A Narrative Inquiry about Persian Gardens from Travel Literature and Journals’ Point of ViewCase Study: Tehran Gardens in the Qajar Period

Travel literature is among valuable and first-hand historical sources of every society that can serve research. During the Qajar era, which is a significant cultural, social and political periods and a turning point in Iran’s history, many travelers visited the country. After returning to their homelands, many of them wrote their journey memories. Apart from some content or methodological shortcomings, these written memories are valid historical documents that narrate Iranians’ traditions, lifestyle, social conditions, and administrative organization. The present research study seeks to investigate the narrative concept of “garden” from the perspective of Qajar texts and travelogues. It attempts to answer the following question: Is it possible to form the concept of “garden” through investigating narratives of Qajar travelogues and texts? The present study is qualitative in nature and historical-interpretive in purpose to figure out phenomena based on the meanings that people attach to them. The research strategy is narrative enquiry and in terms of form, the study can be classified as oral history. Results suggest that travelers’ views on “garden” can be classified into three forms of narratives: residential garden narrative, governmental gardens narratives, and recreational gardens narrative. The majority of historical documents pertain to the reign of Nasereddin Shah, while no travelogue was found from Mozafareddin Shah. Equally shared and found among all narratives is the importance of garden in that historical period. Most travelogues and texts confirm that during the Qajar era two thirds of Tehran comprised of large gardens that were mainly emphasis on Golestan Garden.