 The role of European agents' reports in understanding the ways of Iran during the Qajar period (Case study: Malayer-Borujerd route)

The development of freeways in recent years has removed many historical routes and smaller cities from the country's passenger transportation cycle and harmed their economy. The necessity of protecting and revitalizing these routes is to know the talents and attractions in them. Since most of the country's roads were formed in the last century on the basis of the road network during the Qajar period, the historical sources of this period provide a better understanding of these routes. These sources are divided into two main European and Iranian categories. The extraction of appropriate geographical data from Iranian sources cannot be compared to the reports of European agents equipped with modern knowledge and tools. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explain the role of the reports of the European agents in the understanding of Iran's routes during the Qajar period, focusing on the Malayer-Borujerd route, which has been carried out by the historical analysis method and using first-hand sources from libraries and archives. The results show that the detailed reports of the European agents, besides being very different in the quality of the introduction of this route, have introduced another route by crossing the telegraph line as the main route, which is not mentioned in Iranian sources and is the shortest in terms of the distance, and rich in terms of natural and historical attractions. This can apply to many other parts of the country and be the subject of future research.