An analysis of the presence and activity of European physicians in Qajar Iran based on the concept of the Simmel stranger

One of the important issues of the Qajar period was the arrival of a large number of European physicians in the geographical area of Iran and their treatment activities. Due to being strangers, these physicians were not very familiar with the social conditions and relations prevailing in this space and could not establish a proper connection with the host society. In this study, based on the main sources of Qajar history and descriptive-analytical method based on historical sociology, the socio-cultural interactions of European physicians with the host society are analyzed based on the concept of "stranger" invented by Georg Simmel. The questions of this research are: How were the mental and practical actions of European physicians in the host social space? What has been the reaction of the host community to them? What effects have stranger-host interactions had on the professional performance of these physicians in the health and treatment process of Iranian society? The findings of this study indicate that European physicians due to their actions due to being strangers to the host social space such as neutrality, having a clear accent and transparency; Freedom from any restrictions, prejudices and prejudices; Disregard for the social, political, etc. categorizations, which often lay in their objectivism, failed to establish the necessary convergence with some of the actors of the host society (the group of traditional sages). Instead, the sages looked at these doctors as strangers and did not accept them into their group for a short time. But another part of the host community, ie patients, has accepted them and as a result, the impact that these doctors have had on the treatment process of Iranian patients has been a positive trend.