diplomats, merchants, kings, and others during the Qajar Dynasty.Using texts that correspond to four monarchic reigns in this period, the book shifts the traditional framework of analysis
from the act of travel to that of writing travel. Hayratnamah (The Book of Wonder), an Iranian ambassador's account of his visit to the court of King George III, provides the first example. Sohrabi's reading reveals a narrative calculated to reinforce the grandeur and stability of the Qajars to its Persian readers rather than merely recount the lifestyle of the English court. Similarly, the political motives at work in Mirza Fattah Khan Garmrudi's accounts of his
European journey are explored in light of Britain's 1837 occupation of Iran. A subsequent chapter considers the ways Nasir al-Din Shah, the longest reigning Qajar monarch, viewed his European travelogues as a tool for domestic
politics and international diplomacy. The study concludes with two travel accounts by non-government officials, demonstrating how the genre became a mode for critiquing the Qajar Dynasty and instigating political reform at the close of the nineteenth century.
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