WAZIFA

A wazifa, or pension, refers to a payment made to members of the religious institution in Iran. The term was employed by Persian and Arab writers with a variety of meanings including task, duty, and office. But the term had a special meaning exclusive to the administrative system of Iran, which differs from the other Muslim administrative systems. The multiple meanings of wazifa explain why information on it is found in such a diversity of sources.

Apart from the allusions to wazifa that are found in chronicles and biographical dictionaries, information on its meaning as a pension for the members of the religious institution in Iran is found in Safavid administration sources.

Wazifa was a state stipend given to deserving individuals or institutions, invariably religious in nature. In principle the stipend was attached to a function. For example, in late Safavid times in Iran, all leading members of the religious establishment received a wazifa, which was paid out of the state treasury or royal endowments. Another kind of wazifa was paid to Armenian religious leaders from the income of the Armenian Christian churches.

After the fall of the Safavid state, the payment of the wazifa by the state was discontinued. When the Qajar dynasty came to power in Iran, the state paid greater attention to religious leaders, and resumed the payment of the wazifa to them.

See alsoPolitical Organization .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Floor, Willem. A Fiscal History of Iran in the Safavid andQajar Periods 1500–1929. New York: Bibliotica Persica Press, 1999.

Mansur Sefatgol