GOLESTĀN

 

GOLESTĀN, the title of two Persian newspapers.

1. A news and political journal that began publication in Shiraz in 1297 Š./1918 and was continued with long intervals until 1342 Š./1963; the last issue is numbered 5,276. The first few issues could not be found in any major libraries. Golestān started as a weekly journal, but it turned into a daily paper in 1307 Š./1928, eventually being published twice a week in the years following World War II. The publisher was Sayyed Moḥammad-Taqi Golestān, also known as Malek-al-Moḥaqqeqin (b. Shiraz, 1274 Š./1895), who was a seminary student before he published Golestān. He represented Fārs in the Constituent Assembly of 1925 that did away with the Qajar dynasty and nominated Reżā Khan as the new king. He also served for a time as the mayor of Shiraz. In the years following World War II, the paper was apparently run by the chief editors ʿAli Liāqat and, after him, by Nikumand.

Golestān was a conservative paper. In the last few years of its existence, it was mainly filled with government advertisements. The government banned it for a month in 1299 Š./1920, because it had published an article advocating women’s education, which the religious establishment of Shiraz found unacceptable (Ṣadr Hāšemi, Jarāʾed o majallāt, no. 951). It was the only paper published in Shiraz during the final years of Reżā Shah’s reign (1304-20 Š./1925-40), since all other papers were banned in Shiraz (Bayāt and Kuhestāni-nežād, II, pp. 190-91). In Mordād 1331/August 1952, during a popular disturbance in Shiraz in support of the government of Moḥammad Moṣaddeq, the office and the printing house of Golestān were set on fire for, as the common perception was, its pro-British stance (Ṣadr Hāšemi, Jarāʾed o majallāt, no. 951; Ṣawlat Qašqāʾi, p. 304). This event seems to have been the cause of the long suspension of its publication until 1335 Š./1956.

In its early years Golestān was lithographed in four four-column pages of 23 x 36 cm at the Moḥammadi printing house. It is not clear when it was first printed in typeset, but issues published after 1307 Š./1928, 28 x 44 cm, are in typeset printed at the Musawi printing house. After World War II, the paper, which now owned a printing house (Čāp-ḵāna-ye Golestān) of its own, was published in eight five-column pages and occasionally carried illustrations. Single issues of Golestān were initially priced at three šāhis in the first year and two rials in the final year of its publication. Sporadic issues are kept in major Persian and foreign libraries. All issues for the year 1945-46 are accessible at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Bibliography: Ḥosayn Abu-Torābiān, Maṭbuʿāt-e Irān az Šahrivar-e 1320 tā 1326, Tehran, 1366 Š./1987, pp. 136-37. Kāva Bayāt and Masʿud Kuhestāni-nežād, eds., Asnād-e maṭbuʿāt (1286-1320 Š.), Tehran, 1372 Š./1993, pp. 190-92. Ḥasan Emdād, Širāz dar goḏašta o ḥāl, Shiraz, 1339 Š./1960, p. 88. Laurence Paul Elwell-Sutton, “The Iranian Press 1941-1947,” Iran 6, 1968, no. 341. Šahin Esfandiāri et al., Maṭbuʿāt-e Irān: Fehrest-e taḥlili-e Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Majles-e Senā, Tehran, 1358 Š./1979, p. 180. ʿAli-Morād Farrāšbandi, Tāriḵča-ye Ḥezb-e demokrāt-e Fārs, Tehran, 1359 Š./1980, p. 78. Šāhroḵ Peymāni, “Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-ye mawjud dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Dānešgāh-e Eṣfahān,” Isfahan, 1362 Š./1983, p. 65 (mimeographed booklet). Aḥmad Šaʿbāni, “Maṭbuʿāt-e Fārs,” FIZ 29, p. 258, no. 44. Wali-Morād Ṣādeqi-nasab, Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-ye farsi-e sālhā-ye 1320-23 Š., Tehran, 1360 Š./1981, no. 1075. Bižan Sartipzāda and Kobrā Ḵodāparast, Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-ye mawjud dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazi-e Āstān-e qods-e rażawi, Mašhad, 1364 Š./1985, no. 261. Moḥammad-Nāṣer Ṣawlat Qašqāʾi, Sālhā-ye boḥrān, ed. Naṣr-Allāh Ḥaddādi, Tehran, 1366 Š./1987. Mortażā Solṭāni, Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-ye fārsi dar majmuʿa-ye Ketāb-kāna-ye markazi wa Markaz-e asnād-e Dānešgāh-e Tehrān marbuṭ ba sālhā-ye 1267 Q. tā 1320 Š.,Tehran, 1354 Š./1975, no. 305.

2. A newspaper published in Rašt, Gilān, for only four issues from 14 Šaʿbān to 1 Ḏu’l-ḥejja 1325/22 September 1907 to 5 January 1908. The publisher and the chief editor was a local merchant, Mo ḥammad-Ḥosayn Raʾis-al-Tojjār, also known as Safina. Golestān, like most newspaper of the period, was not interested in publishing the news, instead it printed articles of various lengths advocating patriotism, constitutional government, and the virtues of charitable deeds. It was typeset at ʿOrwat-al-Woṯqā printing house in four 22 x 35 cm double-column pages, carried no illustrations, and was distributed free of charge. All four issues are accessible at Cambridge University Library.

 

Bibliography:

Ebrāhim Faḵrāʾi, Gilān dar goẕargāh-e zamān, Tehran, 1354 Š./1975, p. 318.

Jaʿfar Ḵomāmizāda, Ruz-nāmahā-ye Irān az āḡāz tā sāl-e 1329, Tehran, 1372 Š./1993, pp. 218-19 (based on Rabino).

Faridun Nowzād, “Čehra-ye maṭbuʿāt-e Gilān,” in Ketāb-e Gilān, 3 vols., Tehran, 1374 Š./1995, III, p. 664.

Hyacinth Louis Rabino, Ṣurat-e jarāyed-e Irān wa jarāyed-i ka dar ḵārej az Irān ba zabān-e fārsi ṭabʿ šoda ast, Rašt, 1329/1911, no. 173.

Ṣadr Hāšemi, Jarāʾed wa majallāt, no. 950.

Mirzā ʿAli Khan Ẓahir-al-Dawla, “Safar-nāma wa yāddāšthā-ye ḥokumat-e Hamadān,” in Iraj Afšar, ed., Ḵāṭerāt wa asnād-e Ẓahir-al-Dawla, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1367 Š./1988, p. 277.

(Nassereddin Parvin)

Originally Published: December 15, 2001

Last Updated: February 14, 2012

This article is available in print.
Vol. XI, Fasc. 1, pp. 76-77