Analysis of the Basis of Legitimacy and Illegitimacy of Kingship Institution through the Lensof Religious Scholars (Ulama) in Safavid Era

Hossein Abadian[1]
Mohammad Bitarafan[2]

Abstract

Establishment of Safavid dynasty, with the backing of Imamate Shi'ism, paved the way for the expansion and recognition of this religious sect in Iran. Meanwhile, theattitudesheld byShi'itereligious scholars (Ulama)towards the issue of kingshipduring the age of the occult Imam were of great importance. In other words, the issue of politicaland religious legitimacy of the Safavid kings wasamong the focal issues taken into consideration by theShi'itereligious scholars in this time. In some occasions, such debatesled to protests and movements against the Safavid government. The main goal of this article is studying the underlying ideological and intellectual causes of these protests and movements. Despite the existence of a bulk of research on interactions between the religious scholarsandthe Safavids, the present issue has remained unstudied. The research method adopted by this study is content analysis of Safavid sources and itineraries written by the Europeans in that historical period.