Studying the ideas of mirza agha khan kermani on republic discourse (with france as a model) at Naseri Era

Abstract

In fifty years of Naseri era (1848–1896), Iran's community saw for the first time sporadic but serious attempts to improve and develop their political system. In western countries, reformist thought had come from theory to practical phase and in all pillars of communities change had happened. This progress and renovation transmitted to other communities and became a model for reforms and developments in communities like Iran. Through travels to west, Iranians become acquainted with their modern civilization, and their progress made Iranians wondered and perplexed. The first signs of the new civilization which attracted Iranians involved modern civil institutions, modern political systems such as constitutional monarchy, republic, and new political and social concepts like law, freedom, equality, parliament and popular sovereignty. Many of the intellectuals tried to compare these systems with the political systems running in Iran. Restudying the French Revolution by Iranian thinkers led to new narratives of this revolution. One of these thinkers was Mirza Agha Khan Kermani, who was greatly affected by French Revolution and attracted by political system of France. This article aims at studying the thoughts of intellectuals like Mirza Agha Khan Kermani, who have encountered with new political discourse of west like republic discourse (French Revolution as a model).