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Ethnic Diversity and Territorial Integrity of Iran: Domestic Harmony and Regional Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Touraj Atabaki
Touraj Atabaki*
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam International Institute of Social History
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Extract

This study aims to address concerns over Iranian territorial integrity with respect to ethnic identity by examining three interrelated points of:

  • Center and periphery in Iran.

  • Territorial attachment and the political borders.

  • Ethnic identity and social mobility.

Finally I shall discuss the challenges Iran has been facing throughout the twentieth-century on maintaining her territorial integrity.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 38 , Issue 1: Special Issue: Iran Facing the New Century , March 2005 , pp. 23 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2005

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Footnotes

1

I am grateful to Homa Katouzian and Hossein Shahidi for their insightful comments and helpful editing of this article.

References

2 Naderi, Nader Afshar, in: Amirarjomand, Shahrokh (Ed), Iran, Elements of Destiny (New York, 1978): 230Google Scholar.

3 Ibid.

4 Katouzian, Homa, “Arbitrary Rule: a Comparative Theory of State, Politics and Society in Iran”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 24 (1997): 53CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Ehlers, Eckart, “Capitals and Spatial Organisation in Iran, Esfahan, Shiraz, Tehran” in: Adle, C. and Hourcade, B. (Eds), Tèhèran Capitale bicentenaire (Paris, 1992): 155–156Google Scholar.

6 Ibid. 156.

7 Ibid. 161.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 Kashani-Sabet, Firoozeh, “Fragile Frontiers: The Diminishing Domains of Qajar Iran”, IJMES, 29 (1997): 227Google Scholar.

11 Esman, Milton J. and Rabinovich, Itamar, ed., Ethnicity, Pluralism, and the State in the Middle East (Ithaca, 1988): 14–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Connor, Walker, “Nation-Building or Nation-Destroying?,” World Politics 14, (1972): 323Google Scholar.

13 Deutsch, Karl Wolfgang, Nationalism and Social Communication; an Inquiry into the Foundations of Nationality. (Cambridge, 1953)Google Scholar. Quoted by Walker Connor, ibid.

14 Linz, J.J. and Stepan, A., Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe, (London, 1996): 25Google Scholar

15 Farangestan, (1924), nos. 4 and 5.

16 From a speech by Mosaddeq during a session of parliament, concerning the change of dynasty. 31 October 1925.

17 Iranshahr, (1923), no. 1.

18 Kaveh, (1920), no. 1.

19 Ibid.

20 Afshar, Mahmoud, “Aghaz-nameh”, Ayandeh, (1925) no. 1Google Scholar.

21 Ibid.

22 Makki, Hossein, Tarikh-e Bist Saleh-e Iran, (Tehran, 1983): 412–13Google Scholar.

23 Gellner, Ernest, Nation and Nationalism (Oxford, 1983), 140Google Scholar.

24 Yaqikiyan, Gerigor, Showravi va Jonbesh-e Jangal, Yaddasht-ha-ye Yek Shahed-e ‘Eyni, (Tehran, 1984): 137Google Scholar.

25 For a comprehensive study of Khiyabani's revolt see Homa Katouzian, “The Revolt of Sheikh Mohammad Khiyabani”, Iran, XXXVII, 1999, reprinted in Katouzian, , Iranian History and Politics (London and New York, 2003)Google Scholar.

The Cossack Brigade formed in 1879, was composed of Iranian troops. Under Russian officers, it soon came to enjoy a reputation for military discipline, rigidity and brutality. The most notorious example of it's the Brigade's intervention occurred in 1907, when under the command of the Russian colonel Liakhov, it bombarded the Majles. Russian control over the Cossack Brigade ceased following the collapse of the Tsarist Empire in 1917, but the Brigade continued to exist and, indeed, provided Reza Khan with military support to launch his coup d'état in 1921. Reza Khan then merged the Brigade with the Gendarmerie as part of his reorganisation of Iran's national army. F.O. 371/2762, Memorandum on the Persian Army, 1907.

26 F.O. 371/4927. In his memoirs, Mokhber al-Saltaneh (Khaterat, 318) says that the Sheikh was found and killed by Cossacks in an exchange of fire, but he also mentions a suicide note by the Sheikh, although he does not vouch for its veracity. According to Bristow, the British Consul in Tabriz,: “The Sheykh was discovered in his hiding place and shot by Cossacks”. See: F.O. 371/1278, 15 September 1920.

27 Azerbayjan (1946), no. 357.

28 Azerbayjan (1946), no. 366.

29 Wash. Nat. Arch., 891.00/12-2346, 23 December 1946.

30 Among such minor cases was the vague resistance organized by the Komiteh-ye Enteqam (Revenge Committee) in a suburb of Tabriz: Mohammad Ruzegar., Khaterat (unpublished memoirs). In an interview with the author, Mohammad Ruzegar described the resistance as ‘purely unprompted’ and denied any possible link between the above-mentioned group and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party leadership.

31 Douglas, W.O., Strange Land and Friendly People, (New York, 1951): 45Google Scholar.

32 In accounts of the Democrats, reference is made to more than 10,000 casualties, whereas semi-official reports of the Iranian government estimate the number of dead at 800. On the other hand, a British source cited by the US Embassy in Tehran gives the number of killed Democrats as 421. For the Democrats' account, see: Ferqahsi, Azerbaijan Demokrat, Azadliq Yolunun Mubarizlari, 2, (Baku, 1969): 5Google Scholar. The Iranian government estimate has been reported in Khandani-ha, no. 36, 24 December 1946. The American Embassy's report has been classified under Wash. Nat. Arch. 891.00/1-1547, 15 January 1947.

33 The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, Islamic Consultative Assembly, (no place, no date): 33.

34 British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC), Summary of World broadcasts, Middle East and Africa, December 19.

35 While in the referendum for the nature of the political system in the country Tabriz contributed with 718.368 votes, in the second referendum the number of cast votes was 389.063.

36 See for example Shaffer, Brenda, Borders and Brethren. Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijan Identity (Cambridge, 2002): 96–97Google Scholar.

37 The Azerbaijani Society was founded among others by Dr Javad Heyat, Hamid Notqi, Hossein-Ali Katebi and Mohammad-Ali Farzaneh.

38 Hobsbawm, Eric, Nation and Nationalism since 1780, Programme, myth, reality, (Cambridge, 1990), 102Google Scholar.

39 The Caucasus and Central Asian Chronicle, 8 (1989): 7–10.

40 Bogert, Carroll, “They all Get Along”, Newsweek (May 26, 1997): 31Google Scholar.

41 Esman, Milton J. and Rabinovich, Itamar, ed., Ethnicity, Pluralism, and the State in the Middle East (Ithaca 1988): 20CrossRefGoogle Scholar.