Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

The Significance of Urdu Travelogues in Rewriting Modern Iranian History: A Case Study of Sair-e Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Vafa Yazdanmanesh (Corresponding Author) 1
Jamshid Noroozi 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Urdu Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of History, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/nf.2025.540379.1437
Abstract
Travel writing has been one of the most successful prose genres in Urdu literature, whose value extends far beyond the literary realm. Urdu travelogues provide valuable information in various historical, social, religious, and cultural contexts. The number of travelogues written in Urdu about Iran is considerable, yet they have remained largely unknown to Iranian scholars. Sair-e Iran (“Journey to Iran”) is the earliest known example of such works.
Its author, Muhammad Husain Azad, a distinguished Urdu writer and poet, traveled to Iran in 1302 AH / 1885 CE to collect materials for his research on the Persian language. He recorded his observations from the beginning of his sea voyage and his landing at Bushehr, documenting his journey through several Iranian cities, including Shiraz, Isfahan, Qom, Tehran, and Mashhad. Sair-e Iran consists of these notes and Azad’s later published lectures about the journey, providing valuable insights into Iran’s intellectual, cultural, and religious figures, as well as its customs and climatic conditions during that historical period.
Keywords
Vault
Dome
Greater Khorasan
Iran
Quwwat al-Islam
Alai Darwaza

Subjects

Āghā Muhammad,Bāghir, (n.d), Muhammad Hussain Āzād,naqush,Vol 1&2,editor: Muhammad Tofail,Lahore
Āghā Salmān,Bāghir, (2019), Maulānā Muhammad Hossain Āzād ka Saire-e- Iran,Lahore: Adabe mualla,April-Jun.
Anwar Sadid, (2004), Urdu adab ki tahreken,Delhi: kitabi dunya.
___, (1987), Urdu adab men safarnama, Lahore: Maghrebi Pakistan Urdu academy.
Āzād,Muahammad Hussain,(n.d), Sair-e Iran, Lahore
____, (2010), Nairange-e- Khayāl,Editor:Muhammad Sadiq,Lahore,Majlese taraqi-e- adab, 3nd.
Baig, Mirzā Hamid, (2014), Urdu safarnāme ki mukhtasar Tārikh, 227- 236,2nd , Lahore:Oriantal publishers.
Bayāt,Ali, (2010), Study of Āzād in Irān, Azad sadi maqalat,editor: Tehsin Firaqi& Nasir Abbas Nayer,Lahore: Urdu Dept,Punjab University.
Farrukhi, Aslam,(1965), Muhammad Hussain Āzād hayāt our tasanif, 360-372, 1nd, Karachi: Anjuman Tariqi Urdu.
Ghādri.Hamid Hasan, (1941), Dastān -e- Tārikh Urdu, Agrah: lakchmi narayen agarwan.
Jahān bānu, Beygum, (1940), Muhammad Hussain Āzad, Hālat-e- zindagi,kalām va tasanif par tabsra,Haidarabad Daccan: Idara Adabiyat Urdu.
Jālebi, Jamil, (2012), Tārikh -e- adab-e- Urdu, Lahore: Majles-e- taraqi-e- adab.
Khushk,Yousuf, The needs of Indiān historiogrāphy and stories, Azad sadi maghalat,227-236
Kiumarsi Jartude, Muhammad, Azad’s travel to Iran-A look, Āzād sadi maqālāt, 351- 359
Muhammad Hanif,Shāhid, (2006),Shamsul ulamā,Lahore: Maghrbi Pakistan Urdu academi.
Muhammad Sādiq, (1976), Muhammad Hussain Azad- Ahval -o- āsār,: Lahore: majlas -e- tari adab,1nd.
Said Ahmed, (2012), Āzādi ke ba’ad Urdu safarnāma (tanqid o tajzya), Delhi: Arshiya public kishenz.
Naushahi,Ārif,  Manuscripts of Azad’s reservd, Āzad sadi maghalat, 389- 399
Nouri,Muhammad Fakhrulhaq, Theory topics about creating  poetry,Āzad sadi
maqakat, 139- 151
Tanhā, Muhammad Yahyā, (1982), Sairol musanefin, Delhi: Maktabeye Jame-e  Melia.
Toghar, Khalil, Maulana Muhammad Hussaid Azad and darbar of Akbari, Āzad sadi maqalat,  217- 226
Urdu Da’ere Ma’arif Islami. Lahore:Punjab University,1384- 1414/1964- 1993, below “Azad,Muhammad Hussain”.(by Abdulmajid)
Vakram, nind kishur, (1985), Muhammad Hussain Azadm, new Delhi,Taraqi Urdu biur.
Zulfaghār Ali,Hasan, (2008), Urdu safarname me jinsnegari ka rujhan (1947 ke ba’ad), Lahore: Maghrbi Pakistan Urdu academi.
Namaeh Farhangistan
Volume 24, Issue 3 - Serial Number 97
Nameh Farhangestan (Subcontinent)
July and August 2025
Pages 76-102

  • Receive Date 22 April 2023
  • Revise Date 02 May 2023
  • Accept Date 13 February 2025