國境にみる「近代化」と聖地參詣者 (特集 宗敎と權力)

Abstract

With the conclusion of the Second Treaty of Erzurum between the Qajar dynasty and the Ottoman empire in 1847, the number of pilgrims to the 'Atabat, shi'ite holy sites in Ottoman controlled Iraq, greatly increased. In particular, the number of pilgrims who set out from Iran during the latter half of the 19th century reached 100, 000 annually, which was nearly 1% of the total population of the country at the time. In this period Western Asia experienced a period marked by an enforced "modernization" that was imposed from above, being influenced by the European powers. This study examines the "modernization" imposed from above by the state and the conflict felt by ordinary pilgrims at the time who encountered it through an examination of the checkpoint that had been established at Khanaqin, a town on the border between Qajar Persia and the Ottoman empire. The primary source materials used in the study are diaries written by Iranian pilgrims and diplomatic documents exchanged between the Qajar and the Ottoman governments. At the Khanaqin border checkpoint three systems, one of transit permits (tazkira-yi murur), another for medical inspection and quarantine, and a last for customs duties, had been set up soon after the conclusion of the Second Treaty of Erzurum. The systems of transit permits and medical quarantine were newly introduced by the Ottoman government in the mid-19th century, and although Iran under the Qajar introduced the same systems some years after the Ottomans, these systems never reached a point where they were truly accepted by the society at large. Pilgrims from Iran, where the new system was alien, first encountered these systems at the border and personally suffered the deleterious consequences of them. As a result, the stance of the Ottoman government side, which sought to vigorously enforce these rules, and the judgment of the pilgrims, who were critical of the systems, could not be reconciled. This indicates the contradictions that existed between the two parties. In contrast to experiences in pre-modern times when the conception of national boundaries was unclear, pilgrims in the latter half of the 19th century experienced a strange political system by traveling to a "foreign land", and thereby obtained an opportunity to reflect on their own identity by crossing over a national border, symbolized by the checkpoint, and carrying a passport to travel in a foreign country. Although such was the case, the gap between ordinary pilgrims and the "modernization" imposed from above was actually quite great. The plight of these figures struggling to cope and in a state of consternation when faced with the "modernization" is highlighted by an examination of the realities of the border checkpoint at the time.