The discourse of Iran's territorial integrity in the sources of Safavid historiography

Abstract

Preserving territorial integrity is one of the vital ideals of any government. As the Safavid dynasty took power in Iran, Iran's territorial integrity, which had previously been seriously threatened by domestic and foreign claimants. To consolidate their sovereignty, the Safavid rulers needed to define and solidify elements that, while establishing internal unity based on shared characteristics, also highlighted their differences from countries. In their sub-discourses, the Safavid rule introduced their value system, which included Shiism and Iranian nationality (several provinces under the territory of Iran), and by emphasizing differences in religion, nationality, language, culture, and so on, redefined another concept and presented a way of survival based on concepts. Accordingly, by employing discourse analysis from Ruth Wodak's perspective and focusing on the two basic notions of self versus the other and survival, the present study aimed to analyze Iran's territorial integrity during this period and examine the features this discourse. In the light of Vodak's approach, it can be concluded that the propositions of the self-emphasis and exaggeration about the components of the Safavid discourse, as well as humiliation and discrimination of the Ottomans, Uzbeks and Gurkhans, clearly show the knowledge of Safavid historians to distinguish us from others. Consolidate the territorial integrity of the Safavid Iran.