مطالب

This research explores the complex relationship between changing environmental conditions and political dynamics in India, concentrating on The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, A Novel by Arundhati Roy. The research attempts to disentangle the complex aspects of eco-political changes in the Indian context by critically examining the story. The novel provides a literary framework for examining the intricacies of environmental transformation, encompassing matters such as resource exploitation and land use, as well as the effects of development strategies on underprivileged groups. Using ideas from the Anthropocene discourse, the study looks at how characters and settings respond to and reflect environmental issues, illuminating the wider socio-political ramifications of these changes. Through a critical engagement with the text, this study advances our understanding of the complex interplay between political power structures and environmental change in modern India. To disentangle the intricate relationships between nature, power, and identity that the narrative portrays, the research draws on ecocriticism and political ecology. In the end, it makes the case that literature is a potent tool for comprehending and tackling ecological and political concerns.

The main question of the article is what approach to political participation is the existing or desired approach in Qur'anic thought. The research hypothesis, using the Jane Hampton model in theories of the state as a theoretical framework, is that in religious state, political participation and competition within the political regime are not against or solely for it, and among the delegative and agential approaches; the desired approach of the Qur’an is closer to what can be called "conditional maximum" or de-agential approach, which is conditional in the emergence and survival of religious state; a participation that is original as a causal element but is conditional and bound to some prior conditions and circumstances. The research approach in the two categories of verses of Shūrā and Bayʿah clearly has some differences with some other interpretative perspectives, and in the stage of choosing a leader, despite accepting the divine text and appointment, it also considers the political participation of the people to be relevant. In the research, in addition to the verses of Shūrā  and Bayʿah, other verses such as the verses of keeping the contract, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, public speeches of the Qur’an, caliphate and trust, etc. have been compared with political and agency participation. Accordingly, the validity of the political contract between the ruler and the people, the requirement of the Shūrā  institution in the public arena, active political participation as enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and interfering in determining destiny, the right to choose and general selection of the people, the caliphate as a kind of doubt from God in line with the right to participate, and also the right to leave the government to the worthy as a trust are among the findings of the research as components and pillars of the "Conditional Maximum" (delegative- Agential) political participation approach.

Achaemenid architecture is distinguished by its columned halls and porticoes, which can be found in the empire’s major capitals, such as Pasargadae, Susa, and Persepolis. Column bases are one of the most essential parts of a column, and square and bell-shaped column bases were frequently used during the Achaemenid period. During a 2018 survey conducted in Hannā, Semirom County, Esfahan Province, the authors discovered two square-column bases that showed a striking resemblance to other column bases found in the Achaemenid Empire. The column bases, along with several partly carved slabs, were found by a bulldozer during the digging process. If these column bases and carved slabs are indeed from an Achaemenid period construction, it serves as a strong indication of the importance of the Hannā site in Semirom. An additional indication of the significance of these findings is the lack of palaces or buildings with columns from the Achaemenid period in the region of Esfahan. Furthermore, it is essential to take into account the continued use of square-column bases in post-Achaemenid structures, as well as the fact that the masonry tools employed during this period remained unchanged throughout the following centuries. By analyzing the presence of carved stone slabs and columned bases of pillared buildings and halls from the Achaemenid period and beyond, we may determine that we are dealing with a prestigious structure that is associated with the elite of society. After the decline of the Achaemenid Empire, pillared structures and this type of square and stepped column base were used.