ABSTRACT
The Qajar society into which Amin al-Zarb was born was a pluralistic society composed of different groups with varying social status. In the first group, the most dominant individual in Qajar society was the shah, and there was a wide gap between him and the second group, that of the princes of the blood. The classification of the third group is more complex, although frequently they have been classified as landowners. The fourth group were the administrators and bureaucrats. The fifth important group consisted of the ulama, ranging from the great mujtahids to itinerant mullas. The sixth prominent group in society was occupied by the merchant classes, who traded extensively internally as well as in import-export externally, the bazaar merchants, and the shopkeepers. Although Qajar society was a society in which certain groups dominated others, it was not a closed society and the lines of demarcation between the groups were not rigid, thus diminishing class conflict and antagonism.
