chapter 8 The Reception of European Philosophy in Qajar Iran Roman Seidel 1 Introduction (Historical Context) Iranian intellectual history in the Qajar era was marked by the incipient re- ception of European philosophical trends, which took place in the broader context of various processes of knowledge transmission between Europe and the Middle East. Alongside the increasing influence of European colonial- ist powers, intellectuals and scholars in the Middle East began to encounter various strands of modern Western thought. These encounters initiated new intellectual discourses, which were intended to either overcome the Islamic in- tellectual tradition or, at least, to supplement or reform Islamic thought. These discussions did not, in fact, lead to a rapid change in the philosophical dis- course in Qajar Iran and were—from the perspective of eminent philosophers of the time, as presented in this volume—a rather marginal phenomenon. Nevertheless, they added an important facet to the philosophical tradition by gradually making European philosophical doctrines accessible to Iranian scholars, a phenomenon that became especially significant in the context of the reform of the educational system. Initially, however, the Iranian interest in European thought was of a techni- cal rather than a philosophical nature. Facing the enormous military, the ad- ministrative and economic superiority of Europe, reformists, state officials and intellectuals propagated the idea that reform was needed in matters relating to the army and governmental administration.1 This reform movement, which, in the context of the Irano-Russian wars,2 became known as Niẓām-i jadīd 1 For early Qajar attempts at military and administrative reform and the rise of European influ- ence on Iran, see Vanessa Martin, “An Evaluation of Reform and Development of the State in the Early Qajar Period,” Die Welt des Islams 36 1 (1996): 1–24; Shaul Bakhash, “The Evolution of Qajar Bureaucracy: 1779–1879,” Middle Eastern Studies 7 2 (1971): 139–168; and Stephanie Cronin, “Importing Modernity: European Military Missions to Qajar Iran,” Comparative Stud- ies in Society and History 50 1 (2008): 197–226. 2 The first Irano-Russian war in the Qajar period, which took place between 1804 and 1813, led to the Treaty of Gulistān (1813); the second war (1826–28) was concluded by the Treaty © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004387843_010 314 Seidel (New Order) was first initiated by Crown Prince ʿAbbās Mīrzā (d. 1249/1833),3 who was governor of Azerbaijan at that time. Besides attempts to reorganize the armed forces with the help of various European military advisors,4 he decided to dispatch what was to be the first of a series of groups of Iranian students to study in England in 1226/1811 and 1230/1815.5 The idea of this endeavour was to of Turkmānchāy. These treaties established the borders between Russia and Persia, ceding most of the lands that were the object of struggle between the two kingdoms to imperial Russia. For more detailed accounts of Russo-Persian relations before, during and following the wars, their significance in the “Great-Game”, i.e., the struggle of the colonial powers for supremacy in Central Asia, and their impact on Persian politics, see Muriel Atkin, Russia and Iran, 1780–1828 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1980); Kamran Ekbal, Der Briefwechsel Abbas Mirzas mit dem britischen Gesandten MacDonald Kinnier im Zeichen des zweiten russisch-persischen Krieges (1825–28): Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der persisch-eng- lischen Beziehungen in der frühen Kadscharenzeit (Freiburg: Klaus Schwarz, 1977); Stepha- nie Cronin. “Importing Modernity: European Military Missions to Qajar Iran,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 50 1 (2008): 197–226; G. R. G. Hambly, “Āghā Muḥammad Khān and the Establishment of the Qajar Dynasty,” in W. B. Fisher, P. Avery, G. R. G. Hambly and C. Melville (ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 7 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 104–143; idem, “Irān during the reigns of Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh and Muḥammad Shāh,” in The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 7, pp. 144–173; and F. Kazemzadeh, “Iranian Re- lations with Russia and the Soviet Union, to 1921,” in The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 7, pp. 314–349. For relevant diplomatic records documenting these relations, see J. C. Hurewitz, Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. A Documentary Record: 1535–1914, vol. 1 (Princeton: Van Nostrand, 1956). 3 For more on ʿAbbās Mīrzā and the significance of his reform measures for modern Iranian history, see H. Busse. “ʿAbbās Mīrzā Qajar,” EIr, vol. I, pp. 79–84; Kamran Ekbal, Der Brief- wechsel Abbas Mirzas mit dem britischen Gesandten MacDonald Kinnier im Zeichen des zweiten russisch-persischen Krieges (1825–28), pp. 13–49; Karīm Mujtahidī, Āshināʾī-i Īrānīyān bā falsafahā-yi jadīd-i gharb (Tehran: Pazhūhishgāh-i Farhang u Andīsha-yi Islāmī, 1384 Sh./2005–2006), pp. 93–112; Monica M. Ringer, Education, Religion, and the Discourse of Cul- tural Reform in Qajar Iran (Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2001), pp. 15–51; and Vanessa Martin, “An Evaluation of Reform and Development of the State in the Early Qajar Period,” Die Welt des Islams 36 1 (1996): 1–24. 4 From the very beginning of the Qajar era, the various colonial powers tried to acquire influ- ence over the Iranian government. Both Great Britain and Napoleonic France, in turn, sought alignment with Iran. 5 For a brief account of these first two groups of Iranian students in England and their sig- nificance, see M. M. Ringer, Education, Religion, and the Discourse of Cultural Reform in Qajar Iran, pp. 26–37; Farideh Jeddi, Politische und kulturelle Auswirkungen des Auslandsstudiums auf die iranische Gesellschaft im 19. Jahrhundert (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1992), pp. 20–36; Ḥusayn Maḥbūbī-Ardakānī. Tārīkh-i muʾassasāt-i tamaddunī-i jadīd dar Īrān (3rd ed., Tehran: Intishārāt-i Dānishgāh-i Tihrān, 1378 Sh./1999–2000), pp. 122–208; Denis Wright, The Persians amongst the English: Episodes in Anglo-Persian History (London: I. B. Tauris, 1985), pp. 70–86; and Mohammad Hossein Azizi and Farzaneh Azizi, “Government-Sponsored Iranian Medi- cal Students Abroad (1811–1935),” Iranian Studies 43 3 (2010): 349–363. For a more detailed account of Iranian students abroad and their significance for modern Iranian intellectual .