FARHANG, the title of five newspapers and magazines printed in Persia and Europe. Presented chronologically they are:
1. Farhang or Farhang-e-Eṣfahān. This was the first newspaper in Isfahan, commencing publication in Jomādā I 1296/April 1879. Beginning with the second year of publication, the name of the city was printed in large letters at the top of the front page; thus it is sometimes referred to as Farhang-e-Eṣfahān. The supposition, alluded to by Moḥammad-ʿAlī Khan Tarbīāt, that the founder of Farhang was Mīrzā Ḥosayn Khan, Mostašār-al-Dawla’s son (Browne, Press and Poetry, p. 122), is incorrect. The paper was founded on orders from the Qajar prince-governor, Masʿūd Mīrzā Ẓell-al-Solṭān; the first editor was Mīrzā Taqī Khan Kāšānī, the princes’s physician, who also held the rank of brigadier-general (sartīp) in the army and published many scientific articles in the newspapers of Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah’s era (both had earlier been responsible for the establishment of the newspaper Fārs [q.v.] in Shiraz). After the unexpected death of Mīrzā Taqī Khan, Mīrzā Maḥmūd Khan became editor. Farhang was a news-oriented publication, with a variety of articles, especially in the scientific fields. The newspaper lasted for nearly twelve years, down to Moḥarram 1308/August 1890. However, its duration of publication has been erroneously given as ten (Ṣadr Hāšemī, Jarāʾed o majallāt IV, p. 74), or fifteen years (Ṣolḥjū, p. 240).
Farhang was first published as a weekly and then, from the 9th year, as twice-weekly. During the last two years of publication, it became a weekly again. Format was four two- or three-column pages, 32.5 x 64.5 cm, carrying no illustration. It was printed at the Government Printing House (Dār al-ṭebāʿa-ye darvāza-ye dawlat) and later at the ʿEmārat-e Jahānnemā, in nastaʿlīq script, or at times in nasḵ by Mīrzā ʿAbd-al-Raḥīm Afsar. Advertisements were included in the newspaper, and the subscription fee was twelve qerāns. It was priced three tomans for Europe. Copies are accessible at the Central Library of the University of Tehran, the Majles Library, Reżā ʿAbbāsī Museum in Tehran, Āstān-e qods-e rażawī Library in Mašhad, the Ketāb-ḵāna-ye ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī (the former Moʾassasa-ye āsīāʾī) at Shiraz, the Princeton University Library, Cambridge University Library, and the École des Langues Orientales in Paris.
Bibliography (for cited works not given in detail, see “Short References”):
Āryanpūr, Az Ṣaba tā Nīmā I, p. 249.
Browne, Press and Poetry, pp. 121-22 (no. 262).
J. Dieulafoy, La Perse, la Chaldée et la Susiane 1881-1882: Relation de voyage, Paris, 1887, p. 266.
Š. Esfandīārī et al., Maṭbūʿāt-e Īrān: Fehrest-e taḥlīlī-e Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Majles-e senā, Tehran, 1358 Š./1979, p. 152.
R. Mach and R. D. McChesney, “A List of Persian Serials in the Princeton University Library,” unpublished monograph, Princeton, 1971.
E. Pūrqūčānī, Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā-ye mawjūd dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazī-e Āstān-e qods-e rażawī, Mašhad, 1364 Š./1985, no. 239.
Rabino, Ṣūrat-e jarāʾed, no. 156. Ṣadr Hāšemī, Jarāʾed o majallāt I, p. 265; IV, pp. 73-75 (no. 855).
U. Sims-Williams, Union Catalogue of Persian Serials and Newspapers in British Libraries, London, 1985, no. 131.
G. Šokrī, “Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā wa majallahā-ye fārsī dar Moʾassasa-ye āsˊīāʾī-e Dānešgāh-e Šīrāz,” FIZ 27, 1366 Š./1987, p. 387.
J. Ṣolḥjū, Tārīḵ-e maṭbūʿāt dar Īrān wa jahān, Tehran, 1348 Š./1969, pp. 238-41.
Solṭānī, Fehrest-e rūznāma-hā, no. 269.
2. Farhang, published in Tehran from the beginning of Jamādā I 1325/June 1907. Its only extant issue (no. 2, 19 Jamādā I 1325/1 July 1907) is kept at the University of Cambridge Library. Although its license was renewed in 1336/1917-18, it was not published again. Its proprietor and editor was Mortażā Šarīf (d. Tehran, 1347 Š./1969), who was also known by his titles Eʿteżād-al-ʿOlamāʾ and Tarjomān-al-Mamālek. Farhang dealt with socio-political issues. The format was four two-column pages, 21.5 x 34.5 cm, typeset, carrying no illustrations. Annual subscription rate was twelve qerāns in Tehran and seven French francs in Europe.
Bibliography (for cited works not given in detail, see “Short References”):
Browne, Press and Poetry, no. 263. ʿA.-R. Ḥaqīqat, Farhang-e šāʿerān-e zabān-e fārsī, Tehran, 1368 S./1989, p. 439.
M. Moḥīt Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Tārīḵ-e taḥlīlī-e maṭbūʿāt-e Īrān, 1360 Š./1981, p. 143.
H. L. Rabino, Ṣūrat-e jarāʾed-e Īrān. . ., Rašt, 1329/1911, no. 157. Ṣadr Hāšemī, Jarāʾed o majallāt IV, no. 856. U. Sims-Williams, Union Catalogue of Persian Serials in British Libraries, London, 1985, no. 132.
3. Farhang, monthly magazine published in Rašt from Jadī 1298 Š./December 1919 to Saraṭān 1299 Š./June 1920 when publication was suspended because of the Jangalī uprising. It resumed publication in Ḥamal 1304 Š./March-April 1925 and continued until Mehr 1307 Š./September-October 1928. It was the official organ of an organization known as the Majmaʿ-e farhang and reflected the progressive views of its members. Mīrzā Moḥammad Khan Šabānī Rāzī acted as its editor-in-chief and managing editor for the first four issues. He was succeeded by Shaikh Aḥmad Qoṭbī, who was replaced by Taqī Rāʾeqī after a year. The format was 32 to 65 one-column pages, 16 x 23 cm, typeset, carrying no illustrations but a few advertisements. It was priced two qerāns. Copies are accessible at most libraries in Persia and at the Princeton University Library.
Bibliography (for cited works not given in detail, see “Short References”):
Ī. Afšār, “Jarayānhā-ye adabī dar majallāt-e fārsī,” Rāhnemā-ye ketāb 20, 1356 Š./1977, pp. 774-75.
Āryanpūr, Az Ṣabā tā Nīmā II, p. 229.
Š. Esfandīārī et al., Maṭbūʿāt-e Īrān: fehrest-e taḥlīlī-e Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Majles-e senā, Tehran, 1358 Š./1979, p. 151.
E. Faḵrāʾī, Gīlān dar goḏargāh-e zamān, Tehran, 1354 Š./1975, pp. 322-23, 357.
Fehrest-e majallāt-e mawjūd dar Ketāb-kāna-ye Āstān-e qods-e rażawī, Mašhad, 1361 Š./1982, no. 321.
R. Mach and R. D. McChesney, “A List of Persian Serials in the Princeton University Library,” unpublished monograph, Princeton, 1971.
Sartīpzāda, no. 339. Ṣadr Hāšemī, Jarāʾed o majallāt IV, no. 858. Solṭānī, Fehrest-e rūz-nāmahā, no. 145. L. Sūdbaḵš, Fehrest-e našrīyāt-e adwārī dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazī-e Fārs, Shiraz, 1358 Š./1979, no. 698.
4. Farhang (also with the German title Kultur), a quarterly magazine with articles in Persian, Pašto, and German published from spring 1360 Š./1981 to autumn 1366 Š./1987 in Bonn, Germany. It was published by the Afghan Cultural Center, with Majīd Malek as managing editor. The format was 100 to 180 one-column pages, 17 x 24 cm, carrying illustrations, with no price indicated.
Bibliography:
M. Mehrābī, Moʿarrefī-e ketāb, Cologne, 1993, p. 306.
5. Farhang, a quarterly magazine published in Tehran from fall 1366 Š./1987 by the Institute for Cultural Studies and Research (Moʾassasa-ye moṭālaʿāt wa taḥqīqāt-e farhangī). Its managing editor was Maḥmūd Borūjerdī, and the first five issues were published under the editorship of Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Ḵorramšāhī and Šahīn Aʿwānī. Later issues were edited by Yaḥyā Modarresī, Mahdī Madāyenī, Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Ḵorramšāhī, Wahhāb Wālī, and others. The format was 294 to 504 pages, 17 x 24 cm. The first issue was priced at 600 rials; the last 1,200.
Bibliography:
S. F. Qāsemī, Rāhnemā-ye maṭbūʿāt-e Īrān (1357-1371), Tehran, 1372 Š./1993, p. 241.
(Nassereddin Parvin)
Originally Published: December 15, 1999
Last Updated: December 15, 1999
