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. When Iran emerged from its own turbulent eighteenth century, it entered a new world dominated by expanding imperial forces, particularly 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 dissatisfactions, realisations of weakness, backwardness and many calls for change that led, ultimately, to revolution, nationalism and the formation of a centralising secular state, the outcome of the revolutionary struggle and the first World War. The essays in this volume contribute to exploring the world’s and Iran’s own discovery of her ancient past and the value attached to it. The interactions with her regional neighbours (Turkey, the south Caucasus, Afghanistan and India) in a variety of ways, cultural, political and commercial and the confrontation with new ideas required a redefinition of Iran’s place in the new world order and a clarification of the distinctive features of Iran’s religious and artistic identity.