The Qajar Pact: Bargaining, Protest and the State in Nineteenth-Century Persia (International Library of Iranian Studies)

"The Qajar Pact explores new perspectives on the nineteenth-century Iranian state and society, and is the first broad study of lower social groups in this period. Vanessa Martin argues that Qajar government was certainly despotic, but was also founded on a consensus based on the Islamic principles of consultation and negotiation. The author focuses on the role of the non-elite groups in urban society up to the years before the Constitutional Revolution."--Bloomsbury Publishing. The Qajar Pact Seeks To Explore New Perspectives On Nineteenth-century Iranian State And Society, And Is The First Broad Study Of Lower Social Groups During The Period 1834-1896. Vanessa Martin Argues That Qajar Government Was Certainly Despotic, But Was Also Founded On A Consensus Understood In Deed Rather Than Word, Derived From Consultation And Bargaining. Looking At Urban Society, The Author Shows How All Levels Were Involved, And Focuses On The Role Of Non-elite Groups, Whose Networks Organised The Struggles With The Authorities. The Islamic Principles Governing The Relationship Between State And Society Were Derived Ultimately From The Concept Of Al-mizan, The Balance, Which Formed The Basis For The Consensus. As The Discussion Reaches The Eve Of The Constitutional Revolution, The Changes Of The 1890s Reveal How The Mass Of Contemporaries Saw The Revolution, And What They Expected From It, And How The International Economy Shaped Opinion.--jacket. Background: Religion, Society, Politics And Trade -- The People, The State And The British In Bushire And Kharg Island 1836-1850 -- Shiraz: Urban Protest And The Balance Of Power In Fars -- Isfahan: Popular Protest, Social Control And The Emergence Of Collaboration -- Popular Demonstrations By Women In Nineteenth Century Iran -- The Lutis, The Turbulent Urban Poor -- Sarbaz--the Unruly Soldiery -- Slavery And Black Slaves In Iran In The Nineteenth Century -- Slaves Ii: Haji Bashir Khan--love In A Complicated Climate. Vanessa Martin. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [194]-209) And Index.