The Ottoman Role and Impact on the Intellectual Modernism in Iran during the Formation Stage of Constitutionalism

The Ottoman Empire and the city of Istanbul during the years of the formation of Constitutionalism in Iran were one of centers with most effective impacts on the thoughts of Iranians in the process of transfer of modernity and modernism. For various reasons, Iranians, during the era of Nasser al-Din Shah and Muzzafa al-Din Shah, were engaged in economic and cultural activities in Istanbul and through publication of the Akhtar Newspaper spread the idea of constitutionalism and undermined the despotic system. On the other hand, some Iranian figures, following some of the Ottoman reformists, tried to establish a new political and intellectual system in Iran. The attempts of Mirza Hossein Khan Sepahsalar for the establishment of a West-oriented law-abiding system was under such impacts. The Istanbul Intellectual Center played an important role in this intellectual-cultural relationship. Although the concept of constitutionalism was introduced in Iran due to the impact of Ottoman intellectuals on Iranian thinkers, the constitutionalism that occurred in Iran was much deeper and effective compared to the adjacent regions. Attempts have been made in this paper to study the impacts of the Istanbul Center on the introduction of the idea of constitutionalism and modernism in Iran. The necessary data were collected from documents, books, reports and other sources.