Dar ul-Funun Opens · Dar ol-Fonun

Culture of origin: Iranian · Historical

Holiday sources: Iran

Dar ul-Funun ('polytechnic college') was founded by Amir Kabir, grand vizier to Naser al-Din Shah, chiefly to train officers in modern military science, and marked the beginning of modern education in Iran. Its first teachers, hired in Vienna, reached Tehran in November 1851 to find Amir Kabir dismissed two days earlier; the college was formally inaugurated weeks later. Medicine, engineering and the sciences later came to the fore, and its faculties were absorbed into the University of Tehran.