Spectacular folding wall map of the city of Tehran during the reign of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, in Farsi script.



This map by Abd al-Ghaffar Khan Najm al-Mulk (died 1908) appears to be a proposal for the redesigning of the Iranian capital. Najm al-Mulk was the Royal Astronomer to the court and an important figure in Persian cartography during the late 19th Century. He was also the first Iranian professor of Cartography at Dar Al-Fonun University.



In 1868, Najm al-Mulk began work on this map with the help of his students, in an attempt to re-envision the capital. The map was derived from the 1858 map by the Austrian professor of Geography at Dar Al-Fonun University, Augustus Krziz who designed a blueprint of the city between 1857-1858. It has been updated here to show fortified exterior walls to the outer districts in the style of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.



Both of the lower corners of the map bear detailed legends explaining land use, infrastructure as well as highlighting iconography to identify important buildings and places of worship across the city.



Published circa 1891-1902 in Vizārat-i ʻUlūm [Tehran] by Munajjimʻbāshī Maḥmūd and Riz̤ā Qulī Khān.



Folded. [MEAST3715]