Description

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Despite growing interest in the Baha'is of Iran, research on the history of this often-persecuted minority community has been limited by the accessibility of primary sources. 'The Baha'is of Iran, Transcaspia and the Caucasus' will help to fill this gap by assembling for the first time original material from Russian archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These sources provide crucial information concerning the rise of the early Baha'i community - and their precursors, the Babis - as well as their relations with local, national and foreign authorities.

This comprehensive two-volume set showcases in Volume 1 letters from the Rozen collection from diplomats, army officers and scholars, describing developments concerning the Baha'is in Iran and Russia. Furthermore, in Volume 2 it draws together the reports and correspondence of Russian diplomats and officials, detailing the dramatic events of the persecutions of the Babis and Baha'is and the reactions of the Iranian and Russian states to these communities. Together these two volumes thus provide not only insights into the history of the Babis and Baha'is in Iran, Transcaspia and the Caucasus, but also the perspective of one of the players of the Great Game of diplomacy and power in the region.

The authors present the complete texts in their original languages, providing both annotated translations and analytical introductions which supply background information on the Babi and Baha'i religions as well the personalities and events represented in the volumes and the significance of Babi and Baha'i studies within Russian Orientalism. Combining original sources with discerning analysis, this set is an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers and all readers interested in Babi and Baha'i history, the history of religion and minorities, Russo-Persian relations or Qajar Iran.

About the Author

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Soli Shahvar is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern History and Director of the Ezri Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Haifa. He completed his PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He is the author of The Forgotten Schools: The Baha'is and Modern Education in Iran, 1899-1934 (I.B.Tauris, 2009). Boris Morozov is Researcher in Russian History at the Cummings Institute, Tel Aviv University. He holds a PhD in Russian History from Moscow State University. He is the author of Documents on Soviet Jewish Emigration (1999) and the co-author of Traitors to Mother Russia: Jewish Emigration through Soviet Eyes (2005). Gad Gilbar is Professor of Economic History in the Department of Middle Eastern History, and Head of the Tujjar Project at the University of Haifa. He has previously served as a member of Israel's Council for Higher Education, and is the author of various articles and books including Ottoman Palestine 1800-1914: Studies in Economic and Social History (1990), and Population Dilemmas in the Middle East (1996).