The Idea of Iran: Last of the Persian Dynasties

About This Conference

In this, the seventh, programme in our series on ‘the Idea of Iran’, we are again exploring the critical period of Iranian history, when, as the power the Abbasids in Baghdad waned, a series of autonomous Iranian dynasties – Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids – emerged in the eastern provinces of the caliphate. Around 1000 CE they gave way to the Ghaznavid and Seljuq Sultans, whose arrival marked the start of a long period of Turkish and Mongol dynasts. Contributors at our last symposium looked at the oral, linguistic and creative compositions that emerged during the early Islamic period as ancient traditions underwent a transformation to become part of a new Perso-Islamic culture. The focus of this symposium will return to ideas of kingship, authority and identity and their articulation through the written word, architecture and the visual arts.