Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies· 2026Q1
Of whim and grandeur: Naser al-Din Shah and the Museum
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- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Naser al-Din Shah established Iran's first Royal Museum and a natural history museum in Tehran, marking the nascent beginnings of museology and museography in the country.
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Key points
- Naser al-Din Shah established the Royal Museum and a natural history museum in Tehran.
- These museums were founded during the Qajar dynasty (1789–1925).
- The Shah was influenced by European museums he visited during his travels.
- These institutions are considered the start of museology and museography in Iran, despite not being public or research-focused.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Persian borrowed the term musée from French during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah (1831–96), the fourth king of the Qajar dynasty (1789–1925). Impressed by the European museums during his travels, he established the Royal Museum and another one that focused on natural history in Tehran. Although neither of these two museums was public and they hardly served purposes such as research, their foundation may be taken as the beginning of “museology” and “museography” in Iran. In this study, I first give a brief history of collecting practice before the Qajar period. Then, I investigate Naser al-Din Shah’s travelogues to highlight which museums he visited in Europe. The Shah’s extent of museums’ activities and their various potential roles are pointed out. Finally, I draw upon a few Iranian and non-Iranian sources to clarify how the Royal Museum in the Golestan Palace was formed and what its collection included.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Museology
MuseologyArts and Humanities