Objective: This study examines two writings by Adolphe Auguste Jean-Baptiste Nicolas, a French artillery officer and member of the French educational mission at Dar ol-Fonun, in order to reconstruct his account of education in Qajar Iran. Nicolas was in Iran between 1858 and 1861 and spent part of this period teaching at Dar ol-Fonun. The two texts examined are his article “Note sur l’enseignement en Perse,” published in the Journal Asiatique in 1862, and the archival manuscript Mission Militaire Française en Perse, 1858–1861, which contains a more detailed record of his observations and experiences in Iran.

Method: The study adopts a historical approach based on a close reading of these two texts. Materials relating to education were organized around several major themes, including elementary education, methods of transmitting knowledge, forms of calculation and scientific instruction, and the organization and educational practices of Dar ol-Fonun. Where the same subject appears in both texts, differences in scope and level of detail are also considered.

Results: The findings show that Nicolas provides information on variations in educational practices according to social position, teaching materials and textbooks, literacy, girls’ education, and several fields of knowledge current in Iran. His account of Dar ol-Fonun is particularly significant because it derives from his direct involvement in the school and includes details on students, teachers, curricula, the preparation and translation of scientific textbooks, and administrative and financial difficulties. These subjects are treated much more extensively in the archival manuscript than in the published article. At the same time, parts of Nicolas’s account concerning matters beyond his direct experience reflect his broader perceptions and judgments about Iranian society.

Conclusions: Nicolas’s writings, especially the unpublished archival manuscript, provide evidence for aspects of education in mid-nineteenth-century Iran as well as for the practical conditions under which new scientific knowledge was taught, translated, and adapted at Dar ol-Fonun. They also offer a perspective on the educational experience of a French instructor working within one of the principal institutions of scientific education in Qajar Iran.