A look at the history of Azerbaijan in Ahmed Kasravi’s works

Abstract

Ahmad Kasravi, a prominent Iranian intellectual, historian, publicist, and lawyer, highlights a number of historical problems of Iran as well as Azerbaijan in his works. Although he speaks from the position of an Iranian nationalist while explaining issues, Azerbaijan occupies a special place in his works and Kasravi’s works are of great importance as a historical source. The difficult socio-political and economic situation of Iran, including South Azerbaijan, under the rule of the Qajars in the 19th - early 20th centuries, also worried Ahmad Kasravi and he widely covered this topic in his works. Explaining the social and political processes that took place in Azerbaijan throughout history, A.Kasravi paid special attention to the religious factor, sects and sectarian division. The thinker was worried that the problem of sectarianism, which had existed since the Middle Ages, persisted in the Qajar period. He denounced those who use religion for political and personal ends, and wrote that insulting Islamic saints increased hatred among members of the sect. Although A. Kasravi criticized the reactionary clergy of the Qajar period, he praised the progressive clergy. A special place in the work of A.Kasravi is occupied by the study of the activities of such heroes of the Iranian constitutional revolution as Sattarkhan Bagirkhan, and M.Khiyabani. We can say that, A.Kasravi called Qajars "incompetent", condemned the inability to protect the territorial integrity of the country, the reactionary clergy for hindering the development of the country, and gave a special assessment to the ongoing socio-political and religious processes. This is particularly important from the point of view of studying the history of Azerbaijan at that time.