One Word - Yak Kaleme: 19th Century Persian Treatise Introducing Western Codified Law (Iranian Studies Series)

146 Pages·2010·0.64 MB·English

by  A. A. Seyed-Gohrab and S. McGlinn

One Word – Yak Kaleme
Iranian Studies Series
The Iranian Studies Series publishes high-quality scholarship on various
aspects of Iranian civilisation, covering both contemporary and classical
cultures of the Persian cultural area. The contemporary Persian-speaking
area includes Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Central Asia, while classi-
cal societies using Persian as a literary and cultural language were located
in Anatolia, Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent.
The objective of the series is to foster studies of the literary, historical, reli-
gious and linguistic products in Iranian languages. In addition to research
monographs and reference works, the series publishes English-Persian criti-
cal text-editions of important texts. The series intends to publish resources
and original research and make them accessible to a wide audience.
Chief Editor:
A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (Leiden University)
Advisory Board of ISS:
F. Abdullaeva (University of Oxford)
I. Afshar (University of Tehran)
G.R. van den Berg (Leiden University)
J.T.P. de Bruijn (Leiden University)
N. Chalisova (Russian State University of Moscow)
D. Davis (Ohio State University)
F.D. Lewis (University of Chicago)
L. Lewisohn (University of Exeter, UK)
S. McGlinn (Unaffiliated)
Ch. Melville (University of Cambridge)
D. Meneghini (University of Venice)
N. Pourjavady (University of Tehran)
Ch. Ruymbeke (University of Cambridge)
S. Sharma (Boston University)
K. Talattof (University of Arizona)
Z. Vesel (CNRS, Paris)
R. Zipoli (University of Venice)
One Word – Yak Kaleme
19th-Century Persian Treatise Introducing
Western Codified Law
with an introduction and annotated translation
by A.A. Seyed-Gohrab and S. McGlinn
Leiden University Press
Cover design: Tarek Atrissi Design
Layout: V3-Services, Baarn
ISBN 978 90 8728 089 5
e-ISBN 978 94 0060 012 6
NUR 630
© A.A. Seyed-Gohrab and S. McGlinn / Leiden University Press, 2010
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written per-
mission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book.
Table of contents

Acknowledgements

The Essence of Modernity
Introduction i
An evaluation of One Word xi
The reception of One Word xiii
Publication history of One Word xiv
Mustashær ad-Dowla’s letter to Muøaffar ad-Dñn Shah xv
Bibliography xxiv

One Word
One word 3
Introduction to the topic of the one word 11
The general laws of France 25
Equality in judicial matters and in implementing the code 29
Selection by merit and knowledge 35
Liberty of the person 39
Security of life, honour and property 41
Defying injustice 45
Freedom of the press 49
Freedom of assembly 51
Election and approval by the people 53
Electing deputies 53
Taxes and tribute in proportion to wealth 57
Principles of income and expenditure of the government 59
Ministers’ responsibilities 63
Separation of the legislative from the executive power 63
Members of the judicial bodies 67
The role of jurors 67
Publications of the government 71
Absence of the rack and torture 71
Freedom of crafts and professions 75
Establishing schools and teacher-training colleges 77
Postscript I 95
Postscript II 99

Index of the references to the Quran 101

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

After more than two years of research and translation work devoted
to this small but influential book, the support of several colleagues,
friends and Institutions should be recognised. Thanks are due to the
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the
Faculty of Arts of Leiden University which offered us the financial
and material facilities to finish this research. When we embarked on
this project, T. Atabaki (Leiden University) drew our attention to a
lithographed edition of One Word for which we are grateful. We
would also like to express our gratitude to I. Afshar (University of
Tehran) who generously offered us a lithographed edition with the
author’s autography and two unique pictures of Mustashær ad-
Dowla from his private library. Thanks are due to Nader Mottalebi-
Kashani (Library of Islamic Consultative Assembly) and
Mohammad Malmali (Farabi Cinema Foundation) for sending us
many materials. We also would like to thank J.T.P. de Bruijn, who
read the first draft of the introduction and offered us several
invaluable suggestions. We are particularly thankful to Remke
Kruk, Asad Jaber and Mohammad Alsulami who went through our
translations of Arabic passages. We are also very grateful to Atta
Mesbah who courteously offered us his help to type the entire
manuscript.
For this third edition of One Word, we are grateful to several
people, particularly Saïd Adalat-Neþad who kindly informed us
about typos and textual errors.
The Essence of Modernity

INTRODUCTION
The author of the work translated here is Mñrzæ Yýsuf Khæn
Mustashær ad-Dowla Tabrñzñ, one of the prominent liberal thinkers
who contributed substantially to the development of a theory of
constitutional government for Persia towards the end of the
nineteenth century. Biographical information about Mustashær ad-
Dowla can be gleaned from his own works and several other
sources of the period. Although his contribution is universally
acknowledged in his homeland, he is hardly known in the west.
Apart from an article by Mehrdad Kia, a few other studies devote
short sections to his role before the Constitutional Revolution
1
(1905-1911) in Persia.
He was the son of Mñrzæ Kæøim Æqæ Tæjir Tabrñzñ, a merchant
2
from Azerbaijan, and was born in the city of Tabrñz. In his home
town he followed the traditional curriculum, learning Persian and
Arabic literature and religious sciences, and some elements of
Islamic Law. He started his political career as a secretary in the
English consulate. It was during this time that Mustashær ad-Dowla
became interested in politics and curious about European culture

1
M. Kia, “Constitutionalism, Economic Modernization and Islam in the writings
of Mirza Yusef Khan Mostashar od-Dowle” in Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 30,
no. 4, October 1994, pp. 751-777; Abdul-Hadi Hairi, Shi’ism and
Constitutionalism in Persia: a Study of the Role Played by the Persian
Residents of Iraq in Persian Politics, Leiden: Brill, 1977, pp. 30-7; H. Algar,
Mñrzæ Malkum Khæn: A Study in the History of Iranian Modernism, Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1973, pp. 139-40.
2
For a biography of Mustashær ad-Dowla see Mu…ammad †ædiq Fayz, Mñrzæ
Yýsuf Khæn Mustashær ad-Dowla Tabrñzñ, Yak kalima wa yik næma, Tehran:
†abbæ…, 1382/2003, pp. 13-23. Our introduction has benefited considerably
from this introduction; also see Y. Æryanpýr, Az †abæ tæ Nñmæ, vol. I, fifth
edition 1357/1978, pp. 280-86; Mñrzæ Mahdñ Khæn Mumtahin ad-Dowla
Shaqqæqñ & Mñrzæ Hæshim Khæn, Rajæl-i wizærat-i Khærija dar <a‡r-i Næ‡irñ wa
Muøaffarñ, ed. Ñ. Afshær, Tehran: Asæƒir, 1365/1986, p. 95.