Persian Truth

The post structuralist theories of power as defined by Michael Foucault and Noam Chomsky held great sway in medieval Persia between 1000 AD and 1450 AD. These post structuralist power theories manifest themselves in the form of the religious laws and religiously influenced policies that were set up in Persia and bring about the rise of organizations and movements. Islam united the peoples of Persia in spite of repeated military invasions and converted the foreign invaders to the cultural and religious customs of Persia. Even the invading Mongols and Tatars did not alter the Islamic faith of the Persians. "For even the antichrist will spare such as follow him, though he destroy those who oppose him, but these Tatars spared none, slaying women and men and children..." (Ibn Sina On Medicine). Before 1000 AD, the Arab invasion of Persia converted most of the Persians to Islam. In a similar scenario approximately 500 years later the Mongols invaded Persia and after years of rule one of their Khans converted to Islam to gain favor with the Persian people. The same can be said for Timur the lame and his show of religious piety to the theologians of Persia in order to curry favor with the societal elites. The power of religion to alter one's behavior is demonstrated by these two instances. The need for these two rulers to become more credible with their people caused them to tailor themselves so that they can easily wield the accepted societal truths of Islam. These rulers used the ability to manufacture truth in the form of religion to great effect, especially with their conquests. When Timur the Lame set his sights on the Ottoman caliphate

under the control of Bayezid the 1st he justified his campaign by saying the conquest was an act of religious piety. The aristocrats and rulers were even influenced by their knowledgeable courtiers and servants. The information provided by astrologers and physicians often regulated the behavior of the rulers whom they served. "The physician restrains us from enjoyable foods and agreeable pleasures, gives us medicines when we are suffering neither from sickness nor disease and his one object is to cause illness." (On the Courtiers and Familiars of Kings) Though this practice of knowledgeable courtiers holding sway, it was by no means an accepted or well liked practice among good servants. The king must never be instructed by another who is lower than him. The power of "truth" and information must flow downward from the King and have no upward exchange. "...let him never play pedagogue, saying "Do this," or "Don't do that,"..."(On the Courtiers and Familiars of Kings) The dynasties that controlled Persia between 1000 AD to 1450 AD were the Seljuq Turks, Mongols and Timurids. Each of these governing bodies had their own legal systems used to control their domains. The Seljuq Turks used Sharia law from the Sunni Muslim perspective and took a much more precise interpretation of it than the Mongols or the Timurids. Before the takeover of Persia by the Mongols Ghenghis Khan created the Yasa Nama-i Buzerg in 1206 that would later be used to govern all of the territories that came under his rule(McChesney 1997)(last source in the bibliography under heading "mongol invasion story). Many of these laws happened to have similar values to Sharia and thus managed to mix with Sharia relatively well.

Post structuralist power theories, dependent upon the manufacturing of the truth, align with the power theories behind the creation of the religious cults that proliferated in Persia. The influence of Islam and sharia law on the Persia became apparent shortly after the Arab invasions and institution of Islam. Once the Seljuq Turks invaded Persia and established their kingdom under Togrul Beg in the early part of the second millennium AD these religious laws were enforced more seriously because the Seljuq Turks were Sunni Muslims and tended to hold to a stricter interpretation of religious law. These religious laws and influences ended up creating multiple religious cults some of which ended up becoming major problems to the Persian state in the form of cults and a general lack of uniformity when it came to faith. The Ismaili cult of the Hashishins and the Sufi brotherhood were both religious organizations that had great social impact on Persia by both violent and non-violent means. The religious influences of Shia Islam in Persia provided a good breeding ground for the creation of the Hashishin cult, who later ended up assassinating political figures and religious detractors of the Ismaili sect throughout the middle east (Campell 1)(5th doc in the news story 3 section of the bibliography). The Sufis, while more peaceful did have great influence as they spread the ideas pantheism through Persia and greatly influenced the way people worshipped in Islam. Similar to the general group of medieval peoples the Persians held a monarchal system of rule that had absolute authority. This one monarch would have the last say on all things that occurred in the kingdom. However, the Persian monarch's absolute power was somewhat circumvented by the foreign rulers and their influence on the Shah. Persia was also broken up into multiple provinces of the same flag (ie. mongol and timurid flags) that were self governing but were all still part of the same civilization. These fragmented but still unified

kingdoms and khanates don't fit the general models for medieval power structures. These kingdoms though independent still held the same cultural identity, patriarchal rulers (Ghanghis Khan and Timur the lame) and could pull together as a common people against an enemy. This differs from the general medieval models as Kings often had absolute power over one domain and little else and, especially in Europe, were un-unified unless there is a mutual interest between them. The manufacturing of the truth and the providing of some interpretation of the questions that human beings ask of themselves and their environment is a very common theme to control throughout history. In Persia, this main producer of that truth was Islam. The interpretations of the Quran held by the many different sects ended up breeding new branches of Islam and bringing about conflict and dialogue exchange between these groups.