The Shadow Government: Influence of Elite Safavid Women

Abstract

Until recently, the history of women in Safavid Iran has remained practically unexplored by scholars and historians. The lack of research done on women of the period can be mostly attributed to the scarcity of information available. One cause of this lack of material is the political and religious climate of Safavid Iran, which naturally lent to Muslim historiographers chronicling a masculine view of history. And when women, almost always in the higher classes of society, were deemed important enough to penetrate the patriarchal records, their lives and aspirations were usually generalized as hopes to see their sons acquire power.Biography: Jessamine is an English major.University Libraries Undergraduate Research Award