A Persian Printing House in Istanbul: Tahir the Bookman and Akhtar

Abstract

Muhammad Tahir Tabrizi, or Tahir the Bookman in Ottoman sources, migrated to Istanbul and spent the rest of his life there. As a merchant from Tabriz he was well-known especially in the Iranian community in Istanbul and for those Iranians who came to visit him from outside. He rose to prominence in the Ottoman press and Ottoman-Iranian relations when he published Akhtar, the first and the most important Persian newspaper ever published out of Iran in the twenty year period from 1876 to 1896. Studies on Akhtar which have flourished recently say only a few words about Tahir, the owner, manager and also a writer of the newspaper. This study which aims to fill this gap, brings together the information on his biography, describes his publishing activities, and examines his relation to the Ottoman government and Iran.