ABSTRACT

On July 11, 1823, The Times of London published an open letter by ‘Abbas Mirza Qajar, the crown prince of Iran and prince regent of Iranian Azerbaijan, inviting Europeans to come and settle in his province, promising them a range of attractive privileges. The aim of this article is to shed an additional light, through this letter, on the efforts of ‘Abbas Mirza in dealing with two key issues, which concerned Iran, in general, and him, in particular. One key issue was domestic, concerning his position as regent, and his desire to strengthen that position, especially vis-a-vis his rivals. The other key issue was external, concerning his efforts to check further Russian advances into southern Caucasus and towards Iran. The article aims to analyze the reasons, motives and timing for the letter, claiming that beyond the declared reason of modernizing his country, ‘Abbas Mirza had some undeclared personal and strategic motives behind the writing and the publication of this letter. As the letter was specifically addressed to the British, the analysis will also discuss the reasons behind ‘Abbas Mirza's special relations with the British.

摘要

1823 年 7 月 11 日， 《伦敦泰晤士报》发表了伊朗王储兼伊朗阿塞拜疆摄政王阿巴斯·米尔扎·卡扎尔的一封公开信，邀请欧洲人来他的省定居，并承诺给他们一系列有吸引力的特权。本文的目的是通过这封信进一步阐明阿巴斯·米尔扎在处理两个关键问题方面所做的努力，这两个关键问题涉及伊朗，尤其是他。一个关键问题是国内问题，涉及他作为摄政王的地位，以及他加强这一地位的愿望，特别是相对于他的对手。另一个关键问题是外部问题，涉及他阻止俄罗斯进一步进入南高加索和伊朗的努力。这篇文章旨在分析这封信的原因、动机和时机，声称除了宣称的国家现代化原因之外，“阿巴斯·米尔扎在撰写和发表这封信的背后还有一些未公开的个人和战略动机。由于这封信是专门写给英国人的，因此分析还将讨论“阿巴斯·米尔扎”与英国人的特殊关系背后的原因。