ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the four travel memoirs and explain their significance. The travelers whose writings the author examined Abolhasan Ilchi, Mirza Saleh Shirazi, Rezaqoli Mirza, and Farrokh-Khan Aminoddowleh. The chapter also describes what is known about each author and discusses the particular goals, personal backgrounds, and literary traits that the authors bring to their narrations. There is a significant difference between the items that Abolhasan collected from Europe and those he obtained from other locations in his travels. Rezaqoli and his brothers, according to Fraser, expressed “a wish to see rather some of our more useful institutions than trivial exhibitions and amusements, which leave little impression, and lead to no improvement.” Farrokh-Khan, due to his powerful position in the court, enjoyed the opportunity to acquire, transport, and implement the European technology that he fancied most – the telegraph.
