for its rise, the great kings, the Mazdakian movement, and its fall. This paper supposed that using a theoretical framework for interpreting all the events could provide a more comprehensive and integrated interpretation.  Since the developers of the conceptual framework of the "natural state" have considered it a framework for interpreting the written history of humans, the main question of the current research was whether this conceptual framework could provide a satisfactory interpretation of trends in the Sassanid state. Therefore, this study was based on an analytical-descriptive method and a library approach. In the viewpoint of "natural state", a state incorporates a coalition of elites, who exercise their control over the society's political, military, economic, religious, and administrative activities to provide them the highest rent. Therefore, the state's changes are those occurring to the coalition members, who may be important due to changes in the situation. In this article, the satisfactory ability of this framework to interpret important events in the Sassanid state, regarding the roles of the coalition members in the production of rents and acts of violence, was shown in a 5-period classification, the characteristics of each of which were then presented. Introduction Various theories and concepts can be used to explain and interpret historical trends. Recently, some scholars pivoted on Douglas North and Nobel Prizewinner, in the economics provided in 1993, have presented a conceptual framework named "A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History." In this conceptual framework, violence control is considered the main problem of social order. According to how political, military, economic, religious, and educational activities are organized to control violence, these orders are classified into "limited access order" and "open access order." In the "limited access order" of the state, which is called the "natural state," there is a "dominant coalition" consisting of the powerful members of the society, who provide maximum rent for themselves by limiting access to valuable resources and activities. In an "open access order," access to these resources and activities is free for the public. The Sassanid state is the last ancient Iranian state and many of the procedures and organizations in the subsequent states in Iran were based on the arrangements of this dynasty. Therefore, a better understanding of how changes have occurred in the Sassanid state and what have been their causes can help better comprehend Iran's entire history. So far, various interpretations have been given for its events and trends, the overall structure of the state, the roles of the great kings, the Mazdakian movement, and, most importantly, why and how it fell. However, these explanations have been often inconsistent; thus, it is necessary to try for a satisfactory description of the causes of the fall of the Sassanids. Materials and Methods This research assumed that using a single theoretical framework, i.e., the conceptual framework of "natural state", for interpreting all the events of the Sassanid state could lead to a more comprehensive interpretation, contribute to a deeper understanding and even provide a new sight. Therefore, the main question was whether the conceptual framework of "natural state" could provide a satisfactory interpretation of the changes in the Sassanid state. Hence, collecting the required information was based on a library procedure and the research followed an analytical-descriptive method. Research findings The investigated period was divided into 5 periods with the 4 events of the death of Shahpur I and II, Qabad's restoration to the throne, and the removal of Khosrow Parviz. The coalition of the first period included the Shah, the Sassanid family, and their army. The shah had a complete control over the coalition. In the second period, the competition between religious elites ended in favor of Zoroastrian clerics. In the third period, these members continued in the form of a fragile coalition with a weak king, which was accompanied by an increase in the roles of bureaucrats. Towards the end of this period, drought and invasion of nomadic tribes caused many problems for the coalition. As the fourth period started, the Shah managed to establish himself as the dominant power of the coalition. Qobad and his son, Anoushirvan, reformed the taxes, as well as the military and judicial systems. These reforms increased the wealth of the coalition members, especially the Shah, but resorting to violence by successful commanders, who now had money and forces, became frequent. The fourth period ended with violence between the Shah and military commanders, leading to the removal and execution of Khosrow Parviz. The fifth period began with the internal competition, which almost destroyed the Sassanid dynasty. With the aggressive pressure of the Arabs and lack of agreement between the militants, no powerful coalition was formed and the Sassanid government collapsed. Discussion of Results & Conclusion For the first time, the satisfactory ability of the conceptual framework of "natural state" in interpreting a state's changes was evaluated. By examining the sources of rents in each period, the changes in the coalition corresponding to the process of specific events and the developments were interpreted. Based on the above conceptual framework, when the rent was higher and the king's role in its production was greater, the coalition was stronger. Also, the succession of a powerful and rich king could result in a violent competition. Changes in the king’s position, and economic rents in different periods, as well as the existence of powerful kings like Shahpur I and II, Anushirvan, and Khosrow Parviz led to the expectation of the descending order of strength in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth periods. From the point of view of change in the positions of other members of the coalition, it could be said that the roles of the families fluctuated, but were overall weakened. The clerics became members of the coalition from the time of Bahram II. In the fourth and fifth periods, their power was slightly adjusted. The teachers’ roles increased until the end of the third period though not much until they became members of the coalition from the time of Anoushirvan. After Anushirvan, the professional soldiers gained power quickly and got to the greatest power in the end.

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