The Lion and the Sun: Environmental History and the Formation of Modern Iran: James M. Gustafson: I.B. Tauris

The Lion and the Sun

Environmental History and the Formation of Modern Iran

The Lion and the Sun

Environmental History and the Formation of Modern Iran

Description

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, The Lion and the Sun 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.

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.

Product details

Published	Feb 20 2025
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	272
ISBN	9780755634842
Imprint	I.B. Tauris
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

The Lion and the Sun demonstrates how environmental history can offer new insights on numerous historiographical debates about Iranian politics, economy, society, and culture. James Gustafson's stories of Iran's rural, pastoral, and urban communities masterfully reveal the complex relationships between people and non-human elements of their environment. A must read.

Mikiya Koyagi, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
This is a beautifully written and pioneering book on the environmental and social history of modern Iran. It offers careful research into neglected ecological crises and places them in the broader field of global environmental history. In the process, the author sheds light on many fascinating dimensions of this period that are essential for a proper understanding of the political and economic transformations of Iran and the Middle East.

Ranin Kazemi, Associate Professor, San Diego State University, USA