Orientalist Ideology of Aryanism and Its Manifestation in the Architectural Culture of Iran during the Nation-Building Process

Abstract

In the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, modern historiography witnessed a significant shift towards the kinship/homogeneity approach, largely driven by orientalists in nonWestern regions. Within this paradigm, the geographical significance of Iran gained prominence.

This study scrutinizes the intersection of Aryanist historiography with the construction field during the Qajar and First Pahlavi periods in Iran. It assesses the tangible outcomes of this historical perspective as the emergence of Persian Nationalism in the construction field. It draws upon primary sources and an extensive literature review, employing a critical methodology to scrutinize architectural historiography during the late Qajar and First Pahlavi periods. The study identifies that, from the second half of the 19^th century, Persian Nationalism rose under the leadership of nonMuslim capitalists and foreign and local Orientalists, subsequently gaining political power after the First Pahlavi period and becoming a determining factor in shaping the field of construction development. In this way, the archaic mindset that glorified preIslamic Iranian civilizations and opposed the centuries-long presence of Turkic and Arab cultures as local elements after Islam became the main ideology of the modern Iranian nation-state. This main ideology became a dominant element in the early architectural culture of the Iranian nation-state, bringing significant outcomes in the field of urban development. In this context, the outcomes in the urban field can be summarized as follows: the glorification of Persian historical figures, the demolition of public buildings and urban morphology from the Turkic Qajar period, and the proliferation of the Achaemenid/Sassanid revivalist style.