The Apocalyptic Perception of Invasion and Transformation In the Material World in the History of Iran

This dissertation investigates how people's beliefs formed the shape of their understandings of the world and how transformations in the material world changed people's perception over time from the Arab invasion of Iran in the seventh century to the Mongol invasion of Iran in the thirteenth century. These foreign invasions transformed the pre-existing eschatological beliefs into an apocalyptic process that transforms the world and people's state of mind, or rather their morality, for good. These invasions were so shocking that people associated them with the climax of evil powers, which they already knew as the signs of the end of days from their religious texts. For the Zoroastrians in Iran, it took about two centuries after the Arab raids to reach that climax and associate the happenings in the world with their pre-existing apocalyptic beliefs. In contrast, Muslim apocalyptic understanding of the Mongol conquest, manifested in Tabaqat-e Naseri, was written during the time of the conquest. This might be due to the differences in the political and socio-economic situations in these two eras that are discussed in this dissertation. Paying more attention to symbolic transformations in the physical world is a significant aid in my investigation of the notion of the apocalypse and its relationship with foreign invasions, which will draw both on the mentality of the people and what happened in the real world. At the end, the similarities and differences between these two kinds of understanding will be discussed. Most importantly, this dissertation shows the transformation of the idea of the apocalypse in Iran from seventh to the thirteenth century.