Category: Iran

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food Iran

Food in Iran

We had fairly high expectations of Iranian food going into the trip, and to some extent our expectations were met–most things we had were quite delicious. However, sadly, food for tourists in Iran suffers from two serious problems.

The first is the same issue that I spoke of in my Syrian food entry (4.27)–the food that is generally served in restaurants is only a small subset of the cuisine as a whole, and to try other dishes essentially requires an invitation to a home-cooked meal. Just as in Syria or Turkey, restaurant food is largely kebabs, in various forms. This problem is more severe in Iran because the restaurants do not have the mezze/salad culture of Syria or Turkey, but alleviated by the fact that even fairly basic Iranian kebabis often will serve, in addition to kebab, dizi or a stew (see below for both). At home, we are told, people eat less kebabs, and more stews and rice dishes (polo).

This distinction between home food and restaurant food is common throughout the Middle East, and my two best guesses so far is that it exists either because of gender roles or history. The first theory is that there is a difference between food traditionally cooked by men and food traditionally cooked by women, with only the former being served in restaurants, where only men work. Just as men barbecue in America, grilling kebabs seems to be a man’s job, and I do not recall seeing one woman working as a waitress or a cook in a proper restaurant in the Middle East. [On the other hand, there’s nothing about being male that would prevent you from learning to cook other dishes and serving them in restaurants.] It’s also possible that kebabs represent more masculine food (cooked around a campfire in ancestral days?), and that the customers at restaurants were, primarily, men (since women were more likely to be at home for meals).

The historical theory, I would pose, is that kebabs (due to their meatiness) somehow represented higher class food, or at least food that would be served in a premium (restaurant) setting. Grilled meat is something of a status food in other countries as well (e.g., steakhouses), and the idea of going out to eat may have been equated with eating special food that you couldn’t eat at home every day. Of course, as average wealth has gone up, this is to a certain extent no longer true (many people now can afford to eat meat regularly at home, even if they do not choose to), but this “ranking” of food may persist in what restaurants serve.

Anyway, on to the food.

Let’s start with the kebabs. The most common by far is a minced/pressed meat kebab called kubideh (what a Turk would call köfte). It is fairly highly seasoned in Iran, and delicious almost anywhere (although very fatty in lower class joints). It is the single most common food, here served with grilled tomatoes and onions.

Most simply, kebab can be eaten with bread, which is provided for free in Iranian restaurants, but most people order it with rice, which costs some money. The rice in Iran is long grain, similar to Indian rice, and is often served with some saffron-tinted rice and a few barberries on top. The rice is almost always cooked perfectly, light and delicious, especially with the often provided pat of butter. Here, chicken kebab with rice.

Often called “the national dish,” dizi or abgusht is one of the most homey, basic foods of Iran, of northwestern/Azeri-Turkish origin we read once, and is served in restaurants as well as basic teahouses.

Dizi has quite a complicated eating process. First you drink the soup, which is a meaty tomato broth, usually by pouring it into a separate metal bowl and adding a whole lot of torn-up bread. Here, we did it in the dizi pot.

Once you have consumed all of the liquid, you mash up the solid ingredients (meat, potatoes, vegetables) with the provided masher, add some onions, mint or whatever else is provided for additional seasoning and spoon it up, perhaps with bread.

As I mentioned, many restaurants have at least one stew on hand, which is always served with rice. Two particular stews are by far the most common. The first is khoresht ghaimeh, which is a red stew made with split peas and meat. Here, pictured with yogurt, which is offered with all Iranian meals.

The second is khoresht ghormeh sabzi, which is (and tastes) green. It’s a matter of personal preference and mood, I think, which of these two stews one would prefer at a given time.

Many Iranians told us that their favorite Iranian dish is fesenjun, which is meat served in a thick green sauce of walnuts and pomegranate juice. The flavor is complex and slightly tangy, to me a bit reminiscent of Mexican mole, although not quite as dark and rich. Here, it was served with chicken, as is usual, although we also saw it with lamb. Fesenjun is delicious and fairly hard to come by in a restaurant, and so we ordered it whenever possible.

Tachin. It looks almost like a quiche in this picture, and that is because it is made with a lot of egg (we think just yolk). The substance of the “pie” is rice, crusted on top, and there is a large piece of chicken buried within (visible in the lower right). Oddly, it is served on yet more rice. I found the dish a bit too egg yolk-y, for my taste, but Derek loved it. In addition to appearing on tachin, crusty rice from the side of the pot is eaten as a snack in Iran, just as in parts of East Asia.

A common “appetizer” is kashk-e bademjun, a mixture of eggplant and whey. We used it as a sort of dip for bread.

One special food in Esfahan is beriani. Although it has the same name as Indian biryani it is totally unrelated, as you can see (cf. post of 5.12). A patty of seasoned meat hides within some bread. Not too exciting.

In order to avoid eating kebabs two meals a day, we found ourselves resorting to “fast food,” which in Iran generally means hamburgers and pizzas. Fast food restaurants, mostly one-off restaurants and not chains, and serving food fairly quickly but no more so than kebabis, are more common than any other kind of restaurant. The pizza in Iran is not so good (often packed with fairly bad pork-less meat products) but the hamburgers excellent (made with patties that are a combination of meat and soy). This food was from the Hamedan branch of a national chain called Atish, filled with very hip, middle-class Iranians.

I am not sure whether an Iranian would call firni breakfast food or dessert, but it was first introduced to me in Turkey (in baked form) as a dessert. Here served with sweet date sauce (without the sauce it was fairly bland).

The most common Iranian sweet, at least of those served on the street and not counting soft serve ice cream: faludeh. The light, thin short strips (made with wheat or rice, I believe, depending on where you get it), more similar to pasta than anything else, are frozen and gently flavored with rose water. Here, served with lemon sherbet on left.

The most common drink in Iran is tea, but we found these very interesting beverages on th
e street in many cities. I believe both are made with flowers, but know only the name of the orange one–khak-e shir. The most unique thing about these drinks, hopefully visible in the photo, is that there are countless “floaties” that slowly settle and then become suspended in the liquid again at a gentle shake. The floaties have a pleasant texture as you suck them through your straw. I was told that the drink is also supposed to have therapeutic qualities.

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Iran photo

Natural Beauty of Iran

We knew two things for certain about Iran before coming. The first was that there would be a tremendous amount to see, in terms of historical monuments. Iran is of course a center of world culture, and we knew that from Persepolis to Iran’s tiled mosques, there would be much to admire and learn. The second was that people would be warm and friendly, especially to us as Americans. Our Iranian-American friend had told us this repeatedly, and so we knew that we would have a good experience as far as human interaction was concerned.

What we did not know was that Iran would have truly spectacular landscapes and scenery. Were it not for the historical sites and the gracious and hospitable people, Iran would be a worthy destination for nature alone–as it is, the landscapes usually provide mere backdrops or scenery to drive through, which is almost a shame. We’d love to come back to Iran for an outdoors or trekking trip, either in the desert or in the mountains. Unfortunately, since our trip was not aimed at this, the pictures we have are limited, but we thought that the natural beauty of Iran certainly deserved a mention on the blog.

I’m not sure what your impression of the Iranian landscape is, but I imagine many of you would think that there is a lot of desert–and in truth there is, actually far more than I imagined. The whole eastern half of the country is a series of deserts and many of Iran’s greatest cities lie on the desert’s fringes.

Of course, the desert can be a beautiful place. We took one specifically scenery-oriented day trip in the desert, to the Kaluts just north of Kerman in southeastern Iran. Most easily comparable to Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border of the American Southwest, the Kaluts were a hot but beautiful area to hike around as the sun set. Outdoor tourism here is fairly well developed, with some operators offering overnight camel and camping trips.



Painted desert, near Kerman

Joopar Mountains, near Kerman, offering in the desert the refreshing sight of snow. Springs from such mountains have historically been central to the Iranian water supply. [picture to come]

More desert mountains, near Kashan in central Iran

Northern and eastern Iran is lined with taller mountain ranges. These include both high peaks (Mt. Damavand at over 5600 meters) and relatively lower ones.

Mountains southwest of Shiraz, near the ruins of Firuzabad and Bishapur [pictures to come]

Near the Assassin castle of Alamut west of Tehran [post on Assassins of Iran to come]

Tehran itself lies at the foot of the Alborz range, which had traces of snow this early June. We were told that the previous winter had seen relatively light snowfall–but people were still skiing in spring. Northern Tehran is set on the very lowest slopes, and cool trails with mountain streams lie within city limits. Just on the other side of the Alborz mountains, a few hours drive away, is the Caspian coast, which we are told has a range of almost subtropical scenery that we did not get to see.

Not included in this post are the beautiful gardens of Iran, which I hope to include in a post on Iranian architecture to come.

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Iran photo Syria

Mountain Hideouts: Maalula and Abiyaneh

Two towns we have visited on our trip, Maalula in Syria and Abiyaneh in Iran, bear certain resemblances to each other, and I thought that it was worth covering their similarities in a post.

Maalula is located about an hour and a half north of Damascus, in the foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountains. The village is famous not only for having a very early Christian population–seemingly established in the first centuries after Christ–but also for the fact that its residents continue to speak Aramaic, the language that was spoken by Jesus. Shops in town sell basic Aramaic grammars and the Lord’s Prayer written in Aramaic script. While it is true that many Syrians are Christian, Maalula sticks out as a particularly Christian-dominated town, where churches far outnumber mosques and a statue of Mary stands tall above the town.

Abiyaneh, located about an hour or so north of Esfahan, is also in something of a hidden valley. While its residents now share Iran’s dominant religion of Shia Islam, Abiyaneh was a late holdout of Zoroastrianism, and the remnants of a fire temple are visible near the town center. Abiyaneh is known for maintaining many unique traditions, and, like Maalula, its residents (or at least its oldest residents) speak an archaic language (Middle Persian, dating from the Sassanid era, before the Arab conquest and Islam).

Abiyaneh at sunset

The women of Abiyaneh are famous for their dress, which includes floral headscarves–much more cheerful than the black chadors worn by other older Iranian women.

This woman is knocking the door with her knuckles, but note the different metal knockers on the left and right doors–they are designed to make different noises so that the residents of the house know whether a man or a woman is at the door.

A couple local men

A local man at the top of an old underground cistern, a common site in Iran (though largely unused).

We saw relatively few younger people in Abiyaneh. We were told later that many residents of Abiyaneh are quite wealthy, and have citizenship in countries other than Iran. The elderly population is resident year-round, while others return for holidays and special events. Even before widespread emigration, people from Abiyaneh were known for accumulating land in neighboring towns, and such purchases were celebrated by the village while those who sold land away were considered traitors.

Maalula and Abiyaneh are reminders that mountainous or remote terrain has acted to protect minorities and persecuted/targeted groups for centuries, and of the ability of such terrain to fragment and shelter languages. Today, however, with modern technology, mass culture and more powerful governments, such barriers are no longer effective, and the scattered residents of Abiyaneh and the residents of Maalula will no doubt have difficulty maintaining their local traditions and dialects.

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Iran photo religion

Shia Islam

Before starting, I want to stress that I know little about Islam or the distinctions between Sunnis and Shiites. Nonetheless, as a reasonably educated person with a basic understanding of religions, it has been both puzzling and interesting to learn about Shia Islam, and to see traditions and practices that seem to differ quite significantly with other religions that I have had at least some contact with through earlier travels. I imagine that this post would be especially interesting to those of you who know more than I do, to see an outsider’s impressions of the Shia faith Feel free to enlighten me, should I be mistaken or confused.

To start, the principal historical distinction between Sunnis and Shiites: the succession contest after the death of Mohammed. After the death of Mohammed in 632, there arose a dispute as to who should succeed his role as the (religious and political) head of the Islamic world. One faction supported Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed, while others supported Abu Bakr. In the end, Abu Bakr was elected the first caliph (or successor to Mohammed), followed in relatively quick succession by Umar, Uthman, and then finally Ali. Showing the contentiousness of the power struggles at the time, Umar, Uthman and Ali each met his end by murder. Some blamed the death of Uthman on the Ali faction (now known as Shiites), while the Shiites blamed the death of Ali on the others (now known as Sunnis). Following the death of Ali, the Sunni Umayyad dynasty, based in Damascus, took over the caliphate. During this period, the conflict between the majority Sunnis and the minority Shiites deepened, especially after the Umayyads killed Ali’s son Hussein, much of his family and many of his followers, at a battle near Karbala in now Iraq.

Shiites did not recognize the Sunni caliphs (which office survived to the twentieth century in the Ottoman Empire) but trace the authority of Mohammed through Ali, his wife (and daughter of Mohammed) Fatima and their progeny. Starting with Ali (the first Imam, or leader), then Ali’s and Fatima’s son Hassan (the second Imam), then Hassan’s brother Hussein (the third Imam), and then followed by lineal descendants of Hussein for nine more generations, the Shiites (or more precisely the “Twelver” Shiites, cf. my post of 4.12 for “Sevener” Shiites) recognize twelve Imams, the twelfth one being Imam Mahdi, in the ninth century, who is said never to have died but simply gone into hiding (more on this below). In essence, they form a royal line starting from Mohammed (somewhat reminiscent of the fictional “royal blood” of Jesus and Mary Magdalene described in the book The Da Vinci Code).

The persons of these Imams form a central focus of Shiite worship. This seems, in my view, so elevated that the veneration of the imams approaches something akin to the veneration of Jesus and Mary (that is, in excess of the veneration of saints) among Christians. The names of Ali and Hussein in particular appear in calligraphic form all over Shiite Mosques, emphasizing in my view not only the importance of their persons (in addition to Allah and Mohammed, whose names appear alongside), but also to stress the Sunni/Shiite distinction. We also saw a young man wearing a ring with not the name of God or Mohammed, but Ali.

Ali’s name in tilework Kufic calligraphy, next to swastikas, Friday Mosque, Yazd

Poem honoring Hussein, also in tile calligraphy, Friday Mosque, Esfahan

Shiite Muslims not only honor Fatima and the Imams (the number twelve, representing the Imams, and the number fourteen, representing the Imams plus Fatima and Mohammed, play important symbolic roles), but also accord special respect to the descendants of the Imams. In Iran there are countless (over six thousand according to sources) shrines (called “imamzadeh”) for the relatives of the imams, who take on a saint-like authority to intervene on believers’ behalf. Living relatives of the Imams are also specially respected, and have a special form of dress that identifies them. [More on this to come in my post on Persian identity.]

The veneration of the Imams and their relatives takes one particularly conspicuous form, which seems to me to be a central mode of Shiite worship: mourning. Observant Shiite Muslims mourn the deaths of each of the Imams for several days, putting up black banners and often breaking out into tears. The peak of this mourning is the holy holidays of Tasua and Ashura in the Islamic month of Moharram (this year, in winter), which commemorate the death of Hussein with great ceremony, including the infamous self-flagellation with chains.

We came upon this mourning first in Syria, where there are many Iranian pilgrims visiting holy Muslim (especially Shiite) sites. We thought that many of the Iranians, mostly women in chadors accompanied by a cleric, looked unhappy and seemed unfriendly. As it turned out, this was because (or at least in part because) they were mourning. It is said that crying for the Imams can cleanse sins. One man we spoke to said that his family made an annual pilgrimage to Mashhad to mourn the death of the eighth Imam.

Iranian pilgrims, in chadors, outside the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria. The Umayyad Mosque contains a shrine to Hussein including a niche in which it is said that the Umayyads placed his head after his death.

Shiite clerics at A-Sayyda Ruqayya Shrine, Damascus, Syria. Sayyda Ruqayya was the daughter of Ali.

We were in Esfahan on the anniversary of the death of Fatima. A parade featuring drums, clerics, a singer and men carrying large black, red and green flags marched through the city, followed by a crowd of men and then women in chadors, to assemble at a main park, where there was chanting and ritualized jumping up and down, slapping of heads and beating of chests. Even in religious Iran, however, the crowd was quite small for a city the size of Esfahan–much larger was the number of people observing and taking pictures and videos with their cellphone cameras.

Another important (and to me previously unknown) feature of Shiite Islam is its millenarianism, or its belief that the world as we know it will soon come to an end. It is believed that the twelfth Imam Mahdi, who was born in 868, went into hiding at age five, just after becoming the twelfth Imam at his father’s death. Still alive, Imam Mahdi will reappear on Earth at a time of great war and disorder, when he will, together with Jesus, restore peace and justice. According to people I spoke to, this could happen at any time, and some Iranians believe that George W. Bush and the state of Israel are signs that Mahdi’s time is coming soon. [It is unclear to me whether it is believed that Mahdi is still alive with his physical body on Earth, or alive in some more abstract sense.] Early Christianity was also a millenarian faith, and of course there are evangelical Christians who daily await the “Rapture.”

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Iran photo

History of Iran: Safavid Esfahan

This is part of a series of an overview of Iranian history–please refer to my posts of 5.10 and 5.11.

***

The Mongols conquered much of Asia in the 13th century, establishing in the wake of Genghiz Khan four separate kingdoms, including the Ilkhanate dynasty in now Iran and the lands directly east and west of now Iran. The disintegration of the Ilkhanate kingdom in the mid-14th century brought with it a series of lesser rulers over now Iran, until the conquests of Tamerlane from now Uzbekistan in the 15th century. Tamerlane’s was an even more fleeting dynasty in Central Asia and now Iran, largely over by the reign of his grandson.

During this same period rose a Sufi (charismatic/mystical Islamic) order in Ardabil in now northwest Iran. Claiming descent from a Sufi leader named Sheikh Safi od-Din (1252-1334), who in turn was said to have descended from the seventh Shiite Imam [post on Shia Islam to come], this Sufi order became organized and militant and by the end of the fifteenth century declared itself a state that eventually conquered now Iran, the Caucasus, southwestern Central Asia and much of now Iraq and Afghanistan. During their rise they expanded trade and established links with the West, but came into conflict with neighbors the Uzbeks (to the northeast) and the Ottomans (to the west), which conflicts are memorialized in their art (see below).

The Safavids are notable not only for representing one of the high points of Iranian civilization, but also for religious intolerance. Like the Sassanids before them, the Safavids claimed descent from a religious leader (Sassan was a Zoroastrian priest) and enforced a state religion. The Safavids coerced the conversions of many Zoroastrian and Sunni Iranians to Shia Islam. One Iranian told us that the deepening differentiation of Shia beliefs and practices from those of the Sunni may have been encouraged by Europeans, who wanted to divide and weaken the Muslim world. I do not know what historical support there is for such a theory, but it seems likely to me that the Safavids also saw merit in identifying themselves as leaders of a (sub)faith in order to contrast themselves with their opponents, the Ottomans, who had stewardship of Sunni Muslims worldwide through control of the Sunni caliphate, and to unite Safavid Iran under a common banner. Then, as now, differences in religious sects were used to political ends, subfaiths used to distinguish one’s country from its neighbors. [Posts on Shia Islam and Persian identity to come.]

The greatest Safavid ruler was Shah Abbas I (1587-1629), or Shah Abbas the Great, who moved the capital of the kingdom to Esfahan and endowed it with architectural treasures, the greatest parts of which survive today. Esfahan is truly one of the most beautiful cities we have ever visited, its many Safavid relics still forming a harmonious whole, in combination with many earlier structures and the modern tree-lined streets and flowing fountains of a prosperous city.

The most famous landmark of Esfahan, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is Naqsh-e Jahan (“Pattern of the World”), or Imam, Square, located in the heart of the Safavid city. The square is truly regal in its proportions, and blessed with many architectural treasures.

On the south side of the square is the great Qeysariah Gate to the Great Bazaar of Esfahan. The mural depicts a battle between the Safavids and the Uzbeks (which was, of course, won by the Safavids).

The bazaar connects Naqsh-e Jahan Square all the way to the Friday Mosque in the northern part of the old city. [The Friday Mosque itself substantially predates the Safavids, although the Safavids, like almost every Iranian dynasty, built on to it. Post on Iranian architecture to come, which will feature some pictures of the Friday Mosque.] The shops closest to the square, including those around its perimeter, tend to specialize in handicrafts and souvenirs, including especially carpets and miniature paintings. According to guidebooks, only about a third of the bazaars of Esfahan survive, but what remains is still quite extensive.

On the north side of Naqsh-e Jahan Square is Imam Mosque, known before the Islamic revolution as the Shah Mosque.

A huge structure with a large courtyard with four iwans, the Imam Mosque’s dome and minarets can be seen from far away.

A prayer hall of the Imam Mosque, truly cavernous. The Imam Mosque is said to have been constructed in a hurry, and much of its tilework is not mosaic but painted. [Post on Iranian architecture to come.]

On the eastern side of the square is the Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque, certainly one of the most beautiful mosques that we have visited (and likely one of the most beautiful in the world). The dome is muted and subtle on the outside and simply spectacular on the inside.

Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque at night. The apparent asymmetry of the Sheikh Lotfallah and Imam Mosques from the outside is due to the Mosques’ orientation toward Mecca, not shared by the square itself.

Finally, on the west side of the square is Ali Qapu Palace. The Ali Qapu also acted as a gateway to the many palaces and parks to the west of the square.

Roof of the terrace overlooking the square.

On the west side of the square are many former palaces, all set in lush parks. We were most entranced by Chehel Sotun (“Forty Columns”) Palace, which was re-constructed in the early 18th century following a fire (which supposedly the Shah, a religious man, let burn as it must have been intended by god).

The paintings inside are spectacular, and tell many stories. Some are Safavid in origin, and depict great events of the Safavid state, such as visits by neighboring rulers seeking the aid of the Safavids and great battles showing the Safavids defeating their opponents. The murals were covered up by the Afghans, who successfully invaded Esfahan in the early 18th century. Others were painted by Nader Shah, who defeated the Afghans and took over the reigns from the Safavids. The guidebooks (though not our guide) point out one mural of a man kissing a woman’s foot which was almost destroyed by during the Islamic revolution, but saved by the palace’s custodians.

Almost matching Naqsh-e Jahan Square in terms of enjoyability are Esfahan’s bridges. Some of the bridges predate the Safavids, but their present forms are largely Safavid. The Si-o-Se (or Thirty-Three Arch) Bridge, the longest in Esfahan.

Our hotel was across the Si-o-Se, and we loved strolling across it every evening on the way back to our room, pausing to sit under its arches. While we rested and enjoyed the cool evening air at least every few minutes Esfahanis would pause to say hello, leading to some interesting conversations!

The Chubi Bridge. The Si-o-Se and the Chubi bridges both house traditional teahouses, where you can sit and enjoy the river and snacks.

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Iran

Windows, a Guest Poem

A man in Esfahan gave me this poem, unsolicited, and asked me to put it on my website. Here it is:

People tell me that windows
Don’t have feelings or a heart
But when the glass of a window
Is steamed up
And I’m writing with my finger on it
The words “I love you”
Then the window panes start to cry!!!

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Iran

Esfahan Moment

10 PM, sitting at a table at a fast food shop on Chahar Bagh, the main avenue in town, itself a Safavid creation. Waiting on Derek, who’s ordering food.

Shop’s full of people–what a treat to eat with others, busy and lively, illuminated signs and maybe even the glint of neon. Nice to be back in urban life, out of cities that died in the evening, people retreating to their homes. Noise of the servers wrapping up food, people ordering, and the honking of cars on the road.

I hear Derek cluck to explain that he wants chicken, and then look over just in time to catch the end of his rooster strut and see him slap his butt to indicate a thigh piece–people stare and laugh, as do I.

An African man stands at the counter, an Asiatic (Hazara?) boy meets my eyes, a man with three shirt buttons undone empties a packet of ketchup onto his pizza pie.

Bus boy stands in his dirty short sleeve uniform, wearing a New York Yankees cap, wipes his brow.

A man scraggly bearded–is he an example of the type who supports the government? Contrary to so many of the people who choose to speak to us? Is it people like him that put the country where it is?

Next table, an odd couple: A middle-aged American (?) and a younger Iranian guy. Did they meet on the Internet? What is the nature of their encounter? The American seems to be explaining atheism–something about believing himself a monkey sitting on a rock revolving around a blazing ball.

Derek returns to the table.

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India Iran photo Syria

Armenians

We don’t know if we’ll make it to Armenia later this year, but it’s been fascinating to see how far and wide outside of Armenia Armenians have settled. Stuck in a corner of the world among greater powers (Iran, Russia and Turkey), Armenians have by choice and by force scattered widely across the world. Despite their turbulent history, many of these Armenian communities have survived, and the extent to which they have preserved their culture and prospered is truly impressive (the Jews are the only other people I can compare them to).

India

In their easternmost reaches, Armenian communities represented the success of Armenians in the business of trade. Armenians were among the first (though possibly not the very first–see my post of 3.5) Christians to settle in India, wher they took an active role in international comerce. One of the British Hong Kong’s foremost residents, Sir Paul Chater, for whom is still named so many things in Hong Kong, was an Armenian of Indian birth. Few Armenians remain in India today.

Madras, India, has several Armenian sites, including 18th century St. Mary’s Church (building closed when we visited). Armenians were some of the first Christians in India

Armenian gravestone, Luz Church (itself originally Portuguese), Madras

Iran

Outside Vank Cathedral, Esfahan

The Armenians of the city of Jolfa on what is now Iran’s border with Azerbaijan were forced to move to Esfahan in 1603 during the reign of Safavid Shah Abbas the Great, who wanted to enhance his new capital with the Armenians’ talents and commercial skills. While the move itself was forced, the Armenians were granted substantial land in Esfahan (in a neighborhood named New Jolfa, or now just Jolfa) and enjoyed certain freedoms and autonomy, protected by the power of the Shahs. These protections were not always continued by later rulers.

Vank Cathedral, Esfahan (note the use of Iranian architectural styles)

Brick and tilework detail

Inside Vank Cathedral

Like many Armenian communities around the world, the Armenians of Iran have been quite successful, now based largely in Tehran and Esfahan. In Tehran tourists are welcome to dine at the peaceful Armenian Club, located near the French and Italian Embassies, where non-Muslim women need not follow the hejab (Islamic dress code). The Armenian population increased during World War I as Armenians fled now Turkey (see also below, under “Syria”), but has steadily decreased since then as Armenians have left Iran for Armenia, the U.S. and Europe. There are some 20,000 Armenians left in Iran, about a tenth of the historical population.

Armenian church service


Recording of music from mass

In Jolfa, Esfahan, there are twelve Armenian churches, but there are only enough worshippers and clergy to celebrate mass in one or two, the churches rotating on a weekly basis. Following the historical precedent of Islam, the Iranian government seems to let Christians worship freely, at least within their churches. However, an Armenian that I spoke to said that the situation was peaceful “especially under [former president] Khatami,” implying that conditions for the Armenians have deteriorated under Ahmedinejad. Asked further, the Armenian mentioned that the greatest problems were judicial (presumably meaning that Armenians have limited access to justice in the courts) and discrimination for government posts.

Inside Bethlehem Church

Syria

Marco Polo noted that now Turkey was populated by three peoples: Turks (“a rude people with an uncouth language of their own” [!]), and Armenians and Greeks (“who live mixt with the former in the towns and villages, occupying themselves with trade and handicrafts”). During what is now called the Armenian Genocide around the time of World War I, hundreds of thousands of Armenians died and were killed in now Turkey with survivors fleeing to areas outside now Turkey, including Iran but especially Syria.

In Syria, Armenians were first taken to the middle of the desert, at Deir ez-Zur near Dura Europos (cf. post of 4.24), and then joined other Christians already settled in Syria, including in the Christian district of Aleppo. Currently Armenians make up a substantial portion of the population of central Aleppo, where they are prosperous and live among Arab Christians. We were told that flights between Aleppo and Yerevan are always full, reflecting the strong link between the Armenian communities in Syria and Armenia.

Street in Christian district of Aleppo, Armenian orphanage on right

Syrian-style inlay in Armenian, Armenian church, Aleppo

Armenian mass, Aleppo

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India Iran photo queer religion

Zoroastrianism

Religion is a central aspect of human culture, and religious worship and religious edifices make up some of the most interesting and important sights for a traveler to a foreign land. In truth, however, the number of distinct, well-developed religious traditions is limited. As one becomes familiar with the basics of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, travel offers the opportunity to discover greater details, distinctions among the various subfaiths of these religions, but not the original sense of wonder that is afforded to a Western traveler first encountering Islam in the domes and minarets of Istanbul or an Eastern traveler’s first sight of the great European churches such as St. Peter’s Basilica or Notre Dame Cathedral.

All of which makes it so exciting, as a relatively seasoned traveler, to see an entirely different faith in the flesh. The world’s Zoroastrian population may be limited (at most, 200,000 people), but Zoroastrian communities are highly visible in parts of both India and Iran.

Estimates of the lifetime of Zoroaster (also called Zartosht and Zarathustra–as in Richard Strauss’s Thus Spake Zarathustra of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame) vary, but many scholars currently believe that he lived in the eleventh or tenth century BC. He is regarded as the prophet of the religion named after him, which caught on especially as the dominant religion of the Persian Empire in the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods. The sacred texts, called the Gathas, which are part of the Avestas, are written in an ancient script and chanted by the priests as part of Zoroastrian worship.

audio clip of Zoroastrian chant

Most importantly, Zoroastrians believe in one god, Ahura Mazda, who created the universe and will prevail despite the presence of certain evil forces. It is often said that Zoroastrianism was the world’s first monotheistic religion.

The faravahar is the most important symbol of Zoroastrianism, seen here as carved at Persepolis. The man with his right hand shows obeisance to Ahura Mazda while he holds in his left hand a ring showing his promise to the god. The three layers of feathers in the wings represent good thought, good words and good deeds, while the three layers of feathers in the “tail” represent bad thoughts, bad words and bad deeds, which we should aim to put under us. The ring in the center represents the connectedness of the world and causality. The “leg” to the left represents evil spirits while the “leg” to the right represents good spirits.

We were told that people pray five times a day, oriented toward a light source if possible. The most important light source is the fire that burns at a Zoroastrian fire temple, but it is not considered essential for Zoroastrians to pray at the fire temple–any light suffices. Zoroastrians revere fire as one of the four sacred elements of creation (in addition to water, earth and air), but do not worship it–a common misconception in historical times.

Fire temple, Yazd, Iran

The fire inside the fire temple in Yazd. It is said that the fire, brought from older fire temples, has been burning without interruption since 470 AD.

A water, or Anahita, temple ruin at the city of Bishapur. When used, the central courtyard would have been flooded along with channels that run around an interior perimeter within the walls, on the other side of the doors that are visible.

Zoroastrianism became a state religion under the Sassanids (224-642 AD), who practiced a form of Zoroastrianism that is said to have been contaminated by Mithraism, another local faith. Since Islamic Arab conquest of now Iran in the seventh century, most of the population of Iran has converted to Islam, but around 40,000 Zoroastrians remain. It has been suggested that the decline of Zoroastrianism was due in part to its close association with the Sassanid state.

The Zoroastrian pilgrimage site of Chak Chak, to where it is believed that the last Sassanid princess fled. Low on water at this desert site, she is said to have thrown her staff at the mountain, at which a stream of water began to drip (“chak, chak, chak…”). The bronze doors depict Zoroaster.

At the time of the Arab conquest, a number of Iranians fled to India, where as a minority of around 70,000 centered around Bombay they retain their Zoroastrian faith. The Parsis, as the Zoroastrians of India are called, see themselves as Indians and not Iranians (they speak Gujarati, the language of Gujarat, India, where they first settled after leaving Iran), but maintain their historical and religious links to Iran. Parsis travel to Iran for pilgrimage and communicate with Iranian Zoroastrians on theological matters (although there is no central combined hierarchy), and there has also been intermarriage between the Zoroastrians of Iran and India. Parsis have been very successful, financially, and have provided material support to Zoroastrians in Iran.

A Parsi temple in Bombay, India

Tiled plaque inside the Chak Chak shrine, in Gujarati, the language of the Indian Parsis.

One of the most famous stories of Zoroastrians is that they do not bury the dead. Traditionally, Zoroastrians leave the bodies, which to them are meaningless vessels once the soul has departed, to decay and be eaten by scavenger birds in “towers of silence.” One Zoroastrian priest explained to us with unusually scientific vocabulary for a religious man that this allows the proteins of our bodies to be reincorporated as quickly as possible in another living animal. Towers of silence are no longer used in Iran, where they have been prohibited on health grounds since the Islamic Revolution, but are still used in India, with the help of chemical accelerants to promote decomposition, as the urbanization of Bombay has resulted in fewer and fewer scavengers.

A tower of silence outside Yazd. In the foreground is a cistern, with wind towers to cool the water.

Inside the tower. After the bones had been picked clean of flesh, they were deposited into the ossuary/well in the middle.

Modern Zoroastrian cemetery, Yazd. The bodies are buried in inert cement containers so as to not pollute the earth, one of the four sacred elements.

It’s often possible to recognize Zoroastrians in Iran because though they are ethnically fairly similar to the Muslim Iranians (unlike the Christians, who are largely Armenian), they tend to dress more casually. While they are required to adhere to the Islamic dress code, it seems they take it less to heart. One Iranian Zoroastrian told us that it is a bad time in Iran, with the current Iranian government, and many Zoroastrians, who on average are relatively well off, are emigrating.

Due to strict rules regarding conversion (the Parsis do not permit non-Parsis to convert to Zoroastrianism and the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran forbid Muslims from converting to other faiths under penalty of death), it seems likely that the world’s Zoroastrian population will further dwindle. [One Parsi told us that complicating the matter is that a majority of Parsi men are gay!] Unless there is a renais
sance in conversions to Zoroastrianism by Iranians seeking a return to their ancient religious roots (that is, after a change in Iranian law), it would seem likely that the religion will, eventually, die out.

An Iranian Zoroastrian man. [Note: Not the source of any information for this or any post.]

Categories
India Iran

Iran and India

This post can be read as a follow-up to my post of 3.28.

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When I first heard about the Zoroastrian Parsis of Bombay five years ago, I was surprised to learn that there was any connection at all between Iran and India. Of course, a quick look at a map shows that Iran borders the subcontinent (a fairly long frontier with Pakistan on both sides of which live the ethnic group of the Baluchis), but Iran in my mind was in the Middle East (together with the Arab world), while Pakistan, India and the rest of the subcontinent fell under the designation South Asia.

Being in Iran has helped me recognize that the historical and cultural connections between Iran and India are far more significant than I realized, even after my visit to Hyderabad. [Visiting Pakistan, no doubt, would further make clear the many links.] For ease of discussion, I will discuss the ties between Iran and India in categories.

Ethnic. Two peoples on the Earth (not counting Nazi Germany) are noted for having foundational myths that relate back to an “Aryan” people–Iran and India. In the case of Iran, ancient texts refer to the original Iranians as Aryans, coming from the Caucasus, and the name of the country itself means “land of the Aryans.” And as you may have learned in school, the basic ethnic history of India is that Aryan people entered the subcontinent from now Afghanistan, to displace and to some extent subjugate the preexisting Dravidian people, who now populate the darker-skin realms of South India.

According to these foundational legends, the Iranian and Indian peoples can be seen as brothers or cousins. And whether or not you believe these legends to be true, the physical similarity between some Iranians and Indians cannot be denied. Of course, many Indians and Iranians don’t look anything like each other–if you had to choose two nations that had similar looking people, these two would not be them–but there is definitely an overlap in the physical type that wasn’t apparent to me before visiting India and Iran in relatively close succession. Surprisingly many Iranians could easily pass for Indian (and vice versa, I suppose, although most people in the world are more familiar with what Indians look like than Iranians).

Historical/Linguistic. Farsi, the language spoken most widely in Iran, and northern Indian languages, such as Hindi, are the easternmost languages of the Indo-European language group and are said to comprise its “Indo-Iranian branch.” This hit me off-guard when, while looking at some tiles, I was told that “green” and “vegetable” in Farsi were “sabz” and “sabzi,” respectively, the latter of which I knew to the same word in Hindi from our Indian travels. No doubt there are many, many other common words given the linguistic closeness of the languages.

As I mentioned in my post of 3.28, many Muslim rulers of India, including the Mughals, were Farsi-speaking, and so Farsi was a court language in India for a fair amount of its history. These rulers came not only directly from now Iran, as the rulers of Golconda I described in my post of 3.28, but also from what may be called Greater Persia, which includes the parts of Afghanistan and Central Asia that were for much of history under the same control as now Iran and populated by people who speak Farsi or closely related languages. Until the nineteenth century, Farsi was in relatively common use in India, at least in certain circles, and many Iranians traveled to and lived in India to seek their fortunes.

Given this history, Farsi influence has great in Urdu, the language of Pakistan, which even uses, like Farsi, a modified Arabic script. I am told by an Iranian-American friend and reader of the blog that an Urdu speaker once told my friend that he could understand my friend’s Farsi. If so, it must be relatively easy for a Farsi speaker to learn Urdu and vice versa.

I had learned from prior research that “biryani” (as in the Indian rice dish) was derived from the Farsi word for frying or roasting, and so got my hopes up that there would be a Persian equivalent of the dish–a sort of ur-biryani that was transported to India. Ordering a beriani in Esfahan, I received something like a fried hamburger patty, and so learned that given the extensive use of Farsi in India, there must be many things that have Farsi names but are purely from the subcontinent. [Post on Iranian food to come.]

Modern Cultural. Iranian people may to a certain extent look down on India today, and to a certain extent Iran and Iranian culture have held the position of a superior to India over history, but there are still many contemporary connections between Iran and India. Indian movies are popular in Iran, although perhaps not as popular as American movies. We’ve spoken to and heard of Iranians who have either studied in India or plan to study in India for its relatively low cost and high quality of education. In addition to its well-established universities, India is of course a free society and affords many opportunities to learn about the world not available in Iran.

Zoroastrians. Deserving its own category is the Zoroastrian connection. At the time of the Arab conquest of the Sassanid Empire in the seventh century, a significant population of Iranians fled Iran for India. Known as Parsis, they retain their Zoroastrian faith and form a discrete minority population in India, centered around Bombay. The Parsis of India today see themselves as Indians and not Iranians (they speak Gujarati, the language of Gujarat, India, where they first settled after leaving Iran), but maintain their historical and religious links to Iran. Parsis travel to Iran for pilgrimage and communicate with Iranian Zoroastrians on theological matters, and there has also been intermarriage between the Zoroastrians of Iran and India (perhaps helpful, given their limited populations in both places–perhaps 70,000 in India and 40,000 in Iran). We have been told that there has been some financial support from India to Iran (the Indian Parsis have been very successful, financially), and a Indian Parsi community exists in Yazd, Iran, a center of Iranian Zoroastrians. [Post on Zoroastrianism to come.]