نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 دانشجوی دکتری باستانشناسی، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران.
2 دانشیار گــروه باســتان شناســی، دانــشکده ادبیــات و علــوم انــسانی، دانــشگاه تهــران، تهــران، ایــران
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
Following the collapse of the centralized Ilkhanid government in the eighth century AH, Iranian society faced a vacuum of order and administration. Relying on Ibn Battuta's first-hand observations in his travelogue, this research demonstrates that in this crisis, khāneqāhs (Sufi lodges) transcended a purely spiritual station and transformed into spontaneous, multifunctional centers addressing urgent social needs. An examination of the reports of this Moroccan traveler reveals that the function of the khāneqāh varied significantly depending on the local context of each region: in Khuzestan (such as Abadan and Shushtar), it served as an organization for road security and providing free food for travelers; in Arab Iraq (Najaf and Karbala), as a hub for consolidating Shiite identity; in Fars (particularly Laristan), as a platform for public mutual aid and moral economy; and in Bilād al-Rūm (Anatolia), as a base for the fityān (young men/urban fraternities) networks, which undertook the administration of urban affairs. Activities such as providing food, managing endowments (awqāf), and holding collective ceremonies in these spaces effectively became tools for resource distribution, fostering cohesion, and reproducing social order. Therefore, Ibn Battuta's narrative testifies that in this age of chaos, the khāneqāh was not a symbol of withdrawal from society, but rather a symbol of resilience and the re-creation of order from within society. This research analyzes Ibn Battuta's travelogue as a living document of the capacity of rooted social institutions to play a substitute role in conditions of central government collapse.
کلیدواژهها English
