A Research On Tribal Issues Of State Building In Qajar Iran

In the history of Iran,tribes have been a powerful social and political force in Iranian society.Conflicts and cooperation between tribes and the state have long influenced the evolution of Iranian history.At the end of the 18 th century,the Qajar tribe joined forces with other tribal forces to end the domestic disintegration of Iran,reunify Iran,and establish the Qajar dynasty.However,the Qajar dynasty,which relied on tribal power to build its country,also faced the problem that the tribal power was too big to fall out.In the early days of Qajar dynasty,the rulers basically followed the tribal policy of Safavid Dynasty: suppressing rebel tribes by force,taking tribal leaders and their families as hostages,levying taxes on tribes,forcing tribes to migrate,appointing tribal leaders to rule the place,etc.,to divide and rule the tribes and implement indirect control.These measures eased the tribal problems and achieved a shocking effect in a short time.By the 19 th century,Qajar dynasty was faced with frequent domestic rebellions and constant invasion by British and Russian colonists.Under the situation of internal and external troubles,Qajar government had to carry out modernization reform.In 1848,Shah Nasser Din led the comprehensive modernization reform,which involved many fields such as military affairs,politics,economy,ideology and culture,and went deep into the remote rural areas and mountainous areas in the hinterland of Iran.Its strength,scope and fields were unprecedented,which dealt a heavy blow to tribal forces in remote areas and accelerated the process from tribes to the state system.In the aspect of military reform,Qajar dynasty set up a modern standing army,which broke through the situation that the government relied on tribal military forces and weakened the control and influence of tribes on the country.In terms of politics and law,the Qajar dynasty established a modern bureaucratic system by appointing and appointing bureaucrats,changing the pattern of tribal dominance in the past and strengthening the rulers’ administration of the central and local governments;Simultaneously,,we should actively promote the reform of local legal system,replace tribal customary law with secular law,and actively promote the transition of tribal society from the rule of man to the rule of law,so as to strengthen the judicial management of tribal society by the central government.On the economic side,the reform of land and tax system has promoted the development of agriculture,resulting in a large number of pastures being converted into agricultural land.At the same time,the development of road traffic,the establishment of petroleum industry,and the advancement of geological exploration projects have changed the traditional nomadic lifestyle of tribes,and finally prompted tribes to settle down.In terms of ideology and culture,the rulers of Qajar dynasty made full use of Iran’s historical traditions and Shia religious beliefs,shaped Iran’s national identity through media tools and public ceremonies,and cultivated the tribal national consciousness and national consciousness.Until the constitutional revolution,with the support of the bourgeoisie,tribes changed from the tradition of fighting for leaders to fighting for Iran’s independence and progress.It shows that the people gradually changed from tribal identity to Iranian nation-state,and the tribe was initially integrated into the modern state construction of Qajar dynasty.Through a series of modernization reforms in politics,economy,society and education,the Qajar dynasty initially realized the direct control of the tribal society by the central government,successfully realized the integration of the tribal society,promoted the settlement of the tribe,shaped the national identity and national identity of the tribal society,and initially formed the embryonic form of a modern Iranian state.However,the tribal attribute and weakness of Qajar dynasty itself made the rulers unable to solve the tribal problems fundamentally.Therefore,after Reza Khan came to power,on the basis of inheriting the tribal policy of Qajar dynasty,he carried out a tougher and more thorough governance policy towards the tribal society,which finally solved the tribal problems that plagued the rulers of all previous dynasties in Iran,and the tribes faded out of the Iranian political arena.In contemporary Iran,although there are still a few tribes,these tribes only maintain their tribal lifestyle and their political influence is very limited.