DĀNEŠ (2)

 

DĀNEŠ (lit., “knowledge”), title of seven newspa­pers and journals published in Persia and the Indian subcontinent, presented here in chronological order.

1. The first was a biweekly scientific newspaper published by Dār al-fonūn in Tehran (Browne, Press and Poetry, p. 84; Ṣadr Hāšemī, Jarāʾed o majallāt, pp. 265-66; Reżwānī, pp. 68-69; Solṭānī, 1354 Š./1975, p. 77; Moḥīṭ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, p. 40; Kohan, p. 160; Šokrī, p. 367). Fourteen issues appeared, the first on 23 Rajab 1299/10 June 1882 and the last on 16 Ṣafar 1300/27 December 1882. The newspaper was published on the orders of ʿAlīqolī Khan Moḵber-al-­Dawla, minister of science under Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah (1264-1313/1848-96), whose jurisdiction included Dār al-fonūn. He apparently intended it to fill the place of Rūz-nāma-ye ʿelmī (Scientific newspaper), which had been discontinued. The managing editor was Moḥammad Kāẓem, a teacher of natural sciences at Dār al-fonūn, who had studied in Europe and wrote on scientific subjects for the newspapers Īrān and Rūz-­nāma-ye ʿelmī. Other instructors at Dār al-fonūn also wrote for Dāneš, which was lithographed at Dār al-fonūn by Mīrzā ʿAbbās Naqqāš. It was the first newspaper in Persia to be given away free and to make no charge for advertisements.

Dāneš carried scientific and medical news and opin­ion, as well as official notices of the Ministry of sciences. Two regular features were “Ḏawāt al-aḏnāb” (Comets) by Ḥājī Najm-al-Molk, on astronomy, and “Meftāḥ al-ʿolūm” (The key to the sciences), short questions and answers about pure and experimental science edited by Jaʿfarqolī Khan Sartīp, the principal of Dār al-fonūn. The masthead Dāneš was surrounded by a border of wheat stalks. There were four pages measuring 21.5 x 35.5 cm in a two-column format. Copies are kept at the Majles library in Tehran, the central library of Tehran University, and the library of the Asia Institute at the University of Shiraz.

E. G. Browne mentioned, in addition to this Dāneš, a government weekly by the same name, the first number of which appeared in Tehran on 22 Ḏu’l-Ḥejja 1299/4 November 1882 (Press and Poetry, p. 84). It is unlikely that two government newspapers of the same name were published simultaneously in Tehran, and there is no other evidence that this paper ever existed.

2. The second Dāneš was a women’s weekly news­paper published in Tehran in thirty issues between 10 Ramażān 1328/15 September 1910 and 27 Rajab 1329/23 July 1911; it was the first publication in Persia specifically for women (Rabino, no. 102; Browne, Press and Poetry, pp. 84-85; Ṣadr Hāšemī, Jarāʾed o majallāt, pp. 266-67; Nafīsī, p. 1253; Mach and McChesney, s.v.; Solṭānī, 1354 Š./1975, p. 77; Mawlānā, pp. 207, 209; Kohan, pp. 386-90, 696-97; Nāhīd, pp. 119-20). The publisher and editor is usu­ally identified only as Doktor Kaḥḥāl, Ḵānom-e Doktor [Ḥosayn Khan] Kaḥḥāl; Moḥammad Moḥīṭ Ṭabāṭabāʾī has identified her further as the daughter of Yaʿqūb Jadīd-al-Eslām Hamadānī (pp. 172-73). The editor in chief for numbers 1 through 3 was listed as ʿA. Ṣafwat in numbers 4-30 no editor in chief was mentioned. The articles in Dāneš never dealt with politics; most contained “women’s news,” particularly about schools for girls. There was also a fiction serial.

The paper was typeset in eight single-column pages, measuring 22 x 34 cm, originally at the Šarq press and later at a Rūsī printing house. It carried no illustra­tions and little advertising. An annual subscription cost 12 qerāns in Tehran, 15 qerāns elsewhere in Persia, and 7 French francs abroad. Single issues were sold for 1 ʿabbāsī and 5 šāhīs. Copies are kept at the Majles library in Tehran, the central library of Tehran University, and the Princeton University library in Princeton, New Jersey.

3. The third Dāneš was a monthly literary magazine affiliated with the Association of democrats (Majmaʿ-e demokrāt); it was edited and published in Mašhad by the poet and writer Moḥammad Dāneš Bozorgnīā (Nô Rouze, p. 41 no. 55; Āḏari, 1354 Š./1975, pp. 248-55; Solṭānī, 1356 Š./1977, pp. 47-48; Zeitschriften­verzeichnis, p. 54). Apparently it was suppressed after publication of the first issue, in Jady (Dey) 1298 Š./December 1919. It was typeset in forty single-column pages measuring 13 x 20.5 cm and was printed at the Khorasan press. It carried no illustrations or advertising. A copy is kept in the central library of Tehran University.

4. Fourth was reportedly a magazine founded in Tehran in 1324 Š./1945 as the organ of the Association of graduates of Tehran Teachers’ college (Jamʿīyat-e fāreḡ-al-taḥṣīlān-­e Dāneš-sarā-ye ʿālī-e Tehrān; see education; Elwell-­Sutton, p. 86 no. 179).

5. A monthly cultural magazine entitled Dāneš was published in Tehran from Farvardīn 1328 Š./March 1949 to Šahrīvar 1334 Š./August 1955 (Āḏarī, 1331 Š./1953; idem, 1334 Š./1955; idem, 1364 Š./1985, pp. 124-25; Esfandīārī et al., p. 98; Sims-Williams, p. 114 no. 116). Its editor and publisher was Nūr-Allāh Īrānparast, and many well-known scholars contributed to it. The magazine consisted of 60-72 single-column pages, measuring 23.5 x 16.5 cm., with illustrations and advertisements. An annual subscription cost 180 rials in Persia and 48 British shillings abroad; single copies were priced at 15 rials and 3 shillings respec­tively. Complete sets can be found in major libraries in Persia and abroad.

6. From 1974 a yearbook of history and literature was published in Persian and Urdu under the title Dāneš by the Persian department of Kashmir University in Srinagar. The editor was Šams-al-Dīn Aḥmad. The yearbook consisted of 166 single-column pages measuring 13 x 21.5 cm. and carried no advertisements, illustrations, or subscription price. Copies are kept in the central library of Tehran University.

7. Finally, a quarterly dealing with Persian culture and literature on the Indian subcontinent has been published in Islamabad, Pakistan, by the Persian cul­tural attaché since spring 1364 Š./1985. The editors have been Pakistanis, ʿĀref Nowšāhī for the first fifteen numbers and Sebṭ Ḥasan Rażawī for the subse­quent issues. In each issue between one and three articles are in Urdu, and many are by Pakistani scholars. The quarterly consists of 230-70 single-column pages, measuring 15.5 x 23.5 cm., without illustra­tions; it carries advertisements for books and maga­zines only.

 

Bibliography:

ʿA. Āḏarī, Qīām-e Šayḵ Moḥammad Ḵīābānī, 4th ed., Tehran, 1354 Š./1975, pp. 248-55.

I. Bloss and M. Schmidt-Dumont, Zeitschriftenverzeichnis moderner Orient. Stand 1979, Hamburg, 1980, p. 121.

L. P. Elwell-Sutton, “The Iranian Press, 1941-47,” Iran 6, 1968, pp. 65­-104.

Š. Esfandīārī et al., Maṭbūʿāt-e Īrān. Fehrest-­e taḥlīlī-e ketāb-ḵāna-ye Majles-e senā, Tehran, 1358 Š./1979.

G. Kohan, Tārīḵ-esānsūr dar maṭbūʿāt-e Īrān I, Tehran, 1360 Š./1981.

R. Mach and R. D. MacChesney, A List of Persian Serials in the Princeton University Library as of September 1, 1971, Princeton, N.J., 1971.

Ḥ. Mawlānā, Sayr-e ertabāṭāt-e ejtemāʿī dar Īrān, Tehran, 1358 Š./1979.

M. Moḥīṭ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Tārīḵ-etaḥlīlī-e maṭbūʿāt-e Īrān, Tehran, 1366 Š./1987.

S. Nafīsī, “Maṭbūʿāt,” in Komīsīūn-e mellī-e Ūnesko dar Īrān, ed., Īrānšahr II, Tehran, 1343 Š./1964, pp. 1246-63.

ʿA. Nāhīd, Zanān-e Īrān dar jonbeš-e Masrūṭa, Saarbrucken, 1989.

“Negāh-ī be majallāt-e fārsī,” Soḵan 4/13, Bahman 1331 Š./February 1953, pp. 242-43; 6/2 Farvardīn 1334 Š./April 1955, pp. 183-84; Tīr 1334 Š./July 1955, pp. 468-69.

A. Nô Rouze (Hassan Moghadam), “Registre analytique annoté de la presse persane depuis la guerre,” RMM 60, 1925, pp. 35-62.

H. L. Rabino, Ṣūrat-e jarāyed-e Īrān wa jarāyed-ī ke dar ḵārej az Īrān be zabān-e fārsī ṭabʿ šoda ast, Rašt, 1329/1911.

M.-E. Reżwānī, “Sayr-ī dar naḵostīn rūz-nāmahā-ye Īrān,” Majalla-ye barrasīhā-ye tārīḵī 2/5, 1346 Š./1967, pp. 61-76.

U. Sims-Williams, ed., Union Catalogue of Persian Serials and Newspapers in the British Libraries, London, 1985.

G. Šokrī, Fehrest-­e rūz-nāmahā wa majallahā-ye fārsī dar Moʾassasa-­ye āsīāʾī, FIZ 27, Tehran, 1366 Š./1987.

M. Solṭānī, Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā-ye fārsī dar majmūʿa-ye ketāb­ḵāna-ye markazī wa markaz-e asnād-e Dānešgāh-e Tehrān, marbūṭ be sālhā-ye 1267-e qamarī tā 1320-­e šamsī, Tehran, 1354 Š./1975.

Idem, Fehrest-e majallahā-ye fārsī az ebtedā tā sāl-e 1320 Š., Tehran, 2536 = 1356 Š./1977.

Zeitschriftenverzeichnis Ori­ent (Tübingen) 1, 1983.

(Nassereddin Parvin)

Originally Published: December 15, 1993

Last Updated: November 14, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. VI, Fasc. 6, pp. 645-647