Love for Strangers: Iranian Students in London during the Era of Jane Austen

"Love for Strangers: What Six Muslim Students Learned from London in the Era of Jane Austen," recently published by Princeton University Press, is described by its author as a book in praise of "stranger-friendliness." Neil Green, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of California, uses the travelogue of one of the first Iranian students sent to Europe during the Qajar era as a basis to depict London in the time of "Jane Austen" through the eyes of these young Qajar men. This group of six - Mirza Saleh, Mirza Ja'far the physician, Mirza Ja'far the engineer, Mirza Reza, and Mohammad Ali the maker of chisels - are considered the first Muslim students from the "East" to travel to modern Europe for education. More than a decade after them, Egypt sent its first group of students led by Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, an Egyptian writer and translator, to Paris for modern sciences. Green emphasizes that the coexistence of Muslims and Western civilization has not always been hostile by examining the experiences of these young men who came to the West on a mission of "seeking knowledge." Evidence, especially from Mirza Saleh's travelogue, indicates that these six not only established numerous personal and group connections with the host society but also viewed the ways of the Western community with admiration, astonishment, and even envy. One of them, Mohammad Ali the chiseler, even joined radical labor groups and took an English wife who accompanied him back to his homeland after his studies. The seekers of "new sciences" in Green's narrative and in Mirza Saleh's memoirs set off from Tabriz in the spring of 1815 and disembarked in Great Yarmouth, heading for London in the summer of that same year. Earlier, concerning the alarming advances of the Russians in the north and their use of "fire cannons," Abbas Mirza, the crown prince of Fath Ali Shah Qajar, had convinced that as long as Iran did not reach the level of technology and knowledge of Russia, it would not be able to resist the border invasions and ambitions of this country. As a result, one of the British military personnel responsible for training Iranian soldiers in Tabriz was tasked with bringing a group of Iranian students back to his homeland to transfer European knowledge and technology to Iran after their training in "new sciences." This five-member group, each assigned to study specific fields, joined another student named Mirza Baba Afshar (the son of one of the Qajar officials) who had come to London three years earlier (in 1812) to study medicine at government expense. Between 1815 and 1819, this small group of seekers determined to discover the secret of Western advancement traveled to every corner of Britain. According to Green, the demeanor and methods of these six "foreign" students opened doors to various circles, institutions, and organizations in London at that time: from hospitals and factories to offices, Freemason circles, and radical political groups such as labor associations. In this quest, they conversed with numerous industrialists, university professors, scientists, and religious missionaries and priests, many of whom are detailed in Mirza Saleh's travelogue. Green concludes from this example of peaceful coexistence between East and West that contrary to the common perception of many Europeans, the Eastern world is also aware of the values of progress, industry, and knowledge, and these values are not exclusive to Western civilization. To prove this point, Green quotes a saying attributed to the Prophet of Islam, advising Muslims to seek knowledge even as far as "China." What is clear is that the heroes of the story quickly realized that Colonel Darcy - the British military officer who brought them to London - either could not or did not want to support them financially. As a result, they set out themselves in search of a university or educational institution that would accept them, equipped with iron shoes and helmets. On this journey, Mirza Saleh, who was tasked with learning European languages, history, and natural sciences, stepped into Oxford University among others. Interestingly, despite his significant admiration and astonishment for the country he called the "land of freedom," he does not overlook the backwardness of British society at that time in his memoirs. For instance, after entering the Oriental Languages Department at Oxford and Cambridge universities, he expresses surprise at the level of religious biases among the thinkers in these academic institutions. He also notes in another part of his writings that women are not allowed to enter the "consultation house" or parliament, nor can they choose a guardian or lawyer for themselves, and only Protestant Christians can be elected as parliamentary representatives. The reports that this small group of students sent back to their homeland and their descriptions of culture, customs, and industry in Europe so excited Abbas Mirza, the Qajar crown prince, that he decided to publish an advertisement in English newspapers asking people from that country to migrate to Iran instead of the United States. According to this advertisement, which was published in British newspapers with the help of Mirza Saleh, the crown prince not only guaranteed the provision of all necessary facilities for the comfort of English immigrant families to Iran but also exempted them from taxes forever. Neil Green, by narrating the story of these Iranian learners, presents their enlightenment and the respectful coexistence of guest and host as evidence that Muslims and the West can live peacefully alongside each other. The "Muslims" in Green's book, including Mirza Saleh, significantly set aside their mental backgrounds and intermingle with the "other" or the host community. Mirza Saleh Shirazi's travelogue, the original copy of which is preserved in the British Museum library, was first published in Iran in 1347 (1968) with the efforts of Ismail Ra'in and Mohammad Ali Shahrastani. Later, Mirza Saleh and some of his companions, like many other figures and writers of the Constitutional era who were initially astonished and envious upon encountering Western civilization, were labeled as "West-struck" and "self-betrayed." The most important legacy of Mirza Saleh's three-year and several-month stay in the West is probably the introduction of the printing press and subsequently the publication of "Kaghaz-e Akhbar," the first Iranian newspaper. However, documenting the travel experiences of the "English" is also of considerable importance; as he is one of the first Iranians to step into the West and write about its history, political and social system, and scientific advancements in Persian. In fact, Mirza Saleh's writings hold fundamental and symbolic value due to the image they provide of the initial moment of Iranians confronting Western culture and its modern achievements.