A critical rereading of the story of Yaqoob Laith Saffari from the book History of Sistan with an interdisciplinary approach in literary and historiographical studies

Arabyousefabadi, Faezeh

doi:10.30465/lir.2025.51295.1988

A critical rereading of the story of Yaqoob Laith Saffari from the book History of Sistan with an interdisciplinary approach in literary and historiographical studies

Document Type : Original Article

Author

faezeh arabyousefabadi

Associate Professor/ university of zabol

10.30465/lir.2025.51295.1988

Abstract

This study, using Hayden White’s theory of literary historiography and within an interdisciplinary framework, analyzes the narrative of Yaqub Laith Saffari in Tarikh-i Sistan. The research question focuses on how this historical text constructs a particular image of Yaqub through narrative, rhetorical, and ideological strategies. Employing qualitative analysis, and concentrating on the elements of selection, ideology, and emplotment, the paper explores the narrative mechanisms used by the author(s) of Tarikh-i Sistan. The findings reveal that the portrayal of Yaqub is shaped through the omission of military failures, exaggeration of victories, ideological genealogy, and the construction of a binary opposition between “us” and “others.” In events such as the conquest of Nishapur, Yaqub is symbolically presented as a replacement for the Abbasid caliph. The fabricated Sasanian lineage assigned to him further elevates his status beyond that of a military leader. This analysis shows that Tarikh-i Sistan is not merely a historical chronicle but a narrative-ideological text that reconstructs the past through literary techniques to support the identity-based discourse of its time.

Keywords

Representation

Literary Historiography

Narration

Yaqoob Laith Saffari

History of Sistan

Subjects