The Conquest of Tustar: Site of Memory, Site of Forgetting

Sarah Savant

Abstract

The military conquest of a hostile territory and its population is a paradigmaticform of violence and leaves deep imprints on the memories of the conquerorsand the vanquished alike. Examining these imprints and the ways in whichthey are manipulated by later narrators in specific historical cases can bring tolight the multiple functions that memories of violent conquest can serve. Aninteresting case study is provided by the Muslim conquest of the Iranian cityof Tustar.