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ID: 144713

From the “Cleavage” of Central Asia to Greater Khurasan: history and historiography of late antique East Iran / Rezakhani, Khodadad

Rezakhani, Khodadad	Article
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Summary/Abstract

The history of Central Asia is normally considered peripheral to those of the civilizations that surrounded it—Marshal Hodgson termed it a civilizational “cleavage.” However, in the early Islamic period this region, particularly its southern and western parts, emerges as the dominant entity of Greater Khurasan to play a central role in the affairs of the Islamic Caliphate. This paper considers the history of the region, dubbed East Iran, before this rise to importance and proposes a different historiographical approach focusing on the developments in East Iran during the period of late antiquity and in interaction with the Sasanian Empire. It is proposed that the Greater Khurasan emerged as the result of the merging of the socio-cultural worlds of East Iran and that of the Sasanian Empire.

Key Words

Iran ; Central Asia ; Caliphate ; Persian ; Late Antiquity ; Sasanians ;
Khurasan

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ID: 137180

Mazdakism, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism: in search of orthodoxy and heterodoxy in late antique Iran / Rezakhani, Khodadad

Rezakhani, Khodadad	Article
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This paper argues that the designation of heterodoxy for the socio-religious movements of late antique Iran such as Mazdakism is a misnomer. It suggests that the designation of Mazdakism and similar movements as heterodoxies is in fact the product of an early Islamic assessment of post-Sasanian Zoroastrian attempts to create a Zoroastrian orthodoxy which did not exist under Sasanian rule. Pressured by the Abrahamic religions surrounding them, the followers of Weh Dēn in this period felt the need to demarcate and clarify their beliefs, and to make their own beliefs comprehensible to their neighbors and rulers. What was then left out of this attempt was labeled a deviation, and heterodoxy, whose fundamental disagreement with Zoroastrian orthodoxy was then reflected back in time.

Key Words

Iran ; Heterodoxy ; Socio-Religious Movements ; Zoroastrian Orthodoxy ; Abrahamic Religions ; Zoroastrian Attempts ;
Antique Iran

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ID: 144711

Michael morony, an academic biography / Daryaee, Touraj; Rezakhani, Khodadad

Daryaee, Touraj	Article
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Key Words

Michael Morony ; Academic Biography

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