The book entitled “Bazaars, Stores, and Caravanserais in the Documents from Qajar Iran” has been authored by Tokyo-based Iranian scholar Hashem Rajabzadeh with contributions from the Japanese expert of Iranian studies, Kinji Eura, the Iranian Cultural Center in Tokyo has announced.

Kazuo Morimoto, an associate professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, has also written a preface to the book, which is the No. 8 from the Persian Documents Series.

The book has been published in 188 pages and two parts, “Stores and Commercials Offices, and Professions and Businesses” and “Taking Possession and Renting Caravanserais”.

Legal topics such as conveyance and transfer of ownership, renting stores and caravanserais have been discussed in some chapters.

Rajabzadeh, a retired professor of Osaka University, has provided detailed information produced based on reliable documents about the different aspects of Iran’s economy and society under the Qajar dynasty.
   
“So far, a collection of confidential documents on Iran’s history and society in different periods has been published by this institute and other Japanese academic centers as Dr. Rajabzadeh has played a key role in this field. He has introduced Iran to Japanese scholars and the academic community of the country by his works,” Iranian cultural attaché Hossein Divsalar said.

“One of his great endeavors and achievements in introducing the history and culture of Iran and Japan is the translations of Japanese adventurers’ travelogues of Iran and other West Asian countries,” he noted.

“These travelogues provided a deep insight into the Japanese adventurers’ knowledge of Iranian history during the Constitutional Movement and afterwards,” he added.

80-year-old Rajabzadeh was a professor of Persian language and literature in the Department of Foreign Studies at Osaka University. 

On 23 May 2009 during a ceremony, he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, awarded by the Emperor of Japan for his efforts over 27 years to introduce Iranian culture and civilization to Japan and to introduce Japanese culture and literature to Iranians.

Source:Tehran Times