The Reform Movement and Medical Institutionalization

Abstract

Modernization projects in nineteenth-century Iran experienced long spans of inertia and failure, not least because they were sporadic, inconsistent, and limited to the military. The reform pattern that took shape during the consolidation of the Qâjâr regime, gripped by nearly three decades of sporadic conflict with Russia, continued throughout the Qâjâr period. The limited scope of reform was also rooted in the social and political structure of a country that, unlike other Middle Eastern or Eastern countries, experienced little direct European trade. For instance, when French merchants, since the early eighteenth century, began to promote commerce with Persia, they failed to secure the support of their governments, and Napoleon’s relationship with Iran, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, was entirely for military purposes.¹ Despite the expansion of Western imperialism, contact with the West was difficult. The rivalry between Britain, Russia, and France turned Iran into a buffer zone, which rendered any substantial Western trade scarce. In the first two decades of the nineteenth century, British and French missions were accompanied by military, engineering, and medical experts. However, their activities were patchy, and owing to political changes in Europe, there was even less incentive for French and British involvement during the reign of Mohammad Shah (r. 1834–1848).