History & Society

The opposition between tradition and modernity has long served as one of the principal conceptual frameworks for interpreting social, political, intellectual, and cultural change. Within this framework, tradition is frequently represented as the inheritance of the past, while modernity is associated with rationalization, scientific knowledge, individualism, technological development, secularization, and new political institutions. Such a binary, however, risks reducing historically complex processes to a conflict between two supposedly coherent and mutually exclusive systems. The Iranian experience demonstrates particularly clearly the limitations of this approach. Iranian encounters with modernity did not constitute a simple transition from tradition to modernity, nor did resistance to Westernization necessarily amount to rejection of modernity itself.

Arshtat (Avestan: arštāt) is a female yazata, or divine being worthy of worship, in Zoroastrianism, embodying the principles of rectitude, justice, truth, and righteousness. The name arštāt derives from the Avestan root meaning "upright" or "straight," signifying both the divinity and the principle of rectitude. She represents an abstract moral force that supports ethical order (asha) and is invoked alongside other deities to promote cosmic and human harmony.

The Ram Hunting Plate is a beautiful artifact from the Sassanid period, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The plate is beautifully gilded with mercury, silver, and gold, and decorated with black ink, and in a hunting scene that takes us back more than 2,000 years, the Shah of Iran from the Sasanian dynasty, believed to be Bahram V, is majestically and authoritatively hunting rams.

Approximately four millennia ago, the Achaemenid Empire emerged as, according to many historians, thinkers, and philosophers of history, one of the earliest examples of professional governance in human civilisation. The Achaemenids established a model of statecraft based on organised administration, institutional structures, legal frameworks, and a system of governance capable of managing one of the largest and most culturally diverse political entities of the ancient world.

The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BCE), founded by Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great), governed one of the largest and most diverse political entities of the ancient world. Stretching from the Balkans and Egypt to Central Asia and the Indus Valley, the empire incorporated dozens of ethnic groups, languages, legal traditions, and religions. Rather than attempting to homogenize these populations, the Achaemenids developed a sophisticated administrative framework built upon centralized royal authority, provincial autonomy, bureaucratic professionalism, and respect for local institutions.

The Panji observances, according to the ancient Zoroastrian calendar, began on 21th Tir and continued for five days.

The Armenian Genocide of 1915–1917 represents one of the most consequential episodes of mass violence in modern history and remains a central case study in genocide scholarship. This article examines the destruction of Armenian communities within the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, focusing on the relationship between state policy, wartime security concerns, demographic transformation, and genocidal intent. Drawing upon Ottoman archival materials, diplomatic correspondence, survivor testimonies, demographic studies, and the broader historiography of genocide studies, this article analyzes the mechanisms through which mass deportation evolved into systematic destruction.

About the Author

Yahya Zoka (1923–2001) was an Iranian scholar, university professor, historian of Iranian art, and one of Iran's foremost experts on artistic heritage. He was born in Tabriz.

The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BCE) ruled most of what is now Turkey for over two centuries, but unlike in Iran, there are relatively few monumental buildings that are unmistakably "Persian." This is because the Achaemenids generally governed Anatolia through existing local kingdoms and cities rather than replacing them with entirely new Persian cities.