PEYMĀN

 

PEYMĀN, a periodical published in Tehran by Aḥmad Kasravi (1890-1945), the celebrated historian of the Constitutional Revolution, with Reżā Solṭānzāda as its chief editor beginning with issues 11-12 of the fifth year. Peymān first came out as a biweekly magazine on 1 Āḏar 1312 Š/22 November 1933 and then, starting with issue no. 13 of the same year in Ḵordād 1313 Š./June 1934, turned into a monthly periodical and remained so throughout until the end in Ḵordād 1321 Š./ June 1942.

Peymān marked the first engagement of Kasravi as a journalist with no political affiliation, who also later published the journal Parčam in 1943. It was a scholarly cultural periodical, arranged in two separate parts: the first part featured norms of life, laws and regulations, ethics, and moral and religious issues, and the second part, which was open to public submissions, focused on history, geography, linguistics, and any other scholarly discourse. The novelty of the content and its richness in scholarly material, together with the explicitly pointed tone of Kasravi’s articles in which he relentlessly criticized icons of Persian literary heritage, soon attracted attention and admirers, as well as detractors, including a number of high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Culture (Ṣadr Hāšemi; Āryanpur, III, p. 69). Eventually, the minister of culture officially asked the police to stop “the publication of certain materials that are not in tune with the standards of Persian literature or are disrespectful of the objects of glory in the history of Persia” (Bayāt and Kuhestāni-nežād, eds., p. 357). Kasravi was severely taken to task for his harsh criticism of the works of poets such as Saʿdi and Rumi, which, in his view, were harmful indoctrination, as well as for his sharp attacks on popular superstitious ideas on the one hand, and on European culture on the other. His opponents published numerous articles and verses directed against him, some of which he responded to in Peymān.

Peymān was printed at the Mehr printing house in 32 to 64 single-column pages of approximately 21 x 14 cm and carried no illustrations. The annual subscription rate within the country was 40 rials, which was increased to 50 rials from the fifth year. Beginning with the third year, students, including those of seminaries (ṭollāb), were entitled to discounts. Incomplete sets of Peymān are kept at many major libraries in Iran.

Bibliography:

Ḥosayn Abu-Torābiān, Maṭbuʿāt-e Irān az šahrivar-e bist tā 1326, Tehran, 1987, no. 169.

Āryanpur, Az Ṣabā tā Nimā, 3 vols., Tehran, 1973-95, III, pp. 68-69, 93-94.

Kāva Bayāt and Masʿud Kuhestāni-nežād, eds., Asnād-e maṭbuʿāt, 1288-1320 H. Š., 2 vols., Tehran, 1993, I, pp. 353-57.

Šahin Esfandiāri et al., Maṭbuʿāt-e Irān: fehrest-e taḥlili-e Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Majles-e senā, Tehran, 1979, p. 62.

Rudolf Mack and Robert D. McChesney, “A List of Persian Serials in the Princeton University Library,” unpublished monograph, Princeton, New Jersey, 1971.

Foruḡ-al-Zamān Nuri Eṣfahāni, Rāhnemā-ye maṭbuʿāt:fehrest-e našriyāt-e mawjuddar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye ʿomumi-e Ebn Meskuya-ye Eṣfahān, Isfahan, 2001, pp. 92-93.

Ṣadr Hāšemi, Jarāʾed o majallāt, II, no. 360.

Aḥmad Kasravi, Peymān, Tehran, 2002 (repr. of Kasravi’s articles in Peymān).

Bižan Sartipzāda and Kobrā Ḵodāparast, Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-ye mawjud dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye melli, Tehran, 1978, no. 142.

Mortażā Solṭāni, Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-yefārsi dar majmuʿa-ye Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazi wa markaz-e asnād-e Dānešgāh-e Tehrān... 1267 qamari tā 1320 šamsi, Tehran, 1975, no. 60.

Laylā Sudbaḵš, Fehrest-e našriyāt-e adwāri dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazi-e Fārs, Shiraz, 1999, no. 273.

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

March 6, 2009

(Nassereddin Parvin)

Originally Published: March 6, 2009

Last Updated: March 6, 2009