investigation of cultural activities of the french lazariste missionaries in iran (from the beginning of qajar period to the first world war)

the cultural relation between iran and france was a result of the russians' wars against iran. hence, the cultural activities of the french lazariste missionaries, especially among the christian society of iran, make an important part of this relation and a portion of unknown history of the qajar era that has not been much investigated and reflected. from mohammad shah's period (1250–1264 a.h.), the lezariste missionaries have begun to establish their cultural and educational institutions, such as many schools, colleges, printing-houses, churches, etc. especially in the western regions of iran. this trend has continued until the threshold of the first world war. therefore, the establishment of these institutions and the quality and quantity of their instructions that were in the french language, form a part of this study. the french language that was the most important diplomatic and cultural language of the day, and on the other hand, the interest of many iranians in european languages, especially french that was instructed by the lazariste institutions has been investigated in this research. furthermore, the investigation of the socio-political challenges in front of the lazariste activities, in order to present a better evaluation of their operations, forms another part of this article.