مجله مطالعات ایرانی (Jun 2022)
The Role of Allameh Mohammad Qazvini in the Formation of National Iranology
Abstract
Introduction In a general definition, any study of Iran is called Iranology. Iranology in its specific meaning is the identification of Iranian literature, history, culture and civilization. Knowledge that is four centuries old and is essentially a European science. Iranology, both in the general sense and in the specific sense, has been monopolized by Westerners during these four centuries. All linguistic, historical, literary, cultural and artistic studies, both in scientific and non-scientific aspects, have been done by Westerners and in fact have been the direction of this science.But in the last century, some Iranians entered the field of Iranology due to traveling to Europe and observing the work of orientalists and Iranologists. Among these people was Mohammad Qazvini, who travelled to Europe and accompanied English, French and German orientalists, and became acquainted with their method of work and the nature of Western Iranology.Since much of the Western research has been flawed, Allameh Mohammad Qazvini thought of persuading Iranians to enter the field of Iranology and in correspondence and contacts with Iranian researchers encouraged them to do so. Allameh Mohammad Qazvini, by entering all the fields that were previously in the possession of the Westerners, broke the Western monopoly on Iranology. His collection of activities, which was accompanied by the utmost care and interest, made him a national Iranologist who had never held this position before. Methodology This research is based on collecting information from libraries and archival centers and descriptive-analytical method. First, the data were collected and then, according to the research topic, the data were processed. While doing the research, we came across two categories of data: data related to Allameh Qazvini and his historical and literary activities, which are under the subject of Iranology and data related to Iranology from which national Iranology has been extracted. Discussion Iranology in its specific meaning is the historical and literary studies of Iran. Fields in which Allameh Mohammad Qazvini was a unique master. The most important activities of Qazvini Iranology were: Commentary on Grammar of Persian Language, Persian poetry and comparison of Orientalists theories on literary issues, Documentary and the expression of rules and principles related to it, bibliography (See: Qazvini, 1953: 1 / 31-33, 34-45, 61, 70; See: Jorbozehdar, 1983: 1 / 238-241, 244-265, 133-144, 233-236), Codicology (Qazvini, 1956: 66-71; Jorbozehdar, 1983: 1/260-265), Genealogy of historical dynasties (Qazvini, 1944: 7-12), Biographical evaluation (See: Jorbozehdar, 1983: 1/9-98; Qazvini, 1945 c: 59-70), Morphology and Persian and Arabic meters of prosody (Jamalzadeh, 1971: 396-400), Dialectology(Qazvini, 2009: 389-390), Library issues such as: Descriptions of some librarians, booksellers and private library owners, Publishing words, history of the oldest Arabic manuscripts, old and contemporary libraries and organization of library materials (Shabani, 2000: 100-108) and following the contents of European newspapers about Iran (Abolhassani (Monzar), 2006: 12-17) and etc.In the field of textual criticism, Qazvini has critically examined the works of Iranologists and believes that not all of them should be trusted and the works that come from the west need to be re-examined. Qazvini's way of thinking and enlightenment in this field caused the entry of Iranian researchers into this field, which is in fact one of the branches of Iranology.Qazvini's goal was not only to criticism or recognize this and that manuscript, but also he tried to give a proper meaning to our cultural and national identity by identifying, collecting and recording documents related to the history and culture of Iran and fairly criticizing those documents (Ajoudani, 2014: 284).Mohammad Qazvini, in addition to researching, editing and textual criticism, is a pioneer in preparing photographs of important and rare manuscripts related to the history and culture of Iran in the libraries of East and West of the world (Bahramian and Motalebi Kashani, 2004: 153).Allameh Qazvini in the introduction to the photographed books addressed specific issues of Iranology such as historical geography, biographical evaluation, bibliography, Codicology and Oriental studies around the same book and author (see: Qazvini, 1982: Introduction). In addition, Qazvini preferred the introduction of Iranian scholars such as Mojtaba Minavi and Abbas Eqbal over the photographed manuscripts to Orientalists (National Arshives of Iran, 297/37756: 1-4; Motalebi Kashani, 2008: 447 -448).The sum of these activities was somehow useful in promoting and developing Iranian critical studies (Iranology) (Afshar, 1978: 132-133) and made many Iranian researchers interested in this field.In addition to text photographing and editing, Qazvini, after returning to Iran in 1939, wrote a biography of some contemporaries in Yadegar magazine under the title of Vafyat-e-Moaserin. It includes a brief biography and history of the greats of the Islamic world who more or less contemporary with the late Qazvini and he saw them or was aware of their names and symbols (Eqbal Ashtiani, 1949: 53). Also, in his writings, wherever he saw the name of Orientalists or Iranologists, he gave a brief description of their biographies in a margin or footnote. This issue is of special importance for introducing Iranologists and Orientalists to Iranians (see: Qazvini, 1945 a: 28-37).Allameh Qazvini, by dominating the research of Iranians and Westerners on the history, culture and literature of Iran, had gained a firm belief in some Iranian scholars. He talks about Eqbal: “with the presence of a person like Mr. Mirza Abbas Khan Eqbal, whose existence in Tehran is a conclusive reason that the research force and critical method of the Iranian race is no less than the European race” (Qazvini, 1953: 99). With the same encouragement and motivation, Allameh Qazvini created the grounds for Iranians to enter Iranology.In addition to historical and literary research, Allameh Mohammad Qazvini has also made great efforts in the field of geographical declaration. He has presented remarkable and enlightening explanations about many geographical locations whose exact location is unknown or that were ambiguities about them, with research and accurate follow-up among the encyclopedias and Persian and Arabic books of Al-Masālik Wa L-Mamālik. Qazvini in removing ambiguity from the geographical places, in addition to the views of Iranian historians and geographers, has considered the researches of famous Iranologists such as Schefer, Markwart and Barthold (see: Qazvini, 1948: 30-37).Communication with foreign Iranologists and Iranians abroad caused Allameh Qazvini to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Iranology and guide Iranian researchers to advance Iranology. As a result of these efforts, national Iranology gradually spread in Iran individually and organizationally and the Iranians believed that they could conduct a sample of Western studies on Iran.Finally, Allameh Qazvini has a very important role in the emergence of institutions promoting Iranology. He was always dissatisfied with the situation of Persian language in publications at that time and its extreme fusion with other languages, asked people like Mahmoud Afshar Yazdi to take the necessary actions to protect the Persian language (Afshar, 1959: 275). Although Mahmoud Afshar does not consider himself a fanatic in adhering to the rules and principles of the Persian language like Qazvini, he is influenced by such thoughts that in 1958 the "Dr. Mahmoud Afshar Endowment Foundation" was established to generalize the Persian language and consolidation of national unity. In the following years, many books entitled "Collection of Iranology" were published in the same foundation with the cooperation and assistance of Iraj Afshar. Conclusion In the early twentieth century, following the travel of a number of Iranian scholars to Europe and the observation of the work of orientalists this motivation raised in them that they can also do Iranology; among these people was Mohammad Qazvini, who, due to his association with great Iranologists in Britain, France and Germany, decided to conduct research like them and in their own way. As a result of Qazvini's Iranian studies, Iranians gradually became acquainted with the nature of Western Iranology and its strengths and weaknesses, and came to believe that they, like Westerners, could conduct Iranian studies.Qazvini's literary and historical activities in the field of criticism of historical and literary texts, historical geography, biographical evaluation, manuscript photography, introduction and annotation on prominent Iranian texts made him a national Iranologist, which had no precedent before him. His researches on Iranology, whose accuracy and importance were well-known, are among the first achievements of national Iranology. After him, many scholars continued his research fields, which led to the development of national Iranology.After Qazvini, Iranian scholars, many of whom were trained in Qazvini, developed Iranian studies activities individually and collectively. Holding world congresses and national and international conferences on Iranology in the following decades, provided fields of entry of foreign Iranologists to Iran and Iranology fell into the hands of national Iranologists after four centuries of Western history and its general policies in Iran were determined.
Keywords
