Faint footprints? Sir John Malcolm’s impact on British historical and political thinking towards Iran

Sir John Malcolm’s Iran-related diplomatic career and publications can be seen as the beginning of Britain’s modern engagement with Iran. This article examines to what extent Malcolm set the pattern for subsequent warrior-scholars, especially in the nineteenth century. It argues that he played a significant role in British historiography on Iran because of his use of local primary and oral source material and Scottish Enlightenment methods, fieldwork, focus on the political economy, and critical but empathetic approach. Even after his research lost its cutting edge, his reputation as a founding figure remained. Malcolm’s impact on Iran policy was far more short-term, transient, and contested. His short tenure in Tehran, changing regional and geopolitical realities, tensions between London and Calcutta, as well as the personalised and factional nature of policy-making and appointments all help explain this lack of influence.