The Role of Shi'ism in Consolidating Safavid Despotism: An Analysis Based on Hegel's Perspective on Oriental Despotism

The rise of the Safavid dynasty marks a pivotal turning point in the socio-economic and political history of Iran. Emerging after years of political stagnation and economic decline, the Safavids ushered in a new era in Iranian history. By formalizing Shiite Islam as the state religion, the Safavid government initiated a process of cultural assimilation that laid the foundation for social unity and political-economic integration. This integration facilitated the strengthening of the state apparatus and the establishment of a despotic regime during the Safavid period. From Hegel's perspective, the development of a society—including its political structure, laws, and regulations—and, most importantly, human freedom, depends on the type of climate.Hegel, in his analysis of Iranian history, characterized its socio-political structures as despotic and, broadly speaking, Oriental. He regarded religion as the fundamental principle in creating unity, describing it as a tool employed by the government to establish centralized despotism, suppress centrifugal forces, and achieve social cohesion and political-economic integration. The present study aims to analyze the role of religion in the creation and consolidation of Safavid tyranny from Hegel’s perspective. It seeks to answer the question: What role did religion play in the formation of centralized despotism and territorial integrity? In his analysis of Eastern societies, Hegel emphasizes the tyrannical nature of the central government and the existence of self-sufficient, centrifugal societies. He argues that the integration of these elements is only possible through the unifying role of religion. This study employs a historical and descriptive-analytical methodology, utilizing Hegel’s concept of Oriental despotism as its theoretical framework.After the collapse of the Timurid government and before the rise of the Safavids, Iran experienced political stagnation and economic contraction, which led to social disintegration. This social collapse resulted in a widespread turn among the people toward Sufi thought as a means to cope with life's hardships. Eventually, a Sufi-led government seized power in Iran and immediately sought to propagate its ideology. The formalization of Shiism in Iran laid the foundation for establishing a unified structure of one government, one religion, and one king. This marked a significant development and a historical turning point in Iran’s history: the transition from a polycentric system of tribal monarchies to a centralized state. The path to political and social unity could only be smoothed through cultural assimilation, which in turn required religious assimilation. Religion served as an ideological adhesive, facilitating the gradual establishment and consolidation of Safavid absolute power, as well as the integration and subjugation of local and peripheral tribes and autonomous communities. Additionally, it formalized and systematized the Safavid bureaucratic structure, ensuring order in the governance of the country. This ideological dominance accelerated the dissolution of peripheral communities into the central authority.The Safavid kings, who regarded themselves as the absolute embodiment of spiritual guidance, sought to consolidate political power through spiritual authority. From Hegel's perspective, the depiction of Eastern tyranny represents an idealized concept of absolute power. In Hegel's view, religion functions like a convex or converging lens, focusing all parallel rays to a single point known as the focal point, thereby producing the phenomenon of light convergence. This convergence serves as a metaphor for intellectual assimilation, with the focal point symbolizing absolute tyranny. Hegel advances several propositions in his portrayal of Eastern tyranny, distinguishing it from other forms of tyranny emphasized by Western thinkers. The present study aims to validate Hegel's propositions and to elucidate the nature of Safavid tyranny through the lens of these propositions. The hypothesis, grounded in Hegel's ideas, posits that religion played a functional and historical role in establishing and stabilizing the power structure in Iran during the Safavid era.Following Montesquieu, Hegel meticulously analyzed Western and Eastern societies, successfully advancing the integration of central and peripheral structures to create an absolute and comprehensive state. Hegel emphasized Eastern religion as a tool for uniting all peripheral forces. Religion could position the hegemonic power and peripheral entities—such as local tribes and self-sufficient communities—within a network of power, regulating the relationships between them. Unlike the legal system, religious rules were imposed on subordinates and the populace by institutions subordinate to the king (the Bureauroicratie). The absoluteness of religious rules fostered unquestioning obedience among the people, thereby rendering the king's power unlimited. Additionally, the absence of a stable aristocracy left the king's authority unconstrained and vulnerable to threats.