A Dream Interpreted?! Etimād al-Saltanah and the Dream of Prime Ministry
Subject Areas : The Journal of Islamic History and Civilisation
1 - department of history and civilization of nation Muslim
Keywords: Qajar, Etemad al-Saltaneh, personality psychology, dream, prime ministership, Russophile,
Abstract :
Mohammad Hassan Khan Etemad al-Saltaneh was a prominent scientific and political figure of the Qajar era. Despite the unique data available about him, his character, the quality and method of his writings, his political approach, and the mystery surrounding his sudden death have been contentious topics among his contemporaries and many researchers. Most of them have limited themselves to describing his life’s journey and recounting the judgments of his friends or rivals. Addressing all these issues exceeds the scope of a single article; thus, the current research focuses on his political career. Etemad al-Saltaneh, who was suffering from chronic despair at the age of 42, was told by his wife about a dream in which he would become a minister (Sadr-e Azam) at the age of 54. It seems that this dream had a direct impact on the course of Etemad al-Saltaneh’s life thereafter. This study, using psychology, briefly analyzes his life and character to evaluate how this dream influenced his political career. The findings reveal how the socio-political environment shaped Etemad al-Saltaneh’s political actions and how the dream guided the final 12 years of his life towards the pursuit of prime ministership, leading him to extensive political activities, competition with Amin al-Sultan, and alignment with the Russian embassy.
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