علی بیگدلی

Antiquarianism is one of the significant elements of Iranian nationalism that emerged through archaeological research and exploration by Iranian scholars and Western archaeologists in the realm of Iran's history and culture. It provided a fresh definition of Iranian history and identity, playing a crucial role in the construction of modern Iranian nationhood during the era of Reza Shah. Nationalist antiquarianism had a lasting impact on cultural, literary, and even political aspects, transforming the understanding of Iranian history and identity. As an intellectual and cultural movement, antiquarianism aimed to uncover the unknown aspects of Iran and its people beyond recorded history. Its purpose was to revitalize the material and spiritual culture of the historical Iranian nation, turning it into a source of pride and a foundation for constructing a new government-nation with a rich historical civilization. In this context, Reza Shah leveraged the Iranian antiquarian movement to construct a modern Iranian government-nation, utilizing the deep-rootedness of the monarchy system in pre-Islamic Iranian history as a legitimate link, presenting it as a legitimate pole against the backdrop of Islamic Iranian history. This research seeks to answer the question of the function of antiquarianism in the development of Iranian nationalism during the reign of Reza Shah, employing a descriptive-analytical method. It explores the coordinates of Iranian nationalist antiquarianism and investigates why Iranian nationalists conceptualized antiquarianism as the foundation of the Iranian nationalist movement.

The Safavid era in Iran coincides with the growth of international trade relations and interaction with European East India companies. The Safavid kings wanted to establish relations with the East India Company, especially the Dutch East India Company, for various reasons. The Dutch were able to surpass their European counterparts in their dealings with the Safavid government by using economic, commercial and sometimes political initiatives, and what kept the Dutch ahead of their other European rivals was the commercial approach of the Dutch ambassadors and political representatives in their dealings with Iranian representatives and officials, the Dutch ambassadors and political representatives tried to spend on commercial activities and the opening of trade House in the ports of the Persian Gulf, so that they could monopolize the trade of the East. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to study the role of the ambassadors of Iran and the Netherlands in the formation and consistency of political-economic relations between the two countries. The research method in this article is descriptive-analytical. The findings of the research show that the expansion of Iran's foreign relations with the Dutch government during the reign of Shah Abbas and the gradual access of the political representatives of this government to Iran, led to the prosperity of Iran's foreign trade. Iran's geographical position, was a suitable arena in which ambassadors and businessmen of different countries could pursue their trade goals in the shortest time and at the lowest cost.