Negotiating identities: Iranian Jews, Muslims and Baha'is in the memoirs of Rayhan Rayhani (1859--1939)

This dissertation traces trends relating to conversion, assimilation and participation in public life by Jews of modern Iran, with special emphasis on conversions to the Baha'i faith, a newly founded religion with modern elements which grew out of the messianic Babi movement in mid-nineteenth-century Iran. It attracted large numbers of mostly Muslim converts but later its ecumenical message appealed to Iranian Jews who through conversion shared Iranian cultural values and greater harmony with Iranian identity.; More specifically, this study explores the causes and examines the circumstances of these conversion experiences within their social and cultural contexts and addresses the question of why a persecuted minority would choose to join a new religion that was subject to even harsher persecution, rather than seek the relative security of conversion to Islam.; It has been argued that Baha'i conversions highlight the convergence of a number of distinct processes at a time of grave historical change, most notably the advent of modernity and national integration. Many Jews migrated from ancient ghettos in order to benefit from economic and social mobility. At a time of high messianic expectations (a primordial theme among Persian Jews), a new faith promising equality and tolerance inspired a sense of optimism and the expectation of an end to prejudice and discrimination. Its acceptance of multiple religious identities provided the necessary space to negotiate new identities in new environments. Economic conditions necessitated a departure from the ghetto that gave the Jews a greater desire to rid themselves of the stigma of the "unclean" Jew and a willingness to re-evaluate traditional belief systems. Baha'i conversion to a large extent removed old cultural barriers and allowed greater assimilation.; Rayhan Rayhani, whose autobiography is a case study of conversion and the focus of this dissertation, was a Jewish peddler with keen historical insight and a remarkable memory. His life story gives voice to the experience of a disadvantaged, marginalized and evolving group and their coping mechanisms in a changing environment. This is a voice seldom heard in the Iranian context; it offers an ideal narrative for studying the complexities of religious conversion and ways of crafting modern identities.