The Lion and the Sun

Why did the place of formerly powerful Eurasian land empires, like that of Iran, change so dramatically in global affairs over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?This book explores this critical transitional period in Iranian history from an environmental perspective. It argues that severe ecological challenges dating to the late seventeenth century, and deepening during the post-Safavid crisis of the eighteenth century, drove a decline in the population and resource base of the Iranian plateau. This in turn shaped ongoing environmental challenges in the Qajar period and on into the 20th century.Presenting a new set of perspectives on key sources with new questions in mind, relies upon scientific evidence such as Geographic Information System data and tree-ring analysis, as well as a careful re-engagement with existing sources. Re-interpreting court chronicles, administrative orders, local histories, geographical texts, and endowment deeds, the book reveals the way in which the relationship between imperial systems and the rest of nature formed the modern state of Iran. An important and original contribution, it will be essential reading for scholars and students of global environmental history and the modern Middle East.>

Préface
The first environmental history of modern Iran

Auteur
James M. Gustafson is Associate Professor of History and Chair of the International Studies program at Indiana State University, USA. He is the author of Kirman and the Qajar Empire (2015) and serves on the executive board of the Association for Iranian Studies and is a senior editor for the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Asian Commercial History.

Texte du rabat

"This book explores this critical transitional period in Eurasian history from an environmental perspective. It argues that severe ecological challenges dating to the late 17th century, and deepening over the post-Safavid crisis of the 18th century, drove a severe decline in the demography and resource base on the Iranian plateau. This in turn gave rise to the perennially troubled Qajar period in the 19th century"--

Contenu
List of Figures Preface Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration Part One: Environmental Crises in Early Modern Iran. 1. Nature and History in Iran. The Guarded Domains. Geography and History. Does Nature Exist? On the Plateau. Connecting the 18th and 19th Centuries. 2. Iran's Little Ice Age Crisis. Climate Change and the Fall of the Safavid Empire. Going with the Grain. Warfare and Fragmentation. Images of Decline. Part Two: Assembling Empire. 3. Farms and Villages. An Empire of Grain. The Time and Space of Agriculture. Working the Land. Patrimonialism and Gender. Shares of the Harvest 4. Pastures. Non-Human Animals. Pastoralists and Pastoralism. The Thin Veneer. Seeing Like a Shah. On the Frontier. 5. Cities: Concentrated Nature. Hierarchies of Place. The Politics of Urban Space. Inscribing Empire in the City. Urban Endowments and Rural Landscapes. Part Three: Confluence. 6. Ecologies of Disaster: Earthquakes, Famine, and Disease. Unsteady Ground. When Provisioning Fails. Unhealthy Climes. Mastering Nature. 7. New Geographies of the Late 19th Century. Collapsing Time and Space. The Mirror of the Lands. All the Farmers Have Become Hajjis. Concessions as a Model of Reform. 8. The End of Empire. Revolution. Nature and the Nation. War, Famine, and the Coup. Conclusion. Bibliography. Notes.