The Reasons for the Tendency Towards Translation of Historical Books in Qajar Era (with a glance into the main trends in translation in Iran)

Translating in Iran goes back to Hakhamaneshian era، when epigraphs were written in other languages. In Iran، we can think of translation movement in three different eras. The first movement happened in Sasanian era، especially after the foundation of Jundishapour. According to the existing resources، translations in that era did not include history books. The second movement blossomed at the end of second century، after the foundation of Bait al –Hikmah (House of Wisdom). In this era، under the influence of Greek Philosophy، translation of history books was not also taken into consideration، and only after the development and expansion of relations between Iran and European countries in Safavid era، the need for translation became evident again. However، the third movement started during Qajarieh، after Russia defeated Iran، and foreign military and scientific boards entered the country. In this research، the factors which encouraged writers and translators in Qajar era to translate history books and its effects on attracting and bringing together researchers and the readers in this field has been studied. The results showed that the wars between Iran and Russia initiated the first translations of history texts. Establishment of Dar- al- Fonoun (house of science)، Dar-al-Tarjama (Translation House)، orientology tendency، and archeology discoveries in Iran helped the translation of history texts and focusing on this kind of translation to reach to its highest point so far. Furthermore، translation of history books resulted in changing the method of historiography، taking into consideration the history of ancient Iran، and introducing revolutionary thoughts to Iranians.