Condition of Kerman and Its Villages in Anthony Smith's Travelogue

Writing of Iran in travelogues has a long history of Iran; since the 19th century, however, the increase of international and colonial competition among strong countries, and the unwanted entry of Iran into global economy led to western interest in Iran, and more travelogues were written about Iran. Since travelogues deal with people’s conditions in urban and rural areas, they have been of great significance for Iran, as first hand sources. Due to their traditional context and different customs, rural areas have been of most interest to Western travelogue writers like Anthony Smith. Addressing the socio-economic situation, Smith presents a picture of poverty, illness and addiction among villagers in rural Kerman. His travel to Kerman coincided with the term of Mosadegh in office as prime minister, the political and party activities reached a peak, and the United Kingdom and the West set sanctions against Iran. Without mentioning the role of the occupation of Iran by the Allied forces during World War II and the oil sanction against Iran by England in the emergence of this situation, Smith presents the conditions of Kerman as natural and characteristic of underdeveloped countries. Therefore, addressing social and economic conditions of rural Kerman seems to be a necessity for to deal with in this study. The research method is descriptive and analytical.