Qajar Persia.

• Author: Hillenbrand, Carole

It is a great pleasure to welcome the recent publications of two books on Iranian history by Professor Lambton. The first, Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia, is an elaboration of five lectures given by the author in 1981 at Columbia University. The work covers a wide range of topics dealing with social, economic, and administrative aspects of the history of Iran in the period of the Saljuqs, Khwarazm-Shahs and II-Khans. After a clear historical introduction, Professor Lambton devotes six separate chapters to the wazirate, law and its administration, the iqta, landed property, agriculture and irrigation, and taxation. The remaining four chapters analyze the constituent elements of medieval Persian society: elements of "change" include the rulers, the "men of sword" and the "women of the ruling house," whilst the "men of the pen" and "men of affairs" are classified under the rubric of "continuity." The book is also provided with a short epilogue.

The author's approach is meticulous and thorough, revealing a thorough knowledge of the sources. The book is a veritable mine of information painstakingly assembled. Generalizations are corroborated by textual evidence. More especially, Professor Lambton has a sure grasp of economic data and her long acquintance with land tenure lends authority to her treatment of this tangled and thorny question. The book's usefulness is enhanced by a glossary, bibliography, genealogical tables, maps and index. There are remarkably few misprints and the volume is elegantly produced.

A few small points of emphasis or elaboration spring to mind. Chapter 1 on the wazirate (pp. 28-68) concentrates on the office of the sultan's wazir. It is a pity that there is no analysis of the caliph's wazir and of the interplay between the two offices. Chapter 9 on the "Men of the Pen" (pp. 297-327) and especially the treatment of the ulama (p. 309ff.) would have benefitted from a greater use of the biographical dictionaries of the period. The definition of adab as "profane" culture (p. 297) and the distinction drawn between the ulama and the Sufi shaykhs (p. 319) are arguable matters. Indeed, Professor Lambton rightly points out on the same page that it was the Hanbali ulama who led Sufi activity in the 6th/12th century.

More generally, perhaps the time has come to re-examine certain deep-rooted "truths" about the Saljugs, even though the existing evidence may never prove the matter one way or another. Professor Lambton...