امیرشهاب مهدی زاده

There are different views about the nature of the Sassanid government, many consider it an authoritarian government. If we accept this point of view, various causes and effects are mentioned in the explanation of this authoritarianism. This research finds the origin of this authoritarianism in the Sassanians' perception of the important concept of khishkari or individual’s responsibility, which has an important place in the intellectual system of Iranians. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to understand the dimensions and coordinates of the concept of self-employment and to understand its place in the authoritarian tendencies of the Sassanid government. The research method is qualitative approaches and specifically, the semiotics method of Umberto Eco.
In this method, by examining ancient Iranian texts such as Gathas, Denkard and Avesta, the signs of khishkari are deduced and the position of individual work in the linguistic and ideological structure of Iranians is investigated, then its role in the authoritarian nature of the state will be explained in a causal analysis. The findings of the research show that in the Sassanid era, due to the displeasure of the king and the courtiers and the permission to interfere in politics, religion took on a political nature instead of morality and politics becoming a religion, and those in power used religion for their political legitimacy. What bothers Iranians is denying their freedom of belief and religious pluralism and justifying their poverty and backwardness. As the final result of the research, it can be said that the first sparks of Iranian authoritarianism were struck at the end of the Sassanid period.