Abstract

Until the 1930s, Mashhad, Iran received thousands of pilgrims from South Asia yearly, a central node in the Shiʿi shrine city network spanning the Persianate world. Within decades, South Asian pilgrims had all but disappeared from Iran. This article examines how Reza Shah’s drive to ‘nationalize’ Iran spelled the end for this transregional network, leading to harassment of South Asians, increasingly seen not as ‘guests of the Imam’ but as foreigners tied to British colonialism. These decrees included dress codes that banned turbans and veiling, requiring South Asians to wear distinct national clothing that visually marked them as foreign. As Reza Shah sought to demonstrate Persia’s development as a power on a par with European states, pilgrimage became a battleground for anti-imperialist sentiments – taken out on colonial subjects themselves. South Asians in Mashhad – primarily British Indian but also British Afghans – bore the brunt, including as victims of the Gauharshad Massacre. Modern Iranian nationalism required disentangling Iranians from pre-existing transregional linkages and subsuming local identities rooted in mobility, as in the shrine cities, to a homogenous national identity defined by borders and territory. Those inassimilable to the project of Iranian national sovereignty, like the long-standing South Asian community from Iran, were expelled.

摘要

直到 1930 年代，伊朗马什哈德每年都会接待来自南亚的数千名朝圣者，这是横跨波斯世界的什叶派神殿城市网络的中心节点。几十年来，南亚朝圣者几乎从伊朗消失了。本文探讨礼萨·沙阿 (Reza Shah) 将伊朗“国有化”的动力如何导致这一跨区域网络的终结，导致对南亚人的骚扰，越来越多的人不再被视为“伊玛目的客人”，而是与英国殖民主义有关联的外国人。这些法令包括禁止头巾和面纱的着装规范，要求南亚人穿着独特的民族服装，在视觉上将他们标记为外国。由于礼萨沙阿试图展示波斯作为与欧洲国家同等的力量的发展，朝圣成为反帝国主义情绪的战场——针对殖民臣民本身。马什哈德的南亚人——主要是英属印度人，也有英属阿富汗人——首当其冲，包括作为高哈尔沙德大屠杀的受害者。现代伊朗民族主义要求将伊朗人从先前存在的跨区域联系中解脱出来，并将植根于流动性的地方身份（如神社城市）纳入由边界和领土定义的同质民族身份。那些与伊朗国家主权项目无法同化的人，例如长期存在于伊朗的南亚社区，被驱逐出境。到由边界和领土定义的同质国家认同。那些与伊朗国家主权项目无法同化的人，例如长期存在于伊朗的南亚社区，被驱逐出境。到由边界和领土定义的同质国家认同。那些与伊朗国家主权项目无法同化的人，例如长期存在于伊朗的南亚社区，被驱逐出境。