Seif-e Azad and Racial Historical Perspective Based on Aryanism

Abstract

This article criticizes the origins and results of Aryanism theory in the historical perspective of Iran, which is based on racial superiority, and also discusses the motivations for the emergence of this idea and its consequences. In this research, it is shown that this theory had no precedent in Iran’s pre- and post-Islam history, so the racial conflicts with the followers of other religions and ethnicities never became popular. The hypothesis of this article is that A’bdol-Rahmān Seif-e āzad paid attention to the theory of Aryanism for personal motives, including to benefit from economic privileges especially in Germany. For this reason, he was unable to find an intellectual basis for his views, and since his ideology had no intellectual roots, he found no influence in Iranian cultural and intellectual society. The research method of this article is descriptive, and then based on the descriptions, a specific analysis of the nature of the Aryanism movement has been presented. The main sources of this article are some of the contents of the Nāmey-e Iran-e Bāstān journal as well as views which opposing the Aryanism thought; also, some secondary sources have been used to better understanding of the contents of the issue