IRAN Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 1999
VOLUME XXXVII
CONTENTS Page ..... Governing Council ...
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IRAN Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 1999
VOLUME XXXVII
CONTENTS Page ..... Governing Council ......... Report of the Council ...........................
...............
ii iii
Obituary .................. ................. The International Merv Project: Preliminary Report on the Seventh Season (1998), by Georgina Herrmann, Kakamurad Kurbansakhatov and StJohn Simpson et al. ............... Grog, Petrology and Early Transcaucasians at Godin Tepe, by Robert B. Mason and Lisa Cooper ........... ........... Archaeological Research in the Islamabad Plain, Central Western Zagros Mountains: Preliminary Results from the First Season, Summer 1998, by Kamyar Abdi ................... Game Boards and Other Incised Graffiti at Persepolis, by John Curtis and Irving Finkel .............. .. ........ Between the Safavids and the Mughals: Art and Artists in Transition, ...... by Abolala Soudavar .................. The Bandar CAbbas-Isfahan Route in the Late Safavid Era (1617-1717), ........ by Willem Floor ...........
v
1 25
33 45 49 67
Sufism and Anti-Sufism in Safavid Iran: The Authorship of the HIjadfqat 95 al-ShicaRevisited, by AndrewJ. Newman ............... Napoleon and Persia, by Iradj Amini
109
...................
Religious Dissidence and Urban Leadership: Baha"is in Qajar Shiraz ....... and Tehran, byJuan R. I. Cole ...........
123
From Revolutionary Tasnif to Patriotic Surud: Music and Nationbuilding in Pre-World War II Iran, by H. E. Chehabi ........
143
The Revolt of Shaykh Muhammad Khiytbaini, by Homa Katouzian . . . Burials and Memorials of the British in Persia: Further Notes and Photographs, by Denis Wright ....................
THE
BRITISH
INSTITUTE
OF PERSIAN
155 173
STUDIES
A Registered Charity
c/o The British Academy,
10 Carlton House Terrace, ISSN 0578-6967
London
SWIY 5AH
STATEMENTOF AIMS AND ACTIVITIES 1. The Institute has an establishment in Tehran at which British scholars, men and women of learning versed in the arts, friends of Iran, may reside and meet their Iranian colleagues in order to discuss with them subjects of common interest: the arts, archaeology, history, literature, linguistics, religion, philosophy and cognate subjects. 2. The Institute provides accommodation for senior scholars and for teachers from British Universities in order that they may refresh themselves at the source of knowledge from which their teaching derives. The same service is being rendered to younger students who show promise of developing interests in Persian studies. 3. The Institute, whilst concerned with Persian culture in the widest sense, is particularly concerned with the development of archaeological techniques, and seeks the co-operation of Iranian scholars and students in applying current methods to the resolution of archaeological and historical problems. 4. Archaeological excavation using modern scientific techniques as ancillary aids is one of the Institute's primary tasks. These activities, which entail a fresh appraisal of previous discoveries, have already yielded new historical, architectural, and archaeological evidence which is adding to our knowledge of the past and of its bearing on the modern world. 5. In pursuit of all the activities mentioned in the preceding paragraphs the Institute is gradually adding to its library, is collecting learned periodicals, and is publishing a journal, Iran, which appears annually. 6. The Institute arranges occasional seminars, lectures and conferences and enlists the help of distinguished scholars for this purpose. It will also aim at arranging small exhibitions with the object of demonstrating the importance of Persian culture and its attraction for the world of scholarship. 7. The Institute endeavours to collaborate with universities and educational institutions in Iran by all the means at its disposal and, when consulted, assists Iranian scholars with technical advice for directing them towards the appropriate channels in British universities.
MEMBERSHIPOF THE INSTITUTE Anyone wishing to join the Institute should write to the Membership Secretary, c/o The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y5AH. The annual subscription rates (lstJanuary-31st December) are as follows: Full membership (U.K. only) ?25 Member not receiving journal ?8.00 Full membership (Overseas) ?30 or $60 ?7.50 Student membership COPIES OF IRAN Full members of the Institute receive a post free copy of the current issue of the journal Iran each year. Copies of Iran may be obtained from the Publications Secretary (address as above) at the following prices: Current issue-single copies purchased by non-members ?30 or US$60 each plus ?3/US$6 per copy for postage and packing (surface mail outside Europe) Back numbers-please see publications list inside back cover Those ordering from overseas may pay in US dollars or by sterling draft drawn in London, by international money order or by Eurocheque.
IRAN Volume XXXVII 1999
CONTENTS Page Governing Council Report of the Council
iii
..................................... ...................
Obituary
ii
.......................................
.........
v
................
The International Merv Project: Preliminary Report on the Seventh Season (1998), by Georgina Herrmann, Kakamurad Kurbansakhatov and StJohn Simpson et al. .
1
Grog, Petrology and Early Transcaucasians at Godin Tepe, by Robert B. Mason and . Lisa Cooper .. ................ ................... Archaeological Research in the Islamabad Plain, Central Western Zagros Mountains: Preliminary Results from the First Season, Summer 1998, by Kamyar Abdi ......
33
Game Boards and Other Incised Graffiti at Persepolis, by John Curtis and Irving .................. Finkel ........................
45
Between the Safavids and the Mughals: Art and Artists in Transition, by Abolala Soudavar
49
by Willem Floor
67
The Bandar cAbbas-Isfahan Route in the Late Safavid Era (1617-1717),
Sufism and Anti-Sufism in Safavid Iran: The Authorship of the Hadfqat al-Shica Revisited, ................... by AndrewJ. Newman .............. Napoleon and Persia, by Iradj Amini ...................
25
95 109
..........
Religious Dissidence and Urban Leadership: Baha3is in Qajar Shiraz and Tehran, .......... byJuan R. I. Cole ....... ..............
123
From Revolutionary Tasnifto Patriotic Suruid:Music and Nation-building in Pre-World War II Iran, by H. E. Chehabi ................... ..........
143
The Revolt of Shaykh Muhammad Khiytbatni, by Homa Katouzian
155
............
Burials and Memorials of the British in Persia: Further Notes and Photographs, byDenisWright .....................................
173
ISSN 0578-6967
THE
BRITISH
INSTITUTE
OF PERSIAN
STUDIES
(A Registered Charity)
c/o
The British Academy,
10 Carlton
House
Terrace,
London
SW1Y 5AH
BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES (A Registered Charity) GOVERNING COUNCIL President DESMOND HARNEY,O.B.E., B.Sc. Vice-President Professor ROBERT HILLENBRAND, M.A., D.Phil., F.R.S.E. HonoraryVice-Presidents Professor A. K. S. LAMBTON, O.B.E., D.Lit., F.B.A. Professor D. B. STRONACH, O.B.E., M.A., F.S.A. Sir DENIS WRIGHT, G.C.M.G., M.A. Members W. ALLAN, M.A., D.Phil. *ProfessorJ. Professor C. E. BOSWORTH, M.A., Ph.D., F.B.A. Sir NICHOLAS BARRINGTON, K.C.M.G., C.V.O. J. E. CURTIS, B.A., Ph.D., F.S.A. J. P. LUFT, M.A., Ph.D. VANESSAMARTIN, M.A., Ph.D. Professor K. S. McLACHLAN,M.A., Ph.D. CHARLESMELVILLE,M.A., Ph.D. CHRIS RUNDLE, O.B.E., M.A. HonoraryTreasurer PETER KNAPTON, B.Phil., M.A., M.B.A., F.C.C.A. and HonoraryLibrarian HonorarySecretary ROBERT GLEAVE,B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Joint Editors Professor C. E. BOSWORTH, M.A., Ph.D., F.B.A. VESTA SARKHOSH CURTIS, M.A., Ph.D. Secretary VESTA SARKHOSH CURTIS, M.A., Ph.D. HonoraryCovenantSecretary PETER DAVIES,M.A. Auditors PRIDIE BREWSTER,29-39 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex TWi 3SZ.
c/o The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, LONDON SW1Y5AH
*Member of Research Committee
P.O. Box 11365-6844 Tehran IRAN
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL to 31st March 1998 The Institute has made significant progress in the last year. We have moved to new premises, generously provided by the British Academy at 10 Carlton House Terrace, just off the Mall, where we share an office with the British School at Rome. From now on, our Secretary will have a permanent and comfortable place to work from, with telephone, fax and e-mail contact. The improvement in relations between Britain and Iran has also meant that we can begin to increase our operations in Iran by opening the Library at the Institute building and employing a part-time librarian. In February, we held the first meeting of the Advisory Council. This meeting was fruitful and many ideas were put forward for the development of the Institute's work. On the research side of BIPS, the projects listed in last year's report have moved on apace. Professors Robert Hillenbrand andJames Allan made a formal BIPS visit to Iran inJanuary 1998. They went to a number of important sites linked to their research projects ("Seljuk Architecture in the Iranian World", and "The History of Steel in Iran" respectively), and established good relations with the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organisation in Tehran. The latter organised their itinerary and we express our thanks to them for their support and help. The Steel Project also supported the research trip of Ms Anna Feuerbach. The other research projects have also been active. Dr Vesta Curtis made a number of trips to Iran in the to year work on the "SasanianCoin Project". Dr Robert Gleave visited Iran inJune 1998 to establish links with academics keen to be involved in the "Religion and Society in Qajar Iran" project. Mr Mansur Sefatgul of the University of Tehran visited the UK in August and September as part of the latter and participated in the successful one-day workshop on the subject. Following the success of the first BIPS Research Workshop in 1997, a second workshop was held in September at St Antony's College, Oxford. Recipients of BIPS grants presented a number of interesting papers, reflecting the wide-ranging areas of research supported by the Institute. Grants for the current year were also awarded to DrJohn Bailey ("Ethnomusicology in Iran"), MrJasper Credland (also working in the same field), Mr Raiomond Mirza ("Ancient Zoroastrian Music"), Mr Marcus Gerhardt ("The Role of Sport in Iran") and Ms Maryam Hodjatpanah ("Civil Society in Post-revolutionary Iran"). BIPS was also able to support trips by a number of undergraduate students through the Undergraduate Bursary Scheme, as well as support for the Third Safavid Round Table conference held in August in Edinburgh under the direction of Dr Andrew Newman. However, the work of the Institute received two setbacks this year. The deaths of Mrs Mary Gueritz MBE and MrJohn Cooper robbed the Institute, and the world of Persian studies generally, of two of its most hardworking and conscientious participants. Mary, herself Assistant Secretary of the Institute for many years and more recently Special Adviser to the Council, knew the workings of BIPS better than anyone and she will be sadly missed. John, E.G. Browne Lecturer in Persian at the University of Cambridge and a long-time member of the Council, greatly contributed to the development of BIPS research work, not least through being a founder member of the "Religion and Society in Qajar Iran" project. The British Academy have continued their support, both in grants and in kind, and we are indebted to them for their commitment to the work of BIPS. We thank the Middle East Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for their advice and service. The staff of both the British Embassy in Tehran (particularly Mr Nick Browne, the current Charge d'Affaires) and the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London (particularly Mr Gholamreza Ansari, the Chargp d'Affaires, and Mr Mohsen Daneshmand, a Second Secretary) are essential to our work, and to improving cultural links between Britain and Iran. We record here our thanks to the staff of both embassies for their aid and assistance. We hope to maintain this good rapport with them and their successors. Our gratitude is also extended to the Resident Caretaker in Tehran, Mr Houman Kordmahini, to our Hon. Treasurer, Mr Peter Knapton, and to the Assistant Secretary for the greater part of this year, Ms Sudi Ansari. Thanks to the efforts of all these, we look forward to another year of BIPS activity on an increasing scale. DESMOND HARNEY President
ROBERT GLEAVE Hon. Secretary iii
OBITUARY E. V. Zeymal (1932-1998)
Dr Evgeny Zeymal, the Russian scholar who wrote with distinction about Central Asian coinage and the Oxus Treasure, died on 6th May 1998 at the age of 66. He had been in poor health since undergoing an operation for throat cancer in 1984, but made light of his disability and continued to pursue an active career. In the last years of his life he was a frequent visitor to Europe and America and made many friends in the west. Zeymal was principally a numismatist, interested in the coinage of Central Asia. Thus, both his Candidate of Science thesis (1965) and Doctor of Science thesis (1985) were based on coins, and were about "The Kushan Kingdom according to Numismatic Evidence" and "The Ancient Coins of Tadzhikistan" respectively. These were published in Russian as Kushanskaya khronologiya (Moscow 1968) and Drevnie Moneti Tadzhikistana(Dushanbe 1983). And it was his involvement in coins that led to his interest in the Oxus Treasure, the largest hoard of gold and silver objects to have survived from Achaemenid Iran and dating from the sixth to the second century BC. When in 1979 the British Museum lent the Oxus Treasure to the State Hermitage for a temporary display in Leningrad, it was Zeymal who was in charge of arrangements for the exhibition and who wrote the accompanying catalogue which was published in Russian as Amudarinskii klad (Leningrad 1979). The great value of this misleadingly slim volume is that it lists 521 coins which Zeymal believed were definitely associated with the Treasure. By contrast O.M. Dalton, who wrote the original catalogue of the Oxus Treasure in 1905, had been reluctant to accept that any coins were an integral part of the find. If they can be associated they are of course the best means of dating the Treasure, and Zeymal followed Sir Alexander Cunningham in demonstrating that the latest coins are of the early second century BC, thus indicating a terminuspost quemof c. 180 BC for the deposition of the Treasure. But Zeymal's interest in the Oxus Treasure was not purely numismatic. In 1962, together with his wife Tamara, he had published an article in the Proceedingsof the TadzhikistanAcademyof Sciences(= Izvestia AN Tadzhikskoi SSR v
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Otdeleniye Obshchestvennykh Nauk) arguing that the Oxus Treasure had been found at Takht-i Kavad, which he visited, a site on the north bank of the River Oxus near the confluence of the Rivers Vakhsh and Pyandzh. Takht-i Kavad is about 5-6 km south of the site of Takht-i Sangin which has subsequently become famous through the discovery there of another treasure, and indeed some scholars maintain that the Oxus Treasure derives from Takht -i Sangin. The matter remains unresolved. In addition to the above works, Zeymal wrote about 100 articles on various subjects, and edited a number of books. These included a volume of papers and abstracts delivered at annual symposiums in memory of his close friend and Head of the Oriental Department at the State Hermitage, Vladimir Lukonin. This appeared as Ermitazhniechteniya1986 -1994 godovpamyatiV.G.Lukonina(St Petersburg 1995). Zeymal studied at Leningrad State University, graduating in archaeology in 1955. He was then made head of the history department of the local museum in Dushanbe, Tadzhikistan. In 1959 he moved to the State Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, where he was first a postgraduate student and then from 1962 onwards a curator. From 1985 until his death he was head of the Ancient Near East section of the Oriental Department and Keeper of the East Hellenistic Collections. Even by Russian standards Zeymal had an extraordinary life. His father, who came from Latvia, was executed in 1938, and his mother was arrested shortly afterwards. She spent the next 22 years first in a gulag and then in exile in Kazakhstan, and for much of this time Zeymal did not know she was still alive. He was brought up by an aunt in Leningrad, and between 1941 and 1944 experienced all the horrors of the German siege. These early privations were later compensated for, however, by an exceptionally happy family life. At the beginning of 1953 he married a fellow archaeologist Tamara Ivanovna, and their two daughters, Olga and Ina, and Olga's family, were a source of much happiness to him. It had been hoped that an English version of the Oxus Treasure catalogue would be published by the British Museum, but Zeymal was reluctant to agree to this before he had a chance to visit Britain and study more of the coins and associated archival material. This was not possible until 1992, when as a result of liberalisation in Russia he was able to travel abroad. After this he spent several short periods in Britain, and visited various museums in his hunt for coins belonging to the Treasure. His work on a revised edition of the catalogue, and particularly the numismatic section, was making good progress, but sadly the project was unfinished when he died and at the time of writing it is not clear whether it will be possible to complete the work for publication. JOHNCURTIS
vi
THE INTERNATIONAL MERV PROJECT PRELIMINARYREPORT ON THE SEVENTH SEASON (1998) By Georgina Herrmann, Kakamurad Kurbansakhatov, StJohn Simpson et al. London and Ashgabat
1998 was the seventh season of work at Merv by the Turkmen-British archaeological collaboration known as the International Merv Project (IMP). This was the first year of our third three-year collaboration (1998-2000). These collaborations reflect the rapid changes made by Turkmenistan during the years since it achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1992. Our first (1992-94) was agreed between University College London, the Institute for the History of Material Culture Leningrad and the YuTAKE [South Turkmenistan Multi-Disciplinary Archaeological Expedition] of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. The YuTAKEwas founded by M. E. Masson in the 1940s and undertook pioneering work over the following decades at sites such as Altyn-depe, Namazga, Nysa and Merv. Our second collaboration (1995-97) was between UCL and the YuTAKEwhich had become absorbed within the Department for the History of the Academy of Sciences. At the end of 1997 the Turkmen Government reorganised the Academy of Sciences, and the Department of History became part of the new National Institute of History of Turkmenistan of the Cabinet of Ministers directed by Professor Dr Mohammed Aydogdiyev. We were delighted to meet Dr Aydogdiyev and are pleased to be working with this dynamic new Institute. Dr K. Kurbansakhatov, our Turkmen founder-director, continues as codirector and facilitates our work in every way. For this third collaboration we are glad to have the British Museum, a valued supporter since the outset, joining UCL as a sponsor of the Project: Dr St John Simpson of the Museum and joint-founder of the Project has become a co-director.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
?5,800 for work on Merv Final Report 4: The MedievalCity, Max van Berchem Foundation Geneva, ?14,710 for our Islamic programme in Sultan Kala, British Museum, ?10,000 for fieldwork in Gyaur Kala, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, ?8,000 for the Project, Iran Heritage Foundation, ?3,000 for preparation of Merv Final Report 1: The Monuments of Merv, Society of Antiquaries of London, ?2,000 for fieldwork in Gyaur Kala.
His RoyalHighness thePrince of Wales On 18 November His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited the Institute of Archaeology to see work carried out in London, following on from his visit to Merv during his State Visit to Turkmenistan in 1996. Some team members were able to describe their work to Prince Charles, who saw the computer mapping programme, laboratory work on the analysis of steel, the Conservation Laboratories, and a Photographic Exhibition prepared by Stuart Laidlaw and Mike Halliwell assisted by students from Museum Studies. We were also joined by H.E. Mr Murad Chariev, Ambassador of Turkmenistan, and Mr Craven Walker of Monument Oil and Gas. Prince Charles met a number of staff and students, and the occasion was enjoyed by all. The 1998 season Investigations during the 1998 season were conducted under Permit No. 0003, dated August 25 1998, signed by the Deputy Minister of Culture of Turkmenistan, Galina Iazkulievna Vasova, and issued to Dr Kurbansakhatov. This entitled the expedition to carry out multi-disciplinary investigations of the city-sites of Ancient Merv from 25 August to 25 October 1998. The representative from the Ministry of Culture was Rejeb Ahmedov of the Archaeological Park "Ancient Merv". The Director of the Park, Rejeb Dzaparov, showed keen interest in our work and helped us in every way. In Ashgabat we
Funding We are extremely grateful to our sponsors for their generous support without which our work would be impossible. Funding has been granted both for fieldwork and work on our final reports. Grants for 1998 were as follows: 1. Humanities Research Board of the British Academy, Major Research Grant of ?1 1,500 for work on MervFinal Report2: Sasanian Remains in Erk Kala, plus a supplementary grant of 1
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were glad to have useful discussions with Dr Muhammed Mamedov of the Ministry of Culture and to thank him for his assistance. We would also like to thank the Hakim of the Bayram Ali Hakimlik and his deputies for their support. We were pleased to meet the new Director of the excellent MaryMuseum, Ovalek Durdymuradov, himself a former Director of the Archaeological Park, as well as the Director of the new National Museum in Ashgabat, Mametmurov Mametmurov Ovez. This monumental new building is a joint TurkmenTurkish initiative: lavishlylaid out and decorated, it is located on the outskirts of the city on a beautiful site in Berzingay near the mountains. With a series of halls dedicated to different themes, it will present an overview of the cultural and natural history of Turkmenistan. Thanks to the kindness of the Director and his deputy Agabay Atagaryev we were able to arrange a visit to the Museum, prior to its opening, for Daniel Walker, Curator of the Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, who also spent a few days with us. H.E. Neil Hook, the British ambassador, paid us a farewell visit. We will greatly miss him. He has been outstandingly supportive since his arrival and his photographic skills are formidable. It was a pleasure to speak to the expatriate community about our work on the last of the evening talks arranged by the Ambassador, and to welcome some of the audience at Merv itself. We look forward to meeting the new Ambassador, H.E. Fraser Wilson, and showing him our work in the field. In addition to the Ambassador and Mr Walker, visitors to Merv included a tour led by the textile specialist and writer Sheila Paine, the Finnish organisers of a forthcoming exhibition on the Silk Road, diplomats from the German Embassy, the Ashgabat representative of Lufthansa, Felix Redeker, and a number of intrepid independent cyclists. We were also glad to welcome Jo Kearney of Associated Press TV, who made a short feature film on Merv that was syndicated to CNN and the BBC World Service. Fieldwork began on 8 September and continued until 23 October. During this period five excavations were undertaken. There were five teams in all: Team 1: St John Simpson, Vladimir Zavyalov (Institute for the History of Material Culture, St. Petersburg), Natasha Smirnova (Pushkin Museum, Moscow), Aurdlie Daems and Dieter Demey (University of Ghent, Belgium), Elena Leoni (University of Ravenna) plus workmen; investigating Sasanian housing and streets in Gyaur Kala (4 weeks) and the Seleucid-Sasanian fortifications of Gyaur Kala (3 weeks). Team 2: Mark Turner and Dirk Wicke (UCL) plus workmen; investigating a Late Seljuk palatial resi-
dence in the medieval citadel of Shahryar Ark, followed by the excavation of Early Islamic kilns in Gyaur Kala. Team 3: Akmuhammet Annayew, Pierre Brun (Sorbonne), Gurban Agajanow plus workmen; continuing the programme of recording the medieval fortifications. Team 4: Gabriele Puschnigg (UCL) and David Gilbert (University of Cardiff) processed the ceramics; Faith Pewtress drew the ceramics and Small Finds; Natasha Smirnova cleaned and identified the coins; Sheila Boardman (University of Sheffield) was responsible for the environmental programme, assisted by up to four local girls. The photography of Small Finds was the responsibility of David Gilbert and Georgina Herrmann; Gilbert also initiated a surface survey of Sultan Kala. Team 5: Georgina Akmuhammet Herrmann, and our Annayew, Kathy Judelson representative, Rejeb Ahmedov, continued work on completing entries, plans and photographs for the gazetteer of MervFinal Report1: TheMonumentsofMerv.Ahmedov is an architect trained in Moscow and formed an invaluable team member, preparing a number of new plans. The results of the 1998 season are described below in broadly chronological order for greater ease of reference: Part One: Excavations in Gyaur Kala: a Middle Sasanian residential quarter and streets, Early Islamic pottery kilns and the Seleucid-Sasanian fortifications; Part Two: Investigations in Sultan Kala: excavations of a Late Seljuk palace within the citadel and along the North Wall, a surface survey in the northern part of the city; Part Three: The Monuments of Merv.
PART ONE: EXCAVATIONSIN GYAURKALA A SASANIANRESIDENTIALQUARTER: Gyaur KalaArea 5 1. Architecture, stratigraphyand SmallFinds The area was selected for excavation in 1993 in order to throw light on a Sasanian residential quarter in Gyaur Kala. The results of these past seasons have been outlined in earlier preliminary reports (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov et al. 1995, 37-42, pls. II-III; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1996, 4-10, pls. I-II; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov,
THE INTERNATIONAL
MERV PROJECT-PRELIMINARY
Simpson et al. 1997, 4-10; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 54-65, pls. VII-VIII). The specific objectives for 1998 were to: 1. Investigate the early phases of construction of one building (Structure C) in order to understand its long-term architectural history; 2. Verify the dating through enhanced coin recovery from stratigraphically-related street refuse deposits; 3. Excavate a deep section through a main street to the south between Structures D and E. These objectives were achieved; the main results are outlined below. It is expected to conclude these excavations during the 1999 season. The final assemblage will allow a serious reassessment of the Middle Sasanian period at Merv and its inter-relations with Bactria and Iran. It will also enable a clearer understanding of site formation processes at complex multi-period mudbrick sites other than Merv. The results will form MervReport3: A Sasanian Residential Quarterin GyaurKala. Structure C comprises two separate units, namely a long storeroom and several interconnecting, presumed residential, rooms constructed immediately to the south (Fig. 1). The two units are discussed separately. A. Thestoreroom(Room606) Excavations within the storeroom (Room 606) have reached the earliest floor and demonstrated the unchanging function of the room since its earliest phase of construction. The room measures 9.50 m. in length by c. 2.50 m. across. It was entered at the eastern end through a single doorway, 1.20 m. wide, leading off a narrow alley running north-south alongside the eastern side of Structure C. The primary mud-plastered floor was characterised by the customary greasy surface, whereas the walls were covered with a greenish mud plaster. At least a dozen large flat-bottomed storage jars had been set directly onto this earliest floor, most-if not all-of whichare presumed to have remained in use for several phases. These jars were placed along the walls in clusters, leaving a central space up to some 0.80 m. across for access. After a period of time, the room was deliberately infilled to a depth of c. 0.40 m. with a rather compacted brownish silty clay containing numerous white particles; the uppermost surface of this was utilised as a trampled floor surface. Several further jars appear to have been inserted during this second phase but most, if not all, of the earlier jars appear to have remained in use (P1.I). A number of finds was made during the excavation of the infilling between the floors and within the subsequently infilledjars themselves. These finds included copper alloy coins (provisionally identified
REPORT
ON THE
SEVENTH
SEASON
(1998)
3
by N. Smirnova as Shapur II: 309-379), a heavily worn pebble polisher, two fragments of worked animal bone (Fig. 2: 6), an iron smithing-hearth bottom and four fragmentary grinding stones. These are all categories represented in earlier seasons in Area 5. Several fragmentary terracotta figurines were also recovered (Fig. 2, P1. IIa-c). All of these belonged to the so-called 'Great Margiana Goddess' type that was very popular in Margiana and possibly as far east as Balkh (cf. Grenet 1982, 157-58, pl. XVI: 2). There were extensive traces of pigment surviving on one of the figurine heads: the face was coloured red whereas the hair and reverse were painted black (Fig. 2: 7). There are clear developments in the style of these mould-pressed figurines for which there must have been an important local terracotta industry. The frequency with which these are found in Area 5 and contemporary fourth-fifth century contexts in the YuTAKETrench 6 and the Buddhist monastery complex prove the continuity of this type into the Middle Sasanian period (Katsuris and Buryacov 1963, figs. 19-21; Pugachenkova and Usmanova 1995, 73-75). In contrast, later examples are flatter and much more heavily stylised: examples of this type are known from our own excavations in Erk Kala and a surface find at Chilburj (Herrmann, Masson, Kurbansakhatov et al. 1993, 55, fig. 12: 2, pl. XIVc; Gaibov, Koshelenko, Novikov 1990, 29-30, fig. 14: 2). The newly revised dating and typological development is significant as early studies have tended to simply attribute these objects to the late Parthian period (Pugachenkova 1959). The pottery assemblage from this room included large sherds of tagarasand a coarse handmade cooking pot with a rounded base; several inscribed sherds were also recovered. A fragment of a so-called 'zoomorphic support vessel' was also found in this room, consisting of a quadruped originally supporting a small vessel on its back. This type has been found at Susa and in some numbers at KushanoSasanian sites in Bactria (Abdullaev & Zavyalov 1985). In recent years further examples have come to light within the Merv oasis, namely from a fourth century phase at G6bekli-depe and earlier excavations on a mound situated a short distance to the west of Area 5 in Gyaur Kala itself (YuTAKE Trench 2: Usmanova 1955, un-numbered plate). The distribution of this type highlights an important but recurrent problem, namely the extent to which items may be regarded as Iranian versus Central Asian in view of the paucity of excavated Sasanian sites within Iran itself. There is no reason to suppose that this storeroom is exceptional or that Structure C itself was anything other than a small house. Dedicated storerooms containing large storage jars such as these have been encountered in two other Middle Sasanian domestic
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structures in Area 5 (Structures D and G). Some 10% of the excavated rooms in YuTAKETrench 6 contained similar groups of large storage jars (Katsuris and Buryacov 1963, fig. 7); another such storeroom was discovered during excavations in 1904 in the central part of Gyaur Kala (Pumpelly ed. 1908, Vol. I, 214-16). These rooms may therefore be regarded as a typical component of a Sasanian house at Merv. In earlier excavations it was found that some of these coil-built jars stood upright on the floors with bricks wedged in around their bases whereas in other cases they were sunken or built into sufas. The present evidence suggests that as these rooms are multi-phase their life-history can be complex with the replacement of jars as they became damaged or otherwise unusable, with a tendency for the lower parts of older jars to become sunken as floor levels were raised through deliberate infilling. B. Theresidentialunit (Rooms600, 603, 604, 841) Three or more phases, defined by architectural modification, have now been defined within the adjacent residential unit. The tops of earlier walls reused as foundations for the earliest excavated phase walls are visible in some rooms: it is expected to conclude this excavation next season. In the earliest phase this presumed residential unit comprised four rooms, for which an early phase doorway facilitated access from the street outside into Room 600. Immediately within this entrance a second doorway connected the room with Room 841 on the south. A series of plastered floors within Room 600 sloped down to a third doorway at the western end which led into Room 604. An oval hearth, 0.80 m. in length, and replastered on at least one occasion, was found near the centre of the room. Within the south-west corner of Room 600 was a low bin, measuring 1.20 x up to 0.70 m. across and constructed of a single course of mudbricks abutting the adjacent walls. This bin was filled with a moderately compacted fine light grey ash deposit. The absence of scorching implies that this was some form of storage bin rather than a fire installation and it may be that the ash itself was considered useful, possibly in constructing plastered floors, for which there is evidence from Structure C, or for fumigation. There was another interesting feature within Room 604, namely a very low plastered sufa, measuring c. 2.0 x 1.0 m. across x 10 cm. high, abutting the walls in the south-west corner of the room and constructed on the same floor level as the above-mentioned bin. A semi-complete juglet was found lying flat immediately above a secondary floor in this room (Fig. 4: 2). A second phase of reconstruction was marked by the cutting down of all the walls in Rooms 600 and 604, prior to rebuilding along generally the same
STUDIES
alignments. However, there were also a number of modifications to the architectural plan. The former doorway connecting Rooms 600 and 841 was blocked with the addition of a new east-west orientated internal wall built of large square mudbricks (44 cm. across x 10 cm. thick). This was constructed partly abutting' the south side of the earlier wall, the northern face of which then appears to have been cut and replastered to form a low narrow sufa along the southern wall of Room 600. A second sufa, 0.60 m. wide, was constructed immediately on top of an earlier sufa placed along the opposite (northern) wall of this room. A new circular hearth, c. 0.60 m., across, was also constructed near the eastern end of the room to replace the earlier hearth which was plastered over. Within Room 841, a wide new doorway with green wall-plaster was constructed onto the adjacent north-south street. This phase was accompanied by a shallow accumulation of deposits within Rooms 600, 604 and 841, suggesting a relatively short period of time before further modifications were made in a third phase. The north-south orientated alley alongside the eastern side of Structure C has not been fully investigated for this-or earlierphases yet the street sequence also suggests a short timespan for this phase. The third phase was marked by reconstruction of all the walls in the residential unit of Structure C. These were constructed of poor-quality mudbricks and mortar containing a high sand content. The eastern and southern walls of Room 841 were completely demolished and rebuilt, both on the same alignment as before but now encroaching some 0.50 m. onto the adjacent street frontage. During this phase, the earlier doorway linking Room 841 with the street was blocked and the eastern portion of this room sub-divided by the addition of a mudbrick wall, a single course thick, with a possible doorway at the northern end. The area on the eastern side of the wall was used for baking bread; the remains of two consecutive bread ovens were excavated here in a previous season. A small number of finds were recovered from contexts within these rooms. They included a near-mint coin of Shapur II (309-379), and a small fragment of pink antler coral found in Room 600 (Fig. 2: 5): the ends of this had been sawn off in antiquity, presumably to make beads as coral beads have been discovered in previous seasons but the fragment appears to have been retained later, perhaps for sentimental or amuletic purposes, as it was heavily polished through wear. Another interesting find was a painted sherd depicting a bird with flowing ribbons attached to its neck and holding a flower in its beak (Fig. 2: 1); the sherd probably belonged to a small juglet but appears to have been decorated after breakage as the design was at right angles to the curvature of the
Room
Door
606
Jars
0
0
(
oO
O
Sufa
SDoor Blocked
?ocked
5
"'Blocked
/Room 600
8Sufa Room 604
metres
do r
I
Binr
do r
STREET
do r
Former position of door
Room 841
Room 603 S'
I
\\\\
Fig. 1. GyaurKala:Area5, StructureC, multi-phaseplan.
PHASE
1
PHASE2 PHASE 3
,
,,
C
*
.
TR S,
6
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
vessel. Other finds included a fragmentary bone pin, three figurine fragments, a spindle whorl and two inscribed sherds. C. Streetdeposits The street deposits contemporary with this third phase were extensively excavated and sampled for environmental remains this season. The sequence consisted of regular laying of bricky pavements next to the wall footings with thick organic refuse
deposits infilling a central gully running along the length of the street (cf. Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 56). The matrix of the refuse deposits was typically greenish in colour with frequent lenses of mineralisation implying water action, either through rain during the wet season and/or from the disposal of human waste. Several compressed elongated coprolites were discovered in situ although it is unclear whether these were of human or animal origin. Two scenarios are possible
RedPigment BlackPigment
0
5
cm Fig. 2. GyaurKala:Area5, StructureC, selectedSasanian SmallFinds (1:2 scale): 1 Painted sherddepictinga birdwithflowing ribbonsandflower, blackpaint, SF 4955; 2 fragmentarybonepin, SF 4830; 3 complete bonepin with decoratedhead, SF 4831; 4 lead repairstrip,SF 4898; 5 sawn-offpink coralfragment,SF 4855; 6 workedboneoffcut, SF 4810; 7figurine head,female with double-knob headdressand diadem,SF 4834; 8figurinefragment,femalefigure with beaded necklaceholdinga mirroragainst herchest,SF 4939; 9figurinefragment,femalefigure with beadednecklaceholdinga mirrorand its case orpossiblytwo mirrors,SF 4940.
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MERV PROJECT-PRELIMINARY
here, one whereby the contents of chamber pots were emptied in the street, the second simply reflecting the action of careless children and dogs; extensive canine gnawing evident on the excavated animal bone confirms the existence of dogs in the neighbourhood. The street deposits were uniformly dry-sieved using 0.5 cm. wire mesh, with the dual purpose of ensuring near-100% recovery of stratified lowdenomination coins from casual loss or sweep-out contexts that would enable closer dating of Structure C, and improving the recovery of other finds and fine animal bone. The processing of the pottery and bone from these deposits is not yet complete. However, it is interesting to note the occurrence of the following Small Finds: 24 coins (39% of the total recovered this season from Area 5), a single plain body sherd of Sasanian glass, a bone pin (Fig. 2: 3), three spindle whorls and a single carnelian bead. The latest coins fall within the reigns of Peroz (459-484; SF 4811) and Kavad I (488-531; SF 4825), according to N. Smirnova's provisional identifications, implying a date in the second half of the fifth century for the end of this phase. A deep section was excavated across the north-south orientated street between Structures D and E, at the southern end of Area 5. This street is c. 2.00 m. across and contained an interesting sequence of street refuse deposits, punctuated by repeated levelling-up infilling episodes associated with different rebuilding phases of the structures either side. The section was continued to a depth of c. 2.75 m., ending with what appears to be a change in plan or orientation of the street in the earliest excavated level. A shell pendant, a fragmentary bone pin, a lead repair strip (Fig. 2: 4)-a type also known from Bactria, Khorezm and the Black Sea (V. Zavyalov, N. Smirnova, personal communication)-a fragmentary twisted strip of copper alloy, two iron blade fragments, two grinding stone fragments and two fragmentary horse figurines were also recovered from this section. Dating evidence for the different phases was obtained through sieve-retrieval of coins. This particular sequence appears to span the mid-third to fifth centuries, according to N. Smirnova's provisional identifications of coins of Shapur I (240-272; SF 4862, 4863) from the lowest contexts and possibly Varahran V (421-439; SF 4901) from an infilling context near the top. 2. Thecoin evidence1 Table 1 lists those coins recovered from this trench during the 1998 season that could be assigned preliminary attributions. Weights are in grams; sizes are given in mm.
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ON THE
SEVENTH
SEASON
(1998)
7
3. TheSasanian ceramics2 The ongoing study of the Sasanian ceramics from Merv continued to focus on Middle Sasanian material excavated in Gyaur Kala Area 5; hand-excavated contexts were given priority over sieved contexts. During this season over 11,000 potsherds, including 2,637 diagnostics, were washed and processed. The material found this season confirmed some of the chronological and stylistic developments suggested last year (Puschnigg in Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 57-61). The analyses have shown that interpretation of the ceramic assemblage relies on an understanding of the depositional sequences and complex patterns of reuse. Chronological developments therefore appear as subtle changes in the proportion and frequency of certain vessel types within the ceramic assemblage. Such delicate variations become most obvious in the fluctuation of well-defined diagnostic vessel types, which can be recognised with certainty even with small fragments. Four distinct shapes appear to be chronologically sensitive and are therefore suitable to illustrate the fourth-fifth century Sasanian pottery assemblage from the site. The first of these types is the small juglet which was found in some frequency in previous seasons but which now was strikingly less dominant, both in the number of fragments and the percentage preserved (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1997, 7-8, fig. 4: 3-4; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 59, fig. 1: 4-6, pl. VIIIb). A single almost complete specimen was found in Room 604 (Fig. 4: 2), while most of the sherds were small and represented a smaller proportion of the overall assemblage. Instead, this type showed for the first time some variation in form, including a slightly larger version with a rim diameter of 10-12 cm., instead of 7-9 cm. (Fig. 4: 3), and one specimen covered with red slip. This appears to be representative of an earlier phase at Merv, as a higher proportion of red-slipped wares were recovered from deeper street contexts. Along with the decrease of this previously dominant shape, others gain in popularity, such as the trefoil-mouth jug occasionally found in the upper contexts of Structure C (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1997, 7-8, fig. 4: 5). Fragments of this type belong to a standardised form with a rim diameter of c. 6 cm. and a rib around the centre of the neck. The trefoil-mouth jug seems to represent a form widespread throughout the Sasanian Empire (Venco Ricciardi 1984, 50, fig. 2: 7). A third diagnostic type that was increasingly present this year is a bowl referred to in the Russian literature as a goblet-shaped bowl (Pilipko 1985, 94). One semi-complete specimen from Structure C
8
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Table1
Attribution
Inv. no.
Weight 2.61 3.43 1.40 0.80 2.15 1.80 1.69 2.14 1.59 1.96 2.03 1.47 2.22 1.76
Size
Thickness
16 17.5 12 13 18.5 18 18 18.5 12 16.5 19.5 16 15 16
4.5 6.5 4 3 5 3 3.5 3.5 5.5 3.5 3 3 3.5 3
Notes
Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian Parthian
4808 4829 4857 4859 4861 4866 4868 4883 4890 4907 4932 4945 4947 4956
Shapur I Shapur I Shapur I Shapur I Shapur I Shapur I Shapur I
4839 4862 4863 4871 4877 4881 4913
1.86 1.55 2.89 3.17 1.73 2.04 1.41
16.5 13 17.5 19 16.5 16.5 18
3.5 3.5 3 4 3 3.5 3
Findspot MGK5, street MGK5, 760 MGK5, 804 MGK5 MGK5, 869 MGK5, 859 MGK5, 859 MGK5,913 MGK5, 859 MGK5, 922 MGK5,950 MGK5,927 MGK5, 948 MGK5,938 MGK5, 857 MGK5, 892 MGK5, 892 MGK5,899 MGK5,911 MGK5, 859 MGK5, 863
Merv king Merv king
4920 4950
2.30 1.49
17.5 18.5
3.5 3
MGK5, 530 MGK5, 981
Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II Shapur II
4818 4819 4822 4832 4844 4845 4846 4873 4876 4888 4894 4899 4900 4905 4921 4928 4929 4942 4944 4946 4949 4957
1.55 2.15 1.53 1.02 1.30 1.06 0.93 1.15 1.52 2.18 0.58 0.78 0.90 2.26 2.12 0.60 0.74 2.08 1.40 1.42 1.60 1.56
16 17.5 20 15 17 16.5 15.5 17 17.5 19.5 13 16 15 18 18 14.5 15 17.5 17 16 18 18
2 3 2 2 3.5 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 2.5 3 3.5 1.5 3 3.5 3 3 2 2.5
MGK5, 759 MGK5, 867 MGK5, 867 MGK5, 707 MGK5, 857 MGK5, 857 MGK5, 804 MGK5, 794 MGK5, 859 MGK5, 794 MGK5, 859 MGK5, 740 MGK5, 907 MGK5, 795 MGK5, 938 MGK5, 957 MGK5, 957 MGK5,952 MGK5,948 MGK5, 859 MGK5,971 MGK5, 895
Peroz
4811
1.00
18.5
2.5
MGK5, 856
Kavad I
4825
0.50
10
3
MGK5, 873
Varahran V?
4901
0.50
14
1
MGK5, 740
?
Sasanian Sasanian Sasanian
4833 4915 4923
0.32 1.09 0.57
13.5 16 10
1 2 3
MGK5, 830 MGK5,917 MGK5, 939
5th cent.
Margiana Margiana Margiana ? Margiana Margiana Margiana Margiana Margiana ? Margiana Margiana Margiana ? ? ? ?
late type
THE
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could be reconstructed in 1997 (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 61, fig. 3: 4); this year goblet-shaped bowls occurred frequently in internal and street contexts. In contrast to the bowl found last year which had a high rim and flat base, these examples are dominated by a wider variant with a low rim and a ring base (Fig. 3: 2). Most of these display burnished decoration on the inside, consisting of a grid pattern along the rim and a concentric loop motif on the base (Fig. 3: 1). Some of the bowls show a bichrome effect on the outside, changing from red to white towards the rim, as a result of stacking the vessels either during drying or firing. This effect was also very popular on pottery of earlier periods at Merv. Finally, tagaras-large bowls with wavy handle attachments and incised interior rims-appear to have been common (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1996, 10, fig. 7; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 58, 60, figs. 2-3). They continued to be found this year; one of the make-up layers in Room 606 provided a semicomplete specimen of this shape (Fig. 3: 3). Both vessel types, i.e. the goblet-shaped bowl and the tagara, are considered diagnostics for the KushanoSasanian period in Northern Bactria (Koshelenko 1985, 399, pl. CXIV: 2, 3, 8; Pilipko 1985, 94, pl. XL: 19; Sedov 1987, 55, pl. XIV). Most strikingly, both show exactly the same variation in form and decoration at sites in Northern Bactria and at Merv indicating a close cultural relationship of both areas; Lyonnet (1997, 239, figs. 60, 66) relates both of these forms to a Roman tradition. The residual material present in all contexts allows some further insights into patterns of reuse. Brickworkwithin the southern wall of Room 600 produced a number of sherds belonging to fish-plates (Fig. 5: 6-8). This was a popular type across the Near East as far east as Central Asia during the Hellenistic and Early Parthian periods (Haerinck 1983; Koshelenko 1985, 397, pl. CIX: 6-8). One of the smaller discrete contexts in Room 841 contained a zoomorphic handle which appears to be unique at Merv; the head of the animal and the remainder of the vessel were missing, suggesting that it is residual from earlier deposits. Zoomorphic handles are well known from north-east Iran and Central Asia during the Parthian and Kushan periods respectively (Haerinck 1983, 192; Pugachenkova 1979, 180-86, figs. 224-28). Further analysis is required of the material found in the streets. However, material recorded from selected contexts does suggest some new developments with the identification of higher numbers of jars with vertical plain or reeded rims, often covered with a red slip (Fig. 5: 3-4). Some of these shapes have so far only occurred as residual fragments in
REPORT
ON THE SEVENTH
SEASON
(1998)
9
Structure C. In this respect the ceramic assemblages from the street provide an interesting outlook and guideline for earlier Sasanian material and also help to define residual shapes in later contexts. 4. Archaeobotanicalanalyses3 A. Sampling,recoveryand processing As in earlier field seasons all secure archaeological contexts were bulk sampled for the recovery of archaeobotanical remains. A total of 192 bulk soil samples (c. 2,300 litres of soil) were processed over a four week period, using combined flotation and water separation. These included: 12 samples from MSK 1 (collected in the 1997 season), 38 samples from MSK 3, 15 samples from MSK 4, 136 samples from MGK 5 and a single sample from MGK 4/2 (also collected in 1997). A further 20 bulk soil samples (of mudbrick and associated plaster) have been collected to date from the fortifications revealed during excavations at MGK 6 and MSK 4, and processed dry (broken down by hand) to remove uncharred plant material-generally cereal chaff and straw-primarily for radiocarbon dating in Britain. The sorting of the heavy sample fractions (residues) was completed during the field season, due to the help provided again by Guncha and Enebay Durdyeva. This yielded charred plant remains (charcoal, seeds, chaff, etc.), plus ceramics, animal bones, glass fragments, occasional beads and two coins. Identification of seeds retrieved from the residues of samples collected during previous seasons included chickpea (Cicer arientinum), the first appearance of this species at Merv. This came from an external context associated with the post-Mongol use of the MSK 1 building. Following flotation, the light sample fractions (or flots) which contain the bulk of the archaeobotanical remains were scanned using low power microscopy before being packed for export and further work in Britain. The following results are therefore provisional. B. Plant remainsfrom Sasanian contexts In Room 606, the large number of storage vessels excavated appeared to contain no surviving evidence for their possible uses (plant-related or other). The floors and other deposits were also largely sterile in terms of plant remains-this is unusual at Merv-or contained small quantities of charred material which may have eroded out of mudbricks and other material used to infill and level the room. This is consistent with the interpretation of this room as being used for storage throughout the excavated phases. In Room 600, charred peach and almond fruit stone fragments, together with charred cereal grains, were
10
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bowlwith burnished MiddleSasanian pottery(1:2 scale): 1-2 goblet-shaped Fig. 3. GyaurKala: Area5, StructureC, characteristic decoration,rim diameter18.8 cm., ring baseof similarvessel,basediameter4.2 cm., redwith whiteexteriorsurface;3 deepbowl,rim diameter22.5 cm., height14.2 cm.;4 largeopen bowlwith inciseddecoration,rim diameter29 cm., height11.6 cm., bufffabric.
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REPORT
ON THE SEVENTH
SEASON
(1998)
11
Fig. 4. GyaurKala: Area5, StructureC, selectedSasanian pottery(1:2 scale): 1 bottle,maximumdiameter10 cm., preservedheight 12.3 cm., redwith whitesurfaces;2juglet, semi-complete, rim diameter7.3 cm., height14.1 cm.,pinkfabric; 3 largejuglet,rim diameter11 cm., whitefabric; 4jar with inciseddecorationand rippledshoulder,rim diameter14 cm., lightpinkfabric: this typeof jar usually hasfour equallyspacedperforatedholesbelowthe rim;5 cookingpot with impresseddecoration,rim diameter14 cm., slagtemperedcoarsedarkgrayfabric.
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Fig. 5. GyaurKala:Area5, StructureC, selectedSasanian and Hellenistic/EarlyParthianpottery(1:2 scale):1 jar with twohandles and inciseddecoration,rim diameter11 cm., whitefabric; 2jar with handleand trefoilrim, rim diameter5-6 cm., whitefabric;3jar rim, rim diameter10. 7 cm., redfabric with redslip overexterior,probablyEarlySasanian; 4jar rim, rim diameter12 cm., redfabric with redslip overexterior,probablyEarlySasanian; 5jar rim,rim diameter12 cm., heightof neck13 cm.; 6-8fish-plate rims, exterior with deliberatebichromered/whitesurface(6) or gray burnished(7-8), rim diameter16 cm. (6), 17.9 cm. (7), 24.5 cm. (8).
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found scattered within the excavated floors and associated deposits. A series of ashy layers produced probable debris from dung fuel (charred camel thorn seeds and pods, Prosopis seeds, and cereal chaff/straw). Similar remains characterised the ashy layers excavated in Room 841. A range of cereals and large seeded legumes (including lentil) were also noted in the Room 841 deposits. In all the Structure C deposits assessed, cotton seeds were noted in only four samples, usually as a single seed per sample. Cotton seeds were only slightly more common in the street deposits. Three street areas within Area 5 were investigated during 1998: two directly associated with Structure C and the third between Structures D and E. Samples from these areas proved to be exceptionally rich in refuse of all types (ceramics, animal bone, charcoal, seeds, coins, etc.). One of the Structure C streets produced a series of deposits which were rich in charred cereals (grains, straw and chaff of wheat and barley), small seeded legumes (including camel thorn), and some interesting fruit remains, including grape pips, and nuts of peach and almond. workin Britain C. Ongoingarchaeobotanical Archaeobotanical research at Merv is now being funded by a three year research grant from the University of Sheffield (commenced January 1998). More than 750 archaeobotanical samples have been fully analysed, confirming and adding to the provisional picture for plant use in the Merv oasis (cf. Boardman in Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1997, 29-31). The results also provide much additional information on activities in the different periods, associated with the various buildings and rooms, the external areas and streets, and the other features excavated (the fortifications, kilns, furnaces and so on). Final archaeobotanical reports for Erk Kala Trench 1 and Gyaur Kala Area 4 are planned for late 1998 and 1999. EARLYISLAMICINDUSTRY:Gyaur Kala Area 4 Surface surveys and excavations across the main mound of Gyaur Kala clearly illustrate the gradual transformation of the former Sasanian city into an industrial suburb of the later medieval city of Sultan Kala. A number of Early Islamic pottery kilns were investigated by Soviet teams during the 1950s whereas the IMP excavation of a ninth-tenth century crucible-steel workshop, completed in 1996, demonstrated for the first time the existence of other industries in this area of the site (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov et al. 1995, 42-49, pl. I; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1996, 15-17, pl. III; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1997,
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SEASON
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10-18, pl. II). Closer study of the surface remains suggests a complex pattern of industrial activity comprising separate workshops specialising in copper, iron, crucible-steel and pottery production. These were often separated from one another by open areas that were susceptible to post-occupational erosion processes, particularly the buildup of compacted laminated silt that obscured the earlier tell surface and contribute toward poor surface visibility of artefacts in particular areas (cf. Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov et al. 1994, 60-61). The close relationship between the mounded topography and discrete surface scatters has been confirmed by magnetometer and micro-contour surveys completed in the area around and to the south-west of the excavated crucible-steel workshop (Gyaur Kala Area 4). During the most recent season further light was thrown on contemporary Early Islamic pottery production through the excavation of two rather wellpreserved pottery kilns. This is part of our re-analysis of earlier investigations and scientific analysis of excavated ceramics. The first kiln (MGK 4/2) was situated south-west of Area 4. It was rectangular in plan, measuring 2.20 x 1.80 m. across at the level of the grate, with a subterranean firepit, the floor of which was reached at a depth of 2.20 m. below the original ground surface (Fig. 6, Pl. IIIa). The sides of the firepit were originally lined with bricks but the northern and southern sides were largely destroyed, removing in the process most of the protruding springers that supported the grate-and the grate itself-although the pitched-brick arch closest to the stokehole end of the kiln remained intact. The stokehole measured 38 cm. across, 45 cm. high and was constructed at a height of 1.30 m. (13 courses) above the kiln floor at the eastern end of the kiln. The bricks were square, measuring 30-32 cm. across and 7-8 cm. thick; the interior faces of the kiln were thickly coated with chaff-tempered mud plaster, with deep finger trails remaining in the corners. The bricks and plaster had vitrified to a greenish colour, the effect of the high temperatures resulting in a bubbled and molten surface effect in places. The sides and bottom of the stokehole were scorched and a thin deposit of loosely compacted dark gray ash remained in places on the orange scorched floor of the kiln, particularly in the corners and towards the western end. The secondary fill of the kiln consisted of the demolished remains of the walls and grate, fragmentary mudbricks and a small quantity of Early Islamic plainware pottery but no convincing remains of wasters. The second kiln (MGK 4/4) was situated immediately north of the prominent "hollow way" running across Gyaur Kala, approximately halfway between Area 4 and the Seljuk mosque at the centre of the
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5
0 METRES METRES
Fig. 6. GyaurKala:Area 4/2, EarlyIslamicpotterykiln:plan, and elevationshowingan intact vaultedarchsupportfor thegrate (hatched)and off-centrearchedstokeholein thefirepit wall behind.
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site. The kiln was again rectangular in plan, measuring c. 1.80 x 1.60 m. across at the top and 1.75 m. deep, with a stokehole at the eastern end (P1. IIIb). The grate was again destroyed but the lower parts of three pairs of squarish springers that originally supported the grate survived intact. The brick sizes and appearance of the plaster resembled the kiln described above. This kiln was likewise situated close to the edge of a small mound believed to correspond to another discrete pottery workshop. A similar kiln with a rectangular firepit measuring 1.80 x 1.05 m. across and up to 2.15 m. deep was excavated by the YuTAKE in 1956 (Zaurova 1958, 31-33, Kiln 2). The rectangular plan and construction of these kilns may be regarded as transitional towards the type commonly used in later medieval periods yet contrasts with other types of kilns found in Gyaur Kala that appear to date from the late seventh and eighth centuries. The latter were circular or oval in plan and contained a long horizontal tapered flue at the base with a stokehole on the outside (Zaurova 1958). Judging by the associated slag heaps and wasters, these kilns appear to have been used for the production of plainwares. A slip-painted glazed ware industry appears at Merv in the ninth century but the whereabouts of the workshops in question remains uncertain at present.
THE SELEUCID-SASANIANFORTIFICATIONS: Gyaur Kala Area 6 During the 1997 season, trial excavations were conducted on the GyaurKalafortifications with the objective of criticallyre-examining a sequence suggested by earlier excavations that spanned the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods. Significant new evidence was discovered, demonstrating that a so-called "Parthian tower" was a Parthian defensive wall containing a gallery, a so-called "smallresidential house" belonged to a contemporary Parthian proteichismaand that the Sasanian corner bastion was circular rather than square as previously assumed (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 64-67, pl. VII). During the latter half of the latest season, excavations were resumed here with a larger workforce. The aims were to extend the earlier section so as to investigate earlier phases of construction and test the so-called "Hellenistic"and "Parthianwalls",clarify the relationship between the Parthian wall and corner bastion, and investigate further the plan of the bastion itself. The results, summarised below, were very successful but further excavation will be necessary. The so-called "Hellenistic" and "Parthian" walls now appear to consist of a single massive solid mudbrick construction measuring over 6.20 m. across and surviving over 6.80 m. in height; the base of the
REPORT
ON THE SEVENTH
SEASON
(1998)
15
wall has not yet been reached and requires machining of the spoil heaps next season. The inner and outer wall faces were deliberately constructed at strongly inclined angles (Pl. IIIc, centre). The present investigations focused on the upper part and interior of the wall. These excavations revealed that the wall consisted of an upper-largely destroyedsection, c. 2.10 m. across, with a 0.90 m. wide open parapet or walkway behind. The lower portion of a carefully plastered mudbrick engaged column, 0.50 m. across and 0.40 m. deep, survived to a height of 1.02 m. on the inside face of the wall (P1.IIIc, top, next to scale). This feature was constructed from the level of the walkway. At a later stage, the interior face of the wall below the level of the walkway was modified with the addition of a steeply sloping plastered face, the purpose of which may have been as a contraforce. However, the existence of a plastered gully built into this feature suggests due care to controlling runoff and minimising erosion of the wall (P1. IIId). This phase was then followed by reconstruction of the upper part of the Seleucid wall and infilling of the earlier walkway with mudbricks (37/38 x 37/38 x 12 cm.). This may be associated with a heightening of the wall or, alternatively, the construction of a new Parthian defensive system immediately in front of the earlier redundant wall. The replacement of the solid Seleucid wall and open walkway with a wall containing a vaulted gallery and outer proteichisma,demonstrated last season, is broadly attributed as a Parthian innovation. This phase appears to have been replaced by a different defensive system whereby the proteichismawas abandoned and infilled, the wall behind being rebuilt with a second gallery and associated loopholes. Excavations this season along the upper portion of this section revealed the exceptional preservation of this gallery which survives with its pitched-brick vaulting intact (P1. IVa). The gallery measured 1.80 m. in height and 1 m. in width, widening beside the loopholes so as to facilitate movement behind archers positioned next to the loopholes. The exterior face of this wall was followed for a distance of c. 4 m., revealing a series of loopholes before the wall turned at the junction with the corner bastion. The interior of the gallery was later infilled with refuse up to the level of the roof prior to reconstruction of the wall. The discovery of Sasanian pottery and coins within these deposits provides the first archaeological means of dating this phase. The next phase was marked by reconstruction of the defensive wall but this has unfortunately been largely destroyed at this point. However, one or more rebuilds of the corner bastion are evident here, associated with massive sand and clay infilling that formed a large platform around the lower portions of the former defences. These reconstruc-
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tions probably fall within the Late Sasanian period. The relationship between the Late Sasanian defensive wall and the corner bastion is better preserved on the opposite side of the bastion where it joins the main southern circuit of the urban defences. Part of this area was scraped and planned, revealing two parallel galleries leading up to the bastion. These again appear to have been infilled deliberately prior to further modification, or possibly slighting, of the defeices: the discovery of two Arab-Sasanian and Early Islamic copper coins during these investigations suggests that the defences may have been finally abandoned during this period. The exterior face of the bastion itself was fully cleared down to the base of the second phase, revealing a series of false loopholes around the foot, immediately above the level of a plastered glacis (P1. IVb). Further excavations are necessary to complete the new section through the Gyaur Kala defences and clarify the relationship between the defensive walls and the corner bastion. However, the results are highly promising and the unexpected discovery of deliberate infilling of galleries, using deposits rich in artefactual material, at specific periods of reconstruction of the defences offers a good means of dating.
PART TWO: INVESTIGATIONSIN SULTAN KALA SHAHRYARARK:Sultan Kala Area 3 1. Architecture, stratigraphyand synthesis4 The palatial building in the north-west quadrant of Shahryar Ark was the subject of investigations commenced in 1995, initially exploring part of the domestic quarters and the outer courtyard. The results have been outlined in three earlier preliminary reports (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1996, 17-19, pl. V; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1997, 22-26, pl. IV; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 71-74, pl. X). In 1997, having established an outline history of the building, excavations were begun in the eastern end. The remains here comprised a series of small iwans opening off a small enclosed courtyard, suggesting that this was the reception area of the structure (P1.Va). The principal aim this season was to recover further evidence to determine the date of foundation of this building and its history of reuse in post-Seljuk years. The aims were fully realised with dramatic new evidence for its architectural decoration. The 1998 season began with the clearance of erosion deposits within the trench that had accumulat-
ed since the previous year. The trench was extended to the north so that the whole of this southern iwan and part of the courtyard could be excavated, resulting in an excavated area measuring 5.00 x 9.00 m. In the process of removing deposits of collapsed material within the room a line of white plaster was traced along the inside faces of the east and south walls. An area within the south-east corner was cleared, revealing decorative stucco surviving in situ on both walls. The decision was taken to protect the stucco by leaving a baulk of internal deposits in place against each wall face. This baulk would be removed and the stucco recorded once the associated floor level had been found. Investigation of the internal deposits revealed at least two periods of reuse and remodelling. A surface was identified extending across the whole of the iwan. This was overlain by collapsed brick rubble and mixed erosion deposits. Clearance of the brick rubble revealed a roughly square structure in the northeast corner of the iwan and extending into the courtyard. The structure was composed of mudbrick, each wall built separately and abutting the next; one of these walls, aligned roughly east-west, abutted the earlier stucco along the eastern wall of the iwan. Once the deposits inside and outside this structure were removed, it could be seen that it consisted of two courses of mudbrick, each course being 1.5 mudbricks wide (30-35 cm.). The bricks appeared to rest on top of a thin black ashy deposit, itself spread across and underlying an even surface. This deposit was particularly concentrated along the foot of the square structure. On investigation this deposit was observed to be the carbonised remains of a rough and thin textile; those parts that survived were extremely fragile and only a small sample was retrieved for identification. This textile and the bricks above it overlay a deposit of a crushed bricky material. The upper surface of this had been plastered with a thin layer of white plaster curving up along the walls to meet the stucco. A riveted softstone vessel and a pilgrim flask were found immediately above this surface. In the courtyard to the north a patterned floor of fired brick was revealed. This was contemporary with the floor of the iwan and the stucco and lay approximately 20 cm. lower than the iwan floor, the face of the step down being covered with stucco. The northfacing walls of the courtyard were also decorated with stucco. Once the original floor level with which the stucco was associated had been reached the baulks which protected the stucco were removed. The stucco was then carefully and lightly cleaned and photographed; a drawn and written record was also made of the decoration. The stucco wall decoration was traced along all three walls of the iwan but was much more poorly
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preserved along the western wall and the western half of the southern wall. It survived to a height of approximately 0.80 m. along the eastern wall, but on the western wall only c. 20 cm. survived above floor level (Pls. Vb, VIa-b). Approximately 30 cm. of the north-facing walls of the central courtyard were exposed and stucco observed to survive along the bottom 30 cm. of those walls. The stucco covering the step into the iwan survived only adjacent to the courtyard walls and indeed appeared to be a continuation of that pattern. The stucco was 1 cm. thick and bonded to the mudbrick by a 2 cm. thick layer of mud mortar similar to but finer than that used to bond the bricks of the walls together. The principal decorative motif was a continuous geometric pattern of stepped lozenges, incised into the stucco. The incisions were triangular in crosssection and approximately 0.5 cm. deep and 0.5 cm. wide at the surface. The pattern was built up on alternate rows. At the centre of each element was a square containing a quatrefoil motif. On alternate rows the quatrefoil was aligned either with the corners or the sides of the enclosing squares. Borders of elongated interlaced ribbons framed the design at both ends of the walls and the edges of the iwan. The incisions forming the principal geometric design were picked out in black. The main spaces of the design had traces of red or orange/pink and yellow pigment. The details were picked out in blue and more rarely green. The prevalence and range of pigments indicate that the room would have been brightly coloured. Two graffiti figures were also found scratched into the stucco on the southern wall. These seemed to depict robed skirted figures. They occurred at the upper limit of the existing stucco so that the tops/heads of the design were missing; there is no evidence that these figures were coloured. After recording the stucco was immediately covered and the iwan backfilled to aid its preservation.5 Additional work was carried out in the north-west corner of the iwan to confirm the construction sequence. The mudbrick walls were constructed on four courses of fired bricks resting on two further courses of mudbrick. The floor level of the iwan was at the same height as the uppermost fired brick. The paved courtyard surface was level with the bottom of the lowest fired brick. The courtyard was bordered with squared bricks framing a diagonal pattern of bricks. This pattern was interrupted by a double line of squared bricks forming a line of sight to the centre of the iwan. The main construction sequence could be observed immediately outside the building on the southern side. The main mudbrick wall was constructed of fired brick damp coursing; these fired bricks extended the full width of the wall and there-
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fore were structural rather than simply decorative. They were in turn constructed above two courses of mudbrick laid on a compacted clay or pakhsa platform built in two rises, each approximately 0.50 m. high. A sounding was made immediately to the south of the building and excavated to a depth of 2.50 m. below the present ground surface. This showed the construction sequences of the building and the sequence of deposits which predated it. These deposits consisted of a compacted clay deposit overlying a sequence of sterile sands which in turn overlay a heavily compacted gray clay with red flecks known locally as tuyun and containing frequent fragments of red pottery; all of the sherds appear to have been abraded and incorporated into the deposit over a period of time. These resemble deposits found in another sounding made immediately to the north of this building during the 1997 season (cf. Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, pl. Xc) and similar deposits have been described from the base of other deep soundings excavated at Merv (Katsuris and Buryacov 1963, 121). Together, they confirm the absence of earlier occupation in this area of the citadel and suggest that it may have been deliberately founded in an unoccupied area of the city. This season's work demonstrated that architectural, structural and decorative elements can be recovered from this high-status building, despite deliberately choosing to work in one of the more eroded parts of the building. The building appears to have been constructed during the Late Seljuk period judging by similarities in style of the excavated stuccoes and those surviving in the galleries and courtyard of the Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar (1118-1157). Further excavations are planned for 1999-2000 in order to verify the plan of the iwans, the overall scheme of the Seljuk stucco decoration and the means by which these rooms connected with the courtyard to the north. 2. The ceramics6 The citadel of Shahryar Ark is said to have been established by Sultan Sanjar, and it has been assumed that all of the structures located within its walls are contemporary. The material from the mudbrick collapse of the building (MSK 1/3) shows a variety of pottery styles ranging in date from the ninth-twelfth centuries, some of which clearly derives from dissolved mudbrick. Mongol and later wares first appear in MSK 1/3 after the building has fallen into disrepair. The previous attribution, on the basis of the pottery, of the building to the Khorezm-Shah period (1180-1220) may prove erroneous since the discovery of the stucco in the iwans suggests an earlier
D
AREAA G
F
--------- Suggestd
AREAB
rz?
rconstruotion
0 2
J
P
S
R
K
a
O
Fig. 7. Sultan Kala: Area 4, the northfortificationwall, sectionof Curtain20; AreaA: A platformof the hollowwall, B fired brickfloor, C collapsedand D levellingof surfaceassociatedwith domesticoccupation,E collapsedand laminatedlayers,F pakhsa baseof the hollowwall, G galleryof the holloww blocksof thesolid wall. AreaB: I solid wall,J Platform 1, K Platform2, L berm,M Platform3, N repairof the berm,0 braye, P Platform4, Q addit against thebraye, R occupationlayers,S collapsedand laminatedlayers.
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Seljuk date of foundation. This may be due to the socalled Khorezm-Shah pottery diagnostics being somewhat longer-lived than previously suggested or to the area having been carefully cleaned during its primary phase of use. Indeed the exact dating proves difficult as the building may have stood for only twenty years before reoccupation, and only sixty before its destruction. This year some 6000 sherds were recovered, of which 1400 were diagnostics that will be useful for continuing analysis. Ceramic variation across the building clearly suggest differences in functional areas as certain styles present in the domestic rooms are absent from the iwans and vice-versa. Further details wil be presented in a future report. 3. Archaeobotanical remains7 The areas of the elite building excavated in 1998 did not prove to be productive in terms of plant remains. Those that were recovered included grape pips (in charred, mineralised and dessicated form), occasional charred wheat and barley grains, and charred seeds and pods of small seeded legumes (including camel thorn) and Prosopisseeds. A single possible charred leather fragment was recovered from a deposit which overlay the Seljuk floor. THE MEDIEVALFORTIFICATIONS 1. Excavationof Curtain20 (Northwall)8 The 1996 and 1997 seasons were concerned with the survey of the military architecture of Sultan Kala. This demonstrated two successive periods in the history of the medieval fortifications. During the earlier phase, hollow fortifications were used with a gallery inside the curtains and an inner chamber within the towers. During the later phase, this system was replaced by solid walls (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1997, 20-22; Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al. 1998, 67-71). The surface survey provided some information on the upper part of the wall (the gallery and walkway) but not on the lower part as this was buried beneath tons of rubble.9 This further prevented a clear understanding of the relationship between the curtain, the platform and the outer wall or fausse braie,and the date of their construction. This crucial information can only be provided by excavation. A series of sections were therefore commenced this season, with the aim of reaching the layersjust below the platform on which the hollow wall was built. In so doing, the objective was to gather sufficient information to understand and establish the chronology of different phases of construction during both periods. The first section selected for the 1998 season was the Curtain 20 (C20) of the north wall of Sultan
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Kala, about 55 m. east of the canal crossing the Kushmeikhan Gate.10 Almost in the centre of C20, 3 m. of curtain have collapsed, leaving a cut where only the pakhsa base of the wall remains standing. This cut was selected for the following reasons: -it provides two natural sections of the wall on each side. -the analysis of the cut during the surface survey identified a hollow wall with its gallery, a solid wall built against it, and in front of them an outer wall or fausse braie.Therefore, all the basic features of the two periods were present here. -the fausse braieand the curtain on each side of the cut are well preserved.11 -A YuTAKE team led by Professor Terkesh Khodjaniazov began an excavation of this cut in 1991 but only removed part of the collapsed layers outside, leaving the occupation layers intact and offering the possibility of an immediate start of the excavation. A. Progressof theexcavationand methodology The excavation was initiated by cleaning the cut in order to obtain more precision about the structure of the wall. At this stage, we planned and made drawings of the unburied sections to serve as a basis for recording the excavation. On the eastern side of the collapse, we also removed the solid wall of the upper part of the curtain and exposed the hollow wall for a length of 3.5 m. in order to verify the information given by the cut through its gallery and to look for the existence of its walkway. No parapet and battlement were found but a series of arrow slits were revealed (P1.VIIa). Excavation continued on both sides of the hollow wall according to context. One trench, measuring 2 m. wide and 7 m. long and arranged perpendicular to the curtain, was excavated inside the city (Area A). A second trench, 2 m. across and 11 m. long, was excavated between the curtain and the moat (Area B). In Area A, no solid wall was found against the hollow wall so we excavated following the edge of its inner face until we found the platform on which the hollow wall was built. A sounding, 0.8 m. long and 1 m. wide, completed our information on the platform itself. In Area B, we followed the outer face of the solid wall, removing the surfaces on which the twofold fausse braiewas erected and the fausse braie itself. We then successively reached the platform of the solid wall and those of the hollow wall. Plans and sections were made throughout. Ceramics, small finds and samples for archaeobotanical analysis and for accelerator dating (AMS) were collected from each context. Moreover, in order to improve the dating of the fortifications, a systematic sampling of the bricks and plaster from
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the different phases of the wall and from the fausse braietook place. The samples were crushed to extract the ceramics or the coins present in them and processed. It gives a wide chronological range for each phase because, in this zone of intensive occupation, the clay used by the builders is often taken from abandoned urban areas and therefore contains sherds and coins from previous periods (sometimes also from the time of the building). By selecting the most recent ceramics and coins, we get a terminus post-quem for the dating of each phase. For this method to be efficient, any repairs must be identified and rejected as they introduce sherds posterior to the date of the building which will distort the dating. The results of the excavation are presented in chronological order. The hollow wall is described with the results of Area A and the solid wall with those of Area B (Fig. 7). B. ExcavationresultsofAreaA In the first period, a hollow wall was erected on a platform made of heavily compacted clay, 50 cm. thick. A sounding dug through this indicated that it was constructed on a very sandy layer 50 cm. thick. No trace of an earlier wall which could have served as foundation for the hollow wall was found. The hollow wall was built with a slight batter. Its inner face was made of pakhsablocks separated by two or three rows of mudbricks or fired bricks. Its outer face was made of pakhsablocks with mudbricks and few fired bricks at the level of the gallery. Both types of bricks were square, their sizes varying from 21-24 cm. across and 6-7 cm. thick. In between, the central core of the wall was also made of pakhsablocks, and its top was used as a floor for the gallery. The latter was preserved up to the probable beginning of its vaulted roof (P1.VIIIa). The presence of arrow slits indicates that the gallery served as an archers' shooting gallery (P1. VIIb). The arrow slits cleaned here were of the straight single type.12 These share the same characteristics: 65 cm. in height (including a decorative fired brick at the top), 20 cm. width and spaced at 95 cm. intervals. Two additional series of slits were also preserved, the lowest probably being used for observation whereas the uppermost slits were intended for ventilation and light into the gallery. All of these slits were 6-9 cm. wide, 30-35 cm. high and spaced at 1.15 m. intervals. The parapet walk with its crenellation system was missing but had been replaced at some stage by pakhsa blocks belonging to the solid wall. Examination of the arrowslits and the corridor shows that they had been deliberately infilled with mudbricks, fired bricks and rubble, thus producing the second phase solid wall. The pakhsa base of the
hollow wall showed some signs of damage-ie. an irregular face with holes-possibly due to erosion. This may indicate that the hollow wall was not maintained properly and could explain what happens in the following period. During the second period, the surface inside the wall was levelled and the platform extended using medium compacted brown clay containing ashy inclusions and small potsherds. A carefully constructed fired brick floor using bricks measuring 19 x 19 x 4 cm. was laid over this deposit (P1. IXb). This floor stopped two bricks short (40 cm.) of the fired brick base of the hollow wall. The same interval was observed in two soundings made along the hollow wall, 0.60 m. and 7.3 m. to the west of the main trench. It therefore seems that a specific feature, such as a gutter running along the bottom of the wall, had been systematically robbed at a later stage. A straight fired brick base of the wall was constructed at the same level (P1. IXa). This was preserved to a height of 80 cm. and was also carefully built using square bricks measuring 19 x 19 x 4 cm. The construction of these features can be interpreted as the refurbishment of the inner face of the hollow wall and of its platform with the probable extension of the latter. It was probably designed to facilitate circulation of soldiers along the wall inside the city. Laminated and collapsed layers above the fired brick floor indicate that the place was later abandoned. The third period was characterised by further levelling of the surface using a heavily compacted grayish clay. The top of this infilling was used as a mud floor for domestic activities in this area. Some features of this domestic occupation were partially built into the wall-face itself, including the setting of a large storage jar. As this activity partly undermined the curtain, it presumably belonged to a period when the wall was not in use as such and may have already collapsed at this spot. After an uncertain period of time, the area was finally abandoned and only collapsed layers were found in excavation. C.ExcavationresultsofAreaB During the first phase, a heavily compacted clay platform was built (Platform 1); this corresponds in height and appearance to the early platform exposed in Area A. During a second phase, the surface was slightly levelled and the platform extended by 1.5 m. (Platform 2). A solid wall was built against the outer face of the hollow wall and directly on top of this second platform. Only the pakhsabase, estimated to be 2 m. thick, seemed to be intact; erosion had reduced it to a mere 0.45 m. at the level of the hollow gallery (P1. VIIIb). Here, the wall was made of mudbricks
THE INTERNATIONAL
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and square fired bricks (24-32 cm. across, 6-9 cm. thick). The only traces of its upper part were the pakhsablocks observed on the top of the hollow wall. No parapet walk and crenellation system survived, these probably having been the first features to collapse when maintenance of the wall ended. A berm built of heavily compacted clay was built at the base of the wall, again on the platform. The berm and the floor on the platform were well maintained, judging by regular mud-plaster layers. Layers of grey clay or tuyun, characteristic of the clay found in canals, were found against Platform 2 mixed with other types of clay layers. These may be traces left by water from the moat or just be a testimony of the use of canal clay for the levelling and extension of a new platform (Platform 3) during a third phase. The new platform was 4 m. wider than the previous one. A fausse braiewas erected on the northern edge of the new surface (P1. VIIIc). This structure was preserved up to 2.20 m. high and 3 m. wide at the base. Its outer and inner face were built of plastered mudbrick with the space between infilled with loose clay, rubble and ash alternating with more compacted clay and pakhsa deposits, possibly to be interpreted as evidence for repeated repairs. Layers of tuyun abutting the fausse braie seem to indicate that the moat was standing just near its base, hence possibly explaining its large width. During a fourth phase, a very important levelling (1 m. high) took place and a new occupation surface-a plastered floor-was created (Platform 4). An additional mudbrick wall was erected against the inner face of the fausse braiein order to strengthen it. This was followed by regular levelling and plastering of the floor with a raising of the occupation surface by up to 0.5 m. No further significant occupation layers were found above this and the upper stratigraphy was characterised by a deep accumulation of collapsed layers indicating that the wall was no longer maintained. D. Relativeand absolutechronology The excavated areas provide complementary information about the evolution of the wall. Nevertheless, the main phases of this chronology are fairly clear and can be summarised as follows: 1. Erection of a hollow wall on a clay platform. Extension of the platform outside (outer plat2. form) and construction of the solid wall against the hollow wall; deliberate infilling of the gallery; possible reconstruction of the top of the hollow wall with pakhsa blocks; possible construction of the inner walkway. 3. Extension of the outer platform prior to construction of the fausse braie.
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4.
Levelling of the platform between the solid wall and the fausse braie; strengthening of the latter by the erection of an additional wall against its inner face. 5. Abandonment of the wall. 6. Reuse of the inner wall-face as part of a domestic building. 7. Abandonment of the area. The dating of these different phases is still at a preliminary stage. The few coins found during the excavation were residual pre-Islamic issues thus, for the moment, we can only rely on the ceramic material. Comparison with earlier studies at Merv (Lunina 1962, 1974) and Samarkand (Shishkina 1979) suggest an eleventh-twelfth century date for the hollow wall and a twelfth-thirteenth century date for the solid wall and fausse braie.The domestic occupation provides ceramics of the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries; no later sherds were found. The detailed analysis of the ceramic material and the radiocarbon dating of the samples (AMS) should help us to date each phase more precisely. E. Conclusion The necessity of archaeological excavation of the fortifications has been fully demonstrated through the section of C20. The evolution of the fortifications and the relationship between curtain, platform and fausse braieare certainly clearer. The first fortification was a single hollow wall constructed on a platform. A twofold strengthening of the wall followed: firstly a solid wall was built against the hollow wall which was rendered solid by infilling of its gallery. Later, a strong fausse braiewas erected on an extended platform. A more reliable dating has been obtained for the construction and use of the fortifications, spanning the eleventh-thirteenth centuries. It is intended to excavate further sections in 1999/2000 in order to confirm this sequence against each of the main walls of Sultan Kala. The present results highlight the problem of the existence and layout of earlier medieval fortifications. According to historical sources, Erk Kala was used as a citadel during the eighth century but was then abandoned. No mention is made of any fortified area during the following centuries but it is unlikely that a city of this importance was left without a stronghold for its garrison. Aerial photographs of Gyaur Kala show what seems to be an enclosed square inside the city, immediately north of the main west gate. This might be the remains of the stronghold we are looking for. After the Arab Conquest, the city started to move slowly to the west and already in the ninth century, its new centre was to be found around the west gate of Gyaur Kala with a new Friday Mosque, the bazaars and the administrative build-
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ings. Therefore, it would be quite logical to find a citadel in this area. Alternatively the stronghold may have been the fortress of Shaim Kala-to the east of Gyaur Kala-or constructed on another, as-yet unlocated, spot within the later city-site of Sultan Kala. It is hoped further investigations will shed some light on this problem. 2. Theceramics'3 The excavation on the North Wall of Sultan Kala produced a small ceramic assemblage totalling 3000 sherds including 900 diagnostics. Literary evidence states that the first phase or hollow wall was constructed during the reign of Sultan Malik Shah (1072-1092). The ceramics retrieved during excavation suggest a date of the eleventh century, although certain pottery styles continue in use into the twelfth century. No later ceramic types were in evidence within the make-up layers of the wall, although some earlier styles were identifiable in the mudbrick fabric, notably ninth-tenth century slip-painted ware. The re-configuration of the wall with infilled galleries and proteichismais assumed to be associated with the Mongol threat. Indeed the ceramics associated with this phase of the wall show similar types to the first phase although new glazed wares, previously unidentified, appear in these construction layers. However no mid-thirteenth century material appears to be present. The later domestic occupation in Area A included reuse of an upturned storage jar as a bread oven; this phase was marked by the first appearance of thirteenth century blue-black ware and three imported Chinese sherds. No later pottery styles could be identified.
completed for Erk and Gyaur Kala, would not only be feasible but also very rewarding (Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov et al. 1995, 56-57). A survey was therefore cautiously commenced this season in the northern part of the city-site. Archaeological exploration inside the northern suburbs of Sultan Kala, known locally as Iskender Kala, can at best be described as mimimal, at worst non-existent. Asilov (1962) refers to the excavation of some trenches here yet no location or further details are given. In order to set this area into context it was decided to conduct a systematic surface survey of ceramic material. Shahryar Ark was also included in the survey due to its northerly location and small yet discrete size. Using the same methodology employed in the Gyaur Kala survey, the suburbs were sampled with a systematic grid of 45 quadrats (measuring 20 x 20 m.), spaced at 150 m. intervals (cf. Herrmann, Masson, Kurbansakhatov et al. 1993, 48-50). This resulted in two hectares of the suburbs being intensively sampled, allowing both quantitative and qualitative statements to be made concerning the spatial nature of the material distribution. To illustrate schematically the extent of three distinct phases of occupation, a single ceramic type for each period has been selected. Each type is well-defined, easily identifiable and common. These ceramic types are ninth-tenth century slip-painted ware, eleventh-twelfth century sgraffiato ware, and thirteenth century black-blue ware. PART THREE: THE MONUMENTS OF MERV
3. Archaeobotanical remainsl4
TheMonumentsProgramme
Samples from the wall, collected primarily for radiocarbon dating, contained dessicated barley and bread wheat chaff and straw, occasional wheat and barley grains, and dessicated grape pips. The deposits associated with the later occupation proved to be charcoal rich (up to several kg of charcoal from a single 15 litre sample). Other remains included charred barley and bread wheat grains and rachises, lentils, grape pips, and probable melon/cucumber seeds.
This was begun in 1992 by F. B. Flood and H. Mahdi, from which visit we cherish some fine photographs, many taken prior to subsequent collapse or rebuilding: the Mausoleum of Imam Bakr has, for instance since been completely rebuilt (cf. Herrmann, Masson, Kurbansakhatov et al. 1993, 58-60, pls. XVI-XVIII). Unfortunately, 1992 was already too late for some monuments: the east wall of the Little Kiz Kala had collapsed in the winter of 1990/91. The programme was continued in 1993 by a Moscow architect Alexei Kononenko, who drew some excellent plans of the monuments, including the Mausolea of Sultan Sanjar and Imam Bakr. Professor J. M. Rogers (SOAS) visited the principal monuments in that year and agreed to help. Further work was undertaken by Andrew Petersen during the 1995 and 1996 seasons, followed by a dedicated visit with photographer Mike Halliwell in the spring of 1997 although unfortunately this was hampered by unseasonal rain. Petersen produced draft entries in
SURFACESURVEYIN ISKENDERKALAAND SHAHRYARARK15 The growing body of ceramic material from our excavations in Sultan Kala is beginning to enable a clearer point of reference for medieval surface finds. Transects walked across Sultan Kala in 1994 suggested that an extension of our systematic surface survey,
REPORT ON THE SEVENTH SEASON
THE INTERNATIONAL MERV PROJECT-PRELIMINARY
1996, expanded in 1997, before deciding to withdraw because of commitments to the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. The task of continuing the gazetteer was necessarily undertaken by Georgina Herrmann, who visited the monuments in 1997 accompanied by Akmuhammet Annayew, without whose monumental patience this programme could not have continued. Two colleagues contributing to the programme visited Merv in 1997: Dr Venetia Porter (British Museum) to study the inscriptions and Professor Hugh Kennedy (University of St. Andrews), who is preparing an historical overview of Islamic Merv. Other team members involved included St John Simpson, Faith Pewtress and Mike Halliwell. Publicationschedule TheMonumentsof Mervwas planned to consist of a single volume and to be the first of our Merv Final Reports.However, when Professor R. Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh) saw the photographs, which had only finally been assembled in the early summer of 1998, he stated that a single volume could not do justice to these important monuments. He suggested publication in three parts, outlined below, and agreed to write the commentary of Part 2 and to publish the Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar in a dedicated monograph. He plans to visit the oasis during the 1999 season. The publication is now planned as follows: 1. Part 1: the secular buildings, the residential and working monuments, principally built in mudbrick. This includes the k6shksor "manor houses", kepter khanas or so-called "pigeonhouses" and dings or towers. These are all characteristic Central Asian buildings. In addition there are some palaces, pavilions and icehouses. These total some 40 buildings in all. This volume is scheduled to be ready for press in 1999. Part 2: 16 mausolea and mosques of the Seljuk, 2. Timurid and post-Timurid periods, with the exception of Sultan Sanjar. 3. Part 3: a monograph on the Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar. Fieldworkin 1998 During the latest season work concentrated on completing the necessary fieldwork for Part 1: The Secular Buildings. Each monument was visited, the draft illustrated catalogue entry was checked and amended in situ, additional photography completed where necessary, and new plans made recording the current state of the buildings, these being executed by Rejeb Ahmedov. An additional ice-house on the outskirts of BayramAli was also recorded.
(1998)
23
Conservationof theMonuments Many of the monuments are in an unstable condition with walls being undercut because of rising damp and salinity. Some monuments are also threatened by intensive agriculture or by modern development. Although the primary objective of the Monuments team has been to record the current state of the buildings, the International Merv Project has also been concerned about the state of these buildings. Funds are limited in Turkmenistan but basic inexpensive conservation, such as infilling the gaps at the bases of the walls, should be affordable and at least delay collapse. It is indeed excellent news that the Archaeological Park began emergency conservation work on the two Kiz Kalas as recently as October 1998.
1 Writtenby N. Smirnova. Writtenby GabrielePuschnigg.
2
3 Written by Sheila Boardman. 4 Written by Mark Turner.
5 A preliminarynote on this stucco has alreadybeen published ([Simpson] 1999). 6 Writtenby DavidGilbert. 7 Writtenby Sheila Boardman. 8 Writtenby P. Brunand A. Annayew. 9 A detailed study of the parapet walk and its battlements can be found in Herrmann, Kurbansakhatov, Simpson et al.
(1998, 70-71.) Partof the legend of Fig. 5 illustratinga sec-
tion and a plan of the battlements was unfortunately omitted. It should be read as: Fig. 5. Sultan Kala: south wall, curtain 75. Starting from top: section of the battlements (the hatches indicate their probable original height) and plan of the battlements. (A) arrowslit built in the lower part, (B)
arrowslitbuilt in the upper part above (A), (C) pillars, (D) decoration based on geometric patterns on the outer face,
(E) half-collapsedwalkway.The same omission occurred
with the legend of Fig. 6 presenting the plan of tower 27 of the east wall. The legend should be read as: Fig. 6. Sultan
Kala:east wall, plan of Tower 27. Hollow period: chamber (A), curtain (B), gallery (C). Solid period: second wall of the tower (D), second wall of the curtain (E). The dashed lines indicate a conjectural line of wall. Collapsed part of the wall
are shownby hatches.
10 A second curtain, C27 of the south wall of the city, has also
been excavated. Results of this excavation have confirmed those of C20 and will be publishedin the final report. 11 The inner face of the curtain did not suffer from the erosion caused by the wind and the rain coming from the north-eastand therefore is not buried under as much rubble as the outer face. The latter has suffered from the frontal attack of the erosion, which wiped out a good part but not the whole solid wall (45 cm. wide preserved at the
12 13 14
15
gallerylevel so the hollow wall standing behind it has been preservedintact.The faussebraiecan be seen emerging from the rubble which has acted as a shell and has protected its base from erosion. For the other types of arrowslitfound at Sultan Kala, see Herrmann,Kurbansakhatov, Simpsonetal. (1997, 21). Writtenby DavidGilbert. Writtenby SheilaBoardman. Writtenby DavidGilbert.
24
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Bibliography Abdullaev, K. A. and V. A. Zavyalov, 1985. "Vessels on Zoomorphic Pedestals from Settlements of Kushan Bactria", SovetskayArkheologiya1981/1, 202-11. Asilov, T., 1962. Raskopsrednevekovogo skladskogosooruzheniyav severnomobvodegorodishchaSultan-Kalav StaromMerve,Diploma work, Student of the Historical Faculty, University of Tashkent (supervisor S. B. Lunina). Gaibov, V., G. Koshelenko, S. Novikov, 1990. "Chilburj",Bulletin of theAsia Institute(New Series) 4, 21-36. Grenet, F., 1982. "Trois documents religieux de Bactriane afghane", Studia Iranica 11 (Melanges offerts A Raoul Curiel), 155-62, pls. XVI-XVIII. Haerinck, E., 1983. La ceramiqueen Iran pendant la periodeParthe, Gent. Herrmann, G., V. M. Masson, K. Kurbansakhatov et al., 1993. "The International Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the First Season (1992) ", Iran XXXI, 31-62, pls. XI-XVIII. Herrmann, G., V. M. Masson, K. Kurbansakhatov et al., 1994. "The International Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the Second Season (1993)", Iran XXXII, 53-75, pls. IV-VIII. Herrmann, G., K. Kurbansakhatov et al., 1995. "The International Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the Third Season (1994)", Iran XXXIII, 31-60, pls. I-III. Herrmann, G., K. Kurbansakhatov, St J. Simpson et al., 1996. "The International Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the Fourth Season (1995)", Iran XXXIV, 1-22, pls. I-VI. Herrmann, G., K. Kurbansakhatov, St J. Simpson et al., 1997. "The International Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the Fifth Season (1996)", Iran XXXV, 1-33, pls. I-IV. Herrmann, G., K. Kurbansakhatov, St J. Simpson et al., 1998. '"TheInternational Merv Project. Preliminary Report on the Sixth Season (1997)", Iran XXXVI, 53-75, pls. VI-X. Katsuris, K. and Yu. Buryacov, 1963. "Izucheniye remeslennogo kvartala antichnogo Merva u severnykh vorot Gyaur-Kaly", TrudyYuTAKE12, 119-63. Koshelenko, G. A., 1985. DrevneishiyegosudarstvaKavkazai Srednei Azii, Moscow.
Lunina S. B., 1962. "Goncarnoe proizbodstvo v Merve X-Nacala XIII vv.", TrudyYuTAKE11, 217-416. Lunina, S. B., 1974. "Istoriceskaya topografiya zapadnoy casti rabada srednevekovogo Merva", TrudyYuTAKE15, 82-230. Lyonnet, B., 1997. Prospectionsarcheologiquesen Bactrianeorientale (1974-1978) sous la directiondejean-Claude Gardin, volume 2: ctramiqueet peuplementdu Chalcolithiqueai la conquite Arabe, Paris. Baktrii,Ashkhabad. Pilipko, V. N., 1985. Poseleniyasevero-zapadnoi Pugachenkova, G. A., 1959. "Margianskayaboginya/The Margian S goddess", SovetskayaArcheologiya1959, 29-30. , 1979. IskusstvoBactriiepokhiKushan,Moscow. Pugachenkova, G. A. and Z. I. Usmanova, 1995. "Buddhist Monuments in Merv", In the Land of the Gryphons.Papers on Central Asian Archaeologyin Antiquity (Invernizzi, A., ed.), 51-81, Florence. Pumpelly, R., ed., 1908. Explorationsin Turkestan.Expedition of 1904, Washington; two volumes. Sedov, A. V., 1987. Kobadian na poroge rannego srednevekov'ya, Moscow. Shishkina, G. V., 1979. GlazurovannayakeramikaSogda,Tashkent. [Simpson, St J.], 1999. "New Discoveries at Medieval Merv", BritishMuseumArt and Cultureof TheIslamic WorldNewsletter2 (January 1999). Usmanova, Z. I., 1955. Dom remeslennikaparfyanskogovremenina gorodishche Gyaur-Kala, Diploma work, Student of the Historical Faculty, University of Tashkent (supervisor M. E. Masson). , 1963. "Raskopki masterskoy remeslenika parfyanskogo vremeni na gorodischche Gyaur-Kala", Trudy YuTAKE 12, 164-200. Venco Ricciardi, R., 1984. "Sasanian Pottery from Choche", ArabieOrientale,Mdsopotamie et Iran meridionalde l'age du fer au ddbut de la periode islamique (Boucharlat, R. and J-F. Salles, eds.), 49-57, Paris. Zaurova, E. Z., 1958. Keramicheskie pechi VII-VIIIvv. na gorodishche Gyaur-KalaStarogo Merva, Diploma work, Student of the Historical Faculty, University of Tashkent (supervisor G. A. Pugachenkova).
GROG, PETROLOGY,AND EARLYTRANSCAUCASIANSAT GODIN TEPE By Robert B. Mason and Lisa Cooper Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
are mentioned in order of abundance, with the most common inclusion first. Secondly, the size of inclusion is often provided as a recognised sedimentological classification (Folk 1974:23), with silt being less than 0.0625 mm, very fine sand being between 0.0625 and 0.125 mm, fine sand being between 0.125 and 0.25 mm, and medium sand being between 0.25 and 0.5 mm.
INTRODUCTION Godin Tepe was the site of excavations by a team from the Royal Ontario Museum between 1965 and 1973 (see Fig. 1). It has subsequently become one of the definitive type-sites of central western Iran, owing principally to its extensive stratigraphic sequence, which spans the Chalcolithic Age through to the Iron Age (Young 1969, Young and Levine 1974). Seven main phases of occupation were recognised from excavations at Godin, the earliest Level VII up to Level I. Petrographic analysis of pottery from this sequence is aimed at providing a general characterisation of the wares from the site, identifying exotic or imported ware, and most particularly examining the changing use of raw materials through time and across typological and functional categories. This is a long-term project, with research only partly completed to date on pottery from Level III (Middle and Late Bronze Ages) and Level II (Iron Age). Final publication is planned to follow the completion of analysis of the entire sequence. Petrographic analysis of pottery from Level IV, however, has provided some information that may be of use to others concerned with the study of the Early Transcaucasian culture and the possible significance of this ceramic to the theoretical debate concerning the relationship between pottery and ethno-cultural affinity. Hence it was considered worthwhile to publish this short note.
FINDINGS As mentioned above, a full report of the results of the larger study is intended at a later date, and only short petrographic descriptions of the more common groups will be supplied here (see text and appendix). The range of raw materials available to the Godin Tepe potters may be illustrated by the pottery of Levels III and II. About sixty thin-sections were studied of pottery from Level III at Godin Tepe, and three main petrographically-defined fabrics, or petrofabrics, were isolated. The three most predominant fabrics contain significant fissile argillites, or shale (see P1. Xa). The largest group (Godin Petrofabric III:A) also contains a subangular medium sand consisting of quartz, feldspars, muscovite and amphibole derived from a granitic source. The next largest group (Godin Petrofabric III:B) is almost entirely composed of shale, while the next group (Godin Petrofabric III:C) contains equal parts of a biotite schist and shale. About sixty thinsections were studied from Level II, of which the largest group (Godin Petrofabric II:A) was essentially similar to III:A. Preliminary examination with a xlO to x40 zoom stereo microscope of pottery from Level VI/V from Godin Tepe (Late Uruk period) reveals that a significant number of the wares contain large fissile argillites and biotite schists, compatible with the Godin III samples. The largest group appear to have been refined (sieved or levigated) and tempered with plant fibre, a common practice for the early pottery from a number of sites (cf. Mason 1997). In summary, it has been determined that the bulk of pottery from Godin levels VI/V, III and II was locally manufactured from raw materials available in the surrounding region, comprising shales, biotite-schist and sand derived from a granitic source.
METHODOLOGY Petrographic analysis, the microscopic examination of the mineralogical content and texture of ceramics using a polarised-light microscope, is now a widespread technique in archaeology. Apart from characterising the samples actually analysed under the microscope in thin-section (a slice 0.03 mm thick placed on a glass slide), it is generally a simple matter to relate the microscopic characteristics to those of the pottery when only examined with a x10 magnification lens. Hence it is possible to extrapolate the analytical findings to a vastly larger segment of the subject ceramic corpus, or even its entirety if desirable. A number of conventions in the descriptions of petrofabrics should be noted here. Firstly, inclusions 25
26
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
PRINCIPALSITES AND
Kura
!Rver
of inset -Area
*Yanik Tepe-
JLOCATION MAP
•
iii KANGAVARSURVEY SITES 100km N, . RashtianTepe (KH1) Abadeh KharebehTepe (KH2)
Sarab-iShikarabTepe (KH8) .-Godin Tepe4 OKangavar
SangalanTepe Areaof inset
o Godin Tepe KHK13 /
Dinu Tepe (K37)
*BabaQasimTepe ,
{//
\----A5km Pa-iQa'leh Tepe(K14)
100km Fig. 1. Map showinglocationsmentionedin text.
Pachuin Tepe (K7)
GROG,
PETROLOGY,
AND
EARLY TRANSCAUCASIANS
Analysis of pottery from Level IV at Godin Tepe presents a different picture. In this level are found the grey-black burnished wares comprising conical bowls, shouldered cups and large shouldered jars, many of which are characterised by excised geometric patterns (a selection have been published in Young 1969: 73-75). The excised areas are thought to have originally contained plaster,1 so the white and black gave the ware a unique decorative aspect. Typological comparisons to this pottery have been made with grey-black burnished wares in northwestern Iran, Eastern Anatolia and the Kura-Araxes Valleys of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, where they are defined as belonging to the Early Transcaucasian culture of the third millennium BC (Sagona 1984). Petrographic analysis of this Early Transcaucasian pottery from Godin period IV was undertaken on seven samples mainly from prime contexts. The analyses show that the principal aplastic inclusion comprises crushed pottery, or grog (P1. Xb), in poorly sorted angular fragments up to 3 mm in diameter. This finding confirms the earlier observations of Young in his initial characterization of the Early Transcaucasian ware from Godin (Young 1969: 9-10). A further fifty randomly-selected sherds of diagnostic Early Transcaucasian pottery were examined with the aid of a x10 to x40 zoom stereo microscope, and grog was again consistently identified. Of the seven thin-sectioned samples from Level IV (see appendix), two contain shale in the main matrix of the body similar to that found in the typical Godin petrofabrics from the other levels, although the principle component was silt-sized quartz and micas. Two further only contain silt-sized quartz and micas, while two others contain similar silt with some micritic carbonate. The seventh sample (B1-376) is quite distinct, having a moderately sorted subangular to subrounded fine to medium sand of quartz, muscovite-quartz schist, feldspars, pyroxenes and fossiliferous micrites. This fabric at least is not compatible with production at Godin based on analysis of Godin Levels III and II. Grog inclusions in most cases are essentially similar to that of the main matrix, even in some cases when there is actually grog within the grog. There is also, however, some variability. Grog with silt-sized inclusions is found in the sandy sample (B1-376), while many silty grogs differ slightly in abundance or other attributes from the silt of the main body. In one of the silty matrix samples (B1-492B), a grog fragment contains grains of rock comprising low-grade metamorphosed fine sandstone, siltstone and argillite. Another (CEM-A) contains fine quartz sand. If consistent, the sudden introduction of a new technological approach to ceramic production, in this case the introduction of grog-tempering, cou-
AT GODIN
TEPE
27
pled with a completely new stylistic expression in period IV at Godin Tepe, seems to be a significant indicator of the introduction of a new group of people. As this Early Transcaucasian ware phenomenon of the third millennium BC has traditionally been linked to the migration or movement of people, it seemed pertinent to investigate if this phenomenon was widespread, or if the technological observations made here were only restricted to Godin Tepe. As the issue is not paramount to the research strategies of the participants in this study, only material within the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum was included, specifically from Baba Qasim Tepe, located in the Nihavand Valley, Sangalan Tepe in the Hamadan Plain, as well as a number of surveyed sites in the KangavarValley (see Fig. 1). As the pottery from the Kangavar survey sites would not necessarily be more informative than the Godin pottery, these samples were only subjected to examination with the aid of a x10 to x40 zoom stereo microscope. From the seven sites from which diagnostic Early Transcaucasian ware was available, totalling twenty sherds, all samples appear to have contained grog. From Baba Qasim Tepe three examples of typical grey-black burnished conical bowls, contemporary with Godin IV, were examined and all contained grog. One of these samples (965.273.628) was thin-sectioned and contains a matrix of fine silt with inclusions of rounded micritic carbonate (diameter about 0.2 mm). The grog within the sample is mostly similar to the main matrix, although some of the grog constituents differ, comprising no micrite and more abundant silt, or fine sand quartz. Most of the remainder of the Baba Qasim pottery is Chalcolithic, largely Dalma impressed wares, which were refined and tempered with plant fibre, and so their relevance for defining a local fabric is limited. One sherd was a grey-black burnished carinated bowl which is typologically diagnostic of the earliest phases of Level III at Godin Tepe, but which may also date to the earlier level IV period.2 This sample (965.273.670) contains no grog; instead it is characterised by a shaly fabric essentially similar to Godin Petrofabric III:B, although the shale is siltier and metamorphosed fragments include epidote. It might be noted that the Godin III grey-black carinated bowls of this general type are also generally shaletempered (Petrofabric III:B). The pottery from Sangalan Tepe as represented in the ROM collection appears to primarily represent an assemblage stylistically equivalent to Godin Tepe's Level IV and early III. Observation with the stereo microscope revealed that most of the pottery, including all the more diagnostically obvious examples of Early Transcaucasian ware, contained grog. Petrographic analysis was conducted on seven samples, four that contained grog and three that did
28
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not. Two of the samples without grog are identical and may represent the local Sangalan petrofabric. They (965.273.335 and 965.293.291) contain a moderately sorted subangular to subrounded fine to medium sand (average about 0.15 mm) of quartz, feldspars and mica derived from a granitic source (P1. Xc). The third analysed sample without grog (965.273.302) contains shale of a similar nature to the shaly fabric of Godin III (Petrofabric III:B), although the shale is siltier and therefore has greater similarities with the shaly petrofabric from Baba Qasim Tepe. Of the thin-sectioned grog-tempered wares from Sangalan Tepe, two are grey-black burnished conical bowls with excised decoration which stylistically are typical of the Early Transcaucasian culture as represented in level IV of Godin Tepe. One of the grog tempered wares (965.273.290) has essentially the same granitic-sourced material as is found in the hypothetically local Sangalan petrofabric, although the abundance is less. The grog is also essentially the same as the main matrix of the sample, although some constituents are siltier in particle-size. A deep carinated bowl (965.273.334) has a fine silt matrix and grog which also contains fine silt that is essentially very similar to some of the Godin examples. Of the two excised conical bowls, one (965.273.348) contains a well-sorted subangular to subrounded very fine sand (0.05-0.1 mm) of quartz, feldspar, micas and amphiboles which is quite distinct from the other granitic-sourced material from Sangalan. The grog in this sample is generally the same as the matrix, but some contain a fine sand (0.1 to 0.2 mm) of quartz, feldspars, amphiboles and micas. Another grog includes a medium sand (about 0.2 mm) of quartz, plagioclase feldspars, pyroxenes and muscovite schist (P1. XIa). The second excised conical bowl (965.273.303) contains well-sorted subangular very fine sand (about 0.1 mm) of quartz, muscovite, feldspar and tourmaline (P1. XIb), while the grog inclusions are essentially the same. The muscovite is particularly distinctive in this sample, and the reflectance of the mica inclusions are particularly notable on the burnished surface. In summary, the petrography of the pottery from Sangalan Tepe in particular appears to exhibit considerable variability, with a large number of examples apparently being "exotic" imports into the region. Although the Godin Tepe and Baba Qasim Tepe samples are less indicative of this "exotic" nature, it may be pointed out that the silty-bodied wares may be produced at many sites, as they merely represent the possibly widespread practice of refining the raw materials. Hence although the Godin samples are not as clearly indicative of movement of the pottery, it may not be assumed that they are local either.
CONCLUSIONS The petrographic study of the pottery from Godin Tepe and neighbouring sites has resulted in two important findings. First, the analyses have shown that the Early Transcaucasian wares from Godin level IV, Baba Qasim and Sangalan Tepe and other period IV surveyed sites within the KangavarValley, which are distinguished by their grey-black colour, burnishing, and excised decoration, are also predominantly characterised by crushed pottery, otherwise known as grog. When viewed from the standpoint of the sequence at Godin Tepe, this grog-tempered ware represents a radical departure in ceramic technology both from the preceding levels VI/V, and from levels III and II that follow it. Although stylistic attributes may indeed be copied by potters without any significant movement of people, the introduction of a new technologicaldevelopment may be considered more clearly indicative of the introduction of new individuals into the region. In isolation it does not indicate whether this was the movement of a few individual potters or the population as a whole. However, in the former case one would expect certain degrees of standardisation of typology and paste which are absent from the Early Transcaucasian ware. Although technologically these wares are closely related across their distribution in western Asia, they appear to quickly develop regional styles. The pastes of the thin-sectioned sherds reflect a great deal of diversity.Although certain traits, such as hand-construction, may be used for centralised and standardised production, petrofabric diversity of this degree can only be explained by diverse production probably at the household level. Hence it is inferred by the authors that Godin Tepe's level IV represents a new population unrelated to that preceding it at the site. These findings also contradict some assertions proposed for continuity between levels IV and III at Godin (Henrickson 1989). It was proposed that the overall development from the grey-black burnished ware of level IV to the monochrome painted buff ware of level III is attributable to changes in the socio-economic structure of society, rather than a reflection of the large-scale migration or replacement of one population by another (Henrickson 1989: 82). This proposed continuity was based in part by what was perceived as an extension of the grey-black burnished pottery tradition from level IV into the earliest phases of level III, where the assemblage is in part characterised by a "household" repertoire of grey-black burnished carinated bowls, two-handled goblets and large beakers. The redslipped or buff painted vessels that occur later in level III are derived from these early forms. The petrographic study undertaken here, however, has
GROG,
PETROLOGY,
AND
EARLY TRANSCAUCASIANS
revealed a significant technological distinction between the two levels. The early level III grey-black burnished pottery contains no grog; rather it is similar in fabric to the later buff ware that succeeds it. We should also like to note that typologically, parallels between the early level III grey-black forms and those of level IV are not particularly convincing except possibly for the carinated bowl form, which may span both periods. Yet, even among these bowls the break from the presence to absence of grog from level IV to III is clearly documented. In summary, a smooth transition between the culture of level IV and III is not justified, given the radical technological and typological changes in the ceramic repertoire. The second significant finding is the high quantity of sampled Early Transcaucasian vessels which contain materials which may not or definitely are not derived from the region in which they were found and thus are not compatible with production in the region. This is particularly apparent among the greyblack burnished conical bowls with excised decoration from Godin Tepe and Sangalan Tepe, whose principal matrices consist of petrofabrics atypical of the regions in which they were found, and/or which contain grog which in turn comprises mineral inclusions that are incompatible with the place of production of the vessel to which they belong. The only consistent grouping of petrofabrics within these wares is that of the silty examples, which may be more a matter of a lack of features rather than the presence of like characteristics. Judging by the evidence from analysis of levels III and II at Godin Tepe, the only other group of ceramics which are consistently found to be "exotic" are cooking pots. The rigours of cooking make it very important that these wares are made of clays and other raw materials of suitable properties (Rye 1976). Apart from naturally containing "exotic" materials, cooking pots may be deliberately tempered with calcite, as the thermal properties of this mineral is particularly suitable for this use (P1. XIc). The Early Transcaucasian ware as reflected in the Godin Tepe level IV assemblage, as it does for all the available pottery, primarily represents serving vessels. Indeed from the available corpus it would appear that cooking pots are largely absent, suggesting that other materials and techniques were used for cooking. Hence, the requirements of cooking can not be considered to be relevant to Early Transcaucasian wares. The evidence as such seems to reflect a high degree of movement geographically by the pottery and by extension the people who are producing and/or consuming the pottery. There is no reason to explain this movement of pottery on the basis of functional or technological constraints, especially
AT GODIN
TEPE
29
when one considers that many of the principal forms in question, namely the conical bowls, are not bound by specific fabric requirements that were only attainable from distant geological sources. Moreover, the analyses appear to indicate that, at least at Godin and Sangalan, these wares could be made locally to a sufficiently high standard, and thus there is no reason to attribute the movement of pottery to intensive trade in these wares. Hence some other explanation must be sought. It is suggestive that the people who have been associated with this grey-black burnished Early Transcaucasian culture, the "Kura-Araxes"folk, have traditionally been perceived as practising a seminomadic or transhumant subsistence strategy, involving the stockbreeding of cattle, sheep and goats, coupled with agricultural pursuits (Burney 1971: 47; Sagona 1984: 16). The geographical constraints of the mountainous terrain which they inhabited presumably would have forced at least part of the population to cover large tracts of land in search of adequate highland pasture for their herds. Soviet scholars have especially emphasised this heavy dependence upon animal husbandry among the Kura-Araxespeople of the third millennium BC, and have amassed considerable faunal, archaeological, and ethnographic data from the upland regions of the Transcaucasus to support their claims (Kushnareva 1997: 191-96). While the extent to which stockbreeding and pastoral nomadism was a part of the subsistence economy at Godin Tepe during period IV has yet to be properly investigated, the recorded presence in the faunal record of sheep and goat is not inconsistent with an economy that was at least in part, based on pastoral nomadism (Gilbert 1979). Accepting this Early Transcaucasian transhumance might, therefore, help to explain the diversity exhibited by the period IV pots as reflected in the variability of their petrofabrics. As an intriguing corollary to the argued presence of a mobile population during Godin IV, is the use of grog as the principal tempering material within the grey-black burnished pottery of this period. Pottery is tempered for a number of reasons. It will aid workability during forming, reduce shrinkage during drying, provide desirable behaviour during firing, and finally provide desirable characteristics in the fired pot (Rye 1976). Grog has a number of advantages. It is easily crushed and can be added at practically any amount or coarseness required to achieve suitable workability. Further, grog will essentially behave in exactly the same way as the ceramic during firing, and will have a good bond with the matrix. In regard to a mobile population, it may also be noted that it will always be consistent wherever it is collected. Hence, people who experience frequent movement would find that grog is a highly suitable material to
30
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
be used in the production of pottery, since a prior understanding of the grog's properties and its behaviour to various conditions such as thermal stress and shrinkage would be attained. The use of grog would thereby have reduced the necessity and uncertainties of using the local mineral sources from the diverse regions that were traversed by the transhumant population. A further advantage of grog is that it allows re-use of accidents, most commonly recycling of wasters from firing mistakes. Given the likely breakage rate of pottery being used by a mobile population, recycling it into new pottery would be highly practical. Overall, one is struck by marked distinctiveness of the Early Transcaucasian culture at Godin Tepe in period IV, where it is reflected not only by a unique settlement configuration and architecture,3 but also by a new stylistic and technological approach to the ceramic industry. This new pottery ware constitutes the predominant diagnostic feature of an assemblage which spanned several hundreds of years of the third millennium BC. The dramatic cultural disruption that level IV produces at Godin Tepe can not, in our opinion, be simply attributable to social or economic changes in the fabric of the local society. Rather, it signals the presence of a new population, which brought with it its own unique set of cultural trappings and subsistence strategies. In this particular case, therefore, an equation between pots and peoples seems highly plausible. The findings presented here are based on a geographically restricted area within central western Iran. Although the discovery of defining features of the Early Transcaucasian culture is an intriguing project, the contributing authors have other research planned in the future (cf. Mason and Cooper, in press), and presently do not intend to pursue the matter beyond that which is presented here. It should be noted, however, that to some degree the findings which are reported in this paper can be repeated by any researcher interested in the study of the Early Transcaucasian culture and its material manifestations. Grog is readily apparent in pottery with the aid of the most meagre magnification, such as a x10 hand lens. If the use of grog is truly a phenomenon which is common to all Early Transcaucasian wares then this would be a highly significant finding. Similarly a petrographic study aimed at further demonstrating the movement of this pottery over large geographical regions might significantly increase one's understanding of this unique yet elusive Early Bronze Age culture. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank T. Cuyler Young Jr. for his contribution to this research from its inception to its completion,
including comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. Excavations at Godin Tepe were funded by the precursor of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Royal Ontario Museum. 1 In some cases the white material is hard and white and is the source of crystallisation of gypsum (calcium sulphate). In other cases a soft limey material exists. In yet others bare traces of white material is barely visible with a microscope. It may be postulated that all of the excised decoration at one time contained this material, which most likely was a gypsum plaster. The degree of preservation is probably linked to the environmental conditions of the context in which the objects were found. In every case there is significantly greater amounts of the calcareous material inside the excised areas than in accidentally occurring fissures and breaks, and so post-depositional concretion is not thought a tenable explanation for the presence of the material. 2 Examples have been found at Godin in level IV, but none of them are from prime contexts and are shale-tempered. Carinated bowl forms have been reportedly found in the EB I phase at Yanik Tepe (see Burney 1961: pl. LXXII), which is contemporary with the level IV occupation at Godin Tepe judging by the ceramics, although the Godin Tepe architecture is rectilinear rather than representing the roundhouses known at Yanik Tepe. 3 For architecture see Young 1969, Young and Levine 1974. Unpublished survey of sites in the Kangavar valley by Young reveals that although at the basin's main site of Godin Tepe the Early Transcaucasian wares of level IV are found on a previously occupied site, in most cases the site was previously unoccupied.
Bibliography Burney, C. A., 1961, "Excavations at Yanik Tepe, North-West Iran," IraqXXIII, pp. 138-153. The People of the Hills: Ancient Ararat and Caucasus, -1971, London. Gilbert, A. S., 1979, UrbanTaphonomyof MammalianRemainsfrom the BronzeAge of Godin Tepe, WesternIran. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University. Folk, R. L., 1980, Petrologyof SedimentaryRocks,Hemphill, Austin. Henrickson, R. C., 1989, '"The Buff and the Grey: Ceramic Assemblages and Cultural Process in the Third Millennium BC Central Zagros, Iran," Ceramicsand Civilization IV, pp. 81-146. Kushnareva, K. Kh., 1997, The Southern Caucasus in Prehistory. Developmentfrom theEighth Stagesof Culturaland Socioeconomic to the Second Millennium BC. Translated by H. N. Michael. Philadelphia. Mason, R. B., 1997, "Early Mediaeval Iraqi Lustre-painted and Associated Wares: Typology in a Multidisciplinary Study," IraqLIX, pp. 1-47. Mason, R. B., and Cooper, Lisa, in press, "Petrographic analysis of Bronze Age pottery from Tell Hadidi, Syria,"Levant. Rye, O. S., 1976, "Keeping your temper under control: materials and the manufacture of Papuan pottery," Archaeologyand PhysicalAnthropologyin OceaniaXI, pp. 106-137. Sagona, A. G., 1984, The CaucasianRegion in theEarlyBronze.BAR International Series 214. Oxford. Young, Jr., T. Cuyler, 1969, Excavationsat Godin Tepe:FirstProgress Report, Royal Ontario Museum Art and Archaeology Occasional Paper 17. Young, Jr., T. Cuyler, and Levine, Louis D., 1974, Excavations of the Godin Project: Second Progress Report, Royal Ontario Museum Art and Archaeology Occasional Paper 26.
GROG,
PETROLOGY,
AND
EARLY TRANSCAUCASIANS
AT GODIN
TEPE
31
APPENDIX: samples and their petrography Table headings: site indicates that site from which pottery was found or excavated. Number refers to the accession or other unique number designating each sample typologically relevant to this paper; petrofabrics are those from Godin Tepe which are typical of other levels (number in brackets
SITE
NUMBER or PETROFABRIC
signifies total number of samples fitting this description). Short petrographic descriptions are given for the main matrix of the ceramic sample in one column, and that for fragments of grog within it in the successive column, including any diverging grog petrofabrics.
MATRIX PETROGRAPHY
GROG PETROGRAPHY
Godin Tepe
B1-495a
silt quartz and mica, shale and micritic carbonate
as matrix; also fine sand feldspars and quartz
Godin Tepe
B1-489
silt quartz and mica, and micritic carbonate
Godin Tepe
B1-492b
silt quartz and mica with shale
Godin Tepe Godin Tepe
CEM-A B1-376
silt quartz and mica fine to medium sand of quartz, muscovite-quartz schist, feldspars, pyroxenes and fossiliferous micrites
as matrix; also very fine sand quartz and amphibole silt quartz and micas; sandstone, siltstone and argillite; grains of rock comprising low-grade metamorphosed fine sandstone, siltstone and argillite as matrix; also fine quartz sand
B1-348
silt quartz and micritic carbonate
silt quartz
CEM-B Petrofabric III:A (17)
silt quartz
as matrix
shale and medium sand comprising quartz, feldspars, muscovite and amphibole
none
Godin Tepe Godin Tepe Godin Tepe
as matrix; also quartz and mica silt
Godin Tepe Godin Tepe
Petrofabric III:B (12)
shale
none
Petrofabric III:C (11)
shale and biotite schist
none
Godin Tepe
Petrofabric II:A (11)
none
Baba Qasim
965.273.628
shale and medium sand comprising quartz, feldspars, muscovite and amphibole silt quartz and micritic carbonate
Baba Qasim
965.273.670
Sangalan
965.273.290
Sangalan
965.273.348
Sangalan
965.273.303
Sangalan
965.273.334
Sangalan
965.273.291
Sangalan
965.273.335
Sangalan
965.273.302
silty shale, biotite schists include epidote fine to medium sand of quartz, feldspars and mica very fine sand of quartz, feldspar, micas and amphiboles very fine sand of quartz, muscovite, feldspar and tourmaline coarse silt quartz and muscovite fine to medium sand of quartz, feldspars and mica fine to medium sand of quartz, feldspars and mica silty-shale
as matrix; also fine silt quartz; fine sand quartz none as matrix; silt quart as matrix; also medium sand of quartz, plagioclase feldspars, pyroxenes and muscovite schist. as matrix as matrix; also fine silt quartz none none none
ARCHAEOLOGICALRESEARCH IN THE ISLAMABADPLAIN, CENTRAL WESTERN ZAGROS MOUNTAINS: PRELIMINARYRESULTS FROM THE FIRST SEASON, SUMMER 1998 By Kamyar Abdi
Museum of Anthropology,The Universityof Michigan
Since the late 1950s, a new generation of archaeologists with other research objectives have focused on the Zagros Mountains. Most importantly, the Iranian Prehistoric Project of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, led by Robert J. Braidwood, embarked on multidisciplinary research into the early stages of the human career in the hilly flanks of the Fertile Crescent, especially the origins of settled life and domestication of plants and animals. The Iranian Prehistoric Project ushered in a new era of Iranian archaeology, and was soon followed by other anthropologically-oriented archaeological projects in the 1960s and 1970s. Fruitful research continued in the Central Zagros until the 1979 Revolution and the ensuing Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988 brought most problem-oriented archaeological research in the area to a halt (for summary results of research in the Central Western Zagros, see various chapters and the bibliography in Hole 1987).
INTRODUCTION At least since the Achaemenid period, and probably from long before then, the main highway from Mesopotamia to the Zagros Mountains and from there to the Iranian Plateau and Central Asia has been the 'Great Khorasan Road', so named by Muslim geographers of the Middle Ages (Fig. 1). Beginning in central Mesopotamia in the vicinity of the ancient city of Babylon, the Great Khorasan Road follows the Diyala River into the foothills of the Zagros Mountains to Qasr-i Shirin, then turns southeast and ascends the mountains through the Sar-i Pol-i Zohab Plain and Kerend Valley to arrive in the Plain of Islamabad-i Gharb (formerly called Harunabad, later Shahabad). From Islamabad, the Great Khorasan Road runs through the plains of Hasanabad, Mahidasht, Kermanshah, Bisotun, Kangavar, and Asadabad. Thereafter, the Road goes around the Mount Alvand to Hamadan and on to Ray to the south of modern Tehran in the Central Plateau of Iran. From Ray the road skirts the northern edge of the barren Dasht-i Kavir to Tus, northcentre of the west of modern Mashhad-the Khorasan Province today. From Mashhad the Road branches in various directions. Some routes lead southeast into Afghanistan via Herat and thence via the Kheybar, Gomal, or Bolan Passes into the Indus Valley. Other routes run south following the oases of the eastern Iranian mountain chains to Makran, with a side branch leading to Sistan. The main route continues on to Central Asia (part of the Great Khorasan in medieval times), forming part of the socalled 'Silk Road' leading to China. The area around the Great Khorasan Road in the Central Zagros Mountains has long been a focus of archaeological research. Since the early 19th century, many travellers and early archaeologists travelled along this ancient highway and recorded their observations. In fact, a distinctive monument along the Great Khorasan Road, the trilingual inscription of Darius I at Bisotun, played a crucial role in the decipherment of the cuneiform script and unveiling of ancient Near Eastern civilisations to modern scholarship.
THE ISLAMABADPROJECT During my visit to Iran in the Summer of 1997, I discussed the possibility of resuming systematic archaeological research in the Central Western Zagros with Naser N. Chegini, the Director of the Centre of Archaeological Research (CAR) of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization (ICHO). With the generous cooperation of the Director of CAR and Rasoul Oshtoudan, the former Director of ICHO of the Kermanshah Province, I made a preliminary reconnaissance along the Great Khorasan Road in the Central Zagros Mountains. On 20 July 1997, I began my journey from Kermanshah and drove through Mahidasht, Islamabad, Gilan-i Gharb, and Qasr-i Shirin Plains, and returned to Kermanshah on 24 July, via the Sar-i Pol-i Zohab Plain, Kerend Valley, and Islamabad Plain. In my preliminary reconnaissance I paid a visit to several archaeological sites and made a general evaluation of the archaeological potential of the plains mentioned above. My preliminary reconnaissance sug-
33
34
JOURNAL
OF PERSIAN
STUDIES
-
Hamadan
Kangavar
Islamaba.s
Eshnunna
-K
-'
'• Deh
::) 0
)"•/" 0
• •,.'
Luran(
•-.
•
AbuSalabikh
Nippurus
-Al
AlGirsu
U
A..
- ruk-
-
-
,.-,.-.-A._ Eridu-
Southwest Iranand
-
Adjacent Regions
oio I
J
I km
Fig. 1. Map of southwesternIran and adjacentregionsshowingthegeneralrouteof thethe GreatKhorasanRoad and thesurveyarea (seedetailFig. 2).
gested to me that the Islamabad Plain and the site of Chogha Gavaneh in the middle of the town of Islamabad (P1.XIIa) are potentially the most promising for the research problems I have in mind (see below). Therefore, after returning to Tehran, I submitted a provisional research proposal to the Director of the CAR. After my arrival in the United States in September 1997, I forwarded the Director of the CAR a more comprehensive and detailed research proposal. I received my permit to conduct archaeological research in the Islamabad Plain from the CAR in February 1998.
THE ISLAMABADPLAIN (Fig. 2) In the Central Zagros Mountains, the Great Khorasan Road runs through the Sar-i Pol-i Zohab Plain and the Kerend Valley before arriving in the Islamabad Plain (side-branches of the Road may have gone through Soumar and the Gilan-i Gharb Plains). Qasr-i Shirin, Sar-i Pol-i Zohab, and the Gilan-i Gharb Plains are all lowland, winter pasture areas (garmsir).The Kerend Valley, the first highland plain, is narrow, with less agricultural potential. The Islamabad Plain, on the other hand, is the first large agricultural plain along the Great Khorasan Road in
35
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE ISLAMABAD PLAIN
25'
46020'
30'
35'
40'
45'
46050'
V
34015'
O0
CHOGHAZARD PLAIN
ISLAMABAD •'
PLAIN ,. ell),
340 0
33055'
04~ ,,
50
0
5
10
15
km
33045'
47000'
Fig. 2. The surveyarea of Islamabadand adjacentplains.
the highland, summer pasture areas (sardsir) of the Zagros Mountains. Favourable climate, fertile soil, and ample water have made this plain one of the agriculturally more productive and heavily populated areas in the Zagros Mountains in recent times. Moreover, extensive pastures and strategic position between highland and lowland pastures along the Great Khorasan Road have made the Islamabad Plain an important way station along the migration routes of pastoral nomads. The Islamabad Plain is located in the folded zone of the Central Zagros Mountains (Figs. 2 and 3), about 60 km west of Kermanshah, halfway between the foothills around Qasr-i Shirin and the peaks around Asadabad. This area consists of a series of smaller plains located between the Kerend Valley on the northwest, Hasanabad Plain to the east, Shirvan-Chardaval district to the southwest,
and the Holeilan Valley to the southeast. Starting from the village of Khosroabad on the threshold of a strategic pass leading from the Kerend Valley, the Islamabad Plain encompasses several side valleys (including Tang-i Veisali and Tang-i Ismacil Beg) and small plains (especially Firuzabad and Chogha Zard Plains) before arriving at the town of Islamabad-e Gharb (34?6'N, 46?31'E). From the town of Islamabad toward the east, the plain extends to the pass leading to the Hasanabad Plain and Mahidasht farther to the east. Along this axis there is the important Souran Valley extending about 20 km to the north. From the town of Islamabad to the pass of Shah Bodagh to the southeast, there is a corridor 73 km long and 1-10 km wide, consisting of a number of smaller plains. From the town of Islamabad to the southeast along the Ravand River as far as the small town of Homeil lies
36
OF PERSIAN
JOURNAL
a: E CI a
NE 2500Kaskan
2000
U) 1500 -1500 500tit
STUDIES
a
a
"0a I
I
-U=)
W
.a: (D _
_OIX U)C1 I
(
0-
I
Em M cI-2000
nRcnd rdiyma -O
SW
v
0
50 0
(A irn orato Recent alluvium::::::::::
Islamabad Plain Folded
Zoneof GeologicalUnits
0
i
1
2I km
3i
4
Farsconglomerates!111Iill . . ..~ Asmary limestones Kashkan sandstone and red mads t.
'. -"1
Talehzang Formation Flysch'marly-sand yI (AmiranFormation)
I
Fig. 3. Thesurveyarea of theIslamabadPlain:folded zone of geologicalunits (drawnbyS. Heydariand F. Biglari).
the Islamabad Plain sensu stricto. From the area around the town of Homeil to the Shah Bodagh pass there are the three small plains of Homeil, Harasam, and Dizgaran. To the north and northeast and separated from the Islamabad-Homeil Plains by the Qazivand hills lies the Shiyan Plain, itself connected to the Hasanabad Plain farther to the north and northeast by a series of passes. Although somewhat separated from each other by rocky ridges, these plains seem to form a coherent physiographic area. Thus, I decided to survey the whole area which in toto I call the Islamabad Plain, after the major town in the area. The Islamabad Plain and its surrounding foothills cover an area of about 1500 km2. The median elevation of the plain is about 1400 metres above sea level; surrounding it are several mountains, some of which, like Dalahou Mountain, rise to over 3,000 metres above sea level. At least five small rivers flow from the surrounding mountains into the plain, supplementing the water provided by several springs. The climate of the Islamabad plain is cold and wet in winters, but mild and relatively dry in summers. The plain and its surrounding mountains up to 2,000 metres above sea level had a cover of oak parkland since at least 6000 BC, though before that, particularly in the late Glacial period, the area had a dry cold steppe vegetation (Van Zeist 1967). The Islamabad Plain was visited in 1936 by Aurel Stein (1940: 420) during his general survey of western Iran. Later the same year Erich Schmidt (1940) flew over the plain during his aerial reconnaissance in western Iran and took photographs of Chogha Gavaneh. In 1950-60, under the Iranian Prehistoric Project of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Robert Braidwood (1961)
and his team briefly surveyed the area. A few years later, Clare Goff (1966) of the British Institute of the Persian Studies visited the plain during her general survey of the Central Zagros Mountains. In the meantime, Ali Akbar Sarfaraz, Mohammad Rahim Sarraf, and Ismacil Yaghmaci from the then Archaeological Service of Iran conducted a preliminary survey of the plain, recorded major mounded sites and standing monuments, and opened a step trench at Chogha Gavaneh. Later, for three months in the Summer of 1970, Mahmoud Kordavani from the then Archaeological Service of Iran excavated at Chogha Gavaneh. He cleared an area of about 0.8 hectares on the top of the mound and found architectural remains (Fig. 4) of, presumably, Iron Age II (ca. 1000 BC) (Kordavani 1971). Despite tremendous potential, the work at Chogha Gavaneh did not continue beyond the first season. Mahmoud Mousavi, Ismacil Yaghmaci, and Ali Valinouri from the then Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research later returned to Chogha Gavaneh for a short season in 1980. Since then the plain has been occasionally visited by Iranian archaeologists, Jacfar Mehr-Kian and Hasan Rezvani among them. None of these projects, however, have produced more than a brief note in published works. Thus the Islamabad Plain remained an underexplored archaeological area prior to our work.
OBJECTIVESOF THE ISLAMABADPROJECT Great agricultural potential and a strategic location along the Great Khorasan Road in the Central Zagros between somewhat better known regions such as Azarbaijan, Luristan, Susiana,
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
IN THE ISLAMABAD
PLAIN
37
Fig. 4. Thegroundplan of theIronAge buildingexcavatedat ChoghaGavanehbytheIranian teamin 1970 (Redrawnafterthe originalfield map).
Mesopotamia, and the Central Plateau of Iran, make the Islamabad Plain an ideal locale to seek answers to a number of anthropological, archaeological, and historical questions regarding early village life, early political formations, exchange systems, development of vertical transhumance, and later imperial organisation by means of regional surveys and test excavations. I initially embarked on the Islamabad Project with two broad categories of objectives: empirical objectives and specific objectives. EmpiricalObjectives The empirical objectives of the Islamabad Project are grouped as the following: 1. To locate and record as many archaeological sites of different categories as possible from the beginning of human occupation in the plain to the end of the Qajar period. 2. To compile as completely as possible an archae-
ological map of the plain incorporating all the sites recorded in fulfilling Objective 1. 3. To establish the ceramic sequence of the plain from the beginning of pottery-production through Middle Islamic times. I envisioned using two complementary techniques to achieve this objective. Initially, I would use the 'type markers' of periods known from adjacent areas, especially Mahidasht where these markers have been identified in controlled excavations (cf. Levine and Young 1987), in order to create the chronological framework for the Islamabad Plain. Having established this framework, I could deal with new wares using stratigraphic data from text excavations and seriation techniques, so that the complete ceramic sequence of the plain could be identified. The compiled sequence will then be used to assign each recorded site to specific period(s) of occupation. 4. To characterise the periods of settlement in the plain by combining the data from Objectives 2 and 3.
38
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
SpecificObjectives In undertaking the Islamabad Project, my basic goal was to collect data to study the development and implications of human/nature interaction from the beginning of human occupation in the plain to Middle Islamic times. I envisioned studying sedentary and nomadic occupational patterns, land-use, social and economic hierarchies, and internal and external political, commercial, and military mechanisms which in one way or another may have influenced sociocultural evolution of the communities in this highland plain. Using the data collected under Empirical Objectives (above), I placed special emphasis on certain periods and questions including: 1. The Epipaleolithic and Early Neolithic periods, i.e., the period immediately before and after the beginning of sedentary occupation (10th-8th millennium BC): are there spatial correlations between the late Epipaleolithic and Early Neolithic settlements? Are there sudden changes in land use in this period? 2. The early village period (8th-6th millennia BC): What is the spatial relationship of the settlements of this period to natural resources? Can we identify some sort of settlement agglomeration from the survey data?What is the range of site-size in this period? 3. Early to Middle Chalcolithic period (5th millennium BC): Is there increasing sociocultural complexity in the Chalcolithic period as reflected in the settlement pattern? Is there any evidence for the rise of pastoral nomadism in this period? 4. The Late Chalcolithic (4th millennium BC): What was the settlement pattern in the period immediately before, during, and after contact with the lowlands in the era of state formation? Are there any lowland outposts in the Islamabad Plain? If present, how did they affect the highland landscape? Are the methods applied for the study of state formation in lowland plains of Susiana and Mesopotamia applicable to a highland plain like Islamabad? Does the settlement pattern suggest an indigenous process of state formation in the Islamabad Plain? If so, how does this pattern relate to state formation in the lowlands? If not, what does the settlement pattern tell us about the political structure of the plain in the period preceding and following contact with the lowland states? 5. The Early Bronze Age (early 3rd millennium BC): Is the settlement pattern of this period Yanikrelated like Kangavar-Asadabad and Mahidasht Plains or Early Dynastic I Scarlet Ware-related like Pusht-i Kuh and Deh Luran? In either case, how did these intrusive cultures interact with indigenous population? Is there any spatial relationship between Godin IV and the succeeding Godin III settlement
pattern? Is the nomadic component evident in the settlement record? 6. The Godin III period (3rd millennium BC): What does the settlement pattern tell us about the sociopolitical structure of this period? Is a polity of the scale mentioned in historical texts detectable in the settlement pattern? If so, how was the plain related to other regions in the Zagros and the lowlands? How are the policies of the early imperial formations such as that of the Agade, Ur III, and Sukkalmakh reflected in the highland settlement pattern? Did imperial policies toward the highlands lead to population dispersal to inaccessible places (e.g., mountain ridges, marginal gorges, etc.) or to population agglomeration and construction of stronger, nucleated towns? 7. The Middle to Late Bronze Age (early to mid2nd millennium BC): How did the imperial formations alternating with periods of breakdown into smaller local states which characterises the Near East in this period affect highland societies? Did the expansion of mercantile networks affect local settlement disposition near routes and local artifact styles? 8. The transitional period from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age I (ca. 1500 BC): Is there continuity or discontinuity in settlement pattern in this period? Is there any evidence for the movement of new people into the region? 9. The late Iron Age II-early Iron Age III (ca. 900600 BC): How did Assyrian imperialism affect the settlement pattern? Is there any evidence for a process of secondary state formation in the plain? Can this be linked to other plains in the Zagros? Is there any evidence in the settlement pattern to suggest the emergence of a Median polity? 10. The period of the later empires of the Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sasanians (559 BC-AD 651 C): Is there any evidence of assimilation under imperial hegemony? What was the land use pattern in later empires? Is there any evidence for extensive irrigation systems, roads, bridges, forts, and so on in the Islamabad Plain? How is the imperial investment manifested in the plain? How did increasing communication via the Great Khorasan Road affect the plain? 11. Early and Middle Islamic times (AD 651-1200): Is there a major change from pre-Islamic times in the settlement pattern? How did the Islamic polities affect population and settlement in the plain? The answers to some of these questions will form the basis of future studies concerning the broader problems of the evolution of local societies through several millennia and their interaction and reaction to external factors, whether regional or transregional.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
ISLAMABAD1998: THE FIRST SEASON With these objectives in mind, we carried out the first season of archaeological research in the Islamabad Plain from 12 June to 31 July 1998. In this time span, we spent 15 days on administrative and logistical tasks and 35 days on actual fieldwork. This time allocation differed from what we had planned, but it was inevitable considering that in our first season we had to start our work from scratch. In addition to financial support from the Museum and Department of Anthropology, the International Institute, and the Rackham Graduate School of the University of Michigan, and the American Institute of Iranian Studies, I received considerable assistance from the Centre for the Archaeological Research of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization (ICHO) in Tehran and the ICHO offices in Kermanshah and Islamabad. In the first season, our team included Kamyar Abbas Abdi director), (archaeologist/field of the Motarjem (archaeologist/representative ICHO), Gabriel Nokandeh and Amir Sadeq Naqshineh (archaeologists associated with the ICHO), Ali Farhani and Hamid Reza Valipour (graduate archaeology students at Tehran University), Fereydoun Biglari (draughtsman and cartographer), and Saman Heydari (geomorphologist and cartographer). We also received occasional visits by Akbar Rezai3i, Sacid Doostani, and Rohollah Karimi, archaeology technicians from the ICHO offices in Kermanshah and Islamabad, who helped us with different tasks. With their hospitality, Mohammad Reza Salmanpour, Mohammad Ali Darya, and Kheydan Rokh, the ICHO guards stationed at Islamabad made our stay a pleasant experience. Last, but not least, thanks to Soleyman Ahmadi, the able driver of the ICHO office in Kermanshah who never failed to amaze us with places he could take us in an ordinary jeep! In the first season, we pursued three major goals: (1) the survey of the Islamabad Plain, (2) documenting an unknown part of the regional pottery sequence by means of a stratigraphic cut at Chogha Gavaneh, and (3) a re-study of the notes and collections from the 1970 excavations at Chogha Gavaneh. The comprehensive reports of the stratigraphic cut and the re-study of the 1970 excavations at Chogha Gavaneh are under preparation and will soon be submitted for publication. Therefore, I will present only a brief report on these efforts here, and focus on the results of our survey. TheStratigraphicCut at ChoghaGavaneh To establish the pottery sequence of the Islamabad Plain, we opened a stratigraphic cut at Chogha Gavaneh (ID 1), the site with the longest his-
IN THE ISLAMABAD
PLAIN
39
tory of Holocene occupation in the plain. We excavated a 3 x 0.9 x 5.20 metre trench at the lower part of the western edge of the site (P1. XIIb), where we encountered Middle Chalcolithic to late Neolithic deposits. In addition to acquiring a stratified sample of pottery - the main purpose of our cut - we also
collected lithic, faunal, floral, and radiocarbon samples. In the course of our excavation we also found a large set of baked clay objects including some appealing animal figurines. These samples are now on loan for further studies at the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Michigan and I am hoping to complete the excavation report with the help of my colleagues and submit it for publication before I depart for Iran to begin the second season. The Re-studyof the old excavations at Chogha Gavaneh As part of my re-study of earlier excavations at Chogha Gavaneh, we spent 21-25 July 1998 re-excavating Room B15 at the top of the site. I chose this particular room to re-excavate for two reasons: it is one of the smallest and more manageable rooms in the large complex the Iranian team excavated in 1970 (Fig. 3), not to mention that it is the room in which the Iranian team found the set of cuneiform tablets and kilns which were perhaps used for baking tablets. Our re-excavation helped us learn more about the structure and the internal organisation of this room, especially the arrangement of the kilns and the probable order in which the tablets were arranged. I also located the artifacts discovered during the 1970 excavations at Chogha Gavaneh in the storage area of the Iran National Museum in Tehran and spent some time recording and studying them. I hope to have the tablets studied and translated in the near future so I can include them in my forthcoming paper on the old excavations. TheSurveyof thePlain We began our survey of the Islamabad Plain from the village of Khosroabad at the northwest corner of the plain. This village is located at the threshold of a strategic pass separating the Islamabad and Kerend Plains. From Khosroabad we continued our survey to the southeast toward the town of Islamabad, during the course of which we also surveyed the peripheral valleys of Tang-i Veisali and Tang-i Ismacil Beg, the latter leading to the tribal territory of Sanjabi. From Islamabad toward the southeast along the Ravand River-the Islamabad Plain sensu stricto-we continued our survey to the small town of Homeil. From the town of Islamabad we also launched a preliminary reconnaissance toward Mahidasht, deep into the Souran
40
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Valley. The area surveyed in our first season is approximately 20% of the entire survey area of 1500 km2. In our survey, which ranged from cursory 'Jeep' survey to intensive pedestrian survey, we found and recorded 73 sites of archaeological and historical significance. Chronologically, the recorded sites range from a late Acheulian/early Mousterian artifact scatter (Cham-i Souran: ID 51) (Biglari and Abdi n.d.) to three Qajar to recent cemeteries. In terms of size, the recorded sites range from single unit nomadic camps of only a few square metres to a 25 hectare medieval city (Chogha Khesht: ID 49). Nearly 35 sites were systematically mapped by our cartographic team. However, we did not conduct systematic surface pick-up on some important sites, because our fieldwork coincided with the agricultural season in the plain. Many sites were still under cultivation which made surface collection difficult, if not impossible. Yet we managed to collect some diagnostic sherds to help us with our preliminary dating of the recorded sites. We hope to resume our systematic surface studies next season after the harvest.
SETTLEMENTHISTORYOF THE ISLAMABAD PLAIN: SOME PROVISIONALREMARKS Although it is too soon to present an accurate and comprehensive reconstruction of the settlement history of the Islamabad Plain, it seems that we are in a position to say a few provisional words about the general outline of the demographic fluctuations and settlement pattern in the plain. The surface scatter of Paleolithic tools at Cham-i Souran (ID 51) may represent a Late Acheulian/ Early Mousterian occupation in the plain. Our analysis of the Cham-i Souran material point to their similarities with other possible Paleolithic material from Pal-i Barik in the Holeilan Valley and Gakia in the Kermanshah Plain (Biglari and Abdi n.d.). We did not find much evidence for the Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic periods. Perhaps the only evidence for the Upper Paleolithic was from the shelter of Eshkaft-i Qoleh (ID 4), where we found a handful of flakes. Based on our stratigraphic cut at Chogha Gavaneh, we expect to find aceramic Neolithic deposits at the site deeply buried beneath massive deposits of later periods. The only probable surface indication of aceramic or Early Neolithic occupation in our survey comes from Chogha Baft (ID 48), where we found some chipped stone tools and a small piece of chaff-tempered, probably Guran Close-Patterned Ware. So far we have found seven sites with surface indications of Late Neolithic occupation. Not surprising-
ly, these sites are all located in close proximity to water supplies. An interesting case is Chia Shir Khan 1 (ID 46) near the mouth of Tang-e Mansouri, a pass leading to the Shirvan Chardaval district currently used by nomads during their seasonal migration. Also, our stratigraphic cut at Chogha Gavaneh reached Early Chalcolithic/Late Neolithic deposits with characteristic Straw-Tempered Buff Ware of the Middle Neolithic (most probably out-of-context), and Red-Slipped Burnished Ware and White Painted Black-Slipped Ware of the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic associated with pottery sharing close affinities with the lowland plains of Susiana and Mesopotamia. Also associated with this corpus we found examples of J-Ware, and perhaps even genuine Halaf sherds. Our survey data suggest that a three level settlement hierarchy was already emerging in the Middle Chalcolithic period. By this time, Chogha Gavaneh (ID 1) was probably the dominant centre of the plain. In addition to Chogha Gavaneh, we recorded at least five sites larger than one hectare and 14 sites with around one hectare of Middle Chalcolithic occupation. One of these sites (Posht Tang-i Ismacil Beg: ID 3) was probably a nomadic campsite (Fig. 5). The Chalcolithic pottery we found on these sites was either straw or sand tempered utilitarian wares or typical fine painted sherds of Zagros Chalcolithic, especially Seh Gabi and Siahbid wares. At two locations (on ID 46 and ID 66), we also found some J-Ware. This diagnostic ware was abundant in the upper levels of our stratigraphic cut at Chogha Gavaneh in association with other types of Zagros Chalcolithic wares including Dalma Impressed, Dalma Monochrome, and Dalma CUbaid. So far the only evidence for an Uruk presence in the Plain is limited to a piece of Bevelled-Rim Bowl and a diagnostic drooping spout, both surface finds at Chogha Gavaneh. The archaeological implication of these finds remains to be explored. We are still faced with a problem identifying Bronze Age sites, because we did not find much of the most diagnostic pottery of the Bronze Age in the Central Zagros, i.e., Godin III Black on Buff. So far we only have a handful of Godin III sherds on the surface at Chogha Gavaneh, perhaps imports from the east. Nonetheless, we assigned nine sites to the Bronze Age, two of which were graveyards. The pottery we tentatively attributed to the Bronze Age is a sand-tempered reddish buff ware reported from some Bronze Age mortuary contexts in the Pusht-i Kuh (cf. Vanden Berghe 1972: 37 ff., fig. 10). We are hoping to shed some light on the Bronze Age dilemma in our next season. The number of recorded settlements for the Iron Age is 15. The cluster of sites at Sarab-i Arkavazi
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
V
Canal
o
10
20
30
40
50
m
Fig. 5. Posht Tang-iIsmacilBeg (ID 3). Contourelevationsin 0.5 metrefrom Plain surface(Map byS. Heydariand
F. Biglari).
(especially ID 67 [P1. 3] and ID 69) is of particular interest for the study of the Iron Age, as it yielded good examples of Late Western Gray Ware and Late Western Buff Ware, and a piece of glazed ceramicprobably a small piece of some sort of tileworkdated to the late Iron II/Iron III on stylistic grounds. The architectural complex at the top level at Chogha Gavaneh (Fig. 4), excavated by the Iranian team in 1970, is dated to Iron Age II (ca. 1000 BC). This is the only structure of this time period excavated in the Central Zagros. The formal layout and structure of the complex, as well as the discovery of a wide variety of objects, personal ornaments, and an archive of cuneiform tablets, suggest that this was an elite residence with contacts with both Mesopotamia and Susiana. We still have trouble separating Iron Age III from the Achaemenid period based on pottery evidence alone. We recorded three sites of possible
IN THE ISLAMABAD
PLAIN
41
Achaemenid date, one (Chogha Baft: ID 48)where a fragmentary stone vessel of Achaemenid style was found a few years ago-probably as large as seven hectares. There seems to be a considerable population increase and extensive construction work in the Islamabad Plain in the Parthian period. A large number of recorded sites have diagnostic Parthian pottery on them. We suspect that the underground irrigation system leading from the qanat system in the neighbouring Kerend Valley all the way to the village of Firuzabad toward Islamabad, as well the stone structure at Firuzabad (ID 56) (Pls. XIIIa-b) have their origins in the Parthian period. We found at least two hilltop forts with Parthian pottery. Of particular interest is the nomadic site of Ban Eshkaft (ID 6) on the eastern slopes of the Firuzabad Mountain on a route still used by migrating nomads. Here we found pieces of the characteristic 'Clinky Ware' suggesting a Parthian date for this nomadic settlement. With Sasanian and Islamic times, the population in the Islamabad Plain seems to have agglomerated in a few urban centres. The vast area to the south of the village of Firuzabad may turn out to be the remains of a large Sasanian/Early Islamic city. There is at least one major site of Early Islamic date at Chogha Khesht (ID 49), which at 25 hectares is the largest site recorded during our first season (Fig. 6). Here we found remnants of a a mosque-with structure-presumably typical Seljuq tilework. By medieval times, however, the area around Chogha Gavaneh became, once again, the major centre in the plain, a position it has maintained up to the present day as the town of Islamabad. We found a few typical Safavid glazed sherds on Chogha Gavaneh, where all later levels are obliterated by recent occupation. the Safavid caravanserai of Unfortunately, Islamabad, recorded by the Iranian team in 1966, was demolished a few years ago. Among the recent cemeteries, the Souran Cemetery (ID 14) in the Souran Valley is of particular interest (P1. XIIIc). This cemetery is used by villagers of the Chafteh and Souran as well as some pastoral nomads. Many graves are marked with elaborately-carved tombstones and upright-standing headstones, some as high as 2.5 metres. PROSPECTS FOR THE SECOND SEASON In our second season-scheduled to be carried out in late summer-autumn of 1999-I plan to continue our survey from Homeil toward the southeast
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Fig. 6. ChoghaKhesht(ID 49). Contourelevationsin 0.5 metrefrom Plain surface(Map byS. Heydariand F. Biglari).
as far as we can proceed, and also to survey the peripheral plains and valleys-especially the Shiyan Plain which our preliminary reconnaissance indicated as quite promising. Furthermore, I plan to revisit a number of sites in the autumn-after harvest-to conduct the delayed systematic surface pickup and to carry out further studies. In the second season, I also plan to expand our stratigraphic cut at Chogha Gavaneh with the help of
a larger crew, more time, and sufficient funding to reach the virgin soil at the bottom and to sample the Bronze Age and Iron Age deposits on top. This would help us achieve one of our main objectives, i.e., constructing the regional sequence from aceramic Neolithic times to the Iron Age. This, in turn, will enable us to carry out other studies, including settlement pattern studies, with much more precision.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE ISLAMABAD PLAIN
Bibliography Biglari, Fereydoun and Abdi, Kamyar. n.d. "Paleolithic Artifacts from Cham-e Souran, Islamabad Plain, Central Western Zagros Mountains, Iran", AMIT 30 (in press). Braidwood, RobertJ. 1961. "The Iranian Prehistoric Project", IA 1: 3-7. Goff, Clare. 1966. New Evidenceof CulturalDevelopmentin Luristan in theLate Secondand EarlyFirst Millennia. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University of London. Hole, Frank, ed. 1987. The Archaeologyof WesternIran: Settlement and Societyfrom Prehistoryto the Islamic Conquest,Washington, D.C. Kordavani, Mahmoud. 1971. "Excavations at Chogha Gavaneh, Shahabad-i Gharb", Bastan Chenasiva Honar-eIran 7-8: 36-51 (in Persian).
43
Levine, Louis D. and T. Cuyler Young, Jr. 1987. "A Summary of the Ceramic Assemblages of the Central Western Zagros from the Middle Neolithic to the Late Third Millennium B.C.", in J.-L. Huot, ed. Prihistoire de la Misopotamie. La Misopotamieprnhistoriqueet l'expositionricentedu DjebelHamrin, 15-54. Paris. Schmidt, Erich F. 1940. Flights Over Ancient Cities of Iran, OIP, Chicago. Stein, Aurel. 1940. Old Routesof WesternIran, London. Vanden Berghe, Louis. 1972. "Recherches archhologiques dans le Luristan. Cinquihme campagne: 1969. Prospections dans le Pusht-i central (Rapport pr6liminaire)". IA 9: 1-48. Van Zeist, Willem. 1967. "Late Quaternary Vegetation History of Western Iran", Review of Paleobotany and Palynology 2: 301-311.
GAMEBOARDS AND OTHER INCISED GRAFFITIAT PERSEPOLIS ByJohn Curtis and Irving Finkel TheBritishMuseum
The purpose of this short note is to draw attention to what are evidently two game boards which have been crudely engraved on stonework at Persepolis.1 They are to be found on the flat surfaces at the bottom of two of the window openings in the central section of the so-called Harem. The windows are in the wall between the main hall of the Harem, which is now a museum, and the portico on the south side of the courtyard. There are four windows in this wall, two on either side of the central doorway, and the boards are engraved in the two windows to the east of the door (Fig.1). These windows are 92-93 cm wide on the inside and 85-86 cm wide on the outside and c. 1.52 m deep. They are stepped in at a distance of c. 47 cm from the inside (thus accounting for the different internal and external measurements) thereby creating a ledge against which a shutter, probably of wood, could have been placed to close the window.2 The boards are positioned 76-78 cm from the outside of the window, approximately in the middle of the wall thickness. In one case (east window) the board is in the middle of the window opening, and in the other the board is close to the west jamb of the window. Each of the boards is rectangular and has 27 squares, arranged in three rows of nine. They measure 39 x 13 cm (west window = A) (Fig. 2, P1.XIVa) and 29 x 14 cm (east window = B) (Fig. 3, P1.XIVb). The incisions have been made by crudely drilling or chipping shallow holes close together. Graffiti game boards are common in many parts of the world, and are characteristically located in situations where people can pass spare hours in comfort. The location of the present boards on the Harem window-sills fits well into this general picture, whether ancient or modern. Whatever their date, the discovery of these two boards involves something new for the historian of games, since a board plan of 3 x 9 squares cannot in fact be paralleled, either in antiquity or in modern times. The question may then be asked, why claim these as game boards at all, but the simple answer is, in view of their nature, appearance and location, what else realistically can they be? Historically speaking, Iran has played an important role in the spread of chess, and backgammon,
Fig. 1. Centralsectionof theHaremBuilding at Persepolisshowing position of windows(A and B) with incisedgame boards (Adaptedfrom Schmidt1953:fig. 105).
and we also know of ancient boards for the so-called Game of Fifty-Eight Holes, and later games such as bdzi-yeqamish, the 'stave game', or merels (see Murray 1952: 15, 95 and 47 respectively), but the Persepolis boards clearly have nothing to do with any of these games. Indeed, relatively little work has been carried out on the broader history of this subject in Iran. A board lay-out of this kind is perhaps most likely to have been used for a race game where equal pieces are moved around the track in competition. The closest formal parallel is the classic Egyptian game of senet, played on a board of 3 x 10 squares (Murray 1952: 17), and also found elsewhere in the Ancient Near East (Swiny 1980; Hfibner 1992: 67-70), but it is most unlikely that this game has anything to do with senet. 45
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0
5 cm
Fig. 2. Incisedgame boardon window-sillA.
O
5 cm
Fig. 3. Incisedgame boardon window-sillB.
Fig. 4. Inciseddesignon window-sillA. Scalec. 1:1.
Figs. 5-6. Inciseddesignson windowin Palace ofDarius. Scale unknown.AfterAllottede laFuye 1928:figs. 6-7.
GAME BOARDS AND OTHER INCISED GRAFFITI AT PERSEPOLIS
An alternative class of games that uses parallel rows of 'houses' is that of the counting game mancala, where seeds are 'sown' in holes. Games of this type are extremely widespread, but no examples have been recorded from Iran, and in any case the playing squares properly should be scooped-out holes to accommodate many counters and fast play. Accordingly, it remains for future discoveries to provide more information about the nature and distribution of this 3 x 9 game board. In the west window (A) there is in addition to the game board another engraved design (Fig. 4). It is positioned close to the inside edge of the window near to the west side. It has been incised in the same way as the boards. This is a much smaller composition, measuring just 5.5 x 4.3 cm, and shows a geometric pattern which seems to be partly based on the swastikamotif. This is much too small to have served as a game board, and in any case the design is not recognizable as that of a game board. Possibly this design had some kind of magical significance. It would seem to belong to a different tradition to two graffiti noted and sketched by de Mecquenem in a window in the Palace of Darius (Figs. 5-6; Allotte de la Fuye 1928: 166-7, figs. 6-7), one of which shows Islamic calligraphy with the name of cAli. What date are the game board graffiti? Unfortunately, the archaeological evidence is not helpful. Parts of the Harem building, and certainly the window-sills, were never buried. According to Schmidt (1953: 255) "two antae and some stone doorways, windows, and niches of stone were ... visible.., .before Herzfeld cleared a considerable portion of (this) extensive structure and identified it as the harem of Xerxes". Thus, the window-sills in the Harem were always exposed and accessible and the boards could have been engraved on them either during the Achaemenid era when the building was still occupied or at any period thereafter up to and including modern times. There is in fact evidence for graffiti at Persepolis not only in the Achaemenid period when the buildings were in use but also in Sasanian and later times (Schmidt 1953: 55). Apparently of Achaemenid date are two very small scale incised drawings of human heads on a fragment of sculpture (Herzfeld 1941: 251, pl. LXXII).3 Graffiti are to be distinguished from incised sketches that were intended as guidelines for the artists who painted the reliefs. Such sketches can be seen on the robe worn by the king in the Palace of Darius, the Central Palace (Tripylon) and the Harem and elswehere. They show files of lions and rosette designs (Schmidt 1953: 257, pls. 198A-B; Herzfeld 1941: pl. LXXII; Roos 1970; Tilia 1978: 44-57).4
A number of graffiti date from the Sasanian period. Two show standing figures of princes, one
47
engraved in a doorway in the Palace of Darius (Herzfeld 1941: 307-8, fig. 401) and another on the southern wall of the portico in the Harem (Allotte de la Fuye 1928: fig. on p.168; Herzfeld 1941: 308-9, fig. 402). Others, all in the Harem, show Sasanian princes on horseback (Schmidt 1953: 258, pls. 199A-B; Calmeyer 1976: fig. 3). There are also inscriptions of the Sasanian period: two texts in Middle Persian in the Palace of Darius are ascribed to the reign of Shapur II (AD 309-379) (Schmidt 1953: 223, n.1, p1.157; Curzon 1892: II, 129). Throughout the ages the ruins of Persepolis have been a magnet for visitors-and many of them have left an indelible mark of their presence at the site. There are Arabic and Persian inscriptions dating from the 10th century AD onwards, mostly in the Palace of Darius (Schmidt 1953: 223, n.1; Wilber 1969: 104-7) and there are modern Persian inscriptions, often lightly incised, throughout the ruins. European travellers, too, have often left a record of their visit by irresponsibly carving their names onto the exposed stonework. These inscriptions range in date between the early 17th century and, regrettably, recent times. Some of these names and dates have been recorded by Curzon (1892: II, 156-7, 169). There is extensive evidence, then, for secondary inscriptions and graffiti at Persepolis, and they range in date between the Achaemenid period and the 20th century. Our game boards might derive from any time during this long period. It is tempting, certainly, to associate the game boards with the original inhabitants of the Harem, and it is romantic to speculate that they might have whiled away the long hours of inactivity and boredom by playing games. However, it is difficult to imagine that when the Harem was in use anybody would have been allowed to deface the finely finished and highly polished window-sills with such crude engravings. If the inhabitants had wanted to play games on the window-sills it is reasonable to assume that professional stonemasons would have been brought in to engrave the boards, and that is certainly not the case here. It is also unlikely that a traveller or casual visitor to the site would have taken the time and trouble needed to produce such works. Temporary boards are usually drawn on the ground or otherwise marked out in the simplest possible way, and most travellers would have been content with such an arrangement. The presence of two boards in adjacent windows also militates against the idea of their having been casually engraved to meet an ad hoc demand. The implication here is that they were intended to fulfil a longterm need, especially as engraving the boards was not an easy matter and would have taken quite a long time.This raises the interesting possibility that the boards were engraved by shepherds or
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goatherds who were passing the time while their charges were grazing amongst the ruins. They might have returned to the same spot day after day, and so would have made full use of the boards. This is perhaps the most probable explanation, but it is far from proven. The matter remains unresolved, and it is to be hoped that the identity of the game in question might cast further light on this interesting question. 1 Thanks are due to Professor M. D. Roaf for referring us to the literature on graffiti at Persepolis. 2 When discussing the comparable windows in the Palace of Darius, Schmidt (1953: 222) suggests that the shutters would have been made of wood. 3 Richter (1946: 27-28) identified these heads as Greek workmanship, an opinion with which Schmidt (1957: 67, n.16) concurred. For the original position of this fragment of sculpture, see Tilia 1978: 56. See also now Nylander and Fremberg 1981-83. 4 Similar incised designs also occur on a stone slab from Persepolis which is thought to have been an artist's drawing board (Roos 1970). Another stone plaque found at Persepolis in fragments has an incised design showing a contest scene between Herakles and Apollo (Roaf and Boardman 1980). It is thought that this was a preliminary sketch for a painting in the Greek style.
Bibliography Allotte de la Fuye, 1928. "Graffitisrelev&sen 1928 dans les ruines de Persepolis", RA 25: 159-168. Calmeyer, P., 1976. "Zur Genese altiranischer Motive V: Synarchie", AMINF 9: 63-95. Curzon, G. N., 1892. Persia and the Persian Question, 2 vols., London. Herzfeld, E. E., 1941. Iran in the Ancient East, London and New York. Hiibner, U.,1992. Spieleund Spielzeugim antiken Paldstina, Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 121, Freiburg. Murray, H. J. R., 1952. A Historyof Board Gamesotherthan Chess, Oxford. Nylander, C., and Fremberg, J., 1981-83. "A foot-note from Persepolis", Anadolu/Anatolia22: 57-68. Richter, G. M. A., 1946. "Greeksin Persia",AJA50: 15-30. Roaf, M. D., and Boardman, J., 1980. "A Greek painting at Persepolis",Journal of HellenicStudies100: 204-206. Roos, P., 1970. "AnAchaemenian sketch slab and the ornaments of the royal dress at Persepolis", EW20: 51-59. Schmidt, E. F., 1953. PersepolisI: Structures,Reliefs, Inscriptions, OIP LXVIII, Chicago. __), 1957. PersepolisII: Contents of the Treasury and Other Discoveries,OIP LXIX, Chicago. Swiny, S., 1980. "Bronze Age gaming stones from Cyprus",Report of theDepartmentof AntiquitiesCyprus54-78. Tilia, A. B. 1978. Studiesand Restorationsat Persepolisand OtherSites ofFars II, Rome. Wilber, D. N., 1969. Persepolis:the Archaeologyof Parsa, Seat of the PersianKings,London.
BETWEENTHE SAFAVIDSAND THE MUGHALS:ART AND ARTISTS IN TRANSITION* ByAbolala Soudavar Houston, Texas
In the year 1544, the Mughal emperor Humayu-n (r. 1530-40 and 1555-56) came to the Safavid court seeking Shah Tahmasb I's help to recapture his kingdom. Tahmasb (r. 1524-76) obliged and Humayuin eventually recovered his throne. The political consequences of the Safavid encounter notwithstanding, Humayin's visit is mostly remembered as a fortuitous event that launched the development of the Mughal school of painting. From an art historical perspective, its timing could not be more propitious; Persian courtly painting had reached new heights but, at the same time, the royal Safavid library-atelier was sliding into disarray. It thus prompted the departure of the celebrated painters Mir Sayyid cAlhand CAbdal-Samad for the Mughal court. Other artists followed suit. Some remained there, and some came back and paved the way for the migration of the next generation of painters. This study focuses on the conditions that led to three successive migratory waves between the Safavid and Mughal courts from 1544 to 1585, with an emphasis on the stylistic development of one particular third wave artist, the famous Farrukh Beyg.
Mashhadi and probably commissioned by Mir CAlI Shir as a present for Sultan-Husayn Bayqara (r. 1470-1506),2 specify that it was Banfi and not Humaytn who acquired this Gulistdn .Hamida manuscript (P1. XVa).3 At her death, it was inherited by her son and was integrated into the Mughal royal library. A Timuridand Safavidjoustingfield
Another Gulistdnmanuscript (FGA, F1998.5) that found its way into the Mughal royal library probably came to India as a gift from Tahmasb. Although there are no direct references to this effect, an array of circumstantial evidence upholds the contention that, through the gift of this manuscript, Tahmasb had sought to honour Humayun's lineage. Copied by Sultan-CAliMashhadi in 1468, and originally illustrated with five Timurid paintings, this small-scale Gulistadn's calligraphy was rather weak and inferior to the prevailing nastacliqstandards of the 1540s; and apart from a small illuminated opening heading, it had no other illumination or embellishing detail.4 Nevertheless, very elaborate Safavid margin paintings, mostly attributable to Agha Mirak, were added over some sixteen pages.5 As the margin paintings are stylistically more colourful and intricate than those of the Shah Tahmasb Khamsa (BL, 1. THE FIRSTWAVE Or. 2265) of c. 1539-43,6 they should be dated to the mid-1540s.7 This dating, in conjunction with the ThediscoveryofPersianpainting masterpieces facts that the manuscript was copied in 1468 during Humayun arrived in Iran accompanied by his the last year of the reign of Humayun's great grandKhurasanian wife, Banui (d. 1604).1 Both father, the Timurid Sultan Abfi Sacid (r. 1451-69), were interested in .Hamida illustrated manuscripts, and the and that it was still in the Mughal library in the early to the Safavid domains an trip provided opportunity years of Akbar's reign (r. 1556-1605),8 leads to the to see Persian painting at its best: Herat library trea- conclusion that Humayuin was thus honoured by sures that Timurid princes-who had fled the Shah Tahmasb with a manuscript from the library of Shibanid occupation of Khurasan-had brought his direct ancestor.9 No other explanation can westward, and the new Safavid synthesis that account for the addition of elaborate margins by the emerged from the blending of the Herat and hand of the Shah's chief painter and household Turkoman styles of painting. Each had a different superintendent, Agha Mirak, to a manuscript that reaction towards the old and the new. While did not seem to merit such extra embellishment. While the apparent intent of the gift was to honHumayun sought Safavid artists for his own libraryatelier, IHamidaBanfi expressed a preference for the our Humayin, the unusually elaborate Safavid maracquisition of Timurid manuscripts from her ances- gins10 were also meant to overshadow the Timurid tral Khurasan. Indeed, notations on the famous 1486 illumination and illustrations and to hint at the Gulistdnof Sacdi (AHT, no. 36) copied by Sultan-CAli superiority of the new Safavid style.11 In the same 49
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vein, the subsequent repainting of the original Timurid illustrations may have been an attempt to counter the earlier Safavid taunt with the highly developed Mughal style of the Shah Jahan (r. 1628-57) period. Although a recent study attributes the cause of Mughal repainting to water damage sustained during a palace fire in 1644,12 two distinctive sets of water-stains-from two different periods-are indications to the contrary. One set can be seen near the outer edge of the Safavid margins with no extension to the text area (P1. XVb). Had flooding damaged illustrations during the palace incident, water-stains would have extended from edge to centre. A second set lies within the text area only and does not appear on the Safavid margins (see P1. XVb). It is the result of water damage sustained prior to the addition of those margins. If the paintings had suffered damage then, it would have been minimal for, judging from the remains of the Timurid painting apparent under a flaked area of the Prophetand the Zoroastrian(see P1. XVc), the old pigments seem complete and solidly attached to the paper substrate.13Also, the Safavidswould have most likely restored any such damage prior to giving the manuscript to Humayun. Furthermore, the Mughal paintings number six, one more than the original five, which means that at least one of the Mughal paintings was a new addition.14 Thus the Shah Jahan period repainting seems to have been motivated by a factor other than a desire to cover water damage. It was probably an attempt to overshadow the Safavid work with the finest quality of imperial Mughal painting, and that is why six of the top Shah Jahani painters were chosen for this task: Govardhan, cAbid, Balchand, Payag, Lalchand and Murar.'5 For two centuries this Rose Gardenof Sacdi had turned into a jousting field between Timurid and Safavid artists.16 Humdyun'sinvitation Humayun arrived at a time when the two great Shah Tahmasb manuscripts, the Shdh-ndmaand the Khamsa,had been substantially completed.17 In the process, a new generation of artists had been trained, the most important of whom were the three cAlis:Mirza cAli, son of Sultan-Muhammad, the leading artist of the Tabriz studio; Muzaffar cAli, a grandnephew of the celebrated Bihzatd; and Mir Sayyid cAli, son of Mir Musavvir;each a master in his own right. If Tahmasb wished to impress Humayin with the prowess of his painters, it was wholly unnecessary. Humayun was captivated by their works and expressed his delight by offering a huge sum for the discharge of one of the Shah's painters: "If the emperor (i.e. Tahmasb) releases Mir Musavvir to
me, I shall offer one thousand tumdns in exchange."'s This proposal is related by Buidaq-i Munshi-yi Qazvini who, in 1544, as secretary of Tahmasb's brother, Bahram Mirza (1517-49), was well placed to comment on the event.19 Bfidaq then adds: "Itis thus that the Mir's son, who had become better than his father, went earlier to India, and the father followed him there." Bfidaq's text is subsequently plagiarised by Qtai Ahmad in his famous Gulistdn-ihunartreatise with one exception: he omits the important information that "Mir Musavvir was undoubtedly a man (of strong character), and was in disgrace" at the time of Humayi-'s arrival.20This omitted information is the key to our understanding why Humay~m picked the ageing Mir Musavvir instead of a younger and more promising second generation painter; as a guest of Tahmasb, it was improper for him to ask for painters who were still official employees of the royal library-atelier. He therefore chose the one master-painter that the Shah had dismissed.21 Bfidaq's contention that Humayi-'s invitation was addressed to the Mir and that his son seized upon the occasion and went to the Mughal court first, is corroborated by the text of Mir Musavvir's letter to Humayun, reproduced in a painting attributed to Mirza Sayyid cAli (P1. XVd). This letter is illustrated as a petition in the hands of a kneeling old man that has been erroneously assumed to represent Mir Musavvir.22The Mir cannot be writing a letter from afar and presenting it to Humay0n at the same time. Indeed, in his letter, the Mir apologises to the emperor for his delay in joining the Mughal court and promises that he will soon do so: Petition from the old and long time slave, Mir Musavvir:It is a great honour to report that it has been a while since this slave'sson (i.e. Mir Sayyid cAlI) has entered the servicesof YourMajesty.It is hoped that he will become the subject of royal munificence. [As for me,] I am hopeful to startmy journey soon and join YourMajesty'sservices.God willing, the shadowof your radiance [shall protect us forever].23 Furthermore, the kneeling old man is portrayed with a sumptuous gold embroidered robe, and a dark skin, which, according to Persian painting conventions, designates a man from India. He is therefore most probably a vizier or secretary to Humay0n in charge of presenting and reading petitions to the emperor. The letter clearly indicates that Mir Musavvirwas expected at the Mughal court, and that the presence of his son did not relieve him from his obligation to join Humayin. The Mughal chronicler Bayazid reports that Humayiun summoned CAbd al-Samad and Mirza Sayyid CAlithrough an imperial rescript
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ART AND ARTISTS
IN TRANSITION
51
drinking and the Shah knew it [but did not mind]."~5 This is in sharp contrast with Tahmasb's reaction towards Qizilbash amirs such as the longtrusted Vizier of the Qiirchis (royal guards) ShahQuli, whom he ordered to be decapitated for the sin of wine-drinking in spite of the ban.36 Painting is not explicitly banned by the Qur'an, but the cloud of uncertainty that hung over painting was associative in nature: orthodox Sunni theologians considered it as duplicating creation or an attempt to return to idolatry.37 Shicite theologians may never have addressed the issue. Had there been a Shicite prohibition of painting, Tahmasb would have been a master at finding ways to circumvent it. Tahmasb'slackof interest A point in case is Tahmasb's annulment of the immunity he had granted the Ottoman prince Humayin's largesse and the Timurids' reputation for generous patronage certainly influenced some Bayazid in the year 1559. Vying for the Ottoman artists to join the Mughal emperor,26 and the wine- throne, the prince Bayazid had fought unsuccessfuldrinking prohibition imposed by Tahmasb induced ly against the combined forces of his father, others to consider such move.27 But these factors Siileyman the Magnificent (r. 1520-66), and brothalone did not generate the massive disaffection of er, Selim (the future Selim II, r. 1566-74). He was artists from what should be perhaps considered as defeated and took refuge with Tahmasb, but before the greatest library-atelier of all times. The funda- reaching the capital city of Qazvin he obtained mental reason was Tahmasb's waning interest in the through a religiously-binding oath a grant of immuof led his which to activities eventually nity that was supposed to block every avenue of library-atelier, the dismissal of most of the remaining artists. treachery. Tahmasb avowed in his own diaries that Dickson and Welch have surmised that Tahmasb's for the sake of good relationship with Sfileymanestrangement from painting culminated with the with whom he had finally concluded a peace treaty 963/1556 Edict of Sincere Repentance "which for- in 1555-he had to return the prince but was bound mally banned secular arts from his realm," thus by his oath neither to kill him, nor to hand him to Siileyman or his men.38 However, Tahmasb broke insinuating that religious considerations were at the his oath pretending that he "had not vowed not to root of such decision.28 The Edict of Sincere Repentance, though, was not for Tahmasb himself to return him to his brother Selim", and so the unforturepent but addressed the Qizilbash amirsand Safavid nate prince and his four sons were delivered to nobles, who were required to take an oath of absti- Selim's men, who decapitated them on the spot. In the case of painting, Tahmasb did not even nence from forbidden worldly pleasures and repent have to invent ajustification: there was a ready-made of past sins.29 Tahmasb's own "sincere repentance" had most probably occurred at Jajarm in 1534, and theory that his contemporary, the calligrapher Duistwas subsequently proclaimed in Herat.30 It was fol- Muhammad, had referred to in his preface to the lowed by a decree that banned "irreligious"activities Bahram Mirza album of c. 1544. By this theory, the (nd-mashrcadt)such as pigeon-flying (kablntar-bdzi), art of illumination and painting that adorned the shaving one's beard, and tanbfir and naqqdra written Word went back to the venerated first Shicite imam, CAli,who was also credited with the invention music,1 and ordered the closing of taverns, opium dens and brothels where the "forbidden things" of the Islamic scroll pattern.39 Painting was thus pro(mandhi, such as wine drinking), was pursued. 32 It tected by the sanction of the highest Shicite authoricaused a substantial loss of revenue for the royal trea- ty, the Imam cAli himself. Interestingly, Buidaq emphasises in separate sury, amounting by one estimate to 12,000 tuimdns per year.33By this measure alone, the repentance of instances that Tahmasb repudiated both calligrathe avaricious Tahmasb must be considered as quite phers and painters from his library-atelier. If paintsincere.34 Conspicuously absent from this decree is ing had been from time to time the subject of reliany reference to painting and calligraphy. Tahmasb gious controversy, calligraphy was not only immune not only did not ban painting but tolerated painters' from such controversy but represented Islamic art infractions of the decree. Thus, Biidaq reported: par excellence.Therefore, if Tahmasb expelled calli"thatmaster Bihzad, who reached the age of seventy, graphers along with painters, a reason other than could not live a moment without ruby-red wine or religious fanaticism must be sought. That reason the ruby-red lips of a wine-bearer; constant wine had may be a weakening of Tahmasb's eyesight caused by a hereditary ophthalmic disease that was accelerated kept him young and despite the ban, he continued
entrusted to a returning Safavid envoy in 1546.24 However, a more likely scenario is that, once artists discovered Humayin's enthusiasm for Persian painting, they expressed their interest in joining his library-atelier,and Humayun replied favourably only after he had regained Qandahar and had partially recovered his kingdom. Bayazid's subsequent observation that the painter Dufst-Muhammadcame without a prior permission seems to imply that most other artists had conveyed-on their own initiatives-their desire to join the Mughal library-atelier and were then granted permission to do so.25
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by a severe illness contracted in the year 1543 and reported by the chronicler Qai2 AJmad-i Ghaffari. In contrast to his usual concise reporting style, Ghaffari devoted considerable space to the incident and wrote verses which oddly make repeated use of the word "cayn""eye"and seem to indicate that the illness had affected Tahmasb's eyes: From today to eternity, it is incumbent upon mankind To praisethe Lordone thousandtimesa day. For the "Seeing Eye of Created Beings" (Cayn-i basira-yi dfanrnish)is in absolute health (cayn-i
sihhat),by the will of the Creator. You are the soul of worldlyevents, and as all souls are linked to yours, may you live as long as the worldshallbe.40
By calling Tahmasb the Seeing Eye of Created Beings, the author is implicitly attributing to him a vision so strong that it encompasses the seeing power of all created beings. It is an odd and uncommon way to praise a king in Persian poetry, and perhaps an indication to the contrary. The possibility of a hereditary ophthalmic disease is strengthened by the fact that the eyesight of Tahmasb's eldest son, the future Shah Muhammad Khuda-banda (1531-88), inexplicably deteriorated when he was sixteen or seventeen years old, and that he was almost blind soon after.41Medically speaking, it is a very rare phenomenon to have a young man go blind at such an early age and it strongly suggests "macular degeneracy" (a retina disease) of a hereditary type. Tahmasb was thus likely to have been afflicted by macular degeneracy as well, perhaps not as extreme as his son's, but severe enough to impair his ability to focus and to see clearly, as happens to people with Best's Disease, Starguart Disease or other macular degeneracy problems.42 Three other considerations may reinforce this theory. The first is the concept of the Fdl-ndma, a large-format manuscript produced c. 1550, with unusual large-size calligraphy and bold designs that are devoid of minute detail-work, as if the manuscript was prepared for a patron unable to see miniature details yet appreciated coloration and elegant composition (P1. XVId).43 It was possibly a last-ditch attempt by members of the royal library-atelier to keep alive the artistic interest of a patron with a vision problem. The second is the continued activity of artists, calligraphers (such as Malik-i Daylami) as well as painters (such as Muzaffar cAli), in the architectural decorations of the Qazvin palace of Tahmasb, for several years after 1544.44 According to the contemporary chronicler CAbdi Beyg-i Shirazi, Tahmasb returned to Qazvin after the departure of Humaymn for Qandahatr,and decided that "from then on (i.e.
from 1544) the court would stay in winter quarters (qishldq)in Qazvin and that a new government palace (dawlat-khdna), surrounded by [appropriate] gardens, would be erected there."45As 1544 is also the approximate date of the expulsion of calligraphers and painters from the royal Safavid library-atelier (see below), the further work of artists at the Qazvin palace seems to indicate once again that Tahmasb could see-albeit not very clearly--large-scale calligraphy and architectural painting but not manuscript-size detail work. Finally, a very odd aspect of Tahmasb's reign is that he seldom went hunting. Hunting was an essential activity of Turco-Mongol princes, one that was believed to develop the combat skills of the warrior. Prowess in hunting was equated with prowess in combat and a substitute for it. Thus the Persian chronicler who wished to gloss over Shah Ismacil's defeat at Chaldiran in 1514 portrayed him as leaving the battle scene for quail hunting while the Qizilbash troops were being massacred by the Ottomans!46 Strangely, Tahmasb did not go hunting but went fishing. To ennoble this peculiar activity, the chroniclers, and Tahmasb himself, termed it shikar-imahz (lit. "fish-hunting"), as if, like some North American Indians, he was shooting trout with a bow and arrow up and down mountain streams.47 Luckily, we have the account of an eyewitness, the Venetian Michele Membr6, who mentions that Tahmasb carried a thin cane for fishing and spent considerable time at it.48 Most sources seem to indicate that Tahmasb was present at a hunting expedition in honour of Humayun which was organised as a jarga hunt (hunt with beaters), i.e. an easy hunt in which the game is driven towards the hunter. Even so, it is not clear from the sources whether Tahmasb was actively participating or not.49 While the reference to this jarga hunt is very concise in Persian chronicles, a lengthy, and relatively unnecessary, sentence in the same sources is devoted to the death of the Shah's standard-bearer (Calam-ddr-i khassa),who was accidentally shot during this hunt.50 One wonders whether Tahma-sbmistook the standard-bearerfor a deer! Thedispersalof Safavid artists Whatever the reason for Tahmasb's disaffection regarding painting, by the year of Humayun's arrival, the Shah's artists had sought alternative patronage. The likeliest choice was of course the younger brother of Tahmasb, Bahram Mirza, a bonvivant and talented calligrapher and painter, who was in the process of assembling his famous album (TKS, H2154, completed c. 1544) with the help of one of the Shah's calligraphers, DuistMuhammad.51 Works from a number of other artists appear in the same album, and it is more than likely that some
BETWEEN THE SAFAVIDS AND THE MUGHALS: ART AND ARTISTS IN TRANSITION
were produced specifically for inclusion in it and that a few artists had switched to Bahram's libraryatelier. Most informative in this respect is a recently published manuscript (TKS, R.957) that bears a dedication to the library of the prince and incorporates the signatures of three artists who had pXreviously worked on Shah Tahmasb's Khamsa.5 On fol. 2a, the painting of a seated prince is incorporated in a colophon-looking page with a legend that reads: "Has painted it cAli al-Husayni and has copied it Shah Mahmuid al-Nishabhiri" (see P1. XVIa). The calligrapher has not only signed his name on this page but also included, by proxy, the signature-name of the painter Mir Sayyid cAli. One should note that since Mir and Sayyidboth indicate descent from the Prophet Muhammad, their simultaneous inclusion in a signature-name that already emphasises descent from the Husayni branch of the Prophet's progeny, would have been redundant and they were therefore omitted.53 Furthermore, a quick comparison of this seated prince with the seated ruler in Night-time in palace (Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, 1958.76) that has been attributed to Mir Sayyid cAli54 brings to light many of his stylistic particularities: high distance between eye and eyebrow, earthtone carpet with a white stencilled border, fine details, precise fingernails and a seated posture that depicts a comfortable and stable seated position in perfect harmony with the laws of gravity. As noted by M. S. Simpson, a page from the Bahram Mirzaalbum (TKS, H. 2154, fol. 148a), with a similar calligraphic layout and the same poems written by the same hand on the top of the page, shows a sumptuously dressed standing prince with a sitar in his hands (P1. XVIc). Because of the elaborate textile details and the same facial characteristics as those of the prince in the previous painting, this too is attributable to Mir Sayyid CAlf. It most probably depicts Bahr-am Mirza- whose musical talents are highly praised by his brother Sam Mirza (1517-67) in his TuhIfa-yiSdmi.55Its slightly different legend reads: "Has copied this by way of practice, Shah Mahmuid al-Nishaburi, may God forgive his sins and cover his shortcomings, in the year 950 [1543-44 A.D.]." The strong affinity between the two pages suggests a close date of production for both. Facing the seated prince, and on the opposite page of this manuscript, is depicted the portrait of a kneeling prince presenting a petition addressed to the king and signed by the artist Muzaffar cAli, who is undoubtedly the author of the painting (P1.XVIa). Unlike Mir SayyidcAli, Muzaffar CAlIhas no sense of weight and his kneeling prince seems to float in space. The petition reads:
53
The least of the slavesMuzaffarcAli submitsto the loftiest court that His Imperial Majesty (nawdb jahdn-bdni)is well aware that the stipend of this lowly [servant]was six tiimdnswhile in the services of His Fortunate Majesty(nawdb kdmrdni), but is now [reduced] to three timdns,as a result of which the life of this lowly [servant] is quite distressed. Your orders shall be obeyed whatever they shall be.56 The kneeling prince is wearing a sumptuous robe and a turban with an ostrich feather; he is therefore of high rank, and because the painting has been inserted at the very beginning of a manuscript made for Bahram Mirza, it must depict him in the process of presenting a petition to the Shah on behalf of Muzaffar cAli, perhaps on the very occasion of Humayuin's visit when Bahram joined Tahmasb in Abhar (between Qazvin and Zanjan). Since the time of the Mongols, court protocol had dictated that princes and dignitaries, as well as attendants and wine-bearers, should approach the ruler on their knees. The positioning of the kneeling Bahram opposite a seated prince with three ostrich feathers in his turban (usually an attribute of kingship), may suggest that the latter represents Tahmasb.57 Speculating on the sequence of events, it seems that the portrait of Bahram Mirza with a sitar was the first to be incorporated in the manuscript, followed by the addition of the kneeling Bahram. But to make the double page more meaningful, the portrait to the left was "upgraded" to represent the Shah as the receiver of the petition. The same, rather weak, poem appears on the original and replacement page; perhaps this was a poem of Bahram that the seated Tahmasb was meant to read. More importantly, the petition reveals that c. 1544, Muzaffar CAli,and most probably the other artists whose names appear in this manuscript,58 had left the royal library-atelier or had been transferred to the library-atelier of Tahmasb's brother with a reduced stipend.59 A manuscript of the Silsilat al-dhahabof Jami (St. Petersburg, Dorn 434), copied by Shah Mahmfid alNishaibliri in Ardabil at the very beginning of Sam Mirza's tenure as governor of that city,60and dated 1 Shacban 956/25 August 1549, with a double-page frontispiece attributable to Mirza cAli,61 is a further testimony to the precarious situation of master painters and calligraphers who had sought the patronage of this rebellious prince.62 Any association with Sam Mirza, was susceptible to attract the wrath of Tahmasb, as perhaps it did in the case of Mir Musavvirin prior years.63 With his appointment to Ardabil, Sam Mirza may have nurtured the idea of reviving his own libraryatelier. But Tahmasb stripped his brother of all
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sources of revenue and so reduced his stipend that the prince had to engage in commerce (tijdrat)in order to generate a meagre income.64 In such a case, Sam Mirza could hardly afford a library-atelierof his own.
are sometimes more telling in Persian sources than written words. In this case, the omissions were probably intended to minimise in Safavid chronicles both the rising fortunes of the Mughals and the state of disarray at Tahmasb's library-atelier. A scenario in which Mirza cAli went to "India" (i.e. the Mughal court) and returned to Mashhad 2. THE SECOND WAVE c. 1556 does not conflict with the chronology of works attributable to him. His last works before the Thereversetide 1556-65 Haft awrangof Sultan-Ibrahim Mirza (FGA, The premature death of Bahram Mirza in 1549 46.12) are datable to the year 1549 by (a) the aforedashed all hopes for a continuing Safavid princely mentioned frontispiece of the St. Petersburg manuscript; and (b) three paintings (fols. 66a, 102b, 139a) patronage, and swelled the wave of migrating artists. from another copy of the Silsilat al-dhahabof Jami But like so many other instances in the history of dated 1549 (AMSG, S86.0044).70 Turco-Mongol princes, wine and opium suddenly A recently published painting from the Gulshan changed the course of events. In early 1556, leaning album that was assembled for the Mughal emperor on a staff and under the spell of opium, Humayufn (r. 1605-27), reinforces the possibility of a Jahangir dozed off in the middle of a discussion with his genbrief of Mirza CAlhat the Mughal court (GPL, stay erals and fell to his death from a rooftop.65 This nos. 1663, fol. 46, see P1l.XVIIa).71 It displays many in with the tragedy, conjunction appointment of characteristics of his paintings: the majestic and Sultan-Ibrahim Mirza (1544-77) as governor of of the seated king, the shape of serene appearance Mashhad a few months later, reversed the migration the front with dipping curves the turbans in (bulging tide, and some of the artists who had gone to the in his favourite tree with yellow and the back), plane court came back to join the library-atelierof Mughal the division of the crowd into interacting red leaves, this talented and enthusiastic young prince. Bufdaq-i the corner where the hand of (see e.g. top right Munshi provides information on two such artists, pairs is on the other's one shoulder naturally party resting Mirza cAlf and Shaykh Muhammad.66 Of the latter and the latter is affectionate the gesreciprocating he wrote: ture by grabbing his counterpart's belt) and, finally, Mulla Shaykh-Muhammadis from Sabzavar.His the wonderful sense of balance that his characters father was MullaKamIal, pupil of MawlanaCAbdalcan convey in the most awkward positions (such as Hayy;he wrotewell in thulthand naskhand Qur'ans the page boy hanging a lantern in the plane tree, see copied by him were being sold at three to four P1. XVIIb). The size, general composition and goldtumans.Togetherwithhis childrenhejoined the serpainted borders of this miniature recall paintings of vicesof [the Mughalemperor]MirzaHumayfin.His the Shah Tahmasb Khamsa, especially fol. 202v, wasa pupil of Duist-i son, MullaShaykh-Muhammad, Bahrdm Gfir exhibiting his hunting prowess, painted Divanaand maturedthere. Lateron, when he came to Khurasan,IbrahimMirza,son of BahramMirza, by Mirza cAli's father.72 Furthermore, the margin tutoredhim. Withoutexaggeration,he wasan excelrulings of the painting follow the unique pattern and lent painter, illuminator, and outliner (muharrir) sequence of the Khamsa: (from inside outwards) and wrotewell in nastacliq.[In painting] he rivalled gold, black, natural paper, red, natural paper, green, Chinese painters, and for the likeness of his thick gold, two thin black lines, natural and dark Chinese-styleportraiturepeople exclaimed: "Well blue (P1. XVIIb).73 It was intended for the Khamsa done!"67 yet it was integrated in the first section of the Less explicit and more problematic is his informa- Gulshan album no later than 1610.74 The question, tion about Mirza cAli which comes at the end of an then, is how did such an important painting end up entry for Sultan-Muhammad: "he had an equally tal- in Mughal hands? Most likely its presumed author, ented son who, after the death of his father, went to Mirza CAlI, finished it at a time when Tahmasb India and prospered there."68Oddly, he is silent on became uninterested in painting and took it to Mirza cAli's activity at the library-atelier of Sultan as of his "India"as a present for Humayun (or proof Ibrahim Mirza in Mashhad, perhaps because this prowess). The only other transfer scenario within section of Bfildaq'sJavdhir al-akhbdrwaswritten earli- the seventy-year time span-from the production of the Khamsato the assembly of the Gulshan albumer, and not fully updated when he hastily dedicated his work to Ismacil II (r. 1576-77) in 1576.69 But is a gift from Shah CAbbas I (r. 1588-1629) to since he is usually accurate, his account carries Jahangir. However, it is highly improbable that Shah weight. Moreover, the reference to both of these CAbbaswould have sent a single page, and not a comartists' passage to India was suppressed in the plete manuscript, as a gift to the Mughal Emperor.75 Gulistdn-ihunarof Qaii Ahmad. Patterns of omission Moreover, the first major Persian embassy sent by
BETWEEN
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AND THE MUGHALS:
Shah cAbbas reached the Mughal court in 1611; by then, the first section of the album was probably closed and any gift-page from it would have been incorporated in the second section. In the light of this discovery, we may reconsider the previously accepted notion that other dispersed pages of the Shah Tahmasb Khamsawere removed c. 1675 when the painter Muhammad Zaman inserted some new pages and retouched the faces on some existing pages. Since all the previously known paintings that were removed from that manuscript are attributable to Mirza-Sayyid cAli,76 we may assume that these, too, were taken by their author to the Mughal court.77 Also, the dating of another painting attributed to Mirza cAli, Princelylovers (AHT, no. 65; P1. XVIIc) should perhaps be revised from c. 1544 to c. 1550.78 It was previously argued that the painting hinted at a love affair between Humayin's trusted companion Bayram Khan and Tahmasb's sister Princess Sult anum.79 But considering that Tahmasb had betrothed his sister to the (disappeared) Shicite Twelfth Imam, and taking into account his violent reaction towards possible suitors,80 it now seems more likely that Mirza CAlipainted the Princelylovers on his way to the Mughal court with the intention of offering it to Bayram Khan, the second most powerful man of the Mughal empire. The Mashhad library-atelier and stylisticexpectationsfor FarrukhBeyg Generally hailed as one of the great schools of Persian painting, the vigorous and eccentric Mashhad style that emanated from the library-atelier of Sultan-Ibrahim Mirza, is as much a reflection of the taste of a refined patron as the genius of its two leading artists, Mirza CAliand Shaykh Muhammad, who, after exploring distant horizons, injected new blood into the veins of the stagnating Safavid style of painting.81 The Mashhad style of Mirza cAll and Shaykh Muhammad inevitably influenced the next generation of painters, the most talented of which were undoubtedly Muhammadi and Farrukh Beyg. Since both artists ended up in library-ateliersof rivals of the Safavids, no individual entry was devoted to them in Safavid sources. Any reference to their works was accidental or en passant.82In an entry on the painter of Georgian origin, Siyavush, Iskandar Beyg mentioned that he "wasthe pupil of Ustad cAli (i.e. Mirza cAli),83 and under the reign of the Nawab with the Dignity of Alexander (i.e. Shah Muhammad Khodabanda), he (Siyavush) and his brother Farrukh Beyg were among the trusted companions of the young and fortunate prince (muctamidadn) Hamza Mirza; and under the reign of his Exalted Majesty (i.e. Shah CAbbasI), he served His Majesty
ART AND ARTISTS
IN TRANSITION
55
for quite a while and lost his life while in the retinue of his Holiness (i.e. Shah cAbbas I)."'84 Even though the Mughal and Deccani works of Farrukh Beyg have been extensively analysed in recent studies, no attempt-apart from an ink drawing (Musee Guimet, Paris; P1. XVIIIa) and a manuscript (King's College Library, Cambridge, K11, see P1. XVIIIb) with five miniatures bearing attributions to him-has been made to discover pre-Mughal works of the artist.85As for the written attributions on the Safavid works, they have remained controversial since the connection to later paintings of Farrukh Beyg is not easily recognisable.86 In an attempt to identify other Safavid paintings of Farrukh Beyg, and prior to a stylistic analysis of his works, we may already make certain assumptions based on the information provided by Iskandar Beyg, and test their validity as we proceed forward: (a) since Siyavush was taught by Mirza cAli, works of his brother Farrukh Beyg are likely to show the influence of Mirza cAli; (b) equally likely is the influence of Shaykh Muhammad; and (c) since Farrukh Beyg was a contemporary of Muhammadi,87 some of his works may evoke Muhammadi's style. Testing our assumptions against the above-mentioned attributed works, we can readily see that the Cambridge set is very much in the style of Muhammadi88 and that the Paris drawing is yet another replica of the yoked Uzbek prisoner, originated by Shaykh Muhammad. Following the portraiture style of Shaykh Muhammad, the artist has drawn here an elaborate three-quarter portrait with a flat nose.89 An interesting aspect of the work is the Mughal inscription that identifies the yoked prisoner as Bayram Oghlan, the Uzbek ruler of Gharjistan who surrendered in the year 1551 to the Safavid governor of Herat.90 This was a relatively minor incident unlikely to be well known at the Mughal court half a century later, and the identity of the prisoner was therefore most probably provided by the author himself. We may then surmise that, similar to the Khamsapage by Mirza CAli,and perhaps to those by Mirza Sayyid cAli, these Safavid period works were brought to India by Farrukh Beyg as samples of his work and/or as exchange goods to allow him a fresh start there.91 Although stylistically different form his later paintings, each of these early works includes characteristics that remain with Farrukh Beyg until the very end of his career: (a) the Cambridge painting has a very high and vertical background which surrounds the painted figure and makes it the focal point of the composition; (b) the portrait of the yoked prisoner is highly elaborate; and (c) his left sleeve is partially turned inside out and displays its inner lining (P1.XVIIIa). More generally, Farrukh Beyg frequent-
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ly tries to show the lining, or the reverse side, of a skirt or a sash blowing in the wind. This is a direct influence of Mirza cAli, most noticeable in the sleeve and the robe of Absal in Saldmdnand Absdlreposeon the happyisle (see P1. XXc). However, as we shall see, Farrukh Beyg's sashes and rippled robes tend to be starchy and stiff and less fluid than the elegant curves created by Mirzt cAli.W These are too few characteristics to establish a precise stylistic profile for the works of Farrukh Beyg. To do so, we need to start with later paintings and work our way back to some of his earlier masterpieces. TracingbackFarrukhBeyg'sworks We shall begin with two almost identical paintings of a Deccani youth holding a narcissus. The first is a painting from the Gulshan album (GPL no. 1663, fol. 86) that reportedly bears an inscription "has drawn it (rdqimuhu)Farrukh Beyg at the age of seventy";it may be a reliable attribution, even though the second part of the legend, "at the age of seventy," appears on so many paintings attributed to this artist that it is a priorisuspect (P1.XXIa).92 The second is a close duplicate from the Binney Collection (San Diego Museum of Art, 1990:0318) and bears an attribution to Farrukh Beyg (P1. XXIb).93 The following characteristics can immediately be detected: (a) as in the Cambridge paintings, both have a very high vertical background but with an added distinction: they are horizontally stratified with parallel rows of green tufts; (b) two dominant colour schemes are used, one is the "pink family" with hues that range from pinkish red to violet, and the other is the "green family" that encompasses many shades of green, from light to dark; and (c) a geometric pattern is favoured for the design of the sashes that comprise a multitude of juxtaposed zigzag lines creating a string of diamond motifs in between. A recently discovered minute inscription (see Appendix) on IbrdhfmcAdil Shdh hawking (Institute of Oriental Studies St. Petersburg, ms. E. 14, fol. 2) attributes this magnificent painting to Farrukh Beyg and firmly establishes him as a Deccani court painter (P1. XVIIIc).94 The painting is dominated by a combination of the previously-mentioned green and pink scheme of colours, and the sash is drawn with Farrukh Beyg's usual geometric pattern. Two other characteristics can be noticed: (a) the horse is drawn with a heavy upper body, rounded hindquarters smoothly ending in a reverse concave curve above the back knee, and extra-large kidney-shaped nostrils that in some other painting would look as if they were stuck on the horse's nose; and (b) rainbow coloured peonies adorn the gold saddle cloth. John Seyller and Ellen Smart, who discovered the
STUDIES
above inscription, also attribute two paintings from the Gulshan album (AHT, nos. 128b and c) to Farrukh Beyg (Pls. XVIIId and XIX) which come from a dispersed Zafar-ndma.95The attributions are based on certain similarities between these two and Farrukh Beyg's paintings from the c. 1586 Akbarndma pages (VAM, I.S. 2-1896), the most important of which are "the doleful bearded figures in gray holding the standard and riding beside the parasol bearer. "96 As in the two Deccani paintings, these two Zafarnama pages are dominated by the green and pink families of colours. Both have high vertical backgrounds with a mounted Timfir (r. 1370-1405) as their focal point. The horses have the large kidneyshaped nostrils. Similar to the saddle cloth in the St. Petersburg painting, the one in P1. XIX is in gold with rainbow-coloured peonies, and Timiur's armour has the same geometric pattern as Farrukh Beyg's Deccani sashes. The sleeve of the foot-soldier beneath Timuir is turned inside-out (Pl. XIX). The three-quarter elaborate portraits of Timuir and some other warriors are reminiscent of Shaykh of More Muhammad's portraiture. style generally,(a) we recognise Farrukh Beyg's tendency to striate white beards (and yak-tails hanging from the horses' necks) with black, or red, lines or viceversa; and (b) horse-covers, parasols and awnings have an indigo blue section covered with gold floral motifs.97 Based on the above, the Horseand a groomdrawing from the Musee Guimet98 can now be attributed to Farrukh Beyg (P1. XXa). The horse is typical, with large nostrils, strong upper body and rounded hindquarters; and the belt of the horse-cover displays Farrukh Beyg's favourite geometric pattern. The left sleeve of the groom is turned inside-out to show its inner lining and the back side of the groom's frozen-looking sash can be detected between the ripples. These similarities notwithstanding, the most important element, and usually easiest to identify, in stylistic attributions is facial similarity. Here, the groom's face is similar to the face of the prince in Youthwith a wine-cupand a falcon (GPL, no.1663, fol. 47)99 and the face of the Khan in Mir Mucizz al-Mulk and BahaddurKhdn meet in 1567 (P1. XXb),100 a type that is described by Seyller as "oval-shaped, squinty eyes, and thin dark eyebrows" and with a drooping moustache.101 FarrukhBeyg'sHaft awrang paintings It would have been rather odd if Farrukh Beyg arrived at the Akbar's court in 1585, a mature painter at the age of forty,102 ready to tackle major projects such as the above-mentioned Zafar-ndmaor the c. 1586 Akbar-ndma,without prior accomplish-
BETWEEN THE SAFAVIDS AND THE MUGHALS: ART AND ARTISTS IN TRANSITION
ments. He must have had solid credentials. We shall propose that Farrukh Beyg's major Safavid-period accomplishment was the painting series for a Haft awrang copied by the scribe Muhibb cAli between 1570 and 1572 (TKS, H.1483), a lavish manuscript that rivals in many ways the Sultan-Ibrahim MirzaHaft awrang of 1556-65. All but one of the miniatures (twenty-five text illustrations, one frontispiece and four colophon finispieces in total) of the manuscript are attributable to Farrukh Beyg. The one exception, fol. 109a, is as we shall see attributable to Muhammad-i. The twenty-nine paintings attributable to Farrukh Beyg are so strikingly different from other contemporary works that they can be immediately recognised as a homogeneous group and the work of one artist.103We shall therefore limit the justification for our attributions to a few examples. Fol. 55a, Choosinga vizier (P1. XXIIIa), and fol. 77a, Majnun'sfatherrequestingLayli 'shand in marriage for his son (P1. XXIIIc), have each the characteristic high vertical background with the horizontal stratification. The dominant colour scheme for the first painting is the pink family and for the second one the green family.104 Elongated faces noticed by Seyller105and visible in P1.XXb appear in both, and a number of the faces are depicted with striated black and white beards. Another painting, fol. 86, Layli and Majnuinmeetat the Kacba(P1. XXIIIb), has the same high vertical background but is devoid of the stratification with green tufts, since the scene takes place in the desert near the Kacba.Instead, the ground is covered with pebbles thrown by the pilgrims during the hajjceremonies; the colour scheme is nonetheless of the pink family.106Men with elongated faces appear in the top right, and striated black and white beards appear on the left side of the painting. Besides the intensity of colours, what is most striking about these illustrations is the elaborate, individualised portraiture that often exaggerates facial features. It is the continuation of a trend set by MirzaCAlI and Shaykh Muhammad. By the mid-1560s, Mirza cAli's portraits have elongated cone-shaped necks and bulging eyes (P1. XVIId),107 and Shaykh Muhammad portraits get increasingly eccentric.108 Farrukh Beyg not only created elongated faces but also further individualised his characters by playing with the position of their chin. Thus in the Mughal period he often opted for a small, depressed and vanishing chin (P1. XXIVa), whereas in the Safavid period he was bent on producing protruded jaws with forward chins (P1.XXIVb). Finally, the double-page frontispiece with a Mirza cAlI-inspired composition (Pls. XXVa-b) has facial types very similar to the previous ones and horses that are drawn with the previously-observed charac-
57
teristics. Noteworthy is the special shape of cloud bands, which as a repeat pattern usually represents a distinctive signature-like motif for each individual artist. The colour scheme of the left cloud bands, which differs from the more conventional one on the right, juxtaposes black against white and beige, similar to Farrukh Beyg's striation of beards and yaktails. While the colour scheme is different on the two sides, they have a common motif in the fibulaeshaped spirals at the centre of cloud formations. This fibulae-shaped motif not only appears in other illustrations of this manuscript (see for instance P1. XXII), but resurfaces in a Deccani-period painting of Farrukh Beyg as gold embroidery on the robe of Youthin a Garden(P1.XXVd).109 FarrukhBeyg'sSafavid-periodworks At this stage of our inquiry, four other paintings are attributable to Farrukh Beyg. The first is an exRothschild painting depicting two seated learned men (P1.XXVIa),"l one of them with a typical heavy protruding jaw (P1. XXVIIa). As one can see, the inner lining of the robes of both men is visible through the bottom ripples. Next is the Sheperdwith a goat (P1. XXVId) whose facial characteristics, including the drooping nose and almond shaped eyes-with the upper and lower contour lines joined at the two ends-are very similar to those of the Two learned men (P1. XXVIIa, b, c).111 Also noticeable are the sawed-off tree trunks and branches which reappear in a painting (FGA, 46.12 fol. 64b) that Farrukh Beyg contributed-perhaps at a date later than the 1556-65 the Freer Haft awrang: calligraphy period-to Bandits attack the caravan of cAynia and Riyd (P1. XXVIc).112 It was previously attributed to Shaykh Muhammad by S. C. Welch but a close look reveals that it is much different in composition as well as details (e.g. grass tufts and faces) than the rest of illustrations attributed to the same artist (fols. 114b, 132a, 253a, 264a, 298a and 120a which is actually signed).113 On the other hand it displays many Farrukh Beyg characteristics: almond-shaped eyes, high background with stratified turf lines, zigzag pattern on a saddle-belt, and a multitude of armoured horses as in the Zafarnama pages. The peculiar shape of turbans with a prominent diagonal fold and a flat drooping tail is a constant feature and an important characteristic (P1. XXVIIa, b, c, d, e and f). The black Scythian-like cap worn by Khurasami peasants is another Farrukh Beyg favourite (e.g. P1.XXIIIc). The fourth is a page of yet another Jami manuscript (AHT, no. 72). Many of the previously-defined characteristics are visible (P1. XXVIIb): elongated faces with striated beards, youths with red cheeks
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resembling those in P1. XXVIIf, an indigo blue awning with gold motifs, and a geometric pattern of bricks that produces an horizontal string of diamond shapes. It is probably the earliest of the group that we have just attributed to Farrukh Beyg.114 Muhammadf and the dating of Farrukh Beyg's Haft awrang paintings Stylistically, the above mentioned four paintings should be dated c. 1570-80. Such a dating necessitates a reconsideration of the dating of the Topkapi Haft awrang paintin s as being contemporary with the text (1570-72)115 because they all seem to be posterior to the above four paintings. Also, if the illustrations of the Topkapi Haft awrang were contemporary with the text, we would still be left with a dilemma similar to the one which we evoked at the beginning of the previous section: what happened to Farrukh Beyg between 1572 and 1585, and why did he not produce other masterpieces at the Safavid court? The answer is that the painting series of this manuscript was Farrukh Beyg's last Safavid project and was executed c. 1580-83. A first observation is that colophon pages are illustrated in this manuscript; a fact that usually points to a post-calligraphy attempt to use the maximum available space for decoration purposes by a painter who does not have access to the initial production team of the manuscript and cannot request a new arrangement of the text with more space devoted to illustration. Also, in comparing two of these pages, we can see that in P1.XXVIIIb there are six illuminated cartouches plus the illustration at the bottom, while in P1. XXVIIIa the cartouches are filled with tiny paintings. It suggests that, in the first production phase of the manuscript, the calligraphy of the manuscript was terminated and the illumination was halfway through. Most probably, no illustration had been added because in the regular course of manuscript decoration, painting came last. The cartouches of P1. XXVIIIa were probably left empty and were painted later on by Farrukh Beyg. Choosing a vizier (P1. XXIIIa), seems to confirm this: the section-heading space in the middle of the page is still devoid of illumination. Left with a previously-designed page with an empty section reserved for painting and little room to manoeuvre, Farrukh Beyg used in a major tour de force every bit of space, including the intercolumnar one, in order to squeeze in a maximum number of his elaborate portraits. To avoid a visual clash between the central cartouche and surrounding painting, Farrukh Beyg left it unfilled. The fact that it remained empty suggests that perhaps the renewed project lacked an accomplished illuminator and that Farrukh Beyg was single-handedly refurbishing the manuscript.
Because his style is so different and no dated landmarks exist for comparison purposes, the dating of Farrukh Beyg's Haft awrang series is difficult. Fortunately, the single painting that is not by him, The ProphetMoses bearinga straysheepon his shoulders (P1. XXVIIIc), allows a fairly accurate dating of that body of work. The similarity of Moses' faces in this page with Moses debating with a heterodoxperson (P1. XXVIIId) from another Jami manuscript (State Public Library,Dorn 429, fol. 37)116 is striking and is proof that both were painted by the same hand. However, what is of use here is not the similarity but the contrast between the two paintings. The landscape of P1. XXVIIId is in the conventional style of the 1570s, while the edges of the rock formations in P1. XXVIIIc are filled with white patches that are characteristic of the 1580s. Both of these paintings will be discussed and attributed to Muhammadi in a forthcoming article by the present author that will focus on the artist's painting activity rather than on his famous ink drawings."7 Interestingly, P1. XXVIIIc has also much in common with another painting attributed to Muhammadi, Throwing down the impostor, which belongs to a Sifadtal-cashiqin manuscript (AHT no. 90) copied in 1582.118The most visible similarity resides in the treatment of the leopard skin in the two paintings (see Pls. XXIXa,b). Each artist develops his own peculiar style of small, repetitive details such as leopard spots. Here, the spots are identical in both paintings; they are mostly painted as clusters of five loose dots in a regular pentagon formation. Other Muhammadi favourites are the emerging necks of what are supposed to be mountain goats"9 from the rock formations under the leopards in both paintings, and the depiction of white spotted domesticated goats. Muhammadi's single painting thus allows a 1580s dating for the series. Based on the above observations, we now have a preliminary framing of Farrukh Beyg's Haft awrang paintings: they must have been created in the 1580s but no later than 1585, the year of his departure for India. Thepatronof theHaft awrang paintings As suggested elsewhere, the Sifdtal-cashiqinmanuscript was made by the order of the vizier Mirza Salman as a present for Hamza Mirza (1566-86), the elder brother of the future Shah CAbbasI, son of Shah Muhammad Khidfabanda.120Since the latter was almost blind, nominal power revolved around the heir apparent Hamza Mirza. But effective power resided with Mirza Salman, who not only controlled the administration but had also gained the upper hand over the Qizilbash amirsafter leading them in two successful campaigns. To strengthen his posi-
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AND THE MUGHALS:
tion, Mirza Salman arranged the marriage of his daughter Safiyya Khanum to Hamza Mirza in April 1582.121 She was ten and he was sixteen. The frontispiece of the TKS Haft awrang manuscript (P1. XXVa-b) may thus illustrate the marriage ceremony that Mirza Salman had lavishly organised in his home.122 As in the Sifdt al-cdshiqznfrontispiece, where the vizier is depicted with a long staff in his hand (P1.XXIXc),123 Mirza Salman appears here on the bottom right of the presumed marriage scene with exactly the same clothes. The dignitary with a staff on the opposite corner may be the vizier's son Mirza cAbdallah, whom Mirza Salman had appointed vizier to Hamza Mirza.124 In full circle, we are back to Hamza Mirza and Iskandar Beyg's remark that Farrukh Beyg was in his retinue. The illustrations added to the unfinished TKS Haft awrang were probably all painted for the young crown prince, whose early career heralded the appearance of a valiant and refined ruler for the future of the Safavid state. 3. THE THIRD WAVE FarrukhBeyg'sdeparture Mirza Salman was killed by the Qizilbash amirson 13 June 1583.125Hamza Mirza was in turn killed on 10 December 1586 by a disgruntled lover.126 The exact date of Farrukh Beyg's departure is not known, but according to the Akbar-ndma,after the death of Farrukh Akbar's half-brother, in December 1585. An Muhammad-HI.akim, Beyg left Kabul for India inscription on a portrait of Mirzi-HIakim accompanied by one IIajji Yaqfit bears the signature of Farrukh alias Farrukh Beyg (see Appendix), him in Kabul in the year 992/1584. He and situates H.usayn, must have left Safavid territory earlier, perhaps in late 1583. What caused Farrukh Beyg's departure was not so much the premature death of IHamza Mirza but probably the death of the vizier. By dominating the military institution and the administration, marrying his daughter to the prince and appointing his son as Hamza Mirza's vizier, Mirza Salman gained control over the prince's activities and probably over the royal library-atelier and its artists. Farrukh Beyg was thus inevitably linked to the vizier. The Qizilbash amirs' reaction to Mirza Salman's dominance was violent and vengeful. They killed him, confiscated his entire family's wealth and even forced Hamza Mirza to divorce Mirza Salman's daughter. In such circumstances, and because of his links with Mirza Salman, Farrukh Beyg must have felt threatened. He thus migrated to the Mughal court where artists where in high demand. He was
ART AND ARTISTS
IN TRANSITION
59
not the only one to go. Another painter, Agha Rita Haravi, seems to have departed at the same time and perhaps for the same reasons. Both gained fame and fortune in India as their works were prized by successive Indian rulers, especially Jahangir, who collected a number of their paintings for his Gulshan album. CONCLUSION Like the previous migratory waves, the third wave came as a result of the loss of effective patronage on one side and active patronage on the other. But unlike the first wave which included artists such as Mir Sayyid CAli who remained entrenched in his Persian mode of painting, the third wave artists had been trained by the second wave painters, who better prepared them for the Mughal taste and modes of painting. The flourishing of Farrukh Beyg's style in India may ultimately be traced to the style which he inherited from the two returning artists, namely Mirza cAli and Shaykh Muhammad, and to the atelier of prince IHamza Mirza who emerges in this study as a worthy successor to his more famous cousin Sultan-Ibrahim Mirza. APPENDIX Farrukh-Hlusaynvs. Farrukh Beyg John Seyller has read the inscription on the St. Petersburg painting of Ibrdhim cAdil Shdh II hawking as camal-iFarrukh Beyg ast (it is the work of Farrukh Beyg).127 The
inscription though, has neither Camal nor ast (see right figure). The reading of ast was probably suggested by the existence of two dots over the final gdf of Beyg. In reality, the three letters of ast are non-existent and the two dots belong to the fd' and kh&'of Farrukh. As for what was read as Camal,it looks like the two end letters yd' and nun of words such as kamtarin ("the lowliest"), or Husayn. However, kamtarznis an epithet used by artists in their signature, and its presence in the same legend with the epithet Beyg creates a contradiction in terms; the first is a sign of humility and the second is an honorific epithet equivalent to Monsieur. A painting that seems to bear Farrukh Beyg's signature is the previouslymentioned Youthwith a wine-cupand a falcon (GPL, no. 1663, fol. 47).128 The visible portion of the signature reads Camal-ikamtarinFarrukh("the work of the
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lowliest servant Farrukh"). One additional letter, a mzm,appears before the margin cut-off. It is probably the beginning letter of musavvir ("the painter"), an epithet that many painters included in their signature. Thus Beyg was not included in what appears to be a genuine signature of the artist. A second possibility is that the two letters in the St. Petersburg inscription are the end letters of Husayn, in a formula such as camal-iibn-iHusayn,FarrukhBeyg ("the work of Farrukh Beyg son of Husayn"). Based on the writings of the Deccani poet Zuhiiri, who had eulogised an artist by the name of Farrukh Husayn in his writings, Robert Skelton had boldly suggested in a controversial article that Farrukh Beyg had worked in the Deccan and was none other than Farrukh Husayn, since both were first-class artists and both were trained in Safavid Iran.129Skelton has further speculated that the Mawlana Darvish Husayn-at whose house Zuhfiri briefly stayed while visiting Shiraz-was perhaps Farrukh Beyg's father. Darvish was a learned man who had taught calliH.usaynand painting to many Shirazi artists, and graphy Zuhtiri's stay at Darvish IHusayn's house may not have been fortuitous but perhaps the result of a prior relationship between the poet and Farrukh Beyg when both were in Khurasan.130 Skelton's imaginative speculations may find support in the following considerations. First, Farrukh Beyg's Shirazi connection is not far-fetched. In an entry on the Georgian Siyavush who was Farrukh Beyg's brother, QaZi Ahmad wrote that he joined Their presumed father "his kinsmen in Shiraz.";131 was thus likely to have resided in that city. But how a Georgian who was initially Tahmasb's slave could become a learned man named Darvish usayn and father to Farrukh Beyg is still unresolved,H.unless one assumes that the two brothers were captured in a Georgian campaign, were orphans, and Darvish Husayn became Farrukh Beyg's teacher and perhaps adoptive father. Second, two pages from the Gulshan album (GPL, no. 1663, fols. 199 and 234) bear a signature of Farrukh Husayn.1'32Since neither have been reproduced, stylistic comparison with works by Farrukh Beyg is not possible. However, a signature-legend on folio 199 reportedly reads "has the painter" and drawn it the sinful Farrukh HIIusayn an inscription on the top says: "the portraits of the prince of the world and its inhabitants, Muhammad Mirza, and his close confidant the one who H.akim has performed the hajjat the Two Holy Places, Hajji Yaqfit;was drawn at the Shahr-ara Garden of Kabul in the year 992 [1584]."133 These two legends in conjunction with the Akbar-nama's information that Farrukh Beyg left Kabul for Akbar's court in December 1585 upon the death of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, make Farrukh Beyg and Farrukh Husayn one and the same person. Finally,
Farrukh IHusaynis an odd name that only appears in certain Sufi-related milieus in which the names of the Prophet Muhammad and the Imams were used with epithets such as Sultan, Shah, etc. and especially when Husayn appeared in the name of the father. Such is the case of Sultan-HIusaynBayqara's sons, who were named Farrukh Husayn, Muzaffar Husayn, Ibrahim Husayn and even Ibn-i Husayn. Skelton's speculation that Farrukh Beyg/Farrukh HIusayn's real or adoptive father was named Darvish Husayn is not only possible but perhaps insightful.
ADDENDUM The belated arrival of Gulshan album slides from Tehran134 has brought added confirmation to some of the arguments advanced in our main text and provides information about inscribed attributions: (1) The tinted drawing with the lengthy inscription by Farrukh Husayn (P1. XXX) that we referred to in our appendix without the benefit of seeing an illustration of it, confirms many of our assumptions. First, it clearly incorporates many of Farrukh Beyg's characteristics: elaborate portraiture, refined draftsmanship as in Horseand a groom,geometric patterns on the sashes and turbans, and the hanging willow branches featured in the Zafar-ndmaand Akbar-nama pages. Second, this tinted drawing, which is in a style usually associated with Muhammadi, further emphasises the parallel stylistic development of the two artists. (2) As with Muhammadi, Farrukh Beyg (alias Farrukh Husayn) has an elegant nastacliq handwriting that will serve in future studies to differentiate between his authentic signatures and mere attributions. (3) Some paintings by Farrukh Beyg bear an attribution written in a dot-less and awkward handwriting that is very similar to Jahangir's (a specimen of his handwriting is visible on the right side of the colophon on P1. XVa). Without relying on a thorough analysis of calligraphic similarities, one can see that the location of the attributing sentences-usually prominently written on the painting itself-designates Jahangir as a possible candidate. For only an owner, librarian or artist with access to the library, and with pretence of connoisseurship-very much professed byJahangir-would dare to add such graffiti to masterpieces of the royal treasury. However, without a correct assessment of their date and time, one should not discard other possibilities, such as inscriptions added by later princes (e.g. ShahJahan) imitating Jahangir's attribution formula. Fortunately, the location of the attribution that appears at the bottom of P1. XXIb provides a better clue of authorship since it is located outside the painting
BETWEEN THE SAFAVIDS AND THE MUGHALS: ART AND ARTISTS IN TRANSITION
frame and is set within the illuminated margins. It was certainly on the painting page prior to its incorporation into the album. The fact that such poor calligraphy was not trimmed away but laboriously fitted into the marginal decoration leads to the conclusion that it was penned byJahangir himself. Abbreviations for museumand art institutionnames AHT = Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. AMSG = Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. BL = British Library,London FGA = Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. GPL = Gulistan Palace Library,Tehran MG =
Musee Guimet
TKS = VAM =
Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul Victoria and Albert Museum, London
*
I am indebted to Sheila Canbywho allowed me to present this paperat the BritishMuseumon 25 March1998 and suggested its publicationin Iran and to John Seyllerwho, by sendingme a copy of his articleon FarrukhBeyg,prompted my researchon earlierworksof this artistand the compilation of this paper. I am also indebted to MariannaShreve Simpson, who made availableto me her own set of slides while I was waitingfor a set that I had requestedfrom the TopkapiSarayMuseum. 1 HamidaBanuiwas a descendant of the celebrated Shaykh AhmadofJam (1049-1141);RiazulIslam(1970), p. 29. 2 Soudavar(1992), pp. 134-75. 3 There are two notations by Mughal librarians on this colophon page which refer to Hamida Banuias Maryam Makani ("the one with the dignity of Mary"),and one inscription on the first page by EmperorJahangir-who refers to her as mddar-ikaldn(grandmother);ibid.,p. 101. The earliestinscriptionis writtenin a beautifulPersian-style witha seal thatreads"Ghiyathal-Dinthe followerof nastacliq AkbarShah 996/1587," perhapsthe handwritingof Ghiyath Beyg of Tehran later known as Ictimadal-Dawla.Another Timuridmanuscript,the Khamsaof Mir cAlJ-Shircopied by Mashhadiin 1492 (RoyalLibrary,Windsor,RCIN Sultan-CAll 1005032),thatbearsthe signsof a passagethroughBukhara, was acquiredby IHamidaBanuiafter the death of her husband; Seyller (1997), p. 295. The manuscripthas two seal marksthatread: When one's seal bears the sign of love *(IHamidaBanfi Beygom)*His (her) stampshallbecome a reflectionof good
fortune. The seal marks are reportedly dated 968/1560 although not visible in the reproduction (ibid., fig. 6). Another manuscript that once belonged to Hamida Banti is a copy of Ramdydana (private collection), copied by the Persian expatriate CAbdalRashid-i Daylami in 1594, the nephew of the celebrated Mir CImad;ibid., p. 304. Finally, a manuscript of Adhkar-i Imam Nawa'i at the National Museum of Pakistan bears a seal imprint that reads: Hamida Banti b. cAli-akbar (see Hamidi (1974), p. 91). It has been suggested that the formula used on the seal indicates that she was using the manuscript even prior to her marriage to Humayuin;ibid,p. 97.
61
4 An inscription by Muncim Beyg, who received the manu-
script from Akbar in 1567, notes that the manuscript had only five illustrations then; Soudavar (1992), pp. 332-38. 5 Ibid., pp. 178-79. 6 For reproductions of some of the original margins of the Khamsa,see Welch (1979), pp. 137, 144, 145. 7 A previous dating to the 1530s is hereby corrected; Soudavar (1992), pp. 178-79. 8 It was in Akbar's library up to the year 1567; ibid.,p. 332. 9 Despite a reference by Mirza Haydar Dyghlat that the master painter Mansfir was working in the library-atelier of Sultan Abui Sacid, no illustrated manuscript from Abfi Sacid's library and attributable to him has survived; the 1468 Gulistdn may have originally included some works by him; ibid. p. 122. 10 It is unusual to have highly elaborate margins added to an older manuscript. It is also significant that these margins are even more intricate than the original illuminated margins of the prestigious and exquisite Shah Tahmasb Khamsa of the British Library. The only comparable margins-albeit not as colourful-are from a sixteenth-century manuscript, the text area of which was replaced by page sections from a seventeenth-century Gulistdn copied by the celebrated calligrapher Mir cImad; see Sotheby's sale of 12 October 1990, lot 255. Some of these margins have been attributed to Sultan-Muhammad, see Welch (1979), nos. 45-46, and Soudavar (1992), p. 267. However, it is not clear whether they constituted integral parts of an original manuscript or were conceived as decorative margins for the embellishment of an older manuscript and then reused to enhance the presentation of the Mir's calligraphy. 11 The idea of impressing the Mughals with dazzling margins must have developed gradually, for the illumination on the first page is rather conventional and the shift to the highly elaborate green and gold style occurs only from the second page onwards, see Soudavar (1992), p. 179, where a detail of the first page illumination is reproduced. 12 Welch (1985), p. 242. 13 For most pages with painting, the stains hardly reach the painted area, see Soudavar (1992), pp. 332-33. 14 This means that one of the paintings was added to a space that was originally left blank; perhaps Sacdi in the rose garden (fol. 6v), on the reverse of which the reflection of oxidising paint duplicates the Mughal painting without hinting at the prior existence of a Timurid one, ibid. p. 333, 335. 15 Ibid., pp. 335-38 16 The Mughals were descendants of Timur and therefore Timurids as well. 17 Both of these manuscripts display unfinished areas. 18 Buidaq (1576), p. 1llb. 19 Bidaq was Bahram's secretary from c. 1536 to 1549; ibid. pp. 316a-b, and Soudavar (1992), p.258. Bahram Mirza was one of the official hosts of Humayfin during his sojourn in Safavid territory, Qumi (1980), vol. I, p. 307. 20 Buidaq (1576), p. lla:
21 Mir Mosavvir's fall into disgrace must have been in the mid-
1530s, since he did not contribute to the British Library Khamsa (a signature on the wall of Nushiravan listening to the owls in the ruinedpalace (fol. 15v), previously thought as one from Mir Musavvir, has been attributed by this present author to Agha Mirak; Soudavar (1992), p. 178). His down-
62
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
fall may have been due to a close association with Tahmasb's rebellious brother Saim Mirzai, who was arrested in 1535; idem (1997), p. 67. 22 Okada (1989), p. 130, Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, p. 189. Both publications accept the attribution to Mir Sayyid CAlireportedly inscribed below the painting. 23 Okada refers to Stchoukine and Minorsky's spotty illustration and produces an undecipherable text; Okada (1989), p. 132. The letter must be reconfigured by reinserting within the text important words that are traditionally pulled to the margin or the top of the document:
AS .L .u.A,:..L
.491
L4...
24
cj. jt
.4&ya ?
13]
?
&..!,5
ab
y
4?
(JL; aI).WI , '.49c
-.l]
;14e
Ja-i
-a
.4A.. U
.
rC
j W
-'U
&
j
-
14?]
Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, p. 178. 25 Ibid.vol. I, p. 119. 26 The 1,000 ttmadnsproposed by Humayun for Mir Musavvir was quite a hefty compensation. By way of comparison, and according to the same source, calligraphy pieces (qitra) by the celebrated Mir CAlifetched 2,000 to 3,000 dindrs while entire Qur3ans by such renowned calligraphers as Mulla Kamal (the father of Shaykh Muhammad) were worth 3-4 tumdns each (1 timdn = 10,000 diznrs); Bidaq (1576), pp. 109a, 112a. Both were active in the first half of the sixteenth century. 27 Such seems to be the case for the painter Dilst Muhammad, who had a hard time finding wine in Safavid territory; Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, p. 119. 28 Ibid., p. 45. The present author had previously accepted the Dickson and Welch proposition; Soudavar (1992), p. 221. 29 Qumi (1980), p. 386. 30 Soudavar (1997), pp. 53, 75. 31 The tanbuiris a stringed instrument and the naqqdra is a double drum. 32 Navai (1989), pp. 512-13, Bufdaq(1576), p. 306a. 33 Qumi (1980), p. 226. Tahmasb reportedly destroyed 500 tumdns' worth of high-quality opium (tirydq-ifdaiq); Vala-yi Isfahani (1993), p. 395. 34 Such was Tahmasb's thirst for money that he kept his sealbearer, Khwaja Amir Beyg-i Muhr-dlar, imprisoned in the Alamut fortress for thirty-three years on the accusation that he had "gold" and would not divulge its whereabouts; Qumi (1980), vol. I, pp. 611-14. For fourteen years prior to Tahmasb's death, the army had not been paid, even though the treasury coffers were full. Ismacil II's first act after ascending the throne was to pay these arrears; Rfimlfi (1978), p. 623. 35 Bidaq (1576), fol. illa. 36 Ghaffari (1953), Qumi (1980), p. 226. In the twenty-two years' time span stretching from his own repentance to the Edict of 1556, Tahmasb must have indulged from time to time into the worldly pleasures that he had banned. According to Hasan Beyg Rilmlfi, at the wedding of his son Ismacil in 1556, "Tahmasb danced to the tune of singers and musicians;" Rfimhi (1978), p. 500. Since Tahmasb had repented once before, the 1556 Edict of Sincere Repentance, which addressed the Qizilbash amirs, was perhaps proclaimed in lieu of a second Tahmasb repentance. 37 The theologian Abfi Hamid Muhammad-i Ghazzall considered depiction of living things (ssrat-i hayawdn)as forbidden,
especially those on the walls of public baths, which had to be removed; Ghazzatli(1983), pp. 407-08. 38 Tahmasb (1562), fol. 86a,b. Another stipulation of Tahma-sb's oath was a pledge not to blind Bayazid; Qumi 1980, p. 418. 39 Bayatni (1966), p. 196; Thackston (1989), p. 343. The same theory was later on quoted by Qdaii Ahmad in a lengthy poem; Qumi (1974), p. 129. 40 Ghaffari (1963), p. 295:
Despite the fact that Rfimlfi, Qumi and Shirazi usually copy all the information provided by Ghaffari, none of them reproduces this poem. 41 Iskandar Beyg (1971), vol. I, p. 126. It is to be noted that contrary to some recent assertions (see e.g. Membre (1993), p. 81), Iskandar Beyg's text clearly states that the prince's vision deteriorated inexplicably (acf-i bdsira) without reference to illness or infection. 42 I am indebted to Drs. M. Soechting and S. Nader for providing me information on macular degeneracy problems and the hereditary aspects of certain type of this disease. 43 For the reproduction of other pages from this manuscript, see e.g. Lowry and Nemazee (1988), pp. 120-29; Falk (1985), pp. 95-99, Soudavar (1992), p. 188. The famous Akbarian Hamza-ndma,and Fdl-ndmamanuscripts in the TKS have a large format as well. However, they are all posterior to the TahmatsbFdl-ndmaand may well have emulated a genre instituted by this manuscript. 44 The painter Muzaffar CAlj added painting and the calligrapher Malik-i Daylami contributed calligraphy panels for Tahmasb's palace in Qazvin; Iskandar Beyg (1971), p. 174, Qumi (1974), p. 94. Also to be noted is the fact that, unlike musicians, painters were not ordered to abandon their career; they were free to continue their activity outside the royal library-atelier;Vala-yiIsfahani (1993), p. 467. 45 Shira-zi (1990), p. 94. The dawlat-khdnamainly related to the audience halls. It was in a way the seat of government. The surrounding gardens were necessary to accommodate the royal encampment for periods that Tahmasb and his retinue would stay in Qazvin. For a detailed account of the gradual move of the seat of government to Qazvin, see Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, p. 250, n. 10. 46 Ghaffari (1963), p. 277. Quail-hunting is highly difficult if practised with bow and arrow; by emphasizing the type of hunt which Ismacil undertook, Ghaffari was trying to portray him as a warrior in full control of his skills and not much concerned about the outcome of the battle with the Ottomans. 47 Ibid., pp. 290 and 307; Qumi (1980), p.428; Tahmasb (1562). 48 Membre (1993), p. 27, who specifies that Tahmasb spent the whole of October 1539 in fishing; ibid., p. 28. A sentence in Rfimlfi (1978), p. 383, subsequently copied in Qumi (1980), p. 294, stating that in the year 1540, Tahmasb went to Georgia "hunting all the way" (shikdr-kundn),is very suspect in the light of Membre's descriptions of the Shah's lengthy fishing expedition the year before, unless it meant that Tahmasb went "fish hunting;" neither Q~i Ahmad-i Ghaffari nor CAbdi Beyg-i Shirazi allude to this supposed hunting trip. usually the most reliable-source, the 4 The earliest-and Tarikh-iJahdn-drd, simply mentions that a jarga hunt was organised without further detail; Ghaffari (1963), p. 295. Qumi repeats the same. Hasan-i Riimlfi seems to have altered the information of the Tdrikh-iJahdn-drd by only mentioning Tahmasb's presence at the jarga hunt; Rfimlfi (1976), p. 400. Iskandar Beyg, who wrote at a later date, gives a lengthy but improbable account that the honour of inau-
BETWEEN THE SAFAVIDS AND THE MUGHALS: ART AND ARTISTS IN TRANSITION
gurating the hunt went to Humaiyum, Bahr-am and Sam Mirza, and that Tahmasb shot only on the second day to teach the Chaghatayids (i.e. Humayiun'sretinue) a lesson in hunting; Iskandar Beyg (1971), p. 99. On the Mughal side, the sister of Humafiyn, Gul-badan Beygum, relates that, according to her brother, Tahmasb and his sister Sultanum both watched the hunt mounted on a horse side-by-side, with the reins of Sultanum's horse held by an old man with a white beard, a position hardly suitable for hunting; Gulbadan (1996), p. 114. 50 The standard-bearer is named as Abu 'l-Qasim Khulafa-yi Qajar, Ghaffari (1963), p. 295. 51 Since the album was completed c. 1545, work had to be carried on over the previous two to three years. According to Buidaq, the calligrapher Dust Muhammad was the only one who remained in the royal library-atelierafter Tahmasb evicted all others; Buidaq (1576), fol. tllb. He must have rejoined Tahmasb's library-atelier after the completion of the album or after the death of Bahram Mirza. 52 Simpson (1991), pp. 376-84. 53 Such is the case of the celebrated calligrapher Mir cImad, whose signatures are mostly in the form of cImad al-Hasani and seldom include the redundant "Mir." 54 See e.g. Welch (1979), pp. 180-81, Dickson and Welch, vol. I, p. 184, Kevorkian and Sicre (1983), p. 169. 55 Sam Mirza (1925), p. 9. 56 It is to be noted that, in compliance with scribal conventions, two important attributes (acld) and (kdmrdnf) that were pulled out of the text and written on the top of the petition, have been reincorporated here between parentheses:
An intriguing aspect of the painting is the lack of a Safavid baton for the prince, which sometimes indicates a nonSafavid prince. 58 Dickson and Welch also argue that, since according to the Gulistdn-i hunar, the calligrapher Shah Mahmuid died in 972/1565 and had spent twenty years in Mashhad, he must have left the royal Library-atelier c. 1545; Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, p. 178. While their conclusion is correct, it is based on an erroneous information by Qaii Al1mad; as we shall see, Shah Mahmild was in Ardabil in 1549 and therefore did not spend all of those twenty years in Mashhad. 59 This may also explain why Mirak was chosen to illuminate the 1468 Gulistdnmanuscript: as the household superintendent of Tahmasb, he was the only master painter left in the retinue of the Shah. 60 Sam Mirza was appointed governor of Ardabil in that same year of 1549 and remained in that post for twelve years; Qumi (1980), vol. I, p. 550. 61 Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, pp. 138-39; for a colour reproduction, see Loukonin and Ivanov (1996), p. 182. 62 Sam Mirza had rebelled twice before and was placed in house arrest the second time; Soudavar (1997), pp. 52-67, Dickson (1958), pp. 285-95. 63 See above, n. 21. Possibly for this very reason, Mirza CAlj preferred not to join the prince in Ardabil and sent his work for later insertion in the manuscript. Indeed, the double-page frontispiece has been pasted into the manuscript, a sign that the painter was not located at the production site; Lukonin and Ivanov (1996) p. 183. 64 Qumi (1980), vol. I, p. 550. With no revenue, Sam Mirza was a lesser threat since he could neither buy influence nor raise and maintain a private army. 57
65
63
Ibid., vol. I, p. 378. The death of Bahram Mirza was also caused by excess in wine and opium. 66 It is noteworthy that Qaii Ahmad, who systematically plagiarised Buidaq'stext for his Gulistan-ihunar, omitted references to the Safavid artist's temporary sojourns in "India"; Qumi(1974), pp. 137-42. 67 Budaq (1576), fol. 113b. 68 Ibid., fol. 112b. 69 The Javdhir al-akhbdrseems to have been initially prepared for Tahmasb, but Bfdaq, who repeatedly complained about the Shah's lack of interest in his work (perhaps he was unable to read it), managed to present his manuscript to Ismacil II in 1576, four months after Tahmasb's death; Soudavar (1992), p. 200. The section on the artists of the royal Safavid library-atelier is oddly inserted in the middle of the history of the cAbbasid caliphs, where he refers to Princess Sultanum, who died in 1562, as still living; Bfidaq (1576), fol. illb. 70 Lowry et al. (1988), pp. 148-49; the folio number of the last painting is erroneously written as 130a in the aforementioned catalogue. Fol. 66a of this manuscript had been previously attributed to Mirza CAll by this author; Soudavar (1992), p. 201. 71 This painting, along with a detail, has been reproduced in Tehran as a New Year's greeting card. I am indebted to Mr. Massoud Nader for sending me this beautiful and interesting card. 72 See e.g. Welch (1979), p. 173. 73 Ibid.,pp. 134-75. 74 The part of the album that is in Tehran seems to include earlier works, up to 1609, and the Berlin portion seems to include later ones, with dates as late as 1618; Beach (1978), p. 43. 75 Jahangir requested Shah cAbbas to send him Ulugh Beg's astrolabe; the Shah duplicated the astrolabe and sent the original to India; Riazul Islam (1970), p. 72. One could conceive that, if a painting was somehow related to the Timurids and meaningful to Jahangir, it would have been sent as a single page, but no such connection can be imagined for this Mirza CAlipainting. 76 Welch (1979), pp. 176-81. 77 One should also note that, if any of the paintings had been removed by Muhammad Zaman, he would have replaced it with a similar subject; but none of his added paintings are in fact replacements for the dispersed pages by Mirza CAi or Mirza Sayyid CAi. 78 Soudavar (1992), pp. 170-73 79 Ibid. 80 Membre (1993), p. 25; Bada'iini (1868), p. 444, Soudavar (1998). 81 Other artists who contributed to the Freer Haft awrangwere: Agha Mirak, who had probably reached the end of his career and produced uninspiring paintings for this manuscript; CAbdal-CAziz,still a very able artist but whose style did not influence the next generation; Muzaffar CAlI,who was an excellent craftsman but not an innovator and always a follower of Mirza cAli; and cAbdallah-i Mudhahhib-i Shira.zi, who was primarily a good illuminator. Mirza CAli was probably recruited early on to lead the Freer Haft awrangproject. His work dominates the first section of the manuscript; three out of four of the paintings in the first fifty pages of the manuscript are by him. 82 Because he ended up working for the Uzbeks after the capture of Herat in 1588, references to Muhammadi are scant; Soudavar (1992), p. 237. The lack of a specific entry for Farrukh Beyg was probably due to a similar reason. 83 For a discussion on Mirza CAlI's name and signature, see ibid., p. 170.
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JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
84 Iskandar Beyg (1976), p. 176. The last section of the entry
in the present printed version of his chronicles, due to a minor scribal error (cumrash instead of Cumrishdn),reads as if both brothers joined the services of Shah cAbbas and both lost their lives at the same time there. Farrukh Beyg's departure for India notwithstanding, the syntax of the sentence shows that it should only relate to Siyavush and that the plural for the end-sentence is wrong; idem. However, this may have been an error perpetrated by the author himself, as Vala-yi Isfahani, who half a century later, in his Khuld-i barin scrupulously follows Iskandar Beyg's text, commits the same mistake; Vala-yi Isfahani (1993), p. 470. 85 Skelton (1957), pl. 2, fig. 4 and pl. 9, fig. 18; Okada (1992), p. 120; Robinson (1992), pl. IXb 86 Skelton expresses his doubts on the Cambridge manuscript attributions but accepts the Paris one, Skelton (1957), pp. 395 and 403. Okada accepts the attribution on the Paris drawing and discusses its merits, Okada (1989), p.123. Robinson accepts the attributions on the Cambridge manuscript, but does not offer any stylistic comparison with other works of Farrukh Beyg, Robinson (1992), p. 28. 87 Farrukh Beyg was approximately forty years old when he arrived at the Mughal court in 1585; Seyller (1995), p. 319, Okada (1989), p. 117. His carrier therefore overlapped that of Muhammadi who was active c. 1560-90. 88 For a similar Muhammadi composition, see e.g. Robinson (1965), p. 76; Papadopoulo (1976), pl. 59. 89 For Shaykh Muhammad's portraits of Ozbeg princes see Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, pp. 251-52; Welch (1979), nos. 77, 80; Soudavar (1992), p. 236. 90 Dickson and Welch (1981), vol. I, pp. 251-52; Welch (1974), pp. 463-64. For a painting of the same subject signed by Shaykh Muhammad, see ibid., p. 499. The effective governor of Herat at that time was Muhammad Khan-i Sharaf al-Din Oghli Takalli; Rfimlfi (1978), pp. 436-37. But the nominal governor of Herat was the almost blind Prince Muhammad Mirza, who later ruled as Shah Muhammad Khudabanda. The popularity of the yoked prisoner subject may be due to the fact that the capture of the Ozbeg warlord was later on, reinterpreted as a feat attributable to Shah Muhammad. Farrukh Beyg, who was in the retinue of prince Hamza Mirza, thus chose to glorify his patron's father by drawing the defeated Ozbeg warlord. The numerous yoked prisoners of Shaykh Muhammad, also painted in this period, may have been drawn for the same reasons. 91 This recalls the well-known practice of poets who would arrive at a court reciting new poems in the hope of remuneration from an appreciative ruler. 92 In the hopelessly disorganised catalogue of the GPL albums, a colour reproduction of this painting appears next to p. 352 and the entry appears on p. 356, under the entry for fol. 86; Atabay (1974). 93 A colour reproduction appears in Okada (1992), p. 124. The attribution reads "camal-iFarrukhBeyg." 94 Seyller (1995), p. 320. 95 For colour reproductions, see Soudavar (1992), p. 308-09. 96 Ibid., p. 338. 97 Besides the two Zafar-ndmapages, the motif of gold peonies on a blue awning/parasol can be seen on a Bdbur-ndmapage (ASG, S86. 0230), Lowry and Nemazee (1988), p. 163, and an Akbar-ndmapage in Seyller (1995), fig. 6, Okada (1992), p.118. 98 See Okada (1992), p. 66, where the drawing is wrongly attributed to cAbd al-Samad. For a colour reproduction, see Okada (1989), p. 29. 99 Atabay (1974), p. 357 and 362; Skelton (1957), fig. 13. 100oo Ibid., fig. 1; Seyller (1995), fig. 6, Okada (1992), p.118.
101 Seyller (1995), p. 339. 102 Ibid., p. 319. 103 Stchoukine (1974), pp. 5-11, and Simpson (1997), p. 244, both consider the paintings as a coherent group but neither makes an exception for fol. 109a that we attribute here to Muhammadi. 104 For a colour reproduction, see Rogers et al. (1986), nos. 114-15. 105 Seyller (1997), p. 339. 106 For colour reproduction, see Rogers et al. (1986), nos. 116. 107 See Welch (1979), pp. 201, 209 and 210; Welch and Welch (1982), pp. 85-86. 108 See Welch (1976), pp. 122-26; Simpson (1997), pp. 201, 220. 109 For a colour reproduction, see Okada (1992), p. 122. 110 For a colour reproduction, see Kevorkian and Sicre (1983), p. 24. "1 For a colour reproduction see Pope and Ackerman (1967), vol. XI, pl. 920. 112 For a colour reproduction see Simpson (1997), p. 113 or Welch (1976), p. 109. 113 See relevant pages in Simpson (1997). 114 For a colour reproduction, see Soudavar (1992), p. 225. 115 For the calligraphy and its dating, see Simpson (1997), pp. 278-83. 116 For a colour reproduction, see Ashrafi (1974), p. 59. 117 In a recent article (Robinson [1997], p. 40), Robinson criticises this author's attributions to Muhammadi and maintains an earlier position that "no fully painted miniatures are to be found among the best authenticated works of the artist" (see also Robinson [1992], p. 18), despite the fact that he himself attributes three such paintings to him (ibid., paintings designated as M1, M18-19, M20). Such a position defies logic and is tantamount to saying that Picasso only painted in the Cubist mode. The bread-and-butter mode of painting for every Safavid painter was manuscript painting. This was the medium in which they were trained by previous masters and this is where they earned a living. The idiosyncratic tinted drawing style of Muhammadi could not gain approval unless he had first established his credentials in the domain of conventional painting. It is our hope that our forthcoming article on Muhammadi will further show the close affinity between his tinted drawings and his manu-
script paintings. 118 For the attribution and a colour reproduction, see Soudavar (1992), p. 233. 119 Contrary to Farrukh Beyg, Muhammadi depicts plain animals, such as deer and boar, as mountain goats. 120 Ibid., pp.227-35. 121 Qumi (1980), vol. II, 724. p. 122 Stchoukine had suggested that this scene represented the marriage of Ibrahim Mirza to Tahmasb's daughter. 123 For a colour reproduction, see Soudavar (1992), pp. 230-31. 124 Qumi (1980), vol. II, p. 724. 125 Qumi (1980), vol. II, p. 746. 126 Iskandar Beyg reports that death occurred on 22 Dhu 'l-Hijja 994/4 December 1586 (Iskandar Beyg [1971], vol. 1, p. 347), but his dates are at times inaccurate. This period is well documented by Qumi, who cites frequent dates, usually in concordance with one another. He situates the death of Hamza Mirza at six days later; Qumi (1980), vol. II, p. 842. 127 Seyller (1997), p. 320. 128 Atabay (1974), p. 357 and 362; Skelton (1957), fig. 13. 1'29 Skelton (1957), pp. 401-02. 130 Ibid. 131 Qumi (1974), p. 148. 132'Atabaly (1974), p. 357. Atabay includes "Musavvir"in her reading of the signature; the actual painting may show more of the signature than the reproduction does.
BETWEEN THE SAFAVIDS AND THE MUGHALS: ART AND ARTISTS IN TRANSITION
65
W. Thackston, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklistof the VeverCollection,Washington. Membre (1993). Membr6, M., Mission to the Lord Sophyof Persia (1539-1542), ed. A. H. Morton, London. Nava'i (1989). Nava'i, A, Shdh Tahmasb-i Safavf. Majmuca-yi asndd wa mukdtibdt-itdrikhi,Tehran. 134 I am indebted to Messrs. Anisi and cAla'ini of the Gulistan Okada (1989). Palace Library for their kind cooperation in the procureOkada, A., Miniaturesde l'Indeimperiale,Paris. ment of these slides. (1992) Okada, A., ImperialMughal Painters,tr. D. Dusinberre, Paris. Papadopoulo (1976). Bibliography Papadopoulo, A., L'Islamet l'artmusulman,Paris. Ashrafi (1974). Pope and Ackerman (1967). Ashrafi, M.M., Persian-Tajik Poetry in XIV-XVII Centuries' Pope, A. U., and Ackerman, P., A Surveyof PersianArt,Tokyo. Miniatures,Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Qumi (1974) Qadi Ahmad-i Qumi, Gulistdn-i hunar, ed. A. Suhayli, Atasbay(1974). Tehran. Atabay, B., Fihrist-imuraqqacat-i kitabkhana-yisaltanati, Tehran. S(1980) Bada'uini (1868). Qaii Ahmad-i Qumi, Khuldsat al-tawdrikh, ed. I. Ishraqi, CAbdal-Qadir b. Muliksha-h Bada'fini, Muntakhabal-tawdrikh, 2 vols., Tehran. Calcutta. Riazul Islam (1970). Bayani (1966). Riazul Islam, Indo-PersianRelations,Tehran. Bayani, M., Ahvdl-uathdr-ikhushnivisdn,4 vols., Tehran. Robinson (1965). Beach (1978). Robinson, B. W., Persian Drawings. From the 14th Century Beach, M. C., The Grand Mughal. ImperialPainting in India, Throughthe 19th Century,Boston. 1600-60, Washington. S(1992). (1576). Buidaq Robinson, B. W., "Muhammadi and the Khurasan Style," Biidaq-i Munshi-yi Qazvini, Javdhir al-akhbdr,ms. copied in Iran XXX (1992), pp. 17-30. 1576, State Public Library, St. Petersburg, Dorn 288. S(1997). Dickson (1958). Robinson, B. W., "An Amir Khusraw Khamsaof 1581," Iran Dickson, M. B., Shah Tahmasb and the Uzbeks.The Duel for XXXV (1997), pp. 35-41. Khurasan with cUbaydKhan (930-48/1524-40), Ph.D. thesis, Princeton. Rogers et al. (1986). Dickson and Welch (1981). Rogers, J. M., Cagman, F. and Tanindi, Z., The TopkapiSaray Museum. TheAlbumsand IllustratedManuscripts,London. M. and S. The Dickson, B., Welch, C., Houghton Shahnama, 2 vols., Cambridge, Mass. Rumlfi (1978). Eskandar Beyg (1971). Hasan Beyg-i Rumlfi, Ahsan al-tawdrikh,ed. A. Nava'i, Tehran. Iskandar Beyg-i Munshi-yi Turkuman, Tdrikh-i cdlam-drd-yi Sam Mirza (1925) Sam Mirza Safavi, Tuhfa-yiSdmi,Tehran. cabbdsf,ed. I. Afshar, 2nd edition, Tehran. Falk (1985). Seyller (1995). Seyller, J., "Farrukh Beg in the Deccan," ArtibusAsiae LV/1 Falk, T. (ed.), Treasuresof Islam, London. (1995), pp. 319-41. Ghaffari (1963). (1997). Qail Ahmad-i Ghaffari-yi Qazvini, Tdrikh-iJahdn-drd, ed. H. Naraqi, Tehran. Seyller, J., "The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Imperial Mughal Library," ArtibusAsiae LVII/1 (1997), Ghazzalf (1983). pp. 243-349. Abui-Hamid Muhammad-i Ghazzali, Kimiyd-yi sacddat, ed. Shirazi (1990). A. Aram, Tehran. cAbdi Beyg-i Shirazi, Takmilatal-akhbar,ed. A. Nava'i. Gul-badan (1996) Gul-badan Beygum, Le Livre de Humdyuin,tr. P. Pifaretti and Simpson (1991). Simpson, M. S., "A Manuscript for the Safavid Prince J.-L. Bacque-Grammont, Paris. Bahram Mirza," in Burlington Magazine 133, (June 1991), Grube (n.d.). pp. 376-84. Grube, E., IslamicPaintingsfrom the 11th to the 18th Centuryin S (1997). the Collectionof Hans P. Kraus,New York. Simpson, M. S., Sultan Ebrahim Mirza's Haft awrang, Hamidi (1974). T. H., "Common Cultural Heritage of Pakistan and Washington. Skelton (1957). Iran in the National Museum of Pakistan" in Iran Pakistan, H.amidi, Skelton, R., '"The Mughal Artist FB," in Ars Orientalis,vol. II A CommonCulture,Lahore. (1957), pp. 382-411 Kevorkian and Sicre (1983). Soudavar (1992). Kevorkian, A. M., and Sicre,J. P., LesJardinsdu desir,Paris. Soudavar, A., Art of thePersian Courts,New York. Lukonin and Ivanov (1996). (1997). Lukonin, V. and Ivanov, A., Lost Treasuresof Persia.PersianArt Soudavar, A., "Tawti'a-yicuzmdwa Abu'l-MuzaffarShdh Tahmasb in theLeningradMuseum,Washington. Safavi,"in IralhshindsiIX/1 (Spring 1997), pp. 51-79. Lowry and Nemazee (1988). (1998). Lowry, G. D., and Nemazee, S., A Jeweller'sEye. IslamicArts of Soudavar, A., "A Chinese Dish from the Lost Endowment of theBookfrom the VeverCollection,Washington. Princess Sotanum," Papers in Honor of Iraj Afshar, ed. Lowry et al. (1988). IK.Eslami, Princeton (in press). Lowry, G. D., and Beach, M. C., with R. Marefat and 133 Ibid:
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Stchoukine (1974). Stchoukine, I., "Maulana Shaykh Muhammad: un maitre de I'ecole de Meshed du XVIe siecle," ArsAsiatiquesXXX (1974), pp. 3-11. Tahmasb (1562). Shah Tahmasb, Tadhkira-yiShdh Tahmdsb,British Library ms. Or 5880. Thackston (1989). Thackston, W., A Centuryof Princes.Sourceson TimuridHistory and Art, Cambridge, Mass. Vala-yiIsfahani (1993). Muhammad Yiisuf Vala-yi Isfahani, Khuld-i banin, ed. M. H. Mohaddith, Tehran. Welch (1974). Welch, A., "Painting and Patronage under Shah cAbbas I," Iranian StudiesVII (1974), 4458-507. Welch (1976). Welch, S. C., RoyalPersianManuscripts,London. - (1979). Welch, S.C., Wondersof theAge, Cambridge, Mass. (1985). Welch, S.C., India, Art and Culture1300-1900, New York. Welch and Welch (1982). Welch, A., and Welch, S. C., Arts of the Islamic Book. The Collectionof PrinceSadruddinAga Khan, London. Zebrowski (1983) Zebrowski, M., DeccaniPainting, London.
P1.XVb. P1.XVc.
P1.XVd. P1.XVIa. P1.XVIb. P1.XVIc. P1.XVId.
P1.XVIIa P1.XVIIc.
P1.XVIId. P1.XVIIIa. P1.XVIIIb. P1.XVIIIc. P1.XVIIId.
P1.XXa. P1. XXb.
P. XXc. P1. XXIa. P1.XXIb. P1.XXII. P1. XXIIIa. P1.XXIIIb. P1.XXIIIc. P1. XXIIId.
CreditList P1.XVa.
P1.XIX.
Colophon page detail, 1486 Gulistdn. Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. no. 36 Fol. 6r, 1468 Gulistdn. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.F1998.5. Gift in Honour of Ezzat-MalekSoudavar Prophet and the Zoroastrian (detail), fol. 46r, 1468 Gulistdn, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.F1998.5. Gift in Honour of Ezzat-MalekSoudavar Vizier reading Mir Musavvir's petition (detail), Mus&eGuimet, Paris, no. 3619, I, b. Tahmasb reading a poem, fol. 2a of ms. R. 957, Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul Bahram Mirza kneeling and presenting a petition from Muzaffar cAli. Fol. 148a, album H. 2154, Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul Bahram Mirza with a sitar. Fol. 148a, album H. 2154, Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul Bold calligraphy from the Fdl-ndma. Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. no. 72 verso Outdoor feast by Mirza CAll, fol. 46, no. 1663. Gulistan Palace Library, Tehran, no. 1663, fol. 46. Princely lovers, Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.. no. 65 Youth holding a booklet. Prince Saduddin Aga Khan Collection. Portrait of Bayram Oghlan. Musee Guimet, Paris, no. 3619, I, a. Manuscript illustration attributed to Farrukh Beyg, King's College Library, Cambridge, K1i1. Ibrahim CAdilShah hawking (detail). Institute of Oriental Studies St. Petersburg, ms. E. 14, fol. 2. Timir on the battlefield (detail). Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler
P1.XXIVa. P1.XXVa-b. P1.XXVd.
P1.XXVIa. P1. XXVIb. P1.XXVIc. P1.XXVId. P1. XXVIIIa. P1.XXVIIIb. P1. XXVIIIc. P1. XXVIIId. P1.XXIXa.
PI. XXIXc-d.
P1. XXX.
Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. no. 128b. Timur's army in procession (detail). Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Smithsonian Sackler Institution, Gallery, Washington D.C. no. 128c. A horse and a groom. Musee Guimet, Paris, no. 3619, L, a. Mir Mucizz al-Mulk and Bahadur Khan meet in 1567 (detail). Victoria and Albert Museum, London, I.S. 2-1896 96/117. Salaman and Absal repose on the happy isle (detail). Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 46.12, fol. 194b. Deccani youth holding a narcissus. Gulistan Palace Library,Tehran, no. 1663, fol. 86. Deccani youth holding a narcissus. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection. San Diego Museum of Art, 1990:0318. Iskandar suffers a nose bleed, Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul H.1483, fol. 224b. Choosing a vizier. Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul H.1483, fol. 55a. Layli and Majnfin meet at the Kacba. Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, H.1483, fol. 86. Majnuin's father requesting Layli's hand in marriage for his son. Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul H.1483, fol. 77a. Aristotle at Philip's deathbed. Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, H.1483, fol. 207b. Akbar enters Surat. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, I.S. 2-1896 117/117 Double page frontispiece of the Haft awrang. Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, H.1483. Fibulae shaped cloud embroidery motif (detail). Reproduced with the kind permission of the Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, MS7A(18). Two learned men (private collection) A page from a 1570s Jami manuscipt, AHT, no. 88. Bandits attack the caravan of CAynia and Riya. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 46.12 fol. 64b. Shepherd with a goat. Ex-Demotte collection as per Pope and Ackerman (1967), vol. XI, pl. 920. Colophon with painted cartouches. Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul H.1483, fol. 170b. Colophon with illuminated cartouches. Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul H.1483, fol. 200a. The Prophet Moses bearing a stray sheep (1580s). Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul H.1483, fol. 109a. Moses debating with a heterodox (1570s). State Public Library, St. Petersburg, Dorn 429, fol. 37. Throwing down the impostor (detail). Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., no. 90b. Double page frontispiece of the Sifdt cdshiqfn manuscript. Art and History Trust Collection, courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., no. 90a. Hajji Yaqfilt in the presence of Muhammad Hakim Mirza. Signed by Farrukh Beyg and dated 1584. Gulistan Palace Library, Tehran, no. 1663, fol. 47.
THE BANDAR cABBAS-ISFAHANROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVIDERA (1617-1717) By Willem Floor Washington,D. C.
Introduction
that is discussed here), which was more difficult to In a detailed article published in 1979 in this same travel and has been described in detail by Preece in 1884. This route passed Tarom, Forgh, Rustak, journal,' Heinz Gaube made an important contribuDarab, Darakan, Fasa, Sarvestan and then Shiraz, tion to our knowledge of the various stages of the and from there onwards to Isfahan. This was the norimportant trade route which connected Bandar cAbbas with Lar, and onwards with Shiraz and mal trade route prior the reign of Shah cAbbas I Isfahan.1 In addition, Gaube gave us detailed infor- (1587-1629). It has been suggested that the road mation on the three types of khans or karavansarays from Suru (old Gamron), close to the site where later Bandar CAbbaswould be established, to Lar, as which provided the traveller with shelter and often with food and fodder supplies on this route. By com- well as that of Lar-Shiraz, was probably used mainly for local trade before 1600. However, this seems paring the description of this trade route by Wilson in 1907 with those of some seventeenth century trav- unlikely, given the fact that the road was dotted with karavansarays and that commercial and other travellers, Gaube concluded that very little had changed ellers regularly used it. 3 in 300 years. He was able to identify most of the buildings listed and/or described by these earlier travellers during a field trip that he made along this Amenitiesalong theroad route in 1977. However, as will be clear from what Two things struck all travellers: (i) the karafollows, the halting places along this trade route vansarays and (ii) the multitude of water cisterns in were far more numerous than Gaube, and the the area between Lar and Bandar CAbbas.Not only sources which he has used, indicate. Also, when were there so many karavansarays, and their form going beyond Lar on the same route, we note that often peculiar, but their use was also free of charge. there had been changes in the halting stations, espe- They had usually been built for the public weal as cially on the Shiraz-Isfahan stretch in the nine- well as for their own greater glory through the piety teenth century. Unfortunately, I have not been able of amongst others black court eunuchs and other to follow Gaube's example and travel the same high court officials, governors, rich widows, and merroute, whilst identifying the various historical loca- chants who had grown rich in trading along these tions and buildings. Nevertheless, the number of routes. For not only were they often palatial in additional known and regularly used halting places design and size, covered with glazed tiles and arton the Bandar cAbbas-Lar stretch, including kara- work as well as adorned with gardens and trees, vansarays, is twice that of the number listed by water works and other amenities, but the founders Gaube. It is therefore of historical geographical made sure that everybody knew whose money had interest to discuss these other locations, some of built the karavansaray,by having his/her name diswhich indicate that the manner of seeking shelter played on the walls by inscriptions in beautiful script. was not limited to karavansarays.The additional new Though the use of the karavansarayand cisterns was data have been mainly taken from Dutch sources, in free of charge (muft) it was appreciated if lodgers particular, from the routes taken by the Dutch said a prayer (duca) for the benefactor. Though embassies in 1652, 1691, 1701 and 1717 as well as by many travellers would spend the night in the open regular VOC caravans such as in 1645 and 1685, air, karavansarayswere not superfluous, because the which indicate that the route described was the stan- weather was often inclement and both men and anidard normal road taken by trade caravans and other mals required shelter. Therefore, if private philanroad users. In addition, I have used a modern thropy failed to provide a karavansaray on certain Persian description of the route in 1896, because stretches of the road (at half a stage distance) the that describes the road all the way to Isfahan (and local governor often would take care of this need.4 beyond).2 I will not discuss the other route from Apart from the beauty, size and gratis use of the Bandar CAbbasto Shiraz (to the north of the route karavansaraystravellers also noted that from Lar all 67
68
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
the availabilityof victuals, or some other reason, travellers would decide whether they would stay at a karavansaray or not. Often they did not, even where, such as at Gichi (or Gachin), there were two beautiful karavansarays.A Dutch party in 1645, e.g. did not stay at one of the karavansarays,but instead rested in the open air near a water tank.9 In fact, it was quite normal that travellers stayed in tents outside the karavansaray'0 If the heat was too oppressive, or just because it took the travellers' fancy, they might just stay out in the open, in a garden, or a date grove, or just in the "wilderness".It also happened that travellers would stay for the night with nomads.11 However, more frequently, travellers lodged in houses in one of the villages they passed through, a practice that was usual whenever the karavansarayswere full, or when these were considered to be inhabitable. Important travellers often stayed in the village chiefs house (kaldntar, ra is).12 Travellers would also lodge in some other building in the village such as a mosque.13 On roads that were not much frequented, or were far off the highway, villagers usually had a dilapidated house set apart for travellers, though important persons usually stayed in the best house in the village. Unlike their European counterparts, peasants were very friendly to travellers. Travellers were welcomed with a carpet, flowers, fruit and whatever the village had to offer. The village elders came to keep the guests company and to divert them, while the rest of the village's population we have no came for tamdshd, i.e., to view the strangers. Coming to our Inns [karavansarays], Host, or Young Damosels to bid us Welcome, nor Eventually, a loose woman would show up offering other Furniturethan Bare Walls;no Rooms swept, her service, if this was wanted.14 Of course, in the nor CleanlyEntertainment,TablesneatlySpred,or majority of cases travellers used the karavansarays, Maidensto Attendwith Voice or Lute to Exhilarate but it is quite clear from the available evidence that the Weary Passenger; but instead of these, alternatives were also used on a regular the various Apartmentscovered with Dung and Filth; Musick and frequent basis. indeed there is of Humming Gnats pricking us to The second roadside amenity that drew the keep an unwillingMeasureto their Comfort:So that there is neither Provisionfor Manor Beast,only an appreciation, if not the admiration of travellers were with no of Glass the many water cisterns which made both living and or House, Pontack, open enlivening Poniant Cheer to encourage the Badness of the travelling in the Garmsirdtpossible. For in many March; but every Four or Five Pharsangs, i.e. areas, there was no water to be had and artificial Parasangae,a GermanLeague, on the King'sHigh means had therefore to be supplied to provide the way,a CaravanSer Raw,as dirtyasAugeushis Stable, peasant and/or traveller with this basic need. The those before alwaysleaving the next comer work Persians distinguished the following sources of enough to cleanse where they have been; that after water. First, those cisterns filled with rain water were coming in Tired, they are more intent to spread known by various terms, such as db-ianbdr, db-ibirka; their Carpetsfor Repose,than removethe incrustatsecond, there were those springs gushing forth from ed Cake of Sluttery,the constant Nurseryof Flies the rocks known as db-i bungird, db-i ghadir. Then and Beetles, they often bringing their Horses into the sameBed-Chamber.8 there were excavated wells or ab-i chdh, and sources of fresh natural running water, known as db-i Although the presence of many karavansarays chashmaand adb-irud, and finally, the more pedesalong the trade artery between Bandar CAbbasand trian variety of the db-i hawz or the domestic water Isfahan suggests that travellers stayed there as a mat- pond, usually found in both urban homes or in pubter of course, this was not necessarily the case. lic buildings of any kind.15 The rainwater cisterns or Depending on the circumstances such as the weath- birkas,like the karavansarays,were also built by rich er, the availability of space, the state of cleanliness, persons to assist their fellow human beings, but of
karavansaraystill Bandar cAbbas were of a different design than elsewhere in the country. For in the Garmsrdat(Persian Gulf littoral), all karavansarays were of the same basic type, viz. the square cruciform design, which were open to all four sides to stimulate a stream of air. They also all had a bdd-gir,or wind catcher, where the forced air was cooled by water through which it had to pass. Those not accustomed to the climate were advised not to sleep close to this cooler stream of air. The animals all stayed outside, since these saraysdid not have stables.5 However, there was also another side to karavansarays. Though built at no cost to the public by the donator, there were often no funds, or inadequate funds, set aside for their upkeep and maintenance. The custodian or dukkdnddror idd-bashi,who sometimes resided near the karavansarayin order to sell provisions to travellers (in particular, in the Garmsfrat),was but a local man, making some extra money as a sutler working for his own account.6 Therefore, over the course of time, these admirable buildings decayed and became dilapidated. In other cases, their frequent and indiscriminate use and their being a public benefit meant that nobody felt responsible for them, so that some of them turned into complete pigsties or were at best dirty. They were a far cry from the inns and hostels to which European travellers were accustomed in Europe.7 ThusJohn Fryerwrote,
THE BANDAR
CABBAS-ISFAHAN
ROUTE
course, there was also the fact that they used the same roads themselves, hence found it useful to have water cisterns en route. Water cisterns also came in different types, and the travellers noted their variety. The cistern of Mukhak was large and circular, four to five fathoms in diameter and very deep. According to J. de Thevenot, It is coveredwith a great Dome of rough stone, that hath six Entries,by so manyDoorsthat are round it, by which they go it to draw water, which in the Spring-timeis so high, thatit comes almostup to the Doors, swelling so high by the Rain-waterin the Winter-time,by means of a Trench that comes from a neighbouringHill:at each Door there are steps to down to the bottom,when the wateris low,for there is no other waterin that place. They make,besides, in those QuartersCisternsafter another manner; they are of an Oblong Square,coveredwith a long Convex Vault, shaped much like the Roof of a Coach, with a Door at each end: and one of these waysare all the Cisternsfrom that place to Bender [cAbbas],built.16 The same problem that bedevilled other public amenities also affected the water cisterns. When the first rains fell the cisterns were not filled, for these rains were used to clean out the dirt, etc., from the storage tanks. Also, not all cisterns in e.g. Lar were open to the public at the same time. Usually three were open, and despite the fact that the quality of the water was not very good, it was a very precious commodity in this arid zone. Because the stored water was not used for years sometimes, the water was filled with Guinea worms, which, if the water was not boiled or passed through a cloth sieve, infected the drinker.17 Because there was neither real supervision of the manner of their use, beyond their rotation and annual filling, nor of their maintenance, the cisterns also became dilapidated over the course of time. Rather than repairing them, benefactors preferred to build new ones; it was better to be known as the builder of something new than as the mere repairer of somebody else's construction. As Fryer observed, These Cisternsor Storehousesfor Rain are digged out of the Grounddeep into the Earth,beyond the Surface of the Sand, and are curiously covered above with Stone, and plasteredwithin with excellent durable Plaster; some Spherical, others Transverse,cutting one another in manner of a Cross; others, and the largest, Oblong, Square, Orbicular,or Oval;which being once finished, like their CaravanSerawshave no Endowmentto maintain them, either to keep them clean, or fromfalling to Decay;so regardlessare they of Futurity,that no one is sufferedto repairthem;On which account it is, that about their great Cities so many of all sorts are found, newly built, superannuated, defiled,
IN THE LATE SAFAVID
ERA
(1617-1717)
69
(which they esteem so, if either Man or Beast have dropped in and been drowned),unfrequented,and full of Nastiness;so pervicaciouslyVainglorious,that they will have the Repute of an entire Founder, or none.18 Other items of interest were bridges and causeways. In the description of the route, we will find mention of a few of these road constructions, which also were built by government officials, merchants or other benefactors. However, money for their upkeep was as usual lacking and one observes gradual decay likewise in the case of these essential components of the road network. Travelcosts Though the Bandar cAbbas-Isfahan road was a much frequented trade route, we have hardly any information on the cost of travelling or what kinds of food supplies were available to the traveller. We learn from the occasional remarks by several of these that they were able to buy supplies en route such as butter, milk, cheese, as well as to get game such as partridges and deer, and also goat's meat or mutton. Finally, there were many fruits cultivated along the route, and travellers availed themselves of all these products. However, we have no idea what the costs were for these supplies and in what quantities they were available. As an appendix to this study a translation of a document from the Dutch East India Company (VOC) records has been reproduced (below, pp. 89-94). This document details, day-by-day,and at what location, how much was spent on food, fodder, repairs, messengers and the like by a group of VOC staff travelling from Bandar CAbbas to Isfahan between 10 July and 4 August 1645. It is clear that items such as rice19 and oranges were available in Laristan, in addition to normal products such as chickens, bread, yoghurt, clarified butter (ghee), fresh butter, and meat. Also of interest is the purchase of dates by the Dutch party to make beer.20 Necessary repairs of horse tack, horse-shoeing and the like, as well as veterinary procedures such as bloodletting, could be carried out on the road without any problem, an indication that there was the necessary infrastructure for these in the villages dotting the trade route. Descriptionof theroute Though the starting point of this article is the Bandar cAbbas-Lar road, given the fact that this road was just one part of the important trade route to Isfahan, and that a detailed description of the whole route would be of equal historical interest to that of the road to Lar, the scope of this article has been extended to include the road to the Safavid capital city. There will be no discussion of the eco-
70
JOURNAL
OF PERSIAN
nomic context of the trade route described here, but only a description of the route itself and the cost of travelling, a subject about which we know next to nothing. Travellers taking the road from Isfahan to Bandar cAbbas usually stayed at the same halting places or manzils.However, there were many alternative halting places, especially near large cities such as Isfahan and Shiraz. But even elsewhere on sections of the road, alternative manzils, or even alternative routes, existed. Travellers also would change halting places, depending whether they were travelling upcountry or down-country. In what follows, this road will be described in detail, not only by listing the numerous halting places, but also detailing what information is available on each of them. This will give the reader an idea about the size and amenities of each location, their relative importance and what they had to offer to the traveller. The time that each traveller took in order to arrive at the various halting places will not be detailed, since this varied per traveller, and depended on the weather, the season, and the haste intended to get to the next stop. For example, it was not exceptional that travellers should reach Mahyar in one day; others, however, preferred to travel more leisurely, and did the same distance in three days. Some did not even stop at Mahyar at all, but continued their journey. The total length of the route described here is 180 German miles (each mile = 7,407-41 m) or 1,333 km. Travellers who were in a hurry, such as the Dutch merchant Leonard Winninx, who had been charged with an important diplomatic mission in connection with a military conflict which had broken out between Persia and the Dutch East Indies Company, traversed this distance in about thirty days, which included resting days at Shiraz and Lar. He left Bandar cAbbas on 6 July 1645 and arrived in Isfahan on 5 August 1645.21 His return trip began on 25 October and he arrived in Bandar CAbbas on 23 November 1645. However, embassies travelled much slower. For example, the Dutch ambassador Jacob Hoogcamer left Bandar CAbbason 7 April and arrived on 4 June 1701 in Isfahan, while his return trip took from 18 February to 12 April 1702.22A normal VOC caravan travelled faster, and took about one month to make the journey.23 TheIsfahan-Shirazroad On leaving Isfahan, all travellers went to Mahyar. But before reaching this village, they had quite a choice of halting places before arriving at their next destination. This was due to the facts that the hinterland of Isfahan was heavily populated and that various alternative roads or paths existed, all of which went to Mahyar. Our first traveller, Don Garcia de Silva y Figueroa, both arrived and left Isfahan via
STUDIES
Iarustan.24 According to Chardin, all travellers for Bandar cAbbas left Isfahan through the Karun city quarter. He himself left via the Baigh-iQul-i Padishah (Bag Koullou pad cha "the gardens of the royal slaves"), then he went through the Cheik-Sabanna suburb and crossed the river at the Shahristan (Chereston)bridge, which was another suburb with many beautiful gardens; he then left Isfahanak [Spahanek] village on the left, and then via Kfital-i Urchini (Koutel hurt chiny) to Mahyar.25In 1685 a Dutch caravan conveying money said its farewells, to the staff remaining behind, also in the Bagh-i Qul-i Padishah (Kolipadsja), and after 4 hours, via the village of Osgewan and the Urchini pass, the caravan then arrived at the karvdnsaray-yiMinrzdCAl Rizd.26 This karavansaraywas named after its founder, who had married one of the Shah's sisters. It was badly constructed from clay, its water was brackish and there was no wood. After one hour of further travelling, there was a rdhddr27or road guard station, then followed the village of Dih-i zard (Dehserd), and after one farsakh, the karavansaray of Gonarish? (Gonoresj),which also was a clay building. Finally, the traveller arrived at the village of Mahyar.28Another Dutch party, led by the Dutch ambassador Joan van Leene, left Isfahan on 18 October 1691 from the beautiful pleasure garden Bagebatsjaron at one-anda-half miles from Isfahan.29 The caravan then went via the village of Agag Hadi, which had a large, but dilapidated caravansaray,which was built from clay like the houses in the village. Due to the weight of snow, the buildings caved in. The Ketelaar embassy travelled via the Goes-Jaroengarden (probably the same Batsjaron garden) and Paaij-ammarek,which was half a mile from this garden. Via the Kaital-i Urchini, the van Leene embassy then also passed the small village and karavansarayof Mirza CAllRiia and finally came to Mahyar.30 Some went via Lalibeek direct to Mahyar, whilst others rode to Isfahanak, which was as miserable a village as its karavansaray called Takht-i Pulad or Barabaruk, and then via the karavansarayof Mirza cAli Ri-a, while Fryer went via Marg, which had an old, lonely karavansarayat three miles' distance from the Urchini pass.31 What do we know about Mahyar?According to de Silva y Figueroa, it was a small, prosperous and extensive village with a nice karavansaray.32Herbert wrote that "Moyeor, [was] a considerable town, for it consisted of about a thousand houses: and, albeit their houses were neat, yet they were in no wise comparable to their dove-houses for curious outsides."33 In 1651, Speelman described it as small settlement entirely surrounded by villages and gardens. Its karavansaray was a total ruin, whence travellers were lodged in a large, equally dilapidated castle. This had already been the practice for thirty years accord-
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ing to Speelman, judging by the Dutch, English and French names written on the walls. This castle formed the greater part of the village, and some parts of it that were still usable were used as housing by local families. Based on its size and the cellars and corridors, Speelman believed that the clay and burnt brick building must once have covered quite a large area. According to the village headman, the castle was already 600 years old.34 In 1665, Mahyar was described as a ruined village, though formerly it had been of note, with many gardens and an important agricultural production. However, the Grand Vizier had cut off the village's water supply for a pleasure garden that he had constructed nearby, so that the inhabitants had to satisfy their needs by bringing their victuals from elsewhere because nothing would grow there any more. Water was only to be had from a large pool in the village. Tavernier, who was at Mahyar at the same time as Thevenot, described it as a large village with a good karavansaray.35Chardin, in 1674, wrote that Mahyar was a large village of 300 houses, which you had to pass through, because it was situated just between two mountains. However, travellers did not stay at the old decayed karavansaray, but rather in houses of the villagers, of whom there were many who wanted to earn some extra money. The surroundings of the village were rather arid, treeless and without verdure. Nevertheless, it was a nice place where one could obtain all kinds of provisions.36 This sad situation apparently did not last, for Kaempfer wrote in 1685, that it was then a long stretched-out, fairly populous village, close to the Kuh-i Baba Husayn. Its karavansaray, made of brick, was called Alabek and had been built around 1510.37 In 1691, it was described as a large village with a large, new, unfinished karavansaray,which had been built by Shah Sulayman. It was unfinished, and labourers were still completing it. The karavansarayhad much space for travellers as well as water tanks. It also had many shops where a traveller could buy everything he needed. The karavansaray had a large open space in which a nice taldl or veranda had been constructed and which was covered with blue tiles, and there the traveller could smoke his water-pipe or have a cup of coffee. The stable, which could hold more than 1,000 horses, was still under construction. There were many sheep in the neighbourhood, but the water was bad, so much so that ambassador Cuneaus warned his staff not to drink much of it.38 In 1717, this same karavansaray was still very pleasantly situated in a garden, which was linked via a tree-lined road to Qomisha. Just outside the karavansaraywas an attractive small building equipped with a copper tap, from which one could get very good and plentiful water.39 Continuing from Mahyar, the traveller after fifteen minutes arrived at a Chahar Bagh, which had
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an excellent karavansaray, still in 1685 under construction. The bricks were white and had been fired on the spot, where the lime was also burnt. Via a number of villages (at which travellers usually did not stop) (named as Isba, SchafidAlibad, Waas nun, Gewabad, Germaschaand Dedengun) the town of Qomisha was reached.40 In 1617 it had about 400 families and an old karavansaray.Very good arrows were made here, while in a village one day's travel away, the best bows of Persia were produced. In 1628 Qomisha boasted 1,000 houses and was regarded as of great antiquity according to Herbert, though it was described in 1645 as a dilapidated town. Speelman also noted that in former times Qomisha had been a large and populated town, but that in 1651 it was an open, rather neglected and run-down one. It was inhabited by inferior artisans and only had some repute because of its gardens and the pigeon towers, which were sometimes inhabited by their owners for two months during the summer time. Tavernier wrote that Qomisha was a reasonably sized town with a number of karavansarayswhich, though constructed with clay, he considered beautiful. The town, in effect, consisted of a string of villages, about half a mile long. According to Chardin, Qomisha was a small town, though it looked more like a village. Its perimeter was more than 3,000 feet around, and its ruins showed that it had been much larger in the past. Its pigeon towers were quite a sight, but the various karavansarayswere too small.41 In 1685, it was considered to be a rather large town which was very densely built, with a long bazaar, twenty-four karavansarays, a rather small Friday mosque and other mosques. The town was well supplied with water and rich in agricultural production; one could obtain wine there. In 1717, the karavansaraywas a new and spacious building.42 From Qomisha, it was only fifteen minutes' journey to the tomb of Shah Riha.43In 1645, Winninx visited the village of Shah Riza, where he observed water tanks with fish "in which you may not fish on pain of death." Thevenot confirms the existence of the fishpond and says the garden was therefore called Hawz-i Ma-hiand that there was a darvish who prevented anybody from catching the fish therein. He also describes Shah Riza as a pleasant place with many gardens. Tavernier states that at about threequarters of a mile's distance, just beyond the town of Qomisha, there was an attractive mosque with a fish pond, whose fish the mollahs did not allow anybody to catch because they were dedicated to "their prophets." But travellers used to camp near the pond during summer because of the shade of the trees and the fresher air rather than stay in Qomisha. Kaempfer wrote that this place was known for its fish ponds, water wells and its many gardens as well as the cemetery. Fryer went there because the mud-built
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karavansaray at Qomisha was too hot.44 The road earthquakes, the population had nevertheless startfrom Qomisha to Shah Riza was lined with trees and ed to build houses outside the village with a view to establishing a new one outside the old one which gardens on both sides.45 From Shah Riza, the road went via the Mirza would be less vulnerable, according to Thevenot. Kuchik garden (after two-and-a-half farsakhs), and The village had a pleasant, large karavansaray (a after 30 minutes one reached the karavansaray magnificent brick building, according to Fryer) built called Mirza Kuchik Qalca (MyrsaKuczikKala). It was by the merchant, Mirza CAbfid(MirsaAbud). In 1717, well-built and elegant, but already getting dilapi- the karavansaray was described as a new strong dated in places.46 After half-a-farsakh,one passed the building.49 village of Hajji and, thereafter, the village of Thebifurcationof routes:winterand summerones Maqsudbegi. This village had only ten houses and The first towers were evident many gardens. pigeon From Yazdikhvast,a bifurcation of the route took here. In 1665 it had been described as a new karaplace, according to whether one took the winter or vansaray, the old one having been demolished, the summer route. To the left hand, eastwards, was which Speelman had qualified as a sober building. the lower road, and to the right hand and westward The water was drinkable, but the fish were small and was the higher road. In wintertime, the higher road had an earthy taste. Fryer had a good opinion of the was filled with snow and could not be used and thus karavansaray where he stayed in a room, formerly travellers were obliged to take the lower, so-called designed for a coffee-house, having a water-tank in winter road which, wrote Thevenot, was one day's the middle and broad seats around the walls to lie or or according to Chardin, two days' longer sit on. However, Hedges wrote in 1685 that it was a travel, journey.50 sorry old ruinous building with bad water. He added, that there was a good, new karavansaraywithin half a Thesummerroute mile of it, but this was not much frequented for want of provisions. The Dutch, probably referring to the The first location on the summer road was the new building, considered the karavansaray of Kutal-i Nacl-shikani, i.e. the pass that pulls off the horses' shoes.51 Afterwards, one passed a little castle Maqsudbegi still a reasonable building in 1691.47 At 30 minutes' distance from Maqsudbegi was called Gunbad-Qalca, where there was also a ruined another karavansaray built with clay and sun-dried village; Speelman calls it a small village, in which a bricks. After three farsakhs, the large, royal village of few families only lived. It was an old fortress, with a Amanabad was reached which, in 1628 had high, tomb in which a holy man named Imamzada walls with battlements a castle and Muhammad Hajji was buried, providing the reason strong resembling which housed thirty families, mostly Georgians. It for its name (gunbad "dome"). The latter is conwas under the administration of Dawfid Khan, broth- firmed by Chardin, who like Tavernier, also referred er of the governor of Shiraz. There was a neat kara- to a ruined castle with four towers. Kaempfer mentioned the dilapidated fortress, which had good vansaray and banqueting-houses for his own delight, with some rooms painted with images and embossed water, and was inhabited by some Lurs and a recently with gold. In 1685, it boasted of about a hundred arrived rahdar.52The Dutch embassy in 1691 considhouses, many gardens, and a square fortress, built to ered Gunbad-Qalca to be a miserable karavansaray, protect the travellers against bandits who infested which formerly had been a resort of rebels. Also, the area. At the entry of the village was a large open close by it was a square old tomb with an Imamzaida, with a still partly tiled. The water was of reasonable a and the Hammam, space Qalca-yi mosque very beautiful octagonal karavansaraycalled that of quality.53The rebellion referred to must have taken Allahverdi Khan, which was an excellent building.48 place after July 1645, for Winninx mentions the The next stop after two to two-and-a-halffarsakhs stronghold as having been built a few years previouswas Yazdikhvast, a peculiar village perched on the ly in order to provide security for travellers, because mountain, with gardens and a karavansaray,which the area had been infested with bandits.54 The next stop was Dihgirdu a small village in a according to Herbert was the best since Bandar cAbbas. Next to the karavansaraywas a stone castle very barren place, but with good water, though with round towers. Winninx recorded that, despite Winninx called it a miserable village.55 Thevenot, the precarious construction of the village, its popula- who tried his hand at finding the etymology of the tion did not want to leave, for in their mosque was a village's name, writes that Dihgirdu meant "the vilwooden pillar, which they believed the Patriarch lage of nuts", of which there were in reality very few Abraham himself had ordered to be placed there. there, for the ones which the inhabitants ate came Their mosque, which had been repaired many times, from Lar. Chardin wrote that it had the best water in was built around this pillar. Because of the danger of the world and all kinds of provisions. Kaempfer
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found it a small, compact village, with small flatroofed houses, and an old square brick-built karavansaray; in 1691 Dihgirdu was described as a nice place with a good karavansaray,but by 1717 it had become totally dilapidated although the embassy stayed there anyway.56 In addition to the karavansaray, and situated opposite to it, there also was square, circumvalled building constructed in 1651 by Tahmaspquli Beg, governor of Bandar cAbbas, who had built it at the orders of Imamquli Kha-nfor lodging important persons because the old karavansaray offered so little comfort. In 1702, LeBrun called it a sorry structure.57 After Dihgirdu the road led to a small fortress, Kala Kewilar, in the village of Kivilaar which had a beautiful karavansaray with very good water, but which had become totally dilapidated by 1717.58 Speelman also mentions the old karavansaray of Dawud Khan (Davudchan), named after its founder, in which some farmers lived, and then the village of Siyah Kuh; Ketelaar stayed in a house there.59 Continuing the journey after three farsakhs and crossing the Dombona river, via a stone bridge and then a five-arched one, the next manzil,the village of Khushk-i zard, was reached. Khushk-i zard was a poor village on a very wide but barren plain. At the end of the village there was a little hillock with a castle which could be seen from 5 leagues' distance. Thevenot had a better opinion of Khushk-i zard. There were two karavansarays, one newly-built of fired brick and freestone with many embellishments, and another old one. The land showed signs of rich agricultural production and also had pastures for the royal studs. The inhabitants were Circassians, who made wine from grapes grown at Ma3in. Chardin described it as a large village which had 200 houses and which derived its name "Golden Pavilion", from the two gilded domes beneath which were buried Cheik Gulendon, a famous dervish, and the ImaimzadaIsmacil, son of the sixth Imam Muisa Kazim, it was accordingly an important pilgrims' site. The karavansaraywas large and well-kept, and the best that Kaempfer had seen so far, although it was old. It had been built by a merchant from Surat, at a cost of a hundred tomans. Van Hatjji LeeneH.usayn, also considered Khushk-i zard to be a fair village, and admired its beautiful brick and stone karavansaray decorated with tiles. The village had some trees and good water. According to Fryer Khushk-i zard had a small but delicate karavansaray. The upper part was too heavy and was pressing down the walls, which were adorned with painted bricks and polished marble. By 1717 the karavansaraywas old and dilapidated.60 From Khushk-i zard, after half a farsakh the traveller, leaving Madar-i Dukhtar (Maderdochter)to the left (the beginning of another shorter but much
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more difficult road to Shiraz) arrived at the karavansaray of Dombona, which had been built by a well-known eunuch, Aqa Kaffiir,and after another seven farsakhsreached the village of Asupas. This was a fine village at the bottom of a high hill; in 1617 it had a Circassian population and about a hundred houses. There was a good store of water, and good wine was sold by Georgian Christians, of whom, Herbert was told, some 30,000 were living in the area. Asupas had an old castle, which had been razed before 1645. Speelman merely described it as a hill with a wall around it, which until 30 years previously had been occupied and maintained. He estimated that the village had more than 200 houses, out of which the karavansaray was the best building. Thevenot described it as a sorry old ruinous castle, inhabited by Circassians. He also noted that they made wine, as did Tavernier, who mentions the presence of fish in the streams, the ruined fortress, and the old and disorderly karavansaray. The karavansarayof Asupas was apparently an unpleasant one in 1665. Chardin records that Asupas was a large village of 300 houses, and surrounded by water and marshes just like Khushk-i Zard. The population was Circassian in origin, but had become Muslim in order to enjoy an easier life, but nevertheless continued to make and drink excellent wine. There were here, as elsewhere in the villages along this route, quite a few Indians living for part of the year. Chardin spent the night with a peasant, because the karavansaray was unusable and in ruins. However, the Dutch embassy in 1691 found it reasonable. There was another saray, standing alone in the high mountains. In 1717, however, the karavansaray of the village was old and dilapidated.61 Leaving Asupas, the caravan passed after one-anda-half farsakhsan unnamed karavansaray62and, continuing, passed inter alia over a bridge with seven arches, reaching after another 3 farsakhs Ujan, a poor village. Thevenot did not stay at its karavansaray because it stank from the carrion and the filth in it, and this is confirmed by Tavernier. A river went through the village, which had a bridge with seven arches. The population also made wine from grapes from Ma3in. There was a tomb of the Shahzada ImamJacfar, with many high plane trees in front in which storks nested. Chardin wrote that Ujan had fifty houses, and he described and provided a translation of the text on the frieze of the tomb of Sultan Sayyid Ahmad, the brother of Shah Ismacil I. This village was still inhabited by Georgians in 1685. It was a large village, which had a fair-sized karavansaraybut very bad houses, and little to offer in the way of supplies, though it had good water. All travellers mention the famous tomb, though they disagree who was entombed there. Kaempfer believed that it was Shah Ismacil's brother, while
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according to Stodart it was the king's uncle. According to the Dutch embassy, the tomb was a small chapel with a cupola, in which a wooden bier was located, where an imdmzddawas entombed. In his memory, trumpets were blown every morning. The building was quite well made and was situated in a garden. The karavansaray was reasonable, while there were also many rose trees, but by 1717 it was totally dilapidated, and the embassy lodged in the shrine.63 The next major halting station was Ma3in, reached by a stony and craggy way after crossing a great hill and passing through the pass of the Kfital-i beImamzada IsmaCil (Chotal-Imam-Zadeh-Esmael) tween Ujan and Imam IsmaCil (Imomismoile).In the latter place there was good water. Right on top of the Kfital-iImamzada Ismacil there was a well with good water. At the foot of the mountain, called Kuh (Goe) de Kinjari, was a village called Ismacil (Esmaal), which also had an imdmzddaand a beautiful new karavansaray.Tavernier, who has the same information, also mentions that practically all trees there were bitter almond ones. These almonds (badam) were exported to Gujarat,where they were used as currency. The karavansaraywas still in good condition in 1717. This was the most wooded area that the Dutch embassy had so far seen. The mosque, in which a certain Ismacil was interred, looked like a castle (of which a description is given), and there was a village close by with many gardens. The village of Imamzada Ismacil was surrounded by a wall and had many amenities.64 From there one arrived at the Circassian village of Ma3in, a large populous one (600 houses, according to de Silva y Figueroa, but 300 according to Chardin), with good water, provisions and much agricultural production. Its brick karavansaraywas a large and comfortable building, and everything could be bought there. There were many gardens with all kinds of fruit trees, as well as grapes from which excellent wine was made. It was one of the largest villages Speelman had yet travelled through. According to Fryer, the best walnuts grew there as well as the choicest tobacco. De Silva y Figueroa praised its many nut trees, while Chardin lauded its pomegranates, which were excellent and sometimes as big as a child's head. There were also two small tombs with imdmzddas,which had been badly built and since then totally neglected so that they were hardly worthy of note.65 From Ma3in the traveller had two choices. He could go straight for Shiraz, or take another road that led to Persepolis. Continuing to Shiraz, one crossed the Ma3in river, also called the Band-i Amir river, close to where the dam was built, and over three bridges. First the PolJesnejoen (?), which was broken in the middle in 1617, the reason why
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Imamverdi Khan, governor of Fars,had built the Pul-i Khani (Pol Chanje).66In addition, there was a fivearched bridge called the Pul-i Naw (Pouli-now) or New Bridge, though it was somewhat ruinous in 1665. The bridge had been built by an Indian merchant, and at this point the river was locally called Ab-i Pul-i Naw (Abpulneu), the New Bridge River. The traveller then arrived at a karavansaray,which had been built by a vaqfor endowment left by a rich man from Shiraz, called Ab-i Garm, because there was a warm spring, having fish in it. Chardin reported that this area was full of warm springs and that there was more than one karavansaray.From here onwards, there were several ways to Shiraz. According to Tavernier, the karavansaray at Ab-i Garm was half completed.67 Thevenot and LeBrun chose the road which passed via the villages of Fagrabaetand Assaf over the Pul-i Gurg (Poligorg), a causeway, which had many arches and was 2,000 paces long. In the middle there was a bridge one hundred paces long. Continuing the journey, there was a karavansaray, and a little further there was another much better one, which had been built by the vizier or governor of Shiraz. It was very large and extraordinarily well-built, with room for 500 persons and their equipment, though its spacious rooms were infested with gnats. It was called Agassef From here a road went straight to Chihilminar, and beyond that the traveller came to the karavansarayof Bajgah, from where it was two farsakhs to Shiraz.68 Following another road, the traveller would arrive at Bajgah (Basigaar), which was a rather sorry karavansaray, with a dilapidated cistern at the entrance. Proceeding further, the traveller passed a beautiful karavansaraynear a village, where he crossed a one mile-long bridge which spanned several streams. Near this was the Kutal-i Bajgah (Cotali Basighaar) which had to be crossed.69 Thewinterroute From Yazdikhvast there was also the alternative, longer, winter route to Shiraz, which was followed by Fryer in the 1670s and by the Dutch ambassador Hoogcamer in 1703.70After having left Yazdikhvast, the route went for six-and-a-halfmiles via the village of Shulgistan (Spilkestoen;Sirgistan) to the village of Abadeh (Abad; Obedeah)for another six-and-a-half miles, continuing to the village of Surmak or Surmeh (Soerna;Surima)for four miles, after another six-anda-half miles reaching the karavansaray of Khan-i Khureh (Goengora; Gonnegaroe;Conacaraw). From here it was four miles to the village of Ajubsja71 Dehbid (Debit;Dehid), which had a karavansarayand was at a quarter of a mile from the karavansarayof Khan-i Kargan (Goenkergie;Goentergoe;Conacurgu). The next stop was the village of Mashhad-i Morghab
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(Mesdjid Madresa Soleyman;Mijtchiet;Mushat). Four miles further, having crossed two bridges, the village of Sivand (Ziwent, Sivand; Zivan), and after another four hours, the village of Zepahoenia, which was also called Ayun (Ajoen) was reached. Continuing, Hoogkamer arrived after a further four miles at a vilor Mikashi. lage named as Miergascoenor Meergoscoon Because of the spring rains (it was 7 March), he could not cross the river Kur (Cur)via the Pul-i Naw or Pul-i Khan (Pole Mouw or Polechan), and thus moved three miles further to the village of Mesdabat. After five miles he arrived at the long Pul-i Gurg (Polegorse)bridge, and after crossing various streams, reached the karavansarayof Bajkhanah (Basgona or toll-house). A further two miles was on the Chahar Bagh (Tsaarbag),which wasjust outside Shiraz.72 Themergingof thesummerand winterroutes The winter and summer routes merged at the plain of Marvdasht in which Persepolis is situated. This did not mean that the traveller had no choice of roads, for the Marvdasht plain offered various roads which led, via Persepolis or otherwise, to Shiraz. Stodart reached Marvdasht, which was within half a league of Chihil Minar, and "sometimes difficult because of crossways on this plain which led to several villages. At Marvdasht there is a good water store."73 From Marvdasht, after seven-and-a-half farsakhs, there was the village of Myrgascun,which was half-a-farsakhfrom Chehel Minar. It was a village of a reasonable size with a number of houses and a small bazaar; it had a public kitchen, and one could buy paper and other trifles. Its karavansarayhad only some Persian merchants, who bought produce from the surrounding area and used the rooms of the saray as storage space. In 1685, its manager was an ugly old prostitute, who offered her services to the passing travellers. The road from Mirgaskan to Zarghan passed via a bridge with four arches, and Shiraz was at a distance of ten to twelve miles.74 Continuing from Chihil Minar, Stodart arrived at Zarghan, which was a poor town situated on the side of a hill one English mile from Rustam's tomb (i.e. Naqsh-i Rustam, the tomb of Darius I), which had been turned into a mosque. Here was good water. Speelman recorded that the village was divided into two parts, and built close to the slope of the mountain. Fryer called it a poor village inhabited by muleteers, while Hedges considered it a large and exceeding pleasant one, in a plain full of vineyards.75Struys stayed in the village of [Alikon] before arriving in Shiraz.76 TheShiraz-BandarCAbbas Road Leaving Shiraz, the traveller rode via the villages of Deh Ameris and Hasanabad, at one German mile
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from the city and crossed the ten-arched Pul-i Fasa bridge over the Qara Bagh river. The bridge was in need of repair, and was linked on both sides by a causeway,77at the left of which a lake was situated. An alternative route was via the village of Ujval. Having passed over a bridge half-way, one arrived after five farsakhsat the karavansarayof Baba Hadji. Ketelaar wrote that in the village of Ujval he camped in a walled garden where a saint's tomb was located.78 Every traveller, with the exception of Hedges, considered Baba Hajji a poor karavansaray. It was situated at the end of the Shiraz plain, which is about twelve leagues in length and, in some places, two leagues in width. Water was not good here. The karavansaray was rather large, but partly dilapidated. It stood alone, was badly constructed of freestone and, in one word was "wretched".It had been named after its founder who was buried close by. It had no good water, though a little beyond the karavansaraythere was some to be found. The karavansaraywas close to a cluster of seven villages, of which the most populous one contained the karavansaray. In 1717 this last was old, though still a reasonable place for staying the night. According to Hedges, Baba Hajji was situated in a fine, well-watered plain and was wellstored with provisions.79 From Baba Hajji, one proceeded to Muzaffari via Janjan, situated in the not-so-well watered Shiraz plain, over the small Cnonebande(?)mountain, and after four farsakhs arrived at the Muzaffari karavansaray which stood alone.80 Opinions differed about the karavansaray.Speelman was pleased with its comfort; it was situated in a nice valley, at about a quarter of a mile from some villages where the traveller could get victuals. Tavernier wrote that the karavansaraywas in an isolated spot, but that he had found black truffles there as big as those in the Dauphine in France. Chardin wrote that the karavansaraywas spacious and comfortable, and was wellwatered by subterranean channels from the Shah Bahman Su (ChaBendmenSou), just like the plain in which it was situated. According to Kaempfer, it was a bad, but large, building of freestone. According to Thevenot, there was good spring water near it, though according to Stodart, the water was not good. The Dutch embassy in 1691 considered the Muzaffari karavansaraygood, though in a lonely situation; while Fryer wrote that it was a very splendid building, a view with which Hedges concurred. In 1717 it was an old, though spacious, structure, situated in a nice valley, and housing a number of rahdars.81 Not far from the Muzaffari karavansaray, at the foot of the mountains, was another one called that of Mirsa Seri, and on the other side of the stream, the village of Baradjun, entirely surrounded by green foliage. After this place Barajan (Baradjun), via vil-
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lages named as Charbi,Sendjan, Sagada, Bier, Fesjun and Asmunga,82it was another three farsakhsto Khafr (Chafr) or Jen (Jesa), or rather, its karavansaray, which in 1617 was quite pleasant, and thirty years later was described as rather small, octagonal and fairly new. Close to it were the remnants of a razed town which was called Barbar by the locals. Khafrwas a rather large village (a couple of hundred houses), rich in agriculture (tobacco), and with many gardens containing all kinds of fruit, and above all, the choicest oranges. It was also the first place that dates were seen by travellers coming from Europe. The Carmelites reported that caraqwas made here from Portuguese grapes.83 After the karavansaray of Mirsa Seri, instead of making straight for Khafr, some travellers either stopped at the karavansaray of Asmankard,84 or, after three farsakhs,at the large karavansarayof Pa in-i Rah, which was a reasonable building that had been built by Aqa Taqi, and was situated next to the village of Barajan. It was an isolated structure, and there were no houses.85 From here the road went via Cossir86to the village of Asmugir (not too far away), then to the village of Pacherabad, and, after two-anda-half farsakhs, the traveller arrived at the village of Tadavan. This was a pleasant, large village which had much water, cattle, fruit and large fish. Speelman added that it had not more than one hundred mud dwellings and that it was a vaqf Tavernier observed that the road via Tadavan was not the normal one taken by caravans, which forked right, whilst he himself went straight onwards, arriving at a plain, called Tadavan, which was full of orange, lemon and pomegranate orchards. Its streams were also filled with various kinds of fish, while the Europeans living in Bandar cAbbasoften spent the summer here. Female dancers knew immediately when Europeans were staying and soon came to dance and to drink wine. Hedges lodged in this, the most pleasant and fruitful plain he had yet seen in Persia, in a garden belonging to the Dutch, because there was no karavansaray. Winninx recorded a superstition among the population that anybody who had been born in the village, whether continuing to reside there or moving elsewhere, might not drink wine. He also saw a local peasant catch five large fish, a half or three-quarter's of an ell in size, within 15 minutes and with his bare hands.87 From Tadavan, continuing along the Qara Agach (Mand) river towards Khafr, it was another two-anda-halffarsakhs to the karavansarayof Mukhak, travelling through a fruitful and pleasant valley. The karavansaray of Mukhak was small, isolated and situated in a craggy place and had good water and no lack of provisions. Hedges ate there the best musk melons that he had ever seen. About some hundred paces behind the karavansaraywas a great cistern, four to
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five fathoms in diameter, very deep and covered by a dome. There was only one house near the karavansaray, while the only drinkable water was in a cistern at one musket shot's distance. However, a Jew had fallen into the cistern and therefore the Muslims did not use it any more, because its water had become unclean, Tavernier observed. Chardin reported that the small karavansaray had been destroyed, and he considered this one of the sorriest halting places he had ever stayed in; also, its water was terrible in quality. In 1685, the karavansarayhad been recently built of freestone by a merchant. It was still situated in the middle of nowhere, though it now also housed a number of rahdarsand had two new covered cisterns. Next to it was a warm spring in which one could take a bath. The old dilapidated karavansaraywas still standing.88 Before 1660 or thereabouts, travellers did not go over the Jahrum mountain, but went eastwards around it, at a distance of three-quarters of a mile from Mukhak. Camel-drivers still took the old way, called the desert road, because the camels could not cross the alternative mountainous road. On the desert road, after having passed a village inhabited by camel drivers, the traveller did not find anything except nomad tents and many partridges till Lar. All other road users preferred the shorter, by three days, though more difficult and arduous road. Ketelaar, who travelled with elephants as presents, took the desert road.89 From Mukhak, one met after two farsakhsthe karavansaray built by Hajj ji Riia,90 and after another farsakh the village of Dih-Manar, or alternatively, the village of Fakhrabad (Fagrabaet),and then finally the famous date town of Jahrum.91 Winninx described Jahrum as a town which in the past had been a pleasant, thriving commercial town, but was now in total decay. According to Thevenot, Jahrum was a small town or rather a large village, but it had a large bazaar. All around the town were palm plantations and gardens. Near the karavansaraywas a cistern like the one at Mukhak, but larger, being some seven fathoms wide. Next to the karavansaraywas also a small house with a kitchen and room for lodging when the karavansaray was full. Chardin reported that Jahrum was a small town, known for its production of felt hats and a kind of camel-hair robe called Caba,but above all, famed for its dates. Kaempfer wrote that it was a rather large, though densely built town, with more than 1,000 houses (a number also mentioned by Herbert) and that it looked like a large date grove. It also had a miserable bazaar and a large karavansaray, called the Shah Husayn one, where prostitutes seemed to be in charge. There was another karavansarayoutside the town on the road, though it was rather filthy. Tavernier and Chardin reported that the karavansaraywas 500 paces outside
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the town and pleasant. Jahrum, according to the of which was a basin that was filled by a stream. Dutch, was a full of date groves and had a very large Because there was no-one to sell food or fodder karavansaray,the biggest they had seen so far. There Thevenot did not stay there.95 Kaempfer called it was also a cistern and a water hole. Struys described Manjir-i Kuchik (Mensir Kieschik),and states that it Jahrum as a small, unwalled town, located in a date had a large garden and cistern.96 Otherwise, it was a grove. Its trade consisted of cotton textiles and there sober karavansaray,standing isolated, but with many were many weavers. The bazaar was quite attractive, fruit trees (dates, lemons and oranges) and many and had all kinds of Indian and Persian goods for other kinds of fruit. There were no victuals for sale sale, while twice a week there was a market when here; in 1702 its karavansaray was, though small, farmers from the neighbouring villages came to new.97 Leaving Manjir, the itinerary went through town.92 the date villages of Gujum and Dschjuhum (behind From Jahrum, the most dangerous part of the which was Bahharru). From here, at two-and-a-half route began, because of the height and steepness of farsakhs, was the Qalca Tizirg (Tesorg),which was in the road over the mountain, which was called fact a ruin.98 After a quarter of a farsakh, one came to a small Ajoudouchsor the Jahrum mountain. Because accidents had happened in the past, the inhabitants had karavansaray close to the village of Dehidombe, constructed a low wall half-a-foot in height in order which in 1651 had only fifteen houses. Chardin to help the travellers and their mules pass in greater recorded that it had a large karavansaraywith runsafety, while in another part of the route there was a ning water. It was a poor building, but in a reasonone-arched bridge across a ravine, which had been able state, and was called the karavansarayof Deh built by Imamquli Kha-n.After the Jahrum moun- Domba; a ruined castle existed nearby in the mountains.99The people of the village drank water from a tain, which had three cisterns on its summit, though these were most of the time empty according to cistern at the karavansaraywhich was four fathoms Chardin, the traveller had to pass two other moun- wide and covered with a dome.100 Proceeding along, tains, one of which was provided with a cistern. From there were many water tanks and streams before the traveller arrived at his next stop, after a half-farsakh, Jahrum to the karavansaray of Chah-Talkh, which was the first stop, it was six farsakhs. Speelman con- sc. the village of Scherafi,which also had cisterns.101 sidered Chah-Talkh had been correctly named, for it Then, after another two-and-a-halffarsakhs,the karawas a bad, dilapidated place that was indeed a "bitter vansaray at the large village of Banaru, where many well". Thevenot, however, averred that the Chah- ruins were situated at the foot of the mountain, came Talkh karavansaray was small and good, standing into view. The karavansaray here also had many isolated in a valley, near to which were two cisterns, large cisterns.102 Banaru, was a pleasant, not very one covered with a dome and the other with a large village, with many palm groves, and there was pitched roof. The well near the karavansaray was an old karavansaray called that of Khayrat Khan bitter, hence the locality's name. Tavernier confirms (Cheirat Chan) after a Persian, who had been an this and adds that the place abounded with bitter envoy from Golconda. When it rained, the road to almond and turpentine trees. There were also Banaru was followed via Bakhtiyari (after two rahddrswho offered deer for eating, since there were farsakhs) which had a fortress with two high towers. many of these. The area also abounded with part- Banaru also had a fortress and large cisterns.103 ridges as big as chickens. Hedges recorded that it Proceeding half-a-farsakhvia the karavansaray of had a spacious karavansaray with plenty of good, Dehra, which was an ugly and miserable place, and fresh water and provisions, but Chardin considered reaching after another half farsakh a rdhddr stait a miserable place with bad water. Rich people, he tion,104 one crossed a plain, where barley was being wrote, took sweet water with them in goatskins or sowed, and over a craggy, hilly and winding road, one reached Biriz. All travellers agreed that this was large copper flasks, in which the water remained cool. Next to the karavansaray was another one, a large and pleasant village with 200 houses, and which was partly in ruins in 1685. According to Fryer, many palms and tamarisks which were irrigated with the karavansaraywas a new and ample one, with a groundwater. Thevenot, Kaempfer and Hedges connew cistern with only slightly bitter water. It had two sidered the newly-built karavansaray,the most beaunew and two old cisterns in 1691. LeBrun wrote that tiful that they had so far seen; the latter added that it the karavansaraywas a comfortable one.93 had very bad water, but plenty of provisions. It had Going down from the Jahrum mountain, the trav- been built by CIvazKhain,governor of Lar, or by his eller passed the karavansaray of Manjir-i Buzurg Georgian wife, in 1648, and the Dutch considered it (Manjir besorg), then via the Kutal-i Hasani or in 1691 still a beautiful building. The karavansaray Mamasani pass, at the foot of which was a cistern,94 had five covered tanks and wells. Right in front of the and, then onwards through a stony plain, one building was a very large water tank with a diameter arrived at a fair karavansaray,called Manjir, in front of 100 feet and over 300 feet in circumference,
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which, according to Thevenot, was full of worms. Fryer said that it was the best karavansaray on the road, well-adorned with white facing stone, large and stately and well-built. The village further boasted of a village school and an imdmzdda,known as Puseri Saada Ali. In 1717, the karavansaray was still described as spacious and pleasant.105 The distance from Biriz to Lar was eight farsakhs and led via the villages of Dih-i Kuh and Kurdeh, which both had a karavansaray, many palms and tamarisks and several cisterns. At Dih-i Kuh there was also a mile-stone indicating the road to Darab, erected by a merchant who had taken the wrong turning. From here one arrived at the karavansaray of Pa-yiKutali (Pai Chotali),which had a cistern and a well. From there it was still four to five hours' journey to Lar, over difficult terrain with various streams to cross. Fryer reported that there was a new karavansaray, well-built and spacious, for both men and animals, with three tanks and a deep well of over a hundred fathoms, with a pond for the cattle to wash in. At two musket shots from the karavansaraywas the village of Dih-i Kuh, where Kaempfer stayed. It had a reasonable karavansaray and an old dilapidated one, but he stayed at a beautiful house with wall paintings belonging to the kaldntar.It also had a large cemetery with a tomb. Ketelaar also stayed in the house of the village headman, because there was no water at the karavansaray.According to Speelman, who considered the karavansaray of Gurdheh or Kurdeh the best he had seen so far, both the adjacent village and the next one (which was Dih-i Kuh), in which his party rested, were both called Dih-i Kuh, because they were at the foot of the mountain.106 Stodart wrote that Dih-i Kuh was a poor village lying in a rocky and poor plain. '"The water is good; but tanck water as most of these parts be, wch the cuntrey peple call obe choodohe, wch by interpretation is as much to saye Godes water (Ab-e khoda)."l07Those not taking the road via Kurdeh could stop at the karavansarayof Rustehhennis, built by a merchant called AqatJamal, which had a very deep well (built by a governor of Lar) which only yielded brackish water.108 Continuing the journey to Lar, one arrived at a small, isolated karavansaray with a cistern called Hhormont,being named after the village.109Lar, the next stop, had a rdhddrstation and only two karavansarays.One, inside the town, was not so good; the other, outside the town (towards the Gulf side) was quite comfortable. However, it could not be used during the rainy season, because it became filled with water. Europeans and Armenians usually stayed at the Dutch house, kept by the VOC and situated at the end of town. The house was used both as a retreat for Bandar CAbbasstaff during part of the summer as well as being a halting place, for it was in
Lar that camels had to be changed. The ones coming from Isfahan could not stand the heat of the Garmszrdtand vice-versa. Both inside Lar and in its environs there were plenty of cisterns, because there were years when it did not rain at all.110 Lar to BandarcAbbas The traveller left Lar through the suburb of Bajgah, where road guards were situated right in front of the karavansaray with the same name.111 Then the route passed first through the village of Kanaru,112then onwards to the village of Talkhab with its small covered karavansaray,which, according to Stodart, had good water. By 1672, a benefactor had built a new magnificent karavansaray.113 Travellers then continued to Fariyab, seeing many villages and cultivated land en route. The karavansaraywas very good, but was in a lonely situation; while there also was an old simpler karavansaray.114 Travellers might also choose to go, two hours' journey out of Talkhab, to another small covered karaWherever one had vansaray named Tenghinoun.11"5 next the halting place was at the covered stopped, karavansaray of Wasili, and then on to another square, covered karavansaray called Chasma-Zangi. These karavansarayswere not built like the others, and were wretched lodgings, according to Thevenot. In 1651, victuals could be had at Wasili from the sardyddrwho lived in the village at one mile's distance. The Dutch embassy of 1691 reported that the entire area was covered with saltpetre and looked as if it was covered with snow. There were two other good karavansaraysat Chashma-Zangi, but the water was brackish.116Chardin wrote that there were two small karavansaraysthere, which were different from the karavansarays that he had previously seen and which were not called by that name but were termed because they were small, squat and crucichahdr-tadqi, form; he added that the same type of karavansarays were also to be seen in Kerman. However, few people went there, and the countryside was even more miserable. According to popular etymology, the saray was built by an Ethiopian, hence the allegedly correct orthography of Chashma-Zangi or the Ethiopian's Well; the true etymology remains mysterious, but the contemporary rendering of the orthography is retained here. The Dutch had here "a neat, but small dwelling" where the staff in Bandar cAbbas came during the hot season to find relief from the torrid heat. In 1717, the karavansaray of Chashma-Zangi had been totally destroyed due to a recent earthquake."7 From the karavansaray of Wasili, after two farsakhs, the traveller came to the large, verdant village of Desgert, where the karavansarayin 1717 was however totally uninhabitable. Continuing, after
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one-and-a-half farsakhs, the karavansaray called Tschenitsche Tschengi, which was a karavansaray square in shape, built of freestone, and open on all sides, was typical for this kind of building in the Garmsir in order to provide cooling from the wind. But there was nothing to be had at this karavansaray, neither water nor straw, hence caravans had to push onwards to Badini or Bahadini, which had a cistern, but one full of worms "as most tankes be." In 1717, the karavansaraywas old and totally in ruins because of the earthquakes.118 After Bahadini, one arrived at the karavansarayof Chek-Chek, where there also was a hut for the rdhddrs.119Then the traveller came to a large, pleasant village, having seventy houses in 1617, situated in a date grove and called Hormut, with two small karavansarays,the one a little beyond the other, at a bowshot from the village. These boasted some cisterns, which contained bad water, however, and according to de Silva y Figueroa, were from that place onwards of a different type, i.e. the open chahdr-tadqi design. Speelman considered it a pleasant village, which had many animals, date groves and agricultural production watered by wells. He estimated that it was inhabited by 300 persons. Victuals were plenty and cheap. About one mile from Hormut was the karavansaray of Agaya Nalie. According to Tavernier, the stretch between Lar and Hormut was the most difficult one in Persia, because there was often no water to be had. Coming down towards the littoral, there was usually plenty of water in the cisterns at the beginning of the summer. But on returning to Isfahan, one often found the cisterns empty due to the many animals who had drunk there. This obliged the traveller either to make the Hormut-Lar stretch in one go, or to divert from the road by three leagues to find water.120 After one mile from Hormut, there was the karavansarayof Birka-yiAqa Jamal,121 followed by the karavansaray of Bascomaakoe,and the karavansaraySartang; all of them offering bad lodgings.'22 After Sartang, the karavansaray Bedgia Paria followed, which had brackish water. The route then continued to the Imamzada-yi Sih Tang-i Dalan, which had three karavansaraysincluding one built by a certain Aqai CArab,which was in a reasonable state. Then, according to Kaempfer, it was another three farsakhsto the karavansarayof Tang-i Dalan,123 where in 1652 two neatly built, small but cool karavansarays were located in place, however, where nothing could be obtained. The village itself had only ten houses in 1685, and only two in 1691. The water was good, but there was nothing else to be obtained for man or horse. Tavernier reported that there was a new karavansaray, with in its midst a small basin which was fed by a small stream from the mountain. However, the water was somewhat brack-
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ish, and therefore a cistern had been built. A canal also had been constructed by a rich merchant to channel water from the mountain down to a dry area of land, where since then two thriving villages had been established and which supplied the karavansaraywith its necessities. Chardin noted here two karavansarayswith their cisterns.124 From Tang-i Dalan, the road led after six farsakhs to the karavansarayof Gur-i Bazargan, via two karavansarays, sc. the covered karavansaraycalled Birkayi Duband, and further on, another covered karavansaray known as Jihan. The name Gur-i Bazargan, had been allegedly derived from the name of an Armenian who was buried there; his grave was still there when the Dutch embassy passed. The isolated karavansaray,though not too far from a village, had three cisterns, for otherwise there was no water. Fryer mentioned the water-melons which were a grateful, cooling comestible in the extreme heat, and he considered the name, "merchant's grave", aptly chosen.125 Following Gur-i Bazargan, the next stop was a small covered karavansaraycalled Birka-yi Sultan, and later another like it, but a bad one, near the village of Kuristan or Kahuristan.126This karavansaray did not offer much accommodation. The village itself consisted of about a hundred mud huts to house farmers, who worked the surrounding fields. Here was also a bridge over the Rud-i Shur financed by a Muslim merchant in ca. 1639, which, despite-enormous amounts of money spent, still had not been finished and work was still ongoing in 1651. Tavernier remarked that here the traveller could buy the best and largest water melons in Persia. The karavansaray of Kuristan was named after a tree growing there, according to Fryer. He also noted hat the houses in the village "being the first we met with whose Houses were fixed." In 1717 the karavansaray was so dilapidated that the Dutch ambassador stayed in the kaldntar'shouse.127 From Kuristan, the traveller required a guide, because there was neither path nor road, but only sandy plains to traverse, with many dangerous spots close to the rivers and brooks. All other travellers had to pass over a bridge which boasted of at least fifty arches. In fact, there were two causeway/ bridges. One had a length of a quarter league, while the causeway to the second bridge was even longer. The second bridge was as long as the Pont Neuf in Paris and passed over the saline river Kur. It was so wide that five to six horses could pass at the same time. The bridge had been built by a Persian who had grown rich in Golconda and through trading between there and Persia. To perpetuate his memory, he decided to built the causeway and the two bridges. He had offered the local peasants two qazbegisfor two mann of rocks to construct the causeway. This was good business for the peasants, who
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during the six months' off-season could not earn any money from passing caravans and therefore transported these rocks with their camels and donkeys.128 Leaving Kuristan, one passed a small covered karavansaray called that of Dobrike or Barik, and then, via the karavansaray of Guni Godscji Mamed, one passed over the river Kur. The next stops were the village of Pohel, with a dilapidated karavansaray,and after six farsakhs the village of Gichi or Gachin, one of huts built from straw and pieces of fabric.129For another alternative halting place the traveller had to ride four-and-a-half miles to the gardens of Latidun, and then two-and-a-half miles to Gichi. Fryer also mentioned the stately bridge with arches, which he believed to be recently built, and a well-built causeway through the marshes. In 1702 the bridge was broken in the middle, and in 1717 it was in ruins.130 In Gichi itself, the karavansaraywas situated in the wilderness, where Stodart nevertheless found to his surprise eggs, milk, dates and hay for horses. It was also a pleasant place because of green bushes and, in some places, date palm groves. In 1645, there were two beautiful karavansarays at Gichi, which had a water tank. However, Speelman was rather dismissive of the place, mentioning a mere eight strawhuts and some poor folk herding goats. Tavernier was much more positive: one karavansaraywas quite good, the other, however, was badly located, because the wind had blown it full of sand so that one could not stay there. Chardin considered the karavansaray,which was half-buried by the sand as the worst place he had yet been in. Kaempfer in 1685 echoed Speelman, though he mentioned that Gichi still had had two karavansarays;one was dilapidated, while the other was still usable. In 1717, the first karavansaraywas still rather dilapidated.13' Two leagues from Gichi there was a bifurcation. If the traveller did not have a guide and chose the left road, which looked better, he would end up on the wrong, and very dangerous, road. The road on the right hand was indeed the right one, although it was nothing but a track over a sandy plain as far as Bandar cAbbas.l32If the traveller was not welcomed by a delegation from Bandar CAbbasin Gichi he had to ride on to Khun-i Surkh which in 1665 had a small karavansaray, while in 1691 there were two dilapidated ones. From here, one pressed onwards to the Sultan's Gardens or to the karavansaray of Band-i cAli and then to Gamron.133The karavansarayof Band-i cAli, situated close to the beach, was of the chahar.taqztype with an octagonal cupola, and was very comfortable. In 1717, it was described as being reasonably large with small rooms.134 An alternative starting point of the journey up-country was the small shrine of KhvajaKhidr, not far from Bandar CAbbas,where the traveller was welcomed by the road guards.'35
1 "Ein Abschnitt der safavidischen Bandar-e cAbbas-SirazStrasse: die Strecke von Seyyed Gemal al-Din nach Lar", Iran XVII (1979), pp. 33-48. 2 Muhammad cAhl Khan Sadid al-Saltana MinabiBandar cAbbasi, Safarndma-yiSadid al-Saltana, ed. Ahmad Iqtidarl (Tehran, 1362/1983), pp. 53-71, 579-85. 3 J. R. Preece, 'Journey from Shiraz to Jashk via Darab, Forg, and Minab". RGS, Supplementary Paper 1 (1885), pp. 403-37. Guy Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (Cambridge, 1905), pp. 295-7. This seems to have been the road usually taken by the Portuguese embassies in the early sixteenth century. Ronald Bishop Smith, TheFirst Age. Of the PortugueseEmbassies,Navigations and Peregrinationsin Persia (1507-1524). (Bethesda, Md. 1970), pp. 39-42, though later they also took the route via Lar, ibid., pp. 64-7; Alfons Gabriel, Die ErforschungPersiens (Vienna, 1952), pp. 76, 62. John Newbery took the same route in 1581 as described here. "The Voyages of Master John Newberie", in: Samuel Purchas (ed.), PurchasHis Pilgrimes,20 vols. (Glasgow, 1905), vol. VIII, pp. 460-3. 4 Engelbert Kaempfer, Die Reisetagebiichered. Meier-Lemgo. (Wiesbaden, 1968), pp. 141-2. idem,AmoenitatumExoticarum Politico-Physico-MedicarumFasciculi V (Lemgoviae, 1712 [Tehran 1976]), pp. 729-35; Garcia de Silva y Figueroa. L'ambassade de Don Garcia de Silva Figveroa en Perse, tr. Abraham de Wicquefort (Paris, 1667), pp. 52, 104; Francis Richard (ed.), Raphaeldu Mans, missionnaireen Perseau XVIIe siecle,2 vols. (Paris, 1995), vol. II, p. 189. For a translation of the text commemorating the founder on the karavansarayat Biriz, see Jean Chardin, Voyagesdu ChevalierChardinen Perse et autreslieux de l'Orient,ed. L.Langls, 10 vols. (Paris, 1811), vol. VIII, pp. 477-8. See also Membr?, p. 48. 5 Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Voyagesen Perseet descriptionde ce royaume (Paris, 1930) p. 322; Silva y Figueroa, pp. 53, 94. For detailed studies on the types of karavansarays,see M. Siroux, Caravanserais d'Iran, et petites constructionsrouti6res (Paris, 1949); Wolfram Kleiss and Mohammad Yusef Kiani, Fihrist-i Karavdnsardyha-yi Irdn, 2 vols. (Tehran, 1367/1989). 6 Francois le Gouz, Les Voyageset Observationsdu Sieur de la Boullaye-LeGouz(Paris, 1653), p. 115; Richard, vol. II, p. 189. 7 Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 225, 221, 477; John Fryer, A New Account of East India and Persia Being Nine Years' Travels, 1672-1681, 3 vols. (London, 1909-15) (Hakluyt Society, Second Series), vol. II, pp. 197-8. 8 Fryer, vol. II, pp.178-9, vol. III, pp. 26-8; see also Thomas Herbert, Travels in Persia 1627-1629, ed. W. Foster (New York, 1929), p. 51, who, though more complimentary, also remarked that service could not be relied upon. 9 AlgemeenRijks Archief(General State Archives or ARA), The Hague, the Netherlands. Koloniaal Archief (Colonial Archives, henceforth cited as KA. These archives have been known as Archives of the Dutch East Indies Company since 1979, and have a VOC rather than a KA number. ARA has files which indicate which old KA is which new VOC number). KA 1057, fol. 359-85, "Dagh Register gehouden bij den oppercoopman Leonard Winninx 'tsindert den 6 Julij anno 1645 dat uijt Gamron naer Spahan vertreckt, tot den 24e November, daeraen volgende, als wanneer in gemelte Gamron wederom gearriveert is." 11 October 1645 (henceforce cited as Winninx, referring to the dates rather than folio numbers for easier reference), Winninx, 7 July (Gitsj). 10 For various instances, see FranCoisValentijn, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien,5 vols. (Dordrecht, 1726), vol. V, pp. 260-6. 11 Winninx, 14 November (at Banaru). 12 TheJournal of RobertStodart,ed. Sir E. Denison Ross (London, 1935), pp. 74-5; Tavernier, p. 323. '1 Ibid., p. 75; de Silva y Figueroa, p. 140. 14 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,pp. 141-2; ibid., Amoenitatum, p. 731.
THE BANDAR CABBAS-ISFAHAN ROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVID ERA
15 Ibid., 728. p. 16 The Travels
of M. de Thevenotinto the Levant, 3 vols. in one (London, 1686 [1971]), vol. II, p. 128; Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 463. The cisterns were circular and about fifty paces in diameter, and all of them were provided with a dome. 17 Tavernier, p. 320; Thomas Herbert, Travels in Persia 1627-1629, ed. Sir William Foster (New York, 1929), p. 52, who gives a description of the cisterns, was initially more positive about the quality of the water, which was drawn out using husaynis or leather bags or other vessels, but he was rather negative about the rain water (ab-i baran) cisterns in Lar (ibid., p. 59). 18 Vol. II, 169. p. 19 Rice grown in small quantities in southern Fars was known as champa. Despite this local production, rice never became a staple in Fars, being too expensive for most people. cf. Hans E. Wulff, The Traditional Crafts of Persia (Cambridge, Mass. 1966), p. 242. 20 One traveller mentioned a liquor "distilled chiefly of dates and liquorice leaves. [probably the root]. It is called arequy." Teixeira, pp. 197-8. Another states that in Lar eau de vie was sold which was produced from dates, see Le Gouz, p. 114. 21 On the origins of the conflict and the conflict itself, including Winninx's mission, see Willem Floor, "Het NederlandsIraanse conflict van 1645," in Verslagen en Aanwinsten 1978-1979 van de StichtingCultuurgeschiedenis derNederlanders Overzee(Amsterdam, 1981), pp. 46-51. 22 Valentyn, vol. V, pp. 272-6, 284-5. The Dutch ambassador Johan van Leene, whose journey is also listed here in Appendix I, left Isfahan on 18 October and arrived in Bandar cAbbas on 29 December 1691, ibid., vol. V, pp. 259-67. The English embassy of 1628, led by Sir Dodmore Cotton, left Isfahan on 12 October and arrived on 19 December 1628 in Bandar cAbbas, see Robert Stodart, Journal, pp. 73-85. 23 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,pp. 85-124. The caravan left Isfahan on 21 November and arrived on 28 December 1685 in Bandar cAbbas. See also Appendix II. 24 De Silva y Figueroa, pp. 173, 335. 25 Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 192-3. 26 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, 85; Winninx (5 p. August) stayed in Muhammad cAl Beg Isfahani's (Mamet Ali beecq) garden; he was the Shah's steward or niazir-ibuyiLtat1640-51; Fryer, vol. II, p. 239. (Urchin Hills). The Kital-i Urchini or Stairs Pass is not high, but it was very difficult to get up it because of the very slippery rock; travellers often went one after the other because mules fell and threw down their baggage and because most of the travelling was done at night, cf. Thevenot, vol. II, pp.119-20. Even during the day, people dismounted and went on foot, Cornelis Speelman, Journaal der Reis van den gezant der 0.1. CompagnieJoan Cunaeus naar Perzii"in 1651-1652, ed. A. Hotz (Amsterdam, 1908), p. 132 (henceforth cited as Speelman); see also Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 193-5 and its road guards mentioned there. 27 For a discussion of the role and functioning of the road guard system, see John Emerson and Willem Floor, "Rahdars and their tolls in Safavid and Afsharid Iran," JESHO XXX, pp. 318-27. 28 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,pp. 85-6; William Hedges, The Diary of WilliamHedgesEsq, ed. R. Barlow and H. Yule (New York, 1967), p. 209 (Moyar); Winninx (26 October-Maijaer); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 173, 336 (Mahier). 29 For a description of this garden see Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 259, 275. so Valentijn, vol. V, p. 275 (Cotali Ortsini; Miseralisa; Majaart); ARA, KA 1793, Dag-Register off Dageljkse aenteijckeningen, nopende het principaelste voorgevallene in d'opreijse, uijt Gamron naer de Coninglijke Residentie Stad Spahan van den E. E. Agtbaeren heer Joan Josua Ketelaer etc. begin-
(1617-1717)
81
nende den 27e maart, en Eijndigende 30e maij A. 1717, fol. 1034; Johan J. Strauszens Reisen durch Griechenland,Moscau, Tartarey, Ostindien und andere Theile der Welt (Amsterdam, 1678), p. 186 (Majar). But not every caravan stopped at Mahyar. For example, the Dutch ambassador Hoogcamer on leaving Isfahan on 18 February 1702, stopped at the village of Poskoen or Kietsje and from there went straight to Commesia, Valentijn, V, p. 284. 31 Speelman, pp. 132, 319 (Spahanek); Herbert, p. 120-1 (Spahawnet); Winninx (25 October-Spahannecq); Tavernier, p. 294 (Ispehanek) which was a rahdar station; LeBrun, Corneille, Les Voyages.2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718), vol. II, pp. 253-4, 300 (Spahanek; Miersa alresa). For a drawing of the karavansaray,see plate 112; Fryer, vol. II, p. 239 (Mirge); Pieter van Dam, Beschryvingevan de OostindischeCompagnie, Tweede Boek, deel III, ed. F. W. Stapel (The Hague, 1993), RGP 83, p. 328. Another road led from Isfahan, via Vazudar (?) to Mayar, see Anonymous, A Chronicleof the Carmelitesin Persia, 2 vols. (London, 1939), vol. I, p. 218, n. 4 (cited henceforth as Carmelites),which refers to the situation before 1622. 32 de Silva y Figueroa, p 173. 33 Herbert, p. 120. 34 Speelman, pp. 132-3 (Mayaar). 35 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 121; Tavernier, p. 294 (Mahiar). 36 Chardin, vol. VIII, pp.195-6 (Mayar). 37 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, pp. 85-6. 38 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 259; Fryer, vol. II, p. 23-89 (Mayar) 39 KA 1793, fol. 1033a-b (Mhaa-Jaar). 40 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 87 (Gommosja); Carmelites, vol. I, p. 218, n. 4.. 41 Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 197-8 (Comicha). 42 de Silva y Figeroa, pp. 171, 337; Herbert, p. 119 (Commeshaw); Winninx, 3 August and 27 October (Comissa; Commischa); Speelman, p. 131 (Commesja); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,pp. 87-8; Valentijn, vol. V, 260; Thevenot, vol. II, p. 120; KA 1793, fol. 1032b. (Commisja); Tavernier, p. 294 (Comche); Hedges, p. 209 (Comesha); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 254, 302, 307 (Cominsja; Kominsja). 43 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 87 (Scharesa); arrived at Sjaresa a half-mile from Commissia. Valentijn, vol. V, p. 260; Winninx, 3 August; LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 254, 307 (Zja-reza) It had a karavansaray;for a drawing, see p. 308. 44 Winninx, 3 August (tSara); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 120; pp. 87-8, for a detailed descripKaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, tion of the tomb; Fryer, vol. II, p. 237 (Come Shaw; Shaw Rezin); Tavernier, p. 294; Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 198-202 (Cha Reza) with additional information on the fishpond and the tomb. 45 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 260. 46 This was one of the most pleasant places in Persia, because of its many beautiful gardens and the buildings that Mirzai Kuchik (who was sadr during 1661-64) had constructed there; see Chardin vol. VIII, p. 202 (Mirzai-Kut-chec). 47 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 89 (Hadji; Mag sud Begi); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 260 (Misakoetsiek; Matubeki); Thevenot vol. II, p. 120; Speelman, p. 129 (Macsoubegy); Herbert, p. 119 (De-Moxalbeg); Winninx, 2 August (Machsoetbeecq); Fryer, vol. II, p. 236 (Moxutebeggy); KA 1793, fol. 1032 (Magh-Zoet-begie); Tavernier, p. 295 (Maksoubegui); Hedges, p. 209 (Macksood Beigh); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 202-3 (Maxud Begui); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 254, 302, 307 (Magsoetbegi). Maqsfid Beg was the Shah's steward during 1666-71. 48 Herbert, p. 119 (Amno-baut, also called Boyall by some; see e.g. Purchas, vol. VIII, p. 463 [Boial]); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 89 (Amnabad); Alkahverdi Khan was governor of Fars and Shah cAbbas I's most important general. He was amongst other things the builder of the famous bridge in
82
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Isfahan that also carries his name. Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 260, 275 (Amnabat; Aap Nabaat); Winnninx, 1 August (Amnabath); Speelman, p. 129 (Amnadabath); KA 1793. fol. 1032 (Amnabaath); Tavernier, p. 295 (Amnebad), who states that the builder was Imamquli Khan, the son of Alla-hverdi Khan. For a description, see Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 89 (Kala Hammum; Ala Werdi Chan); a drawing is in his original manuscript. Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 203-04 (Amnaabad) writes that it was Dawfid Khan, Imamquli Khan's brother, who had build the fortress. De Silva y Figueroa, pp. 170, 337, did not mention the village by name, though he mentioned a small village where the governor of Shiraz had built a new karavansaray;LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 254, 302, 307 (Ammanabaet; Anabaet); Carmelites,vol. I, p. 218, mentions the karavansarayof the Khan. 49 Thevenot vol. II, pp. 120-1; Winninx, 28 October (Jassegas); Speelman, pp. 126-8 (Jasdegas), Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 204-7 (Yezdecast), and Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, pp. 89-9 (Jesdegas; Jesdechas), all have detailed descriptions of the village and its water supply. They also mention that here the best wheat in Persia was cultivated there and they recount the often repeated maxim: sharab-iShiraz, nan-i Yazdikhvast va zan-i Yazd. Chardin added a description of the Cha Resourg (Shah-i Buzurg) mosque. Valentijn, vol. V, p. 260; Herbert, p. 119 (Yezdecawz); Fryer, vol. II, pp. 233-4, says that it had the finest wheat (Esduchos); Strauszens, p. 186 (Jesegas formerly known as lurgistan); KA 1793, fol. 1031b (Jes de ghaes); Tavernier, p. 295 (Yesdecas); Hedges, p. 209 (Yes-de-gas); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 169, 337 (Hies-de-Gas); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 254, 302, 307 (Jesdegaas) and plates 113 and 114; Carmelites, vol. I, p. 219, n. 50 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 121; Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 242. 51 Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 220 (Koutel nalt che Keny); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 121 (Chotali-Naar-Schekeni). 52 Speelman, pp. 125-6 (Gommesella; Mansada Mahometh Hasi; Gombes = dome); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 121 (ChotaliNaar-Schekeni; Gombez Cala); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 91 (Gumber allalah); Winninx, 31 July (Combazala); via the mountain Naatsikan; Valentijn, vol. V, p. 260 (Combesilala); Tavernier, p. 295 (Kotel innal tekeheni; Gombeslala); Herbert, p. 118 (Gumbazelello) ascribed the best wheaten-bread to this town; Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 220 (Gombes lala). 53 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 260; LeBrun, p. 308 (Gombes-Lala) a very small village. 54 Winninx, 31 July. 55 Stodart, p. 74 (Dehegerdow); Winninx, 31 July; Herbert, p. 118 (Degardow); de Silva y Figueroa, pp.169, 338 (Derguiguer), in which is mentioned a small house belonging to the governor of Shiraz; LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 255, 302, 308 (Degerdoe). 56 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 121 (Dehi Ghirdoen); Kaempfer, p. 91 (Degerdu); Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 260-1 Reisetagebiicher, (Degerdoe); Smith, pp. 39, 40, 42-3 (Diager, Diaguer); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 221. It would seem that della Valle was the last traveller who found nuts there; Fryer, vol. II, p. 233 (Degurdu); KA 1793, fol. 1029b (Dhee-Girdoe); Tavernier, p. 295 (Dehigherdou); Hedges, p. 209 (Deregherdoo); Winninx, 31 July. (Degerdoe); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 221 (Deguerdou). 57 Speelman, p. 125 (Digerdou). 58 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 91 (Kala Kewilar); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 261 (Kivilaar); KA 1793, fol. 1029b (Serae Kwilaer); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 302 (Kiavielar). 59 Speelman, pp. 124-5 (Chiakon); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 221 called this bridge the Polichiokou. It crosses the Polvar river, which joins the Kur at Persepolis. Nowadays the location is called Shahkuh. This must be close to (or the same as) what Herbert, p. 118, called Bazeba-chow. KA 1793, fol. 1027b
(Pool Chachon); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 302, 308 (Poel-Sakoe; Pol-Siakoe) which had no karavansaray. 60 Stodart, p. 75 (Cuskezar); Thevenot, vol. II, pp.121-2 (Keuschkzer) ; Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 91 (Kuskiserd); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 261 (Cuchesaar; Koskoser). Smith, p. 43; Speelman, p. 124 (Coscosaar); Herbert, p. 118 (Cuzcuzar). The next stop which Herbert (p. 118) made, Whomgesh, I have not be able to identify; Fryer, vol. II, p. 232 (Cuscuzar); KA 1793, fol. 1027 (Khos-kie-zhaar); Tavernier, p. 295 (Kouchkizerd); Hedges, p. 209 (Coskezar); Winninx, 30 July (Kuskesaer); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 221-2 (Keuch Kezar); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 169, 340 (Cuzcuzar); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 255, 301, 308 (Koskiesar). 61 Stodart, p. 75 (Assepose); Winninx, 29 July (Asepas); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 121 (Asoupas); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 92 (Aszpasz); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 261 (Asepas; Haspas); Speelman, p. 125, who also suggests that Haspas means cook or dshpaz, which is unlikely; Herbert, p. 117 (Asseposse); Winninx 29 July (Assepas); Fryer, vol. II, pp. 231-2, the Georgians were farmers and planters of vines. Many had become Muslim (Asspass); Hedges, p. 209 (Assapos) good water; KA 1793, fol. 1026b (Haasepaas); Tavernier, p. 295 (Assoupas); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 225-6 (Haspas); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 168, 340-1 (Acopas); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 255, 301, 309 (Dombaeyne; Assapas, Aespaas) 62 This karavansaraymentioned by Kaempfer may be the same as the halting place in which Herbert, p. 117, stayed, called Tartang, a small town, with a mosque and a remarkable tomb, in which a great-uncle of the Shah was buried. However, in the light of the description, Herbert may have made a mistake, for it seems that he described Ujan, see e.g. Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 226-7. 63 Stodart, p. 75 (Yeioone); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 122 (Oudgioun; Schah-Zadeh-Imam-Dgiafar); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,pp. 91-2 (Udjan); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 261 (Oedjaan). For a detailed description of the tomb, see Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 226-8 (Ujon; Sultan Sahied Ahmed), and Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, pp. 93-4; Speelman, p. 122 (Oedjangh); Herbert, p. 117 (O-jone), see also the previous note; Fryer, vol. II, p. 229, with the tomb and many fruits (Ojoan); KA 1793, fol. 1024b (Oojhoen); Tavernier, pp. 295-8 (Oudjan); Winninx, 28 July and 31 October (Oldjoen); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 167 (Vgion); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 255-6, 310 (Oesjoen, Oedjoen, Aedioen), with the 280-year old tomb of the prince Sultan Hossen Mameth. 64 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 94 (Majin; Mahin); Stodart, p. 75 (Moyeeme); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 122 (Maain); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 261 (Majien; Majur); Speelman, p. 122 (Monsada). The imimzaddais Ismacil, son of Mitsa al-Kazim, the seventh Shicite Imam; Herbert, p. 117 who placed it in Ma3in, and its description under Ujan; Hedges, p. 208 (WooJohn); KA 1793, fol. 1020b (Imoen Sada); Tavernier, p. 298 (Iman-Sade); Hedges, p. 208 (Imaum Zade), a pretty village; Winninx, 27 July (Monsada); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 229-30, who states that Ismacil son of Imam Jacfar was entombed here, giving a translation of the inscription on the tomb allegedly saying so; de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 165-6, 343-4 (Amanzada); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262 (Cotali Imames Esmaal; Imam Sadas Mal ); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 257 (ruined karavansaray), 301, 310 (Imansada). 65 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 123; Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262; Speelman, p. 121 (Mahien); Herbert, pp. 116-17 (Moyown); Fryer, vol. II, p. 228 (Maijm); KA 1793, fol. 1017 (Mhaa-iem); Tavernier, p. 298 (Mayin); Hedges, p. 208 (Moyeen); Winninx, 27 July (Majein); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 231-2 (Mayn); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 165, 344 (Mahin); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 257-8, 301, 310 (Majien), with vineyards. 66 De Silva y Figueroa, p. 344; LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 258-60, 294,
THE BANDAR CABBAS-ISFAHAN ROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVID ERA
and plates 172 and 173 (Pol noof); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher;idem,Amoenitatum,p. 295 (Pyli Chaan, PylyNoo). 67 Abigerne was at five German miles' distance from Persepolis. Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262; Speelman, p. 120 (Germawa), p. 323 (Aab de Germ); Winninx, 1 November, has Germoens (which may be the present author's transcription error for Germawa), which had much water, livestock and grains; KA 1793, fol. 1016b (Ghermabe); Tavernier, p. 298 (AbGherme); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 234-9 (Abguerm); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 260, 311 (Abgerm). 68 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 123 (Poligorgh); Tavernier, p. 298, the causeway was 1,500 paces long and fifteen paces wide, and was interspaced by four bridges to let the water pass (Pouligor); Speelman, pp. 323-4 (Badsjega); Winninx, 26 July (Agaseff). The karavansarayPoulou Gor, though old, was still one of the most solid and commodious karavansarays in Persia. It had been built by the old governor of Shiraz, Aga Seff, whose son, Miersa Hady, was the current governor of Shiraz; Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 240 (Piligourc; karavansarayAssef; Bagsga). Tavernier mentioned that after this beautiful but gnat-infested karavansaray, there was three hours later another karavansaray,which was very wretched (Agassef; Badgega); LeBrun, vol. II, pp. 258-60, 294, 311 (Baeits-goedie). 69 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262 (Basighaar; Baasga; Basgona); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 123 (Badgega). 70 The description of the winter route is based on Valentijn, vol. V, p. 284; van Dam, vol. III, pp. 327-8; and Frye, vol. II, p. 316-19. Their alternative renderings of the localities are given between brackets in the text. The route was also travelled by a Spanish Carmelite monk, see Carmelites,loc. cit. The same route was travelled by Sadid al-Saltana, pp. 58-67, who mentions the following halting stations: Yazdikhvast, Abadeh, Surmaq, Dehbid, Khana-yi Gargan, Mashhad Umm al-Nabi, Qavamabad, Sivand, Takhta-Jamshid, Zarqan, and Shiraz. 71 Strausensz, pp. 187-8 (the villages Surina, Gusty, Siba, and Mardasch). See also Sjuabasar- Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, pp. 102, 107, 109; Gabriel, p. 144. 72 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 284 (Basigaar); Winninx, 25 July (karavansaray Bathiga); Speelman, p. 104 (karavansarayBatsjega) at 2 miles from Shiraz; p. 107 (Mergaseon); Fryer, vol. II, p. 221, the plain was full of farms and villages (Meergoscoon); he continued via Zarghan (Zergoon). The Carmelite monk also passed through Zarghan, see Carmelites, loc. cit. 73 Stodart, p. 76 (Mardasz); Herbert, pp. 109-10; Strauszens, p. 188 (Schilminar, Tzilminar); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 242-414 (Tchel monar). 74 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 96 (Merdest); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 407; KA 1793, fol. 1013b (Mheer-ghas-koen), which was half a mile from Persepolis; Hedges, p. 208 (EmerCascoon) at three-quarters of a mile from Persepolis; Winninx, 11 November (Mirgascoen), where he also reproduced a number of letters in Old Persian script; Silva y Figueroa, p. 144 (Margascan; Chilminara); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 301 (Mierchaskoen). 75 Stodart, p. 76 (Zargoone); Speelman, pp. 105-6 (Serghoen); Fryer, vol. II, p. 218 (Zergoon); Hedges, p. 208 (Zurgoon); KA 1793, fol. 1013b (Sergoen); Winninx, 3 November (Sergoe); de Silva y Figueroa, p. 140 (Zargan); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 301 (Sergoen); Carmelites, loc. cit. (Band-i Amir; Zarghan; karavansaray). 76 Strauszens, p. 190. This may be the karavansaraymentioned by Ketelaar, though he did not provide its name, KA 1793, fol. 1013b. 77 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 284 (Polisasa); Speelman, p. 84; (Poulisesa) Thevenot, vol. II, p. 127. The eight or ten-arched bridge is the Pul-i Fasa. There was also a karavansaraybuilt by a rich Shirazi widow; de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 104, 351.
78
(1617-1717)
83
Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 111 (Pylli Pessa); Speelman, pp. 83-4 (Ousjouael); Fryer, vol. II, p. 209 (the BeggardsGarden called Udgewally); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 284 (Oesiwat; Osiwar); KA 1793, fol. 999 (Oudsjou alla); de Silva y Figueroa, p. 105 (Ochiar). The lake refers to the Darya-i Mahalu, a salt lake, where there was also a karavansaray, p. 351. Jean Aubin (ed. and tr.), L'Ambassadede Gregorio PereiraFidalgo dala cour de Chah Soltan Hosseyn 1696-1692 (Lisbon, 1971), pp. 42-3 (Uxuan). 79 Stodart, p. 79 (Bobohogi); Thevenot, vol. II, p.127 (BabaAdgi); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262 (Babaghasi); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 111 (Baba Haddji); Speelman, p. 83 (Babe Hasy); Herbert, p. 107 (Bobbaw-hodgee); Fryer, vol. II, p. 208 (Bobba Hodge); Strauszens, p. 193 (Dobba); Hedges, p. 207 (Bobba Hadgee); KA 1793, fol. 998b (Bha Bha Hadje); Tavernier, p. 310 (Babaadgi); Winninx, 22 July (Babba Hasi); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 461-2 (Babahaagi); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 312 (Babba hadjie); Carmelites,loc. cit. 80 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 111 (Jansjun; Myrsa Feri); (karavansaray of Mose Faril, Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 263, 285 (Moesaserie); Stodart, p.79 (Moozaferie); Herbert, p. 67 (Moyechaw). I have not been able to identify the Pully-potshaw before he passed after Baba Hajji. Tavernier, p. 310 (Mouzafferi); Winninx, 22 July (Mosaffri). 81 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 111; Thevenot, vol.II, p.127; Stodart, p. 79 (Moozaferie); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262 (Moesaserie; Mose Faril); Speelman, p. 82 (Mosaffry); Fryer, vol. II, p. 208 (Mussaferry); Hedges, p. 207 (Mussaferee); KA 1793, fol. 998 (Mossa Ferhie); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 460 (Mouza fari); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 312 (Mossefarie); Carmelites, loc. cit. (Musafiri). 82 This village mentioned by Kaempfer may be the one that Herbert, p. 66, stayed in, and which he called Unghea. 83 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p.112 (Chafr; Jesa); Winninx, 20 July, passed the ruins of town Gaffer, and later the village of Gaffar. Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 262, 285 (Chaffert); Thevenot, vol. II, p.127 (Chafer); Tavernier, p. 311 (Khafr); Speelman, pp. 73-4 (Gaffer); Herbert, p. 66 (Coughton); Fryer, vol. II, p. 206 (Caifer); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 471 (Kafer); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 96, 351 (Cafhra); Carmelites, loc. cit. 84 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 113 (Asmugir); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262, 285 (karavansaray of Asmongeert; Asmonger); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 312 (Asmongeer). 85 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p.lll; (karavansaray of Paira) Thevenot, vol. II, p. 127; (Pajera); Tavernier, p. 310 (Paira); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 312 (Paroe); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 262 (Para); KA 1793, fol. 997b (Serae Parhoe was old and bad). Aqa Taqi, who had built this karavansaray, had been shahbandarof Bandar CAbbasin 1640-3. He had an acrimonious relationship with the Dutch, and even imprisoned the VOC director in 1642. Speelman, pp. 81-2, 338 (Acha Tachy). The place was called the karavansarayof Agatachi by Winninx, 20 July; Fryer, vol. II, p. 207 (Aga Tocke); Hedges, p. 207 (Agatakee); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 461 (Aga Taki, a rich merchant). The Carmelites mention a karavansaray called Camerbeik (Qanbar Beg?) 3 farsakhs after Khafr, see Carmelites,loc. cit. 86 Hedges, p. 207. 87 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p 113 (Tadejun; Tadewun); Winninx, 19 July and 11 November (Taddervangh); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 127 (Tadivan); Speelman, pp. 72-3 (Taduwan), who also mentioned the old historical buildings in the mountains and gave a very detailed description of his visit to this site, ibid., pp. 75-81; Tavernier, pp. 311-14 (Dadivan); Hedges, pp. 206-7 (Dottiuan); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 463-4 (Taduan); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 313 (Tadawoen). 88 Stodart, p. 80 (Mochak); Thevenot, vol. II, p.128 (Mouckek); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 113 (Musak); Valentijn, vol. V,
84
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
p. 262 (Mokhak; Mochai Sughta; Mogagzoekte); Speelman, p. 72 (Meggek); Herbert, p. 66 (Mohack); Fryer, vol. II, pp. 205, 351 (Mocock Sugta; also a rahdarstation); KA 1793, fol. 997b (Mhochek-Soghti); Tavernier, p. 314 (Mouchek); Hedges, p. 206 (Moocack Sookta); Winninx, 18 July (Moggeck); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 462-3 (Moukak); LeBrun, vol. II, p. Mich-geak-sogte). 89 Tavernier, pp. 314-15; 90 This karavansaray, mentioned by Kaempfer, p. 115 (Hadji Reza), may be located in the village of Bagar-Abad (Valentijn, vol. V, p. 274), which was probably identical to what Herbert, p. 66, called Cut-bobbaw. 91 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 115 (Schebsha-Djahrum); Stodart, p. 81 (Goyreeome ); Winninx, 18 July (Sjaron); Thevenot wrote after having left Paira, and after three hours he arrived at a ruined karavansaraywith a cistern close to it, five hours later he arrived at large karavansarayjust outside Dgiaroun, see vol. II, p. 128; Hedges, p. 206 (arroon). The 1691 Dutch embassy passed a small karavansaray,and rode over a fairly long bridge before arriving at Sjaron. Valentijn, p. 264 (aroen; Jarom); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 314 (aron) and plate. 92 Winninx, 18 July (Sjaron); Thevenot, vol. II, pp. 128-9 (Dgiaroun); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 115 (Djarum); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 263 (Sjaron); Herbert, p. 65 (Goyoom); Strauszens, p. 193 (Scharim); KA 1793, fol. 994 (haroen); Tavernier, p. 315 (Djahroum); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 465-6 (Harron) and plate LXXVII with a map of the karavansaray ofJahrum; Carmelites,loc. cit. (Giaru). 93 Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 263-4 (Saithal; Satalk); Fryer, vol. II, p. 201 (Chawtalk); Winninx, 17 July (Schathalgh); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, pp. 115-6 (Tsjai Talg); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 129 (Tschai-telkh); Speelman, p. 63, who also mentions the road protection at Sjatallig, and p. 65; KA 1793, fol. 991 (Sjattalgh); Tavernier, pp. 315-16 (Chakal); Hedges, p. 206 (Chatalkee); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 468-9 (Chatalk); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 315 (Ziatalk). Membr6 in 1540 wrote that from Lar people carried water in skins on donkeys. Membre, p. 47; Carmelites,loc. cit. 94 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 116 (Chotali Hasani or Chotali Mahhmaseni); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 129, the Cotal Hasani where travellers often had to dismount. Tavernier, p. 316 (Husayn mountain); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 264 (Cotal Hasani). 95 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 129 (Momzir); Tavernier, p. 316 (Mouezere). 96 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 116; Fryer, vol. II, p. 200, an eight cornered karavansaray (Mousar); Hedges, p. 206 (Mowueseer), with an old ruinous karavansaray and sorry water. 97 Valentijn, p. 264 (Moesoer, Mossir; Mosetis). In 1651 there were some rdhdarswho usually had some supplies for sale to travellers. Speelman, pp. 62-3 (Masuer); Winninx, 13 November (Mouser); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 470 (Mouhser); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 315 (Mouseer). 98 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 116. The village of Dschjuhum is probably the same as the village of Ijehoen, through which the Ketelaar embassy passed, KA 1793, fol. 990b; Carmelites, loc. cit. (Jiyum-a good place, with a fort, a good road, and a water cistern). 99 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 116 (Domba); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 264 (karavansarayof Teduba; Dedombe); Speelman, p. 61 (Dedomba); Tavernier, p. 316 (Detadombe); Winninx, 16 July (Dedombaj); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 470 (Dedomba); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 315 (Dombanja, a hamlet with a ruined karavansaray). 100 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 129. 101 Kaempfer, p. 117; idem, Amoenitatum,p. 433; Reisetagebiicher, Floor, TheAfghan Occupationof lran (Paris, 1998), pp. 72, 77 (Sarafiya, Sarafie).
Thevenot, vol. II, p. 129; Stodart, pp. 81-2 (Carerow), which had a dairgha. Winninx, 16July (Bererovio). 103 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p.117 (Bachtiaru; Benaru); Hedges, p. 206 (Bocktarea, a nice village with a water supply, the home of his chief muleteer, at whose house he stayed); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 264 (Benaroe). Winninx travelled from Ziaron, nine miles to the karavansaray of Mouser, then to Benerouw after six miles. He then went the remaining nine miles to Lar, not via Beri and Kourdgh, which was shorter but more difficult. Winninx, 13-15 November 1645. The fortress, high in the mountains, was in ruins in 1651; close to it houses had been built where the inhabitants lived in case of war or insecurity. Speelman, p. 60 (Benaroe); Herbert, p. 65 (Bannarow); Tavernier, p. 316 (Benarou); Fryer,vol. II, p. 198; an eight cornered karavansarayand fortress. He also mentions the houses, as well as castles, water-tanks and grain store-houses in the mountains (Bonaru); Hedges p. 206 (Benarroo); KA 1793, fol. 989b (Bhenaroe); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 470 (Benarou or Benarhou); de Silva y Figueroa, p. 80 (Benaru); Carmelites,loc. cit. 104 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 118 (Dehra); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 264 (Dera); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 130 (Dehra); Speelman, p. 60 (karavansarayof Serara); Ketelaar mentioned, without naming them, a saray and two large villages, after Tang-i Kuh and before arriving at Banaru, KA 1793, fol. 989b. One of these villages may have been Aeszjerasie, where LeBrun, vol. II, p. 316, stayed, but which had no karavansaray. 105 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 265 (Biries); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 130 (Bihri) with a description of the karavansaray; Kaempfer, p. 118 (Beriss); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 80, ReisetageNiicher, 362 (Bir). For a detailed description of the karavansaray, which also had two rooms with doors, and the tomb, see Speelman, pp. 56-7 (Bery); Herbert, p. 63 (Berry), with description of the tomb; Tavernier, pp. 316-17 (Bihri) reported that the karavansaraywas built by the mother of Aimas, khan of Lar. Fryer, vol. II, p. 198, also mentioned the tomb and the school (Bury); Strauszens, p. 195 (Barry); Hedges, p. 206 (Beeres); KA 1793, fol. 989a-b (Beries); Winninx, 14 July (Beri); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 316 (Bieries); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 474-5 (Behry). The karavansaraywas constructed by the governor's mother. He provided a detailed description as well as of the saint's tomb, whom he identified as Amir Ahmad [Emir Achmed], a son of the Imam CAlland his wife Fatima; Carmelites,vol. I, p. 219, n. (Berre-a place with a fort in ruins, and two water cisterns along the road). 106 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 119 (Diiaku; Kurdai);Thevenot, vol. II, p. 130 (De-hi Kourd; Pai Chotali; Dehi Kouh) confirmed the existence of the road sign, which was about one fathom high on a base of freestone. He also reported that a man condemned for highway robbery had been shut in it as a warning to others. The Dutch embassy passed a good karavansaray, that of Pa-yi Kutal (Pakoetel), where it was met by a delegation from Lar. Valentijn, vol. V, p. 265 (Dehacoe; Dehikoe); Speelman, pp. 55-6 (Decoe; Corde); Herbert, p. 62 (De-achow); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 479 (De Kert and 4 leagues later Gourde); Tavernier, p. 317 (Pai-Kotali);Fryer, vol. II, p. 197 (Pokutal); Hedges, pp. 205-6 (Kuda-Poicotal) a large and convenient saray, well stored with provisions; KA 1793, fol. 989 (Pakotel; unnamed saray at the foot of the mountain, Dhekoe); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 316 (Dehakoe); de Silva y Figueroa, p. 79, 362 (Diacuri, small village with ruined karavansaray;Dianin); Carmelites,loc. cit. (Dirkuh, with many water cisterns). 107 Stodart, p. 82 (Dehcohibibia). o108Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 120 (Aga Djumal). 109 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 130 (Hhormont); KA 1793, fol. 988b, where Ketelaar lodged in a house (Chormoenoen). 110 Tavernier, pp. 317-20; LeBrun, vol. II, p. 318. 102
THE BANDAR CABBAS-ISFAHAN ROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVID ERA
111 Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 486 (Bagsea), and from there onwards,
at each league, a karavansaraywith three cisterns; Valentijn, vol. V, p. 265 (Basga). 112 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, pp. 121, 116 (Kanaru); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 265. (Kenneroen); KA 1793, fol. 981 (Kenanoen). 113 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 232 (Tschercha); Tavernier, p. 322 (Tcherkab); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 116 (Tjerg aab); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 265 (Sargab); Stodart, p. 83 (Cherchoke); Fryer, vol. II, pp. 201, 340. Speelman, p. 44, did not stop there, because it was full (Sera 'tSurgou); Winninx, 11 July (Sargab); de Silva y Figueroa, p. 64 (Charcaph). 114 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 121 (Basti Parija); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 265 (Pariaap; karavansarayof Basti Parija), 285 (karavansaray of Paste Poeriouw); Strauszens, p. 197 (Farate); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 318 (Basta paryouw). 115 Thevenot, vol. II, 132. p. 116 Ibid., (Ouasili; Schemzenghi); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 121 (Wasili); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 265 (karavansaray of Wasselee; Samsange); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 318 (Basieli; then followed a small, unnamed karavansaray, probably Shamsangi); Speelman, p. 44 (Wassely; Siamse Sangy); Herbert, p. 54 (Ourmangel) in view of the distance, five farsakhs,this must be Wasali; Fryer, vol. II, p. 190, mentioned as being half-way between Sham Zangee and Lhor (Lar) a new karavansaray, which must be either Waseli or Tang-e Nao. Ketelaar, without reporting their names, mentioned two saraysbetween Dastgerd and Kenanoen, KA 1793, fol. 981. 117 Fryer, vol. II, p. 190 (Sham Zangee, an Abbasin); Tavernier, p. 322 (Chamzenghi); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 487-8 (Tchem sesengui); KA 1793, fol. 980b (Sjeam Sang). 118 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 121 (Bahadeni; Desgert); Stodart (Dascherd; Bohodonie); Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 266, 273 (Bahadini. Badeni, Disgirt); Winninx, 9 July (Badang); Speelman, p. 44 (Bahadany); Herbert, p. 53 (Duzgun is Dastgird). I have not been able to identify the nearby Laztan-de. KA 1793, fol. 980 (Bhadanie; Dest-gird); Winninx, 11 July (Dasgard); Carmelites, vol. I, p. 219, n. mentions a karavansaraywith three water cisterns at one league from Dizkurd. 119 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 132 (Tschetschek); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 266 (the other water tank Sjek Sjek); Speelman, p. 43 (Sekke-sek); Ketelaar, without mentioning the name, reported that there was a ruined karavansaray before arriving at Badahini, KA 1793, fol. 979b. 120 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 132 (Hhormout); de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 62, 94, 356 (Horum); Stoddard, p. 84, said that there was good water at Churmoot; Winninx, 10 July and 19 November (Gormoedt); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 122 (Hormuus); Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 266 (Choeremoet; Goermoet); Speelman, p. 43 (Germoet); Herbert, p. 53 (Whormoot); Fryer, vol. II, p. 189 (Cormoot, town of dates); Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 488-9 (Gormouth); KA 1793, fol. 979 (Ghormoet); Tavernier, p. 322 (Kormout); Winninx, 10 July (Gormoedt); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 318 (Gormoet); Carmelites,loc. cit. 121 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 285 (Borka Aga Sjouwmaat; Ahasimaal [AqaJamal]). 122 Op. cit., p. 266 (Serteng), with the little covered karavansaray called Serten. Thevenot, vol. II, p. 133; Strauszens, p. 197 (Sarap). 123 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 122 (Imam se Tengi dalun; Tengi Dalun); de Silva y Figueroa, p. 60 (Tangotalan); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 266 (Tanke Daloen; Tangedoeloe); Stodart, p. 84 (Tanggetelon); Fryer, vol. II, p. 189 also mentioned the stream of living water at (Tangedelon), and so
(1617-1717)
85
did Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 493 (Tenguedelan) and Ketelaar, KA 1793, fol. 979 (Tangidaloen); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 319 vol. I, p. 219, n. (Yanikidalin). (Tangboedaloe); Carmelites, 124 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 133 (Tenghidalan) with description of this fine specimen; Tengi Dalan at six farsakhs; Kaempfer, p. 122; Speelman, pp. 41-2 (Tangedelangh); Reisetagebiicher, Herbert, p. 52 (Tanghy-Dolon); Tavernier, pp. 322-3 (Tenquidalen); Winninx, 9 July and 20 November (Delang; Dalongh). 125 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 123 (Djahun; Guri Bessergun); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 266 (Berkei Dobend; Jehoen; Gioen; Goerbaseregoen.); Stodart, p. 84 (Goorebazargoone); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 133 (Dgei Hhou; Kor Bazirghion); Tavernier, p. 323 (Gourbasarghant); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 494 (Courbazargan); Speelman, p. 41 (Choure basere Chan) and (Sera Sehoen [Jahan]); Fryer, vol. II, p. 188-9 (Goor-Bazergum; Jehun); KA 1793, fol. 979 (Ghoerbasraghoen; Serae Jehoen); Winninx, 8-9 July and 21 November (Courbesserzan = moordtkuil "killing hole", Gijhean; Gehoen); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 319 (Goerbasergoen); de Silva y Figueroa, p. 60 (Gehun); Carmelites,loc. cit. (Kinbazirkan). 126 Thevenot, vol. II, p. 134; (karavansaray of Berkei Soltouni; Kahuiristan) Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 124 (Coristan; karavansaray of Koeresson) Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 267, 285 (Coristan); Smith, p. 64 (Cabrestam); Herbert, p. 53 (Courestan); Winninx, 8 July (Couristan); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 495 (Courestan); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 319 (Korestan). 127 Speelman, pp. 39-40; see also Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 124 (Kahuirestan); Tavernier, p. 323 (Cauvrestan); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 501; Fryer, vol. II, p. 187; de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 53-4, 366 (Cabrestan); Carmelites,loc. cit. (Qabristran). 128 Tavernier, pp. 324-5; Chardin, vol. VIII, pp. 498-9. The qazbegiwas a copper coin. 129 Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher,p. 124 (Barik, Guni Godscji Mamed; Gedjii); Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 266-7 (Getsie; Getje); Thevenot, vol. II, p.134 (Dobrike; Ghetschi); Tavenier, p. 324 (Guitchi); Winninx, 7 July (Gitsji); Carmelites,loc. cit. (to the river). 130 Valentijn, vol. V, p. 285 (Latidoen; Getje); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 319; Fryer, vol. II, p. 186; KA 1793, fol. 979. 131 Stodart, p. 84 (Gochine); Speelman, pp. 38-9; Kaempfer, p. 124 (Gedjii); Herbert, p. 52 (Gacheen); Reisetagebiicher, Tavernier, p. 325 (Guitchi), where there were some Arabs in tents who offered milk and butter and other supplies; also de Silva y Figueroa, pp. 52, 367 (Guichy). Fryer, vol. II, p. 184 (Getche). Travellers could purchase cheese and butter here; KA 1793, fol. 987b. (Getschijen); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 502-3 (Guetchy); LeBrun, vol. II, p. 319 (Gesje). 132 Tavernier, 325. p. 133 Winninx, 6 July (Gonasorgh; Soltan's Gardens); Thevenot, vol. II, p. 135 (Houni Sourkh; Bendali); Valentijn, vol. V, p. 125 p. 267 (Onesoor; Bandali); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, (Bend Ali); Carmelites,loc. cit. (Kishigan?, 6 farsakh to Bandar CAbbas). 134 Speelman, p. 38; de Silva y Figueroa, p. 52 (it was the last place till Lar where you could get fresh water); Herbert, p. 51 (Band-Ally); Tavernier, pp. 325-6 (Bend-Ali); Fryer, vol. II, p. 178 (Band Ally); Kaempfer, Reisetagebiicher, p. 126 (Bend Ali); Valentijn, vol. V, pp. 267, 272 (Bandali); Strauszens, p. 197; KA 1793, fol. 978b (Bandalie); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 503; LeBrun, vol. II, p. 319 (Bandalie). fol. 286 135 ARA, KA 1559, Hoogcamer to GG 21/8/1701, (Chogay Cheder); Chardin, vol. VIII, p. 505.
86
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Table 1: Routes taken according to the different sources used 1628 Stodart
1645 up Winninx
1645 down Winninx
1665 Thevenot
1685 Kaempfer
1691 van Leene
1701 up Hoogcamer
1703 down Hoogcamer
1896 Sadid al-Saltana
Isfahan
Isfahan
Isfahan
Isfahan
Isfahan
Isfahan
Isfahan
Isfahan
Isfahan
Koli padsja Bagebatsjaron Baagoesjaroen Osgewan Agag Hadi MirsaAli Resa Miseralisa Ortschin
Urzcini
Cotali Ortsini
Dehserd K. Gonoresj Poskoen/ Kietsje K.MirzahSerafa K. Mamet Alibeecq Moyore (Mahyar)
Maijaar
Mayar Spahannecq tSarasa Schairza
Comushaw
Comischa;
Comissa
Komschah
Mahjar
Majaart
Majaar
Scharesa
Sjaresa Commissia
Commessia
Gommosja
Shah Riza Commesia
Qumishah
K. KarMyrsa Mortusa K Mirsa Kutschek Kala MachsoetMachsoetbeecq beecq Ammnebath Amnebath
saray Yeassechoze Jassegas
Jassegas
Combazala Dehegerdow Degerdoe
Cuskezar
Kuskesaer
Degerdoe
Kuskesaar
Maksoud Beghi Amnebad
Mag sud begi
Mikakoetsiek/ Maksoetbegi Matubeki
Maksoetbegi Maqsudbayg
Amnabad
Amnabat
Aapnawaat
Aap Nabaat
Yez-de Kast
Jesdechas
Jesdegas
Jesdegas
Jesdegas Spilkestoen
Chotal NaarSchekeni Gombez Cala Gumber allala Combesilala Dehi Ghirdon Degerdu Degerdoe K. Arun Kivilaar Kewilar bridge of 5 arches Keuschkzer
Cuchesaar
Dombone Assepose
Asepas
Assepas
Asoupas
Aszpasz
Degerdoe
Poelesiakoe
bridge of 5 arches Kuskiserd
Gombesehala
Koskoser Dombeny
Asepas
Haspas
Bagedoe/ Goe de Kinjari Yeioone
Oedjoen
Oldjoen
Oudgioun
Udjan
Sjafada Cotali Imames ImamZade Esmaal
Chotal-ImamZadeh-Ismael
Moyeeme
Maijien
Majein
Oedjaan
Esmael
Imam Sadas Mal
Maain
Majinor Mahin Majien Abigerne
Abgherm
Esmaal
Poligorgh K. Agaseff Germoens
K. Agassef K.Badgega
Basighaar
Majur Abegerm Poligor
Polgorse
K. Baasga
Basgona
Yazdikhvast Followed the summer route
THE BANDAR CABBAS-ISFAHAN ROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVID ERA
1628 Stodart
1645 up Winninx
1645 down Winninx
1665 Thevenot
Mardasz Chelminar
1685 Kaempfer
1691 van Leene
87
(1617-1717)
1701 up Hoogcamer
1703 down Hoogcamer
1896 Sadid al-Saltana
Merdest Misgascan
Myrgascun Tschehil- Minar
Takhta-Jamshid
K. Bathiga Vergoed Zargoone Shiraz
Zarqan Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz
Oudgeval
Shiraz
Shiraz
Oesiwat
Osiwaar
Tsaarbag Shiraz
Shiraz Jacfarabad Pul-i Fasa
Bobohogi
Babbahasj
Moozaferie
Mazaffri
Mozaffri
Baba-Adgi
Baba Haddji
Mouzeferi
MyrsaFeri K. Paira
Paira
Babaghasi Cnonebande Moesasari
Baba Hhadji
Baba Hhadji Baba Hajji
Mosesarie
Mose Faril
Pajera
KCPara
Para
K. Agatachi Akbarabad CAbbasabad Chaffer
Gaffar
Gaffer
Chafer
Taddewangh Taddervangh Tadivan
Chafr/Jesa
Chaffert/K.
Asmugir Tadewun
Asmogeert
Asmonger
Asmonger Mochak
Moggeck
Mouchek ruined K
Musak
Dgiaroun Tschai-telkh
Djarum
K. Hadschi Resa
Mochai Sughta Mogagzoekte small K
Tang-i Ismacilabad Asmankard
Mogag-zoekte Mokhak small K
Charmoot Bagar-Abad Ziaron Dehuion
Sharon Schatalgh
K. Mourer wilderness
Dedombaj
Tsjai Talg Chotali Kutelli Harseni Haseni
Sjaron Saithal
Jaroen Satalk
Jarom Satalk
Jahrum Chahtalkh
Mossir
Cotal Hasani
Momzir
Mansir Kieschik
Moesoer
Mosetis
Dehidobe
Kalha Tesorg Domba
Dedombe
Dedombe
K. Teduba
Scharafi Javim Goyreeome Carerow
Berrie
Benerouw [Kourdagh] Beri
Bererovio
Benaroe
Benaroe
Biries
Beries
Beries
Dehacoe
Dehikoe
Dehikoe
Benaru
Benaru
Benaroe
K. Dehra
K. Dehra
K. Dera
Bihri
Biriis/Beris
Banaru
Sarai Beri
Sharfu Dehcohibibia
De-hi Kourd Daaku
Dehkuh
Rustehhennis Pai Chotali Dehi Kouh
[Kurda]
K. Pakoetel
Lar Kanaru
Lar
Kurdeh
Hhormont K Lar
Lar
Lar
Lar
Lar Kenneroen
Lar
Lar
88 1628 Stodart
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
1645 up Winninx
Cherchoke
1645 down Winninx
1665 Thevenot
1685 Kaempfer
1691 van Leene
Sargon
Tscherchab
Tjerg aab
K. Basiga Sargab
Basti Parija
Pariaap
K Wasili
K Wasselee
Tschenitsche
Samsange Tschengi
1701 up Hoogcamer
1703 down Hoogcamer
1896 Sadid al-Saltana
Pastepariouw
Paste Poeriouw
Qalca-yiFariyab
Tenghinoun
K Ouasili K Schemzengh Dascherd
Dasgard
K Bohodonie
K Badeng
Desgert
K Hajj cAli Disgirt Char Birka
K Bahadani
Bahadeni
Gormoedt
Gormoedt
Hhormout
Baderie
Badenie
Sjek Sjek
K. Tschektschek Churmoot
Bahadini
Hormuus
Choeremoet
Badini/ Bahadini/ Badami Gardana-yi ChakChak
Goermoet
Goermoet
Hurmut
Borka Aga Sjouwmaat Sarai
Imam se K Ahasimaal Tengi Dalun? Bascomaakoe
AqaJamal
K Serten K Bedgi-Pari
Serteng
Sartang
K Tengidalan Tengi Dalun K Dgei Hhou Djehun
Tanke Daloen Tangadoeloen Gioen KIJehoen
Tang-i Dalan
Tanggetelon K Dalong Gehoen
K Delangh Gilhaen
Goorebazargoone
Courbasser- KKor gan Bazirghon
Guri Bessergun
Jihun Bonko BonpaanBorkabon paan Goerebasirgan Goerbasirgoen Goerbaseregoen Birka-yinu Birka-yiTaqi Khani
Couristan
Coristan
K Berki Soltouni KCourestan
Shiyuhravan Birka-yisultan Kahuiristan Coristan K Guni Godsji K Koeresson Mahmed
Coristan
Coristan
Kahurestan
Jangu3i K Dobrike Latidoen Gochine
Getsi Soltan's garden
Gitsj Gonasorgh
Ghetschi Gedjii Houni Sourkh
Getsie K Onesoor
Getje
Getje
Latidun Gachin-bala Khun-i surkh
Gombroon
Gamron
Gamron
Bendali Gamron
Bandali Gamron
Bandali Gamron
Gamron
Bandar CAbbas
K Bend Ali Gamron
THE BANDAR CABBAS--ISFAHAN ROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVID ERA
(1617-1717)
89
Table 2: Various costs incurred en route to Isfahan (a) Costforfood andfodderen routefromBandar CAbbas Dates
Locations
Expenditures
Fodderfor4 horsesand 4 mules
Expenditures
July 6
Bandar CAbbas unspecified
Ma. 56
consumed since ultimoJune
Ma. 66.01
July 7 (the date in the fodder list is given as July 8)
Gitisie and Corristan
2 mann of bread eggs butter dates for beer buttermilk water lemons and water
Ma.
1. 8 . 4 .10 . 6 . 5 .10
16 mann-i Tabriz of barley at 8 gas each for 2 days 18 mann of strawat 2 gas (qazbeki; copper coin), per mann of water
Ma. 6.08
July 10
Tangedalangh
onions half mann of bread butter buttermilk dates 3 chickens
Ma.
. 2 . 7 .10 . 5 . 5 2. 5
Ma. 3.03 9 mann of barley at 7 gas each .18 9 mann of straw at 2 gas each paid to an amael (hammdl,porter) who brought the barley and straw into the sera .03 (saray); paid to muleteer who carried the fodder for the horses from Bandar to Gitsie 5.00
July 11
Cormoet
3 chickens each at 14 gas 0.25 man of butter 1 mann of dates milk fresh butter 1 mann of bread rice [fire]wood
Ma.
2. 2 1. 5 .10 .11 .18 .12 2.00 . 5
8 mann of barley at 7 gas each; 9 mann of strawat 2 gas each; paid to the muleteer who carried the barley and straw from Coristan to Courbaderchan
Ma. 2.16 .18
1.10 . 6 .10 . 2
8 mann of barley at 6 gas each 9 man of straw at 2 gas each paid to the docqwaendaer (dukkanddr; shop keeper) who accepted to take the sick mule to Bandar [cAbbas] for fodder
Ma. 2.08 .18
8 mann of barley at 5 gas per mann 9 mann of strawat 1.5 gas each water
Ma. 2.00 .14 1.00
July 12
July 13
July 14
Foodsupplies
in Samsesengie 2 chickens bread: 6 gas butter [fire]wood in Laar
in Laar
Bread Cheese and maest (mast;yoghurt) dates butter 3/8 mann rice onions and kismus (kishmish;grapes) [fire]wood
Ma.
Ma.
Bread 1.5 mann Ma. fresh butter and buttermilk butter to cook rice oranges cream [fire]wood hair of three jars?
.10 .10
1.16 .10
2.10
10.00
. 6 2.00 1.16 . 6 .16 .15 .10 2.00 1.4 .4 1.4 .10 . 6
8 mann of barley at 5 gas per mann 5 mann of straw water for repair of the mule's saddle for shoeing of 5 horses and 3 mules with new irons salt for the animals 2 gas and for bringing the fodder to the house 6 gas for repair of riding saddle
1.12 .07 1.00 5.00 5.00 .08 1.00
90
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Dates
Locations
Foodsupplies
Expenditures
Fodderfor4 horsesand 4 mules
Expenditures
July 15
in Decoe
Bread dates eggs rice 3 chickens each at 15 gas maest onions butter fresh butter [fire]wood
Ma.
.12 .12 . 7 .16 2.5 . 8 . 2 .12 1. 5 . 6
8 mann of barley at 5 gas each 8 mann of straw
Ma. 2.00 .12
July 16
in Bennaroe
0.5 mann of rice 0.6 mann of butter eggs 3 chickens buttermilk fresh butter [fire]wood
Ma.
.16 1. 5 . 8 1.16 . 5 . 5 . 5
11 mann of barley at 4 gas each 8 mann of straw
Ma. 2.04 .12
July 17
in Manzeir
Dates bread 0.5 mann of rice onions 0.25 mann of butter 3 chickens maest and milk [fire]wood
Ma.
.18 .14 .18 . 3 1.10 1.19 .13 . 7
8 mann of barley at 8 gas each 8 mann of straw at 4 gas each
Ma. 3.04 1.12
July 18
in Shatalch
maest bread
Ma.
. 5 .8
8 mann of barley at 8 gas per mann 8 mann of strawat 4 gas each
Ma. 3.04 1.12
July 19
in Jaarom
0.5 mann of bread 1 sheep's hoof and feet butter dates for beer 3 chickens 16 gas each 0.5 mann of rice melons [fire]wood
Ma.
.10 1.5 1.00 .18 2.18 1.14 . 7
7 mann of barley at 6 gas per mann 8 mann of straw at 2.5 gas per mann for water for the horses to drink for repairs to two reins and the tail piece of the jachtandraeger or yakdancarrier
Ma. 2.02 1.00 .10 .18
July 20
in Mecheek
Bread maest 2 chickens butter [fire]wood
Ma.
. 8 . 3 1.16 .10 . 3
8 mann of barley at 8 gas per mann 8 mann of strawat 5 gas each
Ma. 3.04 2.00
July 21
in Gaffer
2 chickens at 15 gas each 0.5 mann of meat 3/8 mann of butter bread oranges milk onions grapes and cucumbers [fire]wood
Ma.
1.10 .10 .15 .11 . 6 . 8 . 3 . 6 . 4
8 mann of barley at 6 gas per mann 8 mann of straw at 2 gas per mann
Ma. 2.08 .16
July 22
Mossafrie
0.5 mann of rice 3 chickens at 14 gas each butter bread dates for beer kismus and beans present to the siatier (shatir,messenger) who helped fishing [fire]wood
Ma.
.16 2.2 1.9 . 5 .18 . 2
7 mann of barley at 7 gas per mann 8 mann of straw at 2 gas per mann
Ma. 2.09 .16
1.10 . 2
THE BANDAR CABBAS-ISFAHAN ROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVID ERA
(1617-1717)
91
Dates
Locations
Foodsupplies
Expenditures
Fodderfor4 horsesand 4 mules
July 23
in Chiraes
Bread maest apples apricots food from the bazaar pillauw (pilaur,rice) and eggs
Ma.
Ma. 2.00 8 mann of barley at 5 gas per mann straw .12 1.01 strawfor the muleteers shoeing of 5 horses and 3 mules as well as for bloodletting one 8.00 oil? as medicine .08 repair 7 to 8 nochtas?? and new iron 6.10 clasps for the same a new nachta?? 2.10 a towel ?? (hayer doeck) to wash the horses with and a broom 1.00 .06 green grass for the horse left behind
Ma.
.10 1.10 1.00 .10 4.00 . 5 . 5 .14 .16
Ma.
4.16
July 24
in Chiraes
Bread butter 1 mann of meat vegetables food from the bazaar maest prunes eggs [fire]wood
July 25
in Chiraes
6 mann of wine at 16 gas per mann 4 mann of aracq (Caraq; aqua vitae) at 2.5 Ma. per mann bread food from the bazaar 1.5 mann of dates for beer drinking water 1 mann of meat butter and apples
.10 . 8 .10 . 6 2.00 4.00
8 mann of barley at 4 gas each straw
Expenditures
Ma. 1.12 .12
10.00 .10 7.00 1.04 .10 1.00 .08
July 26
in Chiraes
3 chickens at 12 gas each butter
Ma.
1.16 .09
Ma. 1.12 8 mann of strawat 4 gas per mann straw .12 2 iron currycombs 1.15 5 iron clasps for the nochtas?? and 0.5 Ma. to renew a rein 1.10
July 27
in Poelegor
Maest butter [fire]wood
Ma.
.09 .04 .01
8 mann of barley at 6 gas per mann Ma. 2.08 straw .10 paid to the mehter (groom) Mameth Bahi as gastos to take the soltan's horse to Chiraes .10
July 28
in Mahie
Maest Ma. .14 06 eggs 0.75 mann of dates for beer and the table 1.00 bread 7 meat .14 butter 6 5 [fire]wood
7 mann of barley at 6 gas each straw 10 gas and butter for the horses
Ma. 2.02 .14
July 29
Oedjangh
Fresh cheese bread fresh butter 2 chickens eggs maest milk fresh fish butter [fire]wood
6 mann of barley at 6 gas per mann straw
Ma. 1.16 .10
Ma.
.14 .14 1.10 1.04 .10 .05 .06 1.05 1.18 .11
92
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Dates
Locations
Foodsupplies
Expenditures
Fodderfor4 horsesand 4 mules
Expenditures
July 30
Gaspas
Fresh butter cooking butter maest bread 2 chickens wood and onions apples, vegetables such as melon present to the gardener who brought some apples and roses
Ma.
7 mann of barley at 8 gas per mann straw
Ma. 2.16 .18
1.05 .19 .06 .17 1.04 .05 1.08
1.00
July 31
Coscusaer and Degerdoe
Eggs maest wood bread dates vinegar onions butter
Ma.
.19 1.00 .09 .13 .18 .03 .02 .12
7 mann of barley at 8 gas per mann straw
Ma. 2.16 .18
August 1
Jasdegas
Maest bread 0.5 mann of rice cherries and apricots 5 chickens at 12 gas each butter wood
Ma.
1.04 .12 1.00 1.02 3.00
7 mann of barley at 8 gas each straw
Ma. 2.16 .16
1.5 mann of meat bread maest wood melons butter, fresh and for cooking
Ma.
7 mann of barley at 8 gas per mann straw
Ma. 2.09 .16
August 2
Machtsoetbeecq
.05 1.10 .10 .07 .03 1.12 3.00
August 3
Commecha
1.5 mann of meat wood bread butter buttermilk melons
Ma.
1.10 .12 .15 .12 .05 .07
7 mann of barley at 7 gas per mann straw
Ma. 2.09 .16
August 4
Mayaer
1 mann of meat 0.5 mann of rice butter wood melons bread dates for beer
Ma.
1.04 1.00 .15 1.00 1.00 .10 1.04
7 mann of barley at 7 gas per mann straw water
Ma. 2.09 .14 .05
THE BANDAR CABBAS-ISFAHAN ROUTE IN THE LATE SAFAVID ERA
(1617-1717)
93
(b) Paidfor variouspresentsgiven en route: To the servant of Aga Araab Derroga (Aqa cArabDarfigha) in Laer who brought some grapes as a present To the servant of Abdul Cassemaga (CAbdal-Qasim Aqa) in Laer who brought one sheep and 5 chickens To the servants of the governor of Laer who brought three bottles of wine To the radaers (rdhddrsor road guards) at Laer To the womani who keeps the Company's house here in Laer To the servant Hossen in Laer To the mechter (mehtar or groom) of the governor in Laer who retrieved two mules (IH.usayn) To the radaers in Chiatalch To the radaers in Mochek To the servant of Godia Mameth Alie (Khvija Muhammad CAll)who brought some water melons etc. To the Armenian servant in the Company's house in Sieraes on our departure To the Carwaense radaer in Mahie In Casdiaer where we lodged the night in a house To the radaer of the caravansarayin Diggerdoe who brought some melons and other fruits To the radaers in Combessala In Machtsoetbeecq where we were lodged the night To the radaers in Combeschadie who had given some chickens To the radaers at Spanneck Total given as presents en route
Ma. 1.00 2.00 2.00 10.00 4.00 1.00 4.00 5.00 4.00 1.00 2.00 1.01 2.00 4.00 10.00 2.00 10.00 10.00 75.00
Paid as freight to donkey drivers and muleteers to transport 274 mantauris [mann-e Tabriz] consisting of provisions, luggage, four paintings (and given as a present to the muleteers Ma. 10.00) from Bandaer [Bandar cAbbas] to Spahan Paid to a muleteer in Laer hired to carry two chests and horse tack from Laer to Spahan
Ma. 346.15 Ma. 90.00
Total for freight from Bandaer to Spahan
Ma. 436.15
Various payments to messengers in Bandaer as well as en route as Bandaer, Gamron. To the siatier Nossom for a month, 22 days. Paid both monthly pay and subsistence money at Ma. 45 per month To the same on settlement of his subsistence money for the month of August for 15 days at Ma 0.5 per day To the siatier Chedder for the month ofJuly, both his monthly pay and subsistence money Ma. 45.00 To the same on settlement of his subsistence money for the month of August for 15 days Paid to Abdul L'Asseth (CAbdal-Asad) for messagering to and from Siras and to Spahan again
Ma. 67.00 7.10 Ma. 45.00 7.10 Ma. 35.00
Total paid for messenger pay
Ma. 162.00
1 In 1674, there was an old man and his wives, who was caretaker of the Dutch house, Strauszens, p. 196.
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(c) Paymentof monthlywagesand subsistencepay to mechters,chatiersand houseservants To the siatier Hossijn (shatir Husayn) who came from the director from Bandaer for the month ofJuly both his monthly and subsistence pay at Ma. 40 per month. To the same on settlement of his subsistence pay for August for 15 days at 0.5 Ma. per day
Ma. 40.00 7.10 47.10
To the siatier Cheibie who came from the director from Bandaer for the month ofJuly his monthly and subsistence pay a 25 Ma. per month To the same on settlement of his subsistence pay for August for 15 days at 0.5 Ma. per day
Ma. 25.00 7.10 32.10
To the mechter Isoph for the past month ofJuly both his monthly and subsistence pay at Ma. 40 per month. To the same 15 days subsistence pay for August at 0.5 Ma. per day
Ma. 45.00 7.10 52.10
To the mechter Mameth Bahi for the month ofJuly as above To the same for 15 days of the month of August at 0.5 Ma.
Ma. 45.00 7.10 52.10
To the Douleth Geldie for 6 days wages and subsistence forJuly starting as of 25 ditto at Ma. 40 per month To the same as settlement for August for 25 days
Ma. 40.00 7.10 47.10
ToJohan, servant of the junior merchant Dulckens for the month ofJuly both his wages and his subsistence at 20 Ma. per month
Ma. 20.00
Total paid to siatiers, mechters and house servants
Ma.292.10
Various domestic expenditures and others To Mr. Sarcerius (VOC director) for what he has spent and paid in bills For the repair of a logiehoeder(?) For two cases of wine bought in Sieras for the director each with 16 bottles at 1Ma. and 14 gas per bottle For straw to pack the said cases For three greyhounds bought in Mayaer
Ma. 37.15 .06 27.04 7.00 15.00
Total of domestic expenditures
Ma. 87.50
(d) Summaryof variousexpenditures Total for food Total for fodder and other cost for horses Various presents en route Freight to the donkey drivers and muleteers Various cost for messengers Monthly wages for mechters, chiatiers and house servants Various domestic expenditures and the like
Ma. 226.01 221.03 75.00 436.15 162.00 298.00 87.05
Total expenditures
Ma.1416.04
SUFISMAND ANTI-SUFISMIN SAFAVIDIRAN: THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE REVISITED .HADIQATAL-SHICA ByAndrewJ. Newman UniversityofEdinburgh
Ce que vaut autant'adire, que tout ce qui paroit 'a vos yeux, n'est que des figures diversifi6esd'une meme essence immuable. Je me souviens d'un pr6dicateura Ispahan,qui, prechant un jour dans une place publique, parla furieusementcontre ces Soufys,disantqu'ils6toientdes atheesa brfiler;qu'il s'6tonnoit qu'on les laissit vivre;et que de tuer un Soufy,6toit une action plus agr6able'aDieu, que de conserverla vie a dix hommes de bien. Cinq ou six Soufysqui 6toient parmi les auditeurs,se jeterent sur lui apr6sle sermon,et le battirentterriblement; et commeje m'efforcoisde les empecher,ils me disoient: "Unhomme qui preche le meurtre,doit-ilse plaindred'etrebattu?"1 In the three hundred and fifty years since its appearance in the late 1050s/1640s, the authorship of the Hadfqat al-Shfcahas been a matter of some contention among Twelver scholars from the late Safavid period to the early years of this century, with a number attributing the work to the Safavid-period CdlimAhmad b. Muhammad al-Ardabili (d. 993/ 1585), known as al-Muqaddas al-Ardabili.2 AlArdabili has been recognised as an interesting figure in his own right.3 The controversy surrounding his identification with the Hadfqat al-Shfca-itself a history of Islam and Twelver Shicism written in 1058/1648 in the Deccan into which was inserted a diatribe against the Abfi Muslim tradition and Sufism, see below-stems both from the "popular, unscholarly character" of the book but also, and mainly, from the author's "scathing condemnation of Sufi doctrine and practice" where, by contrast, alArdabili had appeared more sympathetic toward such inquiry in other works.4 To date, however, those who have discussed the authorship of the Hadfqat al-Shicaand, in particular, the anti-Sufi portions of the work, have not examined the detailed descriptions of the beliefs and practices of twenty-one Sufi sects offered in this portion of the Hadfqa, or compared these descriptions, generally and specifically, with other anti-Sufi essays written in this period.5 Such analyses both shed light on the broader effort in this period to associate the Hadfqa with al-Ardabili and offer additional clues as to the specific intentions of those ascribing the work to al-Ardabil- and also, thereby, the identity of the actual author of the problematic sections of the text.
1. ORIGINS OF ELEVENTH/SEVENTEENTHCENTURYANTI-SUFISM:SOCIO-POLITICAL BASESTO A RELIGIOUS POLEMIC The crises of seventeenth-century Iran are traditionally ascribed to such factors as the encroachment by the newly-established ghuldm corps on the previous authority of the uymaqtribal 61ite and the escalating decline in revenue stemming fron the conversion of state land (mamdlik) into crown land (khassa).6More recently R. Matthee has drawn attention to the continuous outflow of specie as aggravating the polity's reliance on external sources, mainly Ottoman, of specie. This combination of crises, in turn, produced military weakness, territorial loss-of Hamadan to the Ottomans in 1039-40/1630, and of Baghdad and Qandahar in 1047-8/1637-8-and further declines in revenue.7 The Nuqtawi rebellion of 1002/1593, in which the Ustajhiiand Shamlfi abandoned their Safavid pir for a Nuqtawi one, the 1029-30/1620 rebellion of the Gilani Sayyid Muhammad, when cAbbas I had fallen ill and Darwish Rida's khurujin 1040-41/1631, wherein he claimed to be a mahdi,8may be said to have been, at least in part, expressions of the nonurban, tribal dissatisfaction with the ramifications of the above-mentioned developments. On the urban scene, these developments, perhaps most especially including the specie outflow, increasingly affected the merchant and artisanal elements in the cities. These were the same groups whose fortunes had undergone such an upturn during the reign of cAbba-sI (995-1038/1587-1629). As these combined crises intensified over the century, so these elements forsook the doctrines and practices promoted by the orthodox clergy including, particularly, the intercessory and interpretative authority these clerics claimed for themselves on the basis of developments in Twelver Shicite doctrine and practice to this date. Instead, they sought solace and meaning in efforts to achieve a more direct, immanent and intimate relationship with the divine. Thus the urban dimensions of the resurgence of interest in Sufi doctrine and practice peculiar to eleventh/seventeenth-century Iran were most in evidence among quite specific groups located in such cities as the Safavid capital Isfahan.9 95
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JOURNAL
OF PERSIAN
The growing number of anti-Sufi essays and the dates of their composition reflect the increasing appeal of Sufism and, to some extent, chart changes in the character of that appeal over the period. The first of a series of essays directed against the messianic veneration of Abui Muslim (d. 136/754)-the Persian cAlid agent of the Abbasid movement in Khurasan--written between 1035/1626 and 1038/1628-29, attests to the presence of a messianic millenarianism stemming from the escalating urban disquiet described above. The Abi Muslim tradition linked the "popular epic/historic champion of the Abbasid revolution" and his khurutj with that of Shah Ismacil (907-30/1501-24) himself. Indeed, Ismacil had utilised the tradition himself in his early years, playing on the extremist ghuluww tradition among his Qizilbash followers. Babayan has noted that popular storytellers kept this tradition alive even as officialdom increasingly played it down, in keeping with the anti-ghuluww/anti-Qizilbash agenda characterstic of the the later Safavid period.10 That this veneration of Abli Muslim only intensified over the period, commensurate with the growing socio-economic and political difficulties, is confirmed by the further appearance, in the two decades beginning in 1042/1632-3, of some twenty essays refuting the messianism of the Abui Muslim tradition, attacking Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi (d. 1070/1659-60) for his public praise of AbuiMuslim and defending Mir Lawhi, one of the main critics of the resurgence of this tradition."1 The continued agitation against the AbuiMuslim tradition, suggesting its continued appeal, ought not to be surprising. The appeal of AbuiMuslim lay in the continued battering being experienced by the urban classes from a combination of socio-economic and political factors beyond the influence of even the court itself.12 Indeed, that Mir Lawhi himself was attacked in the streets for his involvement in the attacks on alMajlisi13suggests that the continuing strength of the Abil Muslim tradition had its spiritual and physical dimensions. The rise of the anti-Abti Muslim polemic coincided with, and could only have been facilitated by, the 1041/1632 fall of the Shaikhawand, sc. the alliance of the harem, individual uymaqmembers and Tajik ulema behind cAbbas I's court, itself following on the capture of Hamadan two years before. Taqi alMajlisi, like his critic Mir Lawhi, was a student of such scholars as Muhammad b. Shaikh H.usain, Muhammad Baha i (d. 1030/1621) and Sayyid Mir Damad (d. Baqir b. Muhammad 1040/1630-31). Sultanal-H.usaini, al-cUlama), Shaikh Baha3I and Mir Damad were among the elite coterie of rationalist, cifdn-oriented clerics closely associated with CAbbasI's court. Their overt interest in philosophical inquiry left these scholars vulnerable to
STUDIES
accusations of Sufi sympathies, both during their lifetimes and after.14 As the alliance underpinning cAbbas I's court fell, so too did its associated clerics, including the grand vizier Sayyid HIusain b. Rafic al-Din al-Marcashi, Sultan al-cUlama3 (d. 1064/ 1653-54), also known as Khalifat Sultan. The newly-ascendant Rustam Beg grouping, dominated by the ghuldm and Tajik bureaucrats, could not have been enamoured of such figures. Indeed, the anti-Abfi Muslim treatises, which included denunciations of Taqi al-Majlisiand thereby implied similar criticisms of his forebears at cAbbas I's court, flourished precisely in this period. Such a polemic was only encouraged by the presence at the court of Shah Safi, who had ascended the throne two years before the fall of the Shaikhawand, in 1038/1629, and reigned until 1052/1642, of the well-known opponent of Sufism, the sadr Habiballah al-Karaki descendant of cAli al-Karaki (1041-63/1632-53), and, in Shiraz, the similarly-inclined qadficAli-naqi Kamra3i (d. 1060/1650).15 In 1054/1644, two years after the ten-year old cAbbas II had acceded to the throne, the Rustam Beg clique was itself replaced by a new configuration of the Shaikhawand allied with certain tribal uymaqs,16and efforts were made by the court to address both the religious schisms and the underlying socio-economic problems threatening the polity. Once back in his old post, in 1055/1645, Sultan al-cUlama?, for example, endeavoured to address these concerns.17 The philosophical project and interest in Sufi doctrines and practices which had been associated with cAbbas I's court had been but the object of attack, and largely undefended, at Safi's court. For the opponents of this agenda, the reappearance of the Shaikhawand and their supporters (Sultan alcUlama3, in particular) could only have portended a re-emergence of the court-clergy alliance which dominated cAbbas's court and its concomittant, Cifdtn-orientedscholarly agenda. A re-evaluation of the anti-Sufi offensive was clearly in order. The continued high-profile in this period of such wellknown opponents of Sufism as Habiballah al-Karaki, who remained sadr until his death 1063/1653, and cAlj-naqi Kamra3i, appointed the Shaikh al-Islam of the capital sometime in this period,'8 only encouraged Sufism's opponents in this re-examination process. External evidence suggests that the controversial sections of the Hadiqat al-Shicaattacking Sufi doctrines and practices were completed between 1058/1648 and 1060/1650, i.e. within five years of the re-appearance of Sultan al-cUlama at court.19 The immediate background of the Hadiqa's appearance was thus this period of re-evaluation set off by the re-appearance of the Shaikhawand and Sultan alcUlama3.
SUFISM AND ANTI-SUFISM IN SAFAVID IRAN
2.
THE STYLEAND SUBSTANCE OF THE
HOMAGETO TWO HADIQATAL-SHIcA:
TRADITIONS
Perhaps precisely because it was a product of this period of re-evaluation of the anti-Sufi polemic, the IHadfqatal-Shica'santi-Sufi sections at once continued the existing Abfi Muslim polemic and, in that the author then listed in detail, and launched a ferocious, unprecedented, attack against, the beliefs and practices of some twenty-one Sufi groups, set the parameters of a new one which focused on specific doctrine and practices.20 The Persian-language work itself was originally written in the Deccan in 1058/1648 and is a history of Islam, the Imams, and the rise of the Twelver faith. In the section on the Sixth Imam, Jacfar alSadiq (d. 148/765), the author addresses the question of the Abbasids' overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty and the role of AbuiMuslim in this process. Thus was space available, if not created, for an attack. The author cites a statement attributed to the (d. 203/818) from a work Eighth Imam, cAli Sh. b Husain al-Sharif al-Murtada al-Rida, al-Musawi, by cAli (d. 436/1044), stating that Abfi Muslim was not a Shicite; the Arabic-language citation is carefully translated into Persian. The author then himself condemns Abfi Muslim as a mulhid (apostate) and friend of Sunnis and Sufis. The latter especially were said to like Ab i Muslim for his adherence to the doctrine of hulfil (incarnation).21 Because, the author then says, Sufism originated in the period of Imam Jacfar, he will now address their schools and beliefs. He commences this discussion with some brief remarks alleging a connection between Sufism and Sunnism, especially among such early prominent figures as Abui Hashim Kiffi,22 son of cAli's third son Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya (d.81/700), Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 161/778) and Abui Yazid [Bayazid] Bastami (d.261/874 or 264/ 877-78), all of whom believed in hulfl (incarnation), ittihdd (unitive fusion), and wahdat-i wujfd. The Imams had condemned such people and such beliefs, says the author, citing a number of hadith.He then refers to the Zubdatal-baydn,a work well-known as written by al-Ardabill, for fuller exposition of a related point.23 Beginning the section on Sufi sects, the author riotes that while some say there were originally four or seven Sufi groups,24 in fact there were only two, those adhering to and ittihdd respectively; all h.uldl others were subgroups of these. The first chapter of the section discusses these two and their doctrines. The first group maintained that "almighty God is incarnated in all of us and likewise in the bodies of all the cdafrin".The second held that "we have become one (yak) with God and likewise that God
97
has become one with all the cdriffn".They liken God to fire and themselves to iron (dhan) and a finger (angusht), and say that 'just as iron and a finger become fire when they meet fire so the cdrif owing to the proximity of God, becomes God". The author states that al-HIallaj (d. 309/922) and Bayazid Bistami were of these groups, that earlier Shicites condemned them and that the doctrine of wahdat-i wuujfd espoused by such Sufis as Ibn cArabi (d. 638/1240) was derived from Plato. The subsequent discussion of the false doctrines and practices of twenty-one Sufi groups was the first of its kind in both detail and degree of vituperation in the history of the Safawid period.25 Some aspects of the attack on these groups' doctrine and practices were perhaps familiar to the tradition of anti-Sufi polemics generally. Others were far in extreme of those made against the AbuiMuslim tradition and its adherents and the court-sponsored philosophers of the reigns of cAbbas I and cAbbas II. Thus, as examples of the more familiar range of charges levelled against Sufis, the groups named by the author are accused of embracing such doctrines as hulMl, ittihdd and wahdat-i wujtd. Other similarly heretical, associated, doctrines are also ascribed to the groups. Several groups, the first, eighth and twentieth, are said to adhere to jabr (determinism). Groups four and five-the Wild iyyaand Mushdrikiyya-claim mushdraka(partnership) with God. The first, second, eighteenth and twentieth groups also claim kashf (mystical illumination) and karamdt (miraculous grace). Five groups, the eleventh, thirteenth, fifteenth, eighteenth, twentieth, and the twenty-first, reject formal cilm (cilm-irasmor cilm-izahir)in favour of cilm-i badtinor cilm-i ghayb (esoteric or hidden knowledge), and repudiate the authority of the ulema. The Zarrdqiyya,26the twenty-first group, reject both the sayyidsand the clerics. Many groups are also accused of abandoning the requirements of the faith. Thus the eighth and second groups, the Maldmatiyyaand the Wdsiliyya,reject prayer, fasting, and "otherfard-id (religious duties)". The latter group, said to be an offshoot of the Ittihhddiyya,also forsake the pilgrimage, arguing that since they have "reached God" they need not abide by such takdlif(formal obligations). Nothing is wdjib (obligatory) for this group, says the author. Such practices as raqs (dancing), ghind- (singing), and samad (spiritual audition, i.e. listening to poetry or music), and taking part in gatherings where there was handclapping, were also condoned by the ninth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth, twentieth and twenty-first groups.27 The Zarrdqiyyawere rebuked for these and for swooning. "This sort of dhikr", the author says, "is bidca of the sort which appeared at the end of the Umayyad period and
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the early cAbbasid period". The twentieth, the Jumhiiriyya,are likewise censured for eating such unclean foods as pork, and for sitting in self-imposed seclusion for periods of 40 days. Five groups, the sixth, thirteenth, eighteenth, twentieth and twenty-first, are criticised for wearing unsuitable clothing, including wool, felt hats, khirqa (patched robes) and yellow. Several groups, the fourth, seventeenth and twentieth, are charged with openly associating with the insane. Charges of engaging in such practices attributed to Safavid-period groups may have rung true, and attacks on such behaviour as heretical were not out of the ordinary.28 More remarkable, on the other hand, however, is the author's ascription to ten of the groups peculiar, if not deviant, sexual practices. Thus, the Wdsiliyya, since they claim that nothing is wdjib, say that all things forbidden to others are permitted them, including drinking wine, adultery, sodomy, and sexual relations with family members.29 Indeed, the author states that members of this group call a kdfir (unbeliever) any sect member who refuses the advances of another, while one who accepts attains the level of wildya(friendship with God). The author attributes to the seventh group, the Mubdhiyya,similar behaviour and concludes that "it is good to slander, curse and kill them". The twentieth and fourteenth groups, the Jumhfiriyyaand the Kdmiliyya, condone sexual relations with young boys and girls. The author says the sixth group, the Shamrdkhiyya, are an offshoot of the Khawarij and hold that for them al-amrand al-nahy (the command to do good and abjure what is wrong) and the other umur are invalid (bdtil) and that "our wives and children and others are like the rose and sweet basil, in that their scent is permitted to both khdss and camm".The tenth group, the are said to claim they have HI•riyya, sex with the Hiliris. The Taslimiyya,the twelfth group, promote sexual relations between pir (master) and murid (disciple). The nineteenth and twenty-first groups, the cUshshdqiyyaand Zardqiyyarespectively, are charged with similar practices. A number of the author's descriptions clearly allude to some of these groups as active in this period and to the prevailing economic situation as generating sympathy for these doctrines and their adherents among the socially and economically distressed urban classes, if not also adding to their numbers.30 In his lengthy discussion of the first group, the Wahdatiyya,for example, the author says he attended a majlis of the group. The seventh group, the Mubdhiyya,are accused of theft. Some of the Kdmiliyya,the fourteenth group, are said to advocate the abandonment of efforts to earn a living (kasb),to
take their meals in peoples' houses, to frequent the shops of the bazaars and thereby distract traders from their work. The eighteenth group, theJfzriyyaare accused of taking loans without repaying them and of thievery. In discussing the twentieth group, the Jumhfriyya, the author notes that it is accepted that, while there were originally two Sufi groups, the Hulfiliyya and Ittihddiyya,most of the branches of these two groups are extinct and the majority of the Sufis seen in his time were of the Jumhftriyya.In describing the twenty-first group, the Zarrdqiyya,he notes that some of the eighteenth, the Jfriyya, and the Zarrdqiyyahave joined forces "in our own time" to deceive the cawwdm(the common people). Of the Zarrdqiyyahe notes that "some of them go to the houses of people who are weak-minded and tempt them.., .some go to the shops of the some of the bazaaris who are ignorant of the rules of the faith, sit down in front of them and with their conversations are able to deceive them". The author also notes here, in his closing remarks, that some groups which he has not the Nfirbakhshiyya and the discussed-citing Naqshbandiyya-are openly Sunni, have evil beliefs at heart and are kuffdr(unbelievers).31 3.
TAHIRAL-QUMMI'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ANTI-SUFIPOLEMIC Later authors quickly adopted both the new style and new substance of the HIadiqa and noted its authorship by al-Ardabili in their attacks on Sufi doctrine and practice. The Persian-language treatise from 1050/1650, Salwat al-ShFca,most likely by Mir Lawhi, attributed the Hadiqa to al-Ardabili and condemned such practices as cishqbdz(free sex?), swooning, dancing, singing, samdc, self-imposed seclusion, claims to kashfand kardmdt,and deceiving of people. The author noted condemnations by the Imams and past Shicites, and cited fatwds of contemporary scholars opposing singing. He also mentioned the Zarrdqiyya.These references were at best passing ones, however, and the essay itself was short: the Zarrdqiyyafeature as part of an attack on Abui Muslim.32In its dual attack on both AbuiMuslim and deviant social practices, this essay remained more true to the two-track agenda established in the Hadiqa than not. Sultan al-cUlama3died in 1064/1653-54, during a harsh winter marked by severe famine and inflation. The latter only underlined the tenuousness of the court's influence over the socio-economic realm and accentuated the search for meaning in the esoteric among those most severely affected. The government continued its efforts both to deal with the underlying socio-economic malaise33 and the associated rise in
SUFISM AND ANTI-SUFISM IN SAFAVID IRAN
interest in Sufi doctrines and practices. The Shah himself, with Sultan- al-cUlama3 dead, was freer to expand his own "outreach"to Sufis, as part of a larger strategy to moderate some of the more radical spiritual schisms. As part of that same effort, in that year he also invited Taqi al-Majlisi and Fayd Kishani to undertake assignments at the court. Both scholars were students of Cirfdn,to be sure-al-Majlisi was already well identified as a defender of, if not a spokesman for, the Abui Muslim tradition-and in this lay their potential appeal among those who were increasingly enamoured of aspects of Sufi doctrine and practice in the context of these wider secular crises. Both, just as importantly, were also students of loyal associates of the Shaikh~iwandgroup and themselves clearly loyal to the political establishment.34 Their appearance at court, however, only underscored the re-emergence of the Shaikhawand-dominated court-clergy alliance and its tolerance of, if not outright committment to, this sort of inquiry. Such an agenda excluded any role for the fuqaha3 and, as such, provoked only further opposition from them. If the attacks on Sufism and philosophy of Muhammad Tahir Shirazi Najafi al-Qummi (d. 1098/1687) later won him prominence, al-Qummi had appeared on the scene somewhat suddenly-during the heyday of the Rustam Beg cabal, seeking Safi's favour-with little apparent connection to Iran-based clerics of the preceding generation.35 As part of an exchange with al-Majlisi,whose new prestige denoted the court's new interests, and before alMajlisi's death in 1070/1659 and probably close to Mir Lawhi's composition of his Salwat al-ShCa in 1060/1650, al-Qummi penned his Persian-language Radd-i Suifiyya.36Comparison of the Hadiqa's antiSufi polemic with this essay of al-Qummi-itself also as yet not comprehensively studied by Westernlanguage writers37-suggests the debt of al-Qummi to Pseudo-al-Ardabili was distinctly more direct than that of Mir Lawhi in his Salwatal-ShfCa. As had Pseudo-al-Ardabili in his anti-Sufi polemic, al-Qummi divided his essay into two sections. The Radd's first section begins with a lament that so many Shica and friends of cAli had been deceived into accepting certain Sufi practices, owing to the ignorance of the ahl-i Cilm("the scholarly community"). The Sufis, he states, were simply followers of al-Hallaj or Bayazid Bistami. Both were condemned by such prominent Shicite scholars as Muhammad b. Hasan, Shaikh Tuisi (d. 460/1067), Muhammad b. cAli, Ibn Babawayh (d. 381/ 991-92), Muhammad b. Muhammad, al-Shaikh alMufid (d. 413/1022) and b. Yilsuf, alal-Hilli H.asan Because the Sunnis (d. 726/1325). cAllfima did not disapprove of these various Sufi groups they called them ahl-i kardmdt ("those endowed with miraculous grace"). Al-Qummi then offered evi-
99
dence that these figures and their followers had no genuine Shicite connections and that their doctrines and practices were incompatible with the faith. He, noted, for example, that the names of these Sufis never appeared in any lists of the friends of the ahl-i bayt;,that cities famous for their Shicite connections, e.g. Qum, Astarabad, and Hilla, never had any Sufi khdnagdh (lodge) built in them; that the books of such Sufis as al-CAttar(d. ca. 627/1230) and Rinmi (d. 672/1273) listed no names of well-known Shicites their that the Sunnis would cerfollowers; among have censured Sufi with Shicite containly any group nections; and that the Imams had condemned such figures as Sufyan al-Thawri.38 Close attention to al-Qummi's second section, listing the doctrines and practices of twenty different Sufi groups, in comparison with the Hadiqa's descriptions of the doctrines and practices of twentyone Sufi groups, reveals that the names and especially the descriptions of the groups in al-Qummi's Radd are more often than not nearly perfect, if often shortened, versions of those in the Hadiqa.39 Al-Qummi opens this section noting that "Maulana Ahmad al-Ardabili... in his book the IHadfqatal-Shicasays the Sufi sects (tawdcif) are many. Some of the beliefs of some of them are mentioned in this book (i.e the Radd), and that amount is twenty". Fifteen, i.e. more than half, of al-Qummi's descriptions are near-perfect copies of those in the Hadiqa. The description of the Awliyd3,al-Qummi's second and the Hadiqa's fourth group, are practically word-for-word matches. Both note the group maintains that, upon attaining wildya,a sect member becomes a sharik (partner) with God and that this stage is higher than that of nulnzwwat(prophethood) or risdlat (apostleship). Both note also that the group opposed relations with women and associated with the insane. Al-Qummi's third entry, the Shamrdkhiyya(the IHadiqa'ssixth), is simply the first seven lines of the Hadiqa's entry, on deviant sexual practices. AlQummi added that members of this group allow such intoxicants as wine, but both authors concluded that killing the group's members is permissible. Al-Qummi's fourth entry (the Hadiqa's seventh), the Mubdhiyya,is as short as that in the Hadiqa. AlQummi's entry deleted mention of a similarity to the Wasiliyya, but otherwise it is a virtual copy of the entry in the earlier work. Both condemn members' sexual licence and say cursing and killing members of this group is permitted. Al-Qummi's fifth group is virtually a carbon copy of the Hadfqa's ninth, the Hadliyya.Both condemn members' participation in handclapping, samdc, dancing, playing instruments and swooning, the latter said to effect nearness to God.
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Al-Qummi's eighth description replicates the HIadfqa'stenth, on the Hfiriyya,both brief with references to samdc, swooning, and sexual intercourse with the HIIrisduring their "performances". Al-Qummi's eleventh group, the cUshshdqiyya,is an abridged version of the HIadfqa'slonger nineteenth description, most of the later entry coming from the last few lines of the earlier. Al-Qummi's thirteenth entry is most of the Hladfqa'stwelfth, the Taslimiyya,including the focus on sexual licence. Al-Qummi's fourteenth is a shortened variant of the HIadfqa's thirteenth description, on the Talqfniyya,taking the first few lines verbatim, leaving off the middle section, and summarizing the end. Gone in his Raddare the HIadfqa'sreferences to links with the Ismacilis and their abhorrence of meat. Both authors refer to their ragged clothes and periods of forty day-isolation. The Mushdrikaare al-Qummi's fifteenth and the HIadiqa'sfifth group. Both note they are also called the though the HIadiqaadds they are also called Afd.aliyya, Mushdrikiyya.Otherwise the two entries differ only in a few terms of vocabulary. Al-Qummi's seventeenth, the Ilhdmiyya,is a shortened version of the HIadfqa'sfifteenth entry. Both concentrate on members' love of music and singing to the exclusion of religious study. Al-Qummi's nineteenth, the Nfzriyya, is the HIadfqa'ssixteenth group. Other than the HIadfqa's note that the group is also called the HIulufliyya, and the different placement of one line and several differences of vocabulary, the two entries are the same. The Habinbiyyawere al-Qummi's first and the HIadfqa'sthird entry. As usual, Pseudo-al-Ardabili's entry is the longer. Al-Qummi reproduced the first lines of the earlier, added one line of his own, and dropped the HIadfqa'srejection of suggestions of a connection between this group and the Wdsiliyya. Both authors mentioned the group's association with the insane. Al-Qummi also omitted the HIadiqa's reference to a statement by the eleventh Imaim alHasan al-CAskari(d.260/873 or 874), on the insane which Pseudo-al-Ardabili had usefully translated into Persian. Finally, al-Qummi also dropped the HIadfqa'smention of the group's rejection of fasting, and their declaration as haladlthings considered hardm. Perhaps the most interesting comparisons between the two works involve those groups clearly referred to in the HIadfqaas active in this period. Although al-Qummi excised many such references, he did retain clear allusions to the present-day activity of a number of the groups. Al-Qummi's twelfth entry, the Jumhiriyya,the HIadiqa'stwentieth, is markedly shorter than the earlier (six lines as com-
pared with thirty). Al-Qummi's abbreviation of the first lines in the HIadfqa,however, deleted the mention of contemporary acitivity, and gave only the group's most basic doctrine. What is left in his Radd, however, is nearly word-for-word repeated from the earlier entry: "They say that nothing must be rejected, and that unbelief and Islam are both good. They know Miisa- (Moses) and Pharaoh... Husain and Yazid are all good ... and they know oppressor and oppressed as both right. They do not know dog and pork as unclean .. ." The Kdmiliyyaare al-Qummi's sixteenth and the HIadfqa'sfourteenth group. Both descriptions are long but, as with other entries, the later work simply greatly abridged the earlier. Al-Qummi's entry also drops references to present activity, including members' frequenting of the bazaars. The few other variations are less substantive. The Zarrdqiyyaare al-Qummi's twentieth and the IHadfqa'stwenty-firstgroup. In both works, this is the last-mentioned group. If Pseudo-al-Ardabili's entry is, as usual, the longer, both are nevertheless lengthy. Most of al-Qummi's entry is available in the earlier work. If, again, al-Qummi did not note their presence in the bazaar, he did refer to their activity in his own time. The entry in his Radd detailed-as had the HIadfqa,at greater length-their love of samdc,dancing, and other forms of musical expression, and their wearing of felt hats and honeycoloured shawls. Al-Qummi' also noted, as had the HIadfqa,their claims to kashf and karamdtand their dislike of the ulema. In portions of the discussion on musical performances, al-Qummi's wording is exactly that of the HIadfqa.His discussion of various subgroups also reproduced almost perfectly the earlier descriptions of Pseudo-al-Ardabili. Al-Qummi did excise statements by the Imams on the necessity of respecting the ulema which the HIadfqahad then explained in Persian. Al-Qummi also detailed their love of music and dancing, noting too they were also called darwishor awliyd-, and that today they also call The author themselves Shica to deceive the Cawwdm. of the HIadfqa had noted a link with al-Hallaj, detailed their use of music and singing to deceive the unsuspecting, and added many were like the Kdmiliyya in their sexual licence and like the Talqiniyyain that members wore distinctive clothes. Although entries for the remaining groups do not match each other as perfectly as those discussed above, the correspondence between the entries in the HIadiqaand those in Radd is nevertheless clear. Al-Qummi's description of his eighteenth group, the Bdtiniyya, simply condensed the first section of the HIadiqa'slong entry on its eighteenth group, the Jiriyya. Al-Qummi's description paralleled the Had7qa's own Bdtiniyya, the seventeenth group, in mentioning a similaritywith the HIabibiyya.
SUFISM
AND ANTI-SUFISM
The Tawaqqufiyya,al-Qummi's tenth, was the Hadfqa's eleventh group. Al-Qummi simply reversed the halves of the Hadiqa's entry. This last work had called them Wuqftfiyyaand Wdqifiyya,but Pseudo-alArdabili had also noted the name which al-Qummi gave them in his later essay. His ninth group, the Wdsiliyya,was the Hadiqa's second. If, as usual, the earlier entry was the longer of the two, the correspondence is clear, to the point of some verbatim copying. As in other entries, alQummi dropped all citations of the Imams' statements and references to other works mentioned in the Hadfqa. This last had rejected any association with the Habibiyyain his entry on the latter; alQummi rejected that connection here. This entry contained the sole reference in the Radd to an earlier text, and this a correction to the Hadiqa.40 There are four groups which are mentioned in the second section of one but not the other of the two works in question. Al-Qummi's sixth and seventh groups, the Hulfliyya and Ittihddiyya,were mentioned in the Hadfqa's introductory remarks as the original two Sufi groups; they do not receive separate entries in the Hadfqa's second section. On the Hulftliyya,al-Qummi's initial remarks in the Radd, that its members claimed God was incarnated in them, echoed the Hadfqa'sdescription. However, his five-line entry then noted a penchant for pleasure, including sexual licence, not noted by the Hadfqa, which instead focused on the implications of their hulzdlfor Cilm.
Al-Qummi does, however, claim the Hulfliyya and were the original two Sufi groups in his Ittih.ddiyya lengthier description of the Ittihddiyya.There he says also that most of the earliest Sufis were members of one or the other, points made in the Hadiqa. Such Sufis as Ibn al-CArabiadhered to wahdat-iwujid, the notion that each creature is immanent God. He then names Bistami and al-Hallaj as members of the second group, though some said they were of the Hjulfliyya; Pseudo-al-Ardabili had cited another author as saying the two were members of one or the other group. Al-Qummi then noted the Sunnis had counted both groups as "the greatest of the awliyd" The Hadfqa's first and eighth groups, sc. the Wahdatiyyaand the Maldmatiyya,were not specifically named and described by al-Qummi in the second section of his essay. He had, however, mentioned the Maldmatiyyabriefly in his first section, noting they had been called the "best of the awliyd"by CAbdalRazzaq al-Kashi (d. 740/1339). In fact, the H.adfqa's not descriptions of these two groups contained little on offer in other entries in either essay. According to the Hadfqa, this group openly committed crimes and were the most extreme of all Sufis in their adherence to jabr. Thus they held that all who committed crimes were good, but were therefore called muldmat
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IRAN
"those liable to censure", and were esteemed by all Sufis and such figures asJami. As for the Wahdatiyya,the Hadzqa'sdescription of this group covers nine printed pages. If al-Qummi did not directly name and address the doctrines and practices of this group certainly mention of wahdat-i wujzfdas a heretical Sufi idea was present in the Radd, for example, in his discussion of the seventh group, the Ittihddiyya,and in section one of the essay. Interestingly, where the Hadfqa had condemned both the Naqshbandi and Ntirbakhshi orders toward the end of his discussion of the twenty-one groups and their doctrines and practices, alQummi's denunciation of the Niirbakhshi order also comes in concluding remarks, to the first section of his Radd. On balance, al-Qummi's descriptions of the Sufi groups in his Radd neatly reproduced those of the earlier the Hadfqa, sometimes word-for-word. Both focused on aspects of doctrine and practice, levelling against these groups charges of behaviour far more extreme and in greater detail than the essays attacking Abfi Muslim. Indeed, the most prominent feature of the Hadfqa missing in al-Qummi's essay is denunciation of the Abli Muslim tradition and its adherents, suggesting that by the late-1060s/1650s the anti-Sufi polemic was in fact moving on,41 and thus perhaps indicating a shift at the "popular"level of enquiry from fixation on Abfi Muslim to a more purely darwish-styleenquiry. LATERANTI-SUFI POLEMICS:FOLLOWING IN AL-QUMMI'S FOOTSTEPS The best-known anti-Sufi works dating from after this period followed the common focus of both the Ijadfqa and al-Qummi's Radd on the doctrines and, especially, the heretical, if not also aberrant, practices of these groups; but, following al-Qummi's Radd, they omitted references to the Abfi Muslim tradition. In the first volume of his al-Durr al-manthzr, completed in 1073/1662, three years after the 4.
death of Taqi al-Majlisi, Shaikh cAli b. Muhammad
(d. 1103/1691-2),
a descendant of Shaikh Zayn
al-Din b. cAli, al-Shahid
al-Thani
(d. 965/1559),
attacked ghind3 and referred to the Hadfqaas written by al-Ardabil.
Shaikh cAli continued
that attack in
AIhmad his later essay al-Sihdmal-mdcriqa. Tuni (alive in 1070/1659-60) also attacked singing.42 In his alIthnd al-CAshariyya al-Hurr al-CAmili(d. 1104/1693), later Shaikh al-Isldm in Mashhad, referred to and quoted from the Hadiqa, and identified it as the work of al-Ardabili, in describing the doctrines and practices of different Sufi groups. Al-Qummi's attacks on the Sufis and disputes with such figures as al-Majlisi sufficiently upset both the court and the populace that in 1069/1658, four
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JOURNAL
OF PERSIAN
years after the court's call to Fayd and al-Majlisi, alQummi felt compelled openly to declare his loyalty to the court, at least, by declaring for the cayniposition on Friday prayer, the same position as that advocated by his opponent Taqi al-Majlisi and Fayd.43 Thereafter, however, the scene changed rapidly. In 1070/1659 al-Majlisi died. Several years later, Fayd4 resigned his post as the capital's Friday prayer leader, to which he had been appointed by cAbbas II. The Shah himself had already begun to withdraw from the active interest in worldly affairs which had generated his call to Fayd and al-Majlisi.44 Thus there unravelled the second great alliance between the court and the philosophically-oriented scholars of the Safavid period. The break-up of this alliance was further cemented by cAbbas II's death in 1077/1666. Over the last few years of CAbba-sII's reign, alQummi was clearly aware that too extreme a polemic might endanger both his personal safety and his career prospects, and he continued to modify both the tone and substance thereof as compared with those in his earlier Radd. Thus in 1075/1664, alQummi composed his Persian-language Tuihfatalakhydrin which he attacked Taqi al-Majlisi--now some years dead-and described "the youth" as especially prone to Sufi influence45; but he utilised a critique decidedly, if only relatively, "tamer" than that on offer in the HIadiqa or his own Radd. Subsequently, al-Qummi shifted to critiques of the rationalist cirfdnpursued by such scholars as Mulla Sadra and his student, son-in-law and cirfdniactivist Fayd. These critiques were composed in Arabic, thus considerably reducing both the audience for his polemic and, thereby also, the potential for widespread backlash among a populace still clearly enamoured of Sufi-style inquiry.46These decisions proved sound: his previous high-profile now somewhat reduced in size, al-Qummi was appointed ShaikhalIsldm of Qum during the reign of Sulaiman.47 Indeed, al-Qummi's rise from arrivisteduring the reign of Shah Safi to Shaikhal-Isldmin less than half a century is striking. 5.
TOWARD A RECONSIDERATIONOF THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE HADIQATAL-SHIcA Even in the Safavid period, Shicite scholars did not alwaysagree that al-Ardabili had, in fact, written the HIadiqa.Tadayyun noted that Batqiral-Majlisi,son of a major target of the anti-Sufi campaign, does not appear to have accepted this claim.48Like Tadayyun, whose work he cited, Jacfariyanwas sceptical that alArdabili's composed the work.49 Babayan has suggested Mir Lawhi composed the anti-Sufi sections of the HIadiqa.5oThis seems both unlikely and unnecessary. By the time of the
STUDIES
composition, Mir Lawhi was a wellestablished I.adiqa's figure very much at the centre of the polemic. Though he was attacked in the streets by his opponents, the twenty-odd essays defending him written over the two decades beginning 1042-43/ 1633-34 proved that Mir Lawhi enjoyed considerable support from among the community's middleranking clerics.51 He had also already written one "anonymous" essay, the aforementioned Salwat alShzcawhich, however, seems to have been too easily attributable to its author.52 There seems no reason for him to have written another one even if, admittedly, his high-profile and having composed one such essay already, perhaps makes, and probably made, him the most likely candidate for authorship of the HIadfqa. Though he offered no evidence for the suggestion, the late Muhammad Taqi Danish-pazhfih opined that al-Qummi wrote the problematic sections of the HIadiqa.53This suggestion is more plausible. Al-Qummi, a recent arrival to the capital, lacked connections to and support from any among the city's clergy and at the court; his efforts to attract Shah Safi's attention seemingly came to nought. The fall of the Rustam Beg group and the return of the Shaikhawand and Sultan al-cUlama3, coupled with the ever-growing "popular"interest in Sufi-style doctrine and practice, most likely dismayed him. At the same time, the physical attacks on Mir Lawhi and incidents such as that mentioned by Chardin cited above (p. 95), recommended care in proceeding against the Sufis. Study in Arab Iraq had acquainted him with the legacy of al-Ardabili, another long-term resident of the shrine cities. Al-Qummi, alert to the foreign as only a recent arrival could be, and already involved in staking a claim for himself in the antiSufi polemic54, became apprised of the Indian essay Kdshifal-haqq,redrafted its discussion of Abfi Muslim to add the ferocious anti-Sufi polemic detailed above, and circulated it as al-Ardabili's the Hadfqa. Mir Lawhi's attribution of the work to al-Ardabiliperhaps as part of a collective strategy which both indicated, and cemented, al-Qummi's acceptance by proponents of the anti-Sufi critique-further encouraged this myth. Shaikh CAll and Shaikh alHIurr,both of whom also had been based in the Arab West,55 and therefore also acquainted with alArdabili and probably, at least, suspecting the truth, endorsed the fiction of al-Ardabili as the HIadiqa's author.56 Thus was the attribution soon widely accepted, especially by those with inclinations similar to those of its author. Al-Qummi, emboldened by his support from some established clerics and only further dismayed with the subsequent machinations of the court (as witnessed by cAbbaisII's flirtation with Sufism and the Shah's invitations to Taqi al-Majlisi and Fayd), now somewhat abridged, and
SUFISM
AND ANTI-SUFISM
created some variations on, the earlier work in order to create a "separate" essay, preserving enough of the original's verve to add fuel to the fire. He thereby added to the number of such vitriolic essays in circulation (he even referred to the HIadfqaas by alArdabili) and thereby bolstered the critique and gave weight to the sorts of allegations about doctrine and practice made in the Hadiqa. However, in response to a shift in the popular taste away from Abui Muslim, al-Qummi, and others in this later period, deemed it no longer necessary to inveigh against the CAbbasidagent. Shaikh cAli's later, similar work with the anti-Sufi sections of his al-Durrand his al-Siham al-mdriqasuggests this sort of abridgement and reworking of essays were not uncommon as part of this polemic in this period, as do the various manifestations of such other works as the Taudifh al-mushribin.57 Al-Qummi's 1069/1658 Friday prayer essay suggests that he perceived that he had stoked these fires too well, angering the pro-cirfdnfaction at court and probably also significant sections of the public. Even with the untangling of the court-clergy alliance, wariness of public reaction encouraged him to pursue a less extreme polemic. 6. THE LEGACYOF AL-ARDABILITO THE ANTI-SUFI POLEMIC Popular Sufi doctrines and Sufi-style practices were clearly spreading in this period (and perhaps also shifting from a focus on Abfi Muslim to darwish pursuits), especially among the commercial and artisanal classes. Contemporary "independent" sources document few problematic practices such as those attributed to the Sufi orders in both the Hadfqa and the Radd; and not all doctrines and practices mentioned therein ought usefully to be understood as Sufi per se.58There is, in particular, little evidence for those more extreme, if not deviant, practices described as habitual in the HIadzqaand al-Qummi's Radd, especially those of a sexual nature. Such charges, often made against deviant religious groupings.59 were not unknown in Shicite history.60 It seems more likely that al-Qummi (who, if we accept his authorship of the HIadiqa,appears to have been the only critic to have gone to such heights, and lengths, of criticism) attributed such extreme behaviour to so many orders and in such detail in order both to shock the as-yet-uncommitted among the disaffected urban classes into avoiding association with any such groups and, equally importantly, in order to tar the cirfdn-orientedclerical associates of the court, and especially including Taqi al-Majlisi,for example, with the brush of such beliefs and behaviour. The efforts of al-Qummi and others to link such attacks with al-Ardabili only lent credibility to the
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struggle of the middle-ranking clerics for the hearts and minds of these urban elements. Al-Ardabili was a prominent Twelver scholar of the previous century. The positions of the Usilli and Akhbari schools were crystallising in this period, and al-Ardabill, if he was interested in philosophical inquiry, was clearly an Usfili in his support for rationalist jurisprudence and taqlid, the division of the community into lay believer and faqih, and the directing of the former into following the latter's rulings.61 Unlike the Usfili philosopher-clerics whose close associations with the court were a feature of the early eleventh/seventeenth century, al-Ardabili, however, was also well-known as having been cautious about the scope of interaction permitted between the government of the day and the fuqaha3. He had opposed the legality of the clerics' receipt of kharajrevenues from the state, thus siding with those who rejected the close association between cAli al-Karakiand the first two Safavid Shahs. Al-Ardabili was for many years resident outside the Safavid realm in the Iraqi shrine cities, whence he and several Iranian contemporaries had migrated from Safavid territory. Two of his most prominent students, the Lebanese Hasan b. Zayn al-Din (d. 1011/1602-03), the son of al-Shahid al-Thani, and Hasan's relative and friend Sayyid Muhammad b. CAll al-CAmill (d. 1009/1600), both also prominent Usillis, also avoided Safavid territory. Such a plethora of avoidances implied rejection both of the Safavid political institution and the concurrent legitimacy which would have accrued to the Safavids from any such clerical associations.62 Finally, al-Ardabili also taught CAbdallah alShiishtari (d. 1021/1612) and Faydalla-hal-Tabataba-i al-QahpaPi, a student of Mir Daimad. Both alShiishtari and Mir Damad were well-connected to the Shaikhawand group,63 as was Mir Damad's close associate Shaikh Baha3i. Both BahaOi and alShishtari also taught Taqi al-Majlisi, attacks on whom were a prominent feature of the phase of the anti-Sufi polemic. Who better now to denounce the resurgence of both philosophical inquiry and the alliance between its practitioners and the court, and to list these practitioners (and thus implicitly, at least, to tar them both with the brush of heretical doctrines and clearly aberrant practices) than a prominent UsWiliknown himself to have been interested in precisely such inquiry but to have rejected the concomittant Usiili predisposition toward close association with the court which marked the reign of cAbbas I and which was being continued during that of cAbbis II?64The ascription of extreme behaviour, and even derogatory names, to such a larger number of distinct groups by al-Qummi, in both the Hadfqaand the Radd, and the attribution of the former work to al-Ardabill, in conjunction with the efforts of others in the anti-Sufi camp in this
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period, could only resonate among the commercial and artisanal elements. These last had witnessed the failure of the state, once again in overt alliance with the elite practitioners of cirfdni-styleenquiry, to alleviate their situation (as previously during the reign of CAbbasI). The anti-Sufi polemic challenged these elements to redirect their spiritual energies and enquiries back to orthodoxy. Such polemics also implicitly challenged the court's clerical associates to distance themselves from all such problematic doctrines and practices. If the changing reality of popular Sufi/darwish doctrine and practice is difficult to ascertain, the widespread, continued popularity of both this doctrine and practice among urban-based elements during this period is clear. The lack of vituperative reference to Abfi Muslim in such later works as the Radd does suggest that earlier attacks on the veneration of Abui Muslim may have reduced the appeal of that tradition. However, that al-Qummi adopted such an extreme form of attack against darwish-styledoctrine and practice in his Hadiqa, continued it more openly in his Raddand only subsequently toned down his critique in later works, points to the continued appeal of darwishSufism throughout this period and suggests that there was a concrete spiritual dimension to the broader socio-economic and political developments.
The author wishes to thank Drs. K. Babayan, L. Lewisohn, H. M. Tabataba-tf, and R. Matthee and the Marcashi Library in Qum for assistance with various aspects of this paper. The faults herein are his responsibility alone. 1
2
APPENDIX The Sufi groups as listed in: al-Qummi's Radd
HIadiqatal-Shica 3 4 6 7 9
Habibiyya Wala-iyya Shamrikhiyya Mubahiyya HI1iyya
I II III IV V
Hulfiliyya Ittihadiyya Hiriyya Wasiliyya Wiqifiyya
VI VII VIII IX X
10 2 11
cUshshaqiyya Jumhfiriyya Taslimiyya Talqiniyya Musharikiyya
XI XII XIII XIV XV
19 20 12 13 5
Kimiliyya Ilhimiyya Batiniyya Nuiriyya Zarraqiyya
XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX
Wahdatiyya Malfamatiyya
-
14 15 17(18) 16 21 1 8
4 5
6
Jean Chardin, Voyagesdi chevalierChardin, en Perseset autres liuex de l'Orient, ed. L. Langles, Vol. IV (Paris, 1811), pp. 456-57. Chardin was in Iran for eighteen months ca. 1078/1667 and for four-and-a-half years between 1084/1673 and 1088/1677. Much of the latter period, of which his journals cover about two-and-a-half years, was spent in Isfahan. See J. Emerson, art. "Chardin", in EIr Vol. V, (1991), pp. 369-77. The Safavid-period biographers who attributed the work to al-ArdabilI include Muhammad b. Hasan al-Hurr al-CAmili (d. 1104/1693), in his Amal al-dmil, Vol. II (Baghdad, 1385/1965-66), p. 23, and Mirza cAbdallah Afandi in his Riydd al-culama3 I (Qum, 1401), pp. 56-57. The latter was a student of Muhammad Batqir al-Majlisi (d. 1110/1699). Later scholars include Yusfif al-Bahrani (d. 1186/1772), in his Lu 3luat al-Bahrain (Beirut, 1406/1986), p. 150. M. Tadayyun's "HIadiqatal-Shica ya KIshif al-Haqq", Macadrif II (1364/1985), pp. 105-21, esp. pp. 106-08, discusses these and other attributions at length, noting (p. 106) that Ba-qir al-Majlisi himself does not appear to have accepted the attribution. See also the Persian-language sources cited in n. 5 below. Those authors who have discussed al-Ardabili's career and contributions to date, irrespective of his association with the Hadfqat al-ShFa, include H. M. Tabatabaf•3, An Introduction to ShiciLaw (London, 1984), pp. 51-53; S. A. Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam (Chicago, 1984), pp. 138-41; A. Newman, "Towards a Reconsideration of the 'Isfahan School of Philosophy': Shaikh Bahai•i and the Role of the Safawid cUlamaiP", St Ir, XV (1986), p. 176 n. 35; W. Madelung, art. "Ardabili", in EIr, vol. II (1987), pp. 368-70; J. Cooper (ed. and tr.), "The Muqaddas al-Ardabll on taqlfd",in Arjomand (ed.), Authorityand Political Culture in Shicism (Albany, 1988), pp. 263-66; A. Newman, "The Myth of the Clerical Migration to Safawid Iran", Die Weltdes Islams,XXXIII (1993), p. 108 n. 90. Madelung, op. cit., 369. Madelung identified a penchant for the Sufi doctrine of wahdat-iwujud (the unity of existence). See, for example, Tadayyun, op. cit.; Madelung, op. cit.; K. Babayan, The Waning of the Qizilbash.The Spiritual and the Temporalin SeventeenthCenturyIran, unpublished Ph.D. thesis (Princeton University, 1993), pp. 215, 233-36, 246-251, 262; idem, "Sufis,Dervishes and Mullas. The Controversy over the Spiritual and Temporal Dominion in Seventeenth-Century Iran", in C. Melville (ed.), Safavid Persia (London, 1996), pp. 126, 129, 130, 137 n. 37. See also Agha Buzurg Muhammad al-Tihrani, al-Dhanrcaild tasdnzf al-Shfca (Tehran and Najaf, 1353-98), vol. VI, pp. 385-86; M. T. Danish-Pazhfih, Fihrist-i Kitdbkhana-yi... Sayyid Muhammad Mashkdt bi Ddnishgdh-i Tihrdn, vol. III (Tehran, 1332), pp. 600-06; R. Jacfariyan, Dfn wa siydsat dar daura-yiSafawf (Qum, 1370), 225-6. See also nn. 19, 20, 30, 38, 45, 50 below. See, for example, R. M. Savory, art. "Safawids:Dynastic, political and military history", in E12, VIII, pp. 765-71; idem, Iran Under the Safavids (Cambridge, 1980), pp. 226-54. Savory's discussion echoes that of V. Minorsky in his TadhkiratalmuluFk.A Manual of Safavid Administration(London, 1943), pp. 23-24. Both, in turn, largely built on the works of E. G. Browne's A LiteraryHistory of Persia, vol. IV (Cambridge, 1924, repr. 1953), pp. 84-120, esp. pp. 116-17. L. Lockhart, The Fall of the Safavid Dynasty and the Afghan Occupationof Persia (Cambridge, 1958), esp. pp. 16-34, only paid homage to Minorsky and Browne on this subject. In his "Administrative Change and Stability in Late 17th Century Iran. The Case of Shaikh Ali Khan Zanganah (1669-89)",
SUFISM AND ANTI-SUFISM IN SAFAVID IRAN
IJMESXXVI (1994), pp. 78-79, Matthee questions the "simple Qizilbash-ghuldm" dichotomy posed by previous writers (citing Minorsky, Lockhart and Savory), as well as other aspects of this traditional analysis, although he accepts the importance of the mamdlik/khhdssa dynamic. Our "Towards a Reconsideration", esp. pp. 165-69, has suggested that additional aspects of Browne's analyses of Safavid history survive elsewhere in the field of Safavid studies as well. 7 Mathee's work includes "The Career of Muhammad Beg, Grand Vizier of Shah Abbas II (r. 1642-1666)", Iranian Studies, XXIV (1991), pp. 17-36; and "Administrative Change and Stability in Late 17th century Iran", pp. 77-98. See also his Politics and Trade in Late Safavid Iran, unpublished Ph.D. thesis (University of California, Los Angeles, 1991). See also n. 12 below. 8 On these movements, see Babayan, The Waning, pp. 24, 47, 49 n. 92, 62, 175-76, 185; 63; and 75, 103-04, n. 248, 186-87. 9 The connection between developments in the socioeconomic and political spheres with those in the religious sphere postulated herein is based on the work of Babayan and Matthee, as cited above in nn. 5, 7. Other aspects of these links between these different spheres are discussed further in A. J. Newman, "Faydal-Kashani and the Rejection of the Clergy/State Alliance: Friday Prayer as Politics in the Safavid Period", forthcoming in, J. L. Walbridge (ed.), The Most Learnedof the Shfca, and Newman, "Clerical Perceptions of Sufi Practices in Late 17th Century Persia. The Permissibility of al-Dhikr and al-Ghind'", forthcoming in, L. Lewisohn and D. O. Morgan (eds.), Late Classical Persianate Sufism. The Safavid and Mughal Periods (Oxford, 1999). The link between resurgent urban darwuish-oriented Sufism and the merchants classes in this century can be traced in the primary sources as early as the Kasral-asndmof Sadr al-Din Muhammad al-Shirazi, Mulla Sadra (d. 1050/ 1640), completed in 1027/1617-18, until the middle years of the century in the Hadfqat al-Shica, discussed below, and towards the latter part of the century in the Tadhkira-yi Nasrdbddi, begun in 1083/1673-4 and completed in 1090/1679. See Babayan, The Waning, pp. 262, 253, Newman, "Clerical Perceptions", and n. 30 below. On the anti-Sufi polemic during the tenth/sixteenth century, see nn. 10, 20. 10 The best discussion of the anti-Abfi Muslim movement to date remains that of Babayan, in her The Waning, esp. pp. 195-96. On Ismacil's continued recourse to extremist rhetoric, see also Newman, "The Myth of the Clerical Migration", esp. pp. 69-70. 11 Several of the anti-Abfi Muslim essays have been published in R. Jacfariyan (ed.), Mirdth-i Isldmf-yi Irdn, vol. II (Qum: Marcashi Najafi Public Library, 1374), pp. 247-302. These are: Izhdr al-haqq,written in 1042-44/1633-34 (al-Tihrani, op. cit., vol. IV, pp. 150-51) by S. Ahmad al-CAlawi,student, and son-in-law of Muhammad Baqir b. Muhammad, Mir Damad (d. 1040/1630-1); Sahffat al-rashdd(thought to have been the first of the anti-Abit Muslim essays) of Muhammad Zaman b. Muhammad Jacfar Ridawi (d. 1040/1630), and Khuldsat al-fawd3id of CAbd al-Muttalib b. Yahya Taliqani who, like Mir Lawhi and Ahmad al-CAlawi,studied with Mir Damad. The latter treatise listed eighteen additional essays attackaling Abfi Muslim and defending Mir Lawhf; the H.adiqat to ShCa is not mentioned therein. Jacfariyan's introduction the essays (pp. 247-58) is extremely useful. I am indebted to Dr. Babayan for directing my attention to this volume and to the Marcashi Library in Qum for facilitating access to it. On these essays, see also Babayan, The Waning, pp. 326-28, and Jacfariyan, Dfn wa siydsat, pp. 234f. See also the article on
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Ahmad al-CAlawiby H. Corbin in EIr,vol. I, pp. 644-46. This volume also includes Salwat al-Shica (pp. 339-59), written in 1060/1650, probably by Mir Lawhi, in which (p. 351) the Hadiqa is mentioned and attributed to alArdabilf. On this work, see Babayan, ibid, p. 141 n. 342, p. 283 n. 721, the latter citingJacfariyan, op. cit., of which see pp. 248, 250-51. See also nn. 15, 19, 20, 32, 40, 54 below. The anti-Abfi Muslim essays blame urban-based story-tellers for the popularity of the tradition and note the impact of the tradition in Isfahan. See, for example, al-rashdd, Sah.fat See also p. 270, and Khuldsat al-fawdaid, pp. 274-75. Babayan, op. cit., pp. 195f. Matthee dates to the reign of Safi (reg. 1038-52/1629-42) the financial constraints and military weakness which plagued the polity later in the century. See his "Politics and Trade in Late Safavid Iran", pp. 101-04, 112-18. See also nn. 17, 33 below. See Babayan, The Waning, pp. 195-96; eadem, "Sufis", pp. 126-27, citing the account of Mir Lawhi himself. See also Jacfariyan's introduction (pp. 247-58) cited above in n. 11. The attention paid to the interests of these scholars in such areas of enquiry, and indeed their membership in Corbin and Nasr's "Esfahan School of Philosophy", has greatly 3 obscured the extent to which all of them were Us-ili fuqahda who deployed their jurisprudential and other skills on behalf of the court. Shaikh Baha-i was attacked on both counts during his own lifetime. See Newman, Towardsa Reconsideration, passim. Anti-Sufi rulings by these clerics were cited in the 1060/1650 Persian-language Salwat al-Shfca. The author of this work names himself as as Mutahhar b. Muhammad al-Miqdadi, but Jacfariyan has suggested that it was written by the same Mir Lawhi who figured in earlier attacks on Taqi al-Majlisi. See Jacfariyan, op. cit., pp. 246-51; Babayan, The Waning, p. 141 n. 342; n. 11 above; and Newman, "Clerical Perceptions". See Babayan's analysis of the changing political dynamic over this period in her The Waning,pp. 15-16, 75, 84, 86-88, 97, 104, 107-10. On the socio-economic dimension, see the sources cited in n. 7 above, and on Sultan al-cUlamaJ, see n. 17 below. W. Floor's critique of aspects of Babayan's analysis, in his "The Rise and Fall of Mirza Taqi, the Eunuch Grand Vizier Makhdum al-Omara va Khadem al(1043-55/1633-45), Foqara", St Ir, XXVI (1997), pp. 237-66, would appear more to query the usefulness of Babayan's use of the term "cabal" to describe the Shaikhawand and Rustam Beg groupings in explaining the events of 1041/1632 and 1054/1644, than necessarily to undermine efforts to associate those events with developments in the religious sphere. Sultan al-cUlama's campaign against minority merchants (Jewish, Armenian and Banyan), launched a month after his re-appointment, reflected an effort to redirect popular concern with the economic crisis towards the role played in the economy by these especially vulnerable, "foreign", commercial elements in society, much as his successor Muhammad Beg's efforts would do later. See Newman, "Fayd alKashanf", citing, especially, Matthee, Politics and Trade in Late Safavid Iran, pp. 105, 247-48; and idem, "The Career of Muhammad Beg", pp. 23-28. On these individuals, see Newman, "Clerical Perspectives", pp. 173-74. On Kamra~3i,see also Jacfariyan, Dzn wa siydsat, pp. 173-74; Babayan, The Waning, p. 317. See also n. 15 above. Babayan (op. cit., p. 233 n. 556) argues that the Hadiqat alShica was written between 1055/1645 and 1086/1675, citing a reference in the text to a tomb in Isfahan which was extant in 1055/1645 but destroyed as Chardin left, i.e. after See (Pseudo-) al-Muqaddas al-Ardabili, 1086-87/1677.
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JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Hadiqat al-Shifa, (Tehran, 1343/1964), p. 605, referring to this tomb. Elsewhere (p. 249), however, she gives 1058/1648-49 as the completion date. See also her "Sufis", p. 137 n. 37. Madelung (op. cit., p. 369) suggests the earliest date of completion as 1058/1648, since the Kdshif al-haqq (the version of the work without the anti-Sufi diatribe) was completed in the Deccan during that year. Tadayyun (op. cit., p. 120), also citing the Kashif al-haqq, dates the composition of the Hadfqa to after 1058/1648-49, and probably between 1070/1659 and 1100/1688, the latter because the Hadfqa (p. 573) quotes from the Bihdr al-canwdr,which was written in the latter time-frame. E. Kohlberg, art. "Behar al-Anwar", in EIr, IV, pp. 90-93) notes that the Bihdr grew from a project, portions of which were completed as early as 1070/1659, and that sections of the work were completed by 1077/1666. On the Kdshifal-haqqsee also al-Tihraini, op. cit., vol. XVII, p. 236. The decisive evidence, as noted in n. 11 above, is the reference to the Hadiqa as written by al-Ardabili made by Mir Lawhi in the 1060/1650 work Salwat al-Sh2ia (p. 351). This was perhaps the first written reference both to the work and its purported author. On the Salwat al-Shia, see also alTihraini, op. cit., vol. X, pp. 209-10; vol. XXI, pp. 138-39. Babayan (The Waning, pp. 141, 297-98; and "Sufis",p. 126) has suggested the anti-Sufi polemic had two waves, the second dating from the beginning of cAbba-s II's reign in 1052/1642 and directly attacking Sufism. This wave included Mir Lawhi's Salwat al-Shfca (on which see n. 11 above). Babayan's first wave was shorter and was inaugurated with the fatwd of CAlfal-Karaki (d. 940/1534) against reciters of the Abi Muslim traditions in his own time. In that both Hadiqa and Mir Lawhf's Salwat al-Shzia contained both the denunciations of Abui Muslim and of doctrines and practices of specific groups (the much-shorter Salwa in a relatively more abbreviated fashion, to be sure) both works might more usefully be considered as having straddled these two waves. For a more detailed discussion of the Salvwa in comparison with the Hadiqa, see Newman, "Clerical Perceptions". On al-Karaki and his role at the early Safavid court, see idem, "The Myth",passim. Pseudo-al-Ardabill, Hadfqa, esp. pp. 556-57; cf. Babayan, The Waning, pp. 233-35.On the original text, see also n. 19 above. See Muhammad b. CAbd al-Karim Shahrastani (d. 548/ 1153), Muslim Sectsand Divisions, tr. A. K. Kazi and J. G. Flynn (London, 1984), pp. 128-30. Pseuedo-al-Ardabilf, op. cit., pp. 558-64. Among the texts cited by the author is a statement from the Eighth Imam, CAll al-Rida, that: "In whomever's proximity the Sufis perform the dhikr, without his denying them openly or in his heart, he is not one of us. And if he denies them, it is as if he is a jdhid ("fighter") against the unbelievers between the hands of the Prophet." (p. 562). In another text, the Imam Jacfar was asked about "a group which has appeared in this age who are called al-Sfifiyya.What do you say about them? He replied, 'They are our enemies. Whoever is favourably disposed to them, he is one of them'." Other texts cited from the Imaimsand the Prophet in these pages contain denunciations of bida more generally. Huliiliyya, Ittihaddiyya,Wdsiliyya, cUshshdqiyya, Talqfniyya, Zarrdqiyya,and Wahdatiyya.This section covers pp. 564-606 of the book. See also n. 26 below. A full listing of these groups is included at the end of this article. There was no named or apparent connection between this group and the Azdriqa, followers of Abfi Rashid Nlfi b. Azraq. The same is true of the Wdsiliyya, originally a Muctazilite group. See Shahrastuini, op. cit., pp. 102-03, 43-45. We do not intend to trace the possible origins of
27 28
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all these groups in depth. However, of the groups listed (see Appendix), such names as Zarrdqiyya(in fact derived from the term "charlatan"), cUshshdqiyya(from "lovers"), Mushdrikiyya, and perhaps also Taslzmiyya, Kdmiliyya, Wahdatiyya,and Jumhuiriyyaseem more perjorative in origin than not. Using classical Sufi sources, J. Nurbaksh (Sufi Symbolism,London 1993, Vol. VII, pp. 150-53) lists the Awliydaiyya (Wald iyya ?), IHdliyya,Huluiliyyaand Wadqifiyya, Ilhdmiyyaas among "would-be" (mutasawwifa) Sufis whose practices were censured by genuine Sufis, notes the genuine origins of Maldmatiyya(pp. 143-50), and classifies as among "legitimate Sufi orders that no longer exist" the Niriyya (pp. 159-60). Dihkhuda has entries for the Niriyya, Mubdhiyya, Wdqifiyya,Wdsiliyyaand Shamrdkhiyya.The latter two, with Muctazilite and Kha-rijiteconnections respectively, had no Sufi associations whatsoever. I am greatly indebted to Dr L. Lewisohn for discussions on the groups' origins and his directing me to the Nuirbakhsh and Dihkhuda references. See also J. Baldick, Mystical Islam (London, 1989), pp. 102-03, 43-45. On singing and listening to music, see further Newman, "ClericalPerceptions". See, for example, Baldick, op cit. In his "AKubrawi Manual of Sufism", in L. Lewisohn (ed.), The Legacyof MedievalPersian Sufism (London, 1992), M. I. Waley discusses a eighth/fourteenth century text which refers to special practices of eating and fasting, wearing particular clothes, samac, and weeping which, if practised by orders of the Safavid period, may have provided grounds for clerical objection. See also n. 58 below. The author states (p. 577) that MullaiMirzaJJanShirazi was a mufti of this group. Mirza Jan (d. 994/1586) studied with al-Ardabll under a student of Jalal al-Din Dawani (d. 908/1502-03), making it the more unlikely the work was written by al-Ardabilf. Mirza Jan's Sunni proclivities forced him to flee to the Subcontinent following the death of See Tadayyun, op. cit., Ismacil II (reg. 984-85/1576-78). 118-19; Iskandar Munshi, Historyof Shah cAbbas,tr. R. Savory, vol. I (Boulder, Colo., 1978), p. 246. Pseudo-al-Ardabll, op. cit., pp. 596-97. Babayan (The Waning,pp. 262 nn. 647-48) cites this and other contemporary sources to demonstrate that Sufi doctrines were popular among the commercial classes. See also n. 9 above. Pseudo-al-Ardabili, p. 600. At the end of this section (p. 604) the author mentions his own name as Ahmad al-Ardabilf and notes that, when he was in Isfahan, people were visiting the tomb of Shaikh Abi l-Futiih Radi, cited in Babayan, The Waning,p. 233 n. 556, and eadem,"Sufis",p. 137 n. 37, where she argues that the HIadfqawas completed between 1055/ 1645 and 1086-87/1677. See n. 19 above. There is no other evidence that al-Ardabll himself was ever in Isfahan. See the sources cited in n. 3 above. On the Nuirbakhshiyya,see also the discussion of the Radd below. Salwat al-Shica, in Jacfariyan (ed.), Mfirzth-i Isldm-yi Irdn, vol. II, pp. 344, 345, 348-49, 351, 354. On p. 346, there is mention of the Wdsflaas a group, perhaps a reference to the Wasiliyyaof the Hadiqa and the Radd. See also Babayan, The Waning,pp. 141, 246 n. 595, 283. On the authorship of these and other essays in the polemic, see also Jacfariyan, Din wa siydsat, pp. 247-51. The Hadiqa (pp. 590-1) contained no such reference to Abii Muslim in its discussion of the Zarrdqiyya,nor did the Radd's discussion of this group. On the efforts of Sultan al-cUlama's successor, Muhammad Beg, see Matthee, "Muhammad Beg", pp. 24-25. Their links to the clerical associates of cAbbas I's court have been discussed above. On the loyalty of both to the court, and the manner in which positions on the legitimacy of Friday prayer during the absence of the Imam related to declarations of such loyalty, as well as the assignments which both scholars were invited to undertake, and the manner in
SUFISM AND ANTI-SUFISM IN SAFAVID IRAN
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which they carried them out, see Newman, "Faydal-Kishani See also Babayan, TheWaning,pp. 16, 78-80, 84, 86. Al-Qummf is not mentioned by al-Bahrani in his Lu lu3at 3 of Muhammad Tunukabuni al-bahrainor in Qisas al-culamd (d. 1302/1884-5). Muhammad Baqir al-Khwansarn (d. 1313/1895) noted that al-Qummi owed his origins to Shiraz and spent his formative years in Najaf. This author also appears to be the first of the biographers to suggest any Akhbari tendencies, calling him akhbdri-yimashrib,though he also described him as a mutakallim. See his Rauddt al-janndt, ed. M. T. al-Kashfi and A. Ismaciliyan, vol. IV (Tehran-Qum, 1390-92), pp. 143-44. In his Acydn al-Shica (Damascus and Beirut, 1935ff.), vol. X, pp. 292-302, Muhsin Amin al-CAmill (d. 1373/1952) called him akhbdrFsalb. Danish-pazhfih (Fihrist-iKitdbkhdna..., vol. V, p. 1504 n.) calls him mutakallim akhbdri, the closest to al-Qummf's classification by al-Samahiji (d. 1135/1723) as a mujtahidmuhaddith,a description more in line with those given by his contemporaries: Al-Hurr al-CAmill (op. cit., vol. II, pp. 277-78) called him a faqfh, mutakallimand muhaddith,and noted that al-Qummi gave him an ijdza. See also Afandi, op. cit., vol. V, p. 111. None of the biographers mentions any scholars in Najaf with whom al-Qummi studied. Among the works al-Qummi dedicated to Shah Safi was his Jdmic-i Safawi. See further Newman, "Fayd al-Kishaini" n. 38. On al-Samahiji, see idem, "The Nature of the in Late-Safawid in Akhbari/Usiull Dispute Iran", BSOAS,LV (1992), pp. 22-51, 250-61. Al-Tihrani (op. cit., vol. X, pp. 206-08) argues that al-Qummi wrote this work as part of such an exchange, i.e. while alMajlisi was alive. If the court's invitation to al-Majlisi gave him new confidence to confront his opponents, al-Qummi may have derived confidence from the association of Muhammad Beg, the new Grand Vizier, with Mullai Qisim, who favoured direct clerical rule. See Babayan, The Waning, pp. 145-46. On the dating of the Radd, see n. 40 below. See, however, n. 38 below. Babayan also summarises this portion of the essay in The Waning,pp. 251-52, 265-66, 286. Two manuscript copies of the text were examined for this paper. Majlis MS 5185 is missing a number of folios: the lacuna commences toward the end of the first section of the essay and ends the second section, in the midst of the discussion of the twelfth group. The missing material was examined by consulting the relevant folios of Marcashi MS 4014/7. The Marcashi MS ends at fol. 31a of the Majlis manuscript which then continues to fol. 34a. The recently published version of the Radd (whose title we use to refer to the work) contains only the first section. See Jacfariyan (ed.) Mirdth-iIsldm-yiIrdn, vol. IV (Qum, 1376), pp. 131-50. I am grateful to Drs H. H. M. Tabataba3i and K. Babayan, and to the Marcashi Library for facilitating access to these texts. The appendix to this essay lists al-Qummi's groups and the number of the corresponding group in the HIadfqa. Psuedo-al-Ardabll, (p. 577) had referred to the (d. 672/1274) and his Nahj al-haqq.In Nasir al-Din al-Tiisi H.adfqa fact, al-CAllamaal-Hilli had composed this work, and in his Radd, al-Qummi "corrected" this by simply referring instead to al-cAllama and his Nahj al-haqq.Where the Hadiqa had then cited al-Mufid "and other scholars", and had noted that the Taslimiyyaand Maldmatiyyaalso allowed various heinous acts, al-Qummicontinued with the Hadfqa's more general point, including reference, made in the Hadfqa and noted above, to members of the Wdsiliyyacalling a kdfir any sect member who refused the advances of another. In his Salwat al-Shifa (p. 329), Mir Lawhi had also amended this error of the Hadiqa in the same manner. Al-Qummi's "correction" is all the more interesting as Jacfariyan (op. cit., pp. 246-51) has suggested that the Salwat
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al-Shfca was a synopsis of an earlier anti-Sufi work by alQummi himself, as part of an exchange with Taqi al-Majlisi, and that Mir Lawhi had written the Salwa as a reply to Taqi al-Majlisi's son al-Baqir al-Majlisi (d. 1110/1699) as part of a dispute between the two over Taqi al-Majlisi's Sufi tendencies. The work itself (p. 343) does bear out this analysis; the author names Taqi al-Majlisi as one of the protagonists in the earlier exchange, but he does not name al-Qummi himself as the other. Bearing in mind al-Tihrani's stipulation that the Radd was composed as part of an exchange with Taqi al-Majlisi (see n. 36 above), the Radd may well have been completed closer to the time of the Salwat al-Shfcain 1060/1650, as part on this ongoing exchange between the two, than to the time of Taqi al-Majlisi's death in 1070/1659 and was probably completed also before al-Qummi's declaration of fealty to the court in 1069/1658, as represented by his work on the Friday prayer, discussed below. There has been noted, in n. 20 above, Babayan's suggestion as to the waves of anti-Sufi works discernible in the Safavid period. In that al-Qummi's Radd discarded references to Abi Muslim, it perhaps more properly reflects the commencement of the second wave, which focused on direct attacks on Sufi doctrine and practice. See also eadem,"Sufis",p. 126. On the latter see al-Hurr al-CAmill, op. cit., vol. II, p. 23; alTihrani, op. cit., vol. XI, p. 138. On al-Siham al-mdriqaand the relationship of the denunciations of ghind3 in both of Shaikh cAlf's works to each other, see further Newman, "Clerical Perceptions". See idem, "Fayd al-Kashani" on the political implications of this position. On this work, see also al-Tihrani, op. cit., vol. XV, pp. 72-73. The Shah's withdrawal was noted by Fayd himself. See Newman, "Faydal-Kashanf", n. 35. On this work, see also Babayan, The Waning, pp. 246-47, 251-52, 263, 268, 275, 278, 285-87; eadem, "Sufis", pp. 129-30. Al-Qummf's Arabic-language Hikmat al-cadrifin,completed between 1068/1657 and 1075/1664, prefigured his later works, focusing on relatively more esoteric matters of doctrine and linking these with Sadra and Shaikh Baha3i and their student Fayd, if not with Taqi al-Majlisi. His al-Fawdcid al-diniyya, written in Persian during the reign of Shah Sulaiman (reg.1077-1105/1666-94) attempted to prove that philosophy in general was incompatible with the faith. Replete with citations from the Imams (which perhaps underlay later descriptions of him as an Akhbari), the work attacked Fayd's interests in such inquiry, Fayd himself having tempered but not completely abandoned these concerns following resignation from his post in the early 1070s/1660s. On Fayd's continuous efforts to distance himself from darwishSufism, see Newman, "Faydal-Kashani". Al-Qummi was also careful to demonstrate his loyalty by dedicating various works to Sulaiman. See al-Tihrani, op. cit., vol. XV, pp. 71, 72-73; Jacfariyan, op. cit., pp. 156-57, 127-28. The continued strength of the "popular" darwfshcults in this later period testifies to the continued presence of the underlying socio-economic crises. On the former, see Babayan, The Waning, pp. 253-54; on the latter, see Matthee, Politics and Trade in Late Safavid Iran. That Sufism did not disappear entirely in the last decades of this century is also clearly suggested in A. Morton, "The Chub-iTariqand qizilbdshRitual in Safavid Persia", in J. Calmard (ed.), Etudes Safavides (Paris, 1993), p. 243 n. 59. Tadayyun, op. cit., pp. 106-08. He also cites other examples of scholars of this and other periods who declined to assign the work to al-ArdabilI. Jacfariyan, op. cit., pp. 225-26, 226 n. 5. Babayan, The Waning, p. 233 n. 556; eadem, "Sufis", p. 137 n. 37.
108 51
52
53 54
55
56 57
58
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The connections of both Mir Lawhi and Sayyid Ahmad alcAlawi with Mir Da-mad may have helped split their critics. See n. 11 above. See Jacfariyan, op. cit., pp. 247-51 on the authorship of this and other "anonymous"works of the time. That Mir Lawhi's linking in the Salwat al-Sh-Caof a critique of AbuiMuslim with a diatribe against the doctrines and practices of the Zarrdqiyyais absent in the entry on this group in HIadzqafurther suggests that he did not compose this last. See nn. 20, 32. cit., vol. III, pp. 600-06, especially p. 602. Danish-pazhfih, op. This, especially ifJacfariyan's suggestion that Salwat al-ShfPa, completed in 1050/1650, was a synopsis of an earlier attack on al-Majlisi by al-Qummi is accepted. See n. 40 above. On Shaikh CAlf, see Newman, "Clerical Perceptions". On Shaikh al-Hurr's passing through Isfahan in the 1070s/1660s, see his autobiographical statement in his own Amal al-Amil,vol. I, pp. 141-53, esp. pp. 144, 142. It will be remembered that al-Qummi and al-Hurr were linked by ijdza.See n. 35 above. Jacfariyan's effort, op. cit., pp. 246-51, to sort out the authorship of this essay is masterly. On al-Sihdm, see n. 42 above and Newman, "Clerical Perception". Thus, Chardin characterised Taqi al-Majlisi as a "prophet" and "saint"when observing the way people visited his tomb (Babayan, The Waning, pp. 283-84; see also pp. 85, 236), which, as Babayan notes, seemed to authenticate Mir Lawhi's criticisms. See also Chardin's noting of al-Majlisi's practising bibliomancy, and his description of Isfahan's cabarets and the drug-induced state of their visitors (ibid, pp. 260-61, 288). Babayan notes (op. cit., p. 261 n. 643) that the latter was confirmed by Du Mans and noted by al-Qummi in his Tuhfat al-akhydr. The sources make no distinction between "Sufi",i.e. cirfdnf doctrine and practice, available in such sources as that cited in n. 28 above, and that of the darnish. See also Babayan, "Sufis",p. 127 n. 43. A. L. Morton faced a similar problem of authenticating evidence for extreme doctrines and practices (including aberrant sexual practices) in his effort to delineate the doctrines and practices of the Ranters, an English religious movement which appeared after 1649. Like certain of the Iranian Sufi groups, some Ranters had connections to the artisanal and craft elements of society and their doctrines-which also saw God as existing in all his creatures-also had strong anticlerical overtones. See his The World of the Ranters, Religious Radicalism in the English Revolution (London, 1979), esp. ch. 4. See also E. P. Thompson, WitnessAgainst the Beast. WilliamBlakeand theMoralLaw, (New York, 1993), esp. ch. 3.
60
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62
63
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On non-English groups, see N. Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium (London, 1972), pp. 95-6, 156-62, and on the Ranters, pp. 287-8. in the Timeof Muisdal-Kdzim M. A. Buyukara, TheImdmi-ShfCa and CAlf al-Ridd, unpublished Ph.D. thesis (University of Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 215-17, discusses allegations of such behaviour made against the Bashiriyya, a Wdqifagroup which were denied the death of the Imam Mfisai al-Kizim. They also accused of believing in hulfil and tandsukh (transmigration of souls). See, for example, Cooper, '"The Muqaddas al-Ardabll on taqlid", pp. 263-66; Arjomand, The Shadow of God, pp. 138-41; al-Muqaddas al-Ardabili, Zubdatal-baydnft ahkdm alQur3an, (Tehran, 1966/1386), pp. 343-47. See also the sources cited in n. 3 above and Newman, "The Nature of the Akhbari/Usuili Dispute". Our "Towards a Reconsideration" in fact suggests that the philosophically-minded scholars associated with the court of cAbbas I were in fact predominantly Usfilis. See n. 14 above. On the general religio-political background to the khardj debates of the first Safavid century, see Newman, "The Myth". On the khardj debates, see also H. M. TabatabaPif, Khardjin Islamic Law (London, 1983), pp. 56-9, 165-6, 171; W. Madelung, "Shicite Discussions on the Legality of the Kharaj" in Proceedingsof the Ninth Congressof the Union of Europienedes Arabisantset Islamisants, ed. R. Peters (Leiden, 1981), pp. 201-02; Arjomand, op. cit., p. 137. On these two students of al-Ardabili, see Newman, "The Myth", pp. 107-08. Both cAbdalldh Yazdi (d. 980/1573) and al-Ardabili had studied together under students of Dawani, who had himself rejected Ismacil's claims to the Imamate. Yazdi left Safawid territory at some time between 962/1555 and 967/1560. See Newman, "The Myth", nn. 25, 90, and pp. 107-08. Al-Ardabili may have been in the shrine cities as early as 977/1569-70; see Danish-pazhfih, op. cit., vol. V, pp. 1763-64, n. 1. On Mulla Mirza Jan, a student with al-Ardabili who also left Iran, see n. 29 above. The story of al-Ardabilf's rebuke to cAbbas I, that the latter was ruling a "borrowed kingdom" has been conceded to be problematic, perhaps applying to an exchange with Shah Tahmasp. See Newman, "Towards a Reconsideration", pp. 176 n. 35 and n. 3 above. For lists of al-Ardabili's students, see the references cited in n. 2 above. See also al-Amin, op. cit., vol. X, pp. 297-98; cit., vol. V, p. 1764. On al-Shuishtari,see Danish-pazhfih, op. Newman, '"Towardsa Reconsideration", p. 176 n. 34. Our "Fayd al-Kashani" suggests that neither Fayd nor Taqi al-Majlisi were Akhbaris, as has been usually postulated.
NAPOLEON AND PERSIA By Iradj Amini Paris
Napoleon'salliancewithFathAli ShahQajar,sealed by the Treatyof Finkensteinof 4 May1807,though a fleeting episode in the context of his wide-ranging diplomatic activities,deserves a greater attention than it has been given hitherto by scholarsof the period. For Persia, it was indeed epoch-making inasmuchas it drewher inexorablyinto the sphere of international rivalries.But its significance for Napoleonic historiographyshould not be overlooked, for it representsan importantfacet of the French Emperor'sOriental policy. By allying himself with the Shah, Napoleon intended not only to createa diversionagainstRussiabefore the Battleof Friedland,but he also wanted to use Persianterritory as a springboardagainstBritishpossessionsin India. Consequentlyhe extended for the first time the limits of his political and strategicthinking far beyondthe frontiersof Europe,and even thoughhis planned invasion of India did not materialise,it awoke British authoritiesboth in London and in Calcuttato the importanceof Persiain theirdefence of India policy and the urgencyof supplantingthe Frenchat the Shah'scourt. The purpose of this articlel which, I hope, will be complementary to Professor R. M. Savory's pioneering and excellent article, is to discuss the evolution of Franco-Persian relations from the French Consulate to the First Empire, with particular emphasis on the years extending from the signature of the Treaty of Finkenstein in 1807 to the departure of the French Mission from Tehran in 1809. Those years of complex diplomacy, rendered even more difficult by the problem of distance and the frustrations of French diplomats in Tehran, were to pass from hopes to disillusions before being dashed against the rivalry of Britain and the intransigence of Russia. The first contacts between France and Persia, which go back to the Middle Ages, were established through travellers and missionaries. It was only in 1664, with Colbert's establishment of the French East India Company, that these contacts developed gradually into political and commercial relations. In 1673 the first French envoy, a director of the French East India Company, arrived at the Shah's court and obtained for his countrymen the right to trade freely in Persia. But the Company did not take advantage of this privilege. It was afraid of risking its ships in the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, which were dominated by the English
and the Dutch, then at war with France. In any case, the merchants of Marseilles, displeased with the establishment of an organisation which operated from the ports of the Atlantic Ocean rather than their own, spared no effort to maintain trade with Persia via the age-old route through the ports of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1708, and later in 1715, France and Persia concluded trade treaties, the first signed in Isfahan by a French envoy and the second in Paris by a Persian ambassador. After the conclusion of the second treaty, French consuls were sent to Isfahan and Shiraz. But their arrival at their posts coincided with the invasion of Persia by the Afghans and the fall of the Safavid dynasty;the anarchy that followed put an end to Franco-Persian relations. Until the end of the eighteenth century and the advent of the Qajar dynasty, developments in Persia were watched over by the French Embassy in Turkey, on whose advice, in 1796, the Directoire,the then French government, decided to send two naturalists, Jean-Guillaume Bruguieres and Guillaume-Antoine Olivier, to Tehran. Their mission was to assess the new Persian government, to revive the 1708 and the 1715 commercial treaties, and to draw the Persians into an alliance against Russia.2 However, the mission produced no concrete results, and it was not until Napoleon's rise to power that a new era began in the relations between France and Persia. Napoleon was fascinated by the Orient from a very early age. He read a great deal on the subject and admired Alexander the Great, whose conquests in Asia fired his imagination. But his real interest in the Orient dates from his expedition to Egypt in 1798. Shortly before embarking on that journey he had inspected the Channel coast to see if a landing in Britain was possible. Realising that it was virtually impracticable because of the weakness of the French navy, Napoleon thought up another plan to humble France's principal enemy: "an expedition to the Levant that would threaten British trade with India".3 At that time, India was already of major importance to Britain. In 1798, after having evicted the French from the Deccan, she had added a great part of the Carnatic to her possessions and spread her influence into the principality of Oudh.
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But two possible dangers preoccupied the British in India: firstly, a revolt led by the Indian princes, and secondly, an Afghan invasion through Punjab and Northern India. Bonaparte seems to have been well aware of Britain's concerns, for shortly before his departure for Egypt he told the Directoirethat "as soon as he became master of Egypt, he would establish relations with the Indian princes, and, together with them, attack the British in their possessions."4 Talleyrand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, outlined in his turn that project in the "Report on the question of Egypt" which he submitted to the members of the government on 13 February 1798: "Having occupied and fortified Egypt, we shall send a corps of 15,000 men from Suez to India to join the forces of Tipu Sahib and drive away the English."'5 Rumours of all this had reached the ears of the British government, but they did not pay too much attention to them. They were convinced that the French fleet which had left Toulon for Egypt on 19 May 1798, was in fact sailing towards Ireland. The only member of the Cabinet who took the matter seriously was Henry Dundas, Secretary of State for War and President of the Board of Control for India. He immediately asked the governor of the Cape to send reinforcements to the British army in India and to dispatch warships to the mouths of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to forestall any sea communication between Egypt and India.6 In the meantime, Admiral Nelson having found the whereabouts of the French expeditionary force, immediately headed for Aboukir Bay, off the coast of Alexandria, where, around 6 o'clock in the evening of the 1st of August 1798, he destroyed the entire French squadron. With the loss of his fleet, Bonaparte was now locked up in Egypt. Furthermore, Britain, her supremacy in the Mediterranean reinforced by Nelson's victory, was about to form a new anti-French coalition that would include Russia, Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Turkey. Lacking adequate means of communication, Bonaparte did not learn about these developments until several months later. Meanwhile, as he administered his new conquest, he went on pondering about the blow he might deal to British interests in India. It has been said that, from Egypt, he wrote to the Shah, asking permission to establish supply dumps on Persian territory, so that France could assist Tipui Sahib, the sultan of Mysore, in his struggle against the English.7 Unfortunately there is no trace in the French archives of a correspondence between Napoleon and the Shah of Persia while the former was in Egypt. We must therefore assume that this information is based on the memoirs of Bourrienne, Bonaparte's secretary, where, reminiscing about his master's sojourn in Egypt, he writes: "Before deciding to attack the Turkish vanguard in the Syrian lowland,
STUDIES
Bonaparte was still thinking of his project to attack British India through Persia. He had been assured by agents he had sent there that the Shah of Persia would agree, in exchange for an advance payment, to have stores of military supplies, outfits and equipment established in places to be designated."8 However, what is certain is that in December 1798, Bonaparte sent a letter to Tipti Sahib, announcing his own arrival on the Red Sea coast, "with a vast and invincible army, filled with the desire to save you from the iron yoke of England".9This letter was intercepted by the British navy and never reached Tipu. But the activities of this Muslim prince who for the past twenty years had sought an alliance with the French against the British had long time been a source of annoyance to the government of Calcutta and especially to the then Governor-General, Richard Wellesley, Lord Mornington, later Marquess Wellesley, elder brother of Arthur, the future Duke of Wellington. Shortly after his arrival in Calcutta in May 1798, Wellesley ordered Tipuiand the Nizam of Hyderabad to break off relations with France and expel all the French officers and men in their service. Although the Nizam complied with the Governor General's demand, Tipui,who had hardly a few hundred French volunteers at his service, procrastinated until Wellesley declared war on him on the pretext that "he had rejected all his peaceful overtures, hoping that he would at any moment receive the aid he had so ardently solicited from the French in order to pursue his ambitious and revanchist designs".10Tipfi died on 4 April 1799 in a battle against British troops under the walls of his capital Seringapatam. After Tipti's death, Wellesley's remaining apprehension was a possible Afghan invasion of Northern India through Punjab. He thought Bonaparte might extend a helping hand to Zaman Shah, the ruler of Afghanistan, having first enlisted the support of Persia. Hence he informed Jonathan Duncan, the Governor of Bombay, of his wish to develop and reinforce relations with Persia as far as possible, and asked the latter's advice about the commercial and political aims that a treaty with that country might contain. In his letter of 13 February 1799, he said that "the major political objects that might result from it should be the exclusion of the French, especially if they should make any attempt to penetrate through Persia to Hindustan; and the establishment of such a continued source of anxiety and apprehension to Zaman Shah on the borders of his own dominions, as shall effectually preclude his future projects of advancing towards Hindustan."11 Although Bonaparte's Oriental dream did not come true during his Egyptian campaign and its extension into Syria, he was not to forget the importance of Persia, first as means of access to India and second, as a source of diversion against Russia.
NAPOLEON
In the meantime, Wellesley had decided to dispatch a full-fledged ambassador to Fath cAli Shah's Court. His appointee, Captain John Malcolm, a handsome man in his thirties, was one of the hopes of the East India Company, which he had joined at the age of thirteen. He spoke Persian well, and his stay at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad as assistant to the Resident had provided him with a kind of diplomatic experience that could only compare with his military valour. In addition, he hated the French whom he called "those infamous and active democrats".12 InJanuary 1801 he concluded both a commercial and a political treaty with the Persian government. It is the latter that is of particular interest to us, for it contains the seeds of Franco-British rivalryin Persia. It stipulates that ". .. Should it ever happen that an army of the French nation attempts to settle on any of the islands or shores of Persia, a conjunct force shall be appointed by the two high contracting parties, to act in co-operation, to destroy it."13 It further specified that: ". . . If ever any of the great men of the French nation express a wish or desire to obtain a place of residence or dwelling on any of the islands or shores of the kingdom of Persia, that they may there raise the standard of abode or settlement, such request or representation shall not be consented to by the Persian government.'"14 It should be noted that nowhere in the political treaty was there any mention of Anglo-Persian cooperation against Russia. Yet it was precisely against the designs of that country that the Persians were seeking the assistance of Britain and would soon solicit that of France. It is true that after the death of Catherine the Great and the accession of Paul I, the Russian threat against Persia had somewhat subsided. So why did the Persians insist on concluding a political treaty when the British envoy no longer regarded it as a matter of urgency? The fact was that since Malcolm's departure from Bombay, important events had taken place. In Afghanistan, a rebellion against Zaman Shah by his half-brother Mahmfid had dissuaded him from invading India in the near future. As for the French threat, it had waned after Bonaparte's departure from Egypt in August 1799 and the assassination, on 14 June 1800, by a Muslim fanatic, of General Jean-Baptiste Kleber, left behind to command the French occupation army, As far as assisting the Persians against the Russians was concerned, Malcolm could not commit his government in writing, because when he left India, Britain and Russia were still allies within the Second Coalition and the Tsar Paul I had not yet become infatuated with Bonaparte. We must therefore presume that the Persians were satisfied with merely verbal promises from Malcolm in exchange for their pledges against France.
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Now, let us examine the different stages of the Franco-Persian rapprochement. The peace between Britain and France, initiated by the Treaty of Amiens of 27 March 1802, was hardly more than a truce. London was not happy with the French occupation of Belgium and Holland, which, though unmentioned in the treaty, nevertheless signified a threat to England's vital interests in Europe. As for France, the continual postponement of the promised evacuation of British troops from Malta obstructed its Mediterranean ambitions. Expecting a resumption of hostilities, which might possibly include Russia, the First Consul, who was aware of England's vulnerability in India on the one hand, and the advantages of an Asian diversion against Russia on the other, decided to attempt a rapprochement with Turkey and Persia. The end of the French occupation of Ottoman territories in Egypt and the Adriatic had paved the way for a renewal of friendship beween France and Turkey. Negotiations between the two countries began at the end of 1801, which led to the Peace of Paris of 25 June 1802, and the resumption of diplomatic relations. Bonaparte therefore asked General Brune, the new ambassador of France in Constantinople, "to gather information about the different pashaliks and communicate them to the cabinet. He is even to extend his inquiries to Persia."15 The ambassador arrived in Constantinople on 7 January 1803. On 16 May of the same year, the breaking of the Treaty of Amiens led to a resumption of hostilities between France and Britain. The French government was convinced that Russia, where the pro-British party at the court had got the upper hand after the assassination of Paul I and the accession of Alexander I, would sooner or later join Britain in a new coalition against France. In that case, thought the French, a policy of friendship with Persia would be necessary in order to create a diversion against Russia and to threaten British interests in India. From October 1803 onwards, France's interest in Persia intensified. Talleyrand, the Foreign Minister, directed Jean-Francois Rousseau, the French commissioner for commercial relations in Baghdad, and his colleague in Aleppo, Louis-Alexandre de Corancez, to report more fully on Persia: "... The First Consul wishes you particularly to prepare the way for him to have a correspondence with Persia; and by the same occasion, if you have one, or by dispatching a courier whom you are authorised to send to General Brune, he wants you to send him a complete report about everything you know regarding the present situation of Persia, its force, its dispositions and the character of its heads of State."16 Rousseau was in a particularly good position to obey. He had been born in Isfahan, spoke Persian per-
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fectly, and kept up regular contacts with key figures in Persian society. On 3 January 1804, General Tsitsianov, Governor of Georgia, a province Persia considered her own, seized the Persian fortress of Ganja in Azerbaijan, and was about to besiege Erevan, the present capital of Armenia, at the time a Persian possession. Fath cAli Shah at once requested the assistance of Britain in accordance with the terms of the 1801 AngloPersian treaty. As was to be expected, London and Calcutta shied away from their obligations. Their excuse was that the treaty in question did not contain any provision guaranteeing British assistance to Persia in case of Russian aggression. But it was really the formation of the Third Coalition that caused Britain to refuse her aid. Fath cAli Shah had therefore no alternative but to turn to France for help. During the winter of 1804, while he was battling against the Russians at the gates of Erevan, he wrote a letter to Napoleon and gave it to an Armenian called Ossep Vassilovitz to hand over to the French ambassador in Turkey. Vassilovitz arrived at Constantinople on 17 December 1804. He went straight to the French Embassy where he was met by Pierre Ruffin, the embassy's Counsellor, to whom he delivered the Shah's letter. He also informed him of the situation in Persia and of the character of her leaders. Curiously enough, the Shah's letter was addressed to the "Directors of the French Government", though the florid compliments it contained were intended only for Napoleon. In that letter, the Shah offered to join with France in a dual attack on Russia.17 It was General Brune himself who was to hand the Shah's letter over to Talleyrand. Selim III, the Ottoman sultan, having refused under pressure from the British and the Russians to acknowledge the imperial title of Napoleon, the French ambassador in Turkey decided to quit his post in protest. In the spring of 1805, within the space of a few weeks, Napoleon sent two unofficial envoys to Persia to see how the land lay. These envoys were Amlde'e Jaubert, his interpreter during the Egyptian expedition, who spoke perfect Persian, and Alexandre Romieu, the commissioner for commercial relations in Corfu, a career officer who was especially charged with inquiring into the military needs of the Persian government. Both men carried letters from Napoleon to Fath cAlJi Shah encouraging him to resist Russian ambitions. Although scheduled to arrive in Tehran before Romieu, Jaubert did not reach his destination until 5 June 1806, after spending eight wretched months as hostage of the tyrannical Pasha of Bayazid, a city near the Persian frontier.18 In the meantime, Romieu had arrived in the Persian capital, met the Shah and his ministers, and
written a report that saw little interest in an alliance with Persia. In Romieu's opinion, the only point of such an alliance would be on the one hand to prevent Russian expansion, and on the other to preserve the remains of the Ottoman Empire. He added, "Any other benefits France might derive from this union are either uncertain or remote; as to whether Persia might persuade the Afghans to attack the British, the chances are worse than nil. It would be better to send a secret envoy to the king of Afghanistan to find out where he stands."19Then, as he was about to leave Tehran, he died of dysentery and was buried in a holy place near the Persian capital. Meanwhile, in Europe, William Pitt, the archenemy of France, died in June 1806. The new British policy set out by Charles James Fox, Foreign Secretary in Lord Grenville's so-called "Ministryof All the Talents", might have ushered in a period of peace in Europe, especially as the Russians, through their plenipotentiary, the Baron d'Oubril, also sought a rapprochement with Paris. But the death of Fox, in September 1806, and Alexander I's refusal to ratify the Franco-Russian treaty initialled by his envoy, put an end to any hope of peace in the near future. In the meantime, the Ottoman Sultan, impressed by Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, had at last acknowledged his imperial title. This added force to the Sultan's new pro-French policy. Napoleon, to give a new impetus to his Oriental policy, told General Horace Sebastiani, his new ambassador to Constantinople, that: "the invariable object of my policy is to form a triple alliance between myself, the Porte, and Persia, aimed indirectly or implicitly against Russia."20Alexander I's refusal to ratify the treaty negotiated by Oubril, followed by the formation of the Fourth Coalition, underlined the importance of Napoleon's policy. This may be seen in Talleyrand's letter of 20 January 1807 to Sebastiani: "In the battle that is being organised against the Northern Empire, Turkey must be our right and Persia our far right."21 Let us return now to Persia, where Jaubert's visit proved very useful. The latter, freed from the clutches of the Pasha of Bayazid, thanks to the intercession of Pierre Ruffin with Ottoman authorities, had at last arrived in Tehran on 5 June 1806. During his sojourn which lasted little more than a month, he convinced his hosts, as impressed as the Turks by Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, to dispatch an ambassador to France. The man chosen for this mission was Mirza Muhammad Rida, the governor of Qazvin. He arrived in Constantinople around the middle of September 1806, but Talleyrand advised Sebastiani to keep him there until the Emperor had decided on the most convenient place for their meeting.
NAPOLEON AND PERSIA
The audience, immortalised by Mulard's painting which can be seen at Versailles, was finally held on 26 April, 1807 at the castle of Finkenstein, near Osterode, one hundred and twenty five miles northwest of Warsaw. Napoleon had been there since the beginning of the month, preparing himself for a new battle against the Russian army. He had hesitated a long time before agreeing to the conclusion of a Franco-Persian alliance. He probably hoped that the battle of Eylau would force the Russians to negotiate. However, this bloody battle, far from deciding the fate of the war between France and Russia, had cast doubt over Napoleon's whole military and political strategy. Hence the necessity of negotiating treaties with Persia and Turkey in order to create an Asiatic front against Russia. Under articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Franco-Persian treaty, signed on 4 May 1807 at Finkenstein, France guaranteed Persia's territorial integrity and acknowledged her legitimate rights to Georgia, from which, and from all other Persian territory, France would make every effort to drive Russia. All this was to be provided for in the coming peace treaty. France also promised to provide Persia with arms, as well as with officers to help her strengthen her defences and organise her artillery and infantry along European lines. In return, Persia undertook to declare war immediately on Britain and to suspend all political and commercial ties with her. Persia was to expel all consuls, factors and other agents of the East India Company, to reject any British minister, ambassador or agent who might present himself; to combine with the Afghans and other tribes of the region of Kandahar to march against the English possessions in India; and to allow the French army to pass through Persian territory on its way to India.22 The implications of the treaty for each of the signatories warrant examination. As far as France was concerned, it formed first and foremost part of her struggle against Britain. On the one hand, it extended the range of the Continental Blockade. (The Continental System, instituted in 1806 by Napoleon with a view to preventing Britain from trading with Europe, though not yet exerting its maximum pressure on the British economy, was nevertheless to lead to a serious drop in British exports in the second half of 1807 and the first half of 1808.23) On the other hand, it offered Napoleon a chance of fulfilling his dream of conquering India. As to its usefulness against the Russians, that would fade after Napoleon and Alexander I concluded the Treaty of Tilsit. The Persians, however, saw the Finkenstein treaty in a completely different light. By adhering to it they hoped to recover Georgia and to liberate the rest of their country from Russian occupation. They agreed to the anti-British clauses only to reap the
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benefits which the treaty offered them in their struggle against Russia. Even before the signature of the Franco-Persian treaty, Napoleon had appointed his aide-de-camp, General Claude-Mathieu de Gardane, as minister plenipotentiary to Persia. Gardane was born in Marseilles on 11 July, 1766. Having been a secondlieutenant in the cavalry before the Revolution, his gallantry brought him rather rapid promotion from the year 1792. He was appointed brigadier general by Moreau in 1799, became governor of the "pages" in 1804 and aide-de-camp of the Emperor in 1805. He was instructed in particular to investigate Persia's military and commercial resources; to assess the obstacles which a French army of 40.000 men would have to overcome in order to reach India; to foster the enmity of the Persians towards the Russians; and to rouse the Persians against the British. Gardane was accompanied to Persia by a large suite, including many army officers. On 10 May 1807, a few days before the General's departure for Persia, Talleyrand reminded him of Napoleon's main objects: To establish a triple alliance between France, the Porteand Persia;to open up a route to India;and to acquireauxiliariesfor Francein her struggleagainst Russia... Persiahas to regardthe Russiansas its natural enemies. They took Georgia from it; they threatenits best provinces;they have not yet recognised its present dynasty,and since its accession, they have always been at war with it. General Gardanewill evoke all these grievances;he will keep alive the hostilityof the PersiansagainstRussia.He will exhort them to fresh efforts, to levying more numerous troops. He will give them, for their continued militaryoperations,all the advicewhich his experiencewill suggestto him, and for this purpose he will seek to allyhimselfwith PrinceAbbasMirza who commands the army and who appears to be trustedby it. Persiamust operate a powerfuldiversion on the frontiersof Russiaand must take advantage of this occasion,when the Russianshave weakened theirarmiesof the Caucasusand havesent part of them to Europe, to re-enter the provincesthey have taken from it with their arms and their intrigues... GeneralGardanewill takeeverycareso thatPersiaand the OttomanPortemayact together, as far as possible, in their operationsbetween the Black Sea and the CaspianSea. The two empires share the same interests:all the countries south of Russia are equally threatened, because Russia prefersa more fertile soil and a more lenient skyto its deserts and its ice. But Persia has in addition anotherinterestof its own.That is to stop England's progressin India. Persiais todaysqueezed between Russiaand Englishpossessions.The more these possessions extend towardsthe frontiersof Persia,the more the latterhas to fear a furtherenlargement.It will one day be exposed to become, like northern India, an Englishprovince if it does not from now
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on seek to preventthis dangerby harmingEngland and favouringall France's operations against it.24 Meanwhile, another French emissary was being expected at the court of Fath cAlI Shah. This was M. de La Blanche, First Secretary at the French embassy in Constantinople. Following the Emperor's orders immediately after the Battle of Eylau, General Sebastiani had told him to persuade the Persians to operate a diversion against the Russians in Georgia, while the latter were engaged on the Vistula. He was also to persuade Fath cAliJ Shah to declare war on England. He arrived in Tehran in June 1807. However, while he was negotiating with the Shah in Tehran, major events had radically changed the situation in Europe. Napoleon's military operations against Russia had started up again, and on 14 June, after the fierce battle of Friedland, which had cost the lives of 25,000 of them, the Russians had fallen back on the Niemen. On 25 June 1807, Napoleon and Alexander I met on a raft placed in the middle of the river for the event, and negotiated the terms of a peace treaty, which was signed at Tilsit on 7July 1807. Yet, despite France's commitment in accordance with article 4 of the Treaty of Finkenstein, to "make every effort to force Russia to evacuate Georgia and Persian territory, and to obtain this by the coming peace treaty", no reference of it was made in the treaty of Tilsit. Through this treaty, Napoleon was mainly seeking to secure the supremacy of Europe, even if he had to give the Russians a free rein on the Asian continent. It was not until the beginning of October 1807 that La Blanche finally received a letter from General Sebastiani addressed to Fath cAli Shah, containing details about the events that had led to the conclusion of peace between France and Russia. To his great surprise, he found out that the Persians had just heard the news from their arch-enemy, FieldMarshal Gudovich, the Commander-in-Chief of Russian forces in the Caucasus, in a tone which suggested that the Tsar had concluded peace in a position of strength. By thus suggesting to the Persians that they had been cheated, which was true, Gudovich tried to undermine their morale and impose on them a peace dictated by the Russians before the French would have a chance to propose a peace mediated by themselves. Gardane, who had arrived in Constantinople on 10 September 1807, was informed of the consequences of the Treaty of Tilsit by Talleyrand. The latter, having been elevated to the rank of Vice-Grand Elector, had given up his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Comte de Champagny. He nevertheless continued dealing with Persian affairs for some time. In a letter dated 26 August 1807, he informed
General Gardane of the end of hostilities between France and Russia and of the ensuing change of policy in Franco-Persian relations: Nothing regarding Persia has been stipulated at Tilsit, and you will easilyunderstandthe reason for it. Our treatywith Persiawas not yet ratifiedby that country;it wasnot even knownthere,and we had no indicationhow FathcAli Shahwould react to it. In a situation of this kind, the most reservedcourse of actionwasthe most appropriateone, and it wasnatural not to complicateother interestswe had to settle with Russia through stipulationsabout Persia. Besides, I have no doubt that the differences between that countryand Persiaare easy to reconcile and that Russiaseeksto come to an understanding with any governmentthat is on friendly terms with His Majesty.25
Gardane's instructions were altered accordingly: what mattered henceforth was "to promote peace between Russia and Persia and urge Persia to act exclusively against England's interest". Talleyrand added: The objectyou have to keep in mind aboveall is to put a stop to any tradebetweenPersiaand England, have all English agents and carriersremoved from the Empire, prevent all communication by land betweenEnglandand India, maintainPersiain the frame of mind it has alreadyexpressedagainstthat country and follow all the instructionsindicated about it in your instructions.The Europeanleague against England grows day by day. Denmark has declared war againstit; it is believed that Portugal will soon adopt appropriatemeasures.All the ports of Europe are closed to the English, and if Persia denies them its ports,it will only followthe example and the wishof the whole continent.The morewidespread the measures against England will be, the closertheytend to bringthe eraof maritimepeace.26 On his way to Tehran, Gardane met cAskarKhan Afshar, Fath cAli Shah's newly appointed ambassador to France. The latter arrived in Paris on 20July 1808 and presented his letters of credence to Napoleon on 4 September. He was to be as frustrated in Paris as Gardane would be in Tehran by the slowness of communications between France and Persia. For example, although the Comte de Champagny succeeded to Talleyrand as Foreign Minister in August 1807, Gardane was not informed of his appointment until February 1808. But unlike Gardane, who fretted over his problems, cAskar Khan consoled himself with an active social life that included receptions at his residence, musical evenings at the palace of the Empress, visits to the Louvre and the Imperial Library,and even his initiation into Freemasonry. cAskar Khan was thus probably the first Iranian Freemason. Returning to Gardane, he arrived in Tehran on 4 December 1807 and was received by the Shah a few
NAPOLEON
days later. Once the Treaty of Finkenstein was ratified by Fath cAli Shalh and a commercial treaty concluded with his ministers, Gardane started dealing with the military part of his mission. He sent out officers to draw up topographical surveys, to train the Persian army in European tactics, and to cast cannon for the Persian artillery. Fath CAlIShah showed great interest in the expedition to India, provided that according to article 4 of the Treaty of Finkenstein, Persia would first be relieved of the burden of the Russian occupation of Georgia and of the war which it had to fight to recover it. Meanwhile, he withdrew from the obligations incumbent upon him according to article 8 of the treaty of alliance. This article, however, was precisely what mattered most to France, for it contained the basic anti-English measures to be taken by Persia. By finally agreeing with the Shah that this clause was not "enforceable until article 4 was carried out", Gardane won the trust of the Persians. But he considerably deviated from the policy of his own government, of which he could not foresee the changes, since he had no news from France.27 It was only at the beginning of February 1808 that Gardane received a letter from Paris which at last enabled him to give the Shah some good news. Napoleon had authorised him to intervene as the French mediator between Persia and Russia during the negotiations which were to take place in Tehran between the Shah's government and a Russian ambassador. In so doing, the Emperor was only partly following the object of article 4 of the Finkenstein treaty, for instead of promising "to make all efforts to force Russia to evacuate Georgia and Persian territory, and to obtain this through the coming peace treaty",he stated that "this evacuation would constantly be the object of his policy and of all his solicitude."28 In return, he expressly asked the Shah to end all commerce between Persia and England, to ban English agents and carriers from Persian cities and ports and to have all correspondence between England and India intercepted. Fath cAli Shah could only rejoice over the initiative of his ally, even if it was far from corresponding with the hopes he had built upon the Treaty of Finkenstein. Having placed his country's destiny into Napoleon's hands, he could only adjust himself to the latter's wishes, especially since he was short of trumps with which to play in the rivalry between France and England. Indeed, his ambassador to India, Nabi Khain, who was back in Tehran at the end of his mission, had just informed him that the Governor-General refused to assist him in accordance with the treaty of 1801. (In July 1805 Lord Wellesley had been replaced by Lord Cornwallis, who proposed to abandon all the territory west of the Jumna which had been acquired by "Damn your
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writing, mind your fighting" General Lake and Wellesley.29 Therefore he abandoned his predecessor's policy towards Persia. It was not until the appointment of Lord Minto as Governor-General, in June 1807, that closer ties with Persia were sought anew.) As a result of the Indian Government's refusal to come to his assistance, the Shah adopted a conciliatory attitude towards Gardane, even declaring that the proposal of French mediation "made Napoleon the Great's friendship and affection for us and our imperial throne shine in our eyes with a brilliance equalling that of the sun amidst the skies".30As for Napoleon's demand regarding the interests of England, it was not difficult to satisfy. When Nabi Khan returned just at the right time, the Shah pretended that he had recalled him to please France. At the same time, he declared point-blank that all the English who had found themselves on the territory or in the ports of Persia had been driven out and sent back, which was not true because the English mission at Bushehr continued to function. The means of communication with Paris being as they were, a fairly long time would elapse before Napoleon would realise that he, too, had been fooled.
Meanwhile,
Fath cAli Shah wanted to reap
the maximum benefit from the goodwill of his French ally. Some time later, as a result of French overtures to Russia, an armistice was concluded between the latter and Persia on the line of demarcation of their armies. Fearing French pressure on the subject, Marshal Gudovich rejected the Persians' demand to extend it for a year, insisting they should send a minister plenipotentiary to his headquarters in Tiflis to negotiate a definite peace. Gardane advised Mirza Muhammad Shafic, the Persian Prime Minister, to ignore Russian demands, since Persia's interests were to be discussed with His Majesty.31 By hinting that French mediation would take place in the Emperor's presence rather than in Tehran, as he had been told, Gardane was aware that he was overstepping his instructions. But he had no choice. Faced with the Persian Prime Minister's growing impatience with the passiveness of French diplomacy, he could only react by making alluring promises. "Here the minister often asks me if I have any news", he wrote to Champagny on 13 April 1808, "and Your Excellency may well imagine my embarrassment when faced with an anxious court."32Mirza Shafic's attitude was also understandable, for having staked his country's future, as well as his own, on the success of the Franco-Persian alliance, he wanted Paris to act before the British would have time to initiate another rapprochement with Persia. British policy had effectively not remained idle all this time. Soon after Romieu and Jaubert's mission
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to Tehran, Harford Jones, the British consul in Baghdad, had gone to London to plead for Persia and implore the British government to keep its earlier promises to this country so as to counteract the growing influence of France.33 Fortunately for him, Robert Dundas, the son of Henry, had been since March 1807 at the head of the Board of Control for India. Dundas was convinced that the overthrow of British power in India was one of Napoleon's chief ambitions, and he persuaded his colleagues to agree with him. His apprehensions were also shared by the Earl of Minto, the new Governor General of India, for whom such a project was not "beyond the energy and perseverance that characterise the present chief of France".34Upon his arrival in Calcutta, he wrote to a friend that there already existed a very active French diplomacy in Persia, which, having established relations with that country to undermine British influence, diligently sought ways to extend its intrigues to the courts of the Indian princes.35 Convinced of the cogency of Harford Jones' arguments, the British Cabinet decided to send an envoy to Persia. Following the proposal of the directors of the East India Company, who had a say in this matter, it was decided that although his expenses would be paid by the Company, the envoy would be vested with the quality of an agent of the Crown, since this title would give him greater dignity and importance.36 HarfordJones was chosen for the post against the wishes of Lord Minto, who had strongly recommended John Malcolm. The Treaty of Tilsit having marked the end of the Anglo-Russian alliance, it was impossible for the new British envoy to travel via St. Petersburg. Consequently, Harford Jones sailed from Portsmouth to Bombay on 27 October 1807, whence he was to go to Tehran by way of the Persian Gulf. When months went by without his having any news from Harford Jones, Lord Minto decided to send Malcolm to Tehran, hoping that he would succeed in dissociating Persia from its alliance with France. He nevertheless wrote on the 2 February 1808 to Robert Dundas that "in case Sir Harford Jones should have arrived in Persia, Colonel Malcolm will of course withhold his own credentials and diplomatic powers in Persia, and I do not see any necessary and unavoidable inconvenience from the character which he would in that case assume of Political Agent to the Governor General, the political (not diplomatic) representative of the East India Company, and of British Affairs in India. He might furnish essential aid to the King's Envoy. If they clashed he could be recalled."37 Malcolm, who had been promoted brigadiergeneral for the occasion, left Bombay on 17 April 1808 with a large escort. In addition, Lord Minto ordered that the largest possible number of troops
be embarked in the King's and the Company's ships and sent to the Persian Gulf to reinforce Malcolm's position. Before long, Gardane heard rumours about the impending missions of Malcolm and Harford Jones. He immediately threatened to quit his post if these rumours were confirmed. On 24 April 1808, he informed Champagny that he would break up relations with Persia "rather than finding ourselves degraded and entirely subject to secret intrigues".38 The Persian authorities found themselves in a dilemma. They wished to make it up with the British, especially since the latter were no longer allied with Russia. But at the same time they did not want to do so at the price of their friendship with France, for they still firmly believed that Napoleon would support them in their conflict with Russia. Therefore, in order to spare Gardane's feelings, Fath CAli Shah summoned him on 4 May 1808 and told him that Malcolm would not be received. He also informed him that, as a reaction to the movements of English ships in the Persian Gulf, orders had been issued to put the coast in a state of defence against any manoeuvres and attacks that might occur. He then promised Gardane to keep him informed of all the decisions made by the court and to consult him about all the steps to be taken by the Persian government. However, despite the Shah's assurances, Gardane no longer believed in the sincerity of the Persians. "If they could be sure of the Russians", he wrote to Champagny the day after his audience, "they would keep the coasts of the Persian Gulf for themselves to respond to the complaints of their subjects who do illicit trade with the English Company, and get hold of Malcolm's gold mine. This miserly court would be happy to yield to the circumstances and let us leave."39 Malcolm landed in Bushehr on 11 May 1808 and was received with all the honours due to his rank. Having assured Minto that he would speak to the Persians "in a tone which, far from being that of solicitation, would express a measured remonstrance and an offended friendship", he sent one of his companions, Captain Pasley, to the Persian ministers to inform them that he would not go to Tehran unless the French embassy was expelled.40 He also told him to promise the ministers the same kind of military aid they were receiving from France. In his instructions to Pasley he added that "the pride of the splendid but weak court of Tehran would no doubt be flattered by the continued fight between the European powers to establish their influence in it, since by arousing their jealousy, it was able to reap advantages from each of them. However, it was in the interest of the British government to put an end to this situation, and the existing crisis offered a par-
NAPOLEON AND PERSIA
ticularly favourable occasion. By allying themselves with the Russians, the French could no longer keep the promises with which they misled the Persians."41 Captain Pasley, however, was unable to accomplish his mission. When he arrived in Shiraz, the local authorities prevented him from travelling any further and informed him that by order of the Shah, General Malcolm had to discuss the matter with Prince Husayn cAli Mirza, the governor of the province of Fars. In a letter to Lord Minto, Malcolm wrote that he would never consent to an arrangement of so humiliating a nature towards himself and the Government which he represented as one which allowed a French Embassy to remain in the Presence while it directed one from the English nation to treat with an inferior government.42 He thereupon broke camp and went back to his ship, whence he wrote to Pasley to inform the ministers of the governor of Fars that he would never set foot in Persia again, unless his envoy (Pasley) was received at court and he himself was promised to be treated with less suspicion and more friendship.43 Faced with another refusal, which he attributed to the intrigues of Gardane, he sailed to Calcutta on 12 June 1808 to report to the Governor-General about his mission. "For once, Malcolm's biographer permits himself a word of criticism, and declares that Malcolm was at fault 'in assuming too dictatorial a tone at the outset'."44 Somehow relieved, Gardane thought out a plan that might lend French diplomacy in Persia a fresh impetus, even if it again went beyond his instructions. It was the only way, he thought, to prevent British machinations. Being convinced that Russia's pretensions were irreconcilable with those of Persia and that negotiations could not be carried through to a successful conclusion without the mediation of a third country, he suggested to Fath cAli Shah that discussions be held in Paris between CAskarKhain, the Persian ambassador, and Count Tolstoy, the Russian ambassador, with the Emperor's mediation. Here again Gardane went against the instructions of the Comte de Champagny, who had just reminded him that he did not want these negotiations to be held in Paris.45The reason was obvious. The French by no means wanted to contradict the Russians, who, in exchange for their consent with French policy in Europe, expected to be given a free hand in Asia. As for the Shah, he gladly accepted Gardane's proposal, although in his eyes the prerequisite for any peace with Russia was the evacuation of its troops from Persian territories, including Georgia. However, having entrusted Napoleon with protecting Persia's interests, he could hardly make any claims against anything involving the latter's direct intervention. So he hastened to send a letter to the Emperor asking him to act as a mediator. He
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ordered his Prime Minister to write accordingly to Talleyrand and the Comte de Champagny, as well as to the Minister and Secretary of State Hugues Maret, one of the signatories to the Treaty of Finkenstein.46 At the same time, the Crown Prince cAbbas Mirzawrote to Emperor Alexander to express his father's desire to re-establish the old bonds of friendship with Russia, while Mirza Shafic sent word to Count Rumiantsev, his Russian counterpart, to have him ask the Tsar to send his ambassador in Paris full powers. A few days later, that is during the month of June 1808, Fath cAli Shah sent the necessary instructions, together with an attestation of full powers, to cAskar Khan, ordering him to accept "anykind of condition determined and decided in accordance with the profound views of His Imperial and Royal Majesty".47 Having left his country in November 1807, the Persian ambassador to France arrived in Paris on 20 July 1808. He was soon adopted by the high society of Paris, and even by the court, where he and his Turkish colleague vied for success, especially with women. ".... His polite and easy manners, especially with regard to the ladies, had something resembling French gallantry", said Constant, Napoleon's valet, "he had a very gentle character, full of kindness and consideration for all the people who went to see him, giving the ladies rose oil, the men tobacco, perfumes and pipes... Askar Khan made a greater impression in Paris than the Turkish ambassador; he was more generous, more gallant, he paid court to the women more cleverly and more easily adapted himself to French customs and habits."48 CAskar Khan, however, did not devote himself exclusively to mundane pleasures. While waiting for the instructions which were being sent to him from Tehran, he paid many visits to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Comte de Champagny, to beg him to speed up the intervention of French diplomacy in the RussoPersian conflict. Upon hearing of Gardane's initiative, the Tsar became furious. He summoned the French ambassador, the Marquis of Caulaincourt, to his palace on 12 August 1808, and defended Russia's occupation of Persian territory, insisting that the river Aras was the rightful border between Russia and Persia. He concluded: They threatenme by sayingthe EmperorNapoleon has guaranteedthe integrityof their territory.Today it is the same as it waswhen they signed their treaty with you. Soon they will be claiming all that belonged to the Medesand the Persiansof antiquity. The Treaty of Tilsit came after the Treaty of Finkenstein.As for mediation,I do not understand whythey should suggestyou actingin their capacity. It is as if I were to suggest to the Emperorthat I should mediatehis affairswithSpain,becauseI have
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an ambassadorin Madrid;or as if the Spaniards should ask me to do so. The affairsyou have with Spain do not concern me, and those I have with Persiacannot interestthe Emperor.49 There is no doubt that Alexander knew of the French defeat at Bailen in July 1808, and that by referring to Spain in his conversation with Caulaincourt he meant to hint at the possibility of a new understanding with Napoleon, an understanding which was to materialise during meetings between the two sovereigns at Erfurt, between 27 September and 14 October 1808. These meetings were designed to give Napoleon a free hand in Spain. The Tsar was to cooperate in keeping the peace in Northern Europe, while the Emperor shifted his forces to Spain to restore his brother Joseph to the throne. However, informed by Talleyrand of Napoleon's troubles and the lassitude of the French people in the face of the everincreasing weight of conscription, Alexander agreed to go to war against Austria only if the latter were to attack France. In fact, he hastened to reassure Vienna about his intentions. That Persia's interests were sacrificed at the Erfurt meetings to those of France's policy in Europe, is proved by a message from Champagny to Caulaincourt dated 23 February 1809. By then, Gardane had left Tehran: The Emperortakes no interest in Persia;no other instructionshave been given to General Gardane than that he should, if required by both parties, facilitatecommunicationswith the object of peace between the Russiansand Persians.He has been given to understandthat our interest is in Russia; but as you veryrightlysaid,we owe Persiasome considerationin the interestof the common cause.The hostile attitudeit has adopted towardsEnglandis a blow directed againstEnglish trade, and it is to be desired that these merchantswho, accordingto the Emperor Alexander's expression, defy the maledictionsof the worldto enrich themselves,continue seeing thisgreatEmpireclosed to theirmonopoly.50 Clearly because of the slowness of communications between Paris and Tehran, Gardane was in no position to follow the twists and turns of Napoleon's diplomacy. Assuming, no doubt, that hostilities would ultimately break out again between France and Russia, he did all he could to uphold the FrancoPersian alliance. In his last departure from his instructions, he gave a personal guarantee that, until replies to his proposal of mediation in Paris arrived from France and Russia, the Russians would not make any hostile move or do anything that might worsen the relations between the two Empires, provided that the Persian troops abstainfrom any hostilities and that His Highness faithfully observe
all the clauses of the treaty of alliance with His
Majesty the Emperor of France and King of Italy, and that he continue the war against the common enemies of both Empires. But if against all expectations, the troops commanded by Marshal Gudovich should have started hostilities against the Persians before the answers from the court of France had reached His Highness, the undersigned vouched to bring the state of affairs to his August Sovereign's notice, in order that His Imperial and Royal Majesty might be informed of the events and demand substantial reparation.51 Gardane followed up his guarantee to the Persians by a letter to Gudovich, commander-inchief of Russian forces in the Caucasus, warning him against any infraction of Persian territory: It is my duty to declare to you officially that Persia being the ally of His Majesty the Emperor and King, my august master, and that the integrity of the territory which its troops are occupying at present has been guaranteed by His Imperial and Royal Majesty, I shall consider any attack against this territory as a provocation against my august court, and I have reason to believe in the wisdom of Your Excellency to wait, before proceeding to take any steps against the Persians, until you know the decisions which His Majesty the Emperor, my august master, will have communicated to His Majestythe Emperor of all the Russias, and that Your Excellency will not take upon yourself the responsibility of an event which would necessarily lead to discussions of an unpleasant nature between the august courts of France and Russia.52 Gardane's new initiative once again aroused the Tsar's anger. "Persia is too far away from you", he said to the French ambassador, "for you to have any interest in interfering in its affairs; it is a subject that concerns us alone. I have warned you at the time I gave orders to Marshal Gudovich that I want peace on the same conditions which the Persians had offered before. I demand a great river as a frontier, because they are barbarians and this frontier is necessary against their incursions."53 As for Gudovich, he was much better informed than Gardane about the French attitude to Persia. Backed up by the Tsar, he first established his headquarters on the line of the Russian outposts, a few miles from the monastery of Etchmiadzin, and then occupied much of Persian territory coveted by Russia. This offensive naturally caused great surprise in the Persian camp which, in accordance with the promise made to Gardane, was scrupulously observing the truce. Gudovich having finally besieged Erevan, while one of his generals was heading for Nakhdjevan, the Crown Prince cAbbas Mirzai attacked the latter. But he was driven back, mainly because of the neutral stance of his French advisers, following Gardane's orders. What else could the French envoy do, know-
NAPOLEON
ing the Franco-Russian alliance was much more important to Napoleon than his relations with Persia? But, if the resumption of hostilities by the Russians, despite Gardane's assurances, was a shock to the Persians, his decision to order his officers to be neutral was a bolt from the blue. This development, followed by the arrival of Harford Jones in Bushehr, convinced the Shah that the moment of truth with the French had come. After some hesitation, because he did not wish to see Gardane leave his court, the Shah agreed without informing the French envoy, to admit the British mission to Tehran. When Gardane again threatened to leave if the British ambassador was received, Fath CAlW Shah agreed to hold back Harford Jones in Shiraz until 21 March 1809, pending the arrival of news from France. But this was a long time coming, and naturally the pro-British party at the Persian court meanwhile induced the Shah to receive Harford Jones without more delay. So, Gardane decided to leave Tehran, though he left behind two members of his embassy. Despite the trials which he had undergone in Persia, Gardane did all he could to promote the interests of France and to honour, if not the letter, at least the spirit of the Treaty of Finkenstein. He should undoubtedly have had more patience, so as not to leave the British sole masters of Persia's destiny. That is precisely what Napoleon reproached him for. On hearing of the arrival of the British mission in Tehran, the Emperor said that this circumstance should not have prompted him (Gardane) to leave the Persian capital, leaving a clear field to all Britain's intrigues, all the more so in that the Shah of Persia tried to persuade him to stay, and that by accepting the law of necessity he would still have been showing his devotion to the interests of France. The French government attempted to prevent the Persian ambassador from leaving Paris, so as to give the impression to the rest of the world that French influence in Persia remained undiminished. Napoleon even ordered Felix Lajard, one of the members of the Gardane mission who was then in Russia, to return to Tehran as Charge d'Affaires and direct the ambitions of Persia towards Afghanistan and the Turkoman territories bordering Khurasan; but the two remaining members of the French legation in Tehran having been expelled in the meantime at Harford Jones's request, the Lajard mission was cancelled. HarfordJones and his suite had arrived in Tehran on 14 February 1809, the day after Gardane's departure. The British ambassador began negotiations towards concluding a treaty with Persia from the very first evening. They turned out not to be as easy as he had expected. The Persian Prime Minister, who led
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his country's delegation, was still hoping that France would soon change its policy in Persia's favour. So he used delaying tactics to prolong the discussions. Nevertheless, the Anglo-Persian "Preliminary treaty of friendship and alliance" was signed on 12 March 1809, and immediately ratified by Fath CAll Shah. By this agreement, Persia promised to denounce any other treaty concluded with a European country and to prevent any force commanded by Europeans to march through its territory in the direction of India. In return, the British government promised Persia military aid and subsidies, in case it should be invaded by a European army. In the eyes of the British, this treaty was naturally directed against France, and the use of the terms "European power" and "European army"in the text was no doubt a concession to Persia, since they could equally apply to Russia. Harford Jones was to attribute his success to the terror felt by the Persians because of the consequences of their relations with France, a terror which, in his opinion, even surpassed their apprehensions about the results of their war against Russia. According to the British ambassador, this situation was due to the impetuousness, meanness and condescension of Gardane.54 Lord Minto, the Governor-General of India, was far from being happy about the new treaty. He thought, however, that "it is too late.., .to tell the King of Persia that Sir Harford Jones was subject to instructions which he has exceeded." "My opinion ... is, that we are bound to execute the principal and leading conditions of Sir Harford's Treaty." In Minto's view, however, the payment of the subsidy provided for by the Treaty required the presence of a "person of confidence" in Tehran. "Ineed not tell you," wrote Minto to Malcolm, "all that has been done through the zealous ministry of Sir Harford Jones to lower the rank and estimation of the British Government of India within the sphere of his influence. I entreat you, therefore, to go and lift us to our own height and to the station that belongs to us once more."55 With Lord Minto's backing, Malcolm embarked upon his Third Mission to Persia, although Harford Jones was still in Tehran as the King's representative. For his part, Lord Minto did all he could to discredit and humiliate Harford Jones. He struck a shrewd blow when he sent a dispatch to Tehran dishonouring Jones's bills, then amounting to some ?65,000, the sum whichJones had borrowed from bazaar merchants. This action threw Fath cAli Shaihinto a rage, which he vented on Mirza Shafic, the Prime Minister, Amin al-Dawla, the Minister of Finance, Mirza Buzurg, the vazzr of CAbbas Mirza, and on Jones himself. The Shah complained of the illtreatment he had received from the English, and
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lamented "the mighty things he had lost by dismissing the French Embassy, whose praise he kept chaunting alto voce".56 In a letter to Lord Minto, Jones attempted to justify the stand he had taken in Tehran. He argued that a Government of India representative, "whose credentials and powers run in the name and by the authority of a commercial company and their Governor-General, could not have the same status as an ambassador from London".57 His sole motive, he declared passionately, in insisting on his superior status, was to uphold the dignity of his royal master. It was Minto, he charged, who forced him to make the odious comparison between his own position and that of Malcolm. "I had in honor no choice of path left. I may stand on a very slippery footing in this dreadful breach-powder ditch-but when lying there lacerated and wounded, I will still cry out, 'I have maintained the honor of my King!' "58 Despite his explanatory despatches, Harford Jones failed to alter the Governor-General's unfavourable attitude. In fact, Minto ordered him to leave Persia immediately, and informed him "thathe had appointed Surgeon Jukes, of the Bombay Establishment, to take charge of the British interests at Taeheran, until the arrival there of General Malcolm".59 Meanwhile, Malcolm had sentJukes on ahead to tell Jones that he "hoped he would see the propriety of their meeting as countrymen, and saving at least outward appearances", assuring Jones that he would not "assume with the Persian Court any duty beyond that of being the officer empowered by the Indian Government to execute such parts of the preliminary treaty as related to the employment of its resources".60 In June 1810, Malcolm arrived in Tehran, where he was received by Jones "in a gracious and affable manner".61 However, shortly after his second visit to Fath cAli Shah (1 July 1810), Jones handed him a despatch from Whitehall, which declared that London still intended to regulate British diplomatic relations with Persia, and had, "in prosecution of this intention to repudiate the power and authority of the Governor-General (of India) in that direction, appointed Sir Gore Ouseley ambassador to the Court of Tehran".62 After having replaced the French in Persia as privileged allies, the British had encouraged the Shah to continue the war against Russia. This policy had been the direct result of the reversal of alliances which had taken place in Europe after the conclusion of the Treaty of Tilsit. Since the break between France and Russia had once more led to a rapprochement between London and St. Petersburg, British policy in Persia went through a radical change. Sir Gore Ouseley, who succeeded Harford
Jones in November 1811, urged the Persians to make peace with Russia and offered his country's mediation, just as General Gardane had done before. This sudden change in British policy was to have disastrous effects on Persia. Abandoned by the British as he had been by the French, cAbbas Mirza, who was thrown back upon his own forces, decided to pursue the fight despite the numerical and technical superiority of the Russians. This desperate venture led to the defeat of the Persian army near the Aslanduz ford, a little upstream from the confluence of the Aras and Kura rivers, during the night of the 31 October 1812. A year later, the Gulistan peace treaty sanctioned Persia's loss of a considerable part of its territory, including Georgia. Thus Persia twice became the victim of the hazards of European politics, although England's interest in it was of a strategic nature, while France's had been of a tactical order. If Napoleon was interested in Persia and its destiny, it was merely to intimidate Britain and Russia by turns. As for his Oriental dream, it was probably never more than an illusion. As Metternich said, "Napoleon dreamt neither of the Porte nor of Asia, and if his hatred for England momentarily inspired him with the idea of attacking it in its Asian possessions, this project only existed as an eventuality depending on a combination of circumstances that were difficult to foresee."63 However that may be, relations between France and Persia continued nevertheless through periodic exchanges of letters between those who wished to revive the friendship that followed the Treaty of Finkenstein. Among them were cAbba-sMirza and the Prime Minister Mirza-Muhammad Shafic on the Persian side, and on the French side Amed6e Jaubert, who would have liked to become French ambassador in Tehran. In fact, the renewal of hostilities between France and Russia revived the hope of a new Franco-Persian rapprochement. On 28 June 1812, when the Russian campaign had just started, a member of the French consulate in Baghdad who had previously had contacts with Mirza Shafic, wrote him a letter informing him of the break between France and Russia and encouraging him to renew his relations with France. In his reply, MirzaiShafic emphasised his personal attachment to France and pointed to the efforts he had made during the last two years to maintain the friendship of the "two Empires".64He added, however, that he could not give free rein to his zeal and his affection for France until the Emperor kept his promise to expel the Russians from Persia. A year later, in June 1813, a report was addressed to Napoleon, who was at his headquarters in Dresden. This was to be the last time he officially heard of Persia. Although unsigned, the
NAPOLEON AND PERSIA
report appears to have come from the Duc de Bassano, then Minister for Foreign Affairs. It informed the Emperor of Mirzai Shafic's abovementioned letter and of another message, which the Persian Prime Minister had apparently addressed to an Armenian merchant, whom he ordered to go to Napoleon to plead the cause of Persia. The Duc de Bassano's conclusion was as follows: It might be assumed that the inclinations of the Persian court are not simulated. It has let the English acquire an influence which is beginning to be a cause for anxiety. The King's sons are particularly eager to free themselves from it. Persia humours England to avoid having two enemies at the same time. But it would treat England with less deference if the war on the frontiers of the Caucasus would cease. Therefore Persia wishes Your Majesty, when beginning any negotiation with the Russians, to include it in your peace treaty and have Georgia returned to it, or at least to obtain a few years of truce for it.65 We do not know whether Napoleon would have fulfilled Persia's wishes if he had been the victor in Europe. It is nonetheless true that on the eve of his march upon Moscow, Persia was still on his mind. When the Comte de Narbonne-Lara, his aide-decamp, tried to dissuade him from a venture that would put eight hundred miles between him and France, Napoleon answered: After all, my dear fellow, this long road is the road to India. Alexander started out from as far away as Moscow to reach the Ganges. I have been telling myself that since Acre. Were it not for the English corsair (Sydney Smith) and the French imigre' (Antoine Ph61ippeaux, Napoleon's former schoolmate at the EcoleMilitaire.Arrested in June 1796 for having served in the Royalist Army, he fled to London and participated with Commodore Sydney Smith in the defence of Acre in 1799) who directed the firing of the Turks, and who, together with the plague, made me abandon the siege, I would have succeeded in conquering half of Asia, and I would have captured Europe from the rear to return and take the thrones of France and Italy. Today, it is from one end of Europe that I have to take back Asia from the rear, to attack England there. You know about General Gardane's and Jaubert's missions in Persia. Nothing special came out of that, but I have an entire map of populations to cross to get from Erivan and Tiflis to the English possessions in India.66 Strangely enough, the Persians bore no grudge against Napoleon. As the years passed, they forgave the ally who had abandoned them to their fate and looked upon him as a legendary hero, remembering only the man who fought Britain and Russia, their joint enemies.
121
1 Based essentially on my Napoleonet la Perse(Fondation Napoleon, Paris, 1995; English translation,Curzon Press, London, 1999, under the title Napoleonand Persia).It owes much to R. M. Savory's"Britishand French Diplomacyin Persia,1800-1810",in IranX(1972). pp. 31-44. 2 French Foreign Ministry(herteafter,FFM), Correspondance Perse,vol. VIII,doc. 35 Politique 3 Correspondancede NapoleonIer,vol. III,letter2419. 4 Vicomtede Barras,Memoires (Paris,1895), p. 11 5 Georges Lacour-Gayet,Talleyrand,2 vols., (Paris, 1930), vol. I, p. 310. 6 India Office Library, London, Minutes of Council at Bombay
Castle,21 December1798. 7 Gen. Georges Spillman, NapoMonet l'Islam(Paris, 1969), p. 221, cited in Savory,op.cit.,p. 31 n. 5. 8 Memoires de M. de Bourrienne, new edition revisedand annotated by DesireLacroix,vol. I, p. 322. de NapoMon vol. V, letter 3901. Correspondance
9 IJ, 10 Dictionary p. 1124. ofNationalBiography, Minutesand Correspondence 1 The Despatches, of the Marquess WellesleyK.G., ed. MontgomeryMartin (London, 1836), p. 432. 12 J. W. Kaye, Lives of Indian Officers(London, 1904), p. 210.
13 Idem, The Life and Correspondence of Major-GeneralSir John
MalcolmG.C.B.,twovols. (London, 1856), vol. 1, pp. 524-25. 14 Ibid. 15 FFM,Correspondance PolitiqueTurquie, vol. CCV,doc. 71.
16 Idem, Correspondance PolitiquePerse,vol. VIII, doc. 59. 17 Idem,Correspondance PolitiqueTurquie,vol. CCIX, doc. 51.
18 Henri Deherain, La viedePierreRuffin, etdiplomate, orientaliste (Paris1929-30), 2 vols.,vol. I, p. 38. 19 FFM, Perse,vol. IX, doc. 27. Politique Correspondance
20 Idem, Correspondance PolitiqueTurquie,vol. CCXII, doc. 43. Ibid., doc. 347.
21
22 For the full text of the Treaty of Finkenstein,see Iradj andPersia(London,1999), pp. 205-08. Amini,Napoleon 23 24
25
26 27 28
Savory, op.cit.,p. 31. Deherain, "Lettres in6dites de membres de la Mission Gardane en Perse (1807-1809)", in Revue de la Societe de l'Histoiredes ColoniesFranCaises, XVI, pp. 249-82. FFM, Correspondance PolitiquePerse,vol. IX, doc. 132. Ibid.
Ibid., doc. 164. Ibid.
29 Kaye,cited in Savory,op.cit.,p. 36.
30 FFM,CorrespondancePolitiquePerse,vol. IX, doc. 164. 31 Ibid. 32 Op.cit.,vol. X, doc. 3.
33 Sir Harford Jones, KentchurchPapers, Hereford County Library. 34 Lord Minto in India. The Life and Lettersof GilbertElliot, First
EarlofMinto,from1807 to 1814,edited by his great-niece,the Countessof Minto (London, 1880), p. 101. 35 Opcit.,p. 51. 36
Ibid.
37 Op cit., p. 109. 38 FFM,Correspondance Perse,vol. X, doc. 8. Politique
39 Ibid.,doc. 13. 40
41
Kaye, op cit., p. 413. Ibid, p. 420.
42
Ibid.
43 Ibid. 44
Savory, op cit.,p.38.
PolitiquePerse,vol. X, doc. 87. 45 FFM, Correspondance 46
Ibid.
47 Ibid., doc. 32. 48 Wairy Louis Constant, Memoiresde Constant,premiervalet de l'Empereur,sur la vie privee de Napoleon, sa famille et sa cour
(Paris,1830), p. 323.
122
49
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Marquis de Caulaincourt, Private Archives, Archives Nationales, Paris. Ibid. FFM, Correspondance Politique Perse, vol. X, doc. 175. Ibid., doc. 162. Marquis de Caulaincourt, op.cit. Sir HarfordJones Brydges, op.cit. Kaye, vol. I, pp. 507-10, cited in Savory, op.cit.,p. 40. Ibid., p. 41. Jones Brydges, An Account of the Transactionsof His Majesty's Mission to the Courtof Persia in the Years1807-1811 (London, 1834), cited in Savory, op.cit.,p. 41.
58
Ibid. 59 Ibid., p. 42. 60 Kaye, cited in Savory, loc.cit. 61 62
Ibid. Ibid.
Prince de Metternich, Memoires,documentset kcritsdiverslaissis par le prince de Metternich, published by his son, Prince Richard de Metternich (Paris, 1880), pp. 88-96 64 FFM, Correspondance PolitiquePerse,vol. XV, p. 103. 65 Ibid., p.109 66 Abel Francois Villemain, Souvenirs contemporainsd'histoireet de littrature (Paris,1874), pp.175-76
63
RELIGIOUS DISSIDENCEAND URBAN LEADERSHIP: BAHA3ISIN QAJARSHIRAZAND TEHRAN* ByJuan R. I. Cole
Universityof Michigan,Ann Arbor
1. Introduction
and demographic bases, societal infrastructures, fund-raising, and organisational development.4 In order better to understand the role of dissiBuilding on the enthusiasm generated by the dent confessional groups in Qajar urban life, I have messianic Babi movement of the mid-century, the chosen to compare and contrast developments Baha3i religion had gained around 100,000 adheramong the Baha3i religious minority in two cities, ents in Iran by the end of the nineteenth century, in Shiraz and Tehran. The two settings were, of course, a population of some nine million. It was founded in quite different. The first was a small provincial capi- 1863 by Baha3ullah (the "Gloryof God"), a follower tal near the Persian Gulf in the southwest of the of the Bab who was exiled in 1852 from Iran to the country, where the largely male leadership of the Ottoman Empire and subsequently maintained religion was mostly drawn from merchant and arti- under surveillance or in prison by the Sublime Porte san families. The second was the capital of the in Baghdad (1853-63), Edirne (1863-68) and Acre entire country, a large city in the north-central area (1868-92). Both the Babi and the Baha i religions of Iran where government officials and elite women were mass movements, encompassing diverse social were much more important among adherents, classes and strata throughout Iran. In the twentieth along with some shopkeepers. Both might be seen century, a branch of the Boir Ahmadi tribe near as holy cities for Baha is. Shiraz was the birthplace Isfahan embraced the Baha3i religion, but in the of the Bab, Sayyid CAlI Muhammad Shirazi (d. nineteenth century the religion appears to have 1850), recognised by them as the promised Mahdi encompassed few members of tribes. Substantial or messiah of Islam, and the house of the Bab numbers of adherents lived in village settings. Yet became an important shrine and one of the places clearly the urban communities played a central role to which pilgrimage was ordained in the Baha3i in developing institutions and culture (both popular Most Holy Book (al-Kitabal-aqdas).1In the twentieth and literate), in acting as clearing-houses for letters century, Shiraz came to be the city with the largest from the Baha i leadership in exile and for other Baha i population in the country, numbering in the information. It must be kept in mind that the Baha i religion thousands, with Tehran in second place.2 Tehran, on the other hand, was the birthplace of Mirza- was very different in the nineteenth century from Husayn cAli Nliri Baha3ullah (1817-92), the what it became in the twentieth. From the 1930s founder of the Baha~i religion that developed from Baha'is began withdrawing altogether from politics, Babism, and the sites associated with his life were avoiding membership in political parties and treasured by his followers.3 eschewing high government posts, and their leaders A key question here must be how the Baha3i reli- built up a system of pre-publication censorship that gion managed to establish itself at all, given that the discouraged adherents from writing about politically Qajar ruling class on the whole hated "Babism"and charged issues. In nineteenth-century Iran, in confeared it as a manifestation of commoners' insur- trast, the Baha3is were a radical-reformist group gency, and that the Shicite clergy likewise abhorred advocating banned ideas such as parliamentary electhe movement as a loathsome heresy. Following the tions, some of their members held high political lead of the British sociologist Peter Smith, I believe office, and they had not been forbidden to join that sociological theories about the way resources political groupings or (later) parties. Although are successfully mobilised can shed some light on the Baha-ullah discouraged violence on their part, and progress of the Baha'i faith in nineteenth-century recognised a separation of religion and state, he did not hesitate to denounce Ottoman and Qajar Iran, though such theories cannot account for the subjective, spiritual dimension of religious change tyranny or to advocate liberal, reformist principles and can therefore tell only part of the story. It is, that were anathema to these absolutist monarchies. however, a significant part. The important questions Ironically, in sociological terms the Baha3i faith was here have to do with networks of recruitment, social probably more church-like early in its history, 123
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becoming more sectarian and withdrawn from mainstream Iranian society in the course of the twentieth century. The Baha i scriptures written by Baha3ullaih taught the unity of the world religions, the unity of mankind, the need for parliamentary governance in individual countries and for a world government on the global level, the need to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor and to end the arms race among nations, an improved status for women, and the desirability of modern science and technology.5 What is striking about these ideas is their modernity, and the likelihood of their appeal to Iranians making the transition from old-regime feudalism to agricultural (or peripheral) capitalism. It would not be entirely fair to see these principles as simply bourgeois ideology, as some Marxists have. While some of them might have been congenial to the urban bourgeoisie, others (such as the emphasis on amelioration of the condition of the poor or strong state intervention in the economy, both local and global) were not. Moreover, the ideas were congenial to others than simply merchants: the vast majority of those who became Baha is were peasants or urban workers and artisans. Admittedly, for many of the illiterate working-class Baha3is, the attractions of the religion may have lain more in its millenarian promise of a bright new future, in its being an authentic, indigenous Iranian response to the onslaught of European modernity, or in the dread the religion inspired among the feudal nobility (so that joining it was a means of "silent"protest against their exploitation by the Qajar, Shicite establishment).6 Urban artisans and workers who had become Baha3is surely helped shape the tone of the religion, and the "option for the poor" and insistence on social justice in Baha i writings of this period must be seen in the context of the existence of substantial numbers of the working poor in the community. For example, a large clan of Kazaruni tailors began becoming Baha is in Shiraz around 1865-66. In Kashan "there were many Baha3is whose profession was weaving," and in the late 1880s "there were not many customers for such handwoven goods, [and] the friends were very poor."7 In the nature of the case, the ideas and culture of working-class urban Baha3is are now very difficult to recover, since, being illiterate, they left few records of their lives. This paper will therefore focus on 61ite urban Baha3is, about whom a great deal of information has survived, though it has been little drawn upon by historians. The urban &lites consisted mainly of merchants and of government officials (though both groups were investing heavily in land in this period, becoming landlords and blurring the distinctions among them). The merchant class in Iran underwent development and differentiation in conjunction with the
STUDIES
vastly increased significance, 1850 to 1900, of cashcropping for the world market. Late Zand and early Qajar societies were characterised by many practices that it is difficult to regard as anything but "feudal", especially the assignment of land and of tax-farming rights to officials and officers in return for high service to the state. Although a capitalist sector existed in mediaeval Iran, consisting of circulating merchant capital, it was oriented toward long-distance trade in luxury goods such as silk, and remained small in comparison with the agricultural output (much of it for subsistence). The advent of cashcropping on a large scale in the nineteenth century transformed the old-style traders of the bazaar into a more capitalist, modern sort of import-export merchant.8 The importance of Baha i merchants raises Weberian sorts of questions. Was there a special involvement by Iranian religious minorities, such as the Baha is, Armenians and Jews, in the rise of agricultural capitalism? If so, what accounts for it? Did it have to do with ideology, or the structural situation of these minorities? In this same period, the nature of urban and national governance was changing. Whereas FathcAli Shah (r. 1798-1834) was still a relatively mobile ruler on horseback with a small bureaucracy of scribes, by the later nineteenth century some persons were entering government service having been educated in Europe or at the Tehran Polytechnic College (Dar al-Funtin). The urban patriciate of local high functionaries increasingly arranged such new training and education for its children, and also formed alliances with the import-export houses. Capitalist rationality was coming, slowly and unevenly, to Iran, displacing or transforming the old bazaar pedlars and shopkeepers, and the old government scribes ministering to tribal warriors.9 In order to understand the history of the Baha3is of Iran, it is important to recognise that the religion's advent coincided with this transition of the country from a sort of tribal feudalism to agricultural capitalism, and that these social changes were important for urban elites who adopted the new religion. Again, in so saying I do not wish in any way to reduce the spiritual experiences, the emotion, heroism and intellectual life, of those who adopted the Baha3i religion to a matter of economics. I wish only to say that the converts were embedded in a social matrix, and that their religious decisions had social contexts and consequences as well as subjective ones. 2. Thecommunityin Shiraz Among what groups did the Baha3i religion find adherents in nineteenth-century Shiraz? What institutional and other steps allowed them to
RELIGIOUS
DISSIDENCE
establish a new religion in this hostile, conservative Shicite setting? Of course, in some ways the Baha3is simply built upon some achievements of the earlier Babi movement. Shiraz had been the site of important events in the early history of the Babi movement. There, in the spring of 1844, CAli Muhammad Shirazi declared himself the "Bab,"or divine intermediary, to Mulla Husayn Bushrfi3i, and sent his disciples forth to spread his word. There the Bab was arrested and forced to practice pious dissimulation (taqiyya) by appearing to recant his claims. His disciples, such as MirzaSadiq "Muqaddas" Khurasani of the ulama class, preached the faith publicly in Shiraz's mosques before they were ostracised. The Bab's messianic claims appear to have been popular in the bazaars of Shiraz, and to have attracted some artisans and merchants. Among the Babi artisans was a clan of cobblers, two of whom had attended Qur3an school with the Bib.lo The Bab's execution in 1850 in Tabriz, the suppression of Babi uprisings in Zanjan, Mazandaran and Nayriz (the last not far from Shiraz), and the widespread anti-Babi pogroms from 1852 in response to the failed assassination attempt against Nasir al-Din Shah, left the Babi community devastated, frightened, and underground where it continued to exist at all. The cobblers and other Babi artisans in Shiraz appear to have kept a low profile in the eighteenfifties and early eighteen-sixties."I Three social strata played a predominant role in reacting to the rise of the Baha i religion in Shiraz from about 1865. The first was the high government officials resident in the city, the nawkar class, including the governor of the province, the governor of the city, and other influential bureaucrats. These officials may be divided into a national elite of Qajar functionaries and a local patrician stratum. The second was the Shicite clergy or ulama, especially the leaders of Friday prayers and other popular figures. The third was the bazaaris or burghers, i.e. the merchants and artisans, with their loose corporate identities, their clans and guilds. Both the government officials and the clerics levied such harsh taxes on artisans and merchants of small property, in return for relatively few services, that it is hard to see this expropriation of resources as anything other than a form of exploitation. Of course, some bazaaris voluntarily contributed to the religious institution, but not all did. In nineteenth-century Iran, the ulama street gangs employed seminary students and to collect from the recalcitrant.12 Attitudes to govlt.ti ernment taxation were no doubt less ambiguous, and given the prevalent tax-farming, and the low level of services offered by the state, most bazaaris probably saw it as parasitical.
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LEADERSHIP
125
Shiraz was one of only twelve Iranian cities in the late 1860s with a population of 25,000 or more, and it had long occupied an important place as a commercial and cultural centre. It was sacked and pillaged by the Afghans in 1729, leaving it a shadow of its former self. In the late eighteenth century it became the capital of Iran under the Zands, who undertook important public building works there that shaped the modern city, including the Vakil bazaar and mosque, and this period contributed to its recovery. We have estimates by Western travellers for its population in the early nineteenth century, of between 12,000 and 18,000. By mid-century it may have grown to about 25,000. In 1852-53, as a result of an abortive attempt on the life of the Shah by Babi leaders in Tehran, the Qajar state conducted a country-wide pogrom against Babis in which hundreds and perhaps thousands died. Babism began in Shiraz and had many adherents there, and their persecution can only have added to the travails of the annus hornbilis of 1853, when a great earthquake struck the city and a locust plague produced widespread famine in Fars province. These disasters may have reduced the population of the city by as much as half.13 By the late 1860s, when our story begins, Shiraz had recovered from the calamities of the 1850s, reaching a population of about 25,000. Thereafter it grew modestly, attaining a mere 30,000 in 1913.14 Only in the twentieth century did it become a large city. The city was ethnically diverse, attracting settlers from nearby villages and towns like Zarqan, Ardakan and Kazarun, and members of pastoral groups such as the Turkic-speaking Qashqa3is. A Zoroastrian community existed, much smaller than at Yazd and Kerman. About fifteen per cent of the population in the nineteenth century wasJewish, though the symbolic dominance of Shicism was underlined by disabilities placed on Jews, forced conversions (some 3,000 were converted to Shicism around 1827, including silk merchants in the Vakil Bazaar), and major pogroms, as in 1910.15 It was also a centre for heterodox Shicite Sufi orders such as the Nicmat-Allahis and the Dhahabis.16 Shiraz served as the central distribution point for commercial goods and services in Fars province, especially the import-export trade of the Gulf port of Bushire (Bushihr). It was, as well, the recipient of provincial tax monies. In the range of services it offered, it was nonpareil as the "central place" of the region, with its government offices, courthouse, seminaries, Friday prayer mosques, extensive bazaar, and, in the late nineteenthth century, large telegraph station.'7 Shiraz was small compared to cities such as Tabriz, Isfahan, Tehran or Mashhad. Still, the tax revenues generated by Fars in 1867 were a respectable 380,000 tumans, eclipsed only by the districts of Azerbaijan (620,000 tumans), Gilan
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(440,000 tumans) and Isfahan (420,000 tumans). Fars was apparently more prosperous than many provinces with capitals that were larger or about the same size, probably as a result of its lucrative cash crops, such as opium, cotton, dried fruit and tobacco.'8 Because of a skewed distribution of wealth, high inflation and population growth, however, a good deal of poverty existed among peasants and especially among urban artisans. The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed certain economic developments that greatly changed the economy of Fars. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cut thousands of miles off the sea journey from Bushire to Europe, and allowed the extensive import into southern Iran of inexpensive European factory-made goods, either directly from Europe or via India. Although the individual consumer benefited from cheap textiles and other made goods, Iranian artisans, especially textile workers and shoe makers, suffered considerably as their labour-intensive, high-cost techniques made it impossible to compete with imported manufactures. Moreover, Iranian merchants increasingly faced a balance of trade deficit, making it difficult for them to finance these imports. The export trade to India, which had a growing appetite for longtime South Iranian products such as grain and fruits, took on a new significance and volume. More important, farmers in unprecedented numbers began planting cash crops such as opium poppy, tobacco and cotton. Opium poppy cultivation spread throughout Fars and Yazd, and, in addition, farmers there grew grain, tobacco and cotton, as well as grapes (for raisins, juice, and Armenian and Jewish wines) and fruit for drying and exporting. Cash crops such as opium poppy were not unproblematic, since they displaced foodstuffs and created discontent among peasants during food shortages and famines (though they probably did not cause the famines); nevertheless, throughout the late nineteenth century they were produced by Fars in ever greater volume. Peasants began learning to store some food against shortages, and to guard against planting too little barley. In the 1890s, opium constituted a quarter of Iran's visible exports, but the trade declined precipitously in the opening decade of the twentieth century. The crisis in the Iranian silk industry as a result of a silkworm epidemic in the 1860s, from which it only partially recovered thereafter, also contributed to this diversification of the export economy. Iranian farmers and agricultural brokers had already begun turning to other cash crops before the silkworm epidemic, but it did exacerbate their balance of trade problems. The late nineteenth century was in any case a period when Iran became much more firmly integrated into the world economy, though as a peripheral producer of raw materials, with much of the external
STUDIES
trade and capital (with the exception of the opium business) in the hands of Europeans.19 Many of these export crops passed through Shiraz on their way to the Gulf. Iranian long-distance merchants from Fars developed marketing networks for these commodities, establishing trading houses in Bombay, Calcutta, Port Said, Istanbul and even Hong Kong. The encounter with European colonial institutions, and with local reformist and independence movements, made these Iranian expatriates more cosmopolitan than the majority of their compatriots. Within Iran, those merchants who proved successful in the opium trade grew fabulously wealthy and politically influential, as did the government officials, such as Qavam al-Mulk, who sponsored it and taxed it.20As we shall see below, one of the important Iranian export houses (with an outpost in Hong Kong) was operated by the Afnan clan, Baha3is and relatives of the Bab.21 Let us turn now to the rise of the Shiraz Baha3i community. The leadership of the Babi movement after the Bab's death in 1850 was highly contested, with a number of Babis arising unsuccessfully to claim the station of "He whom God shall make manifest," a messianic figure prophesied by the Bab. A key such figure was Baha-ullah, who nevertheless for the most part kept his claims concealed from the Babi public until the mid-eighteen-sixties. In the meantime, Baha3ullah's younger half-brother, Mirza Yahya Nuri, "Subh-iAzal," came to be recognised by many Babis as the leader of the community. He went into voluntary exile in Baghdad, joining his older half-brother Baha3ullah, who had been expelled there from Iran by the authorities. Also, the mother of the Bab, deeply in mourning and a strong believer in her son, went to live in the shrine cities of Iraq. The Bab's widow, Khadija Begum, lived after his martyrdom with her Shicite relatives in Shiraz and tried to keep the faith of the Bab alive (most of the Bab's clan had not accepted him). The city's indigenous Babi community probably consisted at this point of a handful of artisan families. In addition, a few Babi families were established in Shiraz by government decree. In the eighteenfifties, Babis captured at Nayriz were brought to Shiraz, and although most were executed, some women and male children were allowed to live. In addition, the family of the Babi martyr IHujjatof Zanjan was brought to Shiraz and put under the guardianship of the local notable Mirza Abu 1lHasan Khan Mushir al-Mulk, a man who frequently served as chief minister of Fars province. Mushir alMulk eventually married Hujjat's daughter, and Hujjat's son Mirza Husayn became a servant in his household. Hujjat's daughter seems to have retained some feelings for the Babi religion, and kept in contact with Khadija Begum. Her husband,
RELIGIOUS
DISSIDENCE
Mushir al-Mulk, as will be seen, was not above targetting Babis and Baha3is for political purposes until he experienced a change of heart toward the end of his life.22 Khadija Begum received letters from Baha ullah, who was beginning in the late eighteen-fifties to put forth oblique signals that he was the promised one of the Bab, "He Whom God shall make Manifest." He carried on a lively correspondence with Khadija Begum (and with many other prominent Babis). Khadija Begum, in the meantime, convinced her thirteen-year-old nephew, Aqa Mirza Aqa Nuir alDin, to believe in the Bab. He in turn eventually won his mother, Zahra Begum, and his father, the great merchant MirzatZayn al-CAbidin,over to Babism, in the opening years of the eighteen-sixties. The leader of this merchant clan was the maternal uncle ("Kh-l-i Akbar") of the Bab, Sayyid Muhammad Shira-zi, and his newly-Babi relatives now urged him to investigate his martyred nephew's claims by going to speak with the Bab's mother, and with Subh-i Azal and Baha3ullah, in Iraq. He did in fact, in 1862, undertake this journey, and while in Baghdad, Baha3ullah responded to his written questions by penning in only three days a long theological and mystical treatise entitled TheBookof Certitude(Kitdb-i Iqdn), often known at this time as the "Treatise for the Uncle." This book, which is characterised by a crisp, straightforward style of argumentation, persuaded Sayyid Muhammad Shirazi to become a Babi. He in turn brought his relatives Fajji MirzaMuhammad cAli,jHjji Mirza Muhammad Taqi, and HIjji Mirza Buzurg into the faith. Gradually, a significant number of the Bab's relatives, most of them engaged in import-export trade, became Babis. They kept their conversion as secret as possible, even from their servants. Many of them risked corresponding with Subh-i Azal and Baha3ullath,however.23 Baha-3ullah was brought from Baghdad to Istanbul by the Ottoman authorities in 1863, probably as a result of pressure from the Iranian government to have him removed from Baghdad, which was near to the Shicite shrine cities, and from which he could keep in close contact with the Babi community in Iran. When he proved uncooperative in the capital, the Sultan CAbdal-CAzizfurther exiled him to Edirne, where he remained from late in 1863 till the summer of 1868. In Edirne, Baha3ullah and Subh-i Azal gradually fell out with one another. Baha ullah had begun putting forth messianic claims before he left Baghdad, and continued to do so in Edirne. Clearly, if he was the Babi messiah, then Subh-i Azal's position as the Bab's vicar was not worth much. Although the date is not yet established with any certitude, it appears to be in mid-1865 (1282 A.H.) that Bahatullth began sending letters and
AND URBAN
LEADERSHIP
127
emissaries to Iran with open proclamations of his claims. As a result, Subh-i Azal attempted and failed to poison him, then tried to convince his barber and bath attendant to murder him in his bath. This scheme, too, failed, owing to the loyalty of the barber to Baha3ullah. In March of 1866 Baha- ullah withdrew from the Babi community, and from any relationship with Subh-i Azal. In September, 1867, he challenged Subh-i Azal to a divine test at the Selimiyye Mosque, and when the latter neglected to show up, he lost face. The Babi community became split between Azalis and Baha3is, with the Baha~is emerging as the majority. In 1868, Baha3ullih was exiled yet again, to Acre on the Syrian coast, and Subh-i Azal was sent to Cyprus. It seems likely that it was sometime between December 1865 and February 1866 that Baha3ullah's emissary, Muhammad "Nabil-i Aczam" Zarandi, came to Shiraz. A major disciple of Bah~3ullah, as well as a poet, historian and eloquent preacher, he stayed at the house of Aqa Mirza Aqa Nir al-Din, and the Babis flocked to see him there. He then asked that a meeting be held in which they all brought their copies of the Writings (nivishtijdt, i.e. the writings of the Bab, Subh-i Azal and Baha ullah). They held the gathering in the house of Aqa Mirzat CAbd al-Karim. Nabil ordered these in piles. He announced that the first pile consisted of Tablets (alvaih) from the Bab. The second derived from Him Whom God shall make Manifest, whom the Btb had foretold to his followers, on whose good-pleasure he had made the acceptance of his (the Bab's) own Tablets. Nabil said the Bab had predicted his coming would be soon, and had mentioned the year Nine (i.e. 1852, the year of Bahaullah's epiphany while imprisoned for heresy in the Shah's dungeon). He then swept up the third sheaf of papers (those from Subh-i Azal) and declared that they were hellish writings; he tossed them in the stove, burning them up. This action produced an uproar, and HaIjj Sayyid Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab's maternal uncle and the clan patriarch, leapt to his feet shouting, "Whatgame is this?"Aqa Mirza Aqa Nuiral-Din pointed out that the Bab himself had at first been rejected, and that it was after all Baha ullah whose Book of Certitudehad brought them into the faith. They agreed to investigate the matter and Nabil left for Isfahan.24 Khadija Begum came to hear Nabil from "behind a curtain," and reported that "assoon as I heard him say that the Blessed Beauty [Baha3ullah] was 'He Whom God shall make manifest', promised in the Baydn, I experienced the same feeling I had that night" when the Bab declared himself.25 The Bab's widow was greatly respected, and had wide contacts in the Babi community; she reports that "believers
128
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
travelling to Shiraz alwayscame to pay me a visit and I received them in the home of Mirza Aqa [Nur alDin], my nephew."26 Her endorsement of Baha3 ullah's cause was therefore very important. Aqa Mirza Aqa Nfir al-Din also quickly threw his lot in with Baha3ullah, predictably agreeing with his beloved aunt, and he convinced several of his cousins to join him. He was at a disadvantage, however, insofar as they considered him merely as one of themselves and gave his words no special weight. A Baha3i intellectual, IHajji Muhammad Ibrahim Yazdi, had a sister who had married into the Afann family in Yazd, and this combination of learning and relatedness lent him some authority. Through him many of the Afnan clan became Baha is. Indeed, all the members of the clan resident in Shiraz did so.27 Most Babis in the province of Fars accepted Baha ullah rather quickly. Among the prominent dissenters was one Shaykh Muhammad Yazdi, who had had a long standing grudge against BahaPullah, and who insisted that the Bab's laws could not be abrogated before they had even been implemented. Babis with sympathies toward Baha3ullah had earlier been restrained by Aqa Mirza Aqa Nilr al-Din from acting against him. Now they came to him, asking permission to kill him. Baha3ullah's own teachings, of course, encouraged peace and forbade murder, but these Babis-turned-Baha3is had scarcely had time to imbibe his new ethic. Aqa Nuiral-Din would only agree that Shaykh Muhammad needed to be taught some manners. In the meantime, the latter heard about their intentions toward him and fled from Shiraz to Istanbul. This anecdote shows that once the vast majority of the Babis in a community had adopted the Baha~i faith, the position of the minority who clung to the old religion became difficult or even untenable, not only because of active Baha i hostility but also because they would have been denied community resources, support and patronage, becoming isolated in a hostile Shicite society.28 HI4jjiMuhammad Ibrahim Yazdi, the Baha3i intellectual whose word carried so much weight with the Afnan clan, also was responsible for bringing many others into the Baha i faith in 1865 or 1866, including a clan (silsila) of Kazaruni Babi tailors, who came to about sixty individuals, male and female. Aqa Mirza Aqa NIfr al-Din helped them out materially (import-export merchants dealing in textiles, indigo and other goods could clearly offer some preferential deals to tailors who were co-religionists). The Babi cobbler (kharraz) clan, some of whom had seen Baha3ullah on trips to Baghdad, also became Baha is.29 These Baha is, both wealthy merchants and less well-off artisans, met in Aqa Nir al-Din's large house, where the artisans made an impression as being gregarious and boisterous. Meanwhile, ;ajji
Muhammad Ibrahim Yazdi's successes in proclaiming the new religion came to the attention of local Shicite ulama, and he was forced to return to Yazd. This involuntary homecoming proved an opportunity for Yazdi to teach the faith to the Afnans in that city. The younger members of the clan there insisted that the patriarch, Mirza Sayyid Hasan accept it first. When after great efforts Muhammad Ibrahim the elder, the rest of the succeeded in convincing H.ajji clan also became Baha is.30 When Yazdi left Shiraz, his place among the Baha3i ulama class there was taken for sixteen months by Nabil-i Akbar Qadini, the renowned Baha'i philosopher and mujtahidwho had graduated from the course given by Shaykh Murtada al-Ansari of Najaf, the leading Shicite religious leader of his time. Qa3ini stayed at the mansion of Aqa Niir alDin, and his eloquent discourses, backed up by such weighty Shicite diplomas, helped convert many to the Baha3i faith.31 Even as early as 1867, Baha3ullah's new emphases on peace, social harmony and tolerance had begun to mark off those Babis who followed him from the more militant members of the old community, as can be seen in a petition of spring 1867 sent to the American consulate from the new Baha i community of Baghdad. Baha-ullah's teachings on harmony were largely still oral, but his post-declaration Tablets, such as the Sitratal-Ashab("Salraof the Companions"), also contained ethical precepts, such as the need to avoid useless wrangling and controversy.32 The nascent Baha3i community first became an issue in local Shirazi politics sometime between May 1866 and May 1867 (A.H. 1283), and continued to be one intermittently thereafter, culminating in a major episode of persecution in the early eighteenseventies. In the mid-eighteen-sixties, two prominent rivals for local political power in Fars were Abu 31-Hasan Khan Mushir al-Mulk and Mirza cAli Muhammad Khan Qavam al-Mulk. Abu 31-Hasan Khan, one of the largest landowners in Fars, wanted the vizierate, whereas Qavam al-Mulk was mayor (kalantar) of Shiraz and tax-agent of the city's guilds. The Qavam al-Mulk family was part of a Shirazi patriciate, an urban 6lite generated locally, with which the national government cooperated. The family's origins as part of the elite go back to the early eighteenth century, when a merchant named Hajji Mahmfid accumulated vast wealth. His son, Hajji Hashim, became the ward boss of five of Shiraz's city quarters. The next in the line, Hajji Ibrahim, helped the Qajars come to the throne but subsequently fell from favour and was killed (along with all but one of his sons) by Fath-cAli Shah. Because of his local popularity, the surviving son, cAli Akbar Khan, was appointed by the Shah to be the mayor of Shiraz in 1812, a post he held till his
RELIGIOUS DISSIDENCE AND URBAN LEADERSHIP
death in 1865, gaining in the meantime the title Qavam al-Mulk.33He was succeeded by his son, CAli Muhammad Khan. The second Qavam al-Mulk had therefore only been in office a year or so when Mushir al-Mulk threw down the gauntlet. Both were competing for the favour of the newly-installed Qajar governor of Fars, Sultan-Mura-dMirza Husam al-Saltana. Qavam al-Mulk appears to have been an important patron of the Afnan merchants, and their adoption of Babism and then the Baha i faith made them vulnerable. Mushir al-Mulk, who had married into the family of the Babi martyr Hujjat-iZanjani, had good information about the Baha3i community in Shiraz and knew of this vulnerability. He therefore contacted a leading cleric, Shaykh Husayn NQazimal-Sharica, suggesting that they begin a campaign of repression against the Baha3is. The cleric was given an extensive list of Baha3is, including prominent members of the Afnan clan, two converts from the ulama class and a number of artisans (cobblers, butchers, a stirrup-maker, and of course several Kazaruni tailors). The list was handed over to Husam al-Saltana, the governor, who in turn called Qava-mal-Mulk to task for allowing traitors to proliferate so rapidly in Shiraz and for not suppressing enemies of the crown. Qavam al-Mulk is said by the Afnan chronicler to have grown fearful of the ire of the prince and to have offered him a water pipe to calm him down. He pointed out to the governor that the list contained the names of several leading merchants and that their inclusion might be inaccurate. These individuals took the lead in organising and patronising Muharram celebrations, which the governor and Mushir al-Mulk had themselves attended and by which they had been impressed. Qavam al-Mulk appears to have been subtly reminding the governor of the merchants' Sayyid status, and of their relationship to the bazaar and the and the potential for trouble should the statei.itis, move against them. Shiraz had had a great deal of such trouble in previous decades, and had experienced a major urban revolt in 1865 which had led to the fall of the vizier of Fars and the execution of two high officials at the order of Nasir alDin Shah.34 The allusion was therefore a powerful one. He is reported to have concluded, "These are not ordinary persons whom I can take into custody because of the designs of some, and throw the city into turmoil." He is even said to have threatened to resign as mayor should the prince insist on this course. Husam al-Saltana at length agreed to back down in the case of the merchants but said that he wanted the others arrested. Eventually, Qavam alMulk was able to convince him to drop the entire matter.35
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Troubles flared up again four or five years later, around 1870-71 (A.H. 1287). One of the artisan Baha3is, Aqa Mirza Aqa Rikabsaz ("stirrup-maker"), developed marital problems. His estranged wife, encouraged by his enemies, went to Shaykh Husayn Nazim al-Sharica and complained to him that her husband was a Baha3i. Since Rikabsaz was a loyal attender at Friday prayers and even unrolled and then rolled up the shaykh's prayer-rug at the mosque, he was loathe to accept the woman's testimony. Eventually her persistent complaints resulted in Rikabsaz's arrest, on charges of being a Baha3i and of copying out Baha3ullah's works. Shaykh Husayn demanded from Rikabsfz that he curse the Bab and Baha3ullah, but the latter refused and was therefore imprisoned. At this point, Mushir al-Mulk went to the Prince-Governor with the earlier list of accused Baha3is and demanded their arrest also. The governor gave in, and some of the Baha3i artisans and ulama were arrested and imprisoned. Apparently Qavam al-Mulk was able to keep the Afnans out of jail. After a time, Mulla cAbdallah Fadil, MullatcAbdallah Buka3, Haiji Abu 31-Hasan, Karbala-3i Hasan Khan Sardistani, and Muhammad Khan Baluich were released. In late 1874 (1291), after Husam al-Saltana had returned as governor, three remaining Baha~is were executed for heresy, including Aqa Rikabsaz, Muhammad Nabi Khayyat andJacfar Khayyat.36 Despite the vulnerability of such artisan Baha is who dared challenge the Qajar Shicite establishment by adopting the new religion, the strong position of the Afnan clan as great merchants in Shiraz, and their ties of clientelage with patricians such as Qavam al-Mulk, appear to have been under most circumstances enough to protect them from major persecution. Qavam al-Mulk proved a good choice of patron; in the eighteen-seventies, he was "able to use the increased revenue gained from his role in the opium trade to extend his control over nearly all the land around Shiraz," and he succeeded in creating the Khamseh tribal federation for his own purposes.37 The Afnan clan's flourishing importexport house can only have cemented their relations with this patron, who knew he needed them and other members of the new bourgeoisie like them. Qavam al-Mulk was not the only sponsor whom the Baha is were able to find from among the government officials. Ironically enough, at some point Mushir al-Mulk himself became a Baha3i. In 1877 the prince-governor Farhad Mirza had abruptly charged Mushir al-Mulk with corruption, dismissed him as chief minister of Fars, and had him bastinadoed and imprisoned. Mushir al-Mulk regained his freedom by offering Farhad Mirza a large bribe, and thereafter retired to his estates, which he managed as a private subject until his death in December
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OF PERSIAN
1883. His sister's son, Nasir al-Mulk, took his place in government service. In his last six years of life, Mushir al-Mulk spent a great deal of time in his private garden, passing his days with friends such as Sayyid Ismacil Azghandi (a Baha3i). At some 1H•aIji he married the daughter of Mulla Muhammad point Rida "Razi al-Rihfi"Manshadi, a prominent Baha3i preacher. Through discussions with his in-laws and with Azghandi, Mushir al-Mulk accepted the new religion, and sent an exquisite pen-case and 1,000 tumans to Baha3ullah in Acre with Azghandi. Baha~ ulla-hreturned the money to Azghandi, but kept the pen-case and wrote out a tablet in honour of Mushir al-Mulk. Thereafter, this patrician proved an invaluable aid to the Baha is.38 Mushir al-Mulk's ironic conversion raises many questions that the sources do not allow us to answer. Was he guilty about the three Baha3is whom he had helped have executed? Even given the concession that he had had a profound change of heart, was becoming a Baha3i in some part a way of taking revenge on Nasir al-Din Shah and his son, who had used him so badly after decades of service? Iranian nobles often devoted their last years to spiritual pursuits, taking up Sufism or patronising Shicite ceremonies, so that Mushir al-Mulk's devotion to Baha2ullah does not seem implausible. The backbone of the Shiraz Baha3i community, however, was the artisans and merchants. The merchants benefited from a number of advantages, including their mobility and the international character of their commerce. Bombay served not only as a centre of trade but also as a place where Baha3i culture could begin to develop more freely. In the late eighteen-eighties the Afnan clan established a printing press in Bombay, where they printed several volumes of Baha3ullah's writings and smuggled them back into Iran for distribution throughout the country through clandestine Baha3i networks. Should any of the Afnans become controversial, they could alwayssend him to one of their commercial outposts (thus they dispatched Aqa Niir al-Din to Bombay in 1879 in the wake of the judicial murder on charges of heresy of his business associates, Hasan and Husayn Nahri in Isfahan). In the 1880s, the Afnan families of Shiraz and Yazdwere influential in founding a Baha3i community in Ashkhabad, under the Tsarist Russian Transcaspian administration not far from the Iranian border, which served as a refuge for some Baha is from persecution and as a further commercial opportunity in the tea trade.39That portion of the international trade conducted by the Afnan family consisting of opium became problematic in strict Baha i terms when Bahaullah in ca. 1890 added a final verse to his MostHolyBookcondemning opium and other intoxicants. The sources do not indicate whether they felt any cognitive dissonance about trading in a substance forbidden by
STUDIES
their religion but which they themselves did not use. The ethic of the Iranian merchant class on the whole was to find ways of reconciling their commercial pursuits with the religious law; thus most Shicite merchants were involved in interest-taking on loans, and paid mujtahidswell for casuistic rulings and juristic fig-leafs under which they could do so. Baha3i merchants were at least spared that particular inconvenience, since the Bab and Baha ullah allowed fair interest to be taken on loans. Mazandardni lists prominent Shirazi Baha3is outside the Afnan clan also, taking note of a few merchants (named bazzaz,indicating dry goods' dealers) and ulama. In the main, however, these pillars of the community were artisans, mainly tailors but also cobblers, bakers and milliners. Many of these groups were suffering from the impact of imported European manufactures and from high priceinflation, and the Baha~i faith almost certainly meant something different to them than it did to the Afnans. Baha is believed in having a parliament, thereby tilting at Qajar absolutism, believed, in an egalitarian fashion, that the little people could be better because of their belief than the great lords, and believed that Baha ullah's advent was a harbinger of dramatic, millenarian change in the world. We do not know how the artisans' allegiance to these ideas, which they apparently tried to keep secret but with little success, affected their standing and activities in the guild structures, but they appear not to have formed a separate, identifiable group in this period. Most Baha3is still attended Friday prayers and joined in Muharram commemorations, in effect practising Shicism while believing in Baha3ism. Khadija Begum complains in her memoirs that there were relatively few women Baha~is in Shiraz, so it appears to have been primarily a semi-clandestine male club (one wonders whether, after the martyrdom of Aqa Rikaibsaz,some Baha3i men actually kept their conversion from their wives).40 The gender imbalance in Shiraz was righted later on. In Baha3i communities in other major cities women were often eminent, numerous and influential. The nineteenth-century Baha3is of Iran maintained the division into social orders typical of Qajar Iran, so that they recognised a "class"of "ulama", learned men trained originally in Shicite seminaries who became Baha3is. Some Baha3i ulama dissimulated their new faith and continued to be employed in mosque or seminary. Others openly declared themselves and were forced to either to adopt a new profession or to live an itinerant life as they were expelled from one town after another by their alarmed colleagues among the Shicite clergy. Two prominent Baha3i ulama played an important cultural role in the city. Mulla CAbdallah Fadil was among those released from prison in 1871, having
RELIGIOUS DISSIDENCE AND URBAN LEADERSHIP
pleaded that he was simply a seeker after truth, sampling Sufism, philosophy and other things. Shiraz was an important centre for both the Dhahabi and Nicmat-Allahi Sufi orders, and this slightly less dangerous form of heterodoxy clearly offered a camouflage for some Baha3is. A brilliant philosopher, mystic and theologian, he actually managed to continue teaching at the Mansuriyya seminary, interspersing allusions to the Baha~i faith among his lessons. The head of the seminary managed to get him dismissed for a while, but in the late eighteen-nineties he was reinstated through the influence of the Baha3i prince-mujtahid, Shaykh al-Ra3is. Mulla CAbdallah Buka 3, a renowned reciter of elegies for the Imam Husayn who reduced his audiences to tears, was known also as a mystic and expert in law. The Baha3i merchants valued the Baha3i ulama, as has been seen, often offered them their houses to live in for months at a time, and paid for their missionary travels, as, for instance, Jinab-i Dihqain of Shiraz supported Mirza HaydarcAliIsfahani.41 The only important institutional development which the chronicles mention is the refurbishment of the House of the Bab in the early 1870s. Khadija Begum sent a request to Baha3ullah that the work be undertaken, and he agreed, ordering it to be done. The repairs were completed in 1873 or 1874 (1290 A.H.).42 The Bab's widow took up residence there. From 5 October 1876 onwards Farhad Mirza Muctamid al-Dawlabecame governor of Fars, and he determined to demolish the Baha3i shrine. Khadija Begum was forced to move out for a few months. In the meantime, the chief secretary (munshf-bdshf)of Fars, Mirza-Abu 31-Hasan,and MirzatZayn al-cAbidin Khan cAliydbadi, both of them members of the prince-governor's court, and both Baha is, succeeded in intervening to prevent the destruction of the Bab's house.43 With its continued existence secured and its refurbishment, the house of the Bab became for the Baha3is in Shiraz and surrounding areas a valued and authentic shrine, making it a holy city for them. The travelling, pilgrimage and gathering associated with such a shrine must have contributed to community cohesion. The recruitment networks for Baha3is in Shiraz included mercantile and artisanal clans, linked with one another by ties of patronage and business interactions. They also reached into the Shicite religious institutions, so that some ulama, seminary teachers, preachers and reciters of Muharram elegies became Baha3is. At least one member of the local patrician class, Mushir al-Mulk, adopted the new religion. Provincial officials such as Mirza Abu the chief secretary of Fars, also joined, and 31-H.asan, were able to influence the decisions of the Qajar authorities concerning the Baha3is. Among the merchant clans, it was especially important that their patriarchs, such
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as Sayyid Muhammad Shirazi "Khal" in Shiraz or Mirzai Sayyid Hasan in Yazd, should be willing to accept the new religion. The devotion to Baha3ullah by the Bab's widow, the Afnan matriarch Khadija Begum, was no doubt also important for the spread of his religion among her relatives and especially among women. Because of egalitarian feelings among cousins within the clans, notable Baha3i converts called upon Bahali ulama and intellectuals, such as Nabil-i Aczam Zarandi, Nabil-i Akbar QJ ?ini and Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim Yazdi, to preach to their relatives. The latter lost no face in accepting the religion from such eminent outsiders. Both the great merchants and the artisansbrought advantages to the maintenance and propagation of their adopted faith. The former provided significant monetary contributions to community development and missionarywork, as well as being able to call upon the help of their state patrons in the Shirazi patriciate (patrons they had gained because of their heavy involvement in the lucrative commodity export market). Their far-flung import-export business, with outposts in Bombay and Hong Kong, made available to Baha"is their communications and transportation infrastructures, such as the mail service on steamers that plied the Karun river and the Gulf routes to India, or the Afnan-owned printing press in Bombay. Those commercial entrep6ts were also ideal postings for family members whose heterodoxy became too notorious in Shiraz itself. The merchants' large homes constituted suitable meeting-places for the entire community, including its poorer members, where face-to-face interaction could occur that contributed to group cohesion. That the Afnan merchants were Sayyids, recognised descendants of the Prophet, also lent them both religious and social charisma and helped protect them against harsh punishment by the state. Between 1863 and 1892, very few Baha3i Sayyids were executed, most notably Sayyids IHasanand Husayn Nahri in Isfahan (the "King"and "Beloved"of "martyrs"in Baha i parlance), in 1879, at the hands of Zill al-Sultan. Ironically, such persecution by the religious and secular authorities contributed to the cohesion of the Baha i communities, who tearfully commemorated their martyrs and derived from the tales of their sufferings a spiritual uplift and vigour. The artisans, in their turn, could offer each other mutual support, and could invoke the help of their own guilds and neighbourhood religious clubs (hay3at). The artisans, badly hurt by the competition of inexpensive European imported goods, and taxed heavily by the Qajar officials, may have derived a certain amount of satisfaction from the fear they were able to inspire in the ruling class by their simple adoption of the new religion. Without the artisans' greater numbers, the Baha3i merchants would have been much more isolated and vulnerable.
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3. Thecommunityin Tehran The Baha i community in Tehran also included merchants and artisans, but its leadership contained more members of the dlite governmental (nawkar) class, who were, perhaps, especially interested in the political reforms advocated by Baha3ullah. As with the patronage of patrician families in Shiraz, the excellent government connections of the Tehran Baha3is allowed them to survive, despite continued harassment and major outbreaks of persecution. Although the community lacked any single woman with the stature of Khadija Begum, it benefited from the presence of several outstanding female leaders and so became an early centre of Baha~i feminism. Tehran underwent much more growth and change in the late nineteenth century than did Shiraz. It was a small village when the Qajars adopted it as their capital in the late eighteenth century, but as it came to house a large bureaucracy and bazaars catering to its many princes, nobles and officials, its population mushroomed.44 Statistics are notoriously unreliable for Qajar Iran, and the range of estimates for Tehran varies widely. Nevertheless, it seems that Tehran had about 85,000-100,000 inhabitants in 1867, and about 150,000 in 1913.45 Tehran was, like Shiraz, affected by the vast increase in cashcropping, and among its elite can be counted many absentee landlords who had become agricultural capitalists. Tehran also profited from being athwart trade routes from the east and south toward the Caspian and the Russian and Ottoman empires, allowing it to collect octroi taxes on the transit of goods. And, of course, it was the centre of the national state, the recipient of tax monies from all over the country, the site of the main bureaucracies and of military forces like the Cossack brigade. Some of the nobles and government officials resident there sent their sons abroad for their education, and the cosmopolitan merchant and foreign service elite had their influence on the capital. On the other hand, the state itself appears to have lacked the means to tax efficiently the new sources of wealth so that its employees' salaries were frequently in arrears and its soldiers were sometimes reduced to earning a living as artisans. Tehran also housed the main institution of secular higher learning, the Polytechnic College (Dar al-Funin). Secular elementary and high schools also began opening from 1887, and Ettahadieh found a drop in the number of religious elementary schools, mosques, and Sufi convents in Tehran from 1853 to 1903, suggesting that the capital was at this time on the way to becoming a secularising city.46 Such a trend away from traditional religion might have helped the modernist, liberal Baha is. Tehran had been an important Babi centre before 1852, but the community there was even
STUDIES
more devastated by the pogroms of that and subsequent years than elsewhere. The hostility of Nasir alDin Shah, the capital's most renowned resident and the object of the assassination attempt launched by cAzim Turshizi and other Babi leaders in the capital in retaliation for the execution of the Bab, made life difficult for Babis there and later Baha~is also. The Shah's son, Kamran Mirza, was the governor of the city and its environs, and he, too, bore the Babis and Baha3is great antipathy. Further, the Shicite clergy of the capital were numerous and influential, and wished the Babi-Baha i movement to be destroyed. Every year, the chronicler says, brought news of some new killing or imprisonment.47 Still, a Babi community survived into the 1860s. Tehran in particular received visits, short and long-term, from Baha~i ulama and missionaries (muballighin). As in Shiraz, a merchant family served as an anchor for the Tehran community. IHaji Mirza Muhammad cAttar maintained a retail establishment in the Chahar-Sfiq Bazaar, and had become a Babi in the eighteen-forties, incurring the enmity of the ulama. These complained about him to the government, and he was imprisoned, but then released and expelled from the city for some time. When Baha3ullah became renowned, in the late eighteenfifties, cAttar hastened to Baghdad and met with him. He then returned to Tehran. His wife, Havva3, was a pillar of faith and was especially honoured by Baha3ullah, and given by him the epithet Umm alAwliya3 ("Mother of the Saints"). Their sons were Muhammad Rahim, Aqa Muhammad Karim, Aqa Fath Allah and .HajjiShukr Allah, all of whom became eminentHa.fjji in the community. Aqa Muhammad Karim maintained an inn, and gave shelter to Baha3is passing through the capital, and his commercial establishment was a centre for the dissemination of Baha i news. His store was burned down twice in the late nineteenth century by enemies (such arson and vandalism plagued many Baha3i merchants, and Baha3i farmers as well). In 1888 Aqa Muhammad Karim made the pilgrimage to see Baha ullah in Acre.48 This Baha i merchant family employed marriage alliances to expand their commercial network and to gain important contacts in the government. Aqa cAli Haydar Shirvani, from the Caucasus, had been a follower there of Sayyid CAbdal-Karim.Presumably as a result of Tsarist Russian pressures on Caucasus Muslims, Shirvani came to Tehran around 1880 and set up a shop. He received a good return from a small amount of capital. Mirza Haydar CAllIsfahani, the famed Baha3i missionary who had been imprisoned in Sudan, came to Tehran and brought Shirvani into the Baha i faith around 1885. Shirvani combined his trading thereafter with serving his new religion, faithfully observing the new Law; for
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instance, he gave Amin Ardakafni 700 tumans in Baha3i tithes (the huqiiq Allah, or Right of God, equalling 19% of net profits on certain transactions). Because Baha is were carrying on a lively correspondence with Acre, there was much danger from government spies lest their letters be opened. Shirvani held Russian citizenship, and his correspondence was protected by the Capitulations, so the Baha3is used his name to send and receive letters. Shirvani maintained a good reputation with the Russian embassy in Tehran and the Russian Foreign Ministry. He married a daughter of Hajji Muhammad Rahim cAttar, thus joining the Baha3i commercial elite in the capital; at least two of his four brothers-in-law,AqaicAl Bey and AqafMashhadi clbad, were also merchants. When Baha3ullah died in 1892, it was to Shirvani that cAbd al-Baha-' telegraphed the announcement.49 Shirvani's father-in-law,HafIjiMuhammad Rahim CAttar,had married the daughter of a high government official, Rahim Khan Farrash-Ghadab,the executioner who waited upon the Shah in his royal antechamber. This official, Rahim Khan, was also from the Caucasus, and had a reputation for great bravery. His daughter, having married into a Baha3i merchant family, herself adopted the new religion, causing many dilemmas for her deeply committed, tradition-bound Shicite father, who was close to the Babi-hating Nasir al-Din Shah. Rahim Khan nevertheless faithfully protected and served the Baha3is. During the great famine of 1869-72, when perhaps a tenth of the Iranian population died and another tenth emigrated, the state set up special bakeries in four quarters of Tehran under Rahim Khan's authority, and he in turn sought help from his sonin-law, Muhammad Rahim CAttar, in distributing bread equally to all the people. At this time, because of the enmity toward Baha3is on the part of Shicite commoners, they were ineligible to receive the famine relief and were threatened with starvation. Muhammad Rahim CAttarhad bread distributed to the Baha3is at night, asking those who could afford it to pay for it, and handing it out to the rest gratis. He and his family at that time are said to have scrimped on their own meals, and to have given some of their share to starving Baha is. Khanum cAttar's attention to famine relief for Baha3is came to Baha3ullah's attention, whence his bestowal on her of her epithet.50 The importance of the cAttar women and men as community organisers and hosts is underlined by Mirza Haydar CAliIsfahani, who lived in Tehran for several years. He wrote, The only ones who were well off among the friends in Tehranwere Aqa MuhlammadKarimCAttarand his brother, Hijji MuhammadRahim. These two believers and their sisterswere all devoted to the
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Causeof God.Wheneverthe friendsdesiredto have a sumptuousmeal, theywould sent them a message, and the familywould complywith their wishesand send Persian rice and roast meat. One night the brothers themselvesattended such a banquet, and the deliciousfood wasfollowedbyfreshfruit.51 In the mid-eighteen-seventies, Muhammad Rahim CAttarbecame known as a Baha3i and was exiled from the capital, despite the protest organised by Umm al-Awliya , involving two hundred of her powerful relatives. After five years in Baghdad he returned, but the surveillance of his house by Shicite enemies caused him to have to take refuge in his father-in-law's mansion for two months, until the uproar died down. In the early eighteen-eighties, Ralhim Kha-nreceived a posting abroad, and during his absence enemies of the Baha3is orchestrated a major round-up. In 1882, KImrain MirzaiNa-ib alSaltana, the governor of Tehran, arrested and condemned to death some fifty Baha3is, CAttaramong them. The prisoners were engaged by some of the royal family and clergy in more than one debate.52 Umm al-Awliya3saw to the feeding of the prisoners in tlhe meantime, and also undertook to plead with a leading Shicite mujtahidthat they should be spared, but without success. When Rahim Khan returned to the capital, he exercised his good offices on behalf of his son-in-law, and after nineteen months of harsh imprisonment, the government released all the arrested Baha3is (who included the cream of the Baha~i intelligentsia of the time, such figures as Gulpafyganiand Akhund Mulla cAli MirzaiAbu 31l-Fadl Akbar Shahmirza-di).53 The cAttar family continued to play a central role in the Tehran community thereafter. Another important family in Tehran was a princely one, that of Shams-i Jahan Fitna, a Qajar princess and granddaughter of Fath-cAli Shah. Of a religious disposition, she had been excited by the news of the Bab's charismatic claims in the eighteen-forties. Sayyid Muhammad "Fataal-Malih"Gulpaygani, who had been close to the Babi disciple and poet Tahira Qurrat al-cAyn, had taken pupils among wealthy households in the capital around 1850, and he was hired to tutor Shams-i Jahan. He secretly brought her into the Babi religion, and encouraged her to meet the female disciple of the Bab and famed poet, Tahira, then under house arrest at the home of Tehran police chief Mahmfid Khan Kalantar.Shams-i Jahan determined to meet the leader of the Babis, whom she had heard was Subh-i Azal, and set out for his residence in Baghdad in 1858. In the end she was denied an audience with the furtive Mirza Yahyai, and instead she sent her questions to his brother, Baha•ullah, who also had a following. The answers were brought to her early the next morning by Mirza Aqa Jan KaIshani,Bahafullah's amanuensis. He told
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her that the figure "He whom God shall make manifest" promised by the Bab, was in fact Baha3ullah, but he swore her to secrecy, insisting that this secret could not at that time be revealed. She returned to Tehran, meeting on the way with other Babis who were convinced that Baha-ullah was their messiah. She writes that she was quite prepared when, around 1865-66 (1282), Abmad Yazdi arrived in Tehran with the news that BahaIullah had revealed himself as the promised one of the Bab. She brought her brother, Tahmasp Mirza Mu3ayyid al-Dawla, into the BabiBaha3i faith, as well. She visited Baha3ullah again, in Edirne, and died at Tabriz on her way back.54 Her brother, Tahmasp Mirza, associated with and helped financially support Baha3i ulama such as Muqaddas Khurasani, Nabil-i Akbar Qa3ini, and Mirza Muhammad Furfighi. Tahmasp's son, Muhammad Mahdi Mirza, studied at a seminary and became a Shaykhi for a while, but when he lost a public debate with Mirza Abu 31-FadlGulpaygani in Hamadan in 1888 (1305), he re-entered the Baha3i faith. He thereafter went to Acre and met Baha ~ullah, and this family remained devoted Baha is in the next generations. Muhammad Mahdi Mirza's son, Muhammad Husayn Mirza, became head of the telegraph office in Isfahan and then Tehran, and during the counter-revolution of 1908 he served as head of Muhammad CAlIShah's consultative council, incurring the enmity of the revolutionaries (among them, ironically, another Baha3i prince, the fiery constitutionalist Shaykh al-Ra3is). He fled to Ottoman territories when Muhammad CAliShah was overthrown, but eventually was able to return to Iran, where he wrote defences of the Baha~i faith.55 A government-connected member of the Baha3i elite was Faraj Khan, the son of Colonel cAbdallah Khan. .Hajji His father had been among those charged with killing Babis in the pogroms of 1852, and young Faraj, then 15, witnessed some of the executions. He was affected by some of the last words of one of the Babis. His father died in 1857, and around 1863 he began arguing with his mother about the Babis. Sometime later he gathered up his money, packed his clothes, and left Tehran, informing his mother and relatives that they would never see him again. He went to Baghdad, where Mirza Javad (Karbala3i?) brought him into the Babi religion and taught him to believe that the Imam Husayn had returned (a station claimed by Baha ullah). Around 1872, IHaijiFaraj hastened to Acre, where Baha ullaih was imprisoned, and succeeded in visiting him. Bahagullah asked him to return to Tehran to bring his mother into the faith, and Farajset out for the capital with a group of other Baha is. His mother and brother were delighted to see him, and his mother promptly had him engaged to a sixteen-year-old named Fatima Sultan, the
daughter of Muharram Bey (a graduate of the military academy). Hajji Farajbrought his fiancee a literate Baha i woman as a tutor, and in the course of the lessons she embraced the new religion. Fatima Sultan and lHajji Faraj married and maintained a mansion near the telegraph station and the Royal Garden, which became a site for the comings and goings of the Baha is. Iajji Faraj was the paternal nephew of Amin al-Sultan, who served as Prime Minister late in Nasir al-Din's reign, and he was forced to observe caution. Among his relatives, only his mother knew he was a Baha3i. When Baha3is were imprisoned, IHajji Faraj interceded for them with Amin al-Sultan. His wife Fatima Sultan Khanum also attempted to succour arrested Baha3is and their families, using her high status as a woman of two prominent military families to approach Kamran Mirza and Nasir al-Din Shah with petitions for the release of her co-religionists, sometimes with great success. When Mulla cAli Jan Mazandarani was killed, she paid his burial expenses. When local Shicite toughs continued to bother Mazandarani's widow, the family brought in men from the palace (da3iratal-Sultadnf)to beat them up.56 In addition to Umm al-Awliya3 and Fatima Sultan Khanum, there was another strong woman leader from the government-official class in Tehran, CIsmat Khanum Ta ira. Born there in 1861, she was the daughter of Mirza Ismacil Khan Ashtiyani Mustawfiyi Nizam, a man of high status. Her mother was Hasina Khanum Zahra, an extremely accomplished woman and a poet. CIsmat Khanum's maternal grandfather, a skilled Babi doctor and prolific author, had been physician to the prince Husam alSaltana (probably Muhammad Taqi Mirza). CIsmat Khanum and her brother clsa were orphaned in 1868 when their father died. They were raised for a while by their grandfather, and then for a while by their maternal uncle FarajAllah Khan, the inspectorgeneral (sar-la3 bdshf) of the capital's buildings. He hired tutors for them and had them taught polite Persian letters and Arabic. At one point little CIsmat is said to have been in the presence of the Shah, and attracted a comment from him on her boldness. When their uncle died, their mother struggled on with them. In 1877, at the age of sixteen, CIsmatwas married off to Mihr cAli Khan, the deputy imperial bodyguard of the Shah, and a fierce persecutor of Baha3is who often brought them as prisoners to his own house. CIsmat's maternal uncle, Abu 31-Barakat,was a Baha3i who, in order to escape persecution, adopted the life of a dervish and went to India. On his return to Tehran he stayed with his niece and gradually brought her into the Baha3i faith. CIsmatKhanum now began treating the Baha3i prisoners who were brought to her house with compassion. Her husband
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the son of Muhammad and brother, however, discovered her new adher- ure was Mirza Ayydib who was and her to the Baha is resulted Shah's court ence, .Hakim, in his turn also close attempts help physician, in her being badly and repeatedly beaten by her hus- to the court. From a Jewish background, he became band. She remembered once going outside in the a Baha3i in 1873 through Hajji Muhammad Ismacil snow to sit on the steps after being battered one win- Dhabih. A number ofJews, especially members of his ter evening, and leaving the snow around her dyed immediate family, attempted to dissuade him. He red. She nevertheless persevered, and taught her persevered, however, and went to see Baha3ullah in daughters the faith, as well as finally convincing her Acre. On his return, he helped bring his brothers and then a large number of other Tehrani Jews in brother, CIsa Khan, to join. In the mid-eighteeneighties, her husband died, releasing her from her the Baha i faith. In the early 1890s, Curzon reported nearly decade-long captivity. cIsmat received a gener- that 150 Tehrani Jews became Baha3is in a single ous state stipend for Mihr cAli's orphaned daugh- year.61 The association of Baha3is with the ters, and her wealthy brother CIsaKhan helped his Zoroastrian school in the capital also resulted in sister out, so that she was able to maintain an inde- some conversions among that religious minority.62 pendent household thereafter. She threw herself For these minorities, embracing the new religion of into Baha3i and cultural activities. She began hold- Baha3ism was particularly courageous, since in so ing classes for Baha3i students in the capital. She doing they gave up their protected status as recogwrote poetry under the pen-name of Ta hira. She was nised religious communities, putting themselves known as a free-thinker (hurratal-afkar),and worked beyond the pale in the eyes of the state. for women's emancipation (hurriyyatal-nisvdn). She Tehran at one time or another also sheltered a moved in the highest society of elite Qajar women, number of important Baha3i ulama. These included including that of princesses, serving as a story teller MirzaAbu 3l-FadlGulpaygani, a mujtahidwho taught and moral preacher and also subtly spreading at the seminary of the Shah's mother in the citadel at Baha i ideas. She not only taught girls informally, Tehran in the mid eighteen-seventies, and who incurring much criticism from conservatives, but at became a Baha3i in 1876 after long discussions with length managed to establish a girls' school. When Baha~i ulama (his first encounter with the religion the press became freer during the Constitutional came at the hands of an iron smith who confounded Revolution, she published articles on women's him). He lost his position at the seminary and was hired as secretary by the Zoroastrian agent in the emancipation. She died in 1911.57 Other families were important in Tehran. The capital, Manakji Sahib, a Parsee from Bombay who children of Mirza Hashim Tafrishi split, some had opened a school for Iranian Zoroastrians. After married his arrest and imprisonment in 1882-83, he adopted Badri (a becoming Azalis daughter, Jan, Subh-i Azal), and some Baha3is. Among the Baha3is a peripatetic style of life, travelling widely throughwas his daughter, Hajir, who married a court out Iran and eventually abroad. He went on to astrologer, Mirza Muhammad Husayn Munajjim- become the foremost Baha3i thinker of the first genBashi. Their many children became Baha3is. Her eration in Iran.63Among the large number of other brother Mirza Faraj Allah married the daughter of important ulama who lived for some time in Tehran the famous Baha3i missionary to India Jamal Efendi were Mirza Haydar CAllIsfahani, Akhund Mulla CAli Tunukabiini (born Sulayman Khan, a very wealthy Akbar Shahmirzadi, and Aqa Jamal Burfijirdi (who man of high status who had served at one point as was jailed in the early eighteen-seventies and congovernor of Tunukabimn). Faraj Allah's son, Dr. ducted a lively debate with the Shicite ulama, and who returned later to live in the capital despite CAta3 Allah Khan, was educated at the Polytechnic College and took a medical degree, and he later his notoriety). Ibn-i Asdaq, son of the famous helped - found the first Baha3i school in Tehran.58 Babi-Baha3i preacher Mirza Sadiq "Muqaddas" Dr. cAta Allah Khan may have inaugurated a major Khurasani, also maintained a residence in Tehran after his marriage. Ibn-i Asdaq married a minor tradition, that of the modern Baha i physician. Not only was one of the Shah's astrologers a Baha3i, but Qajar princess, cAdhra) Khanum, a great-grandone of his more eminent court musicians, Mirza daughter of Muhammad Shah, who embraced her husband's religion. Her sister, in turn, was married cAbdallah (1843-1918), was one also.59 to an official, Intizam al-Sultana, who became a offithe of the Despite importance government devoted Baha3i himself.64 This Baha i member of cial class, clearly they constituted a small proportion of the community. Interestingly, in Tehran the reli- the ulama class, like the CAttarmerchants, was able gion spread beyond the confines of Shicite Islam and through marriage alliances to gain the patronage of Babism, attracting members of religious minorities. persons in the Tehran government official stratum. The are and very large numbers of Qajar princes and Examples IHakimHaqq-Nazar, IHakimMasih Jewish physicians trusted by Nasir al-Din's court, who princesses produced in the massive harems of the became Babis and then Baha is.6o Another such fig- Shahs made even royal alliances entirely possible.
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To the historian RiLhullahMihrabkhani we owe an important and fascinating account of the institutionalisation of the Baha3i religion in Tehran, based on a rare nineteenth-century manuscript that he unearthed, the memoirs of Mirza Asad Allih Isfahani.65 In 1877 or 1878 (1294), a copy of Baha3ullah's MostHolyBookcame into the possession of Mirza Asad Allah Isfahani, an important Baha3i missionary and a brother-in-law of CAbd al-Bahai•, Baha-ullaih's eldest son. It had been written in 1873 but only gradually circulated in Iran; insofar as it formally encoded a new holy law, aimed at abrogating and supplanting the Muslim sharica or revealed law, it was an extremely dangerous book. The Qajar authorities construed possession of it as a sign of apostasy from Islam, a capital offence. Isfahani, then residing in Tehran, read with interest Baha•ullah's command that a house ofjustice (baytal-cadl) should be established in every Baha3i community, with nine or more members. Although the Baha3is had ulama, it was Baha3ullah's intention that they should not achieve the sort of ecclesiastical authority which ulama had in Shicite Islam, and he therefore created these lay steering committees. During this period, of the eighteen-seventies, lay committees were also frequently being set up among Ottoman millets, which challenged the authority of the clerical leaders within these millets, and in Iran, the Zoroastrians similarly had steering committees or anjumans on which bourgeois members of the community served, in contradistinction to the priests or mobeds.The call for the establishment of Baha3i houses of justice therefore came at a time of greater laicisation of minority religious communities generally, a time when agricultural capitalism was contributing to the rise of a new, literate middle class unwilling to cede all religious power in the community to the clergy. Mirza Asad Allah writes in his memoirs of 1877-80 that he secretly called a meeting in his house of eight prominent Baha3i elders from Tehran, who began organising the community's affairs. They sent missionaries to nearby villages, for instance, and attempted to help believers who were victimised by persecution. The rest of the community had no idea where these initiatives were coming from. MirzaAsad Allah was initially discouraged by the relative uninterest among the other members in committee work, and complained that if he did not call a meeting, none was held. Then MirztaHaydar CAliIsfahani and Ibn-i Asdaq came to Tehran in 1879 or 1880 (1297), and these two very active Baha3i preachers and missionaries agreed enthusiastically to serve. The rest of the membership floated, and remained a secret cabal of elders. They called the building where they met a house ofjustice, but referred to the administrative body itself as a consultative assembly (mahifil-i shutr).66 This terminology appears to indi-
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cate an interest, on the local level, in democratic movements and thought, since the constitutionalist writers of the time employed the word shuiror mashvarat, both meaning consultation, to refer to parliamentary sorts of governance. Baha ullah, of course, also advocated parliamentary government at the national level, but most Baha3is were not in any position to pursue that goal practically. In their own institutions, they could, however, strive for a more collective sort of leadership, though Isfaha-ni'ssecret council of elders was hardly at this point very democratic. Ultimately, the assembly members would be chosen by secret ballot by universal adult suffrage in the local community. The Tehran consultative assembly drew up an important list of goals for Baha3is who wished to spread the faith and to encourage the implementation of the laws of the Most Holy Book,including the wide establishment of further consultative assemblies. This list gives great insight into the thinking of Baha i urban leadership in the late eighteenseventies. Such travellers were to attempt to establish in each city, town or village houses of justice where consultative assemblies would be convened. The assemblies were to discuss all matters concerning the welfare of the friends and to implement the decisions taken. They were to set up philanthropic investment trusts (mahall al-baraka) with capital raised from the community. Some of the profits from the investments made would be returned to the owners of the capital, and the rest spent on philanthropical projects such as succouring the Baha i poor and subventing the expenses of missionaries. The administration of the trust fund was to be in the hands of a committee known as the "trustees" (umana3). Baha-3ullahhimself encouraged these institutions in numerous Tablets, writing, "God willing, the investment trust (mahall al-baraka)will be radiant and illumined among treasuries (buyit al-amwal), and the dawning-place of trustworthiness and piety." He also called the trustees "blessed."The third goal was the establishment of regular dawn prayers (mashriq aladhkdr),either in private homes or in a building purchased for this purpose; in some instances Baha is bought land and constructed on it their own building for worship, gathering at dawn in accordance with the text of the Most Holy Book.The fourth goal was the institution of the nineteen-day Feast, which at this time had no administrative content or purposes. Rather, every nineteen days Baha~is were to invite co-religionists to an evening meal, after which the prayers and writings of Bahat3ullah were chanted. In one town, nineteen Baha3i hosts took turns offering a meal each night of the nineteen-day BabiBaha3i month, so that believers met virtually every evening. The final goal was to encourage the payment by Baha3is of the huquiqAlladhor "Right of
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God," the 19% tax on net profits from certain economic activities. These monies were thought to belong to the sdhib-iamr,which is to say, to the head of the religion, Baha3ullah. The tax seems to be a form of the Muslim khums,a fifth or 20% payment owed initially on booty to the Prophet Muhammad, which Shicites continued to pay (on profits from some forms of trade) to the Sayyids or the Prophet's descendants. In the MostHolyBook,Baha•ullah made it clear that in future these revenues were not to be owed to his descendants but rather to the houses of justice. Many Baha3is paid the tax by donating property to the Baha3i faith as a religious endowment (waqf). They sent the revenues generated by the property to Baha~ulla-hin Acre or donated them to causes inside Iran such as spreading the religion or caring for the indigent.67 At one point, the assembly included Mirza Asad Allah Isfahani, Ibn-i Asdaq, Mirzai Haydar cAli Isfahani, Akhund Mulla CAliAkbar, Aqa- Mirza cAli Naqi, Aqa SayyidAbii Talib, AqatMuhammad Kazim Isfahani and Aqa Muhammad Karim [cAttar] the broadcloth seller. Interestingly, these members were mostly drawn from the ranks of the Baha3i ulama, and at this point do not appear to include the Baha3i government officials who play such a prominent role in Ma-zandaramni's history of the community. Only one of the great merchants was a member. Another prominent Baha3i preacher was then in the capital, Aqa Jama-l Burfijirdi, the scion of a distinguished family of mujtahidsand himself at this time one of the major Baha3i ulama. The Tehran house of justice decided to invite him to join, but he said he would agree only if he would be the chairman of the body. The members responded that the MostHolyBookhad said nothing about there being a chairman. Because of his insistence on leadership (he is reported to have said one vote of his should equal six of anyone else's), Aqa Jamal ended up being excluded from membership. He in his turn began a campaign against the whole idea that the time had come to set up such consultative assemblies. The dispute was ultimately submitted by both sides to Baha3ullah. He in reply first sent a letter to Aqa Jamal Burfijirdi, asking him to go to Mosul to preach the faith there. Then he sent a letter to the consultative assembly, saying that he was pleased with their work and encouraging them to continue. In essence, he ruled against Aqa Jamal, but arranged things so as to avoid humiliating the great mujtahid.68 Although Mirza Asad Allah, author of the memoirs upon which this account is based, blames Aqa Jamal for overweening egotism, the issues here go beyond individual ambition. In the Usfili Shicite system, the mujtahidor trained jurisprudent was recognised as having a unique professional competency to settle questions in Islamic law and the laity were com-
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manded to obey his rulings implicitly. Aqa Jamal envisioned the continuation this role for the ulama in the Baha3i religion. The other members of the consultative council and Baha ullah himself, however, clearly had a more lay, egalitarian vision of community governance. A Baha3i mujtahidin a consultative assembly only had the same vote that Aqa Muhammad Karim the seller of broadcloth did. The advent of the consultative assemblies, indeed, spelled the beginning of the end of the power of the Bahali ulama, as Aqa Jamal Burfijirdi perhaps had the prescience to see. The Baha3i ulama, being preachers dedicated to spreading the religion, tended to become well-known as Baha is in any city where they resided much more quickly than did the urban notables or artisans. They often attempted to continue to make their living within the framework of Shicite religious institutions, the only livelihood for which they were trained. The Shicite clergy clearly, took an extremely disapproving view of these Baha3i ulama, since they had all the rhetorical and literary skills of their Shicite counterparts, and they acted forcefully against them wherever they could. Baha'i ulama therefore were much more peripatetic than the lay notables, being exiled from city after city. Over the long term, this mobility, implicit in their style of life, told against their ability to remain in control of the consultative assemblies. Moreover, once the Baha3i religion became a recognised phenomenon, associated with particular families, the ulama class became extremely difficult to reproduce. A Baha3i young man could not easily go off to study for years in a Shicite seminary. The secular schools being set up in Tehran to train professional people such as physicians and attorneys in any case looked a great deal more inviting. Baha~i religious meetings had no place for sermons, and therefore the community had no strong incentive systematically to hire or support Baha3i preachers. Ideology, structures of authority, and liturgical practice within the religion, and the increasing inaccessibility of Shicite seminaries without, ensured that the Baha3i ulama would die out as an identifiable social stratum. The Baha3i religion became increasingly laicised, anticlerical, and even somewhat anti-intellectual, as the assemblies, staffed by merchants and professional people, gained a powerful grip on community power. As a dissident religion with a strong emphasis on individual ethics and subjective spirituality, whose meetings for worship lacked a sermon or professional preacher, the Baha3is resemble some Western dissident groups such as the Anabaptists and Quakers (also not particularly noted for their scintillating intellectualism). Aqa Jamal Burfijirdi and a handful of other Baha3i ulama rebelled against Baha3ullah's chosen successor, his eldest son CAbdal-Baha3 in the 1890s after the founder's death. Excommunicated,
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they found they had backed the wrong horse and faced lengthy arrears in receiving their state thereafter sank into obscurity. This temporary and salaries and stipends, because of the high indebtultimately minor schism if anything increased the edness and virtual bankruptcy of the mismanaged distrust among the urban notables in control of the Qajar state. The Shahs' practice of maintaining consultative assemblies toward Baha3i ulama and harems as large as 200 and producing immense hastened the ultimate demise of this latter group.69 numbers of children created a huge group of royAs in Shiraz, so in Tehran, the bazaar formed one als, many of whose ambitions could not be accomcrucial site for the recruitment of believers. The modated, some of whom became ulama or merchants. A few of these disgruntled royals adopted CAttarfamily with its various branches represented one of the major proponents of the Baha3i faith in dissident religions such as the Baha i faith, apparthe city. Mazandarani mentions that large numbers ently in part as a protest against their marginalisaof working-class Baha3is were in danger of starving in tion (though it is true that some mainstream royals the early eighteen-seventies. We do know the name adopted such heterodoxies as Shaykhism and of Usta-dHusayn Na3lband Kishi, the ironsmith who Sufism, perhaps in rebellion against the increasing pointed out contradictions in Shicite traditions to hegemony of the Usuili mujtahids). Thus generathe learned cleric Mirza Abu 31-FaldlGulpaygani, tional and gender conflicts, as well as discrepancies first setting him to thinking about the Baha3i reli- between ascribed status and achieved class standgion. He was among the Baha3i artisans and shop- ing, may have created discontents with the status keepers in the city arrested in the early eighteenquo that contributed to the successes of the dissieighties, along with a seal maker, various sorts of dent Baha3i faith among this stratum. tailor, a mould caster, a dyer, a tobacco seller and a In contrast to Shiraz, a significant number of member of the cAttar clan of broadcloth importers. Tehrani Jews adopted the Bahali faith, many of The nawkar, or government official class, was them traditionally-trained physicians. Some Zoromore important as a source of Baha3i converts in astrians became Baha3is as a result of Mirza Abu 1Tehran than in Shiraz. An impressive number of Fadl's and others' friendly relations with Manakji these were women-CIsmat Khanum Tadira, Umm Sahib and his Zoroastrian school. Compared to al-Awliya-, Fatima Sultan Khanum, and others, Shiraz, the Tehran community was therefore far who clearly played an essential role in the spread more diverse in the religious backgrounds of its and development of the religion. Bureaucrats such adherents. In nineteenth-century Iran, these relias Ta ira's brother, CIsaKhan, military men such as gious minorities faced many disabilities and were the nephew of Amin al-Sultan, as well as minor roy- considered ritually unclean by many Shicites, in alty such as Shams-i Jahan Fitna, her brother and sharp contrast to the universalist and open attitude his children and the wife of Ibn-i Asdaq, joined the toward them of Baha~is from a Shicite background. new movement. The cAttar clan even managed to As Smith notes, "forIranianJews and Zoroastrians to be treated as fellow and equal human beings by marry into the nawkar class at one point, winning over the daughter of the Shah's executioner! The members of the dominant culture was doubtless an willingness of these government-connected indi- experience of profound significance for them."70 viduals to adopt a religion hated by their sovereign The way in which these various segments of the and most of their relatives and peers is something community interacted to reinforce community of a puzzle. Clearly, the Baha3i faith is an attractive loyalties is demonstrated by the story of durreligion, able to inspire large numbers of Iranians Muhammad Rahim CAttar'sfamine relief effortsH.ajji to take the considerable risks associated with ing the crisis of 1869-71. Because he had married embracing it. But in some instances we can see how into the government official class and because as a its attractiveness might have been enhanced by merchant he knew the bazaar, he was appointed by structural conflicts within the government class. his father-in-law to help distribute bread to the indiHaijji Faraj appears to have been in deep conflict gent in the capital. He used his position to help poor with an absent father who killed Babis for a living Baha3is also. These links of patronage exercised in and then died young, leaving Faraj a rebellious an emergency form a species of vertical integration, orphan ridden with guilt and resentment. CIsmat wherein the middle class burghers could distribute Khanum T 3ira, a battered wife (see above, p. 135), the fruits of their clientelage with government figbecame a Baha"i even though it was her husband's ures to members of the Baha3i working class. The job to imprison and execute Bahalis, hence in Tehran community appears to have been exceptionclear defiance of her violent mate. It should also be ally well-organised and to have possessed perhaps remembered that the government class, despite its the first consultative council. Run initially for the status privileges, faced severe difficulties in the lat- most part by the Baha3i ulama, along with a merter half of the nineteenth century. Those who were chant or two, this body established an investment not successful in going into private landholding fund with which to pay for a more continuous sort of
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poor relief within the community as well as to support Baha3i missionary work. The assembly saw itself as modelled on instructions in Baha3ulla-h's Most HolyBook,and helped other cities set up similar committees and investment funds. Its ethic mixed a commitment to egalitarianism (it was a committee of equals) and consultative or parliamentary discussion (mashvarat)with paternalism. It was not elected but formed by a network of self-appointed elders, and was wholly male. In time, these institutions came to be elected and came to include women, but this was not the case in the nineteenth century. The consultative assembly's mild paternalism differed starkly, however, from the hierarchical and authoritarian leadership style of some Baha i ulama, such as AqaJamal Burfijirdi. The assemblies clearly had advantages, of organisation and scriptural authorisation, which allowed them to win out over the ulama not affiliated with them. This form of organisation probably helps account for the concerted spread of the faith and the smooth functioning of the urban community. Baha3ulla-h's command that a substantial religious tax, the Right of God, be paid to these institutions, and then increased through wise investment, helped fund the assemblies at an impressive level. The attention of Baha3is such as Ti 3ira and Dr. Allah to establishing schools for Baha3i boys CAtaW and girls (as mandated in the Most Holy Book) also helped consolidate the community in the long run. 4. Conclusion The contrast between the rise of the Baha3i faith in Iran (1865-92) with the rise of the Babi movement (1844-52) could not be more stark. The Babis were perceived as an intolerable threat to the state and to the Shicite religion and were willing to fight for what they saw as the right. As a result of this polarisation, major battles broke out in some provincial places, such as Zanjan, Nayriz and the shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazandaran. The failed Babi attempt in 1852 to assassinate the Shah resulted in a severe countrywide pogrom against the Babis. While the Baha3is, themselves largely from a Babi background, suffered some continued stigma because of this association, their movement met with quite a different response. Although the state and the clergy occasionally attempted to use coercion to harass and slow the progress of the religion, there was nothing like a military siege of an entire quarter or village where Baha3is clustered. Rather, the Baha3is achieved an uneasy coexistence with Shicite society, one characterised by continuous informal vandalism and discrimination against members of the new religion and occasional major episodes of persecution, but also by frequent acquiescence on the part of the state in its defactospread and importance.
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Minor members of the Qajar royal family adopted the religion, as did state officials who served as high functionaries (e.g. Mushir al-Mulk in Shiraz; also, it should be noted that the chief minister (vizier) of Khurasan and the governor of Bushire at one point were both Baha3is).71 Non-Baha i patricians such as Qavam al-Mulk offered their patronage to important Baha i commercial clans such as the Afnans, and this is paralleled by Rahim Khan, the Shah's executioner, protecting the cAttar merchants and their clients in Tehran. The punctuated equilibrium of state-Baha3i relations is partially accounted for by the reformist ideology of the Baha3is, which aimed at parliamentary, consultative government, low taxes, universal education, adoption of Western science and technology, a limited military institution, an improved status for women and steps toward a world government and society. While some of these Baha3i goals were anathema to many quasi-feudal Qajar nobles, the Baha3is advocated them peacefully and quietly, showing that they were not an immediate challenge. Reformist high officials, such as the sometime prime minister Mirza-Husayn Khan Mushir al-Dawla, even looked upon the new religion positively once they understood its social programme. One source of Baha3i success, in both Shiraz and Tehran, was therefore a relatively low level of state intervention against the religion (in each city there was only one major episode of large-scale arrest in our period, resulting in three judicial murders in Shiraz, while all the other detainees were released, though other executions of individual Baha3is in the two cities took place). This relative reluctance to intervene reflected the reformist rather than revolutionary stance of the Baha3is, rendering them no immediate threat to the state, as well as the divided opinions within the state about the movement and its lack of resources to mount another major, country-wide pogrom even had it so desired. The Baha~i community, despite its majority of impoverished artisans and villagers, possessed substantial monetary resources. Great merchants such as the Afnan and CAttarclans (as well as the Nahris of Isfahan and the Baqirovs of Qazvin and Rasht) were among the chief beneficiaries of economic developments in the late nineteenth century. The Afnan's import-export house profited from the new cash crops, and the CAttar appear to have retailed British manufactured broadcloth to Tehranis. The government officials who became Baha3is also, often brought substantial wealth to the community. More important, high officials who were sympathetic to the cause or actually embraced the new religion were in a position to benefit it enormously by their patronage. In Tabas the governor, a Baha3i, "chose a very beautiful building as the place where the Baha3i meet-
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ings were to be held," and attracted many important people locally to the religion.72 Baha3i sources attribute to Qavam al-Mulk and to Rahim Khan the ability at some points to ward off hostile action against the Baha is on the part of other officials or the clergy. One is struck by the centrality of the rise of agricultural capitalism as a context for the development of the Baha i faith in Shiraz. There may, in fact, be a parallel between the pivotal role played in the development of early modern capitalism by confessional groups such as Calvinists and Mennonites in Lutheran and Catholic Germany, and the role played by Iranian religious minorities (Jews, Zoroastrians, Armenians, Babis and Baha3is) in developing capitalist institutions in late nineteenthcentury Shicite Iran.73 This link between religious minority status and an active role in capitalist innovation may have had something to do with specific religious ideologies, but it may be seen more as an outcome of structural, social tensions. Religious minorities, in both instances, had the advantage of being on the whole barred from openly taking an active part in high politics, so that they were encouraged to focus on commerce. Moreover, they suffered from great local vulnerability, leading them to seek strenuously the security offered by liquid wealth. The Afnan and cAttar clans' ideological attraction to a dissident religion like the Baha i faith may have been bound up with an image of themselves as heroic entrepreneurs fighting off the rapaciousness of parasitical feudal nobles and of the predatory foreignjoint-stock companies that were coming to dominate Iranian economic life. The Baha3i faith may have had the virtues, for them, of being both recognisably modern in its values and its social gospel and authentically Iranian. In another way, the phenomenon of the rise of great Baha i commercial houses parallels wider developments in Qajar society. Iran in this period was increasingly characterised by a situation of "weak state, strong society." Whereas merchants and officials could profit enormously from the commodity export trade, the state lacked the power and organisation to tax this sector efficiently, sinking into royal and bureaucratic penury. Urbanisation and religious pluralism, it has been suggested, are conducive to greater religious participation, and although pluralism was limited in Qajar Iran by the state's alliance with Shicism as the official religion, the weakness of the government allowed more pluralism than might have appeared on the surface.'7 The new Baha3i religion, and especially its bourgeois stratum, was an emblem of the strong society in the face of the weak state. To conclude, then, the Baha3is gained the adherence of thousands of urban artisans and rural peas-
ants, whose popular culture was less under surveillance and less amenable to control by the state and the clergy than was that of the literate strata. They attracted some important members of the commercial and government elites. Both elite and workingclass women embraced the new religion, which was in theory substantially less patriarchal than Shicite Islam, and gender segregation in Iranian society left women leaders free to make a powerful impact among female networks. Prominent Baha is from the Sayyid caste (such as the Afnan family), recognised as descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, could often employ their religious charisma to protect themselves and other community members. Baha3is from the ulama class preached and wrote actively, employing all the considerable tools gained from their training in Shicite seminaries in the service of the new faith. Internally, Baha is organised consultative assemblies and sophisticated investment funds, staffed by Baha3i ulama and merchants, to increase the solidarity of the community through charity work and to spread the religion through concerted missionary efforts. They could accomplish all this because the conflicts in Qajar Iran between the clerics and the state, and between some government officials and their rivals, created slippages in official Shicite authority, spaces of culture and power in which Baha3is could manoeuvre, survive and sometimes even flourish. *
I was provided with rare manuscript material, without which this paper would have been much poorer in detail, by Ruhullah Mihrabkhani, Moojan Momen, John Walbridge and Richard Hollinger. I am, needless to say, exceedingly grateful to them for their kindness and generosity. John Walbridge and Susan Stiles Maneck made important comments on an early draft, but the errors that remain are my own.
1 For the Babi movement, see Abbas Amanat, Resurrectionand Renewal:The Making of the Babi Movementin Iran, 1844-1850 (Ithaca, N.Y., 1989). 2 Fredy Bemont, Les villes de l'Iran, 3 vols. (Paris, 1969-77), vol. II, pp. 151-52. 3 The standard account of the whole sweep of this religion is Peter Smith, The Babi and Bahasi Religions:From Messianic Shicismto a WorldReligion (Cambridge, 1987). The sudden emergence of a liberal group from a much more conservative one has happened elsewhere; after all, Unitarianism developed out of Calvinist, Puritan Congregationalism in early nineteenth century New England, though admittedly without the messianic element characterising the Baha3is. What is interesting is that the Unitarians have grown increasingly more liberal over time, whereas in significant ways Baha'is turned toward antiliberalism in the twentieth century. 4 Charles Tilly, FromMobilizationto Revolution(Reading, Mass., 1978); M. Zald and J. McCarthy (eds.), TheDynamicsof Social Movements (Cambridge, Mass., 1979); eidem (eds.), Social Movementsin an OrganizationalSociety(New Brunswick, N.J., 1987); the virtues of this approach
to the study of the Babi
and Baha i movements was first suggested by Peter Smith of
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Mahidol University, Thailand; see Smith and Moojan "Persian Agriculture in the late Qajar Period, 1860-1906," Asian and African Studies XXII (1978), pp. 312-65. An Momen, "The Babi Movement: A Resource Mobilization overview of the period from a Wallersteinian, dependencyPerspective," in P. Smith (ed.), In Iran: Studies in Babi and Baha i History.Volume3 (Los Angeles, 1986), pp. 33-93. theory point of view is John Foran, Fragile Resistance:Social 5 For Baha3i social thought in the nineteenth century, see Transformationin Iran from 1500 to the Revolution (Boulder, Colo., 1993), pp. 107-51; while this approach has much to Juan R. I. Cole, Modernityand theMillennium:The Genesisof the Baha3i Faith in the NineteenthCenturyMiddle East (New York, recommend it, one must guard against downplaying local 1998); idem, "Iranian Millenarianism and Democratic dynamics and overemphasising the role and impact of Thought in the Nineteenth Century," IJMESXXIV (1992), Europe. External trade is seldom more than 15% or so of an pp. 1-26; for Bahfullah, see H. M. Balyuzi, Baha3u3llah, economy like that of Qajar Iran. 20 Olson, "Persian Gulf," p. 186. King of Glory(Oxford, 1980). 21 A major secondary source on this family is Muhammad 6 An overview of artisans in this period is Heinz-Georg CAll Migeod, Die persische Gesellschaft unter Nasiru d-Din ?ah Faydi, Khdnddn-iAfndn, Sidra-yiRahmdn (Tehran, 127 B.E./ (1848-96) (Berlin, 1990), pp. 195-210; Thomas Philipp, 1971); for our period, this source mostly replicates informa"Isfahan 1881-1891: A Close-up View of Guilds and tion available in the primary account, Mirza- Habib Allah Production," Iranian StudiesXVII (1984), pp. 391-411; and Afnan, "Tarikh-i amri-yi Shiraz," copy of uncatalogued Willem Floor, "Guilds and Futuvvat in Iran," ZDMGCXXXIV Persian ms., Afnan Library, London, and I will keep most citations to the latter. (1984), pp. 106-14; for non-violent forms of subaltern resistance, see James Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: 22 Balyuzi, KhadzjihBegum, p. 30; Mihdi Baimdad, Sharh-ihdl-i Hidden Transcripts(New Haven:, 1990). nijal-iIrdn, 6 vols. (Tehran, 1968-74), vol. I, pp. 39-40. 23 Habib Allah, "Shiraz," pp. 153-68; Mazandarani, "Tarikh-i 7 Haydar CAli Isfahani, Storiesfrom theDelight of Hearts,tr. A. Q. Faizi (Los Angeles, 1980), p. 96 zuhuir,"vol. VI, p. 856; a biography in English of Aqa Mirza 8 For Iranian merchants in this period, see Migeod, Die persisAqa Nur al-Din is Balyuzi, Eminent Baha is in the Time of che Gesellschaft,pp. 179-94; and Floor, "The Merchants Bahaullah (Oxford, 1985), pp. 216-36. 24 Habib Allah, "Shiraz," pp. 169-74; Mazandarani, Tdcfkh-i (tujjdr) in Q.ajarIran," ZDMGCXXVI (1976), pp. 101-35. 9 For the nature of the state bureaucracy in this period, see zuhur,vol. VI, p. 857. 25 Khadija Begum, quoted in Balyuzi, Khadijih Begum, pp. A. Reza Sheikholislami, "The Patrimonial Structure of Iranian Bureaucracy in the Late Nineteenth Century," 30-31. 26 Ibid., Iranian StudiesXI (1978), pp. 199-258. p. 31. 10 Fadil Mazandarani, 27 Habib Allah, "Shiraz," p. 177; Mazandarani, Tdrikh-izuhur, 'Tafrikh-i zuhuir al-haqq," Vol. VI, ms. loc. cit. uncatalogued copy in Afnan Library, London, pp. 861-62. 28 Habib Allah, "Shiraz," Ma-zandaraniwas a towering scholar of the Iranian Baha3i pp. 175-76. 29 Mazandarani, Tdrikh-izuhur,vol. VI, pp. 861-62. community who lived in the first half of the twentieth cent30 Habib Allah, "Shiraz,"pp. 179-82. ury. His nine-volume "History of the Manifestation of the 31 Ibid., p. 183; Mazandarani, "Tarikh-izuhuir,"vol. VI, p. 857. Truth" is an invaluable chronicle (including many original 32 Cole, "Bahaullah's 'Sairah of the Companions.' An early documents) of the history of the Babi and Baha3i religions, Edirne Tablet of Declaration (c. 1864). Introduction and 1844-1921. Only volumes III and VIII have been published, and contemporary Baha3i authorities have refused to allow Provisional Translation," Bahai Studies Bulletin V/3 (June adherents to publish the remaining volumes. 1991), pp. 4-74. 33 William Royce, "The Shirazi Provincial Elite, Status 1 Mazandarani, "Tarikh-i zuhir," VI, p. 855; Balyuzi, Khadijih Maintenance and Change," in Bonine and Keddie, Modern Bagum: The Wifeof theBab (Oxford, 1981), p. 30. 12 Floor, 'The Political Role of the Lutis in Iran," in Michael E. Iran, pp. 292-95; Olson, "Persian Gulf," in ibid., p. 417. 34 Hasan-i Fasa31, Historyof Persia under QajarRule [Fdrsndma-yi Bonine and Nikki R. Keddie (eds.), Modern Iran: The Dialecticsof Continuityand Change(Albany, 1981), p. 89. Ndsirf], trans. Heribert Busse (New York, 1972), pp. 350-51. 35 Habib Allah, "Shiraz," pp. 184-90, quotation on p. 190; 13 John I. Clarke, The Iranian City of Shiraz, Research Papers Series no. 7 (Department of Geography, University of Mazandarani, "Tarikh-i zuhuir," vol. VI, pp. 857-58; for Durham, 1963), pp. 10-11; for a contemporary poem Husaim al-Saltana see Husayn Sacadat Nuri, Rijal-i dawra-3i describing the earthquake, see Hasan Imdad, Shirdzdar guzaQdjdriyya(Tehran, 1364 s.), pp. 24-25. 36 Habib Allah, "Shiraz,"pp. 191-220; Mazandara-ni, "Tarikh-i shta va hal, (Shiraz, 1960), pp. 45-46. 14 Thomson to Alison, Tehran, 20 April 1968, "Report on zuhuir,"vol. VI, 858-61; Mazandarani gives the date of the arrests as 1287/1870-71, but identifies the prince who Persia," Accountsand Paperspresentedto the House of Commons, ordered the arrests as Husam al-Saltana; at this time Zill 1867-68, 19, in Charles Issawi (ed.), The EconomicHistory of Iran, 1800-1914 (Chicago, 1971), p. 28; Sabotinski, Persiya al-Saltan was governor of Fars (Fasa i, Persia,p. 386). Mazandarani gives the date of the executions as 1288/1871-72; but (St. Petersburg, 1913), in ibid. 15 Laurence D. Loeb, Outcaste:JewishLife in SouthernIran (New this appears to be an error. British intelligence reports on southern Iran say three "Babis,"who had been imprisoned York, 1977), esp. ch. 3. 16 See Imdad, Shirdz dar for some time, were executed between 14 December guzashta, pp. 504-15 for some nineteenth century mystical figures. 1874 and 16 January 1875 (cAli Akbar Sacidi Sirjani (ed.), Vaqd ic-i ittifdqiyya[Tehran, 1982], p. 26); Husam al-Saltana 17 For the idea of a "central place" in Iran, see Bonine, Yazd was reinstated as governor of Fars early in 1874. It seems and its Hinterland:A CentralPlace Systemof Dominance in the Iranian Plateau (Marburg, 1980). likely, that the arrests were made in 1870 or 1871 at the 18 Thomson, in Issawi, EconomicHistoryoflIran, p. 28. order of Zill al-Saltan, but that the executions were carried 19 Roger T. Olson, "Persian Gulf Trade and the Agricultural out at the order of Husam al-Saltana, probably late in 1874 (1291). Economy of Southern Iran in the Nineteenth Century," in Bonine and Keddie (eds.), ModernIran, pp. 173-89; Bemont, 37 Olson, "Persian Gulf," p. 186. Tahir 38 Muhammad Malamiri, Villes,II, pp. 146-47; Vahid F. Nowshirvani, "The Beginnings Khdtirdt-i Mdlamri of Commercial Agriculture in Iran," in Abraham Udovitch (Langenhain, 1992), pp. 96-98, 125. (ed.), The Islamic Middle East, 700-1900: Studies in Economic 39 Momen, '"The Baha3i Community of Ashkhabad: Its Social Basis and Importance in Baha i History," in Shirin Akiner and SocialHistory(Princeton, 1977), pp. 547-91; Gad Gilbar,
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40 41 42 43 44
45
46 47 48 49 50 51 52 5
54
55 56
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(ed.), CulturalChangeand Continuityin CentralAsia (London, 1991), pp. 278-305. Balyuzi, KhadziihBegum,pp. 31-32. Mazandarani, "Tarikh-i zuhfir," 6:862-64; Isfahani, Delight,p. 97. Habib Allah, "Shiraz,"pp. 225-30; Balyuzi, KhadijihBegum,p. 33. Ibid., pp. 33-34. J. Gurney, '"The Transformation of Tehran in the later Nineteenth Century," in C. Adle and B. Hourcade (eds.), TMhhran,capitale bicentenaire(Paris and Tehran, 1992), pp. 51-71. Here I am following mainly Bemont, Villes,vol. I, pp. 117-18; these are close to the figures given by Zandjani, "Tehhran et sa population," in Adle and Hourcade, Tehiran, p. 252; other, differing estimates are given in Mansoureh Ettehadieh, "Patterns in Urban Development. The Growth of Tehran (1852-1903)," in Edmund Bosworth and Carole Hillenbrand (eds.), Qajar Iran (Edinburgh, 1983), pp. 199-200, and Issawi, EconomicHistory,pp. 26-28. The official census gave a population for the capital of 210,000 in 1922, which seems to me to be a useful benchmark for the earlier period. Ettehadieh, 'Tehran," p. 203. Mazandarani, "Tarikh-izuhfr," vol. VI, p. 404. Ibid.,vol. VI, pp. 404-06. Ibid.,vol. VI, pp. 468-69. For this famine, see S. Okazakis, "The Great Persian Famine of 1870-71," BSOASXLIX (1986), pp. 183-92. Isfahani, Delightof Hearts,tr., p. 81. Mirza Abu 31-FadlGulpaygani, Lettersand Essays, 1886-1913 (Los Angeles, 1985), pp. 81-82. Mazandarani, "Tarikh-i zuhir," vol. VI, pp. 406-11; cAli Asghar Baha: I, "Tarikh-i Dawda3-i Tihran, 1300," Uncatalogued Persian ms., 61 fols., National Baha i Archives, Wilmette, Illinois; London, Public Record Office, Foreign Office 60/453, Thomson to Earl Granville, Tehran, no. 33, 17 March 1883; Thomson to Earl Granville, Tehran, no. 62, 15 May 1882, repr. in Momen (ed.), The Babi and Baha3i Religions, 1844-1944: Some ContemporaryWestern Accounts (Oxford, 1981), pp. 292-95. Mazandaraini, Tdnfkh-izuhur, vol. VI, pp. 412-14; Nicmatu) Ilah Bayda?i, Tazkira-yishucard-yiqarn-i avval-i Bahd i, 4 vols. (Tehran, 126 B.E./1969), vol. III, pp. 172-74, 185-87. Shams-i Jahan's memoirs survive in the form of an autobiographical poem, reproduced by Mazandarani, most of which Bayqda-iprinted and of which he gave a prose summary. Mazandara.ni, Tdankh-i zuhuir,vol. VI, pp. 441-42. Ibid., vol. VI, pp. 444-50. Ibid., vol. VI, pp. 457-62. See Ta3ira, "Nama-hava nivishta-ha va ashcar," in Afsaneh Najmabadi (ed.), "Recasting Women and Femininity in Qajar Iran," Nima-yi Digar, II/3 (Winter, 1997), pp. 146-95; for remarks about her feminist journalism in Iran-i Naw, see Janet Afary, The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1911: GrassrootsDemocracy,Social Democracy, and the Origins of Feminism (New York, 1996), pp. 197, 202. According to Richard Hollinger, who has seen the original text of Charles Mason Remey's travel diary, this is the figure whom Remey met on his trip to Tehran in 1908 and whom he describes as working to get Baha3i women to unveil and to eschew gender segregation at Baha3i meetings: Remey, Observationsof a Baha i Traveller,pp. 106-09. For CIsmat
58
59
60
61
62
63
64 65
66
67
68 69
70 71
72 73
74
Khanum's context, see Mahdavi, "Women and Ideas in Qajar Iran," Asian and AfricanStudiesXIX (1985), pp. 187-97. Mazandarani, "Tarikh-izuhir," vol. VI, pp. 451-53. Margaret Caton, "Baha3i Influences on Mirza cAbdallah, Qajar Court Musician and Master of the Radif" in Cole and Momen (eds.), From Iran East and West.Studies in Babi and Baha 3i History,Volume2 (Los Angeles, 1984), pp. 31-64. Mazandarani, "Tarikh-izuhilr,"vol. VI, pp. 442-43. Ibid., vol. VI, p. 464; the Hon. George N. Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question,2 vols. (London, 1892), vol. I, p. 500; cf. PRO, FO 60/510 Sidney Churchill, Memorandum, 30 January 1890, enclosed in Wolff to Salisbury, no. 33, 4 February 1890, repr. in Momen, Babi and Baha3i Religions, pp. 248-49. Susan Stiles, "Early Zoroastrian Conversions to the Baha3i Faith in Yazd, Iran," in Cole and Momen (eds.), From Iran East and West,pp. 67-93. Mirza Abu3l-Fadd3il-i Rfihullah Mihrabkhani, Zindigdni-yi rev 2nd 1988, edn.). (Langenhain, Gulpdygdni Balyuzi, EminentBaha3is, pp. 171-76. Mihrabkhani, "Mahafil-i shfir dar cahd-i Jamal-i Aqdas-i Abha," Paydm-i Baha3i XXVIII (February 1982), pp. 9-11; XXIX (March 1982), pp. 8-9; based on Mirza Asad Allah, Persian ms., xerox copy kindly provided to Ydd-dashthc,4 author by Mr. Mihrabkhani. Mihrabkhani, "Mahafil,"vol. XXVIII, pp. 9-10. Ibid.,vol. XIX, p. 9. Ibid.,vol. XXVIII, pp. 10-11, vol. XIX, p. 8. Burfijirdi's biography is given in Mazandarani, "Tarikh-i zuhir," vol. VI, pp. 300-14. Smith, Babi and Baha3i Religions,p. 97. For Mirza Muhammad Rida Mu taman al-Saltana, the longtime vizier of Khurasan, see Balyuzi, Eminent Bahais, pp. 52-59; the Bushire official in question was Sacd al-Mulk; his brother, Nizam al-Saltana, also advanced in government despite his Baha3i adherence: PRO, FO 60/493, Ross to Wolfe, 25 August 1888, encl. in Wolff to Salisbury, no. 178, 8 September 1888, repr. in Momen, Babi and Bahai Religions, pp. 246-47. Other figures who might have been Baha3is are mentioned in some sources. Mirza Husayn Khan Abada i was appointed the superintendant (mubashir) of Abada, where there was a large Baha3i population. In April 1887, however, he was removed from this post, imprisoned, bastinadoed, and sent to Isfahan with his brother, on charges of being a Baha i (Babi). It seems likely that the government's displeasure with him had other origins, but that when it was decided to move against him, the fact of his adherence to the Baha3i faith made it easier: Sirjani, ed., Vaqd3ic-i ittifdqiyya,p. 286 (dispatch of 19 Rajab 1354/13 April 1887, report for British of local events in southern Iran, in Persian). Since malcontents were often accused of Babism in Qajar Iran, however, it is difficult to be sure that persons such as Abada i were actually Baha3is. Isfahani, Delightof Hearts,p. 119. Max Weber, The ProtestantEthic, trans. Talcott Parsons (New York, 1958); Heinz Schilling, Religion,Political Cultureand the Emergenceof Early Modern Society (Leiden, 1992), esp. pp. 176-87. Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, "Religious Economies and Sacred Canopies: Religious Mobilization in American Cities, 1906," American SociologicalReview LIII (February, 1988), pp. 41-49.
FROM REVOLUTIONARYTASNIF TO PATRIOTICSURUD: MUSIC AND NATION-BUILDING IN PRE-WORLDWARII IRAN By H. E. Chehabi BostonUniversity
I. INTRODUCTION As in other Asian countries that were exposed to European imperialism in the nineteenth century, in Iran modernism and nationalism were closely linked, and self-conscious modernisers were also nationalists. In order for Iran to emerge out of its stagnation, they argued, it had to emancipate itself from foreign domination, and it could do that only if it modernised. To accomplish both tasks, Iranians had to rouse themselves into action and become more patriotic, which would be facilitated if they acquired a greater pride in their past glory. Iran's modernisers were thus also nation-builders. As a constitutive element of Iran's culture, Iranian music has alwaysinteracted with social, political, and international developments; as such it is an arena in which the tensions between temporal and spiritual authorities, between modernisers and traditionalists, and between proponents of different types of modernisation have played themselves out. This article explores the motivating force of patriotism among Iran's musical modernisers, and the role that music and musical education played in the nation-building efforts of the late Qftjarand Ri2-aShah periods. II. MUSIC IN PRE-MODERNIRAN AND THE BEGINNINGS OF WESTERNISATION Iranian art music as we know it today crystallised under the Qajar dynasty (1794-1925), a period in which Iran also first came into sustained contact with the West. But music could only emerge into the public sphere after a certain weakening of organised religion had taken place under the impact of the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, for, based on their interpretation of certain verses in the Koran and reported sayings of the Prophet and the Imams, most ulema held very restrictive views of music, tolerating some genres and prohibiting most others. The aura of clerical disapproval that surrounded music in pre-modern Iran did not, however, prevent Iranians from developing a rich musical tradition. For one thing, some genres of sound art were tolerated or even encouraged by the men of religion, and this kept musical skills alive, for often licit and
illicit types of music were performed by the same artists.1Also, since the words "music"and "singing" are not specifically mentioned in the Koran but merely inferred,2 Muslims have not been unanimous in their rejection of music.3 More importantly, not all Iranians were observant Muslims all the time, although, as Clifford Geertz has noted, we tend to study religious commitment far more than we study what he calls "religious noncommitment."4 By the end of the nineteenth century, then, music was cultivated in urban Iran in five settings: the royal Court (imitated by aristocratic the military,6 Sufi orders;7 tacziya households),5 plays and rauia-khvdanlamentation for the Imam IHusain;8and the traditional gymnasiums of urban Iran, the zuirkhdnasor "houses of strength." In addition, professional musicians (mutribs), very often Jewish, entertained at weddings, circumcision parties, and other festivities. In the countryside, folk music benefitted from the relatively weak penetration of organised religion. Iranian art music partakes of the maqam tradition of Middle Eastern music. However, actual practice seems to have diverged from the theoretical framework provided by the maqams, and so a reform took place in the nineteenth century, which brought theory in line with actual practice.9 To this end, in the second half of the nineteenth century the repertory of 300-400 traditional pieces, the gushas, collectively known as the radif were systematically divided into seven (or by another count, twelve) groups known as dastgdhs, each of which is associated with a distinctive mode.10 The elaboration of the dastgdhs out of the maqamsmarked the creation of a uniquely Iranian musical system, and was perhaps influenced by the growing nationalism of the nineteenth century.11 But with few exceptions, music was not performed in public, and remained a private and potentially dangerous affair throughout the nineteenth century. The production and selling of musical instruments was forbidden by religious law, which resulted in that trade being carried out mostly byJews; music stores were located in the Jewish quarters of Tehran and Shiraz.12 Musicians had to hide their instruments under their cloaks in public, and were on
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occasion beaten up by zealots who smashed their instruments.13 The singer, composer, and poet Abu 31-Qasim cArif wrote in his autobiography that, because of ulema opposition, there were very few instruments in his home town of Qazvin in the years before the Constitutional Revolution, and even at weddings music had been replaced by lamentations (rauWa-khvdnf)for Imam Husayn.14 In this hostile environment, professional musicians had a low social status, a condition they shared with musicians elsewhere in the Muslim Middle East.15These social attitudes explain the obstacles which musical modernisers had to face, and explain the fact that enhancing the dignity of the musician's craft was part of their agenda. While native Iranian music developed according to its own dynamics, beginning in the last third of the nineteenth century Western influence began to make itself felt.16 As in so many other domains, Western influences reached Iran's musical life also through the military, as had earlier happened in Turkey and Egypt.17 During the reign of Fathl-cAli Shah (r. 1797-1835) a Russian diplomat entered Tehran accompanied by a military band. The Crown Prince cAbbas Mirza expressed a wish to set up a similar band in Iran, but this was done only under his son, Muhammad Shah (r. 1835-48). It was only in the late 1860s that the westernisation of Iranian music received a serious impetus, when in 1867 Na.sir al-Din Shah asked the French government to send a qualified music teacher to Iran, and Marshal Adolphe Niel chose one Alfred-Jean-Baptiste Lemaire (1842-1909), who left his position as Souschefde musiquedu 1err gimentdes Voltigeursde la Garde i.e. head of imperialeto become Mizizkdnchibashi, Iran's military music.18 Lemaire arrived in 1868 and established a music section at the Dair al-Funtin, Iran's first modern school established in 1851. By 1885 there were eighteen organised military bands, all manned by Lemaire's students, and their repertoire consisted mostly of European marches and operatic arias. In 1886 the first Imperial Orchestra was established. Bands and orchestra performed on official occasions at Court, such as levees and the arrivals of new ambassadors, but also played at tacziya performances, weddings, and other public celebrations. When Lemaire died in 1909, the music section of Dar al-Funjin closed for a while, until one of his best students, Ghulaim-Ri•t Khan, known by his title of Salar Mucazzaz (1861-1935), took it over in 1914. Salar Mucazzaz began a dynasty that was influential on the Iranian art scene until the Islamic Revolution.19 Upon graduating from the Dar alFunfin, Salar Mucazzazhad studied in St Petersburg with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakoff,and after his return to Iran in 1900 he had led the band of the Cossack
Brigade. During the Constitutional Revolution he sided with the constitutionalists, for whom he wrote a new national anthem.20 But the most influential musicians of the constitutional revolution were not the military musicians. III. THE PATRIOTIC TASNIF AND ITS BARDS The patronage extended by Nasir al-Din Shah and his son Muzaffar al-Din Shah to musicians somewhat improved the social status of musicians, and thus prepared the ground for their emergence as public figures. It was with the Constitutional Revolution that non-military music, until then a private affair, emerged into the public sphere, as the receding of the clergy's social influence led to the first public concerts by non-military musicians. These concerts were sponsored by the Anjuman-i Ukhuvvat, an association of Sufi inspiration to which many prominent Iranians belonged,21 and took place on the 13th of the Muslim month of Rajab, the birthday of cAli b. Abi-Talib, the first Shicite Imam, for whom Sufis have special affection. However, only Sufis were invited to attend these concerts.22 It was in the course of these concerts that a type of metric song known as tasnif (sometimes translated as "ballad") became a vehicle for mobilising the supporters of the constitutionalist cause. The tasniffhas deep roots in Persian culture, and the term is first attested in Timurid times (late fourteenth century).23 The melodies are firmly based in the radif but its lyrics are often the syllabic verse of folk poetry rather than poems based on the metric system of carujz.24 Poetry and music were closely allied in the tasnzffa characteristic of classical Persian poetry in general,25 and composer, poet, and singer were most often one and the same person, not unlike European troubadours, Minnesdnger,and bards. Of the folk tasnz~fof the late Qaj-arperiod, few have been recorded,26 but it seems that already in the years prior to the Constitutional Revolution some commented on current events in a humorous way.27The founder of the modern art tasniffisusually thought to be Mirza cAli Akbar Shirazi "Shaida" (ca. 1843-1906), but until around the time of the constitutional revolution texts tended not to be political. Chief among those who politicised the tasniffwasAbu l31-QasimcArif Qazvini (ca. 1882-1934). In his youth CArif was gifted with a beautiful voice, causing his father to force him to become a a reciter of lamentations for Imam rauua-khvadn, Husayn. This profession he disliked, however, and so he fled to the capital where he caught the attention of Tehran's aristocratic circles. He sang at Court and on one occasion even recorded a song accompanied, among others, by Muzaffar al-Din Shah on the piano.28 A poet and a composer, he
FROM REVOLUTIONARY TASNIF TO PATRIOTIC SURUD
wrote songs whose socio-political relevance was a novel phenomenon on Iran's music scene. As he wrote in his autobiography, "when I started composing songs (tasnifs) and national and patriotic hymns (surids), people thought songs have to be composed for courtesans or the Shah's cat."29cArif supported the constitutionalist side during the revolution, and around the time that Muhammad-CAli Shah precipitated a civil war by attempting an autocratic restoration (1908), cArif began composing the exhortatory tasnifs for which he has become famous.30 Like many other patriotic and nationalist poets of that time, he substituted the homeland for the beloved or the panegyrised king, and the people for the lovers.31 In E. G. Browne's words, cArifs poems were "sung in public and private assemblies", and he himself was "a man of dervish-like disposition and often [sang] his poems to the accompaniment of music at public and patriotic meetings, where he [was] warmly applauded by all."32 cArif was not only a patriot, but also a nationalist.33 In his autobiography he claimed credit for strengthening Iranians' sense of nationhood: "When I started composing national [milli] songs, not even one among 10,000 Iranians knew what the word vatan [homeland] meant: they thought vatan was the village or the town where they had been born. When a Kirmarniwent to Isfahan, he felt forlorn, and... neighbourhoods fought like France and Germany over Alsace-Lorraine."34 cArif's songs thus popularised a shift in the meaning of the word vatan from one's birthplace to the nation-state to which one belonged and owed final allegiance,35 a shift that originated with the nineteenth century ideologues of Iranian nationalism.36 During World War I, cArif lived in exile in Istanbul, and here he was so impressed with the recently-established (1912) conservatory Dariilelhan (Dar al-Alhan) that he planned to found one in Iran. However, like many other Iranian patriots, he became disillusioned with the Young Turks after they began showing irredentist designs on Iranian Azerbaijan,37 and his nationalism acquired an antiTurkish tinge.38 Upon returning to Iran he composed a number of nationalistic tasnzfsin honour of Azerbaijan, tasnifs that he performed in Tabriz. In one of them he exhorts the Azerbaijanis to adopt the language of Sacdi and cleanse their hands and hearts from the "ugly and meaningless" words of the Turkish language.39 Politically, CArif supported the movement of Muhammad Taqi Khan in Khurasan, sided with Sayyid Ziya's 1921 coup, and in March 1924 sang his own "Marchof the Republic" at a public concert at a time when the press in the capital was furiously agitating for the abolition of the Qajar monarchy. The Prime Minister Riga Khan, the most likely president,
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had plans of his own, however, and soon ordered the police to break the records of the "March of the Republic." CArifspent the last years of his life in impoverished internal exile in Hamadan, where he died and was buried on 2 January 1934 inside the mausoleum of Avicenna.40 Another modernist poet-musician who exemplifies the nation-building impetus of the pre-Riia Shah years was Mirzada CIshqi (d. 1924). Around 1915 he wrote an "opera" (actually, more a Singspiel41)called "The Resurrection of Iran's Rulers in the Ruins of Ctesiphon", in which a traveller, played by himself, visits the site of the Sasanian Empire's capital near present-day Baghdad. The traveller falls asleep in the ruins of the imperial palace and dreams of Cyrus, Darius, and Anushirvan, who each perform a song ending with the refrain These ruinsof a cemeteryare not our Iran, These ruinsare not Iran,whereis Iran? and then sing together "O Zoroaster, Iran is asleep; O pure soul of Zoroaster; this ship is in a whirlpool; pity this land of Zoroaster."42The piece ends with the spirit of Zoroaster appearing on stage, and the traveller lamenting the sad fate of his beloved country. At its first performance, the audience was weeping by the time the curtain came down: for modernists, Iran had replaced the martyred Imam The ruins of Ctesiphon are, of course, an imporH.usayn.43 tant topos in classical Persian and even Arabic literature, where they serve as a reminder of changing fortunes.44 With CIshqi's opera, however, Ctesiphon becomes a poignant reminder that little remained of Iran's former might, a fact that ought to fill Iranians with regret and shame: O Mada3in,from [the sightof] you, O ruinedpalace An Iranianmustmelt from shame The plot of "The Resurrection of Iran's Rulers" was taken from an earlier book by Nasir al-Din Shah's minister of the press,45 and the spirit of the piece, i.e. that pre-Islamic times were a golden age which put contemporary Iran to shame, was in tune with Ri-a Khan's nationalism-which did not, however, save CIshqi from being assassinated at the instigation of Rila Kha-n in the summer of 1924, since by that time he opposed the establishment of a republic. The congruence between Ictimad al-Saltana, a high ancien rigimeofficial, CIshqi,a firebrand revolutionary, and Riia Khan, the emerging military strongman, illustrates once more that Iranian nationalism, with its emphasis on Zoroastrianism as a constitutive element of Iranian nationhood, was quite pervasive amongst the intelligentsia and not an invention of Riia Shah's rule.46
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IV. cALI-NAQI VAZIRI AND THE MODERNISATION OF IRANIAN MUSIC In the mid-1920s, as one colonel set out to modernise the Iranian state, another colonel embarked upon a quest to modernise Iranian music. This man was cAll-Naqi Vaziri (1887-1979), whose life, career, and ideas exemplify many of the contradictions of Iranian modernism.47 Vaziri inherited his love of music from his mother, Bibi Khanum Astarabadi. A formidable woman, she was well educated, wrote Iran's first feminist tract,48 and founded the country's second school for girls, all activities for which she was criticised by some ulema. She played the tunbak(hand drum), her brother the tdr (the main string instrument of Iranian music), hence young cAlI-Naqi was encouraged to try his hands at an instrument. Vazinr'sfather was an officer in the Cossack Brigade,49which he himself joined at an early age. His musical education spanned both Western and indigenous traditions: he learnt to play the trumpet while serving with the Cossacks and studied the rudiments of Western music theory with a French missionary, but he also received training in the technique and theory of Iranian music from his uncle and from Darvish Khan, one of Iran's foremost musicians. Vazin left the Cossacks over a quarrel with a Russian officer, joined the Anjuman-i Ukhuvvat in 1904, played the tdr at the society's concerts, and fought briefly on the Constitutionalist side against Muhammad-CAliShah's forces during the civil war. He then studied the radifwith one of the masters of art music, Mirza CAbdullah(a former Court musician of Na-siral-Din Shah), and when World War I ended he left for Europe to study European music. After three years of studies in Paris and two in Berlin, he returned to Iran in 1923. His aim was to revitalise Iranian music, and to do so "with Western attitudes toward the place of music in society.'"50 Vazirl was a typical modernist who wanted to adapt Iranian culture, in this case music, to Western, "modern" standards. To this end, he set out to rationalise it by taking the raw material of Iranian art music and developing it along the same lines which musical rationalisation had taken in Europe, which meant essentially the creation of a well-tempered scale of 24 quarter tones, attempts to introduce harmony into Iranian music, and, most importantly, notating it systematically.51It is instructive to contrast Vaziri's approach with that of Turkey's musical nation-builders. In his TiirkFiiliigiin esaslan Zia Gokalp advocated reaching out to folk music rather than to Ottoman court music for the purpose of creating a "national music" that was "Turkishin culture and Western in civilisation", as he deemed the Court music to be "sick and non-national." In contrast to Vaziri, who wanted to apply Western standards of
STUDIES
musical rationality to the intervals of Persian music, Gokalp considered quarter-tones "artificial" and therefore called for them to be got rid of.52 In a sense, Turkish musical modernists were more populist and their Iranian counterparts more elitist. When he returned to Iran, Vaziri's first goal was to spread his message of modernisation by training Iranian musicians in Western theory. To this end he founded a private music school in 1924 in which he taught notation and tonic sol-fa in addition to the practice of instruments: for Vaziri, Iranian music had to become "scientific"in order to survive. Of the hundred or so students who enrolled, eighty left after a month, finding the theory too boring. When he had trained enough students, he founded an orchestra with which he wanted to acquaint the public with new music. Vaziri believed that, as long as musicians went to the homes of music-lovers to play, they would remain in a situation of social inferiority and music would not gain social prestige. So he founded a Club Musical to organise public concerts. He wanted to encourage Iranians to listen to music in their leisure time, but advocated their coming to the musicians to hear them. Many of the leading modernist statesmen and literati joined the club.54 In July 1925 Vaziri started his concerts, accompanied by lectures in which he publicised his ideas. He insisted that musicians sit on chairs, and expected them to be cleanshaven and to wear dark suits and a necktie, and he conducted with a baton. "To the ordinary Iranian with no knowledge of Western customs, a Vaziri concert was a very strange phenomenon. It was alien to Iranian culture, and apart from the melodies which were based on the radff, everything followed the Western tradition: the presentation, the conducting, the orchestration (the only Iranian instrument used was the tar), and the ensemble."55 Vaziri's quest to modernise Iranian music was intimately connected to his patriotism and nationalism. As we have seen, the links between musical innovation and nation-building predated the 1920s. The military were the first locus of Western musical influence, and Iran's musical innovators all had military backgrounds: Lemaire, Salar Mucazzaz, and Vaziri. Nothing typifies the association between patriotic voluntarism and public music as much as the peculiarly Iranian genre called surud. V. THE NATIONALIST SURUDAND PUBLIC EDUCATION The term surud goes back to pre-Islamic times, denoting both religious and profane hymns,56 and was applied in the late nineteenth century to the Protestant hymns which Western missionaries taught
FROM REVOLUTIONARY
TASNIF TO PATRIOTIC
to their Iranian pupils.57 The modern Iranian surud seems to have been invented by the poet Sadiq Kh-an Adib al-Mamalik "Amiri" (1860-1917),58 who wrote a "surld-i gham" ("song of sorrow"), in 1908 in reaction to the bombardment of parliament by Muh.ammad-CAliShah.59In the beginning, the suruid seems to have been a sub-type of the tasnif60 but gradually it evolved into something very different.61 The link between the two genres is Muhammad-CAli Amir-Jahid (1896-1977), who composed both tasnifs and suruds and was the last major figure to write both the music and the words of his songs. He, too, became a nationalist as a result of the humiliations visited upon Iran in World War 1,62but unlike cArifand CIshqihe supported Rita Shah and became a minor official of the regime and the publisher of the Pars Almanach.63 Neither "hymn", nor "song", nor "march" fully capture the essence of pre-World War II Iranian surmds,for which reason the term is left untranslated. The tempo and rhythm of the surids were those of a march, the melodies were in Western keys (although traces of the radif could at times be found), and the lyrics expressed pride in one's country, province, school, vocation, and love of one's national history, flag, land, and the monarchy. Unlike the tasnif most suruds lacked the unity of poet, composer, and singer: the composers were conversant with Western music, the lyrics were provided by others, and the product of this cooperation was meant to be sung not by soloists but by groups. The march-like form probably derives from the early association of modern music with military training in Iran. As part of their graduation requirements, students in the state music school had to write, orchestrate, and conduct a march for the school band.64 This provided a steady stream of new compositions and gave rise to a genre which has survived to our day and has actually gained new prominence in the Islamic Republic. All major musical modernists wrote suruids,including Salair Mucazzaz, Vaziri and his student Rfihullah Khaliqi. Vaziri was steeped in Iranian nationalism and patriotism and he had spent some time as a military man, but he was also a musician trained in Western music, which for him became the model to emulate. In one of the lectures of 1925, he said that music had been a very respected art in pre-Islamic Iran, but "two hundred years of Arab rule in Iran gave rise to passivism and disappointment in Iranian culture", after which "invasions by Turks, Mongols, and Timurids left scars and sadness on Iranian culture."65Music could remedy that: "The majority of Iranians lived without music", and this may have been "one of the reasons that our society lived in a sluggish mood."66
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Vaziri wanted to raise Iranian society out of its torpor, and to this end he sought to inculcate positive values through a new type of music, since he deemed most traditional genres defective: Our fine arts, and especially our music.... are defectiveand do not meet our needs. [Ourmusic] is a reservoirof sad feelings, of memoriesof pain, suffering, imprisonment,and condemnation, of the influence of continued attacksby savagetribes, of mourning songs. Our legitimate songs are those that.., .were used to make one weep, and all others were banned. Instrumentswere forbidden and the honourable profession of musician was lowly. In contrastto these dirges, there was also lustful and frivolousmusic for the [entertainmentof] the rich and powerful..., like the music of Roman decadence. Folk music, i.e., the songs of local groups which stem from the inspirationof simple people, is much more valuable ... and should be carefully col-
lected togetherwith the lyrics.67 To be equally distant from mourning and from frivolous music, Vaziri composed surdds that he wanted to be cheerful, recreational, edifying, and capable of instilling nationalistic ideals, and he used mostly those modes that correspond roughly to the major and minor scales, and are therefore both native and compatible with Western harmonisation.68 Finding the high-pitched and often nasal voices of traditional Iranian male singers too effete,69 he endeavoured to inject more virility into Iranian music by singing some of his songs and surids in his baritone voice at his concerts. Vaziri also invited a number of his literati friends (Dashti, Dihkhuda, Ya-sami, Furfizainfar and Taqizada) to join a Fine Arts Academy which he founded for the purpose of compiling a dictionary of Persian musical terms. According to one source, this was the prelude to the founding of the Farhangistan,the Iranian Academy of Letters.70 Vaziri was soon able to influence state policy on music. In 1925 one of his concerts was attended by Prime Minister Riia Khain, who liked what he saw and asked Vaziri to submit a project about music to the government. Vaziri suggested the teaching of music in public schools, the training of talented orphans to become professional musicians (presumably because, as wards of the state, orphans had no parents to object to their becoming
musicians),
the
building of an opera house, and the teaching of surids in the army instead of Western marches. Only the last idea was adopted, showing once again the prominence of the military in effecting musical change.71 Musical education was next on Vaziri's program. cArif had already advocated a national conservatory inspired by the Ottoman Darfilelhan, but Iran's first
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state school of music came into being by way of the military. In 1918 the music section of Da-ral-Funfin became a separate school, Madrasa-yimuizik,mainly to train military musicians; but later it severed its ties with the military and became in fact Iran's first conservatory, its director being none other than Vaziri. The conservatory trained few people (in 1929 it had a mere forty students); it therefore aroused less opposition than the introduction of music into the curriculum of public schools. The first Iranian school children to sing at school were the pupils at the American School (later Alborz College) of Tehran, whose Presbyterian principal, Dr. Samuel Jordan, had some Protestant hymns provided with Persian lyrics.72Modernist Iranian educators appreciated the favourable influence of singing on morale, discipline, and espritde corps,and in 1921 the Ministry of Education recommended that suruds be taught in schools; but due to a shortage of teachers, only a few schools adopted them.73 In 1927 Mihdi-Qull Hidayat (Mukhbir al-Saltana), a learned and industrious amateur musician,74 became prime minister. In 1930 he visited the conservatory, where he liked the patriotic suruds which the students sang for him. Vaziri used the opportunity to renew his proposals for including music in the curriculum of public schools, and Hida-yat ordered them to be taught in elementary schools, with conservatory students acting as music teachers. The first public schools offered music lessons in September 1931, and in 1933 theprogramme was extended to the entire country.7 To provide a repertoire of songs, Vaziri published a collection of school songs in January 1934, the year in which the Iranian government celebrated Firdausi's millennium and official Persian nationalism reached new heights.76 According to Vaziri himself, his major purpose in teaching these suruids (of which many had lyrics borrowed from Firdausi) in the schools was to imbue children with patriotism and to enhance public morality.77 The texts of the surzds of the 1920s and 1930s evince a major difference from the tasnifs of the earlier period. Where the tasnifs responded to political events and were by and large critical of the status quo, the surids glorified Iran and the Pahlavi monarchy, and were at least implicitly anti-religious, as this text illustrates: Kishvar-imdkishvar-iIran buvad PddshdhashKiirosu Ddra buvad Ai vatan, ai hubb-itu d37n-i man Dustfyatkish-iman u din-i man78
("Ourcountryis Iran Its kingsare Cyrusand Darius O homeland,love of you is myway Loveof you is myfaithand my religion")
Earlier nationalistic poetry had exalted the past and contrasted it with Iran's present,79 but the texts of the new surudsused the present tense: the golden age had, in fact, returned. Moreover, there was no contestation of authoritarianism in these texts. One of the earliest suruds, Hiji Mirza Yahya Daulata-badi's (1864-1940) Javainan-i Irafn ('"Youth of Iran"), which was written on the occasion of the first anniversary of the convocation of parliament, had started with the words Aijavdndn-i vatan, naubat-idzddf-yimdst, ruz-i Caishu tarabu khurramiu shddi-imdst.
("Oyouthof Iran,it's time for our freedom, the daysof fun, merriment,andjoy havearrived.")80 But by the time Ri-a Shah ruled Iran, we look in vain for any references to freedom, equality, fraternity, or universal standards: Iran is wonderful, everybody else, by implication, awful,81patriotism having turned xenophobic. Instead, we find a personality cult around RezaiShah: Hdfiz-itu shahanshah-iPahlavi Pusht-imulk-ikidanzi u•shud qavi Az dil ujdn zanid nacrasar ba sar Zinda bdd td abad nam-iPahlavi!
guardianis the PahlaviShahanshah ('"Your The kingdomof the Kianidshas been strengthened by him Fromthe bottom of yourheartsyell out thiscry: Long live for all eternity the name of Pahlavi!")82 The Iranian surid of the 1930s was not unique, and similar genres flourished in other countries, including Stalin's Soviet Union. According to Lebedev Kumach, the most important song writer of the 1930s, what people needed during those years was a song "with distinct patriotic character", a song-slogan, a "song-poster."For Kumach, the songs had to be "from the musical point of view... a cheerful march with robust rhythm; from the verbal point of view, [they presented] lines not connected by inner plot, lines patriotic in content... with lyrical tonality." As Svetlana Boym explains, the lines of these songs jump out to become edifying proverbs. The new Soviet song was not supposed to present a coherent narrativebut to offer life-affirming punch-lines and slogans.83 The teaching of such suruidsin Iranian schools met with the hostility of the clergy. The opposition of Ay. CAbdal-Karim Yazdi, the senior Iranian in Qum, slowed down these Shicite cleric resident.Hfiri measures, but at his death in 1936 he was not replaced by anyone approaching his prestige, and beginning in the school year 1937-38 the measures were fully implemented. Nonetheless, part of society resisted, and when Khumayni wrote his anti-Ri~ta Shah tract "Discovery of Secrets" three years after Riia Shah's abdication, he criticised the introduction of music into schools in these terms:
FROM REVOLUTIONARY TASNIF TO PATRIOTIC SURUD
Musicinduces the spiritof love-makingand lust in humans, and does awaywith valour, courage, and chivalry.It is forbiddenby the lawof the Sharia,and mustnot be partof the school curriculum.84 Given the hostility of many traditional Iranians to music education, modernists tried to defend musical education against its detractors by appealing both to Iranian nationalism and to international standards. In an article written for the Ministry of Education's monthly journal, Rilhullath Khaliqi (1906-65), a disciple of Vaziri and himself one of Iran's foremost musical modernists, stated: In our country the teaching of music was until recently considered vile from the religious viewpoint, for music as it was practicedamong us had mostof the time no purposeother than to incite sexual drivesand to push societytowardmoral corruption. The music of Arab Bedouins consisted of singingvulgarlyricsin an unnaturalstatethatmostly exceeded the limits of decency and propriety,so that it had no result other than spreadingprostitution and throwingdisreputeon honourablepeople, and for this reasonit wasprohibitedin Islam.Later, since musicwas mostlyused for the same purposes, the ulema declared it wrong. Even today most fanatic (mutacassib)people do not attend musical cover gatherings, and some bigots (idahir-parast) their ears and run awayas soon as they hear a song or an instrument, especially when somebody is noticing them, and thus deprive themselvesof this spiritualnourishment! He contrasted the misuse of music by Iran's ruling classes with the spiritual benefits which mystics derived from it, and justified its inclusion in school curricula by listing five reasons why European and American schools taught music, i.e. discovering and nurturing musical talents; keeping children busy; fostering virtue by combining moral poetry with musical tunes; producing patriotism; and introducing pupils to their homeland's music.85 The exalted nationalist spirit reigning at that time in official circles, and its gradual merging with the cult of the monarchy, can be seen from the way a new Pahlavi era national anthem (suriid-i milli) was put together. In preparation for Riia Shah's 1934 state visit to Turkey, the Turkish Foreign Ministry requested the Iranian authorities to forward the music for Iran's national anthem. A number of literary men were asked to write the lyrics for a new anthem, which was composed by a member of the first graduating class of the conservatory, Daviid Najmi. The lyrics included three stanzas, and their order is indicative of the spirit of Riai Shah's r6gime:86 The first celebrated the Shah, beginning with "long live our Shahanshah", the second exalted the flag, and only the third glorified the nation. It included the following words: "we are followers of [the principle of] good deeds", "our
149
beings are illuminated with good thought", and "we shine with good words."87 Nothing objectionable, to be sure, but the triad "good deeds, good thought, good words" is commonly associated with Zoroastrianism, and its inclusion in a national anthem that did not mention the country's still official religion of Shicite Islam once must have riled pious Muslims. In Turkey, RitIaShah and Atatfirk got along very well. So well, in fact, that Riia Shah stayed longer than planned, informing himself of the progress accomplished under Atatfirk's guidance in Turkey. Kemalism had also affected Turkey's musical life, of which Ria-aShah got a taste. In the 1920s and 1930s, under the impact of Zia G6kalp's ideas, the Turkish state tried to suppress traditional Turkish art music. In 1926 the Eastern music section of the Darfilelhan (Dogu Miizigi Subesi) was closed, and in 1934 art music was eliminated from the airwaves and its performance outlawed.88 But Ankara had an opera house, and so Riai- Shah was invited to attend the performance of a specially commissioned opera celebrating Turko-Iranian friendship. Composed by Adnan Saygun to a libretto by Miinir Hayri Egeli, Feriduncelebrated the unity of the brothers Tur and Iraj (symbolising Atatfirk and Riia Shah), who in Firdausi's Bookof Kingsare the eponymous ancestors of Turks and Iranians.89 Ri-fi Shah's visit to Turkey made a big impact on him, and upon his return he accelerated the pace of westernisation in Iran. Vaziri's path to musical modernisation, which tried to develop Iranian art music along Western lines rather than to replace it with Western music, was not in tune with such an approach. He provided the opportunity for his own dismissal when, true to his commitment to musicians' dignity, he refused to play with his orchestra during a banquet given in honour of the Crown Prince of Sweden, who paid a state visit to Iran in 1935. Riia Shah is said to have ordered his dismissal as head of the conservatory and replacement with a more obedient and younger man.90 Vaziri's successor, Salar Mucazzaz's son Major Ghulam-Husayn Minbashian, who had studied in Germany, decided to adopt a standard European curriculum,91 and for that purpose eliminated the teaching of Iranian music completely. He was criticised for this, but defended himself in a 1939 article where he wrote: "Everyunbiased person who knows scientific music will agree that just as the camel cannot compete with railways, so the tar, tunbak, and kamancha (Iranian instruments) cannot equal European music."92Adding that ten European professors had been hired to teach at the conservatory, he opined that "we must endeavour to renew our music and to put it on the same scientific basis that other civilised nations have adopted, so that it can be
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rescued from its centuries' old depression and putrefaction and reach the level of our other national honours."93 Vaziri and his disciples remained a tiny minority among Iranian musicians. The concerts which he began in 1925 were meant to broaden the appeal of music, since the public concerts of the Anjuman-i Ukhuvvat had been for Sufis only. But Sufism was far more rooted in Iranian society than the sort of musical syncretism that Vaziri proposed, and ultimately his concerts had less appeal; those who did attend tolerated his orchestral compositions to get a chance to hear him play solo tdr. Outside Tehran, his only impact was in culturally progressive Gilan, where he gave concerts in Rasht and Bandar Anzali and founded a music school at the request of local inhabitants, a school that soon closed down. The impact of Vaziri's conservatory was also limited by his unwillingness to let the traditional masters of Iranian music teach in it, on the grounds that they did not know notation and Western musical theory, and this caused bad blood between traditionalists and modernisers at a time when they could have united against those who wanted only European music for Iran.94 The hostility which Vaziri's plans for the westernisation of Iranian music aroused is evident in a polemic article that cArif published under the title "My Fatwa." CArif began by stating that "music is the indicator of ethnicity (qaumiyyat)and the educator and catalyst for the national spirit." He disputes Vaziri's claims that Iranian art music is sad, and adds that even if it were, there would be nothing one could do about it, for a nation cannot change its music anymore than it can change its language. cArif summons Vaziri to make up his mind: There is nothing I like more than the musicof Iran, and I have a right of supervisionover it, a right that no one can takeawayfromme as long as I live.Given this record, I ask you to choose between European and Iranianmusic ... ... for those who consider me to be the most learned mujtahidin this art, and for those sensitive young people in whose veins the blood of Iranianness flows, who follow my unadorned sentiments, and who know that only my dedication to [our] nationalcharacteristicscompelled me to writethese lines, I declarethis new musicby thisfatwato be forbidden [haram].On the authorityof my fatwa,pray overits corpse.95 So much for the pluralist sensibility of the champion of constitutionalism, secularism, and anticlericalism. The man who in his youth had bitterly complained about clerical domination of society, now used metaphors derived from clerical Islam to throw anathema at one of whose art he disapproved.
While Vaziri was too westernised for the likes of CArif,he was not European enough for the government. In 1939 the cultural officials of Iran decided that it was time to eliminate Iranian music altogether. As part of the "Organisation of Thought Development" that was set up that year, a "State Music Administration" (Iddra-yi kull-i mtiszqi) was established with Ghulam-Husayn Minbashifin as director. The letter of appointment (ibldgh) of Minbashian clearly stated the purpose behind the new office: "By order of His Imperial Majesty, this administration is ordered to change the country's music and establish [the new music] on the basis of the principles and rules of the scales (i.e. major and minor keys) of Western music."96Just as Ri2a Shah's state had ordered Iranians to wear European dress, it now decreed that Iranians change their musical tastes. Musical policies paralleled sartorial policies in that they were both driven by the twin motivations of nation-building and becoming a "civilised" nation worthy of being accepted as an equal by the Europeans.97 The teaching of surudswas an expression of the first motivation, the westernisation of music of the latter. Soon after the attempt to change Iranians' musical tastes by fiat, the Allies occupied Iran, and Iranian musical life, like Iranian politics, opened up again.98 And yet-as questionable as some of the musical policies of the Rita Shah period were, let us not forget that the secularism of that era also benefited Iranian music, as it could now emerge into public spaces. VI. CONCLUSION After Ritaf Shah's abdication, the attempt to substitute Western music for native tone art was quickly given up, and since then different genres of music have existed side by side. The traditional art music reviled by Vaziri was kept alive and experienced a renaissance in the 1970s, thanks largely to the Centre for the Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music, set up in 1968. The tasnzfcame to be replaced by the tardna, in which composer, lyricist, and performer are now separate persons, but old tasnifs (like cArif's) have entered the rdpertoire of art music. Vaziri's syncretistic style has continued to have its adherents, but is considered "light"classical music. The suriud,finally, continued as an ideological tool of the state after the Islamic Revolution, and merged with the nauha, a type of metric song traditionally performed as part of the mourning rituals of Muharram, to beget the new politico-religious suruds of the Islamic Republic, which in the first half of the 1980s were the only officially approved genre of music; in fact, for a while surid became a euphemism for music.
FROM REVOLUTIONARY TASNIF TO PATRIOTIC SURUD
While today Iranians in and outside Iran enjoy a variety of musical styles, in terms of the construction of a "national music", it is the intimate and refined art music inherited from the royal Courts of yore that is now widely considered to be musiqz-yiasil-i irani, "authentic Iranian music", and not Vaziri's syncretistic style or even folk music. Iranian art music is thriving today and has more practioners than ever. The tasnifs of the constitutional era contained libertarian themes alongside of patriotic and nationalistic ones, but under the impact of World War I and the occupation of Iran by foreign forces, Iranian patriotism became more nationalistic, xenophobic, and at times even racist, a turn reflected in the tasnifs and surds of the time. After the humiliations of World War I and its aftermath, Ri-fi Shah re-established Iran's territorial integrity and a strong central government, and these achievements were celebrated in the surids. The surued was the musical expression of Reza Shah's reign. Suruidsexhalted the land, history, and independence of Iran, execrated its supposed enemies, and celebrated the Pahlavi monarchy and its achievements: Salar Mucazzaz's son Nasr al-Sultan even composed a "Surid of the Inauguration of the Railways." The connection between nationalistic surud and opposition to national humiliation remained intact after Riia Shah: the text of the best known and most popular of all suriids, "Irdnai marz-i purguhar",was inspired to its author (Husayn Gul-i Gulab, by profession a botanist) when he saw an American occupation soldier beat up an Iranian grocer on a street of Tehran in 1944.99 Throughout the monarchy, surimdsinging was the mainstay of Iranian school children's musical education. Young Iranians learned neither to distinguish the various dastgdhs,nor to read music properly nor play an instrument: they sang in unison martial songs that taught them to love their country, exhorted them to be ready to sacrifice their lives for it, and suggested that they were superior to their neighbours. The nationalism for which this type of music was a vehicle was organic nationalism of the Blut und Boden (khak u khtin) variety, not a civic nationalism stressing the rights, duties, and equality of citizens. The romantic preoccupation with a mythical past, the intolerance for ethnic and linguistic diversity, and the disdain and disinterest for neighbouring peoples that, alas, still characterise much of the Iranian intelligentsia are the legacy of an educational system that inculcated these values into the mind of the young, but that did not teach them to value freedom, tolerance, and the rule of the law. And so the transition from the libertarian and patriotic tasnif to the nationalistic and monarchist surfed illustrates the authoritarian turn that Iranian politics
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took after World War I. The transformations of tasnif and surud are telling indicators of the evolution of Iranian nationalism, and of the political culture of which it has been a part. 100 1 Such forms of sound art as the cantillation of the Koran and the call to prayer (adhdn) were not considered music, and therefore promoted. On the former, see Lois Ibsen al Faruqi, 'The Cantillation of the Qurn3an", Asian Music XIX/1 (Fall-Winter 1987); Hans Engel, Die Stellung des Musikers im arabisch-islamischenRaum (Bonn, 1987), pp. 54-57; and Henry George Farmer, A Historyof Arabian Music to the XIIIth Century(London, 1973), pp. 33-34. Other types of music that were considered unobjectionable by the ulema were caravan songs, work songs, lullabies, the music of military bands that enhanced the morale of the troops, and, for most authorities, the merry making at weddings. See O. Wright, The Modal System of Arab and Persian Music A.D. 1250-1300 (Oxford, 1978), pp. 1-19. From the purely musical point of view, these types of sound art partook of the same theoretical tradition as that of illicit music. 2 On the combined weight of Koranic verses, see Jean During, Musique et extase: L'audition mystiquedans la tradition soufie (Paris, 1988), pp. 218-21. 3 As is well known, the Sufis even found evidence in the Koran that music can be a recommended means to achieve religious ecstasy. For details, see Arthur Gribetz, "The Samdc controversy: Sufi vs. Legalist", Studia IslamicaLXXIV (1991); Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "The Influence of Sufism on Traditional Persian Music", in Jacob Needleman (ed.), The Swordof Gnosis (London, 1986). 4 "Religion As a Cultural System", in The Interpretationof Cultures(New York, 1973), p. 109n. 5 See Khan Mucayyir al-Mamalik, Yddddshthd3-az Dfist-CAli zindigi-yi khususi-yi Ndsir al-Din Shdh (Tehran, 1982), pp. 19-27, passim. 6 See Mallah, Tdrikh-i musiqi-yi niidmi-yi Irdn (Tehran, 1976). H.usayn-CAli 7 For some Sufi musicians, the spiritual dimension of music was so strong that they performed the ritual pre-prayer ablutions (vuiuP) before playing their instruments. The famous santfir player Samac Huziur, a member of the Nicmatullahi order, even played the melodies corresponding to the cantillation of Koranic verses on his instrument. See Daritish Safvat, "CIrfanva muisiqi-yi irani", in Du maqala darbara-yi misiqi-yi Irdn (Tehran, 1969), p. 63; and Rfihullah Khaliqi, Sarguzasht-imusiqi-yiIrdn, vol. I (Tehran, 1955), p. 167. 8 For one testimony among many, see cAbdullah Mustaufi, Sharh-i zindigdnf-yiman, yd tdrikh-iijtimdciva iddrf-yidaura-yi Qdjdriyya(Tehran, 1945), vol. I, p. 390. For an analysis of the connection beween religious sound art and classical Persian music, see Nelly Caron, "La musique shiite en Iran", in Encyclopidiedes MusiquesSacres, vol. I (Paris, 1968), pp. 430-40. 9 This version of the birth of the dastgdhsis based on Fursat Shirazi's treatise on music and poetry, written around 1904. See his Buhutral-alhdn, ed. cAli Zarrinqalm (Tehran, 1975), pp. 26-29. For a scholarly analysis of this reform movement, see Mohammad T. Massoudieh, '"Traditionund Wandel in der persischen Musik des 19. Jahrhunderts", in Robert Guinther (ed.), MusikkulturenAsiens, Afrikasund Ozeaniensim 19.Jahrhundert(Regensburg, 1973), pp. 81-84. to For presentations of the dastgdhs, see Rfihullah Khaliqi, Natari ba musiqi (Tehran, 1938, repr. Tehran, 1991), pp. 250-347; Khatschi Khatschi, Der Dastgdh: Studien zur neuen persischen Musik (Regensburg, 1962); During, La Musique iranienne:Traditionet boolution(Paris, 1984); Bruno Nettl, The Radif of Persian Music: Studiesof Structureand Cultural Context
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(Champaign, Ill., 1987); Majid Kiani, Haft dastgdh-imusiqi-yi Irdn (Tehran, 1989); and Hormoz Farhat, The Dastgah Conceptin PersianMusic (Cambridge, 1990). 11 During, Quelquechosese passe. Le sens de la tradition dans l'Orientmusical (Paris, 1995), pp. 101-09. 12 Jacfar Shahri, Tdrikh-iijtimdci-yiTihrdn dar qarn-i sizdahum, vol. IV (Tehran, 1990), p. 339; Laurence D. Loeb, '"The Jewish Musician and the Music of Fars", Asian Music IV (1972), p. 7. 13 Shahri, Tdrikh,vol. II, p. 77. 14 cAnif-i Qazvinf: Shdcir-i millf-yi Irdn, ed. S. Haidi Qazvini (Tehran, 1990), p. 94. cArif quotes a saying of the time: Agar dar carusiva gar dar cazdst,hamdn bdzmailamsii-yiKarbaldst,or "Be it at a wedding or in mourning, towards Kerbala is all my yearning." The few musicians that the city produced played at the Courts of Tehran or Tabriz. 15 For an exhaustive study, see Engel, Die StellungdesMusikers. 16 For two general works on the influence of the West on Iranian music, see Muhammad-Riia Darvishi, Nigdh ba gharb: bahsi dar ta3siyr-imisfqi-yi gharb bar miisfqi-yiIrdn (Tehran, 1994); and During, "Les musiques d'Iran et du MoyenOrient face A l'acculturation occidentale", in Yann Richard (ed.), Entre l'Iran et l'Occident.Adaptation et assimilation des idies et techniquesoccidentalesen Iran (Paris, 1989). 17 Scott Lloyd Marcus, "Arab Music Theory in the Modern Period", Ph.D. dissertation (UCLA, 1989), p. 21. 18 Victor Advielle, La Musique chez les persans en 1885 (Paris, 1885). 19 A grandson, MihrdasdPahlbud, was the Shah's brother-in-law and longtime minister of culture. 20 Mallah, Tdrikh,pp. 135-36. 21 Its founder was Zahir al-Daula, a son-in-law of Nasir al-Din Shah, governor of Hamadan, and murshid (spiritual guide) of the Nicmatullahi order. For more information, see EIr, s.v. "Anjoman-e Okowwat." 22 Khaliqi, Sarguzasht,vol. I, pp. 83-90. It is a good illustration of the variety of religious sensibility in Iran that, while its clergy frowned on music, the first public concert was given to celebrate a religious holiday. 23 On the tasnif see Margaret Louise Caton, "The Classical Tasnif A Genre of Persian Vocal Music", Ph.D. dissertation (UCLA, 1983). See also Franciszek Machalski, La Litterature de l'Iran contemporain, vol. I (Wroclaw, 1965), pp. 70-72. 24 Some, however, deduce from this that the tasnif has a preIslamic origin. Machalski, op. cit., vol. I, p. 70. 25 The close association between Persian (as well as Arabic) poetry and music is masterfully analysed in Duktur Muhammad Riia Shafici Kadkani, Misisqi-yi shicr (Tehran, 1979, repr. Tehran, 1991). As Shafici Kadkani points out (p. 45), the verb used in Persian to denote the act of creating poetry is suruidan,which also means "to sing." See also Ehsan Yar-Shater, "Affinities Between Persian Poetry and Music", in Peter J. Chelkowski (ed.), Studies in Art and Literatureof theNearEast in Honor of RichardEttinghausen(New York, 1974), esp. pp. 62-67. 26 Some were collected in V. A. Zhukowskii, ObraztsyPersidskago Narodnago Tvorchestva(St. Petersburg, 1902), but I have not had access to this book. 27 For an example, see Sorour Soroudi, "Persian Poetry in Transition, 1900-1925", Ph.D. dissertation (UCLA, 1972), pp. 63-64. 28 CAnif-i Qazvini, pp. 98, 103-05. 29 Ibid., p. 331. The feline in question was Babri Khan, Nasir alDin Shah's honoured pet. See Mucayyir al-Mamalik, Yddddshthd,p. 88. 30 For details, see Caton, "The Classical Tasnif", pp. 79-88. One of his tasnifs, "From the blood of the youth tulips have sprouted", is probably the main origin of the symbolic charge of the tulip in contemporary Iranian political culture,
which has made that flower a major item in the iconography of the Islamic Republic. 31 Soroudi, op. cit., p. 105. For a novel perspective on this shift, see Afsaneh Najmabadi, '"The Erotic Vatan (Homeland) as Beloved and Mother: to Love, to Possess and to Protect", ComparativeStudiesin Societyand HistoryIII/3 (July 1997). 32 Edward G. Browne, The Press and Poetry of Modern Persia (Cambridge, 1914, repr. Los Angeles, 1983), pp. xvi-xvii. 33 Patriotism and nationalism overlap, of course, and mean different things to different people. I use "patriotism"to refer to a feeling of devotion to one's country, and mean by "nationalism" an ideology asserting the primacy of the "nation" over other social bonds and the need to strengthen this "nation". See also Leonard W. Doob, Patriotism and Nationalism: ThePsychologicalFoundations(New Haven, 1964), esp. the definitions on pp. 4-9. 34 cArif-iQazvini, pp. 334-35. Cf. Abu 31-HasanBuzurg Umid's lament that in the time of Naisir al-Din Shah, "if an Iranian was asked where he was from, he would answer that he was from Kashan or Qazwin. Nobody knew he was an Iranian, and their love was only for the religions that were mistakenly called Islam, which bore no resemblance to the true Islam the Prophet had brought." Az mdst kih bar mdst (Tehran, 1984), p. 81. 35 For the pre-modern meaning of vatan, see Shafici Kadkani, '"Talaqqi-yiqudama az vatan", AlifbdII (1973). 36 See Najmabadi, '"TheErotic Vatan", 444-49. 37 See Touraj Atabaki, Azerbaijan:Ethnicityand Autonomyin Iran aftertheSecondWorldWar(London, 1993), pp. 43-51. 38 One of his later tasnifs celebrated the independence of Armenia! 39 cArif-iQazvfni, p. 427. Other tasnifs on Azerbaijan can be found on pp. 389-90 and 424-30. 40 On cArif, see also Sa-sanSipanta, Chishmanddz-imsfqfi-yiIrdn (Tehran, 1990), pp. 122-31. 41 clshqi was probably influenced by the Turkish musical play "Leili and Majnun." Soroudi, op. cit., p. 255. 42 Kulliydt-i musavvar-i Mirzdda Clshqi,ed. cAli-Akbar Mushir Salimi (Tehran, 1978), p. 238. 43 For an analysis of the piece see Machalski, La Litt&aturede l'Iran contemporain,vol. II (Wroclaw, 1967), pp. 142-44, 150. 44 See Jerome W. Clinton, "The Madden Qasida of Xatqani Sharvani. I", Edebiydt1/2 (1976), and "The Madden Qasidaof Xaqani Sharvani. II. Xaqani and al-Buhturi", Edebiydt11/2 (1977). 45 Muhammad-Hasan Khan Ictim-adal-Saltana,-Khalsa, mashhur ba khwdbndma(Tehran, 1969), written around 1893. For an interesting analysis of this book, see Juan R. I. Cole, "Marking Boundaries, Marking Time: The Iranian Past and the Construction of the Self by Qajar Thinkers", Iranian StudiesXXIX (1996), pp. 46-53. One might point out that in 1925 the Tajik poet Abu 31-Qasim Lahfiti wrote a poem entitled Sard-yitamaddunin which he likened the current state of Tajik culture to a ruined palace. See William L. Hanaway, "Farsi, the Vatan, and the Millat", in Edward Allworth (ed.), The Nationality Question in Soviet Central Asia (New York, 1973), pp. 148-49. 46 See Machalski, op. cit., vol. I; Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, "Refashioning Iran: Language and Culture During the Constitutional Revolution", Iranian StudiesXXIII (1990). 47 On Vaziri, see Mojtaba Khoshzamir, "AliNaqi Vaziri and His Influence on Music and Music Education in Iran", Doctor of Education in Music Education dissertation (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1979). Vaziri's life and work are the subject of the second volume of Rfhullah Khaliqi's Sarguzasht-imdsfqi-yiIrdn (Tehran, 1956). 48 Entitled "The Faults of Men", it was a reasoned response to an earlier anti-feminist treatise titled "The Disciplining of Women." See Hasan Javidi, Manizheh Marcashi and Simin
FROM REVOLUTIONARY TASNIF TO PATRIOTIC SURUD
Shikarlu- (eds.), Rfiydri3 -yi zan va mard dar casr-iQdjdr:Du risala-yiTa dib al-nisvdn va Macdyibal-rijdl(Evanston, Ill. and Bethesda, Md., 1992). 49 On this see M. Pavlovitch, "Labrigade russe en Perse", Revue du MondeMusulmanXV/9 (1911). 50 Ella Zonis, "Classical Persian Music Today", in Ehsan Yar-Shater (ed.), Iran Faces the Seventies (New York, 1971), p. 368. 51 For the technical aspects of Vaziri's efforts, see Khoshzamir, "Ali Naqi Vaziri", pp. 137-59. For Vaziri's own view on the importance of notation, see his "Notation: Means for the Preservation or Destruction of Music Traditionally not Notated", in William K. Archer (ed.), The Preservationof TraditionalFormsof the LearnedMusic of the Orientand Occident (Urbana, 1964). 52 Zia G6kalp, The Principles of Turkism,tr. Robert Devereux, (Leiden, 1968), pp. 98-99. Quarter-tones were also debated at the international congress on Arab music that took place Cairo in 1932. See Philippe Vigreux (ed.), MusiqueArabe:Le Congrosde Cairede 1932 (Cairo, 1992). 53 This parallels the contrast between the two countries' language reformers of the same period. See John R. Perry, "Language Reform in Turkey and Iran", InternationalJournal of MiddleEast StudiesXVII (1985). 54 Amir Shaukat al-Mulk cAlam, Samsam al-Mulk, Kaikhusrau Shahrukh, Adib al-Saltana Samici, cAli-Akbar Dihkhuda, Rashid Yasami, CAli Dashti, Sacid Nafisi, cAbbas Iqbal, Muhammad Hijazi. 55 Khoshzamir, op. cit., pp. 120-21. 56 Malik al-Shucara Bahar, Shicrdar Irdn (Mashhad and Tehran, 1954), pp. 74-75. On the singing of Avestan hymns, see Helmut Humbach et al., The Gdthdsof Zarathushtraand the OtherOldAvestan Texts(Heidelberg, 1991), pp. 81-82. 57 Mascuid Salur and Iraj Afshar (eds.), Ruizndma-yikhaitirdt-i CAinal-Saltana,vol. 1 (Tehran, 1995), p. 377. 58 Machalski, La Litt&ature,vol. I, pp. 49, 53-54. 59 Soroudi, "PersianPoetry in Transition, 1900-1925", pp. 218-19. 60 Ibid., p. 71. This parallels the evolution of the Arab patriotic song (al-ughniya al-wataniya) out of the popular song (alughniya al-shacb-ya)in the early twentieth century. 61 Another forerunner of the sorud was a type of chant known as hardra. 62 See his autobiographical sketch in Muhammad-CAli Amir Jahid, Divdn-i Amir-Jdhid(Tehran, 1954), pp. 4-19. 63 For a critical appraisal of Amir-Jahid, see Sayyid cAll-Riiaj Mir-CAli-Naqi,"Vataniyaha (2)", GuftuguIX (Autumn 1995), pp. 92-98. 64 Khaliqi, Sarguzasht,vol. I, pp. 234-36. 65 Dar Cdlam-imusiqi va sancat (Tehran, 1925), p. 13, as quoted in Khoshzamir, "AliNaqi Vaziri",p. 78. 66 From an article in Majalla-yi muisiqiVI-VII (1941), p. 27, as quoted in Khoshzamir, op. cit., p. 79. 67 "Musiqi-yiIran", MihrV/9 (1929), p. 859 68 Ibid., p. 933. 69 Falsetto is typical of traditional Middle Eastern music. See Engel, Die StellungdesMusikers,pp. 286-87. 70 Khoshzamir, op. cit., p. 98. 71 Ibid., pp. 60-61. 72 Arthur C. Boyce, "AlborzCollege of Teheran and Dr. Samuel Martin Jordan, Founder and President", in Ali Pasha Saleh (ed.), Cultural Ties BetweenIran and the UnitedStates(Tehran, 1976), pp. 199-200. 7 Khoshzamir, op. cit., p. 47, and Khaliqi, Sarguzasht,vol. I, pp. 51-55. 74 Between 1916 and 1922 he had transcribed one version of the radif and he had also made an in-depth study of mediaeval texts on music. See Mihdi-Quli Hidayat, Majmacal-advar (Tehran, 1938). For the background to this work, see idem, Khdtirdtva khatardt(Tehran, 1950), pp. 373-74.
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Information on Hidayat's role is based on Khaliqi, Sarguzasht,vol. II, pp. 81-90; and on Khoshzamir, "Ali Naqi Vaziri", p. 64. 76 Vaziri also once said that, with improvements in Iranian music, one day an opera based on the story of Rustam and Suhrab would be favourably received in Germany and the United States. Quoted in Muhammad-Riza Lutfi, "Laghzish az kuja shurfic shud", in idem (ed.), Kitab-isdl-i Shaidd, p. 81. 77 Khoshzamir, op. cit., p. 126. 78 The text was taught to my father at school in Kerman in 1928, who dictated the lines to me in July 1996. 79 Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani wrote a long epic poem in the manner of Firdausi's Book of Kings, Sdldrnama (Ndma-yi bastan), in which he fondly remembered the good old times when Iran's armies devastated its neighbouring countries. All the themes of later nationalist poetry such as a past golden age, exaltation of Zoroastrianism, present decline, lamentation about the incompetence of contemporaries, and xenophobia, can be found in this work. Machalski, La Littirature, vol. I, pp. 33-40. 80 Ibid.,vol. 1, p. 64. 81 The patriotism and nationalism of these suruds can be gleaned from the titles in a song book published in September 1939 by the State Music Administration (see below) for use in teacher training colleges and in schools. Vaziri's compositions included "O Homeland", "Soil of Iran", "Morning", "Land of Jam[shid]", "Iran March", "March of the Movement", "School March", "Love of Iran", and "Athletes." Khaliqi's are "Azarbaijan", "Isfahan", "O Iran", "Sacdi'sAdmonitions", "Knowledge and Power", 'Joy", "Red Lion and Sun" (Iran's equivalent of the Red Cross under the monarchy), "Art",and "Homeland." Other titles are the then national anthem, "Hope", "Fire", "O My Homeland", "Flag","In Praise of the Shah", "Culture","Land of Darius", "Realm of Iran", "Realm of Jam[shid] ", "Good Repute", "Artists",and "Teacher Training Colleges." A surud titled '"Truth"is the only one whose title is a universal virtue-and its composer was the Armenian Rilbik Grigurian. From the table of contents of Surudhd-yi dmuzishgdhha bardye ddnishsard-yi muqaddamdti va maddris (Tehran, 1939). I am grateful to Cosroe Chaqueri for making the original available to me. 82 See n. 78 above. 83 Svetlana Boym, CommonPlaces: Mythologiesof EverydayLife in Russia (Cambridge, Mass., 1994), pp. 111-12, quoting Grigory Alexandrov, Epokhai kino (Moscow, 1976), p. 286. 84 [Ayatullah Rilhullah] Khumayni, Kashf al-asrdr (Tehran, n.d.), p. 214. After the Islamic revolution he changed his mind, however. 85 "Taclim-i surfid dar dabistanha", Taclim va tarbiyat IX (1313/1934), pp. 452-58. The quotation is on p. 452. 86 See Joseph Zikmund II, "National Anthems as Political Symbols", The Australian Journal of Politics and History XV (December 1969), for a discussion of the link between modern national anthems and state ideologies. 87 For details on this anthem see Husayn-CAliMallabh,"Surfid-i milli-yi Iran va chagfinagi-yi ibdac-i an", Hunar va Mardum XII (Farvardin 1353/March-April 1974), pp. 88-90. Cf. Turkey's national anthem of the time, which ends with the verse "Freedom is the right of my God-worshipping people." See A. Fischer, "Die Nationalhymne der Kemalisten", Der IslamXIII (1923). 88 Martin Stokes, The ArabeskDebate: Music and Musicians in Modern Turkey(Oxford, 1992), p. 36. It is ironic that during Riia Shah's visit, one evening when he and Atatfirk were dining tite-a-tite,a few members of both men's entourages crept away secretly to listen to forbidden Turkish art music. See General Hassan Arfa, Under Five Shahs (London, 1964), p. 249. 75
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89 Metin And, "Opera and Ballet in Modern Turkey", in Giinsel Renda and C. Max Kortepeter (eds.), The Transformationof TurkishCulture(Princeton, 1986), p. 79. The libretto conveniently forgets the third brother, Salm, ancestor of the Rum (Greeks) in the Shdhndma. When Riia Shah returned to Iran, construction of an opera house was begun in Tehran (even Baghdad had one!), but the war prevented its completion and the unfinished shell was torn down in 1956. See Peter Avery, ModernIran (London, 1965), p. 287. Tehran did get an opera house in the 1960s; it was felicitously named after the tenth century Persian bard Rfidaki. 90 Sipantfa,Chishmanddz,pp. 144-45. 91 See "Hunaristan-i cali-yi muisiqi", Amuizishva parvarish XI
(1941),pp.88-89.
92 Over four decades earlier, Mirza Aqa Khan-i Kirma-ni had written that the relation of "advanced European literature" to the "valuable works of our literature" was like the relation of "telegraph to smoke signals, and electricity to kerosene lamp." See his Kitdb-iRaihan, manuscript, p. 6., as quoted in Soroudi, "Persian Poetry in Transition, 1900-1925", p 109. 93 Sipanta, op. cit., pp. 163-64, quoting from Ghulam-Husayn Minbashian, "Misiqi-yi kishvar",Majalla-yimusiqi I (1939). 94 For a critique of Vaziri's methods and programme, see Muhammad-Riia Lutfi, "Bidfin-ishinakht az guzashta va hal
ayanda hamvara mubham va na.mutma3in khwahad buid", and "Laghzish az kuja shurfic shud", both in idem, (ed.), Kitdb-isal-i Shaydd. 95 "Fatva-yiman", Sitdra-yisurkh (27 Tir 1304/18 July 1925), as quoted in M. Bastiani Parizi, Nay-i haft band (Tehran, 1971), pp. 307-11. 96 As quoted in Khusrau Jacfarzada, "Mflsiqi-yiIran dar carsa-yi bain al-milali", Awd I/1 (1991), p. 33. For the full tasks of the administration, see "Guzarish-i idara-yi mfisiqi-yi kishvar", Amuzishva parvarishXI (1941), p. 86. 97 See Houchang E. Chehabi, "Staging the Emperor's New Clothes. Dress Codes and Nation-Building under Reza Shah", Iranian StudiesXXVI (Summer-Fall 1993). 98 For a study of the effects of Riia Shah's departure on musical life see Sayyid cAli-Riia Mir-CAli-Naqi,"Dar astana-yi pa•iz: Nigahi ba mfisiqi-yi Iran dar qabl va pas az shahrivar-i 1320", Tdrfkh-imucdsir-iIrdn, vol. VIII (Tehran, 1995). 99 Ittildcdt(New York) no. 685 (24 February 1997), p. 6. 100 I would like to thank Amin Banani, Issa Chehabi, Hitesh Hathi, Hormoz Hekmat, Ahmad Mahdavi-Damghani, Afshin Marashi, Afshin Matin-asgari, Hassan Mneimneh, Hossein Modarresi, Roy Mottahedeh, Said Saffari, and Rahim Shayegan for their help and suggestions.
THE REVOLTOF SHAYKHMUHAMMAD KHIYABANI By Homa Katouzian University ofExeter
This paper is a study of Khiyabani's revolt against the background of the Constitutional Revolution, and within the context of the political rift and chaos that existed at the time in Iran. Its general theoretical framework is the theory of arbitraryrule, with its central concept of the cycle of arbitrary rule-chaosarbitrary rule that explains the major dynamics of Iranian history. The paper is the first comprehensive study of its subject, and uses important new sources for both a description and analysis of the causes and implications of the revolt and of Khiyaibani'scentral role as its charismatic leader. It shows that-contrary to the established views-the revolt had not been intended mainly, let alone solely, as a reaction to the 1919 agreement, was not pro-Bolshevik and was not separatist. Its primary aim was to obtain a form of home rule, led by Khiyabani himself, to impose order and discipline in Azerbaijan, and bring about modernisation along European lines. BACKGROUND Traditional Iranian revolts had been led against an "unjust"arbitrary ruler in the hope of replacing him with a 'just" one. When successful, the collapse of the state had invariably led to destructive conflict, disorder and chaos until a new arbitrary rule was established. This led to the cycle of "arbitraryrulechaos-arbitrary rule". In the latter half of the nineteenth century, acquaintance with European society suggested a political system based on law as opposed to arbitrary rule. Therefore, for the first time in Iranian history, the Constitutional Revolution was aimed, not just against an unjust arbitraryruler, but at the destruction of the ancient arbitraryrule itself and its replacement by lawful government. It ended by establishing a constitution, which, besides providing a legal basis for the state, created parliamentary government along basic democratic principles. Ideally, this might have resulted in the formation of a new state representing an extensive social base. Yet the radically new situation had no cultural roots, and the ancient traditions of chaos resulting from the fall of the state were as strong as ever. Therefore, the teens of the present century, which followed the victory of the revolution, witnessed growing destructive conflict both at the centre and in the provinces.
It almost looked as if the country would disintegrate as it had done after the fall of the Safavid state in the eighteenth century. Foreign intervention and occupation during the First World War encouraged the chaotic trends, but domestic factors had been independently at work, and had their roots in the long Iranian tradition of disorders following upheavals. Thus, although the foreign factor was important especially during the War, the pattern was familiar, and the domestic forces needed little encouragement for engaging in destructive conflict, which both created and perpetuated chaos. It is very important to note that-contrary to common beliefthese were not just nomadic, ethnic and regional; they existed right at the centre, in the Majlis, among the factions and parties, and within the ranks of the competing political magnates. Indeed, had there not been such rifts and chaos in the very centre of politics, it is unlikely that such powerful centrifugal forces would have been released, or would have been so effective, in the provinces. For it is characteristic of the country's history that, whoever has the centre, also has the periphery.' Shortly before the end of the War, Vuthiiq alDawla formed a ministry with active British support. Almost all the leading politicians felt the need for a strong government that would organise a unified army, reorganise the country's financial system, and stamp out disorder. Some of them were opposed to Vuthfiq al-Dawla, but he had his own personal supporters within the political hierarchy, by far the most effective and influential among whom was Sayyid Hasan Mudarris.2 In his first year of office, Vuthhiq al-Dawla managed to bring some order to government and administration. These measures did not change the hearts of his radical opponents, but they did tend to soften the attitude of some of his critics among popular politicians and moderate constitutitonalists. During the same year, he and his two closest allies within the cabinet negotiated the Anglo-Iranian agreement, which was signed in Tehran in August 1919. Both inside and outside the country, the Agreement was denounced as an instrument for turning Iran into a British protectorate, and was rejected by the political public with growing resentment and vehemence. Even Mudarriswent over to the opposition.3
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The Agreement had been the brainchild of Lord Curzon and the Foreign Office alone. Moreover, it had been met with strong opposition from the Government of India, the India Office, the Treasury and the War Office, the first two being opposed to extensive British involvement in Iran, while the latter two were wary of its financial and military implications. The agreement that finally came into being was the result of much debate and disagreement, and took considerable account of the British critics of Curzon's policy. Nevertheless, the Government of India retained its opposition to it, and the other departments returned to their critical position as soon as it faced serious trouble. It was not so much the text of the terms of the Agreement that led to the stormy reaction against it, but the secret manner (on which Curzon and Sir Percy Cox had insisted) of conducting the negotiations. Curzon managed even to exclude the official Iranian delegation from the Paris Peace Conference, and keep France and America more or less in the dark about the negotiations in Tehran. Rumours (later confirmed) that British money had been paid to help smooth the Agreement's passage made matters much worse. When the Agreement was announced, Bolshevik Russia-which had hitherto issued several unilateral declarations of the abrogation of Tsarist privileges in Iran-violently denounced it. This was enough to seal the opposition of Iranian radicals to it. But the strongly worded public attack by the United States, and the campaign against it by the French press, left little doubt in the minds of even most of the moderates that the country had been "sold out to Britain".4 This encouraged another upsurge of Kiichik Khan's Jangal campaign which, however, was driven back by a combined operation of Iranian Cossacks and the British Norperforce (North Persia Force) with its headquarters at Qazvin. Yet Vuthuq al-Dawla followed this by an appeasement policy and, for a while, a permanent settlement between the government and the Jangalis looked likely. The policy had been largely encouraged by the fact that Iranian Bolsheviks both in the Caucasus and in the Iranian Azerbaijan, were making friendly overtures to Kfichik and his men, while the attitude of Colonel Starosselski, the Russian chief of the Iranian Cossacks, was far from reassuring.5 The fear of a Bolshevik thrust across the frontier was indeed daily growing. Vuthfiq al-Dawla and Firuz wisely thought of talking directly to Moscow, but, though stressing that he would not veto such a move, Curzon effectively stopped it. He did, however, support (and even help) their decision to recognise the newly formed non-Bolshevik Republic ofAzerbaijan (formerly Russian Transcaucasus), and send an official delegation, led by Sayyid Ziya, for a
STUDIES
trade and cultural agreement. By the beginnings of April 1920 when the draft agreement reached Tehran, Khiyatbaniled his successful revolt in Tabriz. Three weeks later, the Azerbaijan republic fell to the local Bolsheviks. On 18 May, a Russian fleet landed at Enzeli, and the Norperforce units retreated to Rasht. A few days later, Norperforce received orders from London to retreat further to their base at Qazvin. On 4 June, Kfichik entered Rasht and, together with Iranian Bolsheviks and their Soviet advisers, declared the Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran in a coalition government headed by himself. Both Vuthfiq al-Dawla and Norperforce were holding their breath over the possibility-which looked likely to most people-of Khiyabani reaching an accord with the Gilan republic.6 They were therefore pleasantly surprised when, as we shall see further below, suppressed Bolshevik activists in Tabriz. Khiyabmni This brief background partly explains the legend that and his party were pro-Bolshevik Khiyabamni with possible designs to secure the revolutionaries secession of Azerbaijan, a view which was greatly reinforced decades later, when the Pishavari Democrats (and the Tudeh party) described Khiyabani's movement as a true precursor of the Azerbaijan revolt of 1945. It also explains the origins of the commonly held view that Khiyabami'srevolt had been provoked by, and was primarily aimed against, the 1919 agreement. Most people in Tehran sincerely believed that at the time, and many also thought that it was a separatist movement. This is evident from the memoirs of cAbdallah Mustawfi, YalhyaiDawlata-badi and Mukhbir al-Saltana (later, Mihdiquli Hidayat), all of them moderate constitutionalists, all of them opposed to the Agreement, all of them critical of Vuthfiq al-Dawla's government, who were nevertheless critical of Khiyabani because of his presumed separatism.7 On the other hand, his former lieutenants and later admirers in Azerbaijan, while claiming that the revolt had been primarily intended against Vuthfiq al-Dawla and the 1919 agreement, denied the charge of separatism. Evidence recently come to light rejects the belief that the revolt was pro-Bolshevik, that it had been primarily or even mainly a reaction to Vuthiiq alDawla and the Agreement, and that it had been a separatist movement. It also throws considerable light on Khiyibini's personality as a charismatic political leader, on the movement which he led, and on the rise and fall of the revolt. It consists of Ahmad Kasravi's recently-discovered manuscript, The Revolt of ShaykhMuhammadKhiyabani;Major C.J. Edmonds' (weekly as well as monthly) reports on the northwestern provinces of Iran and the Caucasus for 1919 and 1920; reports by Ottoman and Bolshevik secret agents in Iran on Khiyabani and his movement;
THE REVOLT
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reports of the British consul in Tabriz; the recently published memoirs of Abu 'l-Q~tsimKahhalzada;the virtually unused memoirs of cAbdallaihBahrami, the Tabriz police chief until some time before the revolt; and some additional historical notes by Mukhbir alSaltana. Major Edmonds was Political Officer attached to Norperforce at Qazvin, and his unpublished reports and other papers are held at the Middle East Centre of St. Antony's College, Oxford. Kasravi's manuscript, signed Sayyid Ahmad Tabrizi, Ahvaz, 1923, was put at this author's disposal, by his family, for publication.8 The manuscript had been commissioned by Kaiimzada (later known also as to be published in a special issue of his Iranshahr) H.usayn Berlin publication Iranshahr on Khiyabani, which included extremely favourable contributions by Haijj Muhammad cAli Baidaimchiand Riia-zada Shafaq, among others. It was, however, politely turned down as "a lengthy essay" which, it was claimed, Kasravi "wished to publish as a separate book".9 The manuscript was certainly too long for inclusion in that special issue, but its critical content, however shortened, would have forbidden its inclusion in a collection of articles which could be fairly described as hagiographic. Thus, in his own introduction, Kfiimzada described the Shaykh as a "genius", "an exceptional statesman of recent times" who had been drenched by the "celestial chalice" of "thought and will", or ideas and action. The date of publication (1926) being just after Rita Shah's accession to the throne, the general political circumstances are reflected in all of the articles, but most explicitly in Katiimzada's introduction when he wrote: Now thatthe stateand society(dawlatva millat)have been united, and barriersto progressand modernisation have been removed,and revoltsand revolutions are no longer necessary,it is our duty to take advantageof the Shaykh'ssocial and philosophical thoughts in order to reform morals, promote modernity and make good the [country's] shortcomings.0 Shafaq's contribution was also extremely favourable to Khiyabani. It ended by noting that "Truth is a spark that, however it may be extinguished or buried under dust and cinder, it would flame up again and bedazzle the eyes"."1 Badamchi had been a leading figure in the revolt, and had recently (in December 1925) represented Tabriz in the constituent assembly, and had voted for the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty.'2 The then prevailing political mood required the movement to be represented as nationalist and antiimperialist (and particularly anti-Agreement); and as centralist as opposed to separatist or even federal-
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ist. With regard to the aims of the revolt, Badaimchi made two points. First, that the revolt had been solely a reaction to Vuthiiq al-Dawla's government and the 1919 Agreement. Indeed, it went much further and made the very unlikely claim that Vuthiiq al-Dawlahad been trying to arrange the assassination of Khiyabani and other Democrat leaders in Tabriz even before they rose. He implicitly acknowledged the fact that Tabriz Democrats had not said much in public against the Agreement or Vuthfiq al-Dawla's government, yet claimed that their victory in the Tabriz elections had worried Vuthiiq al-Dawla to the extent that: Being awarethat once the Azerbaijandeputiesenter the Majlis under the leadership of the late Khiyabani, their able and beloved leader, the Agreement would never pass through the Majlis, Vuthfiq al-Dawladecided to extinguish this light, stifleAzerbaijan,this cradleof liberty,thus attaining his own corrupt objective. He therefore sent the Swedish[officers],Biverlingand Vogelklu,together with a number of [Iranian] police officers, with instructionsto stifle the DemocratPartyand kill its leading membersat anycost. (For one of the police officers, whom I do not wish to name at the moment, once when he was drunk had said that their missionwas to kill the leading Democrats.) Apart from that, seeing that Vuthfiq al-Dawlawas apparentlyimplementingthe Agreementbefore its approvalby the Majlis(whichhad not yet met), the DemocratPartyregardedsilence at that moment as treasonagainstthe motherland,and felt impelled to rise againstgovernmentactionswhichwere destroying the country'sindependence, led by their brave and gallant commander,and able and respectable leader,Aqa ShaykhMuhammadKhiyabani. This, as we shall see below, is incorrect. The article has been written against the background both of the extreme unpopularity of the Agreement, and of the strong backlash against disintegrative trends in the nineteen-twenties. Hence Badamchi's second explanation of the revolt is not unrelated to the first: The Democratsand their beloved commanderand leader had no other objective except patriotism, protection of Iran'sgreatness,and the strengthening of the constitution. And they curse those...
who accuse the Democratsof being rebelswho had tried to secure the secession of Azerbaijan[from Iran].13 All of these views and sentiments have been repeated and reflected by many later admirers of Khiyabani, such as Azari.14 It will be shown below that, while the claim that the revolt was wholly or even mainly intended against Vuthiiq al-Dawla and the Agreement is incorrect, the evidence suggests that it was not a separatist movement. But the issues regarding its background, objectives and develop-
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ments go well beyond those two questions, especially as the new evidence reveals that the revolt itself had been the climax of a long process whereby Khiyabani and his supporters had extended their grip over the government and administration of Tabriz.
KHIYABANI Shaykh Muhammad, a son of Hajj CAbdal-Hamid, a merchant of the Khaimina district of Tabriz, was born in 1880. In his youth he had both assisted his father in his business and attended courses in traditional religious sciences.15 His education reached the level of a local prayer leader, and he knew some mathematics and traditional cosmography as well. In 1906 he was already teaching at Talibiyya College, "a Tabriz traditional school where they teach religious sciences", when Kasravi became his student.16 Shortly afterwards he gave up teaching and became a prayer leader at a mosque in the Khiyaban district of Tabriz. After Muhammad cAlWShah's coup against the Majlis, Khiyaiba-nijoined the constitutionalists of Tabriz, and when the Shah fell, he was elected a deputy for the town in the second Majlis. Having joined the radical wing of the Democrat party, he played a leading role in the debates of later 1911, which led to the dissolution of the Majlis, as a result of the Russian ultimatum for the removal of Morgan Shuster, the American chief financial adviser to Iran. Russian forces stationed at Qazvin would have occupied Tehran if the ultimatum had not been accepted. The pro-Democrat government of Samsiam al-Saltana, and its Foreign Minister Vuthfiq al-Dawla, saw no alternative but to comply with the Russian demand. Public feelings were running high, and, in the Majlis, most of the Moderates joined the radical Democrats in rejecting the government's plea for compliance. The result was disaster for all of them and for Iran.17 Almost twenty years ago, the present author compared the Iranian disaster of 1911 with Thermidor 1794 in the French Revolution.18 The analogy is a fair one in so far as the idealists had a major setback on both occasions. But it must be further observed that, in both cases, the idealists played an important role in bringing the disaster upon themselves. It must also be emphasised that, unlike the case of France, the conflict in Iran over the Russian ultimatum was not a domestic matter, and so no domestic political force had engineered the "Thermidor". It was the Russian oppression as well as the emotionally-charged response to it which resulted in an unnecessary domestic struggle, entailing the worst possible outcome for the country.
STUDIES
The highly arrogant behaviour of Russia and its occupying forces in Iran was flagrant, and against all norms of behaviour towards an independent country. This, indeed, was the very reason behind the great emotional outburst of Democrats, Moderates and the urban crowds in defence of their country's, and, indeed, their own, dignity and integrity. On the other hand, it was clear that every act of Iranian defiance would simply raise the stakes, escalate the crisis and result in a much greater Iranian defeat, as in fact it happened. Thus the conflict was far from domestic, and the government of Samsam al-Saltanawas trying to make the best of a bad job vis-a-visa much more powerful foreign foe against whom Britain no longer would move to contain. Yet the Majlis and the crowd were facing the cabinet almost as if they were responsible for the Russian threat, and that they or anyone else in Iran could possibly put an end to Russian aggression. There was therefore a destructive conflict between the Majlis and the cabinet, by means of which both of them, as well as the country, would end up as losers. It would not be possible to present even a brief outline of the debates and disagreements here. The most fundamental point, however, is that the Majlis saw itself as the representative body of the people or society (millat)as opposed to the state or dawlat.This was much in the spirit of the ancien regimewhen, either passively or actively, there had been a permanent state of destructive conflict and distrust between society and state. And now that there was constitutional government, "the state" which previously had been the Shah, was being identified with the executive cabinet, "the government", for which the term dawlatwas also used.19 Indeed, much of the parliamentary debate, including Vuthuiq al-Dawla's and Khiyabnmi's contributions, was on the relative powers of the Majlis and the government. Vuthiiq bitterly complained of the cabinet's lack of power to act, and Khiyabani argued that any more power would bring the former regime back in a new guise.20 Unless it is seen in this historical context, the conflict makes no sense at all, for the result was a total and unmitigated defeat for both the state and the society. This was anticipated at the very time even by no less a radical Democrat leader than Taqiza-da,who had recently been effectively driven out of the country because of his radical views. He sent fourteen telegrams to various leading figures of different views, including Sulayman Mirzai,Vuthfiq al-Dawla, Sayyid Muhammad Rita Shiraizi (Musavat) and Mu tamin al-Mulk,imploring them to come to terms with the Russians so as to avoid a disastrous defeat. For example, in his telegrams to Sulayman Mirza, the parliamentary Democrat leader, he wrote:
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I am absolutely astonished at the attitude which the Majlis has adopted towards the question of the [Russian] ultimatum... At this moment, hostilityand stubbornnesswould result in eternal damnation.21 And he went on to say that "the Majlis and the government" must act as one, form a crisis committee and meet the Russian demand of a formal apology. In his telegram to Mu3tamin al-Mulk, he wondered whether "there was no-one among the country's leaders to comprehend the delicacy of the situation, and realise that the whole world would reproach us for showing such stubbornness over a mere apology".22In yet another telegram to Muktamin, he "begged [him] in the name of the motherland to give courageous advice in this dangerous situation, so that the cabinet withdraws its resignation, the apology is made, and the motherland is saved from the risk of destruction". He even asked Mu3tamin to present his telegram to the Majlis.23 His advice and efforts, like those of the government, were not heeded, and this led to the Russian ultimatum, their occupation of Rasht and Tabriz, and their pause for occupying the capital. It led to abject surrender: the ultimatum was accepted, and the Regent dissolved the Majlis.24 If the earlier Russian protest against the confiscation of the properties of Shucac al-Saltana had been favourably received, there would have been no ultimatum, no need for an apology, no Russian occupation of Tabriz, no expulsion of Shuster, no dissolution of the Majlis, and no such sense of unmitigated defeat by the public. That the Russian protest violated Iranian sovereignty was stark and brutal; but the worst could have been avoided if the Majlis had cooperated with the government on a matter over which there was no real domestic conflict. This was a major example of chaos at the centre in the name of constitutional government, one which was to spread more widely and deeply through the world war and after until the 1921 coup. And although Khiyabani himself had been on the radical side of that conflict, it is clear from his later attitude that he drew a hard lesson from it. It was at least one important reason for the great emphasis which he put on order, discipline, solidarity and securityboth in speech and in action-in the brief period that he was the undisputed master of Tabriz (see further below). After the closure of the Majlis and Russian occupation of Tabriz, Khiyaibani first went to Mashad, then to the Caucasus, but sometime afterwards, Samad Khan Shujac al-Dawla, the lawless and fearsome Russian-appointed governor of Tabriz, gave him immunity to return to Tabriz through the intervention of the Imam Jumca of the town.25At first he
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went back to the mosque, but later opened a shop in the bazaar where "the freedom-loving people of Tabriz" went to talk to him quietly about the country's situation. "And as Khiyabamnicombined wisdom and respectability with intelligence, his influence grew daily, and he even had a number of devotees who were totally committed to him and his leadership".26 The February revolution in Russia and the consequent departure of Russian forces from Tabriz made it possible for Tabriz Democrats to resume activity, but, according to Kasravi, Khiyabani's personal style of leadership had already divided the party. Kasravi himself was among the critics, because he believed that "for Khiyabani, the leadership of the Democrat party was as if he himself was the ruler of Azerbaijan... And we shall see that, in the very name of the leader of Democrats, he took very important decisions, and eventually established his dictatorship (dzktdturi) under the banner of 'uprising'."27 He even writes about a secret terrorist organisation which became active in Tabriz between the departure of the Russians and occupation of the Turks, and believes that it was run by Khiyafbaniand his deputy Ismacil Niibari. He says that many of those whom the "Committee of Terror" assassinated had been Russian collaborators and hated by the public: But the point is that the Committee of Terror... destroyedsome innocent people by its fire, even one of the freedom-seekingpeople (adzdi-khdhdn)... SayyidNicmatallahKhan,editor of the Kilfd-iNajdt newspaper... whose only crime was that he was opposed to Khiyaibaiand Nfibari ...28 cAbdallah Bahrami was then chief of the Azerbaijan police. He admits that he was a member of the Democrat party, and even that he had a regular "secret meeting" every week with the Khiyabani faction leaders, including himself, Niibari, arlri and Badamchi (Kasravi also says "was in league" with them, see further that he H. below). He mentions briefly the terrorist campaign of the "Committee of Punishment", but is rather uninformative about the perpetrators, and says that "the public believed that these acts [of terrorism] were committed by the Democrats and that I was giving them support". Only in one case does he attribute it to Democrats, the case of the Imam Jumca of Tabriz, which both he and Kasravi describe as having shocked the town. Bahrami says that Imam Jumca was killed by three Democrats who were under Hariri's supervision, and that they had decided to kill him without higher authority. Nevertheless, it lends support to Kasravi's account that the Khiyabani faction was involved in the terrorist campaign.2sa
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Throughout his account, Kasravi emphasises two aspects of Khiyaba-ni's personality and leadership: that he was highly intelligent, very clever and "a champion in the field of politics", and that he was a "dictator", given to personal rule. The two aspects might well have been two sides of the same coin. Khiyaba-nihad become very critical of disorder and chaos, which an increasing number of people now associated with "freedom", "law","constitutionalism" and "democracy". And, as we shall see below, through many of his words and actions, he emerges as an astute politician, trying to provide a strong leadership in the midst of a chaotic political culture. The irony is that Kasravi, too, detested chaos, yet apparently he did not see the kinship between his own attitude and that of Khiyabani, and was especially upset by the latter's skilful manoeuvrings. For example, when Kasravi and a fellow critic (the brother of KaIimzada-yi Irainshahr) successfully attacked him in a party meeting, he verbally agreed with them but carried on in the same old way. A major bone of contention was over Taqi Rifcat's editorship of Tajaddud,the official party newspaper, because he had shown much deference to the Turks when they occupied Tabriz. But Khiyabani kept him in that post, saying "I like Mirz-a Taqi Kha-n very much".29 Rifcat is especially known, and revered among many literary modernists, for his radical views regarding the modernisation of Persian poetry, which led to the famous debate between him and the Poet-Laureate Baha-rthrough the pages of Tajaddud in Tabriz and (Bahar's) Da-nishkadain Tehran.30? THE ORIGINS OF KHIYABANI'SREVOLT An important piece of historical revisionism revealed by the Kasravi manuscript is that the revolt was far from sudden, its origins going as far back as early 1917. He writes at length on how Khiyabani and Nfibari effectively ran Tabriz (even though there were Governors-General) for ten months, between the evacuation of the Russians and the occupation of the Turks. The Russians had left a large arms and ammunitions depot behind which contained many heavy weapons. The Democrats appropriated more than a half of its stocks (and made 14,000 tumans by selling some of them), leaving the rest for the government. Yet Kasravi emphasises that even that would not have been left for the government if the Democrats had not taken charge of the depot. There was famine both in town and in the province because of a bad harvest, combined with plunder by the departing Russian armies and hoarding by traders. The Assyrians rose and sacked several villages, especially in Urmiya and Salmas. Khiyabani and Niibari, says Kasravi, could not do much about
STUDIES
the Assyrian revolt except bringing pressure on the Governor-General who sent a force of Iranian Cossacks to stop them but did not succeed. The terrorist gang, as mentioned above, was in their control, but later Khiyabani was remorseful about some of the assassinations, and tried to blame Nufibarialone for it. On the other hand, they were very active and largely effective in dealing with the famine in Tabriz.31 One particular episode is worth mentioning. Kasravi briefly says in the manuscript that the Crown Prince (whose seat was traditionally in Tabriz) and the Governor-General tried to remove the police chief (the aforementioned CAbdallah Bahraimi) "who was in league with" the Khiyabamni faction; but Khiyabani and Niibari stopped them. Bahrami himself relates the story at much greater length, saying that Khiyabamni had told the Governor-General that either the police chief should be returned to his post by noon "oryou too must go".Sla Then came the Turks, who banished the two leaders to Maraigha,but released them after they pulled out later in 1918. The following report by Ismacil Haqqi, the leading agent of Enver Pasha's intelligence network, the Tashkilat Makhsusa, confirms both the conflict between Khiyabani's movement with the Ottomans and his rapport with the Tabriz government: In Tabriz,next to the Democratpartywhich is run by Khiyabani, Nfibari and 1Hariri,who, incidentally, enjoy the support of the Police force (i.e. of Bahraimi), there exist a few trivial parties such as the Ahrar, Taraqqiyiin and Mujahidin. Among them it is only the Mujihidin which is worth mentioning... with its pro-Turkish stance... On the other hand, the Democrat party, with its clear Iranian patriotic and xenophobic stance, is the most serious and popular party, which not only enjoys the good graces of the people, but has the support of the police, gendarmerie and regular soldiers.32
This report also shows some coincidence of interest between the Democrats and the British in the region, which, as we shall see below, was further strengthened after Khiyabani's revolt: Furthermore, our explicit support of the Mujahidin's Pan-Turkist policy has allowed the British to launch a counter-campaign in the city... the campaign has bolstered the Democrats' antiOttoman position.33 It was at this time that, according to Kasravi, good relations with the Khiyabfani established Governor-General, and arranged for Niibari's banishment as the erstwhile terrorist leader. Another Governor-General came and went, but was replaced by a weak man, Sardar Muctatid, as the acting Governor-General early in the autumn of 1919. It was from that time, almost six months before the
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event in March 1920, that the idea of an open revolt began to take shape. Before the return of Khiyabani and Niibari to Tabriz, the Democrats had begun to reorganise their party and activities, and had aired criticism of Khiyabani's style of leadership. When Khiyabaini returned, says Kasravi, as a result of his charismatic influence, his rapport with the Governor-General, and the greater activism and better organisation of his supporters, he took over the party leadership in his usual style. This led to complaints, which he simply brushed aside by "a host of coarse and unseemly words". The party was now openly divided into two factions: the Tajaddudiyyu-n (because they published the party newspaper, Tajaddud)and the Tanqidiyyutn, or Critical Faction.34 According to Kasravi's account, the foundations of the revolt were laid in September 1919. This is confirmed by a speech by Khiyabani of May 1920 when he said that the decision for the revolt had been taken "eight months before".35 The Democrats, even though informally, were still playing a large role in the running of the provincial affairs. Ismacil Aqa Simkui (also known as Simitqii), the legendary leader of the Shakka-kKurdish rebels, rose again in the province. In his Tdrikh-i hijdahsala, Kasravi presents a detailed account of Simki's plunders and massacres before as well as at this time.36 But in his account of Khiyabani's revolt, he largely confines himself to the matter as it affected Tabriz politics. The last village in the Salmas area was captured in December 1919 and, according to Major Edmonds' report, "nearly all the men were massacred".37Both he and Kasravi maintain that the acting Governor-General was corrupt and secretly in league with the rebel leader. Edmonds reported that troops mutinied in Tabriz, imprisoned him and demanded their arrears of pay. Sarda-r Intisar (later Muzaffar CAlam) was sent from Tehran as commander-in-chief of all the government forces in Azerbaijan, and shortly afterwards also became acting Governor-General. Kasravi describes him as an able man who quickly managed to defeat Simk.i But Simkui himself managed to escape, and widely believed rumours had it that the Sardatrand Colonel Philipov, Russian commander of the local Cossack force, had let him go for a large bribe. Ernest Bristow, the British consul in Tabriz, wrote in his end-of-the-year report for 1920: The expedition of 5000 men under the Russian Colonel Phillipoffleft Tabrizin Januaryand on the 17th announced a greatvictory;the matterhowever dragged... The only manifestresultof this expedition, which is said to have cost the Persiangovernment some five hundred thousandtomans,wasthat the Chief of the expedition returned to Tabrizthe richerby a considerablesum.38
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Another source of anger in Tabriz, was the appointment of Majid Mirza CAyn al-Dawla as GovernorGeneral of the province. He did not have a good reputation among the constitutionalists (least of all in Tabriz), but he was taking his time to get to his post. By the beginning ofJanuary 1920 he reached Zanjan and remained there for two months, "where", reported Edmonds, "he did not fail to line his pocket".39 "The passage of HRH Ain-ud-Dauleh", he wrote in a subsequent report, "was, here [in the Khamsa province] as elsewhere, the signal for general unrest and disorder".40CAynal-Dawlawas still in the small town of Miyaneh (Miyanaj) at the time of the revolt early in April. Azarf confirms that the appointment of CAynal-Dawla had played a role in provoking the revolt,41 although (as we have shown above) the decision had been taken already, and such unpopular events as cAyn al-Dawla's appointment had merely helped the process. Indeed, as we shall see further below, he took a long time to arrive in Tabriz after the event, and even then he left matters entirely in Khiyabani's hands. Apart from that, the people of Tabriz soon had a specific grievance against him. While still in Zanjan, he had sent someone to Tabriz as the chief of Azerbaijan's finance department, and the latter in turn had taken a large team of men to replace the existing civil servants in the department. It intensified feelings, and angered the influential local employees who were about to lose theirjobs.42 The arrival of two Swedish officers, Major Bieverling and Captain Vogelklu, from Tehran provided the ultimate pretext for the uprising. Swedish officers then ran the country's police force, and the two men would normally have been appointed to run the provincial police by the Chief Prefect, General Westdahl. They, too, brought a number of Tehrani officers with them who displaced some of the existing ones, adding to the discontent among the local government employees. At the same time, the new police team began to interview former terrorist suspects and, according to Kasravi, this worried and his men who thought that it could Khiyaibamni in revelation of many a secret".43It must the "result also be the source of the claim by Badamchi, quoted above, that their mission was to "kill"Democrat leaders, and, following his lead, Azari's claim that they were Vuthiq al-Dawla's"spies".44 The zeal as well as cultural insensitivity of the Swedish major in fulfilling his duties provided the opportunity. A thief having run away, they took his wife for questioning to find the stolen cash. According to Kasravi, this was the first woman to be put in jail in Tabriz, and she happened to be related to a highly respected and revered prayer leader (although, as we shall see below, Khiyibani himself mentioned two women in his interview with Major
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Edmonds). There were loud protests, but Bieverling did not respond, and his not being a Muslim made matters worse, invoking the religious duty of not tolerating the rule of the infidel. The final twist was the arrival in Tabriz of CAynalDawla's deputy, Amin al-Mulk (later, Dr. Ismacil Marzban). This did not please Sardar Intisar who, as we have just seen, had been both commander-inchief and acting Governor-General, presumably hoping to be deputy under CAynal-Dawla. He therefore agreed to help Khiyababni"withhis acumen and ability", in exchange for the Shaykh's support both for his own position and for his brother to be elected a Majlis deputy for a provincial town.45
THE REVOLT The revolt began on 5 April. Two days later, the town was in Khiyabani's hands with hardly a shot being fired. On 5 April, Khiyaibaniordered his men to go, fully armed, to the office of the Tajaddudnewspaper. He then sent a detachment to release a prisoner from a police station. The man was a nonentity, but had decided to seize the moment. Khiyabamni Faced with about sixty armed men, the station chief surrendered the prisoner to them but reported the matter to the police headquarters via telephone. Bieverling sent his deputy, Vogelklu, at the head of a detachment of mounted police, who, seeing that the men were numerous and well-armed, did not stop them but surrounded the Tajaddud building once they had entered it.46 At this point, Sarda-rIntisar personally arrived on the scene and, as Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces, ordered Vogelklu to relent.47 Khiyabani and his men spent the night in the building and conferred with the Sardar on their next move. The following morning they had the shops and schools closed, and Khiyabainisent word to soldiers, gendarmes and policemen to go and collect their back pay at the Tajaddud office. There was a large rally where passionate speeches were made. The crowd was then sent round to the police headquarters to take it over and drive the Swedish officers out of town. Ordinary policemen were not prepared to fight, and Amin al-Mulk, the deputy governor, ordered the Swedes and "their company" to leave town. The motives and programme of the revolt were left deliberately vague until the very end. Kasravi emphasises that Khiyabmani'sfaction of the Tabriz Democrats was silent about the 1919 agreement. Khiyabani himself would not express an opinion about it, and his disciples would simply say that "it is not easy to know whether the agreement is in our interest or against it".48Azarf claims that the revolt's
highest motive was to oppose the Agreement but does not cite any evidence for it, least of all from Khiyabaini's own speeches and articles, which contain no reference to it at all. Indeed, the one short public communique about their aims, which the Democrats published immediately after they took over the town, and one reprinted by both Kasravi and Azarf, was vague and general. It simply said that they had risen in protest against "a host of unconstitutional actions of [the various] provincial governments", and that they expected the government officials to respect their "free regime" and implement their decisions with sincerity. The "freedom-seekers", it said, were well aware of the "country's highly sensitive situation" and were determined to "establish order and security". Their programme, "in two words", was, "the establishment of public security; the actualisation of the constitutional regime".49 There was no mention of, and not even an allusion to, the 1919 agreement. Kasravi complains that, when they were asked about the movement's specific objectives, they would simply reply that they had a "sublime ideal" which it was not yet opportune to reveal. Mukhbir al-Saltana independently confirms this. He says that when he arrived in Tabriz as Governor-General in September 1920, he told two of Khiyabani's closest men, Sayyid al-Muhaqqiqin and the aforementioned Baidaimchi, that Vuthfiq had gone, the Agreement was in abeyance, members of the cabinet (as they knew) were honest men, and civil war and separatism would be destructive, i.e. all the reasons that he and most others believed to have motivated the revolt. They replied, and went on repeating, that they had a great ideal which they were not yet ready to reveal.50 A close study of Khiyabani's speeches and articles in this period confirms this. It also gives much information about his basic aims, his attitude to politics, and his style of leadership.5' He said in an early speech after the revolt that the movement's objectives, like those of an army at war, should not be revealed to the enemy.52 And on another occasion that "the enemy must be kept in the dark... so that he would not learn the plans and tactics of his adversary"."5 On
the
other
hand,
he
systematically
attacked chaos and indiscipline, and emphasised the supreme importance of strong leadership. In a speech specifically aimed against factionalism and chaos, he said that they should act with "one voice", that the new regime would be "thatwhich is relevant to our time", and that, before it is established, it would be "wrong to divide the freedom-seeking people".54 In a later speech, he emphasised that the revolt had not yet put forward any specific programme, and said that "there is reflection and gradualism in our course of action".55
THE REVOLT OF SHAYKH MUHAMMAD KHIYABANI
The speeches are marked with emphasis on the importance of the will to act, on unity, on order and discipline, and (save for the usual slogans on freedom, democracy, etc.) on avoidance of highly ambitious proclamations about largely unattainable goals: a problem which is all too familiar in Iranian politics in the twentieth century. Fear must be set aside; the movement must have utter self-confidence and know that he who has the will to act will succeed.56 Modernisation and progress are frequently mentioned as the movement's long term objectives. For example: Iran must independently gather the means for her modernisation (tajaddud) and progress (taraqqiz), and must soon-as fast as possible-join the world's civilised nations. This is our basic aim, and in the name of Iranianism (Irdniyyat)we shall adopt the best ideas of the world's modern nations.57 But it is emphasised that progress would have to be gradual to succeed: An ignorant person will not become instantly knowledgeable. Likewise, a democracy cannot change past injustice and arbitrary government in a single day. As philosophical opinion has it, civilisation arises from the gradual disappearance of the existing traditions, and their replacement by new ones.58 And the lessons which he had derived from the postrevolutionary chaos found an explicit echo in the following: He who is used to the dark will be bedazzled and even blinded if he is suddenly exposed to light... Thefourteen-year-old [Constitutional]Revolutionwas a sudden change,and so it led to disorder.But this timediscipline [he uses the European word] will be imposedon events, and you shall be exposed to light gradually (emphasis added).59 And again, in another speech: Haste is a powerful factor in causing failure. It makes it possible for us to lose our balance, go over the top with idealism, and achieve nothing.60 The themes of "discipline", "order", "singleness of voice", "centralisation" and "central decision making" are the most frequent ones, if only because they affected the daily running of the affairs of the town and province. He talked about "the single voice of Tabriz", and the need for "centralisation in every respect". 61 He said in another speech: We say that in Azadistan [Azerbaijan], and all over Iran, thereshould bejust one idea, one voice, so that it would determine and inform the country's rfgime. Our actions stem from this conviction (emphasis added) .62 He described two types of discipline: one which was "imposed" (ijbdri), and one which was "voluntary"
163
(ikhtiyari). The latter was the "common discipline" accepted by the movement.63 This was a recurring theme in his speeches: Wewould likeIranian democracyto become familiar with that civil and voluntary discipline, which is one of the attain realand practisourcesof civilisation,and therefore calfreedom(emphasis added).64 Thus there was to be no letting or relenting on opposition, whether from inside or outside of the movement, and this was the worst grievance that Kasravi and other members of the Critical Faction had of Khiyabani and the Tajaddud Faction of their own party. Elaborating on the themes of centralisation, order and discipline, Khiyabani said that opponents and critics would be "punished without pity". He went even further and said that anyone with any special skill or ability who would refuse to help the movement would be punished as a traitor.65 This attitude is explained in another speech where he said: One often needs to take hard decisions and resort to extreme action in order to propagate a new creed (maslak), most of which may be in fundamental conflict with the creed itself. But this is a necessary evil, and temporary resort to hard choices in the interest of mankind is needed to ensure success.66 Much of this was clearly a reaction against how chaos and disorder had been misunderstood for law, constitutionalism, democracy and freedom after the fall of the arbitrary state. Indeed, it is against this general background that his emphasis on obedience must be viewed: No nation can progress without obedience. No concept of freedom would be imaginable if it was not combined with obedience. No matter how radical a creed might be, it could not deny the need for obedience ... If you wish your country to be free, independent, peaceful and secure, then after learning, deciding on your ideas, and choosing your commander, you must prepare yourselves for complete and unquestioning obedience.67 That is as good a piece of evidence as any for Kasravi's complaint that Khiyabami and his men "expected blind obedience from the people in he name of the 'maintenance of discipline' ".68 And it is on that basis that he levels the charge of dictatorship against the Shaykh. He brings no charges of sepaas it does ratism against him, however, and-coming from a critic who was an enemy of disintegration-it should have been sufficient to seal the argument.69 But there is also widespread evidence in support of it in Khiyabani's own speeches, though the emphasis and frequency increases with time, presumably in response to fears and rumours of separatism in Tehran. A couple of examples have been inciden-
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JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
tally cited in the above quotations. Here is another specimen: The foundation of some states is so strong that is not easily shaken by [adverse] events. Britain is like that, and the British are lucky. Is our own Iran like that too? Never! On the contrary, the symbol of our governments is discontinuity. That is why the entire foundations and structures of Iran must be rebuilt. No one knows what Iran's policy, and the basis of her policy, is. It is not clear whether it belongs to England, Russia, the Cossacks' headquarters or somewhere else... If Iran belongs to Iranians, the country's foundation must be laid anew, and its structure must be built again.70 This incidentally is centred on the theme of orderly and continuous government, and the observation that "the symbol of our governments is discontinuity" is astute. They did, however, rename the province Azadistan (Freedomland), though they did not explain its significance beyond the literal meaning of the term. In his Tdrikh-i hijdahsala, Kasravi says that it had been suggested by IsmaCil Amirkhizi, a close on the that the lieutenant, Khiyabani arguments province had fought hard for freedom during the Constitutional and that the newlyRevolution, formed Transcaucasian republic had called itself the Republic of Azerbaijan.71 Azari has also produced the same story, apparently from Kasravi. But it does not exist in Kasravi's manuscript, and though it might well have been true, it looks more like an apology in the light of the prevailing centralist ideology of the Ri~fi Shah period. Kasravi's insight in the manuscript is that the change of name was due to the desire for establishing some form of home rule in the province, led by Khiyabani and his men. He says that after Mushir al-Dawla became Prime Minister in July 1920, and approached Khiyabani in a conciliatory manner, Khiyabani replies that, unless the government recognises "Azadistan" he would not be ready to engage in any negotiations (and, in fact, what was meant by "Azadistan"was the situation as it was then in Azerbaijan, which he wanted to remain eternal, that is, the government recognise his rule in Azerbaijan).71a This seems to be borne out by Khiyabani's own references to the subject. For example, on one occasion he said that if any government department (in the province) did not officially use the new name after a certain deadline, its head would be immediately dismissed.72 On another occasion, he complained that "Tehran has not yet accepted the name 'Azadistan' ".7 Clearly, the great importance which he attached to the change of name of the province
could not have been only due to the later explanation offered by Amirkhizi. Three weeks after the revolt, Major Edmonds, Norperforce's political officer, met Khiyabani in Tabriz. Kasravi says that Edmonds had interviewed him too, and talked about the possibility of their faction working against Khiyabani, which he had rejected. He also says that someone representing Tehran had contacted him and received the same reply.74 From what follows, it looks more likely that theirs was a fact-finding mission, probably couched in such terms as to give Kasravi that impression. At any rate, Kasravi says that Edmonds met with Khiyabani, and since it was in both their interests, "not much argument was needed for them to enter a pact".75 Although there was no "pact" as such, Kasravi's account is borne out by a special report sent by Edmonds to Cox in Tehran on his interview with the Shaykh on 1 May, 1920: On April 30th I with Captain Geard attended a "Garden Party" given by the democratic party in honour of those who fell in the fight for the constitution at Tabriz... The primary objective was doubtless to raise the wind with the democrats who doubt[less] also wished to invest their present movement with the halo of the struggle for the constitution ... Later, he watched Khiyabani address the guests: Towards the sunset Shaikh Muhammad Khiyabani, president of the "Tajaddud"and a virtual dictator of Tabriz ascended the stage ... a man of about 40 of slight build, with black beard thin below the corners of the mouth ... he spoke with restraint deliberately and with no hesitation as one who knew exactly what he wanted ... He spoke in Turki and I was unfortunately not able to follow it all. Among other things he announced that, especially during the coming Ramazan when the people would constantly be meeting together, no political discussion would be permitted without the previous consent of the Tajaddud. Next day Edmonds met Khiyabani at the house of Fakhr al-Atibba: On closer acquaintance he does not give that impression of the cold impassive revolutionary I got the previous day. Indeed, he was almost shy but for all that spoke with a conviction that he had Tabriz in his hand and that his decisions could not admit of any discussion. It was indeed a real interview, for much of the time was spent on Khiyabani's answering Edmonds' specific questions: He explained that his party expelled the Swedes (Bieverling and Vogelklu) because they had been made the tool of others to suppress freedom. They
THE REVOLT OF SHAYKH MUHAMMAD KHIYABANT
had been tactless in at least two cases of imprisonment of women, including one who was pregnant. As for the aims of the movement: Their object were (sic) summarised in their manifesto of 9th April (quoted above) ... nothing more and nothing less. They demanded constitutional government according to the fundamental law and pure administration ... Asked "how long it would be necessary for an unofficial body to exercise supervision over government departments", Khiyatbani replied that He could not admit a Committee representing the people were unofficial-government officials were servants of the public and the public had every right to and would control their actions. He quoted the dishonesty of successive chiefs of the revenue department, the wicked waste over the Simko expedition, etc. Asked, if the movement was "a struggle for freedom" why it was necessary for meetings to have the permission of the Tajaddud, He replied that Persia was not like England where a law passed by the majority was enforced on all although minorities were free to raise their voice against it. They had Bolshevik and Turkish propagandists, reactionaries and other parties ready to seize such opportunity to creat[e] disorder... Expression of opinion would be allowed but not in meetings and provided there was [no] incitement to disturbance. Discussing foreign relations, he said he was not opposed to the 1919 agreement: His party had at bottom a great affection for England which had gained them the constitution ... Though it was primarily for the Majlis to accept
or reject the Anglo-Persian agreement, his party did not oppose the agreement as such but they would expect the people to have some voice in its interpretation e.g. in the choice of advisers-Swedes for instance had been quite unsuitable for Azerbaijan. An instrument like the agreement was necessary and inevitable, but should not be between two or three men but between peoples. Nor was Khiyabani's
view of Vuthfiq al-Dawla, as
expressed to Edmonds, anything like as negative as that of most radicals and constitutionalists time:
at the
"PoorVusuq he (sic) has handicapped himself hopelessly by electing to play a lone hand. He is distracted from the administration of the state by the intrigues around him... I think you may tell higher [British] authority that your relations with Persia would be on a much firmer basis if the Prime Minister would take the country into his confidence".
165
And, while emphatically denying the charge of separatism, he went even further on Vuthfiq al-Dawla and the Agreement: He could assure me in the most positive terms that there was nothing of a separatist nature in their movement. They considered Azerbaijan as an integral part of Persia and had announced this to the Turks when they had tried annexationist propaganda. He admitted that on the 7th [of April] there had been cheers for a republic and cries of "death to the English" and "death to Vusuq-ud-Dauleh". At times of popular uprising there were always elements that did not understand and indulged in this sort of thing. We would have noticed that such cries had been rigorously suppressed.76 Khiyatbani may not have put all his cards on the table, and Edmonds is unlikely to have expected that he would. Yet he was so reassured as to write further in his following report for April and May: In P[olitical] O[fficer]'s opinion the movement started as a genuinely patriotic agitation for the restoration of the constitution, there was nothing Separatist or Bolshevik about it. It is of course impossible to foresee the results of mishandling by the Central Government. This view is rather confirmed by the latest news of steps being taken by the Democrats, since the Russian descent on Enzeli, to suppress bolshevik (sic) activity in Tabriz and prevent communication by the German Consul (who was endeavouring to profit by it) with the outside.77 The reference to "mishandling by the Central Government" was an aside on how the Jangali problem had been mishandled by the provincial governors of Gilan, and a warning to Tehran to be more careful this time. But Vuthiiq al-Dawla could not have received better news in the midst of bad luck pouring down from everywhere: Khiyabani was not separatist, nor pro-Bolshevik, nor pan-Turanian, nor anti-Agreement, and he was trying to impose order and discipline in a highly sensitive province. The death of the German consul was related to that fact. Bolshevik agents and local sympathisers had stepped up their agitation since the fall of Baku at the end of April, and the Bolshevik landing at Enzeli on 18 May had further emboldened them. Kurt Wustrow, the German consul, was "endeavouring to profit by" the situation, it appears, purely out of anti-British feeling, and this had been known even when Edmonds had met Khiyabani.78 In his annual report for the year 1920, Ernest Bristow, the British consul in Tabriz, wrote: The situation was so threatening that it was decided to remove the two platoons of British Indian troops... The platoons left on June 1st. Very active Bolshevik propaganda was being carried on in Tabriz about this time and it was generally believed that Wustrow... was at the bottom of it.79
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Both Kasravi and Azari confirm that Wustrow had stored up an arsenal, including heavy weapons, in his consulate, and had threatened to explode the consulate and the adjacent district when, he had been asked to surrender them. Moreover, this had already happened before Khiyabani's revolt. The Bolsheviks in Gilan were about to conclude a coalition pact with Kfichik Khan, and it was concluded at the early days of June, in fact on the very day that Khiyabani's fighters and the regular police attacked the German consulate. Some lqading Bolsheviks had taken refuge in the building, but the real fear was that the consul was arming and organising a Bolshevik insurrection. The battle did not take very long because, while shooting from the roof- top, Wustrow was either killed or committed suicide, both of which possibilities are mentioned by all the existing accounts.80 Indeed, Bristow also mentions the possibility that he was shot by a fellow German, "who regarded him as a madman".81That ended the siege of the consulate as well as Bolshevik agitation in Tabriz. In a report sent to Moscow, a Bolshevik agent in Tabriz compared the Democrats with the Russian Kadet (liberal) party, clearly implied that there were not separatists, and confirmed their hostile attitude towards the Bolsheviks, though he thought they were anti-British as well: The Democrats,while stressingIraniannationalism and seeking changes and reformsfor the whole of the country,have extended their strugglealong two fronts, an anti-Britishand an anti-Bolshevikone.82 Any doubts about Vuthfiq al-Dawla's attitude towards the situation in Azerbaijan is dispelled by the account of Kahhalzada, Persian secretary at the German legation in Tehran, of his reaction to the news of Wustrow's death. In the evening of 4 or 5 June, Vuthufqal-Dawla sent for him, giving him the news of the consul's death, and asking him to tell the German legation next morning that "there is a rumour in town that Mr. Wustrow committed suicide". This he did, and he later accompanied the German Charge d'Affaires to the Foreign Ministry, where they officially told them of the rumour, adding that the matter would be investigated, though "there is no doubt that it was his own fault". The German Charge did not at all take kindly to that comment.83 At no stage did Vuthuiq al-Dawla's government declare Khiyabani's movement to be a rebellion. There is no evidence of direct contact between the two men, although it might just have happened after Edmonds' reports had been sent to Cox. It has not been possible to trace a single reference to Khiyabani's revolt in the voluminous correspondence between Cox and Curzon, which are full of fear and foreboding about the situation in the
Caspian provinces, the Bolshevik agitation there as well as in Azerbaijan, the danger of a Bolshevik landing at Enzeli (which proved to be real), and the intrigues of Colonel Starosselski, the Cossack chief, against Vuthuq al-Dawla and the Agreement.84 Whether or not Vuthfiq al-Dawla and Khiya-bani made any direct contact, it is clear that, at least for the time being, neither side felt unsafe regarding the other. Sardar Intisar, the military Commander-in-Chief, had been co-operating with Khiyabani, as had been all the regular government departments. The offending chief finance officer, Tarjuman al-Dawla, had left Tabriz. In mid-May, a couple of weeks after Edmonds' first report had been sent to Tehran, CAyn al-Dawla, the slow-moving Governor-General, at last arrived in Tabriz, leaving his horse and rifle guards ten miles outside the town. Describing himself as a father to the people of Tabriz, he dismissed Amin alMulk, the deputy governor, at Khiyabani's request but otherwise did not interfere in running the affairs.85 It was shortly after CAyn al-Dawla's arrival that Khiyabani finally ordered the arrest and banishment of the leaders of Democrat party's Critical Faction, including its leader, Dr. Zayn al-CAbidin Khan (Iranshahr's brother), on the charge that they had tried to make direct contact with CAynal-Dawla.86 Kasravi managed to give them the slip, escaping to Qalca Afshar, where he nursed an illness for a month before making his way to Tehran. Yet he later managed to piece together the circumstances of the fall of the revolt in some detail. As we shall see below, his account corresponds almost completely to that of Mukhbir al-Saltana, and this is important, since neither of the two men had been aware of the other's version before he wrote his own. CAyn al-Dawla left town "early in July", thus reported the British consul, as peacefully as he had arrived, having been dismissed by the new Prime Minister, Mushir al-Dawla. But an unofficial party of Democrats held his caravan up a few miles outside the town "until he disgorged forty thousand tomans of his ill-gotten gains during the five weeks of Governor-Generalship ".87Long before then, Sardar Intisafr,the military commander, had been eased out of town, although it is unlikely that someone like him would have left head down if he had had Vuthuiqal-Dawla'sbacking for resistance. THE FALLOF KHIYABANI Vuthfiq al-Dawla's government had already fallen by "earlyin July". The Shah had returned to Tehran from Europe on 2 June, and had not accepted Vuthiiq al-Dawla's conditions-mainly involving the
THE REVOLT
OF SHAYKH
dismissal of Starosselski-for continuing in office. He told Herman Norman, the new British minister in Tehran, that "he disliked and distrusted him [Vuthuq al-Dawla] so extremely that he would never be able to work with him sincerely".88On 25 June, he accepted Vuthiiq al-Dawla's resignation, and it took Mushir al-Dawla (later, Hasan Pirniya) two weeks and much haggling, through the intermediacy of Norman, with Curzon in London in order to form a cabinet.89 Mushir al-Dawla was an honest, urbane and respected constitutionalist. He had a reputation among both left and right (including the British Foreign Office) for lacking political will and acumen. The reputation may be considered fair in so far as, whenever he was Prime Minister, he tried to govern by constitution and consent during hard and turbulent times. A close study of his government between July and November 1920, however, has shown that he fulfilled his extremely difficult task with wisdom as well as firmness.90 Kfichik Khain had already run into trouble with his Bolshevik partners in Rasht, largely because of the zeal and lack of tact which the latter used in implementing their own social policy. On the other hand, he drew his own legitimacy from his basic constitutionalist and patriotic convictions, and if there were three politicians to whom he looked up for guidance and approval, they were none other than Mushir al-Dawla, his brother Mu'tamin al-Mulk and Mustawfi al-Mamalik (who was also in Mushir al-Dawla's cabinet). Shortly after the latter formally accepted office, Kfichik parted company with the Bolsheviks and left for the forests. Mushir al-Dawla then sent a strong Cossack force, led by Starosselski himself, against the Bolsheviks. At first they made rapid progress, then they had serious setbacks in mid-October, and that played a decisive role in the fall of Mushir al-Dawla's cabinet.91 It would have been difficult for him to have tried to suppress someone like Kfichik by force, but the Azerbaijan problem must have looked much simpler than that. Mushir al-Dawla and his colleagues had personally known and respected Khiyabainias an old constitutionalist democrat from his time as a Tabriz deputy in the second Majlis. Kasravi writes in his manuscript: We all knowMushiral-Dawla... as a renownedfreedom-seekingman. And there can be no doubt that he had no wish for fighting and bloodshed with those involved in the rising (qiydmiydn) of Tabriz, who belonged to the freedom-seekingpublic... And so it was that for over two months the government was making conciliatory overtures to Khiyabani.But he and his lieutenantswere in no mood to listen to suchwords.. .92
MUHAMMAD
KHIYABANT
167
That is right. Mushir al-Dawla dismissed CAyn alDawla, without naming a successor for him. It was weeks later that he appointed Mukhbir al-Saltana, his finance minister, as Governor-General of Azerbaijan, through which period he had been trying to reach a settlement with Khiyaibani via telegraphic correspondence. Mukhbir al-Saltana was an old constitutionalist, several times minister and Governor-General, and twice previously GovernorGeneral of Azerbaijan. His popularity did not quite rise to that of Mushir al-Dawla, but he was a respected statesman with a good reputation in Azerbaijan, and he had been openly critical of the 1919 agreement. Hence Khiyabani's saying that Tehran was "using a deceptive policy", and sending "a famous Governor-General".93 Mukhbir alSaltana's account of the events leading to the fall of Khiya-baniis very similar to Kasravi's independent narrative, except that it is more detailed and, occasionally, more precise. Both of them confirm that, when Mukhbir al-Saltana's appointment was announced, Khiyabani wired back that a GovernorGeneral was not needed, and that Tehran had to recognise "Azadistan" (this is also alluded to in a Khiyaba-nispeech of the time94), by which he probably meant his own rule in the province. Both of them write that Mushir al-Dawla's government sent money to Khiyabani for the government expenses in Tabriz, Mukhbir al-Saltana specifically mentioning "two 20,000 tumans" followed by another 15,000.95 Badamchi, Khiyabani's devotee, says that the latter had told Mushir al-Dawla that it was "in the interest of the patriots for this revolt to continue" because Mushir al-Dawla'sgovernment would not last long.96 Khiyabani knew Mukhbir al-Saltana personally, and sent him telegrams couched in highly respectable terms when he joined the cabinet, saying how the latter's "wise, learned and true" view of the political situation corresponded to his own.97 But when he was named Governor-General, Khiyabani somewhat cooled off, and eventually sent a message to him that he should go to Tabriz alone, i.e. without military escort and new civil servants. Mukhbir alSaltana observed these conditions. He left at the end of August and reached Basminj, near Tabriz, after a couple of days of typically hazardous journey on roads infested with nomadic brigands, and through villages hostile to strangers, a situation attested to by Kasravi's manuscript as well. Here is a specimen of the prevailing chaos on the roads and in the countryside: Everywhereon the way the harvesthad been left unthreshed, herds were inside the village walls, and-fearing the Shahsavan[nomads]-the peasants were sitting in the watch towerswith guns in their hands... In Tikma Dash we came across a
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JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
group of Shahsavans.They had thirtyriders and I had seventy,led by Garmrfidikhans. A horse was killed on either side, but they passedand so did we. AtJangaivarpeasantsbegan to shoot at us, thinking thatwe were Shahsavans.We put the carriagesin the front and the shootingstopped.98 Kasravi writes in the manuscript that "in those very days lawlessness in Azerbaijan had become so bad that the Tabriz-Miyaneh road was cut off... and the Shthsavans were looting the villages up to a few miles to Tabriz."99 At Basminj, Mukhbir al-Saltana dismissed his Garmrudi guards. Sacid al-Saltana, a Tabriz community leader and go-between, met him there and suggested that he should attend Khiyabani's regular meetings at the Government House in Tabriz. He agreed, but Khiyaba-nilater told Sacid on the telephone that he did not wish to see Mukhbir al-Saltana nor would he be allowed to take up residence in the cAlI Qdapt (the Government House) or in the other two government buildings. According to Mukhbir al-Saltana, he declined the Tabriz Cossacks' suggestion of sending a welcoming party, and, since he had been barred from government buildings by Khiyabani, he arrived at Sacid alSaltana's house in the town.100 Kasravi independently confirms all this, but says that he does not know what was exchanged between Mukhbir alSaltana and Sacid al-Saltana in Basminj.101 He was visited by Khiyvbani's close lieutenants, and especially Badamchi and Sayyid al-Muhaqqiqin, several times, and he told them that the 1919 agreement had now been put in abeyance, and that civil war and separatism would be destructive, i.e. all the reasons that he and most others in Tehran believed to be behind the revolt. But they gave the familiar reply that they had a great ideal which they were not yet ready to reveal. Mukhbir al-Saltana tried to use the British and American consuls as peacemakers, but it did not work, and, according to him, the American consul then described Khiyabani as a "rebel".102The latter refused Mukhbir al-Saltana's invitations to a meeting, saying that he was a fast talker and would have the better of him.103 The Russian Cossack chief of Tabriz had visited Mukhbir al-Saltana and had told him that Khiyabani's men could easily be reduced. The commander of the less important but much more popular gendarmes also reassured him of his co-operation, and this he would not have done under Vuthfiq al-Dawla's government.'04 But it was Khiyabani who made the first move. On 13 September, the tenth day of Mukhbir al-Saltana's arrival in Tabriz, Sayyid al-Muhaqqiqin brought word to him from Khiyabani that he should leave town. He wrote in his inimitably telegraphic style:
On Sunday13 SeptemberSayyidal-Muhaqqiqinsaw me and said "Khiyabanisays,Whatare you waiting for?"I said, "I am waitingfor you to give up your stubbornness."He said, "Ourposition is unchangeable".I saidthatI had not come on myown initiative so that I could leavewhen I wished;I must speakto Tehran. He said, "The telegraph is under censorship". I said, "IfI lie, do not communicate." He said,
"Haveit done huiuri(i.e. when the correspondents were personallyin the respectivetelegraphoffices)." I said, "Tomorrow is a holiday (because of Muharram);I shallhaveit done huiuirion Tuesday." I then told the Sayyidthat, assumingI was to go, "Whataboutsecurityon the road?"He saidthatthey would send riders with me. I said, "I do not trust your riders."He said, "TakeCossackswith you." I said, "Thatmakessense."105 Kasraviwrote independently in the manuscript: For ten days Mukhbiral-Saltanawas there, and no matter how many times he sent messages to Khiyabanithat he had been appointed GovernorGeneralof the provinceand wished to talk to him, he would only reply through some of his collaborators that "The people do not want you"... Eventually,Khiyabanisent a messageto MukhbiralSaltana,saying "Leavetown or you will be thrown out".106
Meanwhile, the Cossack chief and his Iranian assistant, Zafar al-Saltana (later, General Hasan Muqaddam), had contacted Mukhbir al-Saltana again and declared their readiness for action. That Sunday afternoon there was as usual an open-house tea party at the Cossack headquarters on the outskirts of the town. Mukhbir al-Saltana went there "two hours before the sunset" and stayed behind after all the other guests had left. He then told the Cossacks to get ready for action during the night, and to move early in the morning. On the other hand, Khiya-bani and his people, as Kasravi pointedly writes, were completely surprised, probably because they were sure that Mukhbir al-Saltana would soon leave town. Both Mukhbir al-Saltana and Kasravi write that, by sunrise, all the government buildings had been re-taken, after very little resistance resulting in a couple of deaths on both sides. Both of them also say that, late on that very Sunday night, Khiyabani, going home alone, had been recognised by the Cossack chief, but that he did not arrest him because, says Mukhbir al-Saltana, he had ordered the Cossack chief against it. Thus the movement collapsed, in the same way as it had succeeded, within a few hours, and with hardly a shot being fired. The Cossacks, as usual, looted the homes of some of the leading figures in the revolt, including that of Khiyabani, though Mukhbir al-Saltana was able to stop them in time
THE REVOLT OF SHAYKH MUHAMMAD KHIYABANI
from looting the homes of a few others. He also says that, since he could not find Sacid al-Saltana on the telephone, he instructed another intermediary to tell Khiyabani that he could go and remain at his home unmolested, and when the intermediary asked him to write it down, he did so.107 Khiyabani hid in the basement of a neighbour's house. A couple of Cossacks on regular patrol were told by a little girl that he was hiding at the house of Shaykh Husayn Basminji. Instead of a little girl (mentioned by Mukhbir al-Saltana) Kasravi says a beggar, but in his Irdnshahr article cited above, Bada-mchi refers to "that dog of a child". Perhaps it was a beggar girl.108 At any rate, the Cossacks entered the house, there was an exchange of fire, and Khiyaibani was killed. It was not clear who had fired first, and there was a rumour that, having been hit in the foot or leg, Khiyabani had shot himself in the head. Mukhbir al-Saltana does not insist on the truth of this rumour, merely saying wa '1 cilmu cind Alldh ("God knows best").109 Nonetheless, Mukhbir al-Saltana quotes verbatim a suicide note, allegedly found in Khiyabani's pocket, which had been handed to him. If true, it must have been ready in his pocket in case he was discovered: Farewellcomrades.Since I was all on my own, and determinednot to be arrested,I took my own life. Follow my principles.Do not forget my people. I have no one. They looted my home. So much for Mukhbiral-Saltana'slove of freedom (dzddikhdhi). 14 September [1920], MuhammadKhiyabani.110 The rabble, most of whom, says Kasravi, had been applauding his speeches until a few days before, tried to take his corpse round the bazaar, but Mukhbir al-Saltana stopped them and ordered it to be buried in a local Imatmzada.Kasravi confirms this, and so does Badamchi who bitterly complains that Mukhbir al-Saltana "did not arrange a respectable funeral" for "that blessed martyr".111Mukhbir alSaltana says that he repaired Khiyabani's home, replaced his looted furniture, and paid 6,000 tumans (which up to then had been collected from an entryand-exit tax for Tabriz under Khiyabani himself) to his family.112 Predictably, meetings were held in Tehran, and elegies and other poems were written in mourning for Khiyvbani's violent death, although many popular politicians and activists did not blame the government for it. Democrat meetings and publications attacked the government, and the most effective work of that kind was a poem by Poet-Laureate Bahiarwho, because of his recent collaboration with Vuthfiq al-Dawla,was no longer regarded a member of the Democrat party. It was a tar]jCbandwith the following tarc"
169
If the blood of the innocent [mailum]Khiyabani should come to boil, Iran would wear a red shroud from one end to the other. The name of both Vuthfiq and Mushir al-Dawla was Hasan. Bahar, who was a Vuthfiq al-Dawlasupporter, compared the latter's execution of a couple of leaders of the rebel band of Nayib Husayn KIshi (Kashani) with the death of Khiyabani in the following verse: If that Hasan killed a couple of KIshis for the motherland'ssake, This Hasan killed the motherland'sfreedom-lovers like beasts.113 Kasravi briefly mentions the hagiographies published at the time, including Bahar's poem, which he says had been really intended as an attack on Mushir al-Dawla because he had replaced Vuthuiq alDawla.114However that may be, when Bahar came to write the history of that period a quarter of a century later, his view had radically changed when he wrote of the incident: These acts of Mushir al-Daulawere very brilliant, and though they hurt the feelings of sentimentalisers (manfi-bdfdn)and even some popular constitutionalists,there can be no doubt that,from the point of view of the basic interestof the state, and service to the country, they were wisely taken. Also, the Prime Minister'spersonalstandingwas such that it could not be shaken by the critical reactions to them.115 That last remark provides an excellent clue to the swift rise and equally swift fall of Khiyabani and his revolt. AN ANALYSISOF THE REVOLT The Constitutional Revolution's single unifying object was to bring down the ancient arbitrary regime, and to replace it with a system based on a legal framework. But there was another side to the dialectics of Iranian history, the ancient Iranian chaos as the antithesis of the ancient Iranian arbitrary rule. Despite the great aspirations and good intentions of many of its leaders and activists, the revolution brought chaos, not just in the provinces, but--more effectively-at the centre, and in the very centre of "politics", even among "politicians" themselves. Foreign intervention and occupation certainly contributed to the chaos but did not create it. When the First World War ended, the country was in ruins and in danger of disintegration. Almost all political leaders were of one accord that the chaos must be brought to an end, and that required the formation of a unified army, and the
170
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OF PERSIAN
reorganisation of the country's finances. But a large majority of them opposed the Anglo-Iranian agreement of August 1919, which they believed would compromise the country's independence. Given the Shah's tacit, but well-known, opposition to Vuthfiq al-Dawla's government, the lack of co-operation by the Russian chief of the Iranian Cossack force, and the continued defiance of the Jangal movement, Vuthfiq al-Dawla had been left with little legitimacy within a few months after signing the Agreement. Khiyabani was a charismatic Tabriz Democrat leader and an influential deputy in the second Majlis, who had experienced the extremities of chaos at first hand both in Tehran and Azerbaijan, and both in the Majlis and among the Tabriz Democrats. He had increasingly assumed the role of the undisputed Democrat leader in the province, and had played an increasingly important role in running it since 1917. In Lenin's words about Russia, power was then lying in the streets ready to be picked up even in Tehran, let alone in Tabriz, after the Russian and Turkish forces had departed. Khiytbani and his men decided to pick it up in Tabriz, but did so cautiously and with deliberation. They were far from separatists as many, then and subsequently, believed, but they wished to have a considerable amount of autonomy in governing the province. It is clear from Khiyabnmi'sspeeches that they were strongly opposed to chaos and in favour of firm rule, so that they would be able to bring modernisation along European lines. The idea, mentioned above, of stopping the chaotic and disintegrative trends to make possible effective government and social progress, was shared by many, even by those with conflicting ideologies and strategies. Not only was Khiyabani not a separatist, but he often spoke as if he wished to extend his activities and programme to the whole of Iran. Yet if he was serious in the latter point, it is difficult to know how he hoped to achieve his aim, even assuming that he would manage to formalise his own rule in Azerbaijan, which seems to have been his most cherished objective. He applied himself forcefully towards that goal, curbing argument even within the Democrat ranks, and that is the reason why Kasravi and other party critics saw him as a dictator who put his own power above all else. That, too, was the reason for his emphasis on prudence, on not revealing one's hand too soon. He must have been (at least) somewhat critical of the 1919 agreement, and this is seen even from his diplomatic replies to Edmonds' questions. But he did not campaign against it, and-contrary to near-universal belief-his revolt had not solely or even mainly been motivated by opposition to the Agreement. Nor was he a Bolshevik or pro-Bolshevik, as it has been often claimed, although there is no evi-
STUDIES
dence that he was ideologically anti-Bolshevik. He suppressed their activities, which were being supported by the German consul in Tabriz, both in the interest of maintaining his own grip on the situation, and in order to appease Norperforce and Vuthiiq alDawla. These were the reasons why the latter left him alone, at least for the time being. Vuthfiq al-Dawla did not even declare him a rebel either when he seized power, or afterwards. For he was not causing any trouble to Vuthfiq al-Dawla, and he enjoyed a considerable amount of popular legitimacy in his own land, whereas Vuthfiq al-Dawla was fast losing what was left of his legitimacy. Khiyabani was apparently caught in a paradox, that of trying to bring order to the province while being disobedient towards the centre. But the paradox became real when he defied Mushir al-Dawla's government whose popular legitimacy was second to none everywhere, including in Azerbaijan. Had Vuthtiq alDawla tried to topple Khiyaba-ni by force, there would have been a strong popular resistance in Tabriz, and a popular outcry in Tehran. Mushir alDawla's "weakness" as a strict constitutionalist was also his source of strength as a popular legitimate Prime Minister, being thus able to deal with Kfichik and Khiyaba-ni much more easily than Vuthiiq alDawla could have done, even though their different responses led to different outcomes for themselves. No doubt there were many factors working for the decline of Khiyabani"s authority before he fell. But by far the most effective was that, by confronting Mushir al-Dawla's government, he appeared as a rebel. It was not so easy to tell Mukhbir al-Saltana to leave town as it had been to tell Amin al-Mulk or Sardar Intisar, for he and his political master enjoyed the kind of legitimacy, hence self-confidence, that they and their political master did not. Khiyabani's revolt was another episode in the politics of chaos after the Constitutional Revolution, which reached its anti-climax first in the coupd 'tat of 1921 and was then followed by the fall of the Qajars in 1925. Only at that point did both constitutionalism and chaos came to an end for sixteen years.
1 For an analysis of the Constitutional Revolution, see Homa Katouzian, "Liberty and Licence in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran",JRAS, Series3, vol. VIII, 2 (1998). For the theory of arbitrary rule, see idem, "Arbitrary Rule. A Comparative Theory of State, Politics and Society in Iran", British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies XXIV (1997), pp. 49-73; idem, "Problems of Political Development in Iran: Democracy, Dictatorship or Arbitrary Government?", BJMES XXII (1995), pp. 5-20; idem, "The Aridisolatic Society. A Model of Long Term Social and Economic Development in Iran", IJMES XV (1983), pp. 259-81; idem, The Political Economy of Modern Iran, (London and New York, 1980), chs. 1-4; idem, "Nationalist Trends in Iran, 1921-1926", IJMES XI,
THE REVOLT OF SHAYKH MUHAMMAD KHIYABANI
(1979). For evidence of rift and chaos after the revolution, see William J. Olson, Anglo-Iranian Relations during World WarI (London, 1984); Ervand Abrahamian, Iran betweenTwo Revolutions(Princeton, 1982). 2 See, for example, cAbdallah Mustawfi, Sharh-i zindagdni-yi man, vol. II (Tehran, 1964); Yahya Dawlatabadi, IVayat-i Yahyd,vols. III and IV (Tehran, 1983); Malik al-Shucarpa3 Bahar, Tdrikh-i mukhtasar-i ahzdb-i siydsi dar Irdn, vol. I (Tehran, 1978); JavaidShaykhulislami, Simi-yi SultdZn Ahmad Shdh Qdjdr,vol. I (Tehran, 1989); Olson, op. cit. 3 The references are numerous. See, e.g., the documents in British Public Record Office files F.O. 371/3558, F.O. 371/3859, F.O. 371/3860, and British Documentson Foreign Policy, vol. IV, Olson, "The Genesis of the Anglo-Persian Agreement of 1919", in Elie Kedourie and Sylvia G. Haim Towards a Modern Iran (London, (eds.), 1980); Shaykhulislami, op. cit.; Houshang Sabahi, British Policy in Persia, 1918-1925 (London, 1990); James Balfour, Recent Happeningsin Persia (London, 1922). 4 See Katouzian, "The Campaign against the Anglo-Iranian Agreement of 1919", BJMESXXV, (1998); Martin Sicker, The Bear and the Lion, SovietImperialismin Iran (New York, 1988); Aryeh Y. Yodfat, The Soviet Union and RevolutionaryIran (London, 1984); British Documentson ForeignPolicy,vols. IV, XIII. 5 See Katouzian, op. cit.; further, Ibrahim Fakhraii, Sarddr-i Jangal (Tehran, 1978); Cosroe Chaqueri, The Soviet Socialist Republicof Iran: Birthof the Trauma (Pittsburgh, 1995). But for the specific point in hand see especially Major C. J. Edmonds' reports to Cox for the months of October 1919 to May 1920, The Edmonds Papers, St. Antony's College, Oxford. 6 See Katouzian, op. cit.; BritishDocumentson ForeignPolicy,vol. VI; Edmonds' reports to Cox for November 1919, and February and March 1920, and his special report of his meeting with Sayyid Ziya (Iran's chief delegate, then en route back to Tehran) at Qazvin, The Edmonds Papers; General Hassan Arfa, UnderFiveShahs (London, 1964). 7 Mustawfi, Sharh-i Zindagdni; Dawlatabadi, HIaydt-i Yahyad; Mukhbir al-Saltana (Mihdiquli Hida-yat), Khatirdtva khatardt (Tehran, 1984). 8 See Ahmad Kasravi, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammadKhiydbdni,ed. and introd. Katouzian (Tehran, 1998). In his Tdrikh-ihijdah sdla-yi Azarbayijdn (Tehran, 1992), Kasravi's discussion of Khiyabainiand the revolt, though still critical, is less extensive and more circumspect, probably in deference to popular opinion. In his autobiographical Zandagdni-yiman (Tehran, 1976), there is more on his personal relationship with Khiyabani. 9 Sharh-ihdl va iqddmit-i ShaykhMuhammadKhiydbdnz,Special Issue of Irdnshahr,no. 14, p. 8, repr. in Intishdrdt-iIrdnshahr (Tehran, 1972). 1o Ibid,p. 4. "11Ibid, pp. 19-21.
12 See HIusaynMakki, Tdrikh-ibistsdld-yiIrdn, vol. III (Tehran, 1995), p. 646. 13 Irdnshahr,no. 14, pp. 32-33. The name of Biverling has been transliterated back from the Persian into the Latin script, as its original European form does not exist in any of the sources. 14 See
Azari,
Qiydm-i Shaykh Muhammad
Khiydbdni dar
CA.l Tabriz (Tehran, 1983); Nasih Natiq, "Chahra-yi Tabnak-i Khiyabani", reprinted in an appendix to ibid. It had been originally published in Yaghmd (1965); cAli Azari, Qiydm-i Kolonel Muhammad Taqi Khan Pisydn (Tehran, n.d.), pp. 160-74. 15 Azari, op. cit., p. 10. 16 Kasravi,op. cit., pp. 90-91. 17 See further, Mustawfi , op. cit.
171
18 See Katouzian, ThePoliticalEconomyof ModernIran, p. 68. See further, E. L. Woodward, FrenchRevolutions(London, 1965; Leo Gershoy, The Era of the French Revolution (1789-1799) (Princeton, 1957), and From Despotism to Revolution (New York, 1963). 19 See Katouzian, "ArbitraryRule". 20 Vuthfiq al-Dawla's, Khiyabani's and other speeches have been reproduced in Azari, Qiyam-iShaykhMuhammad, pp. 27-81. 21 See Khatirdt-i Tufzni. Zindagi-yi Sayyid Hasan Taqizdda, ed. IrajAfshar, 2nd ed. (Tehran, 1993), p. 459. 22 Ibid., p. 458. 23 Ibid., pp. 458-59. For the full text of all the telegrams, see pp. 457-64. 24 There are a number of primary Persian sources on the affair, of which Kasravi'sin Tdrikh-ihijdahsala-yiAzarbayijdn,Part 1, chs. 28-33, is the most comprehensive, and in which he very cautiously says that the government probably meant well in its attempt to reconcile the Russians, "because Iran could not fight the Russians." (p. 241). For a recent detailed account of the events, see Janet Mary, The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1911 (New York, 1996). For a full analysis and appraisal of the episode, see Katouzian, State and Society in Iran. From the Constitutional Revolution to the Rise of the Pahlavi State (London, forthcoming), ch. 3. 25 Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad;Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiydbani. 26 Kasravi, ibid. ch. 1, pp. 96-98. 27 Ibid., ch. 2, 106. p. 28 Ibid., p. 113. Kasravi's account of the terrorist activities in his Tdrikh-ihijdahsdla is less extensive as well as more circumspect; in Zindagadn-yiman, p. 88, there is a fleeting reference to it, and though Khiyabani's name is mentioned, it is so submerged that the reader would be likely to miss the point. 28aSee cAbdallah Bahrami, Khatirdt-icAbdalldhBahrdmiaz dkhar-i saltanat-i Ndsir al-Din Shdh td avval-i Kuiditd,Tehran, date of preface, 1965, pp. 544-49. 29 Ibid., p. 130. In Tdrikh-ihijdahsdla,p. 844, Kasravimakes the same complaint of Khiyabani's behaviour but does not mention Rifcat's name. 30 There is an extensive, though somewhat uncritical, discussion of Rifcat's views, and his debates with Bahar, in Yahyyt Aryianptir, Az Sabd ta Nimd, vol. II (Tehran, 1993). 31 Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiydbani,ch. 2; Tdrikh-ihijdahsala, Part 3. See also Bahraimi,op. cit., pp. 549-51. 31aKasravi, Qiydm-i Khiydbdni, p. 117; Bahraimi, op. cit., pp. 563-65. 32 The Turkish General Staff Military History and Strategic Studies (ATASE)--Ankara, K. 1859, D. 88/142, F. 1-20, 19/5/1918. I am grateful to Touraj Atabaki for supplying me with this material as well as that which will be cited in n. 82 below. 33 Ibid. 34 Kasravi, Qiydm-i Khiydbani, ch. 3. See also his Tdrikh-i hijdahsdla,Part 3. 35 See Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad,p. 367; Kasravi, Qiydm-i Khiydbani,ch. 4. 36 See Tdrikh-ihijdahsala,Part 3, ch. 16, and Part 4, chs. 4-6. 37 See Edmonds' report for December 1919, The Edmonds Papers. 38 Bristow, "Report on Azerbaijan during 1920", in ibid. 39 Edmonds' report forJanuary and February 1920, in ibid. 40 Edmonds' report for April and May, in ibid. 41 Azari, QIydm-iShaykhMuhammad,p. 262. 42 Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiydbdni;Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad. 43 Kasravi, op. cit., pp. 138-39. 44 Azari, op. cit., pp. 238, 261. 45 Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiyabani,and Tdrikh-ihijdahsdla. 46 Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiydbani,ch 5. 47 Ibid., p.144; Azari, op. cit., pp. 261-62.
172 48 See his Tdrikh-ihijdahsala,p. 846.
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
49 Kasravi, op. cit, p. 868, and Azari, op. cit., p. 263. 50 See Mukhbir al-Saltana, Khadtirdt, p. 316. 51 Most of his speeches have been reprinted, in full or in part, over some 200 pages in Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad,pp. 289-488; a few others have been published in Irdnshahr,no. 14, pp. 50-57. 52 Azari, op. cit., p. 298. 53 Ibid., p. 350. 54 Ibid., p. 393. 55 Ibid., p. 404. 56 Ibid., pp. 344-46, 358, 360, etc. 57 Ibid., p. 377. 58 Irdnshahr,no. 14, p. 51. 59 Ibid. 60 Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad,p. 465. 61 Ibid., 304. p. 62 Ibid., p. 393. 63 Ibid., pp. 333-34. 64 Ibid., 354. p. 65 Ibid., p. 359. 66 Irdnshahr,no. 14, 50. p. 67 Azari, Qiydm-iShaykh Muhammad,p. 454. 68 Tdrikh-i hijdahsdla, p. 845. Kasravi makes the same point repeatedly, and sometimes even more emphatically, in Qiydm-iKhiydbdniz. 69 For the most comprehensive study of Kasravi's thoughts on this point, see Abrahamian, "Kasravi, the Integrative Nationalist of Iran", in Kedourie and Haim (eds.), Towardsa ModernIran, pp. 96-131. 70 Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad,p. 410. 71 Tdrikh-ihijdahsala,p. 873. 7laAzari, Qiyam-iShaykhMuhammad,p. 163-64. 72 Ibid., p. 402. 73 Ibid., p. 469. 74 Qiydm-iKhiydbdni,ch. 5, Tdrikh-ihijdahsdla,Part 4, ch. 8. 75 Qiydm-iKhiydbdni,ch. 5, pp. 156-57. 76 Edmonds' report of the interview on 1 May 1920, The Edmonds Papers. For a report of the garden party and speech attended by Edmonds, reprinted from the newspaper Tajaddud,see Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad,pp. 306-11. 77 Edmonds' report for April and May, The Edmonds Papers. 78 Edmonds' report of the interview, 1 May 1920. 79 Bristow, "Report on Azerbaijan". 80 See Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiydbdni,and Tdrikh-ihijdahsdla;Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad;Abu 'l-Qasim Kahhalzada, Didd-had va shanida-ha, khdtirdt-iAbu 'l-QdsimKahhdlzddaed. MurtaiaKamran, (Tehran, 1984). 81 Bristow, "Report on Azerbaijan". 82 Russian Central State Archives, Archive of October Revolution, Fonds 5402, Inventory 1, File 514, list 4. 83 See Kahhalzaida,Didd-ha va shanida-ha,pp. 431-33.
See Katouzian, "The Campaign against the Anglo-Iranian Agreement of 1919". 85 Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiydbdnf;Azanr,Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad. 86 See Azari, op. cit., pp. 375-77, for Khiyabani's own speech reporting the arrests; Kasravi, Tdrikh-ihijdahsdlaand Qiydm-i Khiydbdni. 87 Bristow, "Report on Azerbaijan". 88 Norman to Curzon, 23 June 1923, BritishDocumentson Foreign Policy,vol. XIII, no. 483. 89 See various telegrams exchanged by Norman and Curzon, June-July 1920, in ibid. See further Katouzian, State and Societyin Iran. 90 Ibid., chs. 6 and 7. 91 Ibid. 92 Qiydm-iKhiydbani,p. 163. 93 See Khiyabani's speech in Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad, p. 478. 94 Khiyabani's speech, in ibid. p. 469. 95 See, Mukhbir al-Saltana, Khdtirdt, and "Nuqta-ha•i dar tairikh-i Mashrfitiyyat",Ayandeh (January-March 1993), pp. 959-71. 96 Irdnshahr,p. 136. 97 See the full text of his letter in Mukhbir al-Saltana, Khatirdt, pp. 313-14. 98 Ibid., p. 315 99 Qiydm-iKhiyabani,p. 161. 100 Mukhbir al-Saltana, Khdtirdtand "Nuqta-ha•i". 101 Qiydm-iKhiydbdni,pp. 164-65. 102 "Nuqta-ha3i",p. 996, and Khatirdt,p. 316. 103 Ibid., pp. 315-16. 104 Ibid., Azari also confirms the cooperation of the gendarmerie with Mukhbir al-Saltana. See Qiydm-i Shaykh Muhammad,p. 490. 105 Khatirdt, p. 316, repeated more briefly in "Nuqta-ha:i", p. 968. 106 Qiydm-iKhiydbdni,p. 165. 107 Khdtirdt, 317. p. 10s Mukhbir al-Saltana, op. cit., and "Nuqta-h-Si";Kasravi, Qiydm-i Khiydbani,p. 167; Badamchi, Irdnshahr,p. 38. For a colourful account of the incident of Khiyaba-ni'sdeath by an alleged eyewitness, see Azari, Qiydm-iShaykhMuhammad,pp. 490-92. 109 "Nukta-ha-i", p. 968. 110 Khdtirdt,p. 318, n. 1. "1 Ibid. and "Nuqta-ha3i", Kasravi, Qiydm-iKhiydbani,p. 167; Badamchi, Irdnshahr,p. 38. 112 "Nuqta-h•3i", p. 969, and Khatirdt,p. 319. 113 For the full text of the long tarjiCband,see Divdn-i Bahdr, vol. I, ed. Muhammad Malikzada, (Tehran, 1956, pp. 313-15) 114 Qiydm-iKhiydbani, 170. p. 115 See Bahatr,Tdrikh-imukhtasar-iahzab-isiydsi, p. 54. 84
BURIALSAND MEMORIALSOF THE BRITISH IN PERSIA: FURTHER NOTES AND PHOTOGRAPHS By Sir Denis Wright
FormerPresidentof theBritishInstituteofPersianStudies
The following corrections and additions need to be made to my earlier article in Iran XXXVI (1998), pp. 165-73.The photographs were taken in 1998 and 1999 by Henry McKenzie Johnston (Tabriz), Shirin Ala (Shiraz) and John Mitchener, H.M.Ambassador to Armenia (Etchmiadzin). I am very grateful for their trouble and help.
St. Luke's Church, like St. Simon's in Shiraz and the Anglican cemetery in Isfahan and elsewhere, was established by the local church and not by the C.M.S.
BUSHIRE Reyshire (Rayshire) Cemetery
ISFAHAN
This almost certainly dates from 1763, when Karim Khan Zand granted to the East India Company a farman allowing them to establish a factory in Bushire and to trade in the Persian Gulf, and containing the concession that "wherever the English are they shall have a spot of ground allotted them for a burying ground"4.
The NewJulfa Cemetery (Armenian)1 Clifford Harris was buried here and not in the Anglican (Protestant) cemetery. E. P. H. Glover was British-born and a sergeant in the Indo-European Telegraph Department. Mr. Harrison was a visitor from South Africa and not a Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionary.
SHIRAZ St. Mary's Church (Armenian)
The Anglican (Protestant) Cemetery 2 Adrian R. M. Holden, b. Bath 1930, d.1974 in a road accident.
Mrs. Shirin Ala on her recent visit to the church recorded the following memorials, all in good condition:
St. Luke's Church (Anglican) contains the following memorials3:
Sergeant Robert Collins (Pl.XXXIa) murdered near Shiraz 23.7.18725.
Bishop E. C. Stuart (P1. XXXVIIa), d. 1911 in the U.K., C.M.S. missionary in Isfahan 1893-1909.
Captain David Ruddell (P1. XXXIb), d. Shiraz 16.12.1835 of fever. The memorial is both in English and Persian6
Bishop W. J. Thompson (P1. XXXVIIb), b. 1880, d. 1975 in the U.K. C.M.S. missionary; Principal of Stuart Memorial College, Isfahan; Bishop in Iran 1935-61. Nevill Carr (P1. XXXVIIc), died of influenza while serving with the South Persia Rifles in World War I. Buried in Sirjan. Son of Dr. D. Carr, C.M.S. missionary.
Thomas H. Sheridan7 (P1.XXXIc). Henry V. Walton (P1.XXXIIa), d. 23.5.18718. Clara Amelia Malcolm (Pls.XXXIIb and XXXIIIa), b. 7.5. 1862, d. 8.10. 1893. Wife of Abed S. Malcolm and "daughter of the late Conrad G. F. Fagergreen (sic) Surgeon-General to H.I.M. the Shah".
173
174
JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES
Abed S. Malcolm (Pl.XXXIIIb), b. Bushire 24.2. 1851, d. Shiraz 17.9. 1893. Husband of the above. Araton Malcolm, b. Bushire 20.11.1825, d. Shiraz 7.1.1892. Joseph A. Malcolm, b. Bushire 2.6.1862, d. Shiraz 16. 9. 1888. Inscribed in both English and Armenian. Louize Fagergren (sic), d. 30.3.1882. "Erected by her sorrowing daughter". As mentioned in my earlier article, the Malcolms (originally Malkomian) were a well-known Armenian family long associated with the East India Company in Bushire, some of whom became naturalised British subjects or British Protected Persons.
St. Simon the Zealot's Church (Anglican) Contains a plaque in memory of the Rev. Norman Sharp, b. 23.6. 1896, d. 11. 9. 1995 in Wiltshire (P1. XXXVIIIa). C.M.S. missionary; built the Shiraz church9.
KERMAN Dr George E. Dodson (not Dobson), d. 1937 of typhus. Established a C.M.S. hospital in Kermanlo1
TABRIZ St. Mary's Church (Armenian) Isabella Nisbet 11 (Pl.XXXIVa).
Edward Burgess, Isaac Greenfield and Regina Stevens13 (Pls.XXXIVc,d and XXXVa).
St. Sarkis' Church (Armenian) Eowe Stevens (Pl.XXXVb), b. 1887, d. 1891. Presumably the child of Hildebrand Stevens, a prominent Tabriz businessman and honorary British vice-consul there for many years4.
MASHHAD Mrs Florence Temple (Pl.XXXVIIIb), d. 23.9.1899. Photo by Sir David Dain in 199915.
ETCHMIADZIN (Seat of the Armenian Catholics and now in the Armenian Republic) Sir John Kinneir Macdonald (Pl.XXXVI), b. 1782, d. 11.6. 1830 at Tabriz6.
1 See "Burials and Memorials of the British in Persia", Iran XXXVI (1998), pp. 165-66. 2 Ibid., 166. p. 3 Information from Bishop Hassan Dehqani-Tafti. 4 C. U. Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads Relating to India and NeighbouringCountries(Calcutta, 1909), vol. XII, p. 34. 5 Iran XXXVI (1998), p. 168. 6 Ibid.
7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 See on the Rev. Norman Sharp the obituary by R. W. Ferrier in Iran XXXIV (1996), pp. vii-viii. 1o Iran XXXVI (1998), p. 172. 1 Ibid., p. 170 12 Ibid.
Church of Sourp Shoughakat (Armenian) Dr. William Cormick died at Tabriz on 30.12. 1877 (and not in Shepherd's Bush, as recorded in the MedicalTimesand Gazetteof 5.1.1878, and as stated in my previous article'2). Other Cormick headstones noted in 1998 were those of James E. Cormick (P1.XXXIVb), d. 30.10.1871, aged six, son of Dr William Cormick; Victoria Cormick, d. 1863 aged eleven; and Richard C. Cormick, son of John Cormick. Inscribed in both English and Armenian.
13 Ibid. 14 This hitherto unrecorded memorial was photographed by Henry McKenzie Johnston in May 1998. 15 Iran XXXVI (1998), p. 172. 16 Ibid., p. 171. The full inscription reads: Here are deposited the remains of Lt. Col. Sir John Macdonald Kt. R.L.S. who died at Tabreez on the tenth of June MDCCCXXX 1830 in the fiftieth year of his age when Envoy Extraordinary from the Supreme Government of British India to the King of Persia. In testimony of their estimation of important services ably and successfully performed under circumstances of unusual difficulty the Court of Directors of the East India Company have erected this monument to his memory.
P1.L Merv, GyaurKala:Area5, StructureC, view lookingwestacrossthepartlyexcavatedSasanian storeroomwith ErkKala in the background.
Pl. Ha. Merv, GyaurKala:Area5, StructureC, Sasanianfigurine head.
Pl. HIb.Merv, GyaurKala:Area5, StructureC, Sasanian figurine head. Pl. IHc.Merv, GyaurKala:Area5, StructureC, Sasanian figurine body.
P1.IIIc. Merv, GyaurKala:Area 6, view lookingsouth of thesectionthroughthe Seleucidfortificationwall (left),Parthian wall (right)and Sasanian vaulted corridor(topright);2 metrescales.
P1. IlMa.Merv, GyaurKala:Area 4/2, EarlyIslamicpotterykiln, view looking south showinga completesurvivingarchedspringingfor thegratenext to the stokehole(left);2 metrescale.
P1. IIId. Merv, GyaurKala: Area 6, view looking the baseof theSeleucidfortificationwall, in
P1. IIIb.Merv, GyaurKala:Area 4/4, EarlyIsl southshowingthestokehole(left)and thearc 2 metrescales.
P1. IVa. Merv, GyaurKala:Area 6, view lookingsouth of thesectionthroughtheSasanian vaulted corridor(centre)with a Late Sasanian rebuildof the cornerbastionbehind;2 metrescale (right).
P1. IVb.Merv, GyaurKala:Area 6, view lookingnorthshowingtheexcavatedface of theSasanian cornerbastionwith false slits; 2 metrescales.
P1. Va. Merv, Sultan Kala: view lookingnorth-westshowingtheexcavationsin progressof theresidencein thenorthernpart of the medievalcitadel.
Pl. Vb.Merv,Sultan Kala: view lookingsouth-eastshowingtheexcavatedSeljukstuccoinside theiwan (right)and the beginningsof a paved courtyardinside theresidence(left)with thekepter khana and palace in the background;2 metre scales.
Pl. VIa.Merv, Sultan Kala: view of theexcavatedstuccoon theeast wall of theiwan; 1 metrescale.
P1. VIb.Merv, Sultan Kala: view of theexcavatedstuccoon thesouth wall of theiwan; 1 metrescale.
P1. VIla. Merv, Sultan Kala: exteriorof thenorthfortificationwall, generalview of the trench(AreaB)
Pl. VIIb.Merv, Sultan Kala: exteriorof thenorthfortificationwall, Curtain20 with arrowslits and slits revealed
Pl. VIIIa.Merv, Sultan Kala: the northfortificationwall, Curtain 20: sectionof thehollowwall showingtheinfilledgallery.
P1. VIIIb.Merv, Sultan Kala: exteriorof thenorthfortificationwall, Curtain20, showingthe hollowwall with its arrowslits and the solid wall built against it.
Pl. VIIIc.Merv, Sultan Kala: exteriorof the northfortificationwall, AreaB, top of the twofoldbraie.
P1.IXa. Merv, Sultan Kala: interiorof thenorthfortificationwall, Curtain20, sounding situated 7.3 m. to thewestof the trench,showingthefired brickbaseof thehollowwall and thefired brickfloor associatedwith it.
P1.IXb.Merv, Sultan Kala: interiorof the northfort A showingthefired brickfloor and thepakhsa
ofpotteryfrom GodinTepeshowingshale (sample71-2081, GodinPetrofabricIII:B),plane-polarisedlight, Pl. Xa. Photomicrograph widthoffield of view about2 mm.
ofpotteryfrom Godin Tepeshowinggrogseparatedfrom matrixbycracks,and also shale (sampleB1-492B), Pl. Xb. Photomicrograph planepolarisedlight, width offield of view about2 mm.
of potteryfrom Sangalan Tepeshowingplagioclase(centre),potassicfeldspar(largegrain to topright), quartz P1. Xc. Photomicrograph and fine muscovite(sample965.273.291), cross-polarised light, width offield of view about2 mm.
ofpotteryfrom Sangalan Tepeshowinglargegrog inclusion (takinghalf of view to bottomleft)which P1. XIa. Photomicrograph containsfeldspars,quartz,pyroxenesand muscovite(sample965.273.348), plane-polarisedlight, widthoffield of view about2 mm.
ofpotteryfrom Sangalan Tepeshowingeuhedralinclusion of tourmalineat centre,with elongatemuscovite P1. XIb.Photomicrograph and equantquartzandfeldspars(sample965.273.291), plane-polarisedlight, widthoffield of viewabout 1 mm.
of cookingpotfrom GodinTepeshowingsparrycalcite(largerand smallerinclusions)and amphibolite P1. XIc.Photomicrograph (darkergrain to top left), bothof whichare unknownin the local wares(sample71-2483), plane-polarisedlight, widthoffield of view about2 mm
P1.XIa. Generalview of ChoghaGavaneh(ID 1) from thewest-northwest.
Earlystagesof excavationsby P1. XMIb. GabrielNokandehand AmirSadeq Naqshinehat theStratigraphicCut at ChoghaGavaneh.Viewfrom thesouthwest.
Pl. XIIc. Sarab-iArkavazi1 (ID 67) from thewest-northwest.
P1. XIIIa. Generalview of thestonestructureofFiruzabad(1D56) from thewest.
P1. XIIIb.One of the half buriedintactparabolicarchesat thestonestructureofFiruzabad.
(ID 14) from the northeast. P1. XIIIc.Generalview of theSouran Cemetery
Pl. X[Va. Incisedgame boardin window-sillA, lookingsouth.
P1. XIVb.Incisedgame boardin window-sillB, lookingsouth.
Pl. XVa. Colophonpage of the 1486 Gulistamn.
P1. XVb.Water-stainsonfol. 6rfrom the 1468 Gulistan.
P1. XVd. VizierreadingMir Musavvir'spetition.
P1. XVc.Flaking areasonfol. 46rfrom the 1468 Gulistan.
P1. XVIa. Tahmdsbreadinga poem. P1. XVIb.BahrdmMirzdpresentingMuzaffar cAli'spetition.
P1. XVId.Bold calligraphylines (35cm wide)from theFMl-nama.
P1. XVIc.BahrdmMirzdwith a sita-r.
P1.XVIIa. OutdoorfeastbyMind CAli.
P1. XVIlb.Outdoorfeast (detail).
P1. XVIIc.Princelylovers.
P1. XVIId.ExaggeratedportraitfeaturesbyMirzd CAli.
P1. XVIIIa.Portraitof BayramOghldn.
P1. XVIIIc.IbrdhzmcAdilShdhhawking(detail).
P1. XVIIIb.ManuscriptillustrationattributedtoFarrukhBeyg.
P1. XVIIId.Timurin the battlefield(detail).
P1. XIX. Timur'sarmyin procession(detail).
P1. XXa. A horseand a groom.
P1. XXb.Mir Mucizzal-Mulkand BahddurKhan (detail).
P1. XXc.Absdlin reposeon thehappyisle (detail).
Pl. XXIa.Deccaniyouth holdinga narcissus,with dominantgreencolourtones.
P1. XXIb.Deccaniyouth holdinga narcissus,with domin
P1. XXII.Iskandarsuffersa nose bleed.
Pl. XXIIIa. Choosinga vizier.
Pl. XXTIIb.Layli and Majnun meetat theKacba.
P1. XXTIIc.Majnin 'sfatherrequestingLaylz'shand in marriagefor his son.
Pl. XXJIId.Aristotleat Philip of Macedon'sdeathbed.
Pl. XXIVa.Chinplay byFarrukhBeyg.Detail of a 1586 Akbar-nama page.
P1. XX1Vb.Elongatedfaces and protrudedchins. Detail of P1.XXJIIb.
Pl. XXIVc.Horizontallystratifiedhigh background. Detail of P1. XXJIIc.
P1. XXIVd.Ovalface with droopingmoustache. Detail of Pl. XXIIId.
Pl. XXVa-b.Doublepagefrontispieceof theHaft awrang. Marriagesceneof HamzaMirza.
Pl. XXVc.Fibulae-shapedclouddetailfromPl. XXVb.
motif P1. XXVd.Fibulae-shapedcloudembroidery
Pl. XXVIa.Two learnedmen.
Pl. XXVIb.A pagefrom a 1570sJdmi-manuscipt.
PI. XXVIc.Folio 64b of theFreerHaft awrang.
Pl. XXVId.Shepherdwith a goat.
P1. XXVIIa.Detail of P1. XXVIa.
P1. XXVIId.Detail of P1. XXVIc.
Pl. XXVIIb.Detail of P1. XXVId.
P1. XXVIle.Detail of P1. XXVIb.
P1. XXVIIc.Detail of P1. XXVIa.
P1. XXVIIfDetail of P1.XXVIa.
P1. XXVIIIa.Colophonwithpainted cartouches.
Pl. XXVIIIc.TheProphetMosesbearinga straysheep(1580s).
P1. XXVIIIb.Colophonwith illuminatedcartouches.
Pl. XXVIIId.Mosesdebatingwith a heterodox(1570s).
Pl. XXIXa.Leoparddetail in the 1582 Sifat al-catshiqin.
P1. XXIXb.Leoparddetail in theHaft awrang.
P1. XXIXc-d.Doublepagefrontispieceof the 1582 Sifat al-cashiqin manuscript:MirzdSalman in thepresenceof Ilamza Miyza.
P1. XXX.
Ydqutin thepresenceof MuhammadHakim Mzirz. SignedbyFarrukhBeygand dated1584. I.djjIz
P1. XXXIa.SergeantRobertCollins.
Pl. XXXIb.CaptainDavid Ruddell.
P1. XXXIc.ThomasH. Sheridan.
Pl. XXXIa-c. Memorialsat St. Mary'sChurchShiraz(Armenian).
P1. XXXIIa.Henry ValentineWalton.
Pl. XXXIIb.ClaraAmeliaMalcolm. P1. XXXJIa-b.Memorialsat St. Mary'sChurchShiraz(Armenian).
Pl. XXXIIIa.Claraand AbedS. Malcolm.
Pl. XXXJIIb.AbedS. Malcolm. P1. XXXIIIa-b.Memorialsat St. Mary'sChurchShiraz(Armenian).
P1. XXXIVa.IsabellaNisbit, St. Mary'sChurch(Armenian).
P1. XXXVb.JamesE. Cormick,Churchof SourpShoughakat (Armenian).
Pl. XXXIVc.EdwardBurgess,Churchof SourpShoughakat (Armenian).
Pl. XXXIVd.Isaac Greenfield,Churchof SourpShoughakat (Armenian).
Pl. XXXIVa-d.Memorialsat Tabriz.
P1. XXXVa.Regina Stevens.
Pl. XXXVb.EoweStevens.
P1. XXXVa-b.Memorialsat Tabriz,Churchof SourpShoughakat(Armenian).
Pl. XXXVIa-b.Memorialof SirJohnKinneirMacdonaldat Etchmiadzin(ArmenianRepublic).
P1. XXXVIIa.BishopE. C. Stuart..
Pl. XXXVIIb.BishopW.J. Thompson.
P1. XXXVIIc.Nevill Carr. P1. XXXVIIa-c.St. Luke'sChurchIsfahan.
Pl. XXXVIIIa.TheRev. NormanSharp. St. Simonthe Zealot'sChurchShiraz.
PI. XXXVIIIb.Mrs.FlorenceElizabethTemple,wifeof H.M. ConsulGeneralLt. Col.H. M. Temple. BritishConsulate-General Mashhad (nowPakistan Consulate).PhotographbySirDavid Dain in 1999.
NOTES ON TRANSLITERATIONFOR CONTRIBUTORS TO IRAN I.
OLD AND MIDDLE PERSIAN
It is recognised that no rigid lines can be laid down here, but it is suggested that the Old Persian syllabary should be transliterated according to the table in Kent, Old Persian. Grammar,Texts, Lexicon, p. 12; that for Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, the transliteration system given in AndreasHenning, Mitteliranische Manichaica, vol. III, p. 66, should be used; whilst for Pahlavi, the table of alphabets given in Nyberg, A Manual of Pahlavi, new edition, p. 129, may be used as a reference for transcription. II.
ISLAMICAND MODERN PERSIAN
The system used for the CambridgeHistory of Islam should be used here as far as possible. Consonants (a) Arabic b
,
b. St th Sj
Sh C
o'
z s sh s d
Jq J
t
h
kh
d
k 1 m n
j
'
w
s y
dh t. gh ; -a (in construct state: f -at) ? r (b) Persian additional and variant forms. The variant forms should generally be used for Iranian names and for Arabic words used in Persian. z Y p g J s 3 j zh j v
i
Sch
(c) The Persian "silent h" should be transliterated a, e.g. nama. Vowels Arabic or Persian a Short: Long: I or aau
J
U
i
3
i
Doubled iyy(final form i) '', au Dipthongs ai
NOTES 'a 1. The izdfa should be represented by -i, or after long vowels, by -yi, e.g. umard-yijdnki. 2. The Arabic definite article should be written as al- or 1-, even before the so-called "sun letters", e.g. 'Abd al-Malik, Abu 'l-Nasr. 3. The macrons of Abui and Dhui (Zui) should be omitted before the definite article, e.g. Abu 'l-Abbas (but Abii 'Ubaida). It is obvious that for the rendering of linguistic and dialectical material, and possibly also for contemporary literary and spoken Persian, this rigorous system of transliteration is inappropriate; contributors should use their discretion here. III.
GENERALPOINTS
1. Names of persons should be rigorously transliterated. 2. Conventional English equivalents (without macrons or diacritics) should be used for the names of countries, provinces or large towns, e.g. Khurasan, Shiraz. Otherwise, all place-names should be rigorously transliterated. Archaeologists are asked to be especially careful in representing the names of little-known places at or near sites. 3. Modern Turkish names and words should be written in the current romanized Turkish orthography. 4. Where classical Greek and Latin renderings of Old and Middle Persian names exist, these familiar forms should be used for preference. 175
ABBREVIATIONS AARP AASOR AfO AJ AJA AJSL AK AMI ANET AO Arch Anz ArO AS BA Besch BASOR Belleten BGA Bib Or BMMA BSA BSOAS CAH CDAFI CHIr CIA CII EIl El2 EIr EW IA IIJ IJMES ILN Isl JA JAOS JCS JFA JHS JNES JRAI JRAS JRCAS JSS KF LAAA MAOG MDAFA MDAI MDOG MDP MJ NC OIC OIP PZ RA RE1 SAA SAOC Sov Arkh SS St Ir Survey WdO WVDOG ZA ZDMG
Art and Archaeology Research Papers Annual of American Schools of Oriental Research Archiv fiir Orientforschung Antiquaries' Journal American Journal of Archaeology American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures Antike Kunst Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Ars Orientalis Archaologischer Anzeiger Archiv Orientilni Anatolian Studies Bulletin van de Vereeniging... de Antieke Beschaving, The Hague Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research Turk Tarih Kurumu: Belleten Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum Bibliotheca Orientalis Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Annual of the British School at Athens Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Cambridge Ancient History Cahiers de la Delegation Arch~ologique FranCaiseen Iran Cambridge History of Iran Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1st Edition Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd Edition Encyclopaedia Iranica East and West, New Series Iranica Antiqua Indo-IranianJournal International Journal of Middle East Studies Illustrated London News Der Islam Journal Asiatique Journal of the American Oriental Society Journal of Cuneiform Studies Journal of Field Archaeology Journal of Hellenic Studies Journal of Near Eastern Studies Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society Journal of Semitic Studies Kleinasiatische Forschungen Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology, Liverpool Mitteilungen der Altorientalischen Gesellschaft Memoires de la Delegation Archeologique Francaise en Afghanistan Mimoires de la Del1gation Archeologique en Iran Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orientgesellschaft Memoires de la Mission Archeologique de Perse MuseumJournal, Philadelphia Numismatic Chronicle Oriental Institute, Chicago, Communications Oriental Institute, Chicago, Publications Praehistorische Zeitschrift Revue d'Assyriologie Revue des Etudes Islamiques Soviet Anthropology and Archaeology Oriental Institute, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilisation SovietskayaArkheologiya Schmidt, H., Heinrich Schliemanns Sammlung trojanischer Altertifmer Studia Iranica A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, ed. A. U. Pope, Oxford, 1938 Die Welt des Orients Wissenschaftliche Veroffentlichungen der Deutschen Orientgesellschaft Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft
176
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