The Enlightenment, Colonialism, and the Iranian Question in the 19th Century

Following the Enlightenment movement and then the French Revolution, competition between the great European powers for access to Iran intensified, on the other side the Tsarist Russia did play another role in these competitions. Unlike Russia, which used military means to open her way to European boarders and the Far East, European powers pursued their goals with the Enlightenment ideas alongside with economic investment. At the same time, some Iranian intellectuals emerged who put the same goals of the Enlightenment movement at the forefront of their activities. With the aim of promoting Iran, they tried to spread some new instructions such as the rule of law in Iran. It was thought that if Iran follows the same attitude as Europe, it would soon achieve progress and growth. These people not only did not pay enough attention to the requirements of the civilization, but also did not pay attention to the fact that the new civilization also has a colonial aspect that is contemporaneous with the new ideas. With the descriptive-analytical method of research, this study shows that these intellectuals did not have a critical approach to these categories and as a result, instead of establishing an idea according to the custom of the country, they took the path of imitating something that could not prevent the colonial risk upon.