Aryamehr was granted as a secondary title by a session of the joint Houses of Parliament (Majles) on 15 September 1965 to
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last
Shah of Iran (reigning since he took the oath at the Majles on 17 September 1941), before his coronation at Teheran, 26 October 1967.[3][4][5][6] The Pahlavis used it as an idealization of
pre-Islamic Iran and foundation for
anti-clerical monarchism, while the clerics used it to exalt "Iranian values" vis-à-visWesternization.[7][8] Demonstrating affinity with
Orientalist views of the alleged "supremacy" of the
Aryan peoples and the "mediocrity" of the
Semitic peoples, Iranian nationalist discourse idealized pre-Islamic
Achaemenid and
Sassanid empires,[a] whilst negating the Islamization of
Persia during
Islamic Caliphate era.[9][10][11]
In 1965, the Shah ordered Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi to establish
Aryamehr University of Technology. However, after the 1979 revolution It was renamed and currently known as the Sharif University named after
Majid Sharif-Vaghefi.[12]
Associated order
In 1873
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar of
Qajar dynasty established the
order of Aftab (order of the sun) restricted to female sovereigns or consorts (1st class) and princess ladies or women of high rank (2nd class). In 1939 the order was renamed to Nishan-I-khorschid.[13] and finally the order was transformed into the Neshān-e Āryāmehr, Nešâne Āryāmehr or Nishān-i Āryāmehr, meaning 'the Order of Light of the Aryans' it become the third and last Imperial
order of knighthood founded by the Shah on 26 September 1967 [b] in honour of his consort, Empress
Farah Diba, and restricted to ladies only. The first class was restricted to female Sovereigns or consorts of reigning rulers, the second class to princesses.[14]
^This date, given in most publications, is plausibly the date of revival, not of institution: photographs of the Imperial wedding celebrations in 1939 show the Empress Mother
Taj ul-Mulk wearing an almost identical star; Reza Shah may well have founded the order at the same time as the Order of Pahlavi in 1932
References
^
abSanghvi, Ramesh (1968).
"Aryamehr: The Shah of Iran: A Political Biography". p. 329. It was thus that when the Shah ultimately succeeded in reviving and enriching the proud traditions of ancient Iran, they joyously and gratefully bestowed upon him the title 'Light of the Aryans': Aryamehr. The Shah warmly appreciated this
^Asian and African Studies. Jerusalem Academic Press. 1978. p. 211.
ISBN9780878551323. wishes to assert the Aryan legacy. The Shah, who bears the ancient title of Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans) has recently defined Iran as a country in 'the far west of the Orient', stating: "Yes, we are Easterners but we are Aryans. This Middle East, what is it?"