Pages: 40-48

Abstract

Matla Al-Shams by Mohammad-Hasan Khan Etemad-al-Saltana is one of the most important geographical books from Nāṣeri Era. The book contains extensive information about several cities and villages in Iran, including the 14th hegira century’s holy city of Mashhad. The present article aims at the investigation and interpretation of an image portrayed of Mashhad by Mohammad-Hasan Khan Etemad-al-Saltana in his book “Matla Al-Shams”. To do so, first of all, the importance of Mashhad from the perspective of Mohammad-Hasan Khan in the position of an author and as an individual belonging to Qajar era will be investigated based on the extant evidences. Next, the current research paper’s writer tries decoding the significations of “holy Mashhad” in “Matla Al-Shams” and distinguishing their relationship with the holy shrine of Shiites’ eighth Imam through interpretation of the proofs and materials existent in the book.