Introduction

The nineteenth century marked a shift in the concept of “power” from a purely military perspective to a comprehensive one- encompassing religious and social reform, intellectual enlightenment, patriotism, national identity, nationalism, the expansion of political diplomacy, the development of non-military sciences and technologies, and the establishment of a modern bureaucracy as essential elements for states to attain international power; these were values ​​that needed to be disseminated through public and higher education as well as the press.

Materials and Methods

During the first two decades of the Naseri era, DarolFonun was initially established based on an eighteenth-century perspective- centered on the military might of the Qajar state- and, in keeping with that era's style, was dedicated entirely to military, medical, and engineering training related to military service.

However, during the second phase of its existence in the Naseri era- influenced by the presence of European (specifically French) instructors, the dispatch of two cohorts of graduates to France, the political, military, and economic exchanges between Iranians and Europeans, and the operations of over three hundred foreign schools within the country- this institution ultimately paved the way for a nineteenth-century understanding of power and the other requisites of territorial authority; in doing so, it alerted politicians and officials to the necessity of addressing matters extending beyond the mere teaching of military sciences and techniques at the DarolFonun Higher School, and prompted the establishment of additional schools to cover related fields.

This shift in perspective finally materialized after twenty-three years of DarolFonun’s operation: first through the separation of the school’s military branch- which was relocated to an adjacent facility known as the "New Military School" (or simply the "Military School")- and subsequently through a more serious commitment to the humanities, allowing DarolFonun to incorporate these disciplines into its curriculum alongside medicine and- to some extent- engineering, with greater latitude.

Thus, DarolFonun gradually evolved into a hub for introducing and disseminating modern French Enlightenment ideas, as well as for analyzing events unfolding in the Ottoman and Russian courts. The school’s extensive ties to the royal court alerted politicians to the necessity of reforms—models of which had already been tested in the neighboring countries to the west and north. They gradually embraced the ideas fostered at DarolFonun, eventually spearheading the establishment of two additional higher education institutions. These were intended to address two other pillars of modern state-building: religious reform and societal enlightenment, and the expansion of regional and international diplomacy. Consequently, they founded the Sepahsalar Higher School toward the end of the Naseri era and the School of Political Science during the mid-Muzaffari period.

conclusion

With the establishment of these two schools, the enlightened vision characterizing the latter half of the DarolFonun’s existence during the Naseri era took shape, more or less. The time had come for these ideas to materialize in the public sphere- an initiative undertaken during the Mozaffari era by a generation of intellectuals known as the *Ma’arefi* (advocates of modern education). Having either emerged from these schools themselves or engaged with their instructors, students, and alumni- as well as with the printing houses serving domestic and foreign schools in cities like Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and Bushehr- they published numerous periodicals, books, and treatises both at home and abroad. Their aim was to foster an atmosphere of enlightenment that promised Iranians a future grounded in the rule of law, liberty, and universal justice; A future in which the Iranian individual was to be an awakened member of the Iranian nation—a nation charged with preserving a land that belonged not to any single ethnic group, ideology, or religion, but to all its inhabitants, and with defending it against both internal and external enemies; a form of patriotism and Iranian identity that, a decade later, paved the way for the nation-building and modern nationalism of the post-Constitutional era, while introducing new values ​​centered on national unity and the Persian language.

This article aims to trace the roots of the nationalism that crystallized in these three schools during the Ahmad Shah era, in the years following World War I.