Tag: Qajar

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Journal

Zoroastrianism Special

Journal of Himalayan and Central Asian Studies, Vol 25 (1-2), 2021. Guest Editor Shernaz Cama.

The newest issue of the Journal of the Himalayan and Central Asian Studies, Vol 25 (1-2), 2021, guest-edited by Shernaz Cama is dedicated to the Zoroastrisn Studies.

Recent discoveries by international teams from varying backgrounds of academic study have found rich artistic and linguistic material along the Silk Route. So far, these discoveries remain in volumes on Zoroastrian studies. This edition of the Journal of Himalayan and Central Asian Studies brings some of these findings to a wider audience. This will help make links between multicultural concepts, oral traditions as well as iconography. These multicultural links will be taken forward to a much later colonial and post-colonial period of history when adaptation and absorbing new influences once again becomes vital to the creation of a Parsi Zoroastrian culture. It is this multiculturalism, the ability to straddle different geographies and adapt to historical circumstances, while maintaining a core essence, which has been a feature of the Zoroastrian identity throughout its long history.

Continue reading “Zoroastrianism Special”
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Books

The Parsi community of India and the making of modern Iran

Marashi, Afshin. 2020. Exile and the nation: the Parsi community of India and the making of modern Iran. Austin: University of Texas Press.

In the aftermath of the seventh-century Islamic conquest of Iran, Zoroastrians departed for India. Known as the Parsis, they slowly lost contact with their ancestral land until the nineteenth century, when steam-powered sea travel, the increased circulation of Zoroastrian-themed books, and the philanthropic efforts of Parsi benefactors sparked a new era of interaction between the two groups.

Tracing the cultural and intellectual exchange between Iranian nationalists and the Parsi community during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Exile and the Nation shows how this interchange led to the collective reimagining of Parsi and Iranian national identity—and the influence of antiquity on modern Iranian nationalism, which previously rested solely on European forms of thought. Iranian nationalism, Afshin Marashi argues, was also the byproduct of the complex history resulting from the demise of the early modern Persianate cultural system, as well as one of the many cultural heterodoxies produced within the Indian Ocean world. Crossing the boundaries of numerous fields of study, this book reframes Iranian nationalism within the context of the connected, transnational, and global history of the modern era.

Contents:

  • Note on Transliteration and Dates
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. To Bombay and Back: Arbab Kaykhosrow Shahrokh and the Reinvention of Iranian Zoroastrianism
  • Chapter 2. Patron and Patriot: Dinshah J. Irani, Parsi Philanthropy, and the Revival of Indo-Iranian Culture
  • Chapter 3. Imagining Hafez: Rabindranath Tagore in Iran, 1932
  • Chapter 4. Ebrahim Purdavud and His Interlocutors: Parsi Patronage and the Making of the Vernacular Avesta
  • Chapter 5. Sword of Freedom: Abdulrahman Saif Azad and Interwar Iranian Nationalism
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
Categories
Articles

Transition of Classification Patterns of Ancient Iran History in Qajar Era

Ordou, Reza. 2018. Transition of classification patterns of ancient Iran history in Qajar era. Historical Perspective & Historiography 21: 7-31.

Qajar era was a period which academic historical researches translated from European languages to Persian and archaeological excavations in Iran besides deciphering ancient inscriptions by European orientalists and Iranologists took place. Confronting these excavations and texts made Iranian historians and also Iranians – who had epic perception from their ancient history – to have contradictory feelings about their past. This article tries to answer this question that how historians in Qajar era managed to solve these incompatible narratives. For this purpose, historical texts about ancient Iran, which have been written or translated in Qajar era, have been scrutinized. This article shows that in early Qajar era epic viewpoint about ancient Iran history was totally dominant so that historians would rather ignore factual history, provided by excavations and inscriptions, or interpret them in epic context. By expanding historical researches, factual history of ancient Iran gradually became an authentic narrative beside epic one and historians tried to connect these narratives in order to solve the duality. Eventually in later Qajar era, epic narrative considered fictional and the history, based on archaeological excavations and ancient texts, became valid.

In original:

اردو، رضا. 1397. تحول الگوهای تقسیم‌بندی تاریخ ایران باستان در عصر قاجار. تاریخ‌نگری و تاریخ‌نگاری 21: 7-31

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Books

Narrative Illustration on Qajar Tilework in Shiraz

Seyed Mousavi, Atefeh. 2018. Narrative Illustration on Qajar Tilework in Shiraz (Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte des Islamischen Orients). 2 vols. Dortmund: Verlag für Orientkunde.

Tilework illustration of the Qajar period has received comparatively little scholarly consideration. This applies specifically to Shiraz, where the art was abundantly practiced. My book, the first of its kind, presents a detailed analytical study of Qajar tile painting in Shiraz. The material has been collected during two extensive fieldwork trips. Having collected more than 5,000 photos, I have chosen 42 historical buildings in Shiraz with tile work decoration for a detailed analysis, supplying minute descriptions for each and every image together with a solid documentation of the tiles’ respective location in the buildings. My study identifies, classifies and analyzes the depicted themes and the craftsmanship behind it. Particular attention has been devoted to a detailed discussion of the prominent themes, their argument and motivation, as well as to popular artists of the period. In addition to the study, my work contains ample visual documentation.

Vol. 1, 335 pages (Texts); Vol. 2, 268 pages (Coloured Images)

Categories
Events

Art, Culture, Literature & Society in Qajar Iran

Art, Culture, Literature & Society in Iran during the Qadjar Era

Second Conference of Iranian Studies organized by the Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Berlin, June 30 – July 2, 2017

Read the detailed conference proframme here.

Conference Programme:

Language and Literature

  • Roxane Haag-Higuchi: “Umkehr und Erwachen: zur Literaturgeschichte der Qadscharenzeit”
  • Karolina Rakowiska: “Das Bild der Frau in der Literatur zur Zeit der Qadscharen Dynastie”
  • Bert G. Fragner: “Das Zeitalter der Qadscharen im Urteil von Historikern und Geschichtsschreibern während der letzten 150 Jahre”
  • Documentary Film: “Die Geschichte des Journalismus im Iran”
  • Eva Orthmann: “Der grenzüberschreitende Einfluss des Persischen”
  • Saiid Firuzabadi: “Joseph von Hammer-Purgstalls Beitrag zur Bekanntmachung der persischen Literatur in der Zeit der Qadscharen-Dynastie”

Art History

  • Shervin Farridnejad: “Judeo-Persian Miniatur Painting and Illustrated Manuscripts from late 17th to early 20th centuries”
  • Negar Habibi: “Landschaftsmalerei während der Q adscharen-Dynastie (von Malereien im europäischen Stil bis zu Kamal-ol-Molk)”
  • Kianusch Mootaghedi: “Analyse der siebenfarbigen Kacheln der Qadscharen-Epoche”
  • Nicoletta Fazio: “Too Modern for the Showcase? How Qajar Art made it in the Museum”
  • Boris von Brauchitsch: “Die Kunst der Fotografie im Vergleich: Analyse zweier Fotoalben vom Golestan-Palast”

Maps and Travelogues

  • Birgitt Hoffmann: “Reiseberichte aus der Qadscharen-Epoche”
  • Christine Nölle-Karimi: “Qajar Envoys in Khiva”

Cities

  • Heinz Gaube: “Kaschan zur Zeit der Qadscharen”
  • Sima Taefi: “Teheran, eine glanzvolle Erinnerung an die Qadscharen-Epoche”

Politic

  • Seyed Ali Moujani: „Die Nation der Schia“ und der „Märtyrerkönig“ – Nāserad-Din Schahs Politik bezüglich der heiligen Stätten in Irak”
  • Oliver Bast : “Die Qadscharen und Europa während des ersten Weltkrieges”
  • Ali Bahramian: “Der Übergang von der Schrift zum Druck in der Zeit der Qadscharen-Dynastie”
  • Ulrich Marzolph: “Lithographie in der Zeit der Qadscharen-Dynastie”

Workshops

  • Thomas Ogger/Sayfollah Shokri: “Iranian Music Instrumenst”
  • Hamid Reza Shureshi: “Calligraphy Workshop”

 

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Articles

E’temad al-Saltaneh’s Nativisation of the Qajars

Daryaee, Touraj. 2016. Persianate Contribution to the Study of Antiquity: E’temad al-Saltaneh’s Nativisation of the Qajars, Iran, LIVI.I, 39-45.
This essay discusses the contribution of the Iranians to the understanding of their own past and how the Qajars attempted to place themselves within the ancient history of their realm. The first Iranian archaeological excavations and study of monuments and history are analysed and it is concluded that the choice of the Arsacid empire as an ancestor of the Qajars was part of their efforts to become nativised and connected with Iran’s distant past
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Books

The eye of the Shah

Chi, Jennifer (ed.). 2015. The Eye of the Shah: Qajar Court Photography and the Persian Past. With contributions by Carmen Pérez González, Judith Lerner, and Reza Sheikh. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

A while ago we posted a link about the exhibition The Eye of the Shah: Qajar Court Photography and the Persian Past. We now draw attention to the catalogue  of the exhibition, which presents nearly 200 photographs and contributions by Carmen Perez Gonzalez, Bergische Universität Wuppertal; Reza Sheikh, Independent Scholar; and Judith A. Lerner, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.

The catalogue’s essays discuss such topics as the achievements of court photographers in the service of Naser al-Din Shah, including Reza ‘Akkasbashi, ‘Abdollah Mirza Qajar, and Dust Mohammad Khan Mo’ayyer al-Mamalek, and the volume also examines the role of photography in helping Iranians document Iran’s pre-Islamic monuments during the second half of the nineteenth century.

For more information, see the catalogue or the publisher websites.

Categories
Events

Photography of the Persian Past

Persepolis in Qajar era, c. 1902. © Wikimedia

Exhibition: The Eye of the Shah: Qajar Court Photography and the Persian Past

October 22, 2015- January 17, 2016
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 11am-6pm, Friday 11am-8pm, Closed Monday and Tuesday

The Eye of the Shah: Qajar Court Photography and the Persian Past explores a pivotal time in Iran, when the country was opening itself to the Western world. With over 150 photographic prints, a number of vintage photographic albums, and memorabilia that utilized formal portraiture of the shah, the exhibition shows how photographers—many of them engaged by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848-1896), the longest reigning Shah of the Qajar Dynasty (1785-1925)—sought to create a portrait of the country for both foreigners and Iranians themselves. Most of the photographs in the exhibition have never been publicly displayed.

The Eye of the Shah includes unprecedented photographs of life in the royal court in Tehran, such as images of the last shahs of the Qajar Dynasty, their wives and children, and court entertainers. These are complemented by photographs of iconic ancient monuments and sites, such as Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam, capturing Iran’s expansive and rich historical past, which further promoted Iran and Iranian culture to the West. The photographers depicted the Iran of their day through images of modernization initiatives, such as the military, the railway, and the postal system, while the daily lives of Iranian people was revealed through photographs showing shopkeepers, street vendors, and field workers. Additionally, Eye of the Shah features pieces by two modern-day Iranian photographers, Bahman Jalali (1944-2010) and Shadi Ghadirian (b. 1974), who evoke and sometimes incorporate images of photography from the Qajar Dynasty, illustrating the continuing and powerful influence that Iranian photography of 19th and early 20th century photography has in the country’s contemporary art world.

The image is taken from ©Wikimedia Commons.