Competition of Missionary Boards in Qajar Iran and Its Consequences: The Confrontation of American and European Missions in Azerbaijan

Fooladi-Panah, Azam; Kazembeyki, Mohammad Ali; Adelfar, Bagher Ali

doi:10.22034/hfr.2024.223040

Competition of Missionary Boards in Qajar Iran and Its Consequences: The Confrontation of American and European Missions in Azerbaijan

Document Type : Scientific - research article

Authors

Azam Fooladi-Panah ¹

Mohammad Ali Kazembeyki ²

Bagher ali Adelfar ³

¹ PhD in History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran

² Faculty Member of Islamic Culture and Civilization at the Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran

³ Dep. History. faculty of Literature and Humanity. Imam khomeini international university. Qazvin. Iran.

10.22034/hfr.2024.223040

Abstract

Throughout the 19th century, particularly in its later years, Iran, due to the increased activity of foreign missions, became a crowded and competitive scene for religious propagation. Among these, American missionaries faced various challenges from the very beginning of their arrival in Iran. These challenges were not limited solely to the issue of proselytizing Christianity among different strata of Iranian society. In fact, in addition to ideological resistance, other obstacles existed in their path, stemming from the competition among foreign missionary boards active in Iran; boards such as Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox missionaries who rivaled the American mission in Iran. The present article, relying on library research and employing a descriptive-analytical method, attempts to examine this competition and study its impact on the activities of American missionaries. The findings of this research indicate that American missionaries, possessing sufficient motivation and financial resources, and also utilizing diverse methods, were able to relatively successfully continue their missionary activities while confronting the obstructionism of their Western co-religionists

Highlights

Keywords

Iran

Qajar Era

Azerbaijan

Missionary Boards

Competition

Consequences

American Missions

European Missions