The Idea of Iran: Qajar Iran on the cusp of modernity

The nineteenth century saw the consolidation of the Qajar State and changed relations with the European powers that had been transformed by political, industrial and agricultural revolutions, among them the loss of Britain’s American colonies and the rise of an independent power on the global scene.

When Iran emerged from its own turbulent eighteenth century, it entered a new world dominated by expanding colonial and imperial forces, notably Britain and Russia. Among the many consequences were the remorseless losses of territories in the North and East, by the end of which Iran took on the outlines of its present borders. At the same time, the encounter with the West gave rise to dissatisfaction, realisations of weakness, many calls for change and ultimately, revolution.

What does the Idea of Iran mean at this period? Can we discern the ways that the Iranians viewed their traditions and their environment (natural and built), their own literature and history, their religious identities, their relations with the increasing number of foreigners? And what was the view of these outsiders, in this period that was so formative of the West’s idea of Iran? What did Iran look like? How does modern scholarship define the distinctive aspects of the period? These are some of the questions we hope to explore in the symposium dedicated to this complex and difficult period from which Iran emerged with a new, secular and nationalist regime that sought to bring the country into line with these outside forces in the twentieth century.