Iranianism in the Local Historiography of the Naseri Era

A range of local histories was written in response to a plan enacted by the court and with the purpose of marking Iranian geographical kingdom in the Naseri era. On the one hand, these books indicate the literary traditions of local historiography discourse and reflected regional identities, but on the other hand, with a deeper view in the production of this great project, it should be analyzed as a conscious attempt with a sense of patriotism by the court and cultural elites to record the scope of political realm of the Qajar era under the term of “Iran” as a homeland. Using historical method and descriptive –analytical approach, and relying on historical sources and researches, the present article has been answered the following questions; which factors were the most influential in writing of local histories with Iranianism approach in the Nasri period? What persons and institutions, and with what approach, were involved in the compilation of Iranian local histories? The results show that three historical processes including Literary Return Movement, new scientific developments, and the centralization policy of the Qajar government led to a revision on the idea of Iran as the homeland of Iranians by the court and elites. This transformation resulted in writing local histories, focusing on recording the geographical boundaries of Iran.