EṬṬELĀʿ, title of a Persian newspaper and a magazine.
1. A semi-official government weekly (sometimes biweekly) newspaper published in Tehran from 27 Rabīʿ II 1298 to 24 Šaʿbān 1325/28 March 1881-2 October 1907. Until its last two years it was distributed as a supplement to the government newspaper Īrān. It was established at the order of Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah (Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, Rūz-nāma, p. 103). Like other newspapers printed in the capital, it was under the supervision of Moḥammad-Ḥasan Khan Ṣanīʿ-al-Dawla (later Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana), who wrote or translated some of its articles. Other contributors included Moḥammad-Ḥosayn Ḏokāʾ-al-Molk Forūḡī, ʿAlī-Moḥammad Khan Mojīr-al-Dawla Šaybānī, and Dr. Tholozan, the shah’s French physician. After the death of the shah and Moḥammad-Ḥasan Khan in 1896 Moḥammad-Bāqer Khan Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana and, after him, M ojīr-al-Dawla Šaybānī supervised Eṭṭelāʿ. Under Mojīr-al-Dawla it became independent of Īrān and its contents became more varied.
Before its last two years Eṭṭelāʿ published only international news, decrees, and documents related to foreign policy. Although it was criticized by contemporary readers, it is a valuable source of documents for the last fifty years of Qajar history. Its news stories were generally taken from European news agencies and European or Near Eastern newspapers. Its layout was influenced by European newspapers and by Aḵtar (q.v.), which was published in Istanbul. Eṭṭelāʿ was the third Persian newspaper to be published in movable type, although it was lithographed for some time beginning in 1311/1894. The format was four to eight three-column pages, 28 x 44 cm, typeset; or lithographed, four columns, 33 x 47 cm, carrying no illustrations. Subscriptions were free for subscribers to Īrān; if sold separately, it was priced 18 qerāns in Tehran. Incomplete sets are accessible in major Persian libraries, Cambridge University Library, Princeton University Library, and at the Library of Congress.
2. An ephemeral magazine published in Reżāʾīya (Urmia) in 1933.
Bibliography (for cited works not given in detail, see “Short References”):
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(Nassereddin Parvin)
Originally Published: December 15, 1998
Last Updated: January 20, 2012
This article is available in print.
Vol. IX, Fasc. 1, pp. 57-58
