The Mental Mapping of Iran, Identity and Patriotism in Early Modern Iran – The Case of Moḥammad-e Mofīd

Moḥammad-e Mofīd was a 17th century diasporic Iranian living in Mughal India. In the introduction to his detailed geographic survey of Iran (Moxtaṣar-e Mofīd) he offers clear and emphatic proof of his patriotic feelings for a country which he had left decades before. Various scholars have hitherto argued as to whether there was any consciousness of “Iranian identity” among Iranians as early as the 17th century or not. Our author would definitely answer in the affirmative.