Political and Social Applications of European Physicians in Nasseri Period of Qajar Court

Abstract

The penetration of European and foreigners' to the Iranian court which had started from Safavid continued also in the following periods. After the Russo- Iranian war and the reforms of Abbas Mirza, the presence of Europeans in Iran increased and various people in different duties like education, military tasks, economy and medicine were recruited. Among the Europeans who were in Iran, the physicians had the special status. From Mohammad Shah Qajar era, court physician were selected from Europeans. The penetration of European physicians increased in Nasser al-Din's long reign. In this period, the shah's private physician had the best position and usually was consulted by shah and courtiers. By increasing the European physicians' social and political influence in Nasseri court, European countries tried to select the shah's private physician from their nationals. So, the European physicians' applications exceeded their professional and scientific duties became a political issue, and were on the agenda of European ministers and plenipotentiary ministers of England and France. Through the present article, the political and social applications of European physicians and their role in the political relationship of Iran with the European first grade powers in Nasseri period was studied.