Albert Houtum Schindler: A Remarkable Polymath in Late-Qajar Iran

D.T. Dabashi

Description

Widely regarded in his lifetime as the greatest living authority on all things Iranian, across an enormous range of disciplines, Albert Houtum Schindler lived and worked in Iran from 1868 to 1911. All who either met or corresponded with him came away praising his encyclopaedic knowledge and remarkable insight. A member of numerous learned societies in Europe, he sustained a wide web of intellectual contacts and was insatiably curious. As an employee of the Indo-European Telegraph Department, the Imperial Bank of Persia and the Persian Bank Mining Rights Corporation, he experienced firsthand the ups and downs of Iran’s slow but inexorable movement towards modernity. Yet when he died in 1916 his obituaries were frustratingly brief. Private when it came to the details of his personal life, Albert Houtum Schindler gave little away. This book is the first full-scale examination of the life and legacy of an extraordinary witness to the late-Qajar period and the land, people and history of Iran.

Preface & Acknowledgments ! xiii

chapter 1

Origins & Youth (1846-1867) ! 1

chapter 2

The Indo-European Telegraph Department (1868–1875) ! 12

chapter 3

The Persian Telegraph (1875–1881) ! 49

chapter 4

Inspector General of Mines (1882–1884) ! 99

chapter 5

Naser al-Din Shah’s ‘Navy’ (1885-1887) ! 113

Chapter 6

Overseeing Banks and Mineral Prospection in the Interest of British Capital (1888–1893) ! 136

chapter 7

Schindler & Curzon (1890–1894) ! 251

chapter 8

Second Marriage and Eastern Persian Irak (1894-1897) ! 309

chapter 9

New Responsibilities and Final Years (1898–1916) ! 331

chapter 10

Retrospect ! 361

Appendix 1

Schindler’s Publications ! 369

Appendix 2

Madame Schindler ! 379

Appendix 3

Publications in Schindler’s Personal Library and
their Appearance in his Work ! 383

Bibliography ! 411

Figures & Credits ! 463

Index ! 473

Sujets

• Middle Est
• 19th Century
• Modern
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Persia
• Irán
• List of Iranian scientists and scholars
• Modern history
• General officer
• Middle East
• General
• Obermodern-Zutzendorf
• Iran

Informations

• Publié par: Mage Publishers Inc.
• Date de parution: 09 août 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781949445688
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 25 Mo

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