An Analysis and critique of Arthur de Gobineau’s Historiography on Babiism History

This paper is based on a book titled Les religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie centrale about Babiism in Iran. This book is written by Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882) French minister in Persia. The paper’s author firstly looks at the background and the time when Gobineau’s book is produced and in this regard his political life and reasons for writing this book about Babiism in Persia is reviewed. In this article Gobineau’s narrative about Babiism historical trend in Persia is reviewed and there are some critiques about his historiography. The article’s author believes since Gobineau’s book is a forerunner in introducing Babiism in Persia it should be analyzed and studied in a particular way. So the author while delivering the particular characteristics of this book and reviewing its weaknesses and strong points along with each other represents the reasons why the Baha’is ignore this book and put it in their black list.