Majma'ol-Sanaye' (An Experience of Modernity in Businesses of Royal Workshops During the Qajar Era)

The trend of scientific, social and cultural modernity in the Qajar period in Iran was intertwined with the establishment of special schools like Dar ul-Funun and Majma'ol-Sanaye'. There is some information available about Dar ul-Funun, but there is not enough information available about Majma’olsanaye’ school. The founding of this school was based on the old pattern of retail commodity manufacturing in royal estates. This school acted as a pioneering institute to launch some new manufacturing and technology fields, and to restore and improve some outmoded manufacturing fields in the Naseri Era. This was a unique experience in policy-making in the field of technology.
 This research analyzes the history and development of Majma'ol-Sanaye' school. The main questions posed in this research are: How much was Majma'ol-Sanaye' school affected by the old pattern of Qajari royal estates disciplines, and how much was it affected by the new experience of modernity? What were the reasons for founding this school? And what evident effects did Majma'ol-Sanaye' school have on technology, art and culture of that era?
 This research concludes that the foundation of the Majma'ol-Sanaye' school was based on a merging of a former experience of the governmental investment in urban manufacturing with the West's new experiences in this field. However, the government’s programming and policy making in this field faced different fundamental problems and obstacles which caused a final failure in the revolution which was expected to happen by founding this school.