Village Exodus as a Social Response: A Historical Inquiry into Patterns and Perceptions of Collective Abandonment in 19th-Century Iran

Authors

1 department of social development studies, faculty of social saiences, university of tehran, tehran, iran

2 Department of Social Development Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jisr.2025.386889.1567

Abstract

The present article delineates the historical narrative of “rural exodus” in 19th-century Iran, as chronicled in primary historical sources. Iranian agrarian communities have historically faced a spectrum of natural and human-induced adversities, and they have developed adaptive strategies that are influenced by sociocultural, economic, and contextual exigencies. The mass desertion of villages, which ultimately led to their disintegration into dereliction, was a recurring phenomenon that was particularly evident in European travel accounts. This inquiry interrogates the ecological, sociopolitical, and cultural frameworks that undergird this dynamic, as well as the catalytic forces that drive it.
The investigation adopts a historico-documentary approach, anchored in archival research and critical analysis of European travel narratives contemporaneous to the Qajar dynasty.
In order to combat systemic exploitation by ruling powers, which was manifested in arbitrary taxes, tributes, and coercive exactions, Iranian rural societies alternated between strategies of evasion, bargaining, and outright flight, including collective desertion of villages, as evidenced by archival evidence and historical analyses.
Beyond natural calamities and human-induced challenges, the exploitative policies and excesses of governance have historically compelled rural populations to engage in mass displacement or nomadic subsistence. The perceived adversity of such migrations was mitigated by the deep-rooted cultural resonance with pastoral traditions and the relative simplicity of relocating to new habitats.

Keywords

References

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