Nasserieh Street, A New Communication Venue for the King and His People in the Nasseri Period

The Qajari Tehran was the capital and the foremost centre for important state ceremonies: opportunities for the general public to attend the king's presence on various national, religious, and other occasions, which included celebrations, mourning, Nowruz rituals, farewell ceremonies or welcoming the king, etc. However, the structure of this city was not the same in the entire Qajar era. In the Nasseri period, for instance, new forms of urban elements and spaces such as streets and squares were introduced. Nasserieh street was one of the new urban spaces on the eastern side of the royal citadel, and became a new venue for state and sometimes non-state ceremonies, allowing closer communication between the king and the people. Focusing on urban rituals, this article examines the role of Nasserieh street in public, but also mostly state events of the Nasseri period, and compare it with previous periods, to then answer these questions: 1) as an urban space mediating between the citadel and city structure, what status did Nasserieh street have in holding ceremonies? 2- What innovative role did Nasserieh street played in enhancing the communication between the king and the people? For this purpose, and adopting a qualitative approach and interpretative-historical method, the primary and secondary sources were studied and the existing visual documents were examined, focusing on the public and mostly state ceremonies. The results indicate the heralding of a new era in king-people communication marked by an increased presence of the king in everyday urban life, which was largely derived from changes in the relationship between the state and the nation and the state's new approaches in seeking legitimacy.