39
commissions and Malkum Khan advocated using Arabic
letters in a revised way, a project he developed, but his
proposal was not well-received.
62
Mirza Malkum Khan
impressed both Iranian and Ottoman intellectuals. “For
Westernization all the way”, Malkum Khan contributed to
several publications for this cause. “Ahter”, a newspaper
that was one of the most circulated of the era, was published
and distributed in Istanbul (1877-1896). Malkum Khan’s
writings in both Ahter and Kanun which was published in
London later on were read attentively by Ottoman
intellectuals as well as readers in Iran.
63
Iranian intellectuals Mirza Reza Kermani, Mirza
Hasan Khan, Habirül mülk and Sheikh Ahmed were
involved in political and cultural activities in Istanbul.
Iranians in Istanbul, many of whom were Azerbaijani
Iranians, established close ties with Ottoman intellectuals
and statesmen. However, Mirza Reza Kermani had deeper
impact on Iranian intellectuals thanks
to his writings,
choices
and ideas.
64
Having close ties with Malkum Khan and al-
Afghānī, Kermani was harshly persecuted by Iranian
government due to his Babi sympathy and radical ideas. Iran
sent an extradition request to the Ottoman officials for al-
Afghānī, Sheikh Ahmet Ruhi and Aga Khan Kermani on
grounds that they are instigators of the assassination of
Nasrettin Shah in 1896. Two of them and Habirül Mülk
except al-Afghānī were extradited and were executed by
hanging. Aga Khan Kermani wrote and published many of
his works in Istanbul. They contributed to Iranian
enlightenment with their moral and social writings as much
as they supported Abdulhamid II’s policy of Islamic Unity
(İttihadı İslam) and demonstrated efforts to garner support
62
Hamid Algar, “Malkum Han, Akhundzada and the Proposed Reform of
the Arabic Alphabet “,
Middle Eastern Studies, 5(1969), no: 2, p. 116-
130; Resulzade,
op cit., p.74.
63
Algar,
op.cit., p. 184-204.
64
For Mirza Ağa Khan Kirmani, see Feridun Ademiyet,
Endişeha-yı
Mirza Ağa Han Kirmani, Tahran, 1357; Mongol Bayat Philipp, “The
Consepts of Religion and Government in the Toght of Mirza Ağa Khan
Kirmani, A Nineteenth- Century Persian Revolutionary”,
İnternational
Journal of Middle East Studies, 5(1974), p. 381-400; Metin,
op.cit., 151-
157.