The Future of Iran's Past

Abstract

The Future of Iran's Past: Nizam al-Mulk Remembered is a critical study of the life and afterlife of Nizam al-Mulk (1018-92), celebrated Persian vizier and stalwart figure of power and authority in medieval Islamic society. He became the de facto ruler of a vast empire, with a final apotheosis as Islamic history's archetypal good vizier. So exalted was his standing among the glitterati of his era that he was considered an ideal replacement for the Abbasid caliph himself. As well as the outstanding figure in a long run of great viziers and administrators who dominated premodern Islamic politics, Nizam al-Mulk is remembered as the most astute statesman of the period, able to perceive new beginnings and radical departures. This study offers a close reading of Nizam al-Mulk's many legacies, revealing a complex imbrication of political and religious authority, as well as pre-Islamic and Islamic influences that have together shaped modern Iran. The author shows that the new Iran of Nizam al-Mulk's singular vision, rather than a tale of uninterrupted Iranization, is imbued with an extensive interplay of residual and emergent tendencies.