ĀYANDA

 

ĀYANDA, Persian journal which began publication in Tīr, 1304 Š./June-July, 1925, under the editorship of its founder, Maḥmūd Afšār (1893-1983). Its proclaimed purpose (1/1, pp. 3-15) was to strengthen national unity and cohesion, particularly through the promotion of the Persian language and public education throughout the country. Among its contributors figured some politicians and scholars of note, such as Sayyed Ḥasan Taqīzāda, Aḥmad Kasravī, Moḥammad-ʿAlī Forūḡī, Dr. Moḥammad Moṣaddeq, ʿAlī-Akbar Dāvar, ʿAlī Daštī, Moḥammad-Taqī Bahār, Saʿīd Nafīsī, Rašīd Yāsamī, Moḥammad Qazvīnī, Mojtabā Mīnovī, and Naṣrallāh Falsafī.

This phase of the magazine’s existence came to an end after two years, during which period twenty-four issues were published, and the journal achieved considerable success. A second series of sixteen issues appeared in the same style from 1323 Š./1944 to 1324 Š./1945. During this phase, its contributors included political figures like Mostašār-al-dawla Ṣādeq, Allāhyār Ṣāleḥ, Maḥmūd Narīmān, and ʿAlī-Aṣḡar Ḥekmat. Āyanda was revived with the publication of the fourth volume in 1334 Š./1955, but only six issues appeared. After the revolution of 1979 and the closing down of the Rāhnemā-ye ketāb (q.v.), Āyanda was revived and resumed publication with the fifth volume under the editorship of Īraj Afšār, the founder’s son, and as a continuation of the Rāhnemā-ye ketāb. After four quarterly issues, the journal became bi-monthly, and since 1983, it has been published monthly. Adopting the format, purpose, and style of Rāhnemā-ye ketāb, the journal’s main aim in the new phase has been to publish research articles in the fields of Iranian history, literature, and bibliography.

[The reputation of the old Āyanda rests on its first phase, which coincided with the rise of Reżā Shah to power and the dissolution of the Qajar dynasty. It reflected the views of the reform-minded nationalists who, tired of the ineffectual governments that followed one another under Aḥmad Shah and encouraged by the effective de facto rule of Reżā Khan between 1921 and 1924, were now looking forward to a strong nationalist government which would secure national unity and embark on modernizing the country. Among the interesting events reported in the pages of Āyanda (1/4, pp. 217-39) were the speeches of the supporters and opponents of the bill which led to the dissolution of the Qajar dynasty and relegated the rulership of the country to Reżā Khan.

The second and the third phases of Āyanda proved to be unsuccessful attempts at regaining the prominence the periodical had enjoyed during the first phase. Its editor, an essayist, poet, and a business and real estate man who had studied in India and Switzerland, and who had espoused nationalistic causes, had somewhat lost touch with the realities of the post-war period, and his journal remained outside the mainstream of cultural, literary, and political currents.

The fourth phase, with its entirely different format and as a continuation of the Rāhnemā-ye ketāb, of which Īraj Afšār had been the de facto editor since 1961, is a survivor of the Pahlavi period. With the closing of Soḵan, Yaḡmā, Waḥīd, and the like after the 1979 revolution, Āyanda has been practically the only periodical of its kind that has maintained a secular and independent stance from the Islamic Republic. Of interest among the contents of the new Āyanda are the obituaries of men of learning in Iranian studies, Iranian or otherwise; correspondences and documents bearing on the modern history of Iran; and listings of chief Persian and foreign publications, the latter on an ad hoc basis. With regard to literature, Āyanda’s approach is a traditional one. E.Ir.]

 

Bibliography:

J. Rypka, Hist. Iran. Lit., pp. 382, 402.

Franciszek Machalski, “La presse en Iran sous le régime des Alliés 1942-1946,” Acta Orientalia 30, 1966, p. 145.

R. Cottam, Nationalism in Iran, Pittsburgh, 1964, pp. 32, 87, 114, 137.

M. Ṣ. Hāšemī, Tārīḵ-ejarāyed o majallāt-e Īrān I, p. 350.

L. P. Elwell-Sutton, “The Iranian Press, 1941-1947,” Iran 6, 1968, p. 76.

Ḡ.-Ḥ. Ṣāleḥyār, Čehra-ye maṭbūʿāt-e moʿāṣer, Tehran, 1973, pp. 4-5.

J. Šayḵ-al-eslāmī, “Be yād-e bonyāngoḏār-e "Āyanda",” Āyanda 9/10-11, 1362 Š./1984, pp. 716ff.

Search terms:

 آینده ayandeh  aayandeh ayande

 

(Ī. Afšār)

Originally Published: December 15, 1987

Last Updated: August 18, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. III, Fasc. 2, pp. 131-132