Investigating the social harms of children in the Qajar era in Iran with an approach in the philosophy of history

Abstract

Qajar Era is one of the most important social and economic evolution epochs of Iran’s history and it has drawn the attentions of the historians and researchers in the area of the social studies for the formation of numerous social changes. Based thereon, the investigation of the childhood and the children’s status in the historical ground can delineate a vivid image of the situations governing the children as one of the most vulnerable classes of the society. Therefore, the present article tries to investigate the status of the children in Qajar Era as one of the most important epochs of Iran’s history and simultaneously find an answer to this important question as to what situation has been governing the children in this historical period? It will be also seen that what social harms have been threatening the children’s lives?

This article also intends to precisely investigate the children’s social harms by focusing on such indicators as the children’s sanitation and mortality, children’s working, early marriage, education and upbringing and their situation under harsh social conditions, including famines; efforts will be also made to present a vivid image of the children’s status through library research and use of well-substantiated documents and evidence.