Iranian Studies

The Status of Education in Abadeh County during the Qajar Era and Transition Period (1831–1965 AD): A Documentary Analysis of Waqf Deeds and Maktab Records within the Framework of Cultural Reproduction Theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Reza Moeini roudbali 1
Seyed sohrab Hosseini 2

1 Assistant Professor, Department of history Education, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 889-14665, Tehran, Iran., Iran4665_889 tehran iran

2 M.A. in Iranian Islamic History, Department of Iranology, Meybod University, Yazd, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jis.2026.412347.1408
Abstract
Education in Qajar Iran functioned as a dynamic social field for reproducing power relations and social prestige beyond a mere administrative structure. This study explains the organization of local education in Abadeh County (1210–1344 SH / 1831–1965 AD) by analyzing the structured relationship between the institution of Waqf (endowment) and the reproduction of cultural capital. The central research problem is how the local educational system operated without direct central government intervention and how regional elites managed this sphere within the decentralized administrative framework of the “Protected Domains” (Mamalik-i Mahrusah). Using a descriptive-analytical approach combined with a multi-level documentary analysis of 42 archival sources (including endowment deeds, school records, travelogues, and administrative correspondence from NLAI/SAKMA), this study employs Pierre Bourdieu’s “Cultural Reproduction” theory as its interpretive framework. The findings indicate that education in Abadeh functioned as an “autonomous field” grounded in the institutional logic of Waqf. In the absence of a centralized educational bureaucracy, Waqf served as a strategic mechanism for converting the economic capital of local elites into symbolic capital (prestige) and consolidating their socio-religious legitimacy. Furthermore, the transition to modern education in this region was not a sudden rupture, but rather a hybrid process built upon the foundation of traditional networks. The persistent silence of historical documents regarding the lower and marginalized classes also confirms the role of traditional education in reproducing structural inequalities under the guise of religious charity. Ultimately, this study emphasizes the necessity of revising macro-oriented and centralist narratives in the history of education, underscoring the critical role of “indigenous logics” in peripheral regions

Keywords

Maktab-school education
Educational endowment (Waqf)
Cultural reproduction
Local power field
Qajar Iran
Shiraz
Abadeh
Subjects
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National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI). (1929). Investigation into the Conduct of Mirza Abbas Khan Taheri, Former Finance Director of Abadeh (Retrieval No: 240/57484). [In Persian].
National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI). (1933). Request of the Principal of Tarbiyat School in Abadeh for Financial Assistance (Retrieval No: 297/33417). [In Persian].
National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI). (1935). Request to Establish a Primary School in Abadeh, Fars (Retrieval No: 297/30923). [In Persian].
National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI). (1939). Statistics of Students and Staff of State Schools in Shiraz and Abadeh (Retrieval No: 297/11826). [In Persian].
National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI). (1941). Request to Establish the First Grade of High School in Abadeh (Retrieval No: 240/10991). [In Persian].
National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI). (1945). Request for Financial Aid from a Teacher in Abadeh (Retrieval No: 310/37769). [In Persian].
National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI). (Qajar Period). Attempt to Dismiss the Finance Deputy of Abadeh (Retrieval No: 999/44116). [In Persian].
Newspaper: Habl al-Matin, Calcutta, No. 1, First Series, 10 Jumada al-Thani 1311 AH. [In Persian].
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Shams, I. (2014). Habl al-Matin. In Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (Vol. 12). Tehran: Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation. [In Persian].
Sheikhi, A., Ghasemi, H., & Mohammadi, S. (2012). Investigating the Motifs of Abadeh Woodcarving (Monabbat) in the Qajar Period. Journal of Visual Arts. [In Persian].
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Iranian Studies
Volume 16, Issue 2
Summer 2026
Pages 127-148

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