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In 1874, a travel diary of Iran’s ruler Naser al-Din Shah was published in English for the first time, offering a fascinating insight into the shah’s trip through Russia, Western Europe, and the Caucasus that had taken place the previous year. It was the first trip of its kind by an Iranian ruler.

Below, largely in the shah’s own words, are details of the trip, which would play a part in transforming Iran. Photographs used in this story were taken in the places the shah visited at approximately the time he saw them.

“Thanks be to God, we have escaped from the high sea and have entered a large river named the Volga, which has a great charm,” Naser wrote of his first glimpses of the Russian Empire after traveling by ship across the Caspian Sea from Iran in May 1873. “This stream is very wide; so much so that…an …