Hallmarks of Humanism:
Hygiene and Love of Homeland in Qajar Iran

FIROOZEH KASHANI-SABET

In 1908, an Iranian humanist sounded the bell of doom. Anticipating Iran's "last sigh," this writer—presumably Mu'ayyid al-Islam, the editor of the popular newspaper Habl al-Matin—railed against Russia's encroachment on Iran as well as its blatant disregard for human life. For this Iranian, the humanistic entreaties of the so-called "civilized, philanthropic governments" of the West seemed little more than empty words—a point confirmed by Russia's militaristic (and inhumane) drive south of its border. As he remarked, "In this new, bright age of humanism . . . in this age in which the protection of fellow human beings is considered a requisite of humanity . . . our northern neighbor [Russia] has sent a military expedition to our soil without any right or grounds."1 Territorial threats from Russia, however, were nothing new for Iran. Why, then, had Russia's recent advance so alarmed this writer?	1
The answer lay in the Qajar dynasty's embrace of humanism and patriotic thinking.2 In this "bright, new age," in which Iran had celebrated nationhood and the rule of law, it had expected international recognition of its national sovereignty. Nothing proved more distasteful to this patriot than Russia's sheer disrespect for Iranians and their sacred homeland. The offensive meant that Iran, a country increasingly depicted as "sick" and on the verge of territorial and political demise, had yet to be accepted as a sovereign, "civilized" nation in the commonwealth of humanity. In short, Russia's invasion had flouted Iran's modernist ethos of humanism.3	2
Iranians were not alone in voicing their cynicism about Europe's rejection of Middle Eastern countries from the community of humanists. Other nations expressed similar ambivalence toward the Western ideal of humanism, which like its Islamic counterpart, included a respect for human life and privileges, or humanity. In 1913, for instance, the nationalist Afghani newspaper Siraj al-Akhbar al-Afghaniyah published a cartoon mocking Europe's respect for human life. This journal is relevant to Iran, as it was published in Persian and frequently commented on Iran's political affairs.4 Moreover, the reference indicates that discussions of humanism were not limited to Iran but occurred in neighboring countries as well. In this illustration, Europe is symbolized as an attractive woman. She adjusts her hair while holding a "Book of Humanity" (kitab-i insaniyat) and pays no attention to the text. Nearby, two skeletons, referred to as "martyrs," converse with each other in a graveyard. Several signs in the graveyard memorialize groups of innocent individuals murdered for various reasons. One skeleton tells the other: "We had heard that this Europe, who holds the Book of Humanity in hand, is very just and humanitarian." The other responds: "But if millions of Muslims burn by fire in one day, no sense of humanity will be detected in them."5 Here, as in the Iranian case, there is a perceived double standard in Europe's respect for humanity. This cartoon suggests that respect for human life—a tenet of modern humanism—did not always pertain to Muslims in international politics.	3
As a concept, "Iranian humanism" may seem an oxymoron. The term forges a link with the intellectual tradition of Western philosophy and Enlightenment thought. To make this connection, however, is not to deny the "Iranian" interpretation (and reconfiguration) of these ideas. Qajar thinkers often grafted new meanings onto Western scholarship. Owing its emergence to the distinct historical circumstances of nineteenth-century Qajar society, Iranian humanism kindled an interest in the study of individuals, culture, and the natural world. Though influenced by Enlightenment and Positivist models, Qajar intellectuals created a unique vocabulary of humanism that derived also from their country's specific experiences, especially its religion and its sociopolitical climate.6 They stressed fields such as hygiene, medicine, and geography in their desire to learn about themselves and their evolving society.	4
Alongside Western influences, strong Islamic roots existed for Iran's embrace of humanism. During the Buyid period (945–1055 CE), for instance, Islam underwent a cultural and philosophical efflorescence that endorsed individualism, as well as the pursuit of literature and science. As Joel Kramer explains, Buyid humanists "were motivated by a shared commitment to reason and mutual interest in the sciences of the ancients."7 Yet they also conceived of the kinship of humankind and pursued a general love of humanity (insaniyya).8 This concept, insaniyya, had myriad meanings. Kramer goes on, "It is the quality men share in common, or human nature; it also signifies being truly human, in the sense of realizing the end or perfection of man qua man, often synonymous with the exercise of reason."9 These converging trends forged a distinct expression of Islamic humanism, but one that would undergo hermeneutic revisions in varying contexts. To historians of Iran, the tenth and eleventh centuries become especially relevant, as it was during this interval that Islam experienced an Iranian revival, benefiting from the literary output of the Persian poet Firdawsi (d. ca. 1020 CE), and the scientific contributions of the renowned physician Ibn Sina (d. 1037).10	5
Modern Iranian humanism, though drawing on these myriad sources, diverged from its medieval counterpart. Nor was the Qajar interest in studying the individual wedded exclusively to European thought. In seeking to acquire the cachets of civilization (tamaddun) and technological advancement—or, in other words, modernity—Qajar statesmen thus advocated the pursuit of humanistic learning and culture (ilm va adab), which entailed not just the "belles-lettres" but also a scientific literacy aimed at a richer understanding of the physical environment.11 Much of this interest in humanistic scholarship is chronicled in the newly founded publications of the Qajar period.12 It is worth noting, for instance, that a newspaper called Adab was founded in 1898 in order "to promote knowledge and civilization" and to expound on humanistic disciplines such as "philosophy, logic, mathematics, physics, and medicine." Like the editor of Adab, Mirza Sadiq Khan Adib al-Mamalik, many other Iranian intellectuals looked for creative ways to address Iran's tectonic shifts, whether in the political or cultural sphere, and believed firmly in the possibility of progress. More than any other process, they stressed the mastery of humanistic scholarship in facilitating Iran's move toward social betterment.13	6
In the Qajar political discourse, the themes of humanism and civilization often went hand in hand. Humanism became the catchphrase for pursuing progressive reforms aimed at restoring what was seen as Iran's pride and former grandeur. For instance, in the opening passage of his famous work, Sih Maktub ("Three Treatises"), composed in the late nineteenth century, Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani (d. 1897) discussed humanism in the context of civilization and nationhood. As he contended, "refinement of the manners and habits of humanism and the promotion of humanity in a tribe or a nation" are among the requisites of civilization, which means "a nation saving itself from hardship and savagery." By extension, a patriot was "a person who for the advancement of the nation and civilization" would sacrifice himself and his means of livelihood.14 For Kirmani—a controversial intellectual with Babi leanings who is remembered as much for his dislike of the Arabs as for his glorification of Iran's pre-Islamic imperial past—humanism became one of the cornerstones of Iranian civilization and an expression of its modern patriotic political consciousness. Other sources also expounded on the themes of humanism and civilization. In 1894, one of the semi-official Qajar newspapers, Nasiri, featured several essays on these subjects. One piece discussed the superiority of human beings over other creatures, stressing that education is "one of the characteristics of humanism [insaniyat]," since human beings, unlike other creatures, could better themselves through education.15	7
The use of the term "humanism" (adamiyat, insaniyat) occurred most frequently in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, usually in an attempt to increase national sentiment and patriotic loyalty toward the homeland (vatan). It is therefore unsurprising that in discussions of homeland, vatan often became associated with humanity itself. As one writer explained in 1900, "Vatan is a piece of land on which a person is born and is his place of growth and existence . . . From vatan comes his speech, knowledge, and culture [ilm va adab] . . . and outside of vatan there is nothing that human beings can imagine . . . Thus vatan is none other than a part of one's own person."16 Homeland thus became the source of humanity as well as the fount of cultural humanism and enlightenment.	8
There was not always a stark differentiation in the use of the terms adamiyat and insaniyat to mean humanism, which could alternately connote either "humanistic," in the sense of promoting rational thought and empiricism through literary and scientific pursuits to achieve human betterment, or "humanitarian," in the altruistic sense of protecting and promoting humanity or human life, dignity, and privileges.17 These concepts circulated rather widely among the Qajar literati. In 1906, a newspaper called "Humanism," Adamiyat, began publication in Tehran. It was edited by Aqa Mirza Abd al-Muttalib Yazdi, who supported the constitutional movement and participated in a secret society by the same name.18 In its second issue, for instance, Adamiyat considered the reasons why the "inhabitants of the East" (ahali-yi sharq) had been "banned from the realm of humanity and rejected from the league of humanism."19 Like many other journalists of the period, its editor advocated the pursuit of knowledge as a means to move Iran closer to the community of humanists. Another newspaper, Insaniyat, also emerged in Tehran in 1907 CE/1325 AH, which, according to the famous historian of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, E. G. Browne, "appeared to have been the organ of the Anjuman [society] of the same name."20 Other works also addressed the theme of humanism, focusing on education, the political well-being of the country, hygiene, or the creation of a civilized and thriving national community.21	9
Humanistic philosophy not only spurred scientific pursuits and colored political rhetoric, it also influenced Qajar literary and artistic trends. Qajar art often drew its inspiration from human forms, a shift from the traditional religious art of Islam. While this tendency revealed the bias of royal patrons, it had other longstanding philosophical roots. Humanism, with its increasing emphasis on secular values, became especially prominent in the realm of art. Many Qajar paintings thus rejected religious ideas, embracing instead the more profane and secular world of the individual and the state. Human beings became popular subjects of study in relation to the natural world—in the realms of both aesthetics and science—precisely because they exemplified temporal authority and cultural enlightenment. Luxury and extravagance were witnessed in the use of rich, earthy colors in paintings, as well as in the selection of subjects and objects such as kings, coronets, swords, necklaces, and elaborate costumes. Similarly, paintings of wars and other dramatizations of society were conveyed in human terms in an effort to recreate and idealize the earthly setting of the individual. The human body itself became a landscape, even inviting painters to use partial nudity in the depiction of women.22 In literary circles, humanism inspired a rereading of classical Persian works and a desire to purify the Persian language.23 Originating in a milieu of innovation and crisis, Iranian humanism thus embraced material changes in Qajar society and inspired a wide array of intellectual responses to social transformations.	10
Two salient themes of Iranian humanism concerned patriotism (hubb-i vatan) and hygiene (hifz al-sihhat). Though ostensibly unrelated, these subjects blended seamlessly in discussions of Qajar life. If patriotism involved respect for the national soil, or homeland, it also included an interest in human beings and the maintenance of a clean and healthy society. Nationhood—the quintessential symbol of modernity—could not be wholly achieved without other accoutrements of civilization such as humanism and hygiene. In embracing nationalism, Iranians advanced humanistic values to forge an ideal patriotic society and to create a healthy and enduring national community.	11
Scholars in other fields have also written on the relevance of sanitation and disease control to the processes of modernity and nationalism, yet the role of humanism has not been adequately amplified in many of these works. This has resulted less because of its irrelevance and more because of the predominant scholarly desire to trace the etiology of particular epidemics within an immediate medical or social setting.24 Yet, as the creation and proceedings of the International Sanitary Conferences have shown, the themes of humanism, civilization, and hygiene were not popular just in Qajar Iran but also in various European countries.25 In documenting Iran's efforts to promote hygiene, scholarship, and nationalism, I argue that humanism served as a philosophical pivot for hygienic and scholastic reforms at a time when many countries such as Iran strove to remain politically viable. I also regard humanism as an underlying cause for the advancement of hygiene and modernity in Iran and elsewhere.26	12
The social conditions of Qajar Iran sharpened interest in humanism and hygiene. In particular, the frequent outbreak of disease, which posed an ostensible threat to human life, spurred discussion of and innovation in modes of public sanitation. In 1831, for instance, as Iran was attempting to recover from its territorial losses to Russia, a serious bubonic plague epidemic spread throughout the capital—an outbreak that exacerbated the country's already difficult social conditions in the aftermath of the Russo-Persian War.27 The plague of 1831 was neither the first nor the last outbreak of the disease in Iran. In 1851, the first official Qajar gazette, Ruznamah-i Vaqayi Ittifaqiyah, reported that in an effort to contain epidemics of plague and other diseases, state officials were patrolling the capital city, Tehran, and ordering residents to clean up their garbage to limit the spread of illness. Yet this source also confirmed little success and organization in the administration of these activities.28 Plague erupted again a short time later, this time in Rasht, Gilan, threatening the commercial and social order of that city.29 In June 1877, for instance, deaths from plague in Rasht were estimated at "between 7 and 10 a day."30 In describing the reaction to plague in Rasht, the Austrian ambassador to Tehran commented that "the emotion of the inhabitants is at its height, misery is terrible, the site of religious processions traversing the city fills with anguish the spirits of the survivors."31 The proceedings of the Board of Health in Tehran also reported suspected cases of plague in Kermanshah and Bushehr, both regions contiguous with the Ottoman Empire, which itself was contending with outbreaks of plague in Baghdad.32 Surgeon-Major Colvill, who investigated the plague in Mesopotamia for the British government in the 1870s, reported in April 1876 "that in every town and village between this and the Persian Gulf people are dying from this disease."33	13
From the newspaper Siraj al-Akhbar al-Afghaniyah, 1913. The original is held in Princeton University's Near Eastern Collection.
Cholera, diphtheria, and smallpox also appeared at different times, making disease control a priority for Qajar society.34 A memorandum from the March 1877 meeting of the Board of Health in Tehran reported the spread of smallpox to Persian Kurdistan, as well as several deaths from diphtheria.35 In July 1879, a Persian source stated that approximately 1,825 deaths had occurred in a one-month period of illnesses, ranging from dysentery and vomiting to diphtheria and smallpox.36 The outbreak of plague and other epidemics caused widespread public concern and generated numerous works on medicine and related subjects.37	14
Diseases, it seemed, had become a commonplace of Qajar life—a reality that concerned not just Iranians but also European countries engaged in regular contact with Iran and other Middle Eastern societies because of trade and advances in communications. It was therefore unsurprising that a series of International Sanitary Conferences would be held to address epidemics and sanitation in the second half of the nineteenth century, since promoting health and hygiene was not unique to nineteenth-century Iran but, rather, a subject of broad international concern. In 1851, when the first such conference was convened in Paris, the themes of hygiene and humanism undergirded discussions of medicine and disease management. The conference was organized in an effort "to regulate in a systematic manner the quarantines and lazarettos" along the coast of Mediterranean countries. But the gathering also had a broader goal: to advance humanity through international cooperation and a "civilized" dialogue about hygiene and disease control. One participant declared, "hygiene is civilization. Without hygiene, civilization would only be a true social travesty."38 In 1866, when the next conference opened in Constantinople, Ali Pasha, the Ottoman minister of foreign affairs, reiterated similar sentiments: "This reunion," he declared, "is an incontestable proof of the immense step that civilization has taken in our century. Human fraternity, this fundamental law of all progress, gains more and more by the mutual guarantees that the civilized nations do not cease to give themselves. And what greater guarantee could we have offered the whole of humanity than the one we have before our eyes, in other words, to see governments that work toward civilization converge . . . to research and adopt measures that preserve against a disaster that decimates the human genre."39 Although Iran was absent from the 1851 sanitary conference in Paris, it maintained representatives at the conferences of 1866 and 1874, thus participating in the larger humanitarian drive to bring hygiene to an international public.	15
In the second half of the nineteenth century, in response to the growing interest in public health, Dr. Tholozan, the physician of Nasir al-Din Shah (r. 1848–1896), and others had helped to establish a Sanitary Council (Majlis-i Hafiz al-Sihhat) as well as a quarantine service to promote sanitation.40 In 1874, the Sanitary Council in Tehran was under the presidency of the minister of Public Instruction, Itizad al-Saltanah. Physicians from the British and Russian legations served as advisers to the council, even though "they did not have a voice" in the deliberations.41 During this time, although Iran had attempted to institute quarantines in several instances to limit the spread of disease, it was not always successful in its efforts. In 1877, for instance, in a meeting of the Board of Health in Tehran, Itizad al-Saltanah was quoted as saying that "the Persian Government had no experience of quarantine," but it had attempted to set up a quarantine the previous year and strove to take steps to improve its quarantine measures for the future.42	16
Other organizations also emerged to assist with disease control and sanitation. In Isfahan, Persian physicians instituted a forum called the Anjuman-i Pizishkan-i Isfahan (the Society of Physicians of Isfahan) to stress hygiene and to enhance the performance of their medical duties. In 1877, when plague erupted in Mesopotamia and its borderlands with Iran, Zill al-Sultan, the governor of Isfahan, had ordered the creation of this organization to improve urban sanitation. Although it ceased functioning after one year, the society resumed its sessions in 1879, when smallpox and diphtheria broke out in Isfahan.43 Mirza Taqi Khan Hakimbashi headed the society and proposed certain requirements for doctors and surgeons involved with its activities. The provisions stipulated that at the start of every week, doctors provide a report to the head of the society on the diseases observed during that period. If the diseases treated were of an epidemic nature, doctors were asked to provide more detailed observations, including the sex and general age of their patients, as well as relevant symptoms.44 The emphasis on generating and gathering detailed medical information showed an interest in scientific empiricism and a regard for medicine as an objective science. It also illustrated a desire to control and subject to public scrutiny medical officers and establishments.45	17
As new institutions appeared to improve public sanitation, newspapers continued to drum the theme of hygiene in their pages both as a social necessity and as a symbol of humanism and civilization. Ruznamah-i Ilmi, a nineteenth-century Qajar newspaper dedicated to promoting science, reported on the activities of the technical college, Dar al-Funun, founded in 1851, and the Sanitary Council. In one issue, the journal discussed the Sanitary Council's desire to regulate the flow and use of drugs by having them tested first for safety by a chemistry and physics teacher at the Dar al-Funun named Mirza Kazim, before making them publicly available.46 Another essay addressed the successes of a local hospital in treating complex illnesses. In fact, Itizad al-Saltanah as well as members of the council had inspected the hospital, which demonstrates their desire to scrutinize and observe public medical facilities and to promote empiricism, objectivity, and scientific rigor in these disciplines.47 Medical discussions such as these tended to reflect optimism and a belief in the ability of modern science to conquer human illnesses, as new information and methodologies directed the transition from traditional to modern medicine in Iran. Moreover, the emphasis on inspection and observation highlighted the desire to make the practice of medicine more scientific and accountable to public surveillance and debate.48	18
The prevalence of epidemics correlated with the low level of public hygiene in Iran. These conditions impelled Qajar thinkers to expound on the idea of cleanliness, medicine, hygiene, and physical fitness in their works. In 1880, Farhang—a Persian journal published in Isfahan—ran a regular feature entitled "Hygiene and the Cleaning of Cities." Its writer, Mirza Taqi Khan, discussed numerous issues, such as the spread of disease through open ditches as well as the proliferation of illnesses because of faulty sewage systems.49 Moreover, he pointed out that the failure to remove household garbage from the streets on a regular basis heightened unsanitary conditions, particularly if rainfall added to waste putrefaction.50 Other Qajar sources discussed further aspects of public health and sanitation. Ittila, another important nineteenth-century journal, defined hygiene as the collective effort among the inhabitants of every city to eliminate disease through an emphasis on cleanliness (nizafat). Although personal habits in matters of dress, drinking, and home life contributed to forging a sanitary society, they did not replace the need to promote cleanliness in the broader societal context. This source identified certain causes for the persistence of unsanitary conditions in Iran, which facilitated the spread of epidemics such as smallpox—an illness with which Iran had grappled. These causes included the following: sickness or overwork in communal labor, intemperance in drinking, the lack of cisterns for eliminating waste and disorganization in the maintenance of such sewage systems, inattention to sanitation in the cities, and a dearth of water, especially potable water. The absence of effective municipal offices responsible for providing such services exacerbated social hardships, making living conditions even more trying for Qajar subjects.51	19
Success in combating disease, however, remained fleeting despite the creation of a hygiene council and other organs. In the 1890s, Malik al-Muvarrikhin, a member of the Qajar elite, observed that "the streets of the city [Tehran] are very ruined and very dirty." Indeed, he claimed that the public roads were "dustbins for the homes" of the capital—a situation heightening unsanitary conditions and leading to the proliferation of illnesses throughout the city. According to him, Tehran's filthy streets were "the cause of air pollution and disease."52 Despite the fact that Tehran had been subjected to renovation and expansion under Nasir al-Din Shah just decades earlier, the city's material setting required further attention and improvement.	20
Because of its practical significance, other sources continued to explore the theme of hygiene as a way of expounding on social problems. A treatise from the early Muzaffari period (1896–1907) stressed the state's responsibility in upholding antiseptic conditions. Its writer, Khan-i Khanan, contended, "The necessities of life include hygiene . . . [and] just as the state must make efforts to protect [the country's] security [hifz-i amniyat], it is also obligatory to pursue hygiene."53 The attention to hygiene reflected an interest not just in improving social services but a desire to do so within the political structure. If the circle of justice—a political concept of Persian governance that considered the ruler and society working in cooperation to ensure the prevailing of a fair and righteous administration—had entailed the preservation of religion, it now also included support for community sanitation projects. This author also emphasized the Islamic injunctions to keep clean in an effort to promote public morality and social policing. For instance, Khan-i Khanan argued that the police needed to regulate the amount of time and money that people spent in coffeehouses because of their potential to cause moral depravity. He also considered gambling and the offering of alcoholic beverages to students illicit activities—actions forbidden in the Qur'an but that apparently existed in Qajar society.54 Hygiene thus evolved as an expression not just of Qajar support for patriotism and cleanliness but also of morality.	21
For hygiene was a subject both personal and social, both private and public. The social perspective of hygiene took account of the country's unsanitary conditions, while its personal dimension concerned the human anatomy.55 Hygiene thus became a way to conquer the human body—and, by extension, human society—through its emphasis on health, cleanliness, and the elimination of disease. Human empowerment might be attained if only people could comprehend their bodies and promote health through an understanding of nature and biology. That understanding could subsequently be applied to political institutions in order to promote social well-being. As one journalist commented, "Hygiene has illustrated the conditions of health and the provisions . . . that provide the endurance and continuation of life."56 This celebration of life offered another optimistic assurance of Iranian humanism and modernity. Rigorous attention to hygiene not only promised a long and fulfilling existence, it professed an ideal life—whether personal or political—in which the need for healers and drugs might eventually be obviated.57 By suggesting the possibility of creating an ideal society, it also gave a modernist interpretation to the concept of the perfect human being (insan-i kamil), an Islamic notion presuming the dominant position held by man in creation.58	22
In 1898, a prominent intellectual, Mirza Husayn Khan, Zuka' al-Mulk wrote, "Science and literature . . . are the pillars of humanism and the bases of civilization."59 For him, the realization of human evolution and betterment rested in knowledge. Proficiency in the arts and sciences (adab)—or, in other words, humanistic endeavors—would allow Iran to strengthen its pillars of society and governance and thus restore its historical grandeur. Moreover, such knowledge would bring about the eventual reduction of illness and the spread of hygiene, not to mention the realization of the ideal man. To demonstrate Iranians' proclivity for the salutary virtues of humanism and scientific learning—as well as Iran's ability to become modern and "civilized"—Zuka' al-Mulk's newspaper, Tarbiyat, stressed the "scientific talent of Iranians," claiming that they "were and are the fountain" of scholarship in these disciplines.60	23
In addition to such grandstanding, Tarbiyat promoted the sciences by instituting a feature in the form of a discussion with Nayyir al-Mulk, Iran's minister of sciences. The column served to raise public literacy in the sciences and included information on subjects as diverse as electricity, the ozone, and the temperature of the sun. To popularize the study of scientific fields, this publication even advertised the sale of relevant works in French at a local home in Qazvin.61 The store of scientific knowledge, it was hoped, would help Iran understand its pathology of misrule in its attempt to regain stature among modern, "civilized" nations.62	24
Along with explanations of fields such as geography and astronomy, this journal regularly published articles on diseases and medicine—a scientific discipline concerned with the human anatomy and the natural world. Medicine gained prominence not just because of its historical relevance but also because of its ability to offer treatments for prolonging and improving the quality of human life. The appeal of medicine and physiology, moreover, reinforced the Qajar fascination with humanistic learning. As Zuka' al-Mulk explained, "For human beings the proper and healthy mode of living depends upon knowledge, from stone-cutting, to woodwork . . . to medicine . . . [which is] the axis of well-being" and thus a science indispensable for every individual.63 To raise the public medical literacy level, Zuka' al-Mulk printed numerous essays on diseases. Two such discussions concerned diphtheria and cancer. Contending that diphtheria was a contagion that had existed for a long time under different names, the paper proposed various hypotheses for its dissemination. Tarbiyat even published a biography of Louis Pasteur to foster interest in disease control.64 As new schools developed during the reign of Muzaffar al-Din Shah (1896–1907), there would be a more marked intellectual distinction between the fields of medicine and hygiene, which, though nuanced and different in many respects, were sometimes lumped together. In 1900, the newly founded Luqmaniyah school, for instance, had two separate classes for hygiene and medicine.65	25
To encourage the proper maintenance and knowledge of the human body, other periodicals carried regular features on public hygiene or related fields such as physiology.66 In stressing the need to keep the human physique healthy, Nawruz, a journal devoted to culture and science, printed a column on the necessity of exercise for "nurturing and improving the [human] spirit and body." By keeping the body robust, exercise enabled people to take full advantage of their lives.67 The institutionalization of exercise as a palliative to physical decline would become a resounding theme of Pahlavi Iran when exercise became a regular activity of youth organizations. Healthy citizens, it was believed, would better promote the well-being of the nation-state as fully productive members of the national community. Thus physiology and hygiene—two distinct branches of scientific knowledge and two subjects intimately connected to the human anatomy—became popular topics of research.	26
Explanations of the human anatomy often centered on the male physique. There were, however, exceptions. One essay, for instance, focused attention on the female anatomy by commenting on morning sickness in pregnant women. This source even offered a purported cure consisting of cocoa and distilled water.68 Another piece, addressed primarily to mothers and children's nurses, cautioned the caretakers against prescribing their own herbal cures for common childhood discomforts or illnesses. Lactating mothers were also encouraged to breastfeed their newborns, as "the best and healthiest milk is the mother's milk." In fact, women who decided against breastfeeding were regarded as negligent, not to mention more susceptible to uterine and breast cancers.69 It is not surprising that these essays focused on women's reproductive (that is, mothering) function—the one physiological difference that emphasized the importance of the female anatomy.70 Still, the prototypical human body remained the male form in physiological discussions.	27
From the Shikufah newspaper, no. 10 (14 Jumada al-Thani 1333/April 29, 1915): 4. The original is held in Princeton University's Near East Collection.
The fields of medicine, physiology, and hygiene, as Zuka' al-Mulk observed, required the acquisition of a specialized vocabulary.71 The new language slowly found its way into the humanistic discourse of Qajar political life, which was evolving simultaneously in the same intellectual milieu. In rethinking Qajar society, many nineteenth-century Iranian literati looked to science in their search to find solutions for the country's social and political ailments. Many intellectuals adopted the Enlightenment ethos of Europe and became enthralled with the idea of "natural laws," whether in discussions of the environment or society.72 It was widely believed that progress would ensue because of the identification and application of natural laws to human societies. Just as geography located the natural laws of the environment, medicine identified the natural laws of the human anatomy. In their veneration of modern science, Qajar intellectuals sought to uncover the inherent natural mechanisms of human beings and their environment in order to attain (and assure) societal progress and cultural advancement—a touchstone measured increasingly in national terms.	28
Humanism, which encouraged understanding of the human body, also influenced the rethinking of political governance in Iran. The pursuit of biological knowledge went hand in hand with the development of ideas of individualism in Qajar political philosophy. In 1879, Farhang, a newspaper published in Isfahan under the authority of its governor, Zill al-Sultan, a half-brother and political rival of the future shah, Muzaffar al-Din, had expounded on such themes in a discussion of freedom and "natural rights" (huquq-i tabiiyya). Considered one of the bases of freedom, the article had explained that natural rights "are equal for all human beings, and include the protection of one's person, property, and peace."73 Such recognition of a person's prerogatives in society manifested the increasingly important role individuals would have vis-à-vis the Iranian state. Yet the journal was careful not to endorse boundless individualism, viewing it instead as a political vice and a source of social anarchy and turmoil.74 Iranian humanism, though upholding limited personal rights and liberties, eschewed the notion of state subordination to the individual. Rather, the individual existed to support and ensure the well-being of society and increasingly of the nation.75 Still, the notion of making the government accountable to its citizenry gained currency in the second half of the nineteenth century—another manifestation of the influence of humanism on Qajar political philosophy. This idea would be reflected in other political writings of the Qajar period. In 1870, Mirza Yusuf Khan, Mustashar al-Dawlah wrote his influential work Yak Kalimah, meaning "one word," in which he argued that Iran's betterment could be realized if only one word—law—prevailed in the country. Mustashar al-Dawlah, who was in contact with Mirza Malkum Khan, further defended the precepts of the French constitution, including the rights of men, by referring to Qur'anic verses and traditions, or hadith.76 Yak Kalimah was published, advertised, and put on sale in 1907, when discussions of humanism and the role of individuals within the state were becoming rampant.77	29
As works such as Yak Kalimah were circulated, the need for state recognition and protection of individual rights gained currency in the late Qajar period. This trend was evidenced in the political activity surrounding the creation of the Iranian constitution, which one activist described as a means of promoting the precepts of "culture and humanism" (adab va insaniyat).78 Because of the faith in—and likelihood of—human progress, the individual became an apt representation for the state. Governments and states needed to emulate human beings in their pursuit of social progress, and humanistic learning could bring societies closer to this ideal of cultural enlightenment. In arguing for the cooperation of the citizenry and the state, for instance, Zuka' al-Mulk remarked that "a citizenry without a government resembles a body without a soul."79 The body politic thus became a personification of the human body. The perceived ability to heal the human body of hitherto-destructive diseases with the help of medical and biological knowledge offered positive proof of social advancement. Similarly, intellectuals could cure the body politic of its debilitating ills by applying scientific techniques to social problems. Optimism thus pervaded discussions of nineteenth-century science and humanism.80 Just as advances in modern medicine seemed to prolong human life, improvements in the political arena could extend the country's lifespan. It was not entirely surprising that intellectuals isolated social ills and proffered political prescriptions by adopting an empirical (and medical) posture.	30
The high rate of epidemic outbreaks as well as the intellectual emphasis on the pursuit of sciences (ulum) encouraged the use of medical metaphors and disease analogies in the Qajar political discourse. At the same time that Iran strove to subdue diseases such as smallpox and plague, the country found itself grappling with metaphorical "ills" such as financial insolvency and political disarray. Pestilence became a familiar image in descriptions of Qajar politics and society.81 The outspoken statesman Mirza Malkum Khan, for instance, frequently discussed the "pains" (dard) of Iran when dispensing his social commentaries.82	31
Hygiene as a political doctrine had already gained prominence in treatises submitted to the Qajar court. One such work, written in two parts, not only commented on the human anatomy but extended the analogy of bodily health and hygiene to argue for the necessity of monarchy as the most healthful form of government for Iran. The first treatise, labeled simply "Hygiene," discussed various diseases and the use of drugs and herbs in curing those ailments. The introduction to this volume, however, revealed the author's twofold intentions. In this work, Musa bin Ali Riza Savuji—a scholar with some access to the Qajar elite—emphasized the necessity of hygiene because of its utility in maintaining the monarch's health. A healthy ruler, in turn, reinforced the image of a strong, prosperous society and citizenry.83 Savuji remarked, "The king is tantamount to the [human] heart, and the heart of the sultan . . . produces the outpouring of bounty to the body, which is tantamount to the country [mamlikat] . . . [I]f any calamity befalls the heart, the affairs of the country will descend into destruction."84 Thus, Savuji concluded, "the protection of the heart [that is, the sultan] is more imperative than the rest of the body." A healthy sultan could avert political calamity and ensure the proper management of his state, and it was therefore incumbent upon the country's doctors to preserve the health of the king. Such concerns became pronounced because Qajar monarchs—though a rank above the rest of the population—nonetheless suffered like ordinary citizens from common maladies.	32
In this context, hygiene (hifz al-sihhat) consisted of two distinct components: the protection of the ruler's physical body as well as the protection of the subjects and the body politic. To address the myriad meanings of hygiene, Savuji divided his discussion into two separate treatises, one with a distinctly political agenda, entitled "The Politics of Civilization."85 In this work, hygiene connoted the proper political conduct of the monarch and his ministers—the traditional actors in the circle of justice—for securing the well-being of the state. The specific use of the phrase hifz-i sihhat to refer not just to medical issues but to political concerns as well showed the explicit connection between hygiene and politics in the Qajar intellectual discourse.	33
Aside from its political relevance, the idea of hygiene and cleanliness had strong precedents in Islamic literature. The injunctions of wudu (ablution) and qusl (ritual washing) equate the act of cleansing and of cleanliness with religious purity.86 The Qur'an notes: "Truly Allah loveth those who turn unto Him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness."87 Observance of personal cleanliness was obligatory and divine, since "all worldly and otherworldly duties are dependent upon hygiene," and each person maintained an individual responsibility to uphold his bodily health and cleanliness. For practical and religious purposes, then, "the reasonable, cautious human being must work as much as possible to protect his body."88	34
By linking hygiene to people's otherworldly duties, intellectuals also maneuvered around another thorny issue: the purported incompatibility of Islam with modern science. In a famous exchange with Ernest Renan, for instance, the controversial figure Jamal al-Din "Afghani" had remarked that "the Muslim religion has tried to stifle science and stop its progress," but Afghani was also quick to point out that the Arabs had "rekindled the extinguished sciences, developed them and [given] them a brilliance they had never had." This evidence, it was hoped, would again "prove" the Muslims' "taste for science."89 Hygiene—a branch of science and humanistic learning—could forge a link between Islam, politics, and modern scholarship with its stress on cleanliness, life, and the human anatomy.	35
The debate on hygiene, mingled with the political transformations occurring in Qajar society, brought changes in perceptions and definitions of the country. Increasingly, intellectuals referred to their country as "homeland" (vatan) and to their commonwealth as "nation" (millat).90 A territorial entity, vatan was regarded as the progenitor of Iranian society and the mainstay of the emerging nation. One journalist defined the concept of homeland: "Vatan is the place where a person is born and lives. Now, Iran is our homeland and our home, and in protecting it, it is our duty that we do not withhold our life, money, inhabitants, or wife and family." For this was the "same Iran whose knowledge, arts, and civilization would dazzle the inhabitants of the West."91 Although Iran had once been a veritable "rose garden on earth," it no longer boasted its former grandeur. As this patriot asked ruefully, "Why was the Caucasus, which was a large part of Iran, separated [from it]? And why did Herat, which was a greater part of our homeland, fall to the Afghanis?"92 If this patriot did not have all the answers, he did at least identify the need to promote education and the sciences through the establishment of schools and other humanistic endeavors as a way to restore Iranian civilization and eminence.93	36
Others pursued hygiene as an expression of patriotism and appropriated medical terminology to cleanse and cure their homeland. One patriotic journalist contended, "Many of our people will suffer throughout the years unless there is hygiene in the country and until we understand its methods. And, of course, as our population declines, so too will our advancements."94 On a literal level, hygiene accentuated the need to promote public sanitation and bodily health; on a political level, hygiene underscored the need to keep the homeland flourishing. In seeking remedies, Iran found itself slowly shifting toward a new setting—a modern environment that relied on scientific methods and solutions as well as innovative political structures to relieve the country's various ills, whether social or political.	37
Motivated in part by territorial anxieties, which played an important role in giving the country its geographic shape, the birth of the Iranian nation also took place because of social and political exigencies. From 1804 until 1905, for instance, Iran lost several outlying provinces through wars, treaties, or boundary delimitation efforts, including territories in the Caucasus and along its eastern boundary.95 Faced with military, fiscal, and social troubles, Iranians searched for creative ways to fight their crisis of modernity. Many intellectuals promoted humanism in their discussions of progress and civilization. If modern empires—many of which also considered themselves "civilized" nations—boasted of railroads, steamboats, schools, and public hygiene, then Iran needed to procure similar articles of modernity to alter and refine definitions of itself and be counted among the community of humanists. These acquisitions included innovative institutions as well as the invention of supporting nationalist polemics.96 Both of these processes owed much to the humanistic ethos of the late Qajar years.	38
Iran's transition to nationhood, then, occurred in the midst of these simultaneous transformations and, in part, because of these concomitant technological, social, and scientific developments. This is not to suggest that Iranian humanism or nationhood emerged through a process of blind imitation or exclusively in a reactionary guise. On the contrary, the discourse on homeland expressly stressed the significance of the indigenous environment in forging patriotism. Still, there existed a desire to adopt and adapt alternative, non-indigenous structures to propel Iran toward nationhood—a move seen in Iran's struggle to create a parliament and to write a constitution. Though plagued by various afflictions, Iran slowly appropriated the lineaments of modernity and nationhood in attempting to eliminate its figurative diseases. The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 became a watershed in Iranian history precisely because Iranians finally succeeded in obtaining some of the tokens of humanism that they had been discussing for decades. Even if the parliament (Majlis)—Iran's political hospital—could not cure all the nation's mal- adies, it could at least serve as a starting point for launching Iran's revitalization.	39
Nowhere was the unification of these themes seen as pointedly as during the Constitutional Revolution.97 Many newspapers—the latest medium of intellectual debate in Iran—promoted revitalization assiduously.98 One publication even labeled newspapers the "prescription pad" (nuskhih) of the nation, since they identified the ills harming the homeland.99 Why did the issues of hygiene and humanism appear at the forefront of patriotic debate? If Iran strove to project an image of political vigor, particularly at a time of declining fortunes, then the country's material conditions needed to reflect the health of the homeland. The nation's organization of and control over its sanitation methods mirrored its authority over other areas, such as its finances and frontiers. Aside from the material need to eliminate disease, cleanliness and hygiene became symbols of national well-being and civilization. However, in order to understand and spread the rules of hygiene, it was first necessary to pursue humanistic disciplines and to cultivate a belief in the individual. The promotion of sanitation then emerged not just as a necessary social projectbut as a resounding feature of nationalist polemic, Iranian modernity, and humanism.	40
The call for humanism and hygiene played nicely into the hands of Iranian patriots, who had been actively advancing nationalist polemics in their writings. For decades, Qajar statesmen had been distressed over the presence of foreigners in Iran and the country's possible territorial obliteration. Their focus on the Iranian homeland inspired an assortment of patriotic works aimed at defending the country. Humanism thus developed alongside another prominent idea among the Qajar literati: love of homeland, or hubb-i vatan. Qajar patriots advocated the ideas of humanism and hygiene because adherence to these beliefs, they hoped, would help create the civilized, progressive, and above all healthy homeland that many desired.	41
The rights of individuals in society became a prominent feature of humanist discussions. In 1907, for instance, Mirza Ali Muhammad Khan, who edited the constitutionalist journal Taraqqi, wrote: "A human being is the noblest of creatures so long as he realizes the distinction of his existence and possesses the essentials of humanism. A human being is entitled to rights so long as he recognizes his rights and considers the protection of rights his obligation. A person is free so long as he considers himself worthy of freedom."100 Such musings about the role and prerogatives of individuals in society became common during the constitutional years (1906–1911) and traced their origins to the burgeoning discussions of humanism that had begun in the late nineteenth century.	42
Many of the same thinkers who promoted humanism also placed emphasis on hygiene as a hallmark of humanism. Emphasis on hygiene and sanitation prompted debate as well as various administrative measures, pointing to the public interest in promoting cleanliness and sanitation.101 For instance, a "Society for Cleanliness" (Anjuman-i Nizafat), headed by Mirza Abu Talib, was created in Tehran during this period to oversee sanitation of public baths in the capital. Talib was described as an educated person who supported constitutionalism and as someone well-versed in the "praiseworthy qualities of humanism."102 The Municipal Council (Shu'ra-yi Baladiyah) also came into existence at this time, and one of its primary tasks was the maintenance of public hygiene.103 During the period of the second parliament, from 1909 to 1911, several political parties even instituted public hygiene in their political platforms. The Society of the Seekers of Advancement of Iran (Jamiyat-i Taraqqi Khahan-i Iran), for instance, identified "the preparation of the items necessary for hygiene and the establishment of hospitals" among its goals. Similarly, the party of Ijtimaiyun-i Ittihadiyun listed improvement in public hygiene as one its objectives.104 One journalist even reported the creation of a medical commission on "military hygiene" (hifz al-sihhat-i nizami), since infirm cavalrymen could not effectively protect the homeland. A healthy army, like a robust citizenry, could better ensure the defense of a country faced with chronic frictions in its periphery.105	43
Aside from the fact that many constitutional newspapers carried regular features on humanism and hygiene, some used the human anatomy and medical metaphors to describe the body politic, especially the homeland. Journalists thus transformed themselves into healers of the homeland. To instill patriotism, the homeland had first to become intimately tied to the human experience. Anthropomorphism accorded this hitherto-abstract territorial entity—homeland—a corporeal (and therefore familiar) identity.	44
Like medical doctors, Iran's political healers, then, had to diagnose this metaphorical national body. If decades earlier, some thinkers such as Malkum Khan had isolated lawlessness as a debilitating contagion weakening Iran, during the Constitutional Revolution others would identify other viruses invading the country. One writer in April 1907, for example, was Mudabbir al-Mamalik—the editor of the newspaper Tamaddun.106 In an earlier article, Mamalik had used anatomical metaphors to make this diagnosis: "If we examine closely the nerves and muscles of this country, we will see that many types of pains have been inflicted upon this weak body . . . and despite the affliction of many disasters at the same time, it has not collapsed and still has half a life."107 He had a point. Although at the time of this article, Iran had managed to found a parliament and draw up a constitution, the country was beset by political, fiscal, and territorial troubles that threatened to reverse the hard-won successes of their nearly bloodless revolution. In the north, Russian troops threatened the Caspian provinces. In the west, Ottoman forces marched into Iranian Kurdistan. In the capital, parliamentary delegates considered various and sundry schemes for raising money in order to avert national bankruptcy. Finally, the new king, Muhammad Ali Shah (r. 1907–1909), showed little sympathy to the constitutionalists, aggravating the distress of a beleaguered nation. These inauspicious happenings naturally cast a pall over the excitement, since the parliament—Iran's political hospital—lacked the necessary resources to eradicate the homeland's maladies.	45
Increasingly, patriots represented pejorative political concepts such as despotism or tyranny (istibdad) as diseases. Often labeled an incurable ailment (dard-i bi darman) or a "microbe," despotism was depicted as a disease wearing down the nation's new institutions—and therefore its vehicles of freedom—just as cancer eroded the human body. As Mirza Muhammad Ali Khan commented in Taraqqi, "Previously, the rottenness of despotism had spoiled our brains." With the parliament in session, however, Iranians could at least pursue their political well-being by attempting to keep the scourge of despotism in check.108	46
In 1907, another journalist labeled Iran an invalid (bimar). This writer, Sultan al-Ulama Khurasani, who edited the newspaper Ruh al-Quds, even argued that the nation's nurses gave it poison instead of medicine, thus speeding up its demise. The country's emerging political and territorial troubles intensified fears of Iran's "death," or in other words, its territorial obliteration. As Khurasani remarked, "the corpse-washer at the funeral home has brought the coffin [for Iran] since the gravedigger had already warned him [of Iran's impending death]."109 Death, however, could still be averted, and Khurasani considered the secret societies and the parliament as antidotes to Iran's political and territorial demise. According to him, the patriotic solution was to remove Iran's enemies and traitors—or "homeland-sellers" (vatan-furushan)—from the political arena.	47
As nationalists made love of homeland a leitmotif of the revolution, they relied increasingly on medical analogies to express their concerns about the state of affairs in Iran. In one account, patriots even organized a gathering on hygiene (majlis-i hafiz al-sihhat) to diagnose the ills of the motherland.110 In its second issue, the newspaper Habl al-Matin carried a title piece on this subject: "Is Iran Sick?"111 Not surprisingly, the paper's response to its foreboding question was a resounding "yes." Arguing that whereas Iran had been "the paradise of the world," illness had overtaken its "figure" (haykal), sapping its senses and its strength. As this writer, presumably the newspaper's editor, Mu'ayyid al-Islam, remarked: "Each day we would see its body grow thinner . . . its complexion become sallow . . . but we were too intoxicated by pride . . . to pay attention."112 Having thus determined Iran's sickly condition, this writer then considered various outcomes, including submission to national death—an option categorically rejected. Instead, he proposed possible cures (alaj) for the country. "[We should] bring together the . . . doctors and gather them around the bed of the invalid so that each person who knows anything about curing this sickly mother of ours can reveal [his knowledge]."113 Iran's political healers still had one or two tricks left up their sleeves. Among the first "cures" volunteered by the doctors were the antidotes of freedom, justice, and science. Other solutions concerned the necessity for restoring the health of the homeland by providing security and instilling love of life and living. This attitude would ensure the spiritual health and longevity of the homeland, averting national murder or suicide.	48
Weeks later, Habl al-Matin published another article detailing the responsibility of Iranian patriots to their homeland—also a mother—in filial terms. This essay inspired a running feature in the newspaper Rahnima that centered on the "diagnosis" of Iran. Recognizing the "respect to mothers" (ihtiram bi madar) as a human obligation and the "nursing of the sick" (parasdari az mariz) as a holy responsibility, this male writer implored the sons of Iran to rescue this precious invalid—their motherland—by gathering from among them the nation's doctors and surgeons. Infections (ufunat) had eroded this matron's delicate figure, robbing her of any vitality and beauty. The motherland's spirit and figure, however, could be revived with a modicum of filial love. This love had once been given by Iran's elder sons, Cyrus the Great (seventh century bce) and Shah Abbas Safavi—sons who had expanded and protected the motherland's sacred territorial physique.114 Today, however, this "old mother," who had fed Iran's progeny for centuries with "the meat on your body," now relied on her younger children to fend off rapacious foreigners from her bosom of chastity.115 The love potion of Iran's male doctors (or sons) seemed the final cure for the motherland—a territorial figure whose contours were being assailed by "thieves" from every direction, whether Arabs in the south or Turkmans in the north.116 The physique of the homeland was thus being transformed into a human form, though explicitly within a territorial context.	49
Such writings were not restricted to Tehran journals alone. In fact, the journal Iblagh, published in Tabriz, made the subject of the homeland's illness—a malady expressed increasingly in territorial terms—a reverberating theme even before some of the Tehran papers did. The location of this journal is significant, as Tabriz was near the other towns along Iran's northwestern boundary, which had been under steady Ottoman attack. Its writer, after lambasting the troops and spies whose travesty had weakened Iran, attacked Iran's "seditious" doctors for giving their sick homeland poison instead of antidotes and thus aggravating its feeble condition.117	50
Like all hospitals, Iran had employed "good" and "bad" doctors, or, in other words, patriotic healers and unpatriotic traitors, in dealing with the country's maladies. But who had been the historic doctors of Iran? Other than the country's own offspring—who received mild censure at the hands of journalists for the less-than-satisfactory political cures they provided—foreign countries also assumed that persona. At different intervals, for instance, Iran had sought the succor of deceptively well-intentioned Russian and English doctors, who only worsened the country's political and financial illnesses. This fictive reconstruction of historical events served as an obvious criticism of Iran's repeated insistence on foreign, especially Russian and English, advisers in conducting its domestic affairs.118 As this writer, Mahmud Iskandarani, wrote, "From the day that the Russian doctor crossed the threshold of this invalid, sickly conditions have caused pain and grief for this troubled one."119 The Russian doctors, moreover, maintained that if Iran were not given to Russia, it would not be rid of its ills. The issue of Iran's sickness and health, then, had a distinct territorial subtext. Iran's geographical vulnerability to Russian domination resonated strongly in the mind of patriots, particularly since Tabriz remained a region susceptible to Russian intrigues and influence.	51
One Majlis representative, Mu'tamin al-Mamalik, voiced similar concerns in an article addressed to the parliament. Acknowledging the ailments of his homeland, Mamalik looked to Iran's "true" doctors—the elected members of parliament—to restore Iran's health and to rid the country of its misfortunes by enforcing justice. In other words, the Majlis delegates, in protecting the nation's health (hifz al-sihhat) and in neutralizing its diseases, "were students in the hospital of that country," while the state and citizenry, who had to strengthen the nation, represented the soul and body of this "human country" (insan-i mamlikat).120 The use of medical language and anatomical metaphors in the political arena thus became a common way to express patriotic loyalty to the homeland.	52
While the malady of despotism had been partly confronted, the disease of discord (nifaq) inflicted other national injuries. Mu'tamin al-Mamalik argued that, "to preserve hygiene in the land of nature, we [should] plant the seeds of unity and solidarity."121 Eliminating conflict would thus ensure that the cacophony of voices would not cause delirium (sarsam) in this invalid and give the nation's doctors a bad reputation. Order and decorum in the parliamentary setting would further ensure that the doctors would not inadvertently prescribe opium (taryak) instead of antidotes (taryaq) for the homeland—a clever word play suggesting that previous political solutions had only worsened Iran's addiction to misrule.	53
Philosophic reflections underpinned the development of Iran's political rhetoric of anthropomorphism and disease. The attribution of human traits to the state had strong Platonic precedents. Iranian patriots referred, often explicitly, to Plato or his ideas of governance in their articles.122 In his celebrated opus The Republic, Plato had remarked: "Must we not acknowledge . . . that in each of us there are the same principles and habits which there are in the State;—and that from the individual they pass into the State?—how else can they come there?"123 In other words, since individuals helped to construct the state, their transmission of individual (or human) qualities to their creation appeared implicit. States and governments became extensions of individuals, developing corporeal dimensions and mortal souls because human beings had invented these categories. Moreover, societies not only resembled human beings in form and spirit, they acquired the characteristics and stereotypes of their peoples.	54
Although little, if any, evidence of this particular citation exists in Qajar works, the ideas embodied in it abounded in Qajar political writings. Like Plato, Iranian patriots endowed their political construct—the homeland—with personal features. One writer attributed human faculties to this "countrybody" (mamlikat-i badan) to argue for order and cleanliness in Iranian society.124 These concerns became especially acute as citizens worried about the tyrannical ways of Muhammad Ali Shah—a monarch unfriendly to Iranian constitutionalism.	55
The rhetoric on homeland lent itself especially well to humanistic analogies precisely because it derived from nature. As Michel Foucault has argued, nature and human nature often act upon each other, and such a relationship offered "a means of communication between the space of the body and the time of culture, between the determinations of nature and the weight of history, but only on condition that the body, and, through it, nature, should first be posited in the experience of an irreducible spatiality."125 Thus "the body provide[d] an outline" for the interpretation of a knowledge derived from nature. In the Iranian political discourse, the homeland—a space rooted in nature—furnished both the naturalist setting and the corporeal experience for patriots. The homeland, as described by one writer, was "a location on earth that has a particular soil, water, and air." In other words, the Iranian vatan had a particular natural environment, yet it was also a territory with a body, soul, and intellect. As this same patriot explained, "Vatan is body, vatan is life, vatan is soul."126 In this manner, nature and human nature became united in the ideal of the Iranian homeland.	56
Aside from acquiring a corporeal form, the homeland developed a soul and a character with which its residents could identify. In part, intellectuals adopted this rhetoric in order to make their appeal to patriotism comprehensible on a popular basis. After all, what could be more familiar to every compatriot than the bodily self? Iranian patriots, however, did not stop here. Their hallowed homeland was not just any human carcass. At times, it embodied the features of a most esteemed human figure: the mother.127 By personalizing the motherland and its troubles, patriots interpreted civic duties in filial terms. The defilement of this ideal in the form of territorial and bodily invasion or rape—as in the case of Russia's encroachment—negated the very impulses of humanism and civilization.	57
Anthropomorphism in the Qajar political discourse reflected further endorsement of humanistic ideals. Iranian humanism, a mélange of cultural literariness and individualism, entailed the acquisition of knowledge and a belief in progress. Man (though not necessarily woman) often became a locus of this discourse because he symbolized in form and spirit the possibility of evolution and learning. Humanism as a philosophy gained adherents among Qajar intellectuals, especially during the prelude to the Constitutional Revolution. Malkum Khan himself organized an association called the Assembly of Humanism (Majma-i Adamiyat). Influenced by Positivist ideas, Malkum discussed the theme of "humanism" frequently in his works. In one essay, he wrote, "We humanists of Iran, due to human exigencies, seek all worldly advancements and . . . eternal prosperity"—an end that could be achieved through the observance of liberal laws and the acquisition of humanistic learning.128 In another passage, he discusses the meanings of the terms "human" and "humanism." As he explains, "Anyone who seeks justice, who has zeal, who befriends knowledge, who protects the oppressed, who strengthens progress, and who is a well-wisher of the general public, is a human being."129 Though echoing select Positivist notions, Malkum strove to make his philosophy of humanism consonant with Islamic precepts. "Never suppose that the principles of humanism have been sent to you from the outside. All of these principles, from beginning to end, are the tributary to the fountain of truth that we call Islam."130 Islam, as interpreted by Malkum, embraced the ideals of progress and justice that his society sought to disseminate. In a short treatise called Usul-i Adamiyat ("Tenets of Humanism"), Malkum laid out the fundamentals of his philosophy. Humanism, as he defined it, imposed seven duties, including the avoidance of evil and the pursuit of beneficence, knowledge, and unity.131 It aimed, above all, to put each individual in the service of humanity in order to achieve societal progress.132 Malkum Khan's works were published and put on sale during the constitutional period, indicating continued circulation of his ideas.133	58
In addition to circulating his writings, Malkum had apparently founded a secret society to promote his philosophy of humanism, but it disbanded in 1896.134 Some years later, Abbas Quli Khan Qazvini, an admirer of Malkum Khan, showed his support for humanism as well as some of the essential tenets of Iranian constitutionalism, and founded the Society of Humanism (Anjuman-i Adamiyat) in the early 1900s. Formed in Tehran, the society strove to promote new visions of governance through the endorsement of law, reason, and social progress.135 Its membership included Majlis delegates, officials, and Qajar princes, who, according to historian Janet Afary, "were certainly far from united in their political views," including at one time the radical activists Yahya and Sulayman Iskandari, as well as Muhammad Ali Shah.136	59
Another group, called the Society of Humanity (Majma-i Insaniyat), also existed during the constitutional years, further manifesting the prevalence of humanistic ideals in Qajar society. There is, however, little information available on its activities, background, and membership, although it was apparently headed by Mustawfi al-Mamalik.137 A brief mention concerning the Society of Humanity appeared in the newspaper Habl al-Matin, alerting the residents of Ashtiyan, Tafrish, and Gurgan to attend a meeting of the society to select a new assistant director to replace Mumtahin al-Saltanah.138 The creation of political societies or journals that explicitly embraced the theme of humanism showed the popularity of this concept among a broad range of Iranian activists, not just a handful of high-ranking Qajar statesmen or Tehran intellectuals. Indeed, it should be emphasized that while some humanists such as Malkum Khan were dissidents and used the idea of humanism in a specific and sometimes controversial context, other writers, including many of the journalists cited here, used the theme of humanism more broadly to promote hygiene, education, and the rule of law for the general welfare of the Iranian people and nation.	60
Positivist philosophy also informed Iranian humanism and was evidenced in the use of the catchphrase "order and progress"—two resounding themes of the Constitutional Revolution.139 Scientific laws could be applied to man and society to achieve social betterment. As Auguste Comte explained, "The direct study of the universe suggests and develops the great idea of the laws of nature, which is the basis of all positive philosophy, and capable of extension to the whole phenomena, including at last those of Man and Society. The one point of agreement among all schools of theology and metaphysics, which otherwise differ without limit, is that they regard the study of man as primary, and that of the universe as secondary . . . Whereas, the most marked characteristic of the positive school is that it founds the study of man on the prior knowledge of the external world."140 The intellectual stress on such secular traditions eventually caused a breach with the religious establishment—a conflict poignantly played out during Iran's brief interval of civil war from 1908 to 1909. Still, man became a popular subject of study in relation to the natural world precisely because he was capable of being trained and of improvement through the application of universal laws. An Iranian constitutionalist writer remarked, "one of the advantages of human beings over animals is their ability to progress"—or their "progress-ability" (taraqqi paziri).141 Man's capacity to evolve and to improve made him an apt metaphor for society and the state.	61
Though focused on man, the humanistic ideals of Iranian constitutionalism eventually embraced woman in the adoption of a female persona for the homeland and in urging education for women. In 1907, for instance, one observer labeled Iran's women "the most unfortunate and the most miserable people of the world." Because many lacked jobs, they remained dependent on men for their economic livelihood. "Ignorant, unfair men" refused to grant Iranian women any "rights of humanity" (huquq-i insaniyat).142 This provocative article, though fomenting little institutional change, was nonetheless a significant public recognition of the inherent need to honor the rights of Iranian women in the evolving political climate of early twentieth-century Iran. After all, prior to this time, few public utterances openly addressed the inferior position of Iranian women or acknowledged their basic human rights.	62
Even though the nation was slow to embrace its female citizens, its adoption of humanistic ideals would eventually give women a role in the polity. Woman—like man—could better herself, especially as mother and patriot, through education.143 In 1898, a newspaper called "Learning" or "Education," Maarif, was founded as the organ of a society bearing the same name. Aside from regularly labeling the promoters of education and progress as "supporters of the world of humanism" (hava khahan-i alam-i insaniyat), Maarif also argued for the education of women. Referring to an article published in another Persian journal, Ittila, concerning the establishment of schools for women in the neighboring Ottoman lands, it supported education for Iranian women within the domestic sphere. Stressing that mothers needed to be educated in order to impart rules of hygiene and to improve on the nursing of children, it contended: "If our daughters, like those in other civilized countries, learn about the necessary principles of livelihood and housekeeping, which consist of the refinement of manners and of household management, it will bring comfort to their marriage and children." The writer therefore hoped that the Society of Education would take steps to create schools for the "nation's girls," who were, after all, the "future mothers and tutors of the country's sons."144	63
Women's education was deemed important not just because women played a vital role in raising offspring, especially patriotic offspring, but also because they were regarded as the essential lifeline of humanity. One writer argued, "Women are the basic elements of the social fabric of humanity . . . Mothers, no matter how kind they may be, if they are ignorant, they are the enemies of humanity."145 Moreover, women were the true nurses and caretakers of a hygienic household, and thus a natural conduit for spreading the salutary and patriotic virtues of hygiene and humanism. It behooved them to become educated and learn the principles of hygiene: "Whenever the kind mothers know something about what a microbe is, the innocent children, who are the new generation of the homeland, will not fall prey to hard-to-cure illnesses or the arrow of death."146 Practical considerations such as fear of the spread of disease in the household, as well as in the nation, made it necessary for women to receive a rudimentary hygienic education, even if they were discouraged from learning abstract subjects such as mathematics or philosophy in their formal training or social indoctrination. As one writer argued, "For women, logic and . . . jurisprudence are not necessary."147 Rather, practical knowledge about the basics of "patriotic housewifery" became popular.148	64
Even journals published a few years later for and by women echoed these themes and promoted hygiene and humanism for women.149 Several essays, for instance, dealt with hygiene and pregnancy, once again highlighting the valuable role of women as progenitors of Iranian society. Pregnant women were cautioned to protect themselves against catching colds and encouraged to eat well, while being discouraged from wearing tight clothing.150 In an interesting public announcement, the journal Danish even thanked a female American doctor for administering care to Iranian women, since previously, because of the paucity of female physicians, people necessarily would turn to "women without knowledge" and seek their assistance, particularly in the delivery of children, even though such women did not practice hygienic medicine, dispensing care with "impure hands filled with microbes."151	65
Journals geared specifically to women also discussed the themes of humanism and hygiene in other contexts. The newspaper Shikufah, meaning "blossom," which began publication in 1912, stressed the need for women to maintain a hygienic home as well as an active lifestyle.152 In addition, women were encouraged to take on the role of nurses, both literally and figuratively, thus highlighting the further incorporation of hygiene into female education and social indoctrination.153 The theme of humanism as it pertained to women was explicitly addressed in an essay that regarded culture and education as hallmarks of humanism. But for women, culture and humanism had distinct social parameters. For instance, "a woman who in the street or the bazaar jokes with a foreign man and removes the veil between him and herself cannot be called a cultured and educated woman."154 Nonetheless, women were encouraged to pursue the humanistic virtues of education, hygiene, and cleanliness.	66
Humanism also offered female patriots a visible social role in the national drama.155 Women were not just symbols of the nation but custodians of civilization and practitioners of health. In a telling cartoon dating back to the constitutional period, the daughters of Iran are called upon to restore the health of the nation. Depicted as an invalid, the "mother of the homeland" (madar-i vatan) is surrounded by attentive daughters ministering to her needs.156 The caption reads: "Oh, oh, kind mother, why have you fallen into such affliction, resting on your sick bed?"157 Distressing over the hardships of the motherland, the daughters p