Book reviews

Shahrgara'i va Shahrnishini dar Iran (bih Inzimam‐i Muqic‐iyyat va Naqsh‐i Tehran). By Mehdi Amani. Tehran: University of Tehran, Institute for Social Studies and Research, 1350/1971. 80 pp. No price indicated.

Migration in Iran: A Quantitative Approach. By Mohammad Hemmasi. Shiraz: Pahlavi University Publications #48, 1974. 144 pp. 150R1s.

The Origins of the ?afawids: ?i^cism, ?ūfism, and the Gulat. By Michel M. Mazzaoui. Wiesbaden: Steiner Verlag, 1972. viii + 85 pp. DM 28.00.

Social and Cultural Selections From Contemporary Persian. With notes, exercises, and an alphabetical word list by Michel M. Mazzaoui and William G. Millward. Delmar New York: Caravan Books, 1973. xi + 128 pp. $7.50.     

The Energy Factor in Iran–Turkmenistan Relations

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought about major upheavals in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Among the newly independent states, those that were endowed with energy resources set out on the path of economic growth. The energy resources in Central Asia also attracted outside powers to the region. Moreover, the status of these countries as landlocked, and Russia's monopoly over energy pipelines, led these countries to search for new partners in order to reduce their dependency. This added a new dimension to the political, economic and security equations of the region. In this article, Turkmenistan is studied as a former Soviet republic and Iran as a regional actor that has interests in the region's energy dynamics. The role of energy in the relations between Turkmenistan and Iran is examined. The article proposes that the energy factor has produced a favorable atmosphere for closer relations between the two countries. However, Tehran needs to overcome a number of challenges in expansion of its relations with Turkmenistan, the most important of which is the United States' effective opposition to any Iranian initiative in the field of energy in the region.     

Seismic Fragility Curves for Un-Anchored On-Grade Steel Storage Tanks: Bayesian Approach

In this article, Bayesian approach is used for estimation of seismic fragility of un-anchored on‐grade steel storage tanks based on historical data and American Lifeline Alliance tanks database. The approach properly accounts for epistemic as well as aleatory uncertainties. The point and interval estimates of the fragility are formulated based on structural reliability method that implicitly or explicitly reflects the influence of epistemic uncertainty. The fragility curves developed herein are compared to corresponding relations currently available in the technical literature, the comparison suggest that actual tank performance is better than that predicted in the literature. Finally, application of fragilities in loss estimation methodology is investigated and showing a considerable scatter in the results corresponding to different fragilities.     

Dams,Drought and Water Shortage in Today’s Iran

Iran has a long history of effective and sustainable water resource management under arid and semi-arid conditions. However, today the country is faced with serious challenges in the water sector, including rising water demand and shortages, declining groundwater levels, deteriorating water quality, and increasing threats to the environment and various ecosystems. If these issues persist, tragedy will be the inevitable result. Over the last three decades tremendous efforts have been made to supply water, primarily through an extensive program of development, with dam building at the forefront. This paper offers an introduction to the different factors and elements influencing the water balance in today’s Iran and presents a perspective on the trend of dam building in recent times.     

Tobacco,Eurasian Trade,and the Early Modern Iranian Economy

This article focuses on the development of the tobacco industry in Iran during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It uses this discussion as an entry point to inquire about the early modern Iranian economy. Using a wide range of primary and secondary sources, it makes several historiographical interventions. In explaining what the development of a completely new agrarian industry means in Iranian society, the paper suggests that innovation and intensification may not have been completely absent in agriculture and that in contrast to the way some of the available literature tends to argue, the Iranian economy may not have experienced continuous decline in all sectors throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In addition, this article contends that the tobacco industry helped bring about the rise of merchants and landowners in Iranian society, and with that the further development of mass consumption and ever-increasing cycles of production and accumulation that expanded the commercialization of agriculture, domestic and international trade networks, and Iran's agrarian economy.     

Hammams and the contemporary city: the case of Isfahan,Iran

Hammams, or public baths, are an essential part of the social life in urban Islam. Often, they have a rich and inspiring architecture. In Iran and, in particular, in Isfahan – a large and historic city in central of Iran – numerous hammams were built since the Safavid dynasty (1501–1722). Social and urban changes have resulted in a significant decline in the number of hammams over the years. This paper starts by describing the multiple dimensions of hammams, such as their main architecture features, their role in health, society and culture. This is followed by an analysis of hammams in Isfahan, using a modified version of Büyükdigan categories for Ottoman baths: (i) ‘baths in ruins’; (ii) ‘baths continuing their original functions’; and (iii) ‘baths readjusted for new uses’. Anecdotal evidence from a survey conducted in 15 hammams is used throughout this paper. The main conclusions relate to the rapid deterioration of hammams in daily life, coupled with the lack of detailed documentation, which would allow proper planning and development, and the deficient use of some of these magnificent buildings and places for tourism development.