Āsār-e 'Ajam: A different vision for Iran's ancient history

This thesis investigates the contending perceptions of ancient history in late nineteenth-century Iran, focusing on the intellectual history of early Iranian nationalism and the concept of Iranianness. By defining secular, anti-Islamic, and anti-Arab ideas that emerged in the nineteenth century as the main components of mainstream nationalism in Iran, it critiques the secondary literature on Iranian nationalism for adopting a teleological interpretation of nationalism. This study rejects the notion that any interest in pre-Islamic Iran is necessarily related to that particular nationalism and requires a wholesale rejection of existing religious, social, and intellectual values. The three dissident intellectuals, Mīrzā Fath 'Alī Ākhūndzādah, Jalāl al-Dīn Mīrzā, and Mīrzā Āqā Khān Kermānī, are considered the pioneers of mainstream nationalist thought and historiography in this thesis. In contrast, Forsat al-Dowlah's Āsār-e 'Ajam exemplifies a different vision of Iran's ancient history, as it does not construct pre-Islamic and Islamic Iran as mutually exclusive for Iranian identity. Although Āsār-e 'Ajam reflects the rising interest in pre-Islamic Iran among Qajar literati, it highlights alternative approaches to making sense of ancient ruins. Despite the presence of orientalist and Neo-Zoroastrian sources influential in the emergence of mainstream nationalism in Āsār-e 'Ajam, it is argued that Islamic mysticism, philosophy/theology, faith, and ethics were more decisive conceptual categories in Āsār-e 'Ajam. This thesis argues that Forsat's vision of ancient Iran demonstrates a more inclusive conception of Iranianness and refutes the necessity of a binary perspective on the Iranian past.