Who Were The Qajars?

Literature during the Qajar Era changed, and the elite adopted western journal writing habits. Many...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:47:36 -0400

Literature during the Qajar Era changed, and the elite adopted western journal writing habits. Many...

The Qajar era was arguably the most important formative period of modern Iranian history. So much...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 01:41:04 -0400

The Qajar era was arguably the most important formative period of modern Iranian history. So much...

Check out Persian Painting on facebook—they’re...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 04:31:00 -0400

Check out Persian Painting on facebook—they’re posting a few pics of our fav Shah (Nasir al-Din, of course). This portrait is of Nasir al-Din as a prince with his ballin’ entourage. That’s him in the middle with the sword way too big for him.

Interestingly, he’s holding the hand of his eunuch (read: slave), Amin Khurrem. He’s labeled simply as “Agha Bashi” a common term used for eunuchs during the Qajar era.

This is a picture of Hormuzd Rassam, an Assyrian/Ottoman subject...

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 16:44:00 -0400

This is a picture of Hormuzd Rassam, an Assyrian/Ottoman subject who received British citizenship later in his life. He was a pretty successful archaeologist who unearthed the Cyrus Cylinder in Babylon (present-day Iraq). Interestingly, the Qajars probably didn’t know or care about it, since the artifact was found in a neighboring territory and was written in Akkadian (not Old Persian) cunieform. And yet, this piece of pottery—the Cyrus Cylinder—would define Iranian nationalism during the 20th century.

Anyway, Hormuzd was pretty special for getting his own picture in 1854. Very elite.

Read more about it in my article for the Ajam Media Collective. And of course, follow Ajam on their own tumblr here.

ajammc: Read about the Cyrus Cylinder (and find out how many...

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 16:09:06 -0400

ajammc:

Read about the Cyrus Cylinder (and find out how many misconceptions you believed about it!) here.

Hhahahaha my co-editor made this for me….so funny.

ajammc: “Mohammad Reza Shah took the Cyrus Cylinder and...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:44:01 -0400

ajammc:

“Mohammad Reza Shah took the Cyrus Cylinder and liberally interpreted the sacrifices as a promise of religious freedom. Drawing upon Cyrus’ Biblical legacy, Mohammad Reza Shah presented the Cyrus Cylinder as a defender of all religions, removing it of its specific imperial context and creating a symbol of religious freedom where there was none. He then declared the Cyrus Cylinder as the “First Declaration of Human Rights” in 1968, hoping to bring positive attention to Iran’s history to deflect the international community’s increasing criticism of his authoritarian rule.

…Since the 1970s, many Iranians have been guilty of exaggerating the contents of the Cyrus Cylinder, claiming that Cyrus freed all slaves, allowed himself to be democratically elected by Babylonians, and promised freedom of religion. These claims, among others, are either entirely fabricated or dramatic deviations from the text. In fact, Babylonia was expected to send a tribute of 500 slave boys to the Achaemenid king every year. And yet, these are the most commonly cited “values” of the Cyrus Cylinder. Scholars, including Josef Wiesehöfer, C.B.F. Walker, and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones have done scholarly research on the Cylinder and the social milieu discounting these claims. These exaggerations helped legitimize Pahlavi’s regime by reinventing the past to distract from the present.”

From our latest article:

Reconstructing a Persian Past: Contemporary Uses and Misuses of the Cyrus Cylinder in Iranian Nationalist Discourse

So this is my latest piece for the Ajam Media Collective on the rampant misinformation surrounding the Cyrus Cylinder. Not exactly about the Qajars, but still good.

I’m obsessed with legal documents. Here’s an example...

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:40:00 -0400

I’m obsessed with legal documents.

Here’s an example of an early Iranian passport from Nasir al-Din Shah’s time, dated 1885. Passports became an important precursor to the concept of citizenship in Iran during the 19th century.

Check out Shahre Farang for the evolution of Iranian passports during the 20th century!

Qajar Female Tumblers by Shahre Farang really wish there were...

Wed, 29 May 2013 19:22:05 -0400

Qajar Female Tumblers by Shahre Farang

really wish there were photographs of these dancers, but alas. This one with the gymnast balancing on a dagger (yes) is dated in 1840, about two decades before cameras made their way to Iran.

ajammc: Antoin Sevruguin (1830s-1933) was an noted photographer...

Sun, 26 May 2013 17:23:42 -0400

ajammc:

Antoin Sevruguin (1830s-1933) was an noted photographer during the Qajar era. Born to an Armenian-Georgian family in Tehran, Sevruguin commanded various languages and gained him access to diverse groups of people, which served him well in his photography.

As the first Iranian to own a camera, Nasir al-Din Shah loved photography, so he invited Sevruguin to document life in the Qajar court.

Based on the girl’s outfit, Sevruguin probably took the picture during the late nineteenth century. The short skirt, called a shalīteh, was introduced to Qajar fashion after Nasir al-Din Shah’s tour of Russia. He was fond of ballerinas and wanted the women in his harem to dress like them. His decision to introduce the tutu to the royal court influenced Iranian fashion for years to come.

Another missionary, Clara Colliver Rice, published her...

Sat, 25 May 2013 14:38:00 -0400

Another missionary, Clara Colliver Rice, published her observations after traveling to Iran in her book Persian Women and their Ways: the experiences and impressions of a long sojourn amongst the women of the land of the Shah with an intimate description of their characteristics, customs and manner of living.

Yes, that whole thing was the title of her book. They liked really long, boring, description titles back then. Persian Women and Their Ways was published in 1923 in Philadelphia.

The broad regional categories “Arabia,” “Caucasia,” and “Mesopotamia” here called “surrounding countries” reflect the changing political landscape of the Middle East in 1923. The Treaty of Lausanne was signed the same year Rice’s book was published, and in the treaty, the Ottoman Empire gave up claims to its territories outside Anatolia and established the Turkish Republic.

I wonder how different the map would have looked if the book was published one or two years later.

I can't believe I wasn't following this blog.

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:37:52 -0400

خوش آمديد :)

I've noticed that girls in organizations about "critical racial studies" and "anti-colonialism" and who rant against white privilege tend to be the most racist people themselves. I know several asian girls, middle eastern girls, and even gay guys in these organizations who ONLY date WHITE MEN, and never ethnic men. I use to think these causes were cool but now I think they are just projections of these peoples' self-hatred. Explain.

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:37:33 -0400

What makes you think I’m a psychologist? Welcome to my history blog. :)

farsizaban: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, (23 March 1853 – 3...

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:25:24 -0400

farsizaban:

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, (23 March 1853 – 3 January 1907) was the fifth Qajar king of Iran. He reigned between the years 1896 and 1907.

He was pretty vain. Died almost immediately after signing Iran’s Constitution. He was also the first king caught on film!

Another example of a 19th century Iranian telegraph, this one...

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:19:49 -0400

Another example of a 19th century Iranian telegraph, this one from the Presbyterian Historical Society Archives in Philadelphia.

An example of a telegraph from the Qajar Era, from Reverend S....

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:59:00 -0400

An example of a telegraph from the Qajar Era, from Reverend S. G. Wilson’s Persian Life and Customs.

Under the lion icon, it says “The Telegraph Office of the Esteemed Government of Iran.”

During the nineteenth century, Iran became a popular destination...

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:10:00 -0400

During the nineteenth century, Iran became a popular destination for Christian missionaries. Often, both men and women traveled to Iran and kept journals with their observances, which sometimes got published. A few even included photographs.

This is one example, written by Reverend S. G. Wilson and published in 1895. Interestingly, his travelogue not only includes a thematic analysis of Iranian life (chapters titled “business life,” “social and family life,” etc, but he also includes a partial discussion of how he arrived to Iran through the Black Sea, Tiflis, and Ararat, as well as descriptions of the different places he visited: “Tabriz, the Metropolis,” “Maragha, the Seat of the Mongols,” “Teheran, the Capital” and so on.

zamaaanawal: Tehran, Iran, 1880s. The guy on the left was Zell...

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:25:32 -0400

zamaaanawal:

Tehran, Iran, 1880s.

The guy on the left was Zell al-Sultan, the governor of Isfahan. He felt like he was better suited to be king than his brother, Mozaffar al-Din Shah. Like his father Nasir al-Din Shah, he reallyyyy enjoyed having his picture taken.

Qorbanat shavam, “may I be sacrificed for you” (aka,...

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:20:58 -0400

Qorbanat shavam, “may I be sacrificed for you” (aka, I love you a lot), begins this alleged letter from Amir Kabir to Nasir al-Din Shah. In his letter, Amir Kabir wrote about an incident while the king was away from Tehran, and how the aunt of a corrupt official intervened in state affairs. The letter ends with

عليحضرت بدانند كه اداره امور مملكت با توصيه عمو و خاله نمى شود

“Your Majesty should know that government affairs cannot be run based on input from uncles and aunts.”

Nasir al-Din Shah’s mother, Mahd Olya, was a really active part of his early reign and didn’t get along with Amir Kabir. In fact, she had him removed of his post and ultimately sentenced to death, despite his close relationship with the king. This letter is said to have been an indirect jab at Nasir al-Din for letting his mom get in the way of too many things.

Some historians have dismissed this letter as a forgery. Either way, it makes for a good story.

touba: Brass qibla compasses, used to establish the direction...

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:25:04 -0400

touba:

Brass qibla compasses, used to establish the direction one should turn towards during prayers (i.e. towards Mecca), Iran, c.1800-1875 (source)

Qajar objects.

Historical Bazaar in Arak City, Iran. Modern Arak is built...

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:48:40 -0400

Historical Bazaar in Arak City, Iran. Modern Arak is built around the same location of a village called Daskerah, which was destroyed during the Mongol Invasion in the 13th century. The city was reestablished ten years after the rise of the Qajars in 1795. Most of the foundational construction work was completed by 1852.

Photographer: Sohrab Niazi

Thanks to Farrah joon for this great find!!