Centralized State-Building and Indigenous Resistance: A Sociological Analysis of the Political-Social Transformations of the Rostam District of Mamasani in the Pahlavi Era

Abstract

The process of centralized state-building during the Pahlavi period constituted a fundamental effort to integrate the peripheries into the center. Using a socio-historical approach, this study examines the interaction between the project of authoritarian modernization and indigenous resistance in the Rostam District of Mamasani. The research method is descriptive-analytical and is based on archival documents, security reports, and field studies. The findings indicate that the policies of the Pahlavi state in Rostam Mamasani went beyond administrative change and represented an attempt to eliminate tribal autonomies and redefine power relations through the fragmentation of tribal structure, the appropriation of natural resources, and the expansion of the security network. In response, local communities adopted a spectrum of resistance strategies, ranging from armed uprisings to strategic adaptation and civil resistance. The analysis of the data indicates that indigenous resistance was not merely defensive; rather, it constituted a form of intelligent agency aimed at preserving collective identity in the face of imposed modernity. The results reveal the existence of a “development paradox,” in which modernization led to deep social ruptures and the weakening of traditional social capital. This study argues that understanding the transformations of Rostam Mamasani is key to comprehending the mechanisms of state-building in decentralized societies of the Middle East and demonstrates that modernization without attention to the indigenous context often fuels social crises.