“The Impact of Different Types of Mourning on the Formation of the Cultural Identity of Society in the Safavid Age”

Various components contribute to the formation of the identity of any nation or followers of any religion. The comprehensive examination of the identity of each nation requires attention to all the causes and factors involved in the process of forming the identity of that community. Among these causes and factors, attention to religion and related rituals is one of the most influential components in the history of society and cultural identity of the nations.  The current research is descriptive -analytical and has addressed one of the most important religious rituals of the Safavid era, mourning Ashura, with the orientation of social history. Also It tries to present a tangible account of the common mourning tradition of that period while analyzing the cultural identity of Iranians of that time.  The purpose of the research is to answer the main question that the holding of the mourning ceremony of Ashura has influenced the formation of cultural identity of the society of the Safavid era. Therefore, while trying to introduce the most important components of cultural identity, such as religion, literature, art and social system, and identifying the constructive elements of these components, it is attempted to answer the question in light of the information given by the historical sources of this period, especially the travelogues.  The most important achievement and finding of this writing is the identification and analysis of some of the concepts and elements directly influenced by the mourning style and forms of Ashura in the society of the Safavid era. Hence, this thesis examines the factors influenced by various types of mourning and, by strengthening them, a new cultural identity based on the Shi’i sect was formed in Iranian society, and provided the basis for the separation of the Safavid community from non-Shi’i societies on the one hand, and on the other, fulfilled the preconditions for the formation of an independent Shiite nation and state