Muṭāli̒āt-i tārīkh-i farhangī(Cultural History Studies)

Mirza Agha Khan Kermani's approach and attitude towards the history of the Safavid period

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ali Salari Shadi

Associate Professor, Department of History, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22034/chs.2026.558383.1141
Abstract
Mirza Agha Khan Kermani was a critic of tradition and one of the first intellectuals to gain fame in the Constitutional Revolution. He had a religious and traditional education, but due to encountering various modern and traditional ideas, he had critical approaches towards the traditional world of the era and its history. Therefore, he had problems and challenges with the rulers of the cities of Kerman and Isfahan, and went to Tehran and then to Ottoman, where, while being very active, he finally died on charges of plotting to assassinate Nasser al-Din Shah. He adopted a critical and biting tone towards any issue that had no relation to the modern world or ancient Iran. Now, the question is, what is Kermani's critical view and attitude towards the history of Iran, and especially the history of the Safavids, which he considered to be in line with the unfortunate history of the Islamic period? In the meantime, how did he conceive of the Safavid government and how did he formulate its characteristics and results? The author, using a descriptive-analytical method, comes to the conclusion that despite his sharp and biting criticisms, Kermani lacks a coherent and even scholarly idea. In his study of Safavid history, he expressed his critical tone with a one-dimensional, simplistic, and superficial approach. It seems that the main reason for Kermani's approach is a kind of confusion of historical thought in criticism and a lack of proper knowledge of history in the sense of scholarly study. In his opinion, the Safavids were close to the modern era, but due to superstitions, they were unable to be consistent with the West. Such a stance on the issue is very superficial and results from ignoring its fundamental issues. In his study of the superstitious aspect of Safavidism, he did not realize that superstitions were not cause and effect, but rather were themselves the effect of a deeper context

Keywords

Kermani
historiography
history of the Islamic period
Safavid history
criticism
Ayneh-e-Askandari
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Muṭāli̒āt-i tārīkh-i farhangī(Cultural History Studies)
Volume 17, Issue 66 - Serial Number 66
winter 2026
Winter 2026
Pages 85-106

  • Receive Date 08 November 2025
  • Revise Date 01 June 2026
  • Accept Date 06 June 2026
  • Publish Date 20 February 2026

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