ADAB, title of several Persian periodicals.
1. Persian weekly illustrated newspaper published by the poet Adīb-al-mamālek, who founded it in Tabrīz on 15 Šaʿbān 1316/29 December 1898. After having been suppressed several times, it was transferred to Mašhad, where it first appeared on 4 Ramażān 1318/26 December 1900. The last issue to be published from Mašhad appeared on 28 Šawwāl 1320/28 January 1903. It was then transferred to Tehran, where the first issue appeared on 26 Raǰab 1321/19 October 1903, still under the editorship of Adīb-al-mamālek, the other name mentioned being that of the calligrapher, Ḥāǰǰī Solṭān-al-kottāb Maḥallātī. After Adīb-al-mamālek’s departure for Baku, the paper was edited by Maǰd-al-eslām Kermānī. The final issue, numbered 189, appeared on 14 Rabīʿ II1324/7 June 1906, after which Maǰd-al-eslām was exiled to Kalāt. One curiosity of this period of its publication was that, from no. 145 (1 Rabīʿ I 1323/6 May 1905), it appeared in two parts, one typeset and the other lithographed. The purpose of this was apparently to facilitate the inclusion of illustrations, which were more easily reproduced by lithography. Adab was one of the most influential literary magazines to have been published during the pre-constitutional period. Though it was concerned more with cultural than political matters, its coverage of foreign news, particularly with regard to the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, contributed much to the formation of public opinion and helped to prepare the groundwork for the 1906 Revolution.
2. Persian monthly cultural magazine published in Kermān by Aḥmad Khan Rūḥī, the first issue appearing on 1 Ḏu’l-ḥeǰǰa 1337/28 August 1919.
3. Persian monthly magazine published in Tabrīz in 1338/1920 by secondary school students.
Bibliography:
Browne, Lit. Hist. Persia IV, pp. 346-47.
Idem. Press and Poetry, pp. 37-39.
M. Ṣ. Hāšemī, Tārīḵ-e ǰarāyed va maǰallāt-e Īrān, Isfahan, 1327-32 Š./1948-53, I, pp. 80-100.
Rypka, Hist. Iran. Lit., pp. 367, 375.
(L. P. Elwell-Sutton)
Originally Published: December 15, 1983
Last Updated: July 22, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 4, pp. 444-445
L. P. Elwell-Sutton, “ADAB NEWSPAPER,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/4, pp. 444-445; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/adab-2-title-of-several-persian-periodicals (accessed on 7 February 2014).
