Iranian Studies Journal of The Society for Iranian Studies
Volume
IX
(1976)
Ali Banuazizi, Editor Anna Enayat, Associate Editor Vahid F. Nowshirvani, Associate Editor Mangol Bayat Philipp, Associate Editor Ervand Abrahamian,Book Review Editor MarciaE. Mottahedeh, Assistant Editor
Publishedby TheSociety for IranianStudies,P.O.Box 89, VillageStation,New York,New York 10014, U.S.A. Printedin the U.S.A. Copyright,1976, The Society for IranianStudies
The Society for Iranian Studies COUNCIL AhmadAshraf AminBanani Ali Banuazizi LoisGrantBeck JeromeW.Clinton GeneR. Garthwaite OlegGrabar FarhadKazemi ThomasM. Ricks,ex officio MarvinZonis
Addressall communications concerningthe Journalto the Editor, IranianStudies,Box K-154,BostonCoUlege, ChestnutHill,Massachusetts02167, U.S.A.
IRANIAN STUDJIES Joiurnal of The Sociely for Iranian Sitndies
Contents:
Volume
IX
(1976)
ARTICLES Albright,
Charlotte F. The Azerbaijani CXshiqSand His Performance of a Distan...........
Antoun, Richard T. The Gentry of a Traditional Peasant CommunityUndergoing Rapid Technological Change: An Iranian Case Study... Beeman, William 0. Character?
What Is (Iranian) A Sociolinguistic
National Approach.....
220-247
2- 21 22- 48
Bournoutian, George. Husayn Qull Kh&nQazvlni, Sardir of Erevan: A Portrait of a Qajar Administrator
.......................
...
Hedayat, Sadegh. Seeking Absolution (translated by Minoo S. Southgate) ..................... Hillmann, Michael C.
Keddie, Nikki R. Culture Traits, Fantasy, and Reality in the Life of Sayyid Jamal alDin Al-Afgh&ni .............................
248-265
89-120
Reinhold L. Recent Economic Changes in Boir Ahmad: Regional Growth Without Development ...........e...................
Nomani, Farhad. Notes on the Origins and Development of Extra-Economic Obligations of Peasants in Iran, 300-1600 A.D............. Schulz,
49- 59
Al-e Ahmad's Fictional
Legacy .....................................
Loeffler,
. 163-179
Ann. City Councillors and the Dilemma of Representation: The Case of Isfahan....... iii
266-287
121-141 142-162
REVIEWARTICLE Aryanpur,
Yahya. Az Sabi ti NMim (reviewed by Sorour Soroudi) .............. ....180-195
BOOKREVIEWS Iraj. Hedayat's Ivory Tower: Structural of the Blind Owl (reviewed by Analysis Michael Beard) .............. . .
Bashiri,
Bill,
.
James A., and Stookey, Robert W. Politics and Petroleum (reviewed by Manoucher Parvin
Chelkowski, Peter J. Mirrors of the Invisible World: Tales from the Khamsahof Niza.mi (reviewed by D. A. Shojai).................
80- 84
205-208
200-205
Chubin, Shahram, and Zabih, Sepehr. The Foreign Relations of Iran (reviewed by Richard W. Cottam) .60-
66
Clinton,
Jerome W. The Divan of Manuchiri Damghani: A Critical Study (reviewed by Walter G. . 76- 79 Andrews) .........
Dupree,
eds. Louis, and Albert, Linette, Afghanistan in the 1970s (reviewed by Ludwig W. .... Adamec) .........
Ehlers,
und moderne Formen Eckhart. Traditionelle der Landwirtschaft in Iran (reviewed by Michael
M. J. Fischer) .
Farmanfarmaian, Khodadad, ed. The Social Sciences and Problems of Development (reviewed by James A. Bill) ....... Gurgani,
Hillmann,
302-304
Fakhr ud-Din. Vis and Ramin (translated George Morrison; reviewed by Marcia E. Mottahedeh) ........ Michael (reviewed
288-294
305-309
209-211
C. Unity in the Ghazals of Hafez 295-298 by G. M. Wickens ................. iv
Mirsadeqi, Jamal. Shabchiraq (reviewed.by Mohammad Estelami) .................
..
Olson, Robert W. The Siege of Mosul and OttomanPersian Relations 1718-1743 (reviewed by John R. Perry) .................... Sa'di.
Morals Pointed and Tales Adorned: The Bustan of Sa'di (translated by G. M. Wickens; reviewed by L. P. Elwell-Sutton)..
299-301
196-199
67- 75
TO THEEDITOR LETTERS Bestor, Jane Fair, 85-86; Clinton, Jerome W., 215-217; Mahamedi, Hamid, 310-314; Moayyad, Heshmat, 212-214; Wickens, G M.I. 314-315.
v
Iranian Studies
Journal of The Societyfor Iranian Studies
Winter1976
VolumeIX
Number1
THE SOCIETY FOR IRANIAN STUDIES COUNCIL ErvandAbrahamian,BaruchCollege,City Universityof New York AhmadAshraf,Plan & Budget Organizationand Universityof Tehran Amin Banani,Universityof California,Los Angeles Ali Banuazizi,Boston College Lois GrantBeck, Universityof Utah Jerome W. Clinton, Princeton University
PaulW. English,Universityof Texasat Austin Gene R. Garthwaite,DartmouthCollege FarhadKazemi,New York University ThomasM. Ricks, ex-officio, GeorgetownUJniversity EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE ErvandAbrahamian,Executive Secretary ThomasM. Ricks, Treasurer Ali Banuazizi,Editor IRANIAN STUDIES Journalof the Society for IranianStudies Editor: Ali Banuazizi AssociateEditors: MangolBayat Philipp(HarvardUniversity), Anna Enayat(Universityof Tehran),and Vahid F. Nowshirvani(Yale University) Book Review Editor: ErvandAbrahamian AssistantEditor. MarciaE. Mottahedch CirculationManager.ChristineL. Brennan
Copyright, 1976, The Society for Iranian Studies Published in the U.S.A. USISSN 0021-0862 Address all communications to IRANIAN STUDIES, Box K-154 Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, 02167, U.S.A.
Iranian Studies Journal of The Society for Iranian Studies
1976
Number 1
2
THE GENTRYOF A TRADITIONAL UNDERGOING PEASANTCOMMUNITY CHANGE: RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL AN IRANIAN CASE STUDY
Richard T. Antoun
22
WHATIS (IRANIAN) NATIONAL CHARACTER?A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACH
William
49
SEEKINGABSOLUTION
Vol.
IX
Winter
ARTICLES
(Trans.
0. Beeman
Sadegh Hedayat by Minoo S. Southgate)
BOOKREVIEWS 60
CHUBINAND SEPEHRZABIH: SHAHRAM of Iran The Foreign Relations
67
SA'DI: Morals Pointed and Tales The Bustan of Sa'di Adorned: (Trans. by G. M. Wickens)
76
JEROMEW. CLINTON: The Divan of Manuichihri Damghani: A Critical Study
80
IRAJ BASHIRI: Hedayat's Ivory of Analysis Tower: Structural The Blind Owl
Richard W. Cottam L. P. Elwell-Sutton
Walter
G. Andrews
Michael
Beard
LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR 85
ANOTHERINSTANCEOF FORCED MIGRATION
Jane Fair
Bestor
The Gentryof a Traditional Peasant CommunityUndergoing RapidTechnologicalChange: An IranianCase Study RICHARDT. ANTOUN
The subject of this paper is a patrilineage that lives in two communities six kilometers apart in the northeastern part of Iran. Traditionally this lineage together with its collateral sections has acted as a gentry for an area composed of eighteen villages. They were and still are (both the lineage and its collateral segments) referred to as the "landlords" (arbab) of the area although their traditional economic status and political influence has been undermined by the Iranian land reform of 1962. The number of adults (above the age of fifteen) comprising the lineage is roughly between forty and fifty and is composed of the descendants of three brothers. These three brothers are in turn descended from one of three other brothers in the next ascending generation; the descendants of the latter set of brothers comprise the entire maximal lineage, the great majority of which lives in the two above-mentioned communities. Most members of the lineage between the ages of fifteen and twenty count the latter set of brothers as of the great-grandparental generation and the former set of brothers as of the grandparental generation. The overwhelming majority of the minimal lineage under discussion, referred to henceforth by the pseudonym Khankhinis, live in two agricultural communities, one of Richard T. Antoun is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Binghamton. IRANIAN STUDIES
2
which is a village with a nucleated population of about three thousand and the other of which is a small market town which is also the administrative seat of the subdistrict (bakhsh). The income of the gentry and the peasants in this area has been traditionally and is still almost entirely based on agricultural production and allied activities. The region grows three crops, one of which, cotton, is entirely a cash crop; the remaining two crops, rice and wheat, are used mainly for subsistence except by large land owners who after meeting annual household requirements sell the surplus. This region of Iran is atypical of the country not only in the variety of crops grown but also in the degree of mechanization and in the complexity of the agricultural regime: wheat and barley are entirely mechanized--lands are ploughed in one day by tractor and harvested in one day by combine; cotton lands are ploughed by tractor but hoed three times and harvested three times by hand; rice land is prepared for planting by men with oxen, planted by women by hand, and harvested by hand. Thus each crop involves different combinations of labor and mechanization. Investment in irrigation works is heavy and complex since each of the crops entails different requirements: wheat and barley are usually dryfarmed although a few very large landowners do irrigate once or twice depending on the rainfall; rice requires constant water for six months, which is usually supplied by the river or, more important, privately owned and maintained underground channels (qanats) run from the base of the Alborz mountains; cotton depends on wells drilled by landowners varying from artesian to deep wells with attached pumps. The capital investment in wells and the pumps to work them, in the maintenance of qLnats and in the purchase of fertilizer to maintain the quality of the soil in such an intensively cultivated agricultural regime is very great. Most cultivators, including gentry and the most successful among the peasants, are in debt to banks located in the next town or the district capital. Selling crops before harvesting to meet the annual needs of agricultural production and subsistence is common. The village in which most of the Khankh&nis live is marked by great differences in economic status. On the 3
WINTER1976
discriminate six economic basis of income the villagers strata including four strata who own and till agricultural a sharecropper stratum without land in varying quantities, The laborers. land and a stratum of daily agricultural latter two strata are composed largely of migrants from Sistan and various parts of Khorasan who in some cases travel approximately a thousand miles to Gorgan to eke out To indicate the range of economic a living from the soil. found in this "peasant" population, the differentiation richest farmer earns an annual income of 60,000 dollars while the poorest daily wage-laborer earns an annual income of $100 dollars; while the wealthy "farmers" eat a rice dish at least once a day, the poorest daily wage-laborers eat a rice dish twice a year. The Khlnkh&nls compose a seventh stratum which until World War II was undoubtedly of highHowever, est economic status and dominant politically. since the introduction of cotton in the nineteen-fifties and the implementation of the land reform in the nineteenthe Khinkhinis have not continued to preserve the sixties same degree of dominance either economically or politically. They are now competing more as equals with nouveau riche peasants who also have reclaimed land, planted cotton, sold and begun to send their sons it on the market for profits, to Gorgan and even Tehran for a superior high school educaThe richest men in the village are from this aspirtion. they play the major ing peasant group and, increasingly, as the village association role in directing such activities Yet the Kh&nkh&nisin a culand the village cooperative. tural sense continue to be recognized as gentry: they are redesignated as the "landlords" (arbab) of the village, ceive deference from the population, and maintain a dislife style. tinctive The Wider Circle of Elite were, and to a Although the Khinkhinls historically are, considered a "gentry" vis-aconsiderable degree still vis the peasant population, in fact today they are one component of a wider circle of elite recruited from the popuMany other households in the village other lation at large.
IRANIANSTUDIES
4
than the Kh&nkh&nlsown large amounts of land and possess "homesteads" for housing large numbers of agricultural laborers in the field. Other households besides them apply for and receive large loans from banks, make large investments in wells, irrigation pumps and tractors and educate their children in the high schools of Tehran or even abroad. The Khankhinls are consolidating in fact their links with the other components of the village elite through marriage. To give an example,the Khinkhanls are linked by marriage to one family of prosperous peasants twice, once in this and once in the previous generation; and they are linked to another family of prosperous peasants by four marriages, three in this generation and one in the great-grandparental generation. These two peasant families are themselves linked to one another by marriage. Thus the Khlnkhanis are embraced by a web of kinship that ties them to other families in the village. At the same time their own identity is preserved by their agnatic genealogy and their close cousin marriages as will be demonstrated below. The traditional economic and political nexus by which the Khinkhanls were related to the rest of the village was the kadkhuda (village mayor). The kadkhuda used to, and still does, collect and store the shire of the crops given to the landlords (arbib) by the peasants in his own storerooms. For his services he received--until land reform-the produce of twelve to fifteen acres of rice land which he was allowed to till for himself in any given year. According to the traditional land tenure system the landlords not only owned all the lands of the village but also all its water. Therefore, they were able to dispose of the usufruct of both land and water to whomever they pleased including the kadkhuda in any given year. In return for the use of the land the peasants paid an annual rent in kind--one share of ten for the produce of unirrigated (mainly wheat) land and approximately one share out of three for irrigated (rice) land. The kadkhuda was excused from the payment of the annual rent and, as the landlord's agent, he received a much larger share of cropland than most other The kadkhuda was and still peasants. is chosen by the consensus of the "big men" of the village; today he is
5
WINTER1976
confirmed in his position by the subdistrict officially But it is obvious that his double role (bakshdar). officer as village mayor and landlords' agent meant that no individual who was not well thought of by the latter group Since his traditional would be elevated to the position. and mediate the demands and exfunction was to articulate pectations of the landlords with the desires and expectations that both sides approve of of the peasants it was essential the selection. Indeed, in the particular circumstances I am describing the kadkhuda was regarded not only as the his duties landlords' agent but also their friend--besides and storer of their annual rent, he acted as as collector overseer of their own private lands on a sharecrop basis, backed them up in various dealings with the peasants, and accompanied them on important pilgrimages to religious shrines. The Consequences of the Iranian Land Reform The Iranian land reform of 1962 with its subsequent amendments has been applied in the area over the last ten It has resulted in a fundamental change in the land years.2 between the Kh&nkhinis and the and water tenure relationship First, the annual rent paid by peasants in four respects. Peasants peasants for land and water has been abolished. tilled a particular plot of land at the who traditionally time of the reform (excluding sharecroppers and daily wagelaborers)3 began, in 1972, to pay landlords annual installments by way of compensation for that land.4 At the end of twelve years the installments will end and the peasants will be confirmed in ownership of the land. Second, whereas before peasants were tenants of landlords and only had rights according to customary law, now they have been given firm of ownership by the central government: their names titles are now registered in the land office together with the number of hectares on which they are paying installments; since no cadastral survey has yet been undertaken the exact demarcation of land boundaries between plots has not resources Third, peasants with sufficient been registered. may now buy and sell land; whereas before they needed perIRANIANSTUDIES
6
mission to dig wells and gan&ts, and had to give the landlords a share in any such improvements, now they need no the water longer do so since the government has nationalized inall cultivators henceforth, country; of the resources cluding landlords must deal with the government to obtain the necessary permits for such improvements. The final substantive effect of land reform in this particular village (improvecommunity has been the establishment of a village (anjuman-i dih) with financial resources ment) association since all land owners benefiting from land reform--which has been construed as all land owners including landlords-must make an annual contribution per hectare owned to such an association. In addition, there can be no doubt that the land reform must have brought a partial change in the attitudes of some peasants toward the men who are in fact no longer their of this new attitude may be One reflection "landlords." the reluctance of peasants to perform services for landpreviously considered customary, e.g., helplords--services ing them to plant trees in their orchards, helping them build their houses, and giving voluntary labor gratis (kumak) on A few peasants have even contested the occasion of harvest. the right of landlords to particular plots of land before public tribunals within the village or, more startlingly, in town. All the above notwithbefore government officials continue to refer to the standing, nearly all villagers Khinkhanis as the "landlords" and continue to render them accorded on ritual occasions, the deference traditionally an indication that while land reform may have brought about important changes for the Kh&nkh&nisas a group it has not brought about a revolution either in economic status, social structure or attitudes. Lest what has been said above lead the listener to infer that the relation of landlords to peasants can be characterized as the relation of oppressors to the oppressed it must be mentioned that the landlords provided protection for peasants against marauding Turkmen nomads who operated in the area until the end of World War II, that the terms of land tenure were very favorable to peasants 7
WINTER1976
compared with other parts of Iran,5 and that the peasants themselves have not and do not conceptualize the relationship in such terms. This fact is attested to by their continued display of deference to the Khinkhinis after the influence. diminution of their economic power and political The Gentry's Life Style What strikes the observer hardest and what allows the use of the term "gentry" to describe the Kh&nkh&nlsis That life style embraces such life style. their distinct housing, pedigree, marriage, diverse matters as cultivation, annual mode of residence, education, recreation, and perIn the past the Kh&nkh&niswere the exsonality traits. clusive owners of the land and water of the subdistrict and collected their annual rents from the peasants on that basis. Today that monopoly of resources has disappeared; and yet,
due to their
still
considerable
ownership
of
land,
the Kh&nkhinis follow a slightly different agricultural cycle than the majority of peasants; since they own much they begin to transplant larger plots for rice cultivation, therefore to harvest rice--many weeks rice seedlings--and Due to their greater resources earlier than the peasants. for capital investment compared to most peasants, they someinstance digging times use machinery in certain tasks--for ditches or making furrows--for which most peasirrigation manual labor. ants utilize priviAlthough their former economic and political leges have been abolished, the Kh&nkhMnlsare treated as a in terms of "noblesse class apart, in some sense still with respect to local taxation assessoblige," particularly ment. Thus, when the leading men of the village met in the village mosque to make assessments of the size of contributions each household should make to the local school building fund, every landholding household was publicly It was said that when assessed except the Khinkhinis. asked in private they would give more than anybody else, were the landlords. for--and this was implicit--they
IRANIANSTUDIES
8
The Khlnkhfnis themselves, including their wives and children, do not engage in manual labor in the field either during planting, weeding or harvesting periods. Very freenterprises quently their men supervise their agricultural However, and drive tractors and other wheeled vehicles. many of their men do not undertake such close supervision, but hire peasants on a sharecrop basis or rent out their A typical occupational land (in the post land reform era). history for a member of the lineage involved supervising his father's shepherds during the summer as a youth, serving as his father's agent in agricultural enterprises after termination of formal schooling, and finally becoming an independent farmer, an event that usually coincided with the father's stipulating a share of the patrimony for the son marriage. Most of the KhMnkhnls of the and the latter's senior living generation finished at least six years of secular primary school while those of the junior generation In both cases this standard finished eight or nine years. of education was far superior to that of the peasant population which only had the benefit of a Quranic school was completely illiterate. (maktab) or, alternatively, Although three or four prosperous peasants have built houses in the new style and a few Khankh&nls still live in old style two-story fired brick homes, by and large the by their whitewashed stucco Khinkhinis are distinguished ranch houses enclosed by high walls and large grilled iron gates. Only the Khankhdnis have a proper village-style Persian "garden" (biwh)--a large area of land enclosing orchards and shade trees surrounded by a high wall and in a few instances cared for by a gardener who lives in a small house within the grounds. pedigrees from Although I have collected patrilineal the men of other lineages, that of the Khankhdnls was the deepest, stretching eight generations from the youngest By compariadult male generation to the apical ancestor. son typical peasant pedigrees collected run about five enough, the peasant linegenerations deep. Interestingly seven generations--was age with the deepest pedigree--of exactly that of the most successful of the nouveau riche
9
WINTER1976
that group which increasingly rivals the Khinkfamilies, influence, or eduhinis whether in landholdings, political The Khinkh&nls' preservation of and cational attainment. pedigree is all the more unusual pride in their patrilineal and labile tendencies in light of the somewhat bilateral of the kinship system of the rural population characteristic When peasant families were required to register at large. their family names by edict of Reza Shah during the nineteentwenties, many registered in the name of the village they happened to be living in, the name of the occupation they happened to be performing or according to a nickname they pedihappened to be known by--in many cases the patrilineal irrelevant to the identity of gree was considered strictly In one instance that came to my attention, the family. took three different three brothers, all full siblings, surnames, and in another instance a father and son took different surnames. My records, albeit far from complete, indicate that higher incidence of the Kh&nkh&nishave a significantly parallel cousin marriage than peasant lineages patrilateral In addition, their wedding celebrations of similar size. by the absence of customs associated with are distinguished the giving of large marriage payments, the the peasantry: context public contribution of cash in a religio-magical to the newly-married couples by all households in the village invited to the wedding; the raining of coins on the children of the village gathered below in the courtyard by the men of the bride's family; and the parade of the bride hidden in a jeep, her trousseau and all the furniture given to her by her male kinsmen through the village to her future husband's home. Some of the Kh&nkhinls even dispensed with although others--the the wedding celebration altogether, hundreds of them--entertained among of wealthiest the sons were demonstrating their well-wishers who not incidentally influence of the family. respect for the political The Khinkh&nls as a group are also characterized by residence cycle: they spend nine months of a distinctive the year down on the flat Gorgan plain at the base of the mountains, but during the heat of the summer they take their IRANIANSTUDIES
10
families to two villages in the cool Alborz mountain range-villages where the ancestors of the lineage formerly resided for most of the year. There they recreate by visiting one horse-back riding, and visiting another, picnicking, their A number of prossheep pastured in the mountain valleys. perous peasants also take their families to the mountains for the sumer, but they go for shorter periods and as individual households. The lineage of the Khankh&nls is the only one that goes in its entirety, although not all households are there at any given time since a few must remain on the plain to oversee irrigation and harvest activities. Unlike the peasantry, the Khankhanis are sportsmen. Having spent a substantial part of their childhood in the mountains, they hunt the relatively abundant small game that inhabit the area. One KhTnkh&nicaptured a wild deer, raised it in captivity, and released it on maturity. Down on the plain, they often hunt wild pigs and even take foreigners who happen to be in the area on such expeditions. Another member of the family, a doctor trained in France, has filled one whole room with stuffed busts of various wild animals. Although the Kh&nkh&nlswere the rough-and-ready military protectors of the region and acted in that capacity against the Turkmen nomads as late as World War II, very few have served a term in the Iranian army; most have ransomed their way out according to the former provisions of national law which allowed such a practice. In accordance with their generally higher level of education, the Kh&nkh&nlshave opinions about public affairs. They read newspapers from time to time and asked me what I thought about President Nixon's pending visit I once found two Khankhinls working on to China (1972). a crossword puzzle in the newspaper. I can recall on only one occasion a peasant of the village reading a newspaper although nearly every landed household had a radio on which news broadcasts were heard. One of the most distinctive aspects of the Kh&nkhinis' life style is their collective personality traits. While the peasants speak in sober modulated tones, the Kh&nkhinis 11
WINTER1976
when they are speak in exaggerated loud voices particularly in one another's company. One peasant told me that he invariably got a headache after an evening spent in their company. Certain members of the Kh&nkh&nlsare the only individuals in the village I have ever witnessed making fun by mimicking their voices and gestures. of other villagers The Khinkhinis are the only persons who of an evening freely urinatedout on to the courtyard from the second story of a house--not their own--and urged me to do likewise if I was so moved. Many of them drink alcohol and smoke opium, habits eschewed by the great majority of landed peasants.6 Although many of the Khinkhinis have made pilgrimages to the Iranian Shilite shrines of Meshed and Qum, none of the present living generation have made pilgrimages to either Kerbala or Mecca although their economic status certainly In addition, during the month of permits such travel. Muharramwhile the peasants mourn for their martyr lusayn in the religious hall of the village (4usayniyah), the Kh&nkhinls "mourn" by gathering in a house near the iusayof the village--and spending the niyah--at the invitation evening gossiping and eating roast lamb. In other words by denying some of the most cherished peasant values, namethe Kh&nkh&nis ly sobriety, modesty, piety and politeness, are symbolically affirming their status as gentry. The Mechanics of Gentry Maintenance--Old and New structure social and political In the traditional resources of the region before World War II, the critical of the gentry were their ownership of land and water and services they offered their political power. The critical to peasants were protection from the depredations of Turkmen nomads, the division of resources within the community With the establishment of centralized and social control. government by Reza Shah in the 1920s and the application of and economic reland reform in the 1960s, their political external sources have been diminished and the critical function performed by them for the peasantry has lapsed. Economically, they have been thrown into a more nearly equal competition with the peasantry in the race to reclaim land, plant cotton, and gather for themselves the material IRANIANSTUDIES
12
And yet they remain a symbols of high social status. a class set apart in the eyes of the great gentry--still How have they maintained their social majority of peasants. status in the light of these developments? First, it is important to note the traditional mechaffirm the social relational anisms by which they still and cultural integrity of the group. In their patrilineal pedigree they have a charter for the historical identity of the group, a group whose apical ancestor was the comander of the Shah's palace guard. Their daily social relations among themselves and vis-a-vis the peasants reflect their identity and autonomy. They are often asked to visit peasants on religious particularly occasions such as the commemoration of the deaths of particular villagers by their living progeny. Since such occasions occur three days after death, forty days after death, and a year after death, opfor such visits proliferate. portunities When they visit a family, the Khankh&nls are almost inevitably led to a separate room by the host where they are by themselves. Thus even when they are in houses other than their own they are interacting as a discrete group. During Muharram, a month of intense ritual devotion, the Kh&nkhanis are segregated in a house next to but apart from the iusaynlyah. Although they do not participate directly in the mourning rituals in the religious hall, they are said to participate by their very presence in the vicinity. They are the guests of the village on these occasions and the food that is served them is paid for by the village. It is quite understandable in these circumstances of intense interaction and rapid intra-group communication how the Khankh&nls have developed distinctive attitudes and personality traits. I often discovered that a day or two after one Khlnkh&ni would convey a particular piece of information or an attitude, other KhAnkhMnlswould do so. Thus, shortly after one told me that opium was bad for the heart and he had stopped smoking it, several others told me the same thing. In a similar fashion several Kh&nkh5nis told me on several occasions but in almost exactly the same words that they disliked the market town--the people there liked money too much--that they seldom went there, and that they preferred a country
13
WINTER1976
life
among their
livestock.
The high status of the Khankh&nis receives affirmaOn the sixth day of Muhartion in another ritual context. ram, a month when the religious devotion of Shilite Muslims reaches its peak, the standard of Husayn is prepared by wrapping it with colorful pieces of cloth in the mourning On the tenth day of Muharram, Clsh5rd, the culminahall. tion of the mourning period, the standard is taken out of the busaynlyah and paraded about the village from one household to the next by the youth of the community. On this occasion the women of each household kiss the standard as their infant children are made to do and give a cash contribution for the maintenance of the busaynlyah in the coming year. The parade always begins in the quarter of the most prominent of the Khinkhinis, and only after their households 9ave been visited is the standard taken to other housethe order of march is led by the holds. Significantly, kadkhudi referred to above. Thus on the occasion of the most important religious ritual of the year, the superior status of the Khlnkhlnls is affirmed. social mechPerhaps the most obvious and effective anism by which the Khinkh&nls preserve their identity and is by marriage. Taking the reinforce their solidarity from each of the three of descended siblings three sets brothers who make up the immediate ancestors of the lineten of twenty-four marriages were age under analysis, either to the father's brother's daughter (or son) or that cousin once-removed. Thirteen of these twenty-four marrirelaages (including the above) were with a patrilateral tive of some kind and fifteen of twenty-four were with a Considering the demorelative in either parental line. a startling proportion of marriages graphic possibilities, are endogamous to the descent group. Segment A (the descendants of the oldest brother) is related by marriage twice to segment B (the descendants of the middle brother) and twice to segment C (the descendants of the youngest Segment B is linked by two marriages with A and brother). segment C is linked by two marriages with A. Thus, although the Khinkhinis are embraced by an outer circle of kinship IRANIANSTUDIES
14
relating them by marriage to prominent peasant families, they have at the same time reaffirmed the integrity of their inner circle through marriage. So far the discussion of gentry maintenance has not taken much account of the far-reaching economic changes that have occurred in the area in the last twenty-five years, chief among which is the conversion of much of the land from rice and wheat crops to cotton. Actually, the change that occurred in the agricultural regime was largely cumulative since cotton was planted mainly on newly reclaimed land while rice and wheat continued to be planted in traditional fields. Increasing mechanization accompanied this The Kh&nkhanis played a leading role in these development. and related events. They became entrepreneurs reclaiming large lots of land and hiring migrant labor to clear it. I was told that the first tractor, the first radio, and the first bicycle in the village were introduced by a Kh&nkhani. The Kh&nk&nlswere the first to build modern houses and the first to drink vodka. Although many of the Khankhanis reclaimed land, bought tractors and irrigation pumps, and invested heavily in cotton production, only four members of the lineage under consideration have been unquestionable successes as agricultural entrepreneurs. The remaining agriculturalists fall into two categories: those that still have large land holdings but are going increasingly deeper into debt as a result of the heavy capital investment required by cotton (mainly segments A and B); and those that have little land either due to equalitarian inheritance rules and/or the necessity of having to sell land to meet current expenses (mainly segment C). Nearly twenty-five years of cotton production has resulted in a tendency towards the polarization of wealth and this process has affected the gentry and peasantry alike. Thus, while most of segment A lives in stucco houses with electricity on one side of the village, most of segment C lives in old-fashioned houses without on the other side of the village. electricity There is a fourth category of gentry, however, and it is the fourth category that reflects the new mechanism 15
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by which the gentry is seeking to guarantee its future Segment A That mechanism is higher education. status. represents a model in this regard since the two youngest sons of the eldest brother referred to above were sent to France where they spent from ten to fifteen years earning Each has returned, one with a French wife medical degrees. and a second-hand Volvo, and they practice their flourish(pediatrics and bronchial therapy) in the ing specialties small market town nearby. Today a number of the Khinkhinis and aspiring peasant proprietors hope to send a son or sons The Khinkto Tehran or abroad to gain a higher education. hinis, however, both the lineage under analysis and the group as a whole, have clearly led the way in this regard. At present ten of the young men of the lineage are studying at high schools in Tehran or Gorgan, the nearest large market town, in hopes of continuing their education at the Higher education rather than land ownerlevel. university domination is becoming the main reship or local political inforcement and index of status for the gentry as it is becoming the elixir for the transmutation of status for Even here, however, the record of the Khankthe peasantry. One member of the h&nis is not one of unmixed success. sons in Tehran his youngest three who has now lineage, highi schools, also has the ever-present reminder of failure in lhis two oldest sons who did not pass the high school examinations and are now back in the village. entreEesides higher education and agricultural preneurship the Khankhnls have developed a third mechanism They have developed by which to buttress their status. links to the Shah's White Revolution, a movement whose foundation is land reform but which also embraces such as the literacy corps, the health and institutions policies corps, houses of equity (to resolve disputes at the locak of forests and pastures. and the nationalization level), to the aims of the national link ideological This critical government is represented by one of the KhankhMnlswho lives in the nearby market town and who occupies four offices: head of the town council, director of the local Red Cross chapter, head of the house of equity, and head of the local The latter two offices are branch of the Iran Novin party. first represents the the since significant particularly IRANIANSTUDIES
16
direction of a leading institution of the White Revolution and the second represents the leadership of a party dedicated to forwarding the aims of the White Revolution. Thus, the Kh&nkhinis who suffered loss in one phase of the White Revolution--land reform--and might be construed as opposing it, have succeeded in identifying themselves as its firstrank supporters. The destiny of the gentry after land reform and For some it mechanization is not then of a single cloth. consists of higher education, continued high status and material rewards. For others it consists of moderately successful agricultural entrepreneurship and maintenance of status within the local community without the added inof townsmen. For still dicators of notoriety characteristic others it consists of debt, land sales, and a decline in economic status to the level of the middle peasantry (peasants with small amounts of land). What is most interesting is that this particular lineage of gentry has maintained its as a distinct cultural entity and an ongoing resilience social group by a number of mechanisms old and new through a period of rapid economic and social change marked by land reform, mechanization, population growth and the introduction of cash crops. Although economically and politically they have been reduced to a competitive position with the local peasant entrepreneurs, they still have a considerable and fund of cultural capital to draw on, for they are still for the foreseeable future bid well to remain the "gentry" of the village. The continued existence of a gentry in spite erosion of many of its traditional resources and in of the emergence of a more encompassing rural elite ing nouveau riche peasants brings to mind Kroeber's
of the spite includuseful9
and "value culture." distinction between "reality culture" The former refers to those aspects of learned behavior to the achievement of goals" and comprising "de"directed and skills...not in vices, instruments only...technology the widest sense but also...economic systems.. .and political systems...."10 The latter refers to "an objectively expressed values" most often found in system of subjective
17
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those aspects of culture which are non-accumulative and of diffusion from one society to another such as difficult religion, philosophy, ethics and the fine arts.11 The KhMnkhinls have undergone great changes in the field of reality culture. Indeed, to say they have undergone them is somewhat incorrect since, apart from land reform, they have actively pursued such changes. These changes include not only those linked to agricultural entrepreneurship but also "educational and political entrepreneurship," if the activities above mentioned may be so described. But with respect to value culture both in its ritual and social structural aspects, stability has been marked. This stability is manifested in continued social exclusiveness (as reflected in genealogical identity, terms of address, endogamous marriage
and visiting
patterns)
as well
as ritual
precedence. What many students of modernization would have predicted--namely, the erosion of the gentry's value culture as a result of the accumulation of new reality culture--has not occurred. In traditional peasant communities undergoing rapid technological change of the kind described here what bears investigation is not so much the erosion of the gentry's value culture in the process of the acquisition of new reality culture as many social scientists continue to suggest, or the investigation of two discrete and exclusive aspects of culture--Kroeber argued they were best viewed as a continuum--but the investigation and discovery of their varying modes of interrelationship. An argument can be made that the Kh&nkh&nisas well as other villagers more often than not utilize the resources gained in the field of reality culture to reinforce certain aspects of value culture. Since their own values are substantially associated with their identity as a gentry it is not surprising that that identity together with its manifestations in life style, belief systems and patterns of deference has survived. The mechanisms of that survival as well as the modes of its alteration will be the subject of future research.
IRANIANSTUDIES
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NOTES 1.
I wish to thank William Beeman, Miclhael Fischer, Brian Foster, Mary Hooglund, and Fred Plog for reading and commenting on an early draft of this essay. I also wish to thank Professor Nader Afshar Naderi, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran and Dr. Ismail Ajami of Pahlavi University for their cooperation and advice. The field research that provided the basis of this essay was undertaken in the northeastern part of Iran during the first six months of 1972. The author wishes to thank the State University of New York Research Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies, for providing grants that made the research possible. The interpretations of the data collected are solely those of the author.
2.
The Iranian land reform was carried out in three stages. In the first stage landowners with ownership of what amounted to more than one village (shish d&ng) had to divest themselves of the excess. In the second stage landlords who still owned large amounts of land (presumably in the one village still held) with the exception of those who operated mechanized farms had to choose between three options: selling the excess land outright to the occupying peasants; dividing it between themselves and the occupying peasants according to the traditional ratio for the division of crops; or renting the land to the occupying peasants. In the third stage landowners who had chosen one of the other options were obliged to choose option one, at least this was the procedure followed in some villages in the Gorgan area. In the village under discussion the first stage of land reform did not apply since it was a village selected by landlords as their own; however, the second stage was applied there in 1966, and the third stage in 1970. For further details about the application of the land reform law in Iran see Ann K. S. Lambton, The Persian Land Reform, 1962-1966 (London, 1969).
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3.
According to Professor Lambton (p2. cit., P. 73ff), sharecroppers and daily wage laborers with few exceptions did not receive land under the 1962 land reform and its subsequent amendments, although they were listed as residual grantees after occupying peasants in the stipulations of the law.
4.
Since the compensation rates paid by peasants were based on the annual taxes paid by landowners on their land and since these taxes were in most cases low relative to the value of the land, the compensation rates for further dewere also low. See Lambton, 2j. cit., tails.
5.
In other parts of Iran landowners received anywhere from 1/5 (parts of Khuzistan) to 1/3 (parts of Khorasan) to 4/5 (parts of Fars) of the crop.
6.
Some evidence collected by the author suggests that in the last twenty years as the village has become Islamized through greater contact with Muslim preachers trained in the great religious centers of Qumand Villagers Meshed, it has become more puritanical. who freely admitted having drunk vodka at wedding ten years ago declare that they have celebrations long since quit and would not do so today. The proseems confined to the middle cess of puritanization stratum of peasants (including the nouveau riche), i.e., those who are neither gentry nor sharecroppers or wage laborers. The latter are noted for their indulgence in opium like the former and both contrast with the middle stratum.
7.
This is not completely true since a few of the less prosperous Kh&nkhanis who live on the other side of the village are not visited until later.
8.
For an official description of the aims of the White Reza Pahlavi Aryamehr ShahanRevolution see Mohammad shah of Iran, The White Revolution (Tehran: Imperial Pahlavi Library, 1967).
IRANIAN STUDIES
20
9.
See Alfred K. Kroeber, "Reality Culture and Value Culture," in The Nature of Culture (Chicago, 1952).
10.
Ibid.,
p. 156.
11.
Ibid.,
pp. 155, 165.
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WhatIs (IRANIAN) NationalCharacter? A SociolinguisticApproach
WILLIAM 0. BEEMAN
Introduction
It is surprising, somehow, to witness the degree to which the concept of national character doggedly maintains its intuitive appeal in the social sciences. Despite widespread criticism of the use of the concept as the basis for studying human societies, few researchers find themselves able to deny that different societies seem to have a distinctive "feel" to them, and it is a rare field worker indeed who doesn't speak, informally at least, of the members of a society in which he has worked in terms of collective "ipsychological" characteristics. Widely used anthropological concepts such as "ethos," "value system," and even "tculture"l itself reflect this feeling in differing degrees. The inherent intuitive appeal of the national character concept persists, then, despite our best efforts to repudiate it. In trying to understand this phenomenon, it seems a vain effort to return once again to the question: "Do national characters exist?". In place of this well-worked I feel it more profitable to turn away from the exercise, natives and focus on the epistemology of the observer. In
William 0. Beeman is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University. IRANIANSTUDIES
22
in the Department
particular I am suggesting in this essay that the impressicn of the existence of psychological regularities constituting the "national character" of a population for an observer stems largely from his misapplied assessments of the regularities of the communication system employed by that population. National
Character as a Reflection Communication Systems
of
Margaret Mead has suggested that the study of national character primarily revolves around the analytic interpretation of the systems of communication that exist within the society as a whole. These systems, which include patterns of both linguistic and non-linguistic communicative behavior, are of necessity regularized and patterned (Mead, 1962). strucEric Wolf in studying particular institutionalized is in complex societies tures of interpersonal interaction surprised (and almost apologetic) that his conclusions seem to utilize the same sorts of data employed in national character studies (Wolf, 1966:18-20). According to Mead's formulation, the gross characterizations found in early culture and personality studies may be avoided by taking careful account of variations existing in the patterns of communication employed by subgroups of a particular society. These subgroup variations are systematically related to the wider whole cultural patterns of As she communication. The reverse, however, is not true. states: the wider pattern need not include any of the features of the particular pattern of the which are distinctive In the United States, for example, wide sub-group. patterns of commonAmerican behavior may be expected to recur in the behavior of Kentucky mountaineers, Texas ranchers, New England mill workers, secondgeneration Italian wine growers, the Pennsylvania farmers of German extraction, and from an examination of several such groups it should be possible to 23
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delineate patterns which would be found in different form among the others. But the and distinctive nationwide pattern so delineated would not provide a basis for predicting the version of the culture distinctive of Texas ranchers or New England mill workers without additional information on these particular groups (Mead, 1962:401-02). Mead's distinction between subgroup patterns and broad cultural patterns of behavior is paralleled in the sociolinguistic study of communication in the distinction drawn between "speech communities" and "language communities." David Smith (1973) characterizes the speech community after Hymes (1967, 1972) as "groups of individuals sharing both the same repertoires of linguistic codes ... .but also sharing the same rules for using these linguistic varieties" (Smith, 1973:12). The speech community contrasts with the linguistic community, defined by Hymes (after Gumperz, 1962) as "any distinguishable inter-conmunicating group" (Hymes, 1972:55) in that in the linguistic community individuals share only the same linguistic codes, and rules for interpreting those codes. As Smith states: "this doesn't mean that they [members of the linguistic community] share the rules for using this speech. It does mean that they can interpret each other's speech in the sense that they can approximate the referential quality of the speech" (Smith, 1973:11). Linguistic codes and the ability to interpret them do not themselves constitute speech, although they provide the basis for the production of different speech forms. Members of the speech community not only share codes, and rules for their interpretation, but also rules for the association of "particular modes of speaking, topics or message forms, with particular settings and activities" (Gumperz and Hymes, 1972:36).2 Within a speech community, as has been mentioned, codes. Howrules of usage are specified for linguistic as well as ever, appropriate messages are also specified, appropriate contexts for presenting those messages via the IRANIANSTUDIES
24
appropriate forms of the code. In a broad system of comforms but munication, the code includes not only linguistic well.3 forms as and behavioral a vast array of symbolic the notion of context expands in a consideraAdditionally, tion of broad systems of communication to include more than as with a speech just immediate setting and participants multiple contexts of interpretation event. Potentially, of codes includare brought to bear on the interpretation who may Potential participants ing historic traditions. of be considered in the presentation and interpretation messages include vast populations of individuals and collective groups. important for the present Moreover, and especially individual systems of broad communication patdiscussion, terns single out those messages for communication which are Appropriateness criteria may apply to messages appropriate. treating such materials as information about individual statements about how a emotional states, or prescriptive person should be reacting emotionally in a given communication context. Further, appropriate messages are correThus there are comprehensible lated with appropriate codes. ways one can show, for example, anger, and other ways which to be interpreted as in some situations, are not likely, conveying the message that one is angry. Thus it can be seen that communication systems are themselves means by which actors regularize their own behavior by prescribing presentation of particular items at particular times, and prohibiting presentation of other it can be concluded that Through this realization, items. much of the basic observational data on which statements about national character are formulated can be treated without the necessity of having to consider how people "really feel," or what their "true" emotional or personare. The following contrastive ality characteristics this point: statements cited by Mead serve to illustrate a. Swaddling them as infants makes Russians incapable of freedom (caricature statement). b. The prolonged and very tight swaddling to which infants are subjected in Russian child rearing 25
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practices is one of the means by which Russians communicate to their infants a feeling that a strong authority is necessary. The second (statement) insists that it is when Russians (who themselves embody their whole culture) handle their own children (who are in the process of learning to be Russians) in a particular way that this way of handling becomes a form of communication between parent and child in which the child learns something the adult has already learned (Mead, 1962:398-99). Characterizing the basis for statements about national character as judgments about features of culturally bounded communication systems has the additional virtue of incorporating as a feature the flexibility of systems of communicative behavior. Within speech communities, individuals may be characterized as poor, middling, or excellent speakers. In a parallel sense one can speak of differentiated abilities in general communicative behavior. An individual may be gauche or gallant, direct or devious, facile or clumsy in his behavior. Likewise, in all communication operators may make mistakes, or purposely thwart the system. However, in actualized communication, such deviation is accounted for in the rules of interpretation and thus acquires a kind of imposed systematicity in the process of interpretation even if such interpretation takes place long after the fact.4 A person who cannot appropriately interpret the speech of others speaking the same language simply does not know the language and may suffer as a result. Similarly, a person who is a poor interpreter of the messages conveyed by the actions of others is less adept as a cultural operator, and may likewise suffer for it. The "feel" about a culture which one senses to be regular is, then, by this characterization, directly attributable to the fact that the behavior one is attending to consists for individual actors of specifiable codes of communicative behavior, presented in standardized contexts, involving categorized sets of participants. These codes IRANIANSTUDIES
26
are further to be interpreted as indicating a range of Both rules for the presentation messages. specifiable of code forms in particular contexts, and rules for association of code forms with possible messages, are thus features of any given communication system. specifiable Thus, the regularity one feels in national character is uniform character or seen to be due not to necessarily emotions, but rather to uniform codes of communication, behind which may be hidden a vast amount of individual emotional and personality variation.5 attitudinal, The notions of language community and speech community as presented above are not intended to imply strictly bounded social systems (although some may be severely but rather to indicate foci on bounded, as in a cloister) ability on continui, based on interpretive two interacting the one hand and ability to act "appropriately" on the The following example will illustrate. other. An upper-class Iranian friend of mine claimed that he could never hope to really understand the life of Irasince in many experiences he had had in nian villagers were rural areas, he always doubted whether the villagers to his questions; nor could he perresponding truthfully suade village residents to behave in a "normal" manner when Further, though he felt he understood all he was present. that he did see, he felt that he would be uncomfortable if as an equal, if that were he had to interact with villagers even possible. one might observe that an In the above situation, Iranian would be likely to be able to urban upper-class interpret "what was going on" at, say, a rural wedding, but would be unlikely to be able to act appropriately as On the one a member of the rural community would act. hand he might be prevented from doing so since rural communities have specific communicative behaviors for dealing On the other hand, were he with upper-class urban people. to try and act in a manner appropriate to the community, he would undoubtedly find that he would have to be prompted either by following the lead of others, or by being cued as 27
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to what to do. In Iran, however, the final judgment would rest with the community members themselves, since rural communities have ways of dealing with communicative incompetence which prevent high status, non-members of the immediate community from making mistakes, or learning about the mistakes they do make. Another way of stating this might be that messages about the inappropriate behavior of persons defined as guests are themselves inappropriate when communicating with those guests. The Role of the Observer The final element that must be taken into consideration in discussing national character analyses is the obof the communicative server himself, and his interpretation behavior he observes. In the analysis of behavior, many kinds of statements may be made about communicative behavior, but it is ultimately the kind of explanatory statement that the observer chooses to make that determines whether the statement he is making is a "national character stateof sterement" (under which I include statements reflective otypes) or some other kind of statement. Any generalized interpretive statement about human behavior makes reference to a system of coordinates for description that lies outside of that system of behavior-in the "world of the observer" rather than the "world of the of village communicative beobserved." Thus descriptions havior, with reference to the example given above, might be formulated in social structural terms (entertaining guests adds to the status of a person in the communisuccessfully in economic terms (the entertaining of a high status ty); can be viewed as an investment for which guest successfully there may be material or non-material return of at least terms (every new acquaintance equal value); in political netrepresents a new potential linkage in the villager's work of influence; it thus behooves the villager to create an immediate feeling that his relationship with a stranger of high status is 'seamless,' that they are indeed i.e., able to interact now, and in the future, in a solidary IRANIANSTUDIES
28
fashion); in terms of morality (a person who makes a guest feel uncomfortable will suffer the opprobrium of the community)--and so forth. The possibilities are endless, and probably all of the above explanations have something to recommend them. National character-type explanations, however, focus on attributing specific instances or generalized categories of behavior to some set of feelings or personality dispositions that are commonto members of the group community or society. Thus the following sample statements and high-status may be made concerning villagers strangers: "Iranian villagers are suspicious of strangers, fearful of what they may do, and thus they try not to cause offense by angering such people." "Iranian villagers are naturally friendly and hospitable and feel an obligation to make guests feel comfortable." "Iranian villagers are scheming and devious and attempt to ingratiate themselves with persons who they think may be able to do them some good." are highly uncertain about the "Iranian villagers actions of strangers and thus try to contain the behavior of those strangers within particular limits." And, of course, "All villagers
the explanation
provided by my friend:
lie."
All of the above provide explanations for the fact that a high-status stranger will not be allowed to know about that behavior of his which would be considered to be inappropriate. However, as I have noted, all such statements derive from the aforementioned observation about a feature of the communication system one is likely to find in many villages, viz: messages about the inappropriate behavior of persons defined as guests are themselves inappropriate when communicating with those guests. To reiterate, then, the "reasons why" this may be so can be sought in all (and more!) of the explanations suggested above, but 29
WINTER1976
the regularity of behavior which prompts the investigator to search for an explanation in this instance is due to the conventional features of the structure of communication ocevent. curring in that interactive When the role of the observer is taken into consideration, the structure for potential systematic misinterpretation of communication behavior on the part of a person who is not himself a part of the communication system becomes of form in communicaclear.6 It is simply the association tion with messages unintended by the communicator. Because forms are repeated as they are appropriate, the mis-communication is reinforced in the mind of the observer until it into a stereotype about the character and percrystallizes what is only sonality of the individuals who are utilizing a conventional behavioral form--no more to be considered a reflection of one's personality by those within the specific communicative system than is using a knife and fork at a western dinner table. A rather superficial example of this for Iran is seen in the annoyed reaction of Americans and Englishmen at being hailed on the street as "Mister!" and coming to the conclusion that all Iranians, or at least those who know English, are, as one observer has said, "distinctly cheeky." Of course, the discrepancy lies in the different rules for usage of "mister" and the Persian address form "aghai" but it may be some time before the farangi (foreigner) realizes that the message being conveyed by the code is not the message he had understood. Browne provides
yet another example:
Europeans traveling in Persia have sometimes complained of what they regard as the meanness of the Persians in offering presents in return for which they expect money. It appears to me that this complaint arises from a failure to understand the fact lower that such an offer from a man of distinctly rank than oneself is merely tantamount to a declaration that he is willing to sell or exchange the arhave no more right to blame ticle in question....We IRANIANSTUDIES
30
a poor Persian for offering us a "present" in return for which he expects to receive equivalent value, than to censure as sordid the desire expressed by a cabman to be "remembered by us" (Browne, 1927: 73-4).
National
Character and Rules of Conuunicat ion in Iran
An evaluation of the concept of national character seems unusually applicable in considering Iranian culture and society, since it seems that scarcely anyone who has lived for any length of time in Iran can deny the powerful, Indeed, general impressions that are made on the observer. hardly any writer on Iran manages to resist commenting in some form on Iranian personality traits in generalized Throughout the terms at some point in his narrative. a number of principal behavioral orientations literature, have been prominently attributed either to Iranians in groups of Iranians such as vilgeneral or to significant tribesmen, etc. lagers, elites, Along the lines set forth in the discussion thus far, I will treat here several thematic complexes that have about Iran, trace their been prominent in Western literature base in the systems of communicative behavior for the culture as a whole, and try to reach some conclusions as to the ways in which Western scholars have arrived at these of the Iranian personality themes in their characterization traits. 7 It should be emphasized that in speaking of deducing the communication system principles which underlie the derivation of these themes, we are concerned with information the categorizaof participants1 about the categorization the correlation between messages and tion of settings, of messages being conveyed by codes, the interpretation codes (i.e., which messages are being conveyed by which and codes, and what those messages mean), and facility adroitness in operating within and utilizing the system.8
31
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Uncertainty! Insecurity Life in Iran is often characterized as uncertain or insecure (Zonis, 1972 documents this excellently). In terns of the communication system one may state the following principles: (a) messages cannot be interpreted according to any single set of criteria; (b) an adroit operator never settles on a final inof any message. terpretation Kielstra, arguing for a dialectic approach to the analysis of social relations, implies that the interpretation of uncertainty in Iranian human relations results fran a failure to realize that any action is subject to interpretation based on sets of values that may be diametrically opposed. Thus: to observers directed by their culture and training, to think in unambiguous one-dimensional terms the fluctuation between opposed sets of values and the manifestation of these fluctuations in actual behavior could easily give the impression of uncertainty in human relations, while for a Persian such fluctuations are the predictable result of variable conditions and are therefore not very uncertain or unexpected (Kielstra, n.d. :6). In the Iranian village where I was resident there was continual difficulty in determining who would serve as of the village. the kadkhud& (official) the Essentially problem reduced to a conflict in values similar to that cited by Kielstra. The difficulty revolved around the fact that the kadkhuda would be the one individual with whomgovernment officials would be in contact in their dealings with the village. who were On the one hand, the majority of villagers, for the most part small land owners and day laborers, wantwho would not misrepresent their ined a representative On the other hand, they terests in government dealings. IRANIANSTUDIES
32
were anxious to have an individual serve as kadkhuda who and able to entertain urban offiwas powerful, effective Uncials on their occasional sojourns in the village. the few persons who were powerful, wealthy fortunately, enough to deal with the government were also and effective large land owners who would probably not be inclined to of the small land owners operate in the best interests as a group had already proven individuals these (indeed, adept at manipulating village land to be extraordinarily and other economic affairs to their advantage, allocation and to the detriment of small land owners). The end result was that two individuals came to be known as kadkhudi. In conversation, depending on the coneither one or the other text and nature of the discussion, of the men would be referred to as kadkhuda. The regional government at Shiraz was not willing to confirm either man, for difas both were unacceptable as village official, were unwilling to select ferent reasons, but the villagers Eventually, however, regional govothers in their place. came to deal with both men on an unofernment officials ficial basis, depending again on the nature of the business to be transacted. The two kadkhudas would have been happy to have had the issue resolved in their favor (because this would represent an increase in status and power), but were status "in perfectly able to live with their official limbo," each tacitly acknowledging the authority of the other in its proper context. An outside observer would be told on one occasion that one individual was kadkhuda, on another occasion that the other individual was kadkhuda, on yet another occasion on some occasions, and finally, that both held that office, These that the village did not have a kadkhuda at all. four versions could be given as an account of the kadkhudd situation by the same individual on different occasions. Far from reflecting manifest uncertainty, the eventual with which state of affairs demonstrated the flexibility were able to deal with the demands of different villagers Only an outside observer and value systems. situations determined on knowing "the single truth" about the matter would try to rely on any one statement about the identity 33
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of the kadkhudi as the actual lagers knew better.
state
of affairs.
The vil-
Cleverness/Wiliness Another widely cited Iranian national character trait with much support in literature and anecdote is "icleverness" or "wiliness" (zirangl). Stated as a rule for communication, one might say that zirangi is an operation on the part of an adroit operator which involves thwarting direct interpretation of one's own actions or deliberately leading others to an erroneous interpretation of those actions while being able to successfully interpret the actions of others. Since cleverness of this sort represents a skill, it enters into any interpersonal situation as a potential, foreseeable communication element.9 A person who is zirangi, may try to create a disposition on the part of others to interpret the code elements in communication in a particular way, by influencing their perception of these situational elements. Thus, he may ingratiate himself to another person in order, for example, to increase the possibility that certain messages, such as requests or petitions, will be received favorably; or to forestall certain other behavioral acts, such as verbal or physical abuse (cf. Beeman, 1972). Exercise of zirangi need not arise from entirely self-interested motives, but may incorporate aspects of true altruism. One young man from the village where I resided attended high school in Shiraz. He was not very bright, but had nonetheless been promised that he could marry his pretty cousin as a reward when he graduated from His first action each year was to change high high school. schools, so that no one in the village was ever quite sure which one he was attending. He also would bring his reports home at odd or irregular times, so that his parents had no idea of when to expect his grades. In time he was able to convince his parents that he had actually graduated, when in fact he had failed his final examinations. He eventually married his cousin, and had enlisted in the army before his parents were finally informed in a totally IRANIANSTUDIES
34
unexpected manner that he had not graduated, and indeed, had not even advanced to the final class in high school, having failed his examinations the year before as well. When I had a chance to question him about this, he told me that whereas his parents initially were enormously irritated (to say nothing of his uncle, who expected a high school graduate for a son-in-law), they were eventually convinced by their neighbors and relatives that his extraordinary zirangi in the whole matter more than offset his lack of filial duty, and that since now he was married with a good dowry and a reasonable position in the army they should be quite satisfied. Indeed, they became quite confident of his success in life. His own feeling was not that he had deceived his parents; from the beginning he had been certain of his inability to finish high school; he simply wanted to arrange matters so that they would not have to know when he finally failed, to spare them pain and embarrassment. The reluctance of some Iranians of my acquaintance to send telegrams to their relatives is related to this As one man told me: "If I telegraph my mother attitude. and tell her that I am delayed in getting home, she will immediately assume that I am near death. Therefore it is better to tell her nothing, or to cable her that I am well and will arrive as expected." Because the commonpractice is to break the news of a tragedy in stages, my friend wanted to spare his mother the anticipation of progressively more alarming telegrams by not sending what would be interpreted as the first in a series. The movie G&v (The Cow), which won several international film awards, portrays a villager who becomes insane and assumes the identity of his dead cow. Whenthe cow dies while the owner is away, the villagers, knowing how attached the man is to his cow, tell him that the cow has strayed, rather than died. When they finally tell him that the cow has died to shock him out of his irrational behavior it is too late; he has already taken on the identity of the "lost" cow.
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Authority/Submi ssion/Autonomy A commonobservation about Iranians juxtaposes these three status positions while it has been often noted that "the same individual is at different moments haughty and cringing" (Curzon, 1892:15), and yet, "he nearly always retains a certain aloofness from the world and from life as the innermost determinants of his soul" (Haas, 1949:120). in "interpersonal relationships Thus, as Arasteh claims: traditional Iran were governed by the principles of authorrespecity, submission, and autonomy, and characterized, tively, by power, loyalty and a spirit of fellowship" (Arasteh,
1964:184 -185)
.
l1
The communication pattern underlying this three-way system involves the recognition of differentiated particithe first in which pants in two communication situations: and the second one recognizes intimates vs. non-intimates, in which one recognizes those of unequal status to oneself vs. those of equal status. Those of unequal status may be This partition creates higher in status or lower in status. two communication networks within which it becomes possible to effect exchange with others. The difference between the system of communication obtaining between intimates as opposed to non-intimates is clearly marked. This can be seen most clearly in the fact that one does not practice tac'ruf (ritual courtesy) with intimates, in the sense that one interprets or should interpret respectful code forms as conveying the message that Whereas, of course, genuine respect prompts their use. among non-intimates no such feeling is implied per se (this that a clear show of fact implies, and I think correctly, respect is not taC&ruf). Persons of non-equal status, are subject to communiwhether intimates or non-intimates, In addition to respectcations of a particular quality. ful code forms, requests, material goods, and actions aftribfecting another person are interpreted as petitions, ute, and service when the other person is of higher status, and as orders, reward, and favors when the other person is of lower status. This contrasts sharply with the situation between equal status intimates where requests are made abIRANIANSTUDIES
36
material and unequivocally, comsolutely goods are ideally mon property, and where one person would "sacrifice himself' for the other. non-inIn the remaining category, i.e., timate, equal status implies no necessary communication whatsoever--thus, autonomy. This last mentioned feature of the communication system may have led to the widespread observation among Westerners that Iranians cannot work together in groups, or that when set on a common task, those involved are continually vying for status positions. If, in no clear interpretation fact, of the communication proffered by another is possible unless individuals can classify each other as intimates, status unequals, or both, it hardly seems possible for there to be any clear way to proceed in interaction except by vying for status, or by behaving in an idiosyncratic manner. Edward Hall(1961, 1966) has demonstrated that certain types of communication are impossible, or at least highly uncomfortable,at certain distances. One does not, for example, pronounce endearments at four feet, or discuss a business at the distance transaction of three inches. In communication systems where relative status of participants is highly marked, the quality of the constellation of persons with whom one is communicating functions much the same as distance as a limiting factor. It is as difficult to be haughty with one's clear superior in Iran as it is to de-
liver
a sermon at six inches in the United States.
Neither
or psyconstraint has much to do with the personalities chological but rather make-up of the persons involved, with the constraints placed on normal communication. Mistrust Mistrust has often been cited as a widespread and important feature of Iranian society (cf. Zonis, 1972: Ch. 8; Binder, 1954:258; Ajami, 1969:Ch. 9; Westwood, 1965; and many others). Mistrust seen as an attitudinal feature implies that other people are so unpredictable that one never knows what malevolence they are going to inflict on one.
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If we consider mistrust from the standpoint of communication, we see that what we term mistrust is better thought of as an index of relative communicative maladroitis the person whomwe read as being mistrustful ness, i.e., in fact unable to interpret the actions of another to his Taken in this sense, mistrust is the own satisfaction. reciprocal of zirangLi. That is, one person may be successfully concealing his motives and true actions from another person, who, in turn, is unable to understand exactly what If such a situation is coupled with a is taking place. communicative habit whereby one comes to expect detrimental actions and bad news to be revealed in stages (as illustrated in section B above), a clear pattern of expectation of bad news from individuals about whose actions one knows In this light, it is interesting is established. little to to note that the English word "mistrust" is difficult directly translate paraphrase.
into
Persian,
and is best
handled
by a
label as indicating observers Again, the actions have much to do with the pragmatics of communi"mistrust" with the actual connection necessary but little cation, that the AmeriNo one insists of Iranians. personalities bar are all gullible can women one might find in a singles by nature because they may react to a "line" given out by and the status reactions the possible a male. The line, all are part of the pragmatic and roles of the participants the participants. of interaction communication expectations where obin Iranian communication situations, Similarly one does not are highly valued,11 and obscurity tuseness
expect to be able to divine zirang than follows the their final pragmatics
the motives of those more
one But, lacking a complete reading, oneself. to expected stages of message presentation outcome as a matter of course in the normal of interpretation.
Understanding that the behavior we as observers have labelled so often as "mistrust" is, in fact, a feature of communication should aid in unravelling that seemon Iran where ing anomaly which recurs in the literature and yet relatives their "love" individuals apparently Indeed, my experience "mistrust" them at the same time. IRANIANSTUDIES
38
has been that even dislike is not closely tied up with uncertainty about the potential actions of others. Individuals in the village where I lived who were indicated to me as "bad" people, or people one did not like, did not attain to that status because they were not trusted, or were suspect in their actions; they were disliked rather for specific past deeds that had concrete bad effects. A druggist in Mashhad with whom I was acquainted had an "1apprentice"l--a young man who kept the shop in the druggist's absence, and assisted him generally. The relationship between the two was very amiable. I was curious about the druggist's accounting procedures since he never seemed to make a record of his receipts, and to my surprise learned I inquired if he suspected that he kept no books at all. that his apprentice might be stealing money in such a lax situation. He answered that he was certain the man was stealing money, although he was ignorant of how much or when--in fact, he never had seen him steal, nor even noI asked him how he knew that the apprenticed a shortage. tice was stealing. He replied that all apprentices steal and that this was an unusually excellent apprentice--the best he had ever had--because not only was he a good worker but, he stole so little, and so cleverly that he, the owner, was never able to detect it. Emotionality A commonly reported psychological characteristic of Iranians is their emotionality (cf. Vreeland et al., 1957; Haas, 1946). It is almost self evident that a distinction must be drawn between emotion which is expressed and emotion which may be felt. A non-Iranian observer may indeed conclude that Iranians are extremely emotional, but this conclusion is probably based on the fact that the expression of emotion is appropriate in different contexts in Iran than in the West. One can assume that in terms of emotion which is felt Iranians are similar to the rest of the world's population.
39
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Whereas it is the case that weeping and crying on the part of both sexes is appropriate expression in many public contexts in Iran where it would be totally inappropriate in the United States, minor personal anger and petty are not given nearly the range of possibility frustration for expression in the former country that they are in the Anger directed at certain persons, such as one's latter. superiors or one's parents is roundly condemned. A seven-year-old child in a family of my acquaintance struck his father in anger. His father was so shocked His mother began to weep he could only stare in disbelief. and wail, and the child was so remorseful that he locked himself in the toilet and would not come out for dinner. Even at that age, the child was expected to contain his anger toward his father, and give it no expression whatsoIn a more extreme case, I was witness to one young ever. man's hysteric convulsions brought on by suppressed anger towards his father during a discussion of the father's deOn the sires in the choice of his son's future bride. other hand, an insult to one's honor demands an immediate and sometimes violent expression of anger. Not to attempt for a grave insult to one's family, to obtain satisfaction person, religion (and lately country) is inappropriate. Thus the matter of Iranian emotionality again reduces to a problem of assessing the kinds of messages that are appropriate for expression at particular times in particular contexts and toward particular persons, rather than of personality traits as distributed an investigation throughout the population at large. Accounting Procedures One final and highly important aspect of systems of communication must be considered in concluding this disThis aspect consists of systems of, what ethnocussion. According to methodologists call "accounting procedures." Garfinkel, Sacks, Sudnow, and other researchers in ethnomethodology (cf. Garfinkel, 1967), individuals engaging in communication are not only transmitting substantive messages IRANIANSTUDIES
40
to each other; they are also simultaneously transmitting meta-communicative messages which constitute an account to of what they are doing, have done, or others and themselves are about to do. An Iranian man who is publicly giving vent to his anger must demonstrate while he is expressing anger that he is expressing his anger in an appropriate way and for an appropriate reason. Various ways in which he may demonstrate that his expression of anger is appropriate is by invoking religious oaths, trying to fight (and being held back by onlookers), turning red, being extremely vociferous, and proclaiming the entire reason for his anger to anyone who can hear. Of course he is expressing his anger at the same time too, but the form of the expression of his anger constitutes his account of his action for all observers. To a degree, then, every action is an account of itself. However, every action also serves to account for othfor previous er actions, serving both as an explanation actions and a license for subsequent actions. In this light, even a response to a question or in an interview, an autobiographical statement by an informant should not be taken at face value by an outside If we observer. accept the ethnomethodological point of view, such afterthe-fact statements are designed more to render an action or an event acceptable and intelligible rather thani to necessarily truth about the event convey some obiective in question. To this end, communication systems are chlaracterized not only by ready-made strategies for dealing with ongoing social interaction, but also by ieady-made after-the-fact accounting procedures for making individual of those events conform to laigeevents and the results scale ongoing schemes of reality. To conclude, in formulating about any statements the motivations to behave in a prompting an individual particular face a number of probway, we, as observers, as I lhave tried to point out in the bulk of lems. First, this paper, we cannot observe motivations, emotions or of individuals psyclhological characteristics directly; we can only observe the expressions of those more private 41
WINTER1976
phenomena. These expressions are furthermore organized and regularized in their own way within broad systems of communication which, in great part, obliterate vast differences in individual psychology (thereby assuring, however, some degree of mutual intelligibility in expression for members of society). Thus, conclusions based on our perceptions of individual expression tell us quite a bit about regular patterns of communication, but very little about mass psychology. Secondly, even in the study of communication we face a series of ongoing dialectics between macro-structures of ideology and social values, and micro-structures of individual ongoing interactions; between pragmatic foresight and after-the-fact rationalization; and ultimately between our own need as observers to account for the actions of a subject and his need to make himself accountable to us and the world at large. The resolution of all of these processes is the actual visible situationally based act. Thus, in the last analysis, statements about national character may simply be our systematic cultural accounts of the cultural accounting that native peoples employ to adetheir own ongoing situation. quately rationalize NOTES
1.
entitled "Is there an Iranian This essay, originally Approach," deNational Character? A Sociolinguistic rives partly from research undertaken in Iran from February 1971 to October 1972, supported partly by a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and by Pahlavi University in Shiraz, both of whose help is gratefully acknowledged. Earlier drafts of this paper were read by Richard Antoun, James Bill, Michael Fischer, and Gernot Windfuhr, whose comments were much appreciated.
2.
of 1964 and 1969 constitute Erwin Tripp's articles important programmatic statements on the dynamics of these phenomena.
IRANIAN STUDIES
42
3.
Indeed, one might say that all interpersonal behavior is communicative to the degree that it is interpreted by others, as implied by Watzlawick et al. (1964).
4.
The point I am making here may be subject to misunderI am not saying that individual variation standing. in speech or behavior is unimportant for understanding the nature of the phenomenon of national character. I am positing that the vast amount of variation that does occur from individual to individual is rendered systematic both during and after the fact through the for his actions while individual's own self-accounting he is performing them, and in observers' interpretation of those actions. Any individual choosing to act in a particular way must be aware of the various ways that his behavior is likely to be "taken," and adjust his actions accordingly. Likewise, even wildly aberrant behavior can be regularized within the system of interpretation after the fact through the application of such categories as insanity, anger, humor, or foreigness. The study of individual expression is a problem of the utmost importance for anthropology and linguistics. But before it is possible to address such problems as, for example, why some people can be said to express themselves effectively and others ineptly in their own society, we must understand the nature of the constraints of accountability and interpretation within which they are forced to operate.
5.
One may here well ask how this view differs from the In the simple notion that behavior is normative. consideration of communicative behavior it is assumed that the actor is not only orienting himself to a standard, but is in fact generating behavior which (1) will have an effect that the actor himself can comprehend on those with whomhe is interacting (and here George Herbert Mead's concept of the generalized other is relevant); and (2) which is considered according to a number of criteria, primarily a knowledge of what can be communicated, to whom it can be communicated, how it should be communicated and what the various results will be of actualizing alternative 43
WINTER1976
within the communicachoices open to the individual In a sense, the only generalized tion system. norm to communicative behavior is that it must that applies be interpretable. 6.
Of course, this includes members of the same culture-Easterners in the U.S. often never really seem to comprehend Southwestern "friendliness," nor do Southwesterners understand Eastern "reserve."
7.
section are so The themes I treat in the following widely referred to in scholarly and non-scholarly literature about Iran that I have avoided precise of the use of each theme in all sources. documentation In this case, the bibliography provided here lists all references used in preparation of this discussi on, both buit nct cited. those cited directly and those consulted
8.
This set of conmunication from Jakobson 1960.
9.
all persons must be seen as potentially By definition, is the best conzirang since to manifest stupidity of all! cealment of one's intentions
variables
derives
largely
10.
Arasteh claims come conflicted
that these three orientations for many modern lranians.
11.
to note that the often complex and It is interesting obscure classic poets IM.1fiz and Sa'ad! have been modern religious roundly condemned by certain coInservatives because they are thought to mislead the populace.
have be-
SELECTEDBlBLIOGRAPHiY Ajami, Isma'il 1969a Shishdni. 1969b
Shiraz:
Pahlavi
University.
Social Classes, Family Demographic Characterisin Three Iranian Villages. tics and Mobility 9:1, 62-72. Sociologia Ruialis
IRAiNIANSTUDIES
44
Alberts, 1963
R. C. and Culture Change in an IraniSocial Structure of University Ph.D. dissertation, an Village. Wisconsin.
Aresteh, 1964
A. Reza and Josephene Man and Society in Iran.
Avery, Peter Modern Iran. 1965 Bateson, 1956
New York:
Leiden:
Brill.
Praeger.
Gregory, Don D. Jackson, Jay Haley, and Jolhn Ii. Toward a Theory, of Schizophrenia. Weakland. Science 1:4, 251-64. Behavioral
Beeman, William 0. Foundations Preliminary Semantics: Interaction 1971 M.A. Study of Meaning. for the Observational of Chicago. University Chicago: Thesis. 1972
and Style in Iranian lnteraction. Paper Strategy at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Amenrpresented Toronto. Association, can Anthropological
Bell, Gertrude 1928 Persian Bill,
Pictures.
James The Politics 1972 ernization.
New York:
Boni and Liveright.
of Iran: Groups, Classes Columbus: Merrill.
and Mod-
Binder, Leonard Development in a Changinj SociPolitical 1962 Iran: of (California Los Angeles: University t. Press. Ray Birdwhistel1, 1971 Kinesics and Context. of Pennsylvania. Browne, Edward G. A Year Annst 1893
the Persians. 45
University
Philadelphia:
London:
A.
tC
C. Black.
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Curzon, George N. 1892 Persia and the Persian Question. Cass & Co. Garfinkel, 1967
Harold Studies in Ethnomethodology. N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
London: Frank
Englewood Cliffs,
Gastil, Raymond Iranian General Belief Modes as Found in Middle 1958a Class Shiraz. Harvard UniPh.D. dissertation, versity. 1958b
Middle Class Impediments to Iranian Modernization. Public Opinion Quarterly 22:3, 325-9.
Gobineau, Comte de 1957 Lettres Persanes.
Paris:
Mercvre de France.
Gumperz, John 1962 Types of Linguistic Communities. Linguistics 4:1, 28-40. Gumperz, John, and Dell Hymes (eds.) 1972 Directions in Sociolinguistics. Rinehart & Winston. Haas, William S. 1946 Iran.
New York:
Hall, Edward T. The Silent 1961 1966
Anthropological
New York:
Columbia University
Language.
The Hidden Dimension.
New York:
Holt,
Press.
Fawcett.
Garden City:
Doubleday.
Hunt, Robert A History of the British and American Anthropo1965 Ph.D. logical Study of National Character. Northwestern University. dissertation, Hylnies, Dell
1967
Models of the Interaction of Language anid Social Setting. Journal of Social Issues 23:2, 0-28.
IRANIAN STUDIES
46
Hymes, Dell 1972 Models of the Interaction of Language and Social Life. In Gumperz, John and Dell Hymes (eds.), New York: Holt, Directions in Sociolinguistics. Rinehart and Winston. Keddie, Nikki R. Social Control and Capitalism in 1972 Stratification, Iranian Villages: Before and After Land Reform. In Richard Antoun and Iliya Harik (eds.), Rural Politics and Social Change in the Middle East. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Khosrovi, Khosro 1969 La Reforme Agraire et l'Apparition d'une Nouvelle Classe en Iran. Etudes Rurales 34, 122-126. Kielstra, n.d.
Nice A Dialectical Model of Attitudes towards Authority in a Persian Village. Unpublished ms.
Loeb, Laurence D. 1969 Mechanisms of Rank Maintenance and Social Mobility AmongShirazi Jews (Iran). Paper presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American AnNew Orleans. thropological Association, Hambly, Gavin 1964 Attitudes and Aspirations of the Contemporary Iranian Intellectual. Royal Central Asian Society Journal 51:57, 127-40. Marsden, David M. A Moral Statement as Given by a Troupe of Playn.d. ers at a Village Wedding, Tarbour, Kushk-i Mullah, Fars. Unpublished ms. Mead, Margaret 1962 National Character. In Sol Tax (ed.), Anthropology Today. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Mehdevi, Anne Sinclair 1953 Persian Adventure.
47
New York:
Alfred A. Knopf.
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Milispaugh, Arthur C. 1925 The American Task in Persia. 1946
Americans in Persia.
New York: Century.
Washington: Brookings Inst.
Naraghi, Ehsan 1951 Elite Ancienne et Elite Nouvelle Dans l'Iran Revue des Etudes Islamigues 25, 69-80. Actuel. Smith, David M. 1973 Speech Communities--A Framework for Viewing Hunm Georgetown University. Unpub. ms. Interaction. Smith, Harvey 11. et a]. Area Handbook for Iran. Washington, D.C.: 1971 Government Printing Office. Triandis, 1973
U.S.
Harry C., Foy S. Malpass, and Andrew R. Davidson In Annual Review of Psychology and Culture. Psychology 24. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews, Inc.
Vreeland, Herbert H. (ed.) Relations 19S7 Iran. New Haven: H-iuman
Area Files.
Watzlawick, Paul, Janet H. Beauin, and Don D. Jackson 1967 Pragmatics of HumanCommunication. New York: Norton. Westwood, Andrew F. 1965 Politics of Distrust in Iran. Annals of the and Social Sciences American Academy of Political 358, 123-35. Zonis, Marvin Elite of Iran. The Political 1971 ton University Press.
IRANIAN STUDIES
48
Princeton:
Prince-
Seeking Absolution
SADEGH HEDAYAT Trans. by MINOOS. SOUTHGATE
The scorching wind mingled the dirt and sand, blowing it in the pilgrims' faces. The sun burned and shrivelled everything. The camels stepped to the monotonous melody of iron and brass bells, their necks swaying rhythmically, their frowning snouts and hanging muzzles revealing their dissatisfaction with their fate. Through the dust, the caravan moved slowly in the middle of the grey dirt road. The ash-colored, dry, sandy desert stretched as far as the eye could see, shimmering in the heat and at times forming a series of low mounds at For miles not even a date palm rethe side of the road. lieved the monotony. Wherever there was a handful of stagnant water in a ditch a family had pitched a shelter. The air burned everything, taking one's breath away. It was like stepping into the corridor of hell. The caravan had been on the road for thirty-six days. Their mouths dry, their bodies weak, their pockets empty, the pilgrims had watched their money supply diminish like snow under the hot Arabian sun. But today the chief of the camel-drivers formally annouTnced that they had reached their destination and received tips from the pilgrims. They saw the tops of the minarets in the distance Minoo S. Southgate is Assistant Baruch College, City University 49
Professor of English of New York.
at
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and uttered their tired
the prayer. bodies.
It was as if new life
had revived
KhanomGelin and Aziz Agha, in dusty black chadors had been tossed up and down in the camel litter from the time they had joined the caravan in Ghazvin. Every day had seemed like a year to them. There wasn't a sound bone in Aziz Agha's body, but she reminded herself that the more you suffer on a pilgrimage the greater your reward. A barefoot Arab, dark-skinned, with glaring eyes and a thin beard, whipped the mule's bleeding thighs with From time to time, he would turn and a thick iron chain. stare at the women one by one. Mashdi Ramazan, the man in their party, and HosseinAgha, Aziz Agha's stepson, occupied Mashdi Ramazanwas carefully the other two camel litters. She pulled counting his money. KhanomGelin looked pale. and addressaside the curtain between the two camel-litters ed Aziz Agha: "WhenI saw the top of the minarets, my soul flew It wasn't her fate." to them. Poor Shabaji! Aziz Agha, cooling ed hand, replied:
herself
with a fan in her tatoo-
"May God absolve her; she was a charitable how did she become paralyzed?" But
woman.
"She quarrelled with her husband, which led to The next morning Then she ate pickled onions. divorce. We tried everything, but she half her body was paralyzed. I was bringing her to the holy Imamto didn't get well. cure her." "Maybe the camel ride and all that rocking wasn't good for her." "But her soul is in heaven. The minute you decide to go on pilgrimage and set out on your way, all your sins are forgiven; and if you die, you'll go straight to heaven." IRANIANSTUDIES
SO
"No. Every time I set eyes on these coffins I I want to go into the shrine, open my heart to tremble. the Imam, buy myself a shroud, then die." God bless "I had a dream about Shabaji last night. you, you were in it too. We were walking in a big, green garden. A descendant of the Prophet, surrounded by light, wearing a green tunic, turban, sash, and sandals, welcomed us. He pointed to a green mansion and said, 'Go there and rest.' Then I woke up." "Good for her!" The caravan lead-
The caravan moved along noisily. er in front sang:
"Whoever longs for Karbala, welcome! to go with us, welcome!"
Whoever wishes
Another caravan leader answered: "Whoever longs for Karbala will wishes to go with us will thrive.
Whoever
thrive.
The former sang again: "In Karbala your spirit comes to life; laments pierce your ear like a knife." And the latter
answered:
"May God grant you visit worthless life to Allah." The first
Zeinab's
Karbala.
I sacrifice
my
caravan leader waved his flag and sang again:
"Damnedbe the tongue that would not say, we pray. To God's beloved Muhammad To ImamAli, his eleven sons, We send our greetings each and everyone."
51
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At the end of each verse, aloud.
the pilgrims
repeated the prayer
The splendid golden dome with beautiful minarets was soon matched by a blue dome which looked out of place among mudbrick huts. The sun had almost set when the caravan entered the street lined with broken walls and small shops. The caravan was greeted by a strange motley crowd. Ragged Arabs; men with dull faces, wearing fezes; turbaned men with shrewd faces, shaved heads, hennacolored beards and nails, telling their beads, walking around in sandals, loose cotton pants and long tunics. Persian, Turkish, and guttural Arabic spoken from the depth of the throat and entrails deafened the ear. The Arab women had dirty tattooed faces and inflamed eyes, and wore rings in their nose. A mother had forced half her black breast into the mouth of the dirty baby in her arms. The crowd sought customers in various ways: one sang lamentations, another beat his breast; the next sold prayer-stones, beads, and sacred shrouds; another caught jinns; the next wrote prayers and sold amulets for protection; and another rented rooms. Jews in long caftans bought gold and jewelry from the pilgrims. In front of the coffee-house an Arab was picking his nose and rubbing the dirt out from between his toes. His face was covered with flies, and lice crawled all over his head. When the caravan came to a stop, Mashdi Ramazan and HosseinAgha ran to help KhanomGelin and Aziz Agha down from the camel-litter. The pilgrims were assailed by a great crowd. Every piece of their belongings was grabbed by someone who hoped to rent his lodgings to them. In the midst of all this, Aziz Agha disappeared. They looked for her and asked around, hlut couldn't find her. KhanomGelin,Hossein Agha, and Mashdi Ramazan rented a room with a dirt floor and mudbrick walls for seven rupees a day, and then resumed their search. They looked everywhere in town. They questioned all the shrine attendIRANIAN STUDIES
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ants one by one, gave them Aziz Agha's name and description, but found no sign of her. Sometime later, when the courtyard around the shrine was less crowded, KhanomGelin entered the shrine for the ninth time and found a crowd of women and priests surrounding a womanwho was grasping the grating around the sepulchre, kissing it and crying out, "Oh ImamHossein! Help me! The Day of Judgment, when graves give up their dead, the day when our eyes roll up to the tops of our skulls. What am I to do? Oh help me! Help me! I am penitent. I've done an awful thing. Forgive me! Forgive me!" After they had pleaded with her for a long time, she turned, tears flooding her face, and wailed, "I've done something ImamHossein won't forgive." KhanomGelin recognized Aziz Aghals voice. She went forward, took her hand, and dragged her into the courtyard, Hossein Agha came to her assistance and they took Aziz Agha home. There they gathered around her, gave her tea, and fixed a water pipe for her. She promised to tell them her life story, but asked her stepson, Hossein Agha, to leave the room before she began. "My dear KhanomGelin, after I married Geda Ali, God bless his soul, for three years we lived so happily that I was the envy of all women. Geda Ali worshipped me. He kissed the grounid I walked on. But all that time I didn't get pregnant. He kept after me that he wanted a child and wouldn't take no for an answer. Every night he would sit by my side and say, 'How can I endure this misery? I am childless.' I went to every doctor in town, I got amulets, but to no avail. One night, he wept and said to me, 'If you consent, I'll take a contract wife. She'll help you around the house. I'll divorce her after she bears a child, and you can bring up the child as your own.' Bless his soul, he fooled me, and I said, 'Fine, I'll take care of the whole business myself.' "The next day I put on my chador, went to Hassan, the yogurt maker, and asked his daughter, Khadijeh, in marriage for my husband. Khadijeh was ugly and darkskinned, her face ruined by small pox. She was so feeble, 53
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Well, if you pinched her nose she would give up the ghost. I was the mistress of the house. She did the chores, cookBut barely a month had passed when she ed and cleaned. began to fill out. She put on weight, then got pregnant Well, it was obvious she had gotten herjust like that. My husband gave her all his attention. self established. If in the middle of winter she craved cherries, he would leave no stone unturned until he got them for her. I was the lowest of the low. At night, when he came home, he would go straight to her room to empty out his bundle, and The I had to live on whatever she gave me out of charity. house my to came who daughter of Hassan the yogurt maker, barefoot and in rags, now put on airs with me. I realized what a mistake "'I could kick myself. I'd made. KhanomGelin, for nine months I kept it all in But and maintained appearances in front of the neighbors. during the day, when my husband wasn't home, I'd give her hell--may he never know of this in his grave. In front of my husband I'd slander her. I'd say to him, 'In your old age you've fallen in love with a chimp? You can't have Mashdi Taghi, the smith, This isn't your child. children. And Khadijeh would slander me behind got her pregnant.' my back, trying to turn Geda Ali against me. To make a long story short, you can't imagine what went on in our house everyday. Such a to do! The neighbors were fed up with our constant yelling and screaming. And I was scared to death she was going to have a son. I had a fortune teller divine by means of a book, I resorted to witchcraft, It was as though she had eaten pork and but to no avail. She just got bigger and had become immune to witchcraft. bigger, and at the end of the nine months she had the baby, and despite all my pains, it was a boy! iGelin Khanom, in my own house now I didn't count I don't know whether she had a charm or for anything. This beggar, this woman had given Geda Ali some potion. that I'd gone and brought to my own house, had me in her power. Right in front of my husband she'd say to me, I'd "Aziz Agha, I'm busy. Will you wash the diapers?' fire up and in front of Geda Ali call her and her son IRANIANSTUDIES
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whatever came to my mouth. I told Geda Ali to give me a divorce. But he, bless his soul, kissed my hand and said, 'Why are you acting like this? She'll get angry and her milk will make the baby ill. Wait till he starts to walk, then I'll divorce her.' "But I couldn't eat or sleep, I was so worried. Until, may God forgive me, in order to break her heart, one day as soon as she went to the public bath and I was left alone in the house, I went to the baby's cradle, took the safety pin I used to pin my headkerchief with, turned my face, and thrust the pin in the top of the baby's head. Then I hurried out of the room. Khanom Gelin, the baby didn't take breast for two days and two nights. Everytime it cried, my heart sank. The amulets, the doctors, and the medicine did no good. On the second day, it died in the afternoon. "Well, as might be expected, my husband and Khadijeh cried and mourned. But I was relieved. It was like I said to myself, at someone had poured water on fire. least now they have no son. Let them eat their hearts out. But barely two months had passed before she got pregnant I didn't know what to do this time. again. I swear to ImamHossein I got ill and remained half conscious and bed-ridden for two months. At the end of the nine months, Khadijeh whelped. It was another son, and she became the favorite once more. Geda Ali would give his life for the God gave the Israelites child. the promised land and Geda Ali a son! For two whole days he stayed home and just sat there with the baby wrapped up in diapers in front of him, looking at it. "It was the same story all over again. KhanomGelin, I couldn't help it. I couldn't stand the sight of a rival wife and her child. I used One day Khadijeh was occupied. the opportunity, took the safety pin again, and thrust it in the baby's fontanel. It died the next day. As you'd expect, there was moaning and groaning. This time, you can't imagine the state I was in. On the one hand, I was pleased as pie to have deprived Khadijeh of her son, on 55
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the other hand I was worried about the blood I'd shed twice. I mourned for the child. I cried so hard, Geda Ali and Khadijeh were sorry for me and wondered how I could love the offspring of a rival wife so much. But I wasn't crying for the baby. I was crying for myself, for the Day of Judgment, the darkness of the tomb. That night my husband told They me, 'I guess it wasn't in my stars to have children. die before they can walk.' But it wasn't yet forty days, when Khadijeh got pregnant again. There wasn't an offerHe ing my husband didn't make so the child would live. vowed to marry it to a descendent of the Prophet if it were a girl, and to call it Hossein if it were a boy and let his hair grow for seven years, then weigh its equal in gold and take the boy on the pilgrimage to Karbala. After about eight months and ten days, Khadijeh bore a third son. But this time it seemed like she'd gotten onto something. She wouldn't leave the baby alone for one second, and I wasn't able to make up my mind between killing the child or doing something so Geda Ali would divorce Khadijeh. But all this was idle dreaming. Khadijeh was on top of the world. She was the mistress of the house, she bossed me around, and her word was law. Meanwhile, the baby grew to be four months. "I looked for a good augury day and night, wondering whether to kill the baby, until one night after a big fight with Khadijell, I decided to do the baby in. I bided my time for two days. OnLthe second day, Khadijeh went to the corner grocery to buy some figwort camphor. I ran into the room and took the baby out of the hammock. It was But as I pulled the pin and was about to thrust asleep. it in, the baby woke up and instead of crying, smiled at me. KhanomGelin, I don't know what came over me. My hand dropped. I couldn't bring myself to do it. Well, no matter what I'd done, it wasn't like my heart was made of I put the baby back and ran out of the room. Then stone. I said to myself, 'Well, it isn't the kid's fault. The I've got to do the mother smoke rises from the firewood. in and end the trouble.' "KhanomGelin, now as I tell you this I tremble, but what could I do then? It was my wretched husband who IRANIANSTUDIES
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subjected me to the daughter of a yogurt maker--may he never hear this in his grave. "I took some of her hair to Mulla Ebrahim the Jew, to put a curse who was famous in the Rahchamandistrict, on her. I put a horse-shoe in fire. Mulla Ebrahim charged me three tomans, and promised she would die before the week was up. But a month went by and she just got bigger and bigger, like Mount Ohod. My faith in witchcraft and such things was shaken. "A month later, the winter had just begun when Geda Ali got sick--so sick that he made his will twice, and we poured holy water down his throat three times. One night, when he was very sick, I went to tne marketplace and bought some rat poison. I brought the stuff home, poured it into the stew and after stirring it in thoroughly I put the stew back on the stove. I'd bought some food for myself. I ate it secretly, and after I was full, went to Geda Ali's room. Twice Khadijeh said, 'It's late; let's have supper.' But I told her I had a headache and didn't feel like eating. I'd feel better with an empty stomach, I said. "KhanomGelin, Khadijeh ate her last meal and went to bed. I went to her door and listened. I could hear her moan. But it was cold and the doors were all shut. No one else could hear her. I spent the whole night in Geda Ali's room, pretending I was nursing him. When it was nearly morning, I went to her room again, trembling and fearful, and listened behind the door. I heard the baby cry, but didn't dare open the door. You can't imagine what I went through. "In the morning, after everybody got up, I opened Khadijeh's room. She was dead, and had turned black as coal. She had struggled so much that her mattress and her covers were all over the room. I dragged her over to the mattress and covered her with the counterpane. The I left the room, went to baby was crying and sobbing. the pond, and washed my hand. Then weeping and beating myself, I took the news of Khadijeh's death to Geda Ali.
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"Whenpeople asked me what she died of, I said she'd been taking medicine to become pregnant and that she'd been No one suspected overweight and maybe died of apoplexy. me, but my conscience gave me no peace. Was it I who had shed blood three times? My face in the mirror scared me. I'd go to hear professional mourners My life was poisoned. tell the story of the Iman's death in the tragedy of KarI wept, gave money to the needy, but I could find bala. The thought of the Day of Judgment, of Gog and no peace. Magog, and the darkness of the tomb--God knows what I went through. Then I decided to go to Karbala and live near Since Geda Ali had made a the holy shrine in penitence. vow to take us to Karbala, he wasn't unwilling to go. But saying, 'We'll he kept finding excuses and procrastinating, go to Mashad next year. There is a plague in Karbala this And so on and so forth, he put it off till he died. year.' "This year, I made up my mind to go, sold all the property and turned it into cash, as he had decreed in his And when I heard about you and Mashdi Ramazan leavwill. ing for Karbala, I joined you in Chazvin. The young man who is with me and thinks I am his mother is the same Hossein Agha, Khadijeh's third son. I told him to leave the room so he wouldn't hear my story." Mashdi Ramazanand Gelin Khanomheard the story in amazement. Aziz Agha's eyes filled with tears. "I don't know whether God will forgive me, or whether on the Day of Judgment the Imamwill intercede for me. KhanomGelin, I've been waiting to tell somebody what ails me. Now that I have, it's like someone poured water on But I worry about the Day of Judgment...." fire. Mashdi Ramazan tapped the ashes out of his pipe: "Come, come! Whydo you think we are here? Three years ago I was a coachman on the road to Khorasan. I had On the way, the mail coach overtwo rich passengers. I strangled the turned and one of the passengers died. Now out of his pocket. tomans other myself and took 1,500 that I'm growing old, I got to thinking that the money was IRANIANSTUDIES
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gained unlawfully, so I decided to come to Karbala to make it lawful. Today I gave the money to one of the ulema. He took 500 for himself and gave me the rest, cleansed and purified. It only took two hours. Now the money is as much mine by right as was my mother's milk." KhanomGelin took the water pipe from Aziz Agha, produced a thick smoke, and after a short silence said: "You remember Shabaji who was with us. I knew the camel ride would do her no good, but I brought her along anyway. You see, she was my stepsister. Her husband fell in love with me and married me. I tormented her so much that she became paralyzed. And on the way, I killed her so she wouldn't get any of our father's inheritance." Aziz Agha was weeping for joy. she said.
"You? You too?"
KhanomGelin took a smoke and said: "Haven't you heard the preacher? Even if your sins are as numerous as the leaves on a tree, the moment you take a vow and set out on your pilgrimage you're as pure as a new-born babe."'
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Book
Reviews
The Foreign Relations of Iran: A Developing State in a Zone of Great Power Conflict. By Shahram Chubin and Sepehr Zabih. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974. xiii + 362 pp. $17.50. RICHARD W.COTTAM
Shahram Chubin and Sepehr Zabih, the co-authors of The Foreign Policy of Iran, are Iranian, but their book is "A Developalmost prototypically American. The subtitle, ing State in a Zone of Great Power Conflict," communicates the authors' case study purpose; and the first section advances an analytical framework--a typical American format. But the analytical framework, as is also often the case in American foreign policy literature, is unobtrusive. The early pages speak of "subsystems," "penetration," and "leverage," but these concepts are treated common-sensically and non-schematically. No one should avoid this book because of an antipathy to social science methodology. Except for those occasions when the analytic framework does obtrude, the operative framework is the intuitive This And implicit frame of the interpretive historian. book is rich in detail and several strong themes emerge and are developed with intelligence and skill. The analysis Richard W. Cottam is Professor University of Pittsburgh.
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of Political
Science at the
is remarkably detached and of a high order of integrity--a judgment that can be made too rarely concerning the literature of modern Iran. Readers who see Iran as the faithful executor of American policy in South Asia will find little comfort in this study. The basic picture that emerges of Iranian policy, at least since 1963, is one that mirrors the world view, the values, the ambitions and the tactical preferences of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. As such the policy is free of the rigidity and lack of imagination associated with a big foreign policy bureaucracy. But it is free also of the detailed strategic planning that only a skilled and highly informed staff can provide. The result is often quixotic, occasionally brilliant and frequently bewildering. The authors describe the patterns of the royal foreign policy as it relates to the Soviet Union, the United States, the Persian Gulf and the politics of oil. In every area, policy is treated as essentially personal. Only occasionally is there a suggestion of a bureaucratic interest group or public role. In fact the authors make only one reservation in this picture of near total control. "Insofar as the Shah does not depart too drastically from the general consensus, he is free to pursue policies of his own choosing" (pp. 17-18). But what is this Certainly 'lgeneral consensus" and where is it manifest? not in any institution such as the press, parliament or the foreign policy and defense bureaucracy, all of which are judged to be impotent. The authors do not return to this point and Iran's foreign policy, at least since 1963, is treated as the Shah's. As a case study, the book is of somewhat limited because of this idiosyncratic comparative utility quality of Iran's foreign policy as Chubin and Zabih see it. But the book could have been useful comparatively if a bargaining frame had been developed. There is an early promise that this will be a major analytic focus and the case of Iran is, I believe, most instructive here. Why does this middle level, recently-developed country exert
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The so much influence in regional and even world affairs? ability to take inauthors assert that although "...Iran's issues has been somewhat dependent positions on political curtailed..."
during
the past
decade,
"....Iran's
independ-
ence has increased in the emerging multi-polar world" (p. diplomacy has been 297), and in sum, "Iran's international largely successful in accurately assessing trends in inand maneuvering accordingly" (p. 298). ternational politics In other words, Iran has functioned well in influence terms because of the Shah's comprehension of the environment. one Their assessment of the Shah's diplomacy is a critical but they do give him high marks. What they do not do is what levers the Shah was to show the reader systematically able to manipulate to achieve this success. Readers are likely to judge this book very differThose ently depending on their own views of reality. who see an American imperialism in the Middle East which system althe evolving impulses of a capitalist reflects most certainly will be unconvinced.- The authors apparentthesis enough to address ly do not value the revisionist it even though they surely know it is widely held among Other readers who believe American anti-regime Iranians. policy reflected primarily a perceived threat from the Soviet Union are likely to see this as an analytically powerful and in many areas persuasive study. Yet in three areas I wish the authors had developed their case further. First, although they make a persuasive case that the personal policy of the Iran's policy is essentially Shah, they could have gone much further than they do in describing what a policy that is described as "personal"? They looks like in this era of extraordinary complexity. make some attempt to do this by constructing seven hypotheses. Some of these are truistic, e.g., "...When forthe leader's it will reflect eign policy is personal, perceptions and values and tend to be as stable as the leader's tenure and as consistent as its views." Some are tantalizing, e.g., ". ..the normal 'fire breaks' or gaps on the continuum between pure diplomacy and pure coercion will tend to merge, with the result that resort IRANIANSTUDIES
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to the latter will come sooner than in systems where some real administration separative is made" (p. 20). But none of the hypotheses is really developed. Does this tendency of the Shah to resort to "pure coercion" suggest the probin the ability of sporadic acts of aggression especially Persian Gulf region? Would another rebellion of the Dhofar variety of the Arabian peninsula lead to a spontaneous Iranian intervention? The logic of the development argues "lyes" but the authors avoid such a conclusion. In what appears to be studied ambiguity they repeat the Iranian government's denial of any aggressive intent. But finally they conclude that the massive military purchases are to preserve "the country's impressive economic and material gains" (p. 306). Against whom? Apparently not the Soviet Union. In fact the Shah has shown little reticence in spelling out his aspirations for greatly enhanced regional --i.e., Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and Middle East--and world influence. To be sure, he does not telegraph any intent to achieve these goals by force of arms. But if imperialism is defined as pursuing a policy of increasing one's relative world influence (Hans Morgenthauls definition) the judgment that the royal policy is imperialistic is unquestionable. Indeed Iran's may be the most unambiguously imperialistic regime in the world. The question is what means will be used to achieve this expanded influence. Second, even though the Shah gives overall direction to Iran's foreign policy, as Chubin and Zabih assert, he cannot execute foreign policy alone. He is after all subject to the same twenty-four hour day as the rest of us. Thus it may be true that the second and third decisional levels do little policy formulating, but the next level must execute the Shah's orders and executing involves interpreting. Are patterns to these interpretations to be found? Are they entirely literal? In all probability they are not literal simply because the overall direction must of necessity be in a skeletal form and some bureaucratic judgment will be unavoidable. Of even greater importance than this is the boundary setting role of the public even in a closed society with a single dominating
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decision maker. Why is it that the spectacular growth in Iran's world influence in a single decade and at so small a price is not reflected in a public excitement that would encourage the Shah to pursue even more vigorously a policy of aggrandizement? And why is it that a small but opinionformulating section of the Iranian public can look at the same evidence and conclude the Shah is acting the role of puppet on Henry Kissinger's string? The answer, I believe, can be found in two factors--the foreign origin of the Shah's regime and the unenthusiastic but overwhelming general acceptance of or at least acquiescence in that regime. The explosive oil income-induced prosperity in Iran may be generating gross inequalities that will lead eventually to a revolutionary situation, but for the moment virtually the entire population is fascinated by the promis e of greater material rewards. This is true, apparently, even for that large section of the population for which prosperity is a trickle down from the parvenu. The Shah may be motivated not only by his own personal sense of grandeur in expanding Iran's influence but also to demonstrate to a skeptical public his own nationalist purity. But there may be sharp limits to the Shah's freedom of action if this is the case. A public still trying to accommodate to Iran's financial bonanza may not complain at the sacrifice to internal development the huge military expenditures involved. But how would it feel of life and about a policy that leads to a sacrifice property in return for influence gains for the Shah's regime? The relative silence in the Iranian press regarding the Dhofar adventure suggests the government's answer to that question. The third area that called for greater development is that of explaining the basis for Iran's expanded influence. Obviously the commodity of oil offers Iran conBut it hardly explains siderable bargaining strength. American acquiescence in the enormous military shopping of the Soviet lists the Shah presents; or the friendliness Union to an Iran which courts its greatest foes, the United States and China, and until recently made life very diffof cult for its closest Arab friends; or the willingness the Chinese to accept a tarnishing of their image as the IRANIANSTUDIES
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great friend of exploited peoples by meekly withdrawing their support for the Dhofar rebellion upon Iranian inCertainly such behavior is not explained by the sistence. military might of Iran. It will be years before Iran's new equipment can be digested to the point that Iran could seriously threaten any but the weak Arab regimes across the Gulf. Merely stating the problem suggests that Iran's It flows bargaining strength is in large part derivative. from a highly favorable position resulting from the straof the US, the USSR and China. But tegic interactions can change and with major leadership change strategies approaching in all three great powers, the results are a new, hard To take just one possibility, unpredictable. line position in the Kremlin could greatly weaken Iran's A Soviet regime willing bargaining position overnight. to risk a confrontation over Iran would force Iran back with the United States, and into a dependency relationship Chubin and Zabih tell us again and again that the Shah to the United States' will to credibility grants little support its dependencies in South Asia. The effect of such a Soviet strategy alteration would not be so spectacular for Iran as that for Taiwan when United States policy shifted toward the Peoples Republic of China, but it would be profound. about the inIn fact, the authors are diffident tentions of the great powers. China is barely mentioned. American motivation must be inferred, but it appears to But the picture of Soviet motivation be one of defense. The Azerbaijan case is dealt with conis inconsistent. with an aggressive great power somehow outventionally and reliance on witted by "techniques of procrastination (p. 41). The possibility prerequisites" constitutional that in fact we were seeing the aggressive limits of a Soviet Union is not confearful and defense-motivated sidered. Yet throughout the book and very specifically when dealing with the Soviet naval contingent in the Indian Ocean, the authors' suspicion is apparent that the status quo in motivation. Soviet Union is essentially Soviet Given Iran's geographical location, establishing foreign policy intentions would seem to be an essential
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for any analysis of Iran's foreign policy. prerequisite But then the failure of scholars to apply their analytic attention to the solution of this mystery is a universal one. Chubin and Zabih are far ahead of most in at least granting the Soviet Union motivational compleximplicitly ity. There are a few areas of weakness in this book. I the discussion of Iran-Iraq would judge least satisfactory The authors make clear, as few others have, relations. in Iraq is a factor behind Iraq's that Shia dissatisfaction But the authors then err in the foreign policy stance. Iraq is direction of giving a simple polarized picture. not placed within the context of the Arab world. Yet I did sense that the authors understood very well that Iranian policy toward the Arabs must be viewed in the perceptuin which the al context of the Arab nationalist--one Iranian regime is viewed along with Israel and Arab traas the regional allies of western imperialism. ditionalists To be sure, even Baathist regimes must recognize the reBut ality of a strong and stable Iran and deal with it. suspicions of Iranian, and behind Iran, western, purpose However, no one in the Gulf has to be and is intense. should ask Iranian authors to develop this kind of a picture, if indeed they agree with it. impressive and, I In sum, this is an analytically think, courageous study. The basic premise, that Iran's foreign policy is largely personal, is persuasively developed, and the description of that policy is carefully for exploring the made. Development calls essentially Shah's motivation, style and view of reality as they reWhatever one thinks of him, the late to foreign policy. Shah is one of the most extraordinary of contemporary world leaders and one who fully deserves the analytic At this point in time, however, attention of scholars. critical analyses of the Shah should not be expected of Iranian authors.
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Morals Pointed and Tales Adorned. The Bistan of Sa'di. Translated by G. M. Wickens. Persian Heritage Series No. 17. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1974. xxviii + 316 pp., introduction, notes, bibliographical note, concordance. $20.00. L.P.ELWELL-SUTTON
The would-be translator of a Persian (or indeed any oriental) classic is faced with a number of problems. Firstly, he must make up his mind what work to tackle, and why; secondly, he must establish a reasonably accurate text; and thirdly, he must decide on the style of his translation. In the first case he must consider the importance of the work to the linguistically unqualified readership, and whether and how long ago it has already been translated. He has to balance the relative advantages of a comparatively unknown text not hitherto translated and so opening a new window on Persian classical literature, and a well-known work that has already been done, but in a manner unsatisfactory either because it is inaccurate or because it is archaic. It might perhaps be felt that, with so much Persian literature still untranslated, scholars would do better to concentrate on widening the field available to the non-specialist, rather than on doing better what has already been done. Professor Wickens, however, has chosen the latter course, and so we have to ask whether the older versions are so unsatisfactory as to warrant a fresh attempt, and whether the new version has overcome the faults to be found in the others. The Biistan of Sacdi is not exactly unknown to the English-reading world. At least seven translators have worked on it, though only two have actually covered the whole--H. Wilberforce Clarke in 1879 in a prose translation,l and G. S. Davie in 1882 in rhymed couplets.2 L. P. Elwell-Sutton is Head of the Persian Department at the University of Edinburgh. 67
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A. Hart Edwards did an abbreviated prose translation in 1911,3 while G. S. A. Ranking made a literal translation of Book Two in 1906,4 and Sir Edwin Arnold incorporated a substantial part of Book Three in a poem he wrote in 1888.5 About thirty stories were rendered into rhymed couplets by Major W. C. Mackinnon in 1877,6 and S. Robinson did about forty in prose in 1883.7 Of all these Clarke's is probably the most accurate and Arnold's the most elegant, but all are perhaps somewhat archaic in style, even beyond the degree exacted by the lapse of time. So on the latter ground we may concede that Proin producing a fresh version, fessor Wickens is justified the second and go on to consider whether he has satisfied criterion of accuracy. Professor Wickens has taken as the basis of his the edition first published by the respected translation CAll Furtighi, in 1937.8 UnforIranian scholar, Mulanmmad tunately he did not, as he explains in a note on page xxiv, have access to this edition, but only to a later reprint in as parb of the Kulliyat published in 1957 (originally Had 1942), from which Furtighl's apparatus is missing. Wickens had access to the original edition, he would have realized (what was later pointed out by Rustam Aliev in his edition of 1968)10 that Furfighi's treatment of his sources was somewhat cavalier, and his "apparatus" deIndeed his alternative readings are for cidedly sketchy. the most part given without any source, and only occasionally with the rubric "in some manuscripts," or even "in Fortunately we now have some reliable manuscripts." Aliev's edition, which is not only based on earlier manuscripts than those Furuighi used, but also contains a full apparatus and a fairly exhaustive analysis of Furiighl's method. It is certainly a pity that Wickens did not have access to (did not know of?) this work, nor incidentally QarLb's edition of 1949, claimed to be based on a modern copy of a manuscript "in Sa'dl's own hand."l1 Professor Wickens regards the Furtighl text as rewhile the edition by presenting the Persian tradition, K. H. Graf (Vienna, 1858), which he uses as a corrective, By working from is based on Turkish and Indian sources. IRANIANSTUDIES
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both of these, he claims that we have "substantially what Sa'di intended to say." The matter is however somewhat more complex than that. We may indeed ignore to a large extent the authority of the Turkish-Indian tradition, which is based on comparatively late sources; but within the Persian tradition we have a dividing line at the recension made by cAll ibn Ahmadibn Abi Bakr Bisutiin in 1326/1334, some 35-40 years after Sa'dils death. On this basis we find that Furfighl uses only two manuscripts (and one of them incomplete) from just before Bisutfln, whereas Aliev uses three, all earlier than either of Furiighils, and indeed written within or just at the end of Sa'dils lifetime. But what is more to the point is that, as Aliev' s investigation shows, Furiighl's failure to indicate the source of his readings conceals his practice of choosing not the oldest, but the one that appealed to him personally. That this is no trivial matter may be judged from a few examples of discrepancies between the oldest readings and the Furuighi readings used by Wickens, selected from a long list compiled by Aliev with the addition of some others noticed by the present reviewer. Verse 34: Furtighi reads: bi-nhdd gliti bar &b, 'placed the world on water' (Wickens), but Aliev reads: gustard kashti bar ab, 'scattered ships on the water,' evidently a reference to Qur. xvi 14: wa tar'll-falaka mawakhira flhl, 'thotu seest the ships ploughing its billows' (Rodwell). Verse 142: Furuighi: agar zlr-dasti biyruftad Wickens: Let a subject prostrate with that? Aliev: agar zir-dasti biyuftad Let a subject prostrate
chi khast fall: what's up saza-st fall, it is fitting.
The newer version contains a pun (which Wickens ingeniously reproduces) that is not present in the older. Verse 395: F: ki bi-nshand shah zir-i
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dast-i
man-ash
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W: (when) The Emperor placed him under my hand. A: ki khusraw furftar nishlnd az man-ash (when) The Emperor seated him lower than me. Verse 5S4: F: ki plyinam az dast-i dushman na-mind W: No achievement's left me by the enemy's hand. A: ki pyaibam az dast-i dushman na-mind No power is left me by the enemy's hand. Verse 751: F: pisar guft-ash ay nimvar shahryir yak! dast az in mard-i ?ifi bi-dir W: '0 famous prince!' Hajjaj's son addressed him, 'From such a fiifl man for once restrain your hand!' A: yaki guft k-ay nikpay shahryar chih khviht az in pir az Li dast bi-dir One said, '0 auspicious prince! (teacher, old 'What do you want from this p man)? Restrain your hand from him! Verse 820: F: chunan nadir uftid dar rawzah-i W: As rare it lay upon a lawn. A: chunin nadir uftid dar vartah-i As rare it lay upon a precipice. Verse 1321: F: tan-i zandah-dil gar bi-mirad W: What matter if the body of a A: tan-i murdah-dil_gar bi-mirad What matter if the body of a
chih bik live-heart dies? chih bik dead-heart dies?
Verse 1420: F: bi-luif u sukhun garm-raw mard blid W: In gracious ways and converse, warmly he proceeded. A: bi-lutf u labiq garm-raw mard bud In gracious ways and glib fluency, warmly he proceeded. IRANIANSTUDIES
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Verse 2263: F: mara gar chih ham sal-anat bid u bish Though mine were princely power and more A: mara gar chih ham sallanat bud u nish W: Though mine were princely power and sting (In this instance Wickens follows the alternative reading, given by Furtighl in a footnote.) Verse 3215: F: zan-i khtib-i khawsh-abc ranj-ast u bar rihi kun zan-i zisht-i na-sazgar W: A goodly wife, of pleasant nature, is a trouble and a burden, But utterly let go the ugly, ill-assorted one. A: zan-i khiib-i khawsh--abc ganj-ast u yar rih& kun zan-i khUb-i na-sazgar A goodly wife, of pleasant nature, is a treasure and a friend, one. But utterly let go the goodly, ill-assorted Aliev also points out that a number of stories and passages included in Furiighi's edition do not appear in the earliest manuscripts, and may therefore be later accretions. of these are Tales 38, Amongthe more significant 57, 105 and 129. The seven verses at the end of Tale 115 that, as Wickens points out in his note, are omitted by Graf are not found in the early texts either. Among others not so found are verses 266-270 and 2144, 2146 and 2147 (the last indeed only admitted by Furtighl in a footnote, though included by Wickens). In one note Wickens seems to do Furaghi an injustice: under the note to Verse 2545 he refers to "the 'twenty days' of line 2546 (not in Furiighi, who is clearly at fault here on other counts as well)." However, the line appears in both the 1937 and the 1942 editions, and it is only to be supposed that its absence in the 1957 edition (which the present reviewer has not seen) is due to a printer's error. One attractive placing (after Verse 2533):
fighil's
verse Wickens omits from both FurVerse 2045) and Aliev's (instead of
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furttar buvad hfshmand-i guzin nihad sh&kh-i pur-mlvah sar bar zamin The chosen wise one is the more humble, The fruitful branch lays its head upon the ground. Even the beginning of the book proper is a matter of dispute; Wickens following Furtghl places the opening of Chapter One at Verse 218, btut most other texts start it at Verse 196, while the Chester Beatty manuscript (as followed by Ir&nparastl2) picks Verse 208. It is worth stressing that seniority is not necessarily a guarantee of authenticity, and that some at least of the readings chosen by Furfighi are more attractive than the earlier ones. There is either a kink in the line of transmission, or an editor, Bisutiin or someone else, has sought to improve on the original. Clearly a good deal more research is needed before we can say that we have an authentic text of the Biistan. Finally we come to the assessment of Prof. Wickens' In his introduction he sets achievement as a translator. out an admirable list of basic principles to which a translator ought to cleave, of which accuracy must be the first, and readability the second. The translator must convey to the modern English-speaking reader as much as possible of the matter and the spirit of the original medieval oriental work, and at the same time he must do his best to prevent free it from the result from sounding like a translation, unnecessary archaisms, and make it flow like an original literary work. So far as the former is concerned, there are very few instances where one would question the accuracy of his choice of words. One wonders why in Verse 932 he renders qaus-i quzah as 'the Bow of Quzahl instead of the more familiar 'rainbow,' and the translation in Verse 2132 of karamat as 'ennoblement' is possibly not wholly happy. In spite of his avoidance of rhyme and strict metre, he has not entirely escaped the inversions and archaisms that these often enforce--for instance, Verse 447 (and elsewhere): 'when waxing wrothl; Verse 3548: 'when you your face upon the ground in service place.' IRANIANSTUDIES
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Perhaps one way of measuring the degree of Wickens' improvement on his forbearers would be to take a short pashave sage at random, and compare how previous translators dealt with it. The verses chosen (1424-5) incidentally contain a sample of that most intractable of translator's bugbears, the pun. Some of the translators have shirked it altogether, others have compromised by giving the original Persian words, and one has attempted a pun of his own; but only Wickens has tackled the original head on, and, one may feel, not without success. dih marn buisah zuftih bi-tatiif ki darvtsh-ri tuishah az busah bih bi-khidmat ma-nih dast bar kafsh-i man marl nin dih u kafsh bar sar bi-zan Wilberforce
Clarke
He said,
"Give me the kiss,
by letter-translating,
"Because, for the darvesh, food (tosha) is better than a kiss (bosa). "Place not the hand in service, on my shoes; "Give me bread; and, strike then on my head." Mackinnon "Pray do not fawn on me, but give me bread, And, if you wish it, hit me on the head; and for flattery Change me some letters, Show me the inside of your buttery." G. S. Davie He said: "You're mistaken, in giving a kiss! For food to the needy would yield greater bliss. Do not carry, in service, your head to my shoes! Give me food! beat with slippers my head, if you choose!"
Ranking He said give me bisa by change of its diacritical points, is more useful to a darvish For tiisha (provisions) than bfusa (kiss).
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Do not place thy hand in service on my shoe, Give me bread and strike me on the head with a shoe. Edwards "Come, give us food in change for a kiss," he said, "for that is better to a hungry man. In serving me, place not thy hand upon my shoe, but give me bread and strike thy shoe upon my head." Wickens Said he: 'Give me a kiss spelt somewhat differently, For a poor man prefers kits to kisses! Put not your hand upon my beard to serve me, But give me bread - and on my head then clout your shoe!' the reading 'beard' (rish?) for (Incidentally, 'shoe' (kafsh) is not given by either Furfighi or Aliev, to know where Wickens found it, it would be interesting why he preferred it to the more familiar reading.)
and and
Wickens' notes are full and, being aimed at the Perhaps at general reader, wisely avoid technicalities. some point it would have been useful to have biographical notes on Sacd ibn Zangi and Sacd ibn Abi Bakr to supplement the very brief one on Abu Bakr under Verse 128-9. But all these very minor criticisms must not be allowed to mask the fact that Professor Wickens has undertaken His evia major task with a very high degree of success. for the work of translating the Persian dent qualificatibns into a modern idiom (as already witnessed to by his classics embolden one to express translation of the Akhlaq-i Nairi) the hope that he will now turn his attention to one of the known, that is, to those unlesser known classics--lesser happy folk who do not know Persian. NOTES 1.
The Buistan by Shaikh MuSlitbu-d-din Saldi Shirazi, translated . .. by Captain H. Wilberforce Clarke (London, 1879).
IRANIAN STUDIES
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2.
The Garden of Fragrance, being a complete translation of the Bostan of Sadi...by G. S. Davie (London, 1882).
3.
The Bustan of Sadi, translated....by (London, Wisdom of the East Series,
4.
The Benefits of Kindness, by Shaikh Sa'dl of Shiraz. Being the Second Book of the Bfistin. Translatfed by George S. A. Ranking (Oxford, 1906).
5.
With Saldi in the Garden, or, the Book of Love, being the "Ishk" or third chapter of the "Bostan,"1 embodied in a Dialogue held in the Garden of the Taj Mahal, at Agra, by Sir Edwin Arnold (London, 1888).
6.
A Few Flowers from the garden of Sheikh Saadi Shirazi, being translations into English verse of portions of the Biistin, by Major W. C. Mackinnon (London, 1877, revised 1897).
7.
Persian Poetry for English Readers, by S. Robinson, pp. 245-366 (Glasgow, 1883).
8.
Biist5n-i Saldl, bi-ihtim5m-i janab-i 'All Furfighl (Tehran, 1316/1937).
9.
Shaikh Saldi, az rui-yi nuskha-i ki janab-i Kulllyit-i 'All Furiighl ta?bh farmilda and (Tehaqa-yi Muhamnmad ran, 1321/1942).
A. Hart Edwards 1911).
aqa-yi MuI4ammad
10.
Sa'di-nama ya Biistan-i Shaykh Mufli1u'd-din Sa'dl Shirizi, tahiya-yi matn-i intiqidi, tabqlq va tau4lb az Rustam 'Aliyif (Tehran, 1347/1968).
11.
Buistan-i
aqa-yi 12.
va tash-lh va bavashi-yi
Sald-1, bi-ihtimn
'Abd al-A;lm Qarib (Tehran, 1328/1949).
Biistan-i SaldI, bi-kiishish-i (Tehran, 1352/1973).
75
Nuirullah Iranparast
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The Divan of Manuichihri Dimgh&ni: A Critical Jerome W. Clinton. Chicago and Minneapolis: Islamica, 1972. 163 pp. $8.00.
Study. By Bibliotheca
WALTERG. ANDREWS
Jerome Clinton's study of the divan of Manichihri DfmghIni has been reviewed several times since its publication in 1972 and, by reason of its innovative nature, will In this be reviewed and commented upon many more times. light, it seems permissible to pass over the details of his study and dwell instead on the reasons why it is a book scholar with an interest in literary which any orientalist study should take the time to read carefully. ways, Clinton's study is a major In many significant stride forward in the examination of Near Eastern literaand as such it raises a host of probture as literature, lems--problems of approach and methodology--which will surely be the subjects of scholarly debate for years to come. The risk in breaking new ground lies in the fact that one's work must stand unsupported by a tradition of like works, and so will be subject to criticism by colleagues who are unaware of the problems attendant on its production. that arise in attempting to assess The difficulties to a literary analysis a work that is devoted specifically of Near Eastern literature stem from the fact that few, if The tradition of any, models for such a study exist. has been almost scholarly work on Near Eastern literature It is true that biographical and historical. exclusively any reasonably broad literary analysis will have a bioaspect--to set the context for graphical and historical study the analysis--just as the biographical/historical of Near Professor Walter G. Andrews, Jr. is Associate of in the University Eastern Languages and Literatures Washington. IRANIAN STUDIES
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To assume, however, will make mention of literary subjects. that the two types of study share the same methodologies, goals, and problems is to misunderstand either the one or the other. materials study utilizes A biographical/historical of the objects study, and that are at least one remove from That as such, they are exhaustible within certain limits. is, it is possible to produce a compendium of all available information on a given subject, information which can only be questioned where the reports of various sources differ In a literary study, or when new sources are discovered. exist in all however, the original objects of study still inexhaustible variety, and are virtually their infinite even when the tradition of study has been both long and broad. In this sort of study, the demand for completeness, If we approach an or "texhaustiveness," is inappropriate. literary study, such as Clinton's example of intrinsic work, as though it belonged to the school of historical/ biographical studies, we will inevitably ride our misapprehension into disappointment. On the other hand, those who are familiar with the in which there exWestern tradition of literary analysis, ists a large number of studies on individual works, groups of works, genres, and the like, will be subject to another In our eagerness to confront the large misapprehension. and exciting problems faced by our colleagues in other we are all too apt to forget that the ground literatures must be carefully prepared for such work, that in the absence of a body of study even the problem of where to beformidable. What can be done, what gin is sufficiently is should be done in the area of Near Eastern literature of necessity far different from what can and should be done in European and American literature. Clinton's study is a good beginning, a well-considered and highly useful first step in the building of a body of literary analysis. He begins with two chapters context in which outlining the historical/biographical Manfchihrils poetry was produced, starting his study at
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the point at which the received scholarly tradition is strongest. He does not, however, content himself with presenting a mere summaryof historical information, but is careful to maintain a focus on the poetry, pointing out areas in which the received information may be questioned, rejected or expanded on literary grounds. These early chapters serve quite well as a transition from the familiar'historical/biographical mode to a discussion of the problems of literature as literature. It is in the remaining four chapters that one encounters the meat of the study--the discussion and analysis of Manflchihrlls poetry. In four somewhat brief sketches, Clinton outlines the intrinsically observable features of Maniichihrl's divan, dealing in turn with the shorter poems (ghazal, gitcah, and rubiCi), the qa;idah as a whole, and its components, the na!lb, madh, and duci. The emphasis on the qaidah is justified by the fact that the shorter forms are, in this early period, relatively undeveloped and of lesser importance. Throughout his discussion of the various forms, Clinton keeps his eye on the poetry itself, questioning our preconceptions wherever they appear to conflict with the observable nature of the poems. His to specific major probanalyses are primarily restricted lems raised by consideration of Manflchihrl's poetry. It is, perhaps, easy to become impatient with such restraint-after all, there is so very much to be done and even a taste of analysis gives rise to an appetite for more. Yet it is hardly possible to analyze completely the rhythm, sound, rhetoric, syntax and structure of even one long poem, much less several, in a book of less than two hundred pages. Moreover, in the absence of a tradition of analyzing a large body of other Persian poems, it would be premature to make general assumptions about the poetic principles, the poetic value system and the significant features of poetry which might have resulted in a particular poem at a particular time. Such carefully limited studies as Clinton's are, in fact, fundamental to the development of a tradition of literary study in the field of Near Eastern literature. It seems absolutely necessary that we summarize what is IRANIANSTUDIES
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intrinsically observable at a general level with a view to defining problem areas and formulating the questions which This is exactly will be the basis for future studies. what Clinton does. He shows laudable restraint and a delicate touch in avoiding the thin ice of a myriad of unresolvable problems. The temptation to rush off on one of many tangents must have been great; to have yielded to the Those questions and temptation would have been an error. problems which are rightfully the subjects of other studies or other books are outlined and illuminated in a useful context, but are left as questions rather than dealt with in a less than adequate manner. Clinton does not claim to have given the last word on Manfichihrtls poetry. This was obviously not the purpose of the book. What he has done is to make Maniichihri far more open to the type of literary analysis which must come in the future. The state of the art is such that no single study is going to answer all of our questions. We see traditional Persian poetry only through a mist of much time and cultural change--a mist through which no single person can clearly discern all important aspects of a poof the etry produced by skilled and erudite practitioners art. In order to dispel that mist, scholars must be prepared to present their perceptions freely, to correct and be corrected in a spirit of open scholarly exchange. One hopes that Clinton's book will be widely read and discussed by literary scholars in the field, and that it will serve both as a guide and a challenge to those who wish to further the literary study of the Near East.
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Hedayat's Ivory Tower: Structural Analysis of The Blind Owl. By Iraj Bashiri. Minneapolis: Manor House, 1974. 221 pp. MICHAEL BEARD
D. P. Costello's 1957 translation of Hidayat's Blind Owl has been much maligned, but Iraj Bashiri is the first critic to go so far as to attempt a new translation. He has made it the core of his new book on The Blind Owl, and in his prefatory remarks he cites most of the negative assessments of Costello's version: Hassan Kamshadcalled it "larather literal translation" in which "even the Persian expressions and idiomatic phrases are often rendered literally.11 William Archer, in a 1958 review, accused Costello of not knowing Persian and of using Lescot's 1953 French translation in place of the original.2 Bashiri, ignoring the contradiction between the two, appears to accept both views as authoritative. I would not support Costello's readings in every particular: his British idiom does not sound to the contemporary American reader like his own, and there are minor errors in rendering pronouns (at least one of which does not occur in the French, clearing Costello on the charge of relying on Lescot), but it is by and large a sensitive, coherent and literate version of the original. The widely current belief that Costello's is a substandard translation, however, has produced an atmosphere in which someone who is so inclined will believe him capable of anything. In a discussion of the closing sentence of The Blind Owl, Bashiri accuses Costello of impossibly inept misreadings: . .kirm'lh-yi sifid-i kulchik rfi-yi tanam dar ham millilidand--va, vazn-i murdah-i rui-yi sinah'am fishar mid&d... (p. 179)2
Michael Beard is visiting Assistant in English and Professor at the American University in Cairo. Comparative Literature IRANIAN STUDIES
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white maggots were wriggling on my coat. ..tiny And on my chest I felt the weight of a woman's dead body... (Costello, p. 130). ...small
white
worms were wriggling
weight of a dead body was pressing ... (Bashiri, p. 133).
on me.
The
on my chest
for some seem minimal, but Bashiri insists The differences translation displays the belief that reason that Costello's the narrator is in fact carrying the body physically on his chest: It is clear that the person who read the Persian most likely Lescot, for the first translation, did not observe the commathat the author had purposefully inserted between vae land' and vaezn Thus, he had [sic] read vaezn as vRe 'weight.' zaen land woman'... (Bashiri, p. 21). starting with the role of the The logic is mystifying, comma (could missing it really produce that misreading?). Second, Lescot's translation (.... et je sentais un cadavre peser de tout son poids sur moi poitrine" [p. 4]) is not the origin of the word woman. Above all, Costello simply Costello uses does not believe what Bashiri says he does. as Hidayat used the term vazn-i the image figuratively, The weight of the imagined body is murdah figuratively. than for having its gender identified no less figurative image is simply a Costello's it is in Hidayat or Lescot. of an image which has been latent minor amplification throughout the book (the room that weighs on the speaker's shoulders, the jar that weighs on his chest when he is riding home in the hearse, etc.). is his knowtranslation If the issue in Costello's ledge of the original language, in Bashirils it is his It is by now generally agreed, I think, English style. that a translator whose native tongue is not the "target" language, whatever his level of experience, should collaborate with a native speaker in a literary translation. Bashirils overuse of the pluperfect and many of his guesses 81
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at idioms (the almost correct reference to Hardy of "far from the maddening crowd"--p. 55) indicate that he failed to do so. His vocabulary sometimes lapses, as in his rendering of the famous passage on masks: $urat-i man dar asar-i Xya khamirah va bilat-i yik talrik-i majhulL, dar asar-i vasvlslha, Janxc 'Mh va nR umidi'h&-yL mawrldi durust nashudah bfid? Va man kih nigrhb5n-i in bar-i mawrflgi bfidam... (p. 157). Were not the substance and the expressions of my face the result of a mysterious sequence of impulsions, of my ancestors' temptations, lusts and And I who was the custodian of the despairs? (Costello, p. 114). heritage... Wasn't the substance and expression of my face the result of an unknown stimulus brought about by quibbles, fuckings and inherited disappointments? Wasn't I, the inheritor guard of this (Bashiri, p. 123). conglomeration... "Inheritor
guard" seems exactly
the kind of problem a native
The Arabic loan word jamac consultant could have corrected. hardly suggests the curious sense of borderline grammar conveyed by "fuckings" (does this gerund have a plural?). Similarly, whereas Costello's use of "rabble" to translate another Arabic loan word, rajpjlah, has precisely the connotation of elevated diction and contempt present in the Bashirils suggestion, "the bums," has too much original, of the comic. study Bashiri justifies In the accompanying critical his labors on the grounds that there exists a series of inconsistencies (non-Persian words) in the origlinguistic inal which Costello has failed to preserve, and that one of , which he uses to these terms (the non-Persian word describe the cobra in the BugamDasi story), suggests the Naga Kings, characters in Ashvaghosha's Buddha-carita, a life of Gautama Buddha. Bashiri bases a great deal on this single word, concluding from it that Btf-i Kur is primarily IRANIANSTUDIES
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an elaborate allegory of the life of the Buddha. Hidlyat's but the docuinterest in India makes the theory plausible, mentation is missing to convince us. Why should Hidayat have chosen Ashvaghosha's version of the story? And why is there so little evidence of an interest in Buddha in his The argument becomes weaker still when discursive writing? is simply the Hindi word for snake, we recognize that the origin of the new Latin coinage naja, the genus name for cobra. Bashiri's training is as a linguist, but he seems to have used a linguistic observation as a springboard into the discipline of literature. He does not seem to be aware that his analysis of Biif-i Kiir is, rather than a structural interpretation (for all its terms from LeviStrauss), simply old-fashioned allegorical criticism. It is a disappointing book because one can so readily agree with its basic premises. He discusses Rilke's influence on Hidayat, for instance, which is a subject worth looking into. It was briefly verified in a recent article by Manoutchehr Mohandessi (and suggested twenty years earlier by Jalal Al-i Ahmadin his article on Hidayat), but Bashiri takes the further step of implying that Rilke was Hidayat's only western source, and the result is to oversimplify Btif-i Kfir and to underestimate Hidayat. Similarly, the subject of Indian influences on Hidayat is an important of this interpretation one, but a dogmatic allegorical If Bashiri is cornature does that subject a disservice. rect, Biif-i Kuirdoesn't make much sense without his theory, and this underestimates not only Hidlyat but the generation of readers who have found in Bflf-i Kiir both brilliance and proportion. NOTES 1.
Modern Persian
Prose
Literature.
Cambridge,
1966,
p. 180. Quoted with approval by Bashiri on page 20, note 33. 2.
Saturday Review, December 27, 1958, p. 24. 83
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appears to be the source of Bashiri's 21, quoted below.
remark on page
3.
Quotations from the text are taken from the twelfth (paperback) printing of Bflf-i Kur (Tehran, 1347), and quotations from Costello's translation are from 1969 reprint of the Grove Press paperback edition of The Blind Owl (New York, 1969).
4.
Sadegh Hedayat, La Chouette Aveugle. Traduit du Persan par Roger Lescot, Paris, 1953, p. 191.
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Letters
To
The
Editor
OF FORCED INSTANCE MIGRATION ANOTHER I was interested to see the article by Professor John Perry on "Forced Migration in Iran during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries" in the Autumn 1975 issue I would like to call attention to anof Iranian Studies. other instance of forced migration, not mentioned by Perry, which was ordered by Shah Abbas to strengthen the eastern border of his empire. This example suggests that the Shah's interests were not restricted to securing Khorassan in the East, but extended to establishing a strong Iranian presence in the South as well. The case in point is that of the Kurds in Baluchistan, among whom I am currently doing anthropological fieldwork supported by McGill University. My source for the following ethnohistorical account is Hadji Amir Khan, hakem of the Kurds. Hadji Amir relates that the founding ancestor of this group was Hussain Kurd, of the Yelhani tiape, in Kurdestan. Hussain went to India and fought against the Emperor Akbar for seven years, returning a hero to the court of Shah Abbas in Isfahan. However, he subsequently provoked the Shals fear and anger by killing a man in a Instead of having Hussain dispute over a chair at court. Shah Abbas was persuaded to exile him, his brother killed, Otalan and other members of the Yelhani tiape with their wives and children to Baluchistan. The group was accompanied by a Sayyad to serve as scribe and families of ghulam to work for the Kurds. The Kurds were to secure 85
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Baluchistan
for Iran and serve as a frontier
guard for the
empire.
At the time the Kurds arrived, Baluchistan was inThe Sarhad was controlled dependent of the Shah's rule. by a badshah of the Mir tribe, who collected tribute in Hussain his own name from the surrounding Baluch tribes. Kurd killed the men of the ruling family and became hakem his center in Khash. For a of the Sarhad, establishing time the Kurds maintained close ties with Iran, sending tribute to the Shah and in turn receiving assistance during Gradually they established hakems from Zabol lean years. to Saravan. Despite the fact that the Kurds eventually stopped sending the rayat, a theme of support and friendship for the Iranian government runs throughout their During the time of Nadir Shah, the hakem Mirza history. recruited a Baluch and Kurdish force to accompany the Shah Documents in on his adventures in India and Afganistan. the possession of Hadji Amir attest that Abdul Karim Khan, Kurdish hakem, was a nokair of the Iranian government eighty years ago and recruited soldiers for the Iranian army in In more recent times, the Kurds strongly supIranshahr. ported Reza Shah's fight against the Baluch separatist movement and favored the annexation of Baluchistan to Iran. The number of Kurds who were exiled to Baluchistan is unknown, but today their descendants number about thirty thousand families in all. They have remained in the original region of settlement to the present, providing an example of one of the most successful of Shah Abbas' transYet they continue to maintain their identity as plants. descendants of Hussain Kurd and former rulers of the It is to be Sarhad in opposition to the Baluch tribes. evidence will be unhoped that further ethnohistorical covered to expand our knowledge of the use of forced mimechanism in the formation of the gration as a political Iranian State. JANEFAIR BESTOR
IRANIANSTUDIES
86
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Journal of The Society for Iranian Studies
Spring-Summer1976
Volume IX
Numbers 2-3
THE SOCIETYFOR IRANIAN STUDIES COUNCIL AhmadAshraf,Plan & Budget Organizationand Universityof Tehran Amin Banani,Universityof California,Los Angeles Ali Banuazizi,Boston College Lois GrantBeck, Universityof Utah JeromeW. Clinton,Princeton University Oleg Grabar,HarvardUniversity Gene R. Garthwaite,DartmouthCollege FarhadKazemi,New York University ThomasM. Ricks, ex officio, GeorgetownUniversity MarvinZonis, Universityof Chicago EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE Gene R. Garthwaite,Executive Secretary ThomasM. Ricks, Treasurer Ali Banuazizi,Editor IRANIAN STUDIES Journalof the Society for IranianStudies Editor: Ali Banuazizi Associate Editors: Anna Enayat(Universityof Tehran), Vahid F. Nowshirvani(Yale University),MangolBayat Philipp(HarpardUniversity) Book Review Editor: ErvandAbrahamian(BaruchCollege,City Universityof N. Y.) AssistantEditor: MarciaE. Mottahedeh CirculationManager:ChristineL. Brennan
Copyright, 1977, The Society for Iranian Studies Published in the U.S.A. USISSN 0021-0862 Address all communications to IRANIAN STUDIES, Box K-154, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02167, U.S.A.
Iranian S4.&otudiesL
Journal of The Society for Iranian Studies
Volume IX
Spring-Summer
1976
Numbers 2-3
ARTICLES 89
CULTURETRAITS, FANTASY, AND REALITY IN THE LIFE OF SAYYID JAMALAL-DIN AL-AFGHANI
Nikki
121
NOTESON THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENTOF EXTRA-ECONOMIC OBLJGATIONS OF PEASANTSIN IRAN, 300-1600 A.D.
142
CITY COUNCILLORS AND THE DILEMMA OF REPRESENTATION:THE CASE OF ISFARAN
163
UUSAYNQULI KHANQAZVINI, SARDAROF EREVAN: A PORTRAIT OF A QAJARADMINISTRATOR
R. Keddie
Farhad Nomani
Ann Schulz
George Bournoutian
REVIEWARTICLE 180
YAHYAARYANPUR: Az Saba t& Nlm&
Sorour Soroudi
BOOKREVIEWS 196
ROBERTW. OLSON: The Sieg of Mosul 1718and Ottoman-Persian Relations 1743
John R. Perry
200
PETERJ. CHELKOWSKI:Mirrors of the Invisible World: Tales from the Khamsah of Ni; ml
D. A. Shojai
Volume IX
Spring-Summer
1976
Numbers 2-3
BOOKREVIEWS (continued) 205
JAMESA. BILL and ROBERTW. STOOKEY: Politics and Petroleum
209
FAKHRUD-DIN GURGANI: Vis and Ramin (Trans. by George Morrison)
LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR 212
Heshmat Moayyad
215
Jerome W. Clinton
Manoucher Parvin
Marcia E. Mottahedeh
CULTURE TRAITS, FANTASY AND REALITY IN THE LIFE OF SAYYID JAMAL AL-DIN AL-AFGHANI NikkiR. Keddie
of the psychology Among the factors influencing are the "great" cultural tradition historical individulals of the local expressions in which he or she participates,
the sex roles defined by society, the trathis tradition, ditions of cue's economic class, the local child-rearing and the personal history of tlhe individual. practices, For the Near East, the study of the influence of such factors on individuals is in its infancy, and any remarks After listing some cultural made here will be tentative. factors operative in Islamic and Iranian society, we shall look at one leader--Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani--who of some of these factors both reflects the interaction features. and shows some highlly individual Islam as a comprehensive religio-political-legal confornmity of behavior-theory inculcates considerable unlike some religions. more of behavior than of belief,
The central
importance of religious
law and of conformity to
If behavior had to conform, been noted. it have frequently belief was freer than in the pre-modern WVest; Islamr had
of History
Nikki R. Keddie is Professor of California, Los Angeles.
89
at the University
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
very few heresy trials, and no witch-burning. The open expression of heretical views was, however, very rare. The combination of external conformity with freedom when alone or with a group of close associates continues among modern Near Eastern leaders, most of whomare careful to fulfill their Islamic religious duties, while their private beliefs may not be orthodox. Similar phenomena are of course known in the non-Muslim world. The contrast between external religiosity and conformism and internal non-conformity is found in Jamfl al-Din. In the Muslim world, a combination of law and custom led to separation of the sexes, which was accompanied by seclusion and a lower position for women, even though their property rights exceeded those of Western women until recent times. This seclusion was often justified by a reversal of the Victorian theory: womenwere considered so lustful and sensual that it was dangerous to expose them to men, since they could not restrain themselves (although sometimes they were simply considered naive and weak). There grew up two separate and unequal sub-societies--that of men and that of women; in the towns and, to a large degree, in the villages, women had fewer social outlets than men. Polygamy, concubinage, arranged marriage, child brides, and male divorce prerogatives were all aspects of male dominance. In Iran there was also mut'a, or marriage for a fixed temporary term, which was often simply legalized prostitution, although this had some advantages over illegal prostitution. Very little consideration has been given to the effects of this sexually split and male-dominant culture on psychology and politics. It is an area where many Muslims have been resistant to fundamental change. Jam&l al-Din seems to have been ambivalent, but preimarily negative, about women. Once that we know of, during his 1871-1879 stay in Egypt, he spoke out in favor of better education for women, noting that they were the first educators of men and hence should not be ignorant. Disciples report his later denunciation of women and marriage, however, and his rejection of the model of Aysha, Muhammad'sfavorite wife, who even model proposed by friends favoring went into battle--a greater emancipation for women. lie thought evil conseIRANIANSTUDIES
90
quences would result
from giving womena mre equal position.
A prominent aspect of Islamic culture is reverence for the word, including the spoken word. This may go back to the sacredness of the Koran, believed to be the literal word of God. Reading and mremorization of the Koran dominated elementary education. Even at higher levels, education involved memorization of the words of the masters (and often still does). The sermons and speeches of religious leaders, including the talks of Sufi masters, had In esoteric and phi-losophic traditions, great influence. revealed things the spoken word of master to disciples A high regard for poetry and that could not be written. its memorizaticn is another aspect of this respect for words. It sometimes appeared that rhetoric was valued or mistaken for it. This phenomenon remains over reality, important in the mass politics of the moden Mtuslimworld; the great effect of speeches by leaders like Ataturk, Mosaddeq, and Nasser is well known. Jamal al-Din was extraordinarily in his use of the spoken and writeffective ten word. Hie gathered around him many disciples who often lie was copied down his comments and teaching sessions. one of the first in a line of successful mass political orators in the Near East, and in the late 1870s had tremendous oratorical influence over the lower classes in Cairo. i He hielped to politicize what had been an essenfunction. tially religious Another aspect of Islamic culture, as of many other traditional cultures, was belief in a hierarchical society in which upper-class functions were valued above lowerclass ones. This was mitigated by social mobility, primarily through education, which was always religious eduFor some, along with a belief in hierarchy went cation. a class view of religious orthodoxy, which was considered to be a means of keeping the masses orderly and obedient through fear of punishment in the next world. Such views have also been prominent in the West at various times. In the Near East they have probably become more prominent in modern times, as more and more educated people lose their faith completely or in part, and many of them. become more I have heard stuch fearful than ever of lower-class revolt. 91
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
views widely expressed not only by Iranian intellectuals number of non-Iranians to feel that but by a sufficient they are also very commonoutside Iran. Jamil al-Din, as several of his talks and treatises show, was a firm beHis "Answer to Renan" indiliever in social hierarchy. cates that he thought the masses were incurably religious, Elsewhere he insists that unlike the educated classes. identification the masses should not lose their religious solidarity. because it contributes to political Amongthe large number of Muslims influenced by Sufi The reideas there was often a special idea of reality. ality of the hidden, divine, inner world was far greater than the reality of the everyday world of appearances. This idealism characterconviction merges with a philosophical The primacy of ideas over mundane istic of Muslim culture. and the achievement of mastery over that reality reality, through knowledge of the proper ideas, are widespread conJamal al-Din shared this belief cepts of Muslim culture. in the power of ideas, and spent much of his life trying to influence rulers through the force of his own ideas. characteristic There were also certain traditions of Iran, the country of Jamal al-Din's birth, which influAmongthese were a enced the formation of his character. Dissimulafavoring dissimulation. variety of traditions including denial of them and tion of one's true beliefs, pretense to orthodoxy, is a strong tradition among nonSunni or heterodox groups within Islam, from the time of and it is known even among Sunnis. the early Kharijites, strong among the Shi'a and However, it is particularly more heterodox groups. Among the Shi'a it began as a precautionary practice to save people's lives and positions, People but it developed into a positive creed as well. eventually came to believe that it was wrong and defiling to reveal the truth about one's religion to an outsider; for religious reasons certain secrets must be kept within This injunction not to tell the whole truth the creed. and the legitimization about one's religion to outsiders, of telling non-truths passed over into non-religious causes, some have atIn addition to religious spheres. tributed this phenomenon to frequent conquest, with the IRANIANSTUDIES
92
necessity to save one's self from oppression and worse by any means. There was also a lack of identification between the governed and those who governed them, and a self-protective practice grew up of lying to tax collectors and rulers about taxes owed and other matters. What began as a defense against oppression again spread into other areas. Jamal al-Din carried this practice of dissimulation to an extreme, made up a fictional Afghan birth and youth, and distorted or invented various other episodes in his own For him even more than for other Iranians, the eflife. fect he expected from his words was more important than their literal truthfulness. Iran was also characterized by traditions that distinguished between the elite of initiated and the mass of uninitiated to whomdifferent words should be used. Present in Shicism and strong in Sufism, this idea was particularly elaborated in the Muslim philosophical tradition. Greek-influenced philosophy had been quite effectively suppressed in the M1uslimlands west of Iran, but in Iran and India it still had a vigorous life in the nineteenth century. Avicenna was followed by other Iranian philosophers, including a school of philosophers in Safavid times who attempted to reconcile Sufi, Shi'i, and philosophical ideas, and their work was carried on by philosophers into the nineteenth century. Some philosophical texts were even taught in religious schools, but the leading philosophers of the Miuslim world had been categorical about the need to keep their teachings from the masses. These teachings generally included a deistic type of God, who did not interfere directly in the workings of the world and was not anthropomorphic, as he was in the Koran. The philosophers also rejected the Koranic resurrection of the flesh, and sometimes individual immortality, particularly a physical heaven and hell. They thought it was beneficial for the masses to believe in these things, however, and held that more rational ideas would only confuse those whose minds were incapable of understanding sophisticated philosophical notions. They feared that disbelief in the letter of religious law and in rewards and punishments after death 93
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
outcome would make the masses unruly and disobedient--an which the philosophers wanted no more than the rulers. position was partly a response to The philosophers' but the majority of them probably believed it. persecution, The intellectuIt provided another prop for dissimulation. truth; al elite was fit to know the complex and difficult the rest of mankind could only be confused by it, and for understanding of the Koran was enjoined. them a literal elitismi of the philosophers was transThis intellectual lated to new uses by Jamal al-Din; while teaching his close the rationalism of the philosophers integrated disciples he apand reformist politics, with new anti-imperialist pealed to those outside his circle mainly in Islamic and pan-Islamic terms.2 innovation occurred An unusual amount of religious The in Iran in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. late eighteenth century saw the rise of Shaykhism, a new school of twelver Shi'lsnm which some Shi'is considered outside Iran, Originating in Arab territories heretical. the school and its founder, Shaykh AhmadAhsali, found rapid and continuing popularity within Iran. This school, and Sufi ideas with Shilism, which combined philosophical is noted for its idea that there must always be an intermediary in the world between men and the hidden twelfth imam. Such an intermediary, or gate, Bab, declared himself in the 1840s in the person of Sayyid cAll Mu1ammad, a merchant's son who had received a Shaykhi training; he was quickly recognized by many Shaykhls, but repudiated Babism, He became the founder of a new religion, by others. with a written revelation that he said superseded the Koran. In 1848 a series of Babi revolts began. The new religion had many middle-class, progressive, and, in one location, even socialistic features, and its development may in part be a reaction to the strains produced in Iran by the early Western impact.3 Recent documents show that among Jamal adult possessions which he carried with al-Din's earliest him for most of his life were a series of Shaykhi tracts, ile was also and some of his ideas resembled Shaykhi ones. very well informed about Babism, and it seems likely that activism through a religious its example of political IRANIANSTUDIES
94
mass movement influenced
his own efforts
in that direction.
II The true elements of the life of Jamal al-Din alAfghanl have been unraveled only in recent years, thanks in part to the cataloguing in 1963 of his personal papers which he had left with his Iranian host upon his expulsion all of the from Iran in 1891. Until the 1960s virtually numrerousbiographies of Afghdnl, which were written in from acmany languages, stemmed directly or indirectly counts by disciples like the Egyptian reformer Muhammad cAbduh, and were based primarily on Afghini's own words and what he wished others to believe about him. Prior to the cataloguing of Afghani' s papers in Iran, considerable in Persian, which cast doubt evidence existed, especially on this "standard biography," but most writers either did not know of this evidence or ignored it. The mythical self-view of Afghani is now so deeply enshrined in the Muslim world, where Afgh&ni is one of a small pantheon of modern heroes, that it seems doubtful that a more accurate and less exalted view will find wide acceptance there.5 Every culture seems to need mythical heroes, partly because the childhood fantasy of the good, omnipotent, and allknowing father which, in the past was projected by adults onto gods and saints, in modern times is more frequently To question the veraprojected onto political figures. city or outstanding importance of such a figure is to unA dermine one element in the world-view of a people. similarly revisionist view of an American historic hero would likewise be widely rejected. In addition, Muslims are aware of the questioning by Western Orientalists of some of the foundations of Islam which sometimes includes unfairly negative views toward Islam and its peoples, and hence they are sensitive to anything that could be construed as an attack. Psychohistory, which often attributes reneurotic motivations to great men, maybe particularly sented. The biography written during Afgh&ni's lifetime the story about himself that Mtuhammad cAbduh reflects 95
by
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
and has formed the primary Afghini wished to publicize, The esdirect or indirect source for later biographies. sence of this biography deserves presentation and analysis for what it reveals about the image that Afghanl wanted to This view will be contrasted with a brief account project. of the facts revealed by recent research. cAbdjih begins by speaking of what others haveunjustly invented about Afghani; later it becomes clear that he is concerned about those who attributed unorthodoxy especially cAbdih says that Jamal al-Din or irreligion to Afghani. was a member of a great Afghan family--a story which Afghini promulgated, sometimes in more elaborate form. In fact, however, recent research proves that JanilM al-Din was He was taken by his born in Iran into a modest family. father as an early adolescent to the Shi'i shrine cities in Iraq, after which he made no recorded effort to see his family again, except for a few days' visit in his late He is never recorded as talking about his true twenties. family except to his nephew in Tehran during visits there between 1887 and 1891, and from this we can deduce a lack of familial attachment--an unusual feature in Iranian culare often all-importure, where family ties and loyalties When speaking of his father, Jamal al-Din makes him tant. than he was; possibly he wished to deny more illustrious the humble status and achievements of his real father. Afgh&ni's claim of Afghan birth was probably largely motivated by a desire to present himself as an Afghan Sunni to the Muslim world, and not as an Iranian, since a belong to the Iranian would necessarily Persian-speaking minority, or Shi'i, branch of Islam. Other factors seem to be involved, however. At the end of a Shaykhi treatise that he copied in his own writing Afghini wrote, "I wrote this in the Abode of Peace, Baghdad, and I am a stranger in the lands and banished from the homelands, Jamal al-Din Here he was already speaking of al-Husayni al-Istanbili."1 for reasons we do not from his homeland, being expelled know, and using the place name "Istanbuli" that he was to use a few years later on his only trip to Afghanistan, where he claimed to be a Turk from Istanbul. IRANIANSTUDIES
96
The stay in Baghdad was followed by a trip to Iran in 1865-1866, and it was then that he briefly visited his His nephew recalls that Jamal al-DiLn's father and family. other relatives pleaded with him repeatedly to stop his constant traveling and settle down with his family. Jamal "I am like a royal al-Din refused and is quoted as saying: falcon for whomthe wide arena of the world, for all its I am amazed that you breadth, is too narrow for flight. wish to confine me in this small and narrow cage." On his way from Iran to Afghanistan he wrote a short poem saying, "Iranian demons and beasts of prey have burnt my body and soul," and therefore he was quitting Iran.6 It seems likely that Jamal al-Din had early experiences in Iran that were, at least subjectively, strongly negative. He avoided not only his family (he did not even correspond with them until sending them his newspaper al-CJrwa al-Wuthg, in 1884, which elicited letters from his nephews), but also his country of birth, to which he did not return until 1886. According to the biography by Afghani's nephew, Lutf Allah, based partly on Afghani's reminiscences and partly on those of members of his family, as a child, Afgh&ni spoke of traveling widely in numerous countries. A family letter states that at a young age, he had promised to make one of his female relatives governor of the Iranian province of Khurasan. So it seems that ambiticns to travel and to be an important political figure go back to Afghantl's The denial of his Iranian background was both childhood. an aid to his political ambitions and, possibly a rejection of painful experiences within Iran. cAbduh's biography continues to discuss Afghanlls (mythical) education in Kabul, where his father was supposedly brought by the Afghan Amir, DEist Muhammad.CAbdfih and then describes his mentions Afghani's brilliance, adolescent trip to India, where he stayed a year and some months, and then to Mecca. In fact, Afgh&ni was educated first in Iran and then in the Shili shrine cities in Ottoman Iraq. From there he went to India, then probably to Mecca and the Shili shrines, and then via Iran to Afghanistan. All mention of Shili areas is left out of CAbd5his account, which must have originated with Afgh5ni. People 97
SPRING-SIMMER 1976
the who remember Afghini's stay at the Shili shrine cities, center of Shi'i higher education, indicate that Afgh&ni had to leave for India because of unorthodoxy, and even that some considered him to be the Mahdi (Messiah), a belief As for his stay in India, neiwhich was to recur later.7 ther cAbdjh nor Afgh&nl speaks of its influence, but it can be assumed that it affected Afghlnt strongly. From his first appearance in Afghanistan a few years after his Indian trip, Afghani appears as fiercely antiBritish; he might even be called a "premature" anti-imperifor British who reserved his hatred particularly alist, Such ideas could scarcely have arisen in Iran imperialism. and Iraq, although the British occupation of Southern Iran In India the in 1856 might have made some contribution. idea that the British were undermining Indian tuslim sociand disrupting the economic life of ety and civilization Indian Muslims was, however, widespread and realistic. Afghani expressed his hatred for British rule over Muslim lands in very strong terms, and we may conjecture that about British imperialthis was due both to perspicacity ism and to projection onto the British of the negative His neglect feelings he had towards authority figures. and denial of his father, his feelings of persecution in Iran, and his later breaks with authority figures are all His concentration on British imperipart of the pattern. alism, which he had personally experienced, and his relative benevolence regarding French and Russian imperialism suggest the importance of personal as well as objective elements in his attitude. cAbduh s biolgraphy relates that Afghani returned to Afghanistan and became a member of the government in Khan. He claims that the time of the Amir Dust Mu4ammad when the Amir marched to conquer Herat (in 1863), Jamil al-Din accompanied him and stayed throughout the siege until the death of the Amir. In fact, Afgh&nl first reached Afghanistan in 1866 and never knew the great Amir Dust Mutammad. It seems probable that Afghani was glorifying that he assigns himself a himself, and it is interesting He often military role which in reality he never played. encouraged others to war against the British, but did not IRANIANSTUDIES
98
offer
to participate
in such a war.
cAbdiih goes on to describe the Afghan civil wars that followed Dust Muhammad'sdeath, and notes that when Dust Muhammad'sson Aczam Khan became Amir, he made Jam&l al-Din his prime minister and followed his advice in all matters. When civil war broke out again, however, cAbduh says that the British helped ACzam's opponent Shir CAll. Abdiih claims that Shlr CAll treated Afghani well from fear that enthusiasm for Afghani's family, which belonged to the house of the Prophet, might excite a popular revolt. But the Amir spread lies about Afgh&ni, and Afgh&ni decided to leave Afghanistan. He requested authorization for the pilgrimage, and it was given to him with the proviso that he not pass through Iran, where ACzamKhan was. The above account mixes truth and falsehood. Jamfl al-Din entered Afghanistan in 1866 just as Aczam Khan was becoming Amir, and he met Aczam in Qandahar before he entered Kibul. In Afghanistan he was known to be a foreigner and claimed to be a Turk from Istanbul. According to reports reaching the British correspondent at Kabul, Afghani had secret papers with him; this presumably helped to gain the confidence of Aczam Khan. Jamal al-Din did become the Amir Aczam's most trusted adviser, although he was not given the title of Prime Minister as cAbduh claims. This is the first of several relationships which demonstrates the charismatic and magnetic power of Jamal alDin's personality and intellect. Jam&l al-Din's advice was to break ties with the British and to rely on Russian aid; the British suspected he was a Russian agent and in fact Afghani told someone that he was one near the end of his stay. This does not prove that he had become a Russian agent, however, since at least once later in his life when he was in Iran, Afgh&ni falsely claimed to be a Russian emissary when he was not. The invention of protection by a foreign power was only one part of his pretensions to more grandiose roles for himself. Abdflh's statement that the British helped Shir CAll gain power is untrue. Also untrue is the notion that Shir CAll treated Afghani well from fear of popular revolt; 99
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
Afgh&ni had no such widespread support. Nor did Afghanl himself decide to leave Afghanistan; two of his letters in which he complained about lack of position and used equivocal expressions decided Shir CAll to expel him. The statements that Afgh&ni requested authorization for the pilgrimage and was forbidden to go through Iran are also untrue on the basis of existing documentation. The actual role of Afghinl in Afghanistan is hidden in CAbdih's account taken as a whole. While there, as noted above, he called himself a Turk from Istanbul; he claimed, and possibly had, some form of foreign backing, and he spent his whole time promoting anti-British plans. While heavily occupied with political plans he also wrote religious and even Sufi fragments, though an Afghan who gave a report on him to the British said, "Apparently, he follows no particular religion. His style of living resembles more that of a European than of a Mussulman."'7 His true beliefs were then, as later, a matter of confusion for others, for he wrote a poem about himself in Kabul when he was under sentence of exile which said: The English people believe me a Russian (Ris) The Muslims think me a Zoroatrian (M&jis) The Sunnis think me a Shili (r&fidi) And the Shilis think me an enemy of Ali (ansibt) Some of the Friends of the Four Companions have believed me a Wahh&bi Some of the virtuous Imamites have imagined me a Bib! The theists have imagined me a materialist The learned have considered me an unknowing ignoramus And the believers have thought me an unbelieving sinner
. . . .9
One can guess that Afghftnl was already presenting himself in a variety of guises to the public and that this led to the variety of charges regarding his beliefs and roles that he catalogs above. Amongthese are charges of unbelief or heresy, which must have been based on senti-_ ments he expressed. IRANIANSTUDIES
100
Also notable in this period is Afghini's talent for role-playing; although an unknown foreigner, he was able quickly to win over the Amir and become his most trusted Similar roles in relation to difand intimate advisor. ferent individuals appear later in his life. WhenAmir Aczam was expelled, however, Afghanl did not try to accompany him, but rather tried to ingratiate himself with Shir cAll, telling him that he had never served Aczam willingly. He succeeded only briefly in this, however; Shir Ali's proBritish views opposed him to anyone with such an antiBritish reputation. Nonetheless, it is striking how readily Afghinl could enter a country and quickly be on close terms with its leading figures, adapting his role and interests to the local situation. cAbdah next describes Afghanils brief trips to India and Cairo, stressing his influence in both places. There is no independent documentation on these trips. He then describes Afghani's trip to Istanbul, where he says Afghflni was well treated by the prime minister, cAll P&shd, and various other dignitaries; again there is as yet no evidence to prove or disprove this. cAbduh then discusses Afghani's appointment to the Council on Public Instruction where, he says, some of his ideas for disseminating scientific knowledge hurt the material interests of the Shaykh al-Islam tasan Fehmi. The latter took revenge when Afghini gave a lecture on the crafts which had been approved and highly praised by various officials. The majority of Ottoman ministers came to the lecture. tasan Fehminwanted a cAbdfih then quotes the conpretext to discredit Afghanl. tents of Afghanlls speech, insists on its orthodoxy, and maintains that Hasan Fehmi invented lies about him when he charged that Afghani had called prophecy a craft. CAbdjlh says the newspapers discussed the subject at length, some supporting Afghini and some Hasan Fehml. The prime minister ordered Afghinl to leave Istanbul for a few months until people became calm; he could then return. This account is essentially a cover-up for an incident in which Afghanl was attacked for heresy--an event embarrassing to him in later years when he was trying to present himself as a pious Muslim. It also reflects 101
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
There is no evidence of his Afghini's self-aggrandizement. having had contact with ministers; even the minister of on whose council he served, refers to public instruction, It him as "an Afghan of unknown ideas and circumstances." is unlikely that Hasan Fehmi wanted to discredit Afghini; many persons on the Council of Public Instruction were more advanced than Afgh&nl in their ideas, and they were not attacked as cAbdfh claims Afgh&ni was. As Niyazi Berkes has shown, the real target of the ulama was not Afghini, but the new secular
university
under whose
auspices
he gave his
It is improbable that the lecture had been public lecture. and even more imapproved in advance by high dignitaries A reconstrucprobable that numerous ministers attended. tion from contemporary sources indicates that Afgh&ni did philosophic call prophecy a craft and took an essentially even though he also made and pragmatic view of religion, statements on the superiority of prophecy to philosophy. The only two newspaper accounts of the incident in Afghni' s papers are extremely brief, and mention him incidentally in an account of the dismissal of the head of the univerThe documents also indicate that Afgh&ni was simply sity. expelled from the Ottoman Empire without any suggestion of a return in the near future.10 The stay in Istanbul shows Afgh&nil's adaptation to In the Ottoman Empire a new role of reformer-educator. and politics, use for his anti-British there was little personso he revealed another side of his multi-faceted ality.
cAbdah goes on to discuss Afgh&ni's long stay in Egypt (1871-1879), noting his teaching and training stuSome people envied him, CAbduhsays, and dents to write. to calumniate him seized on the fact that he taught from philosophy books. They imputed to him the views in these They were books and spread this idea among the people. heard withaided by men who came to Afgh&ni's sessions, out understanding, and distorted what he taught. This again is an apologetic account designed to dismiss the widespread reputation for unorthodoxy or unbelief that Afghanl had gained in Egypt. In this country Afghanl IRANIANSTUDIES
102
adapted a new role as a teacher and then as a figure in mass politics, which CAbdiihdoes not mention. He helped and encouraged his students and disciples to edit newspapers with a political content, and, as the Egyptian crisis intensified in the late 1870s, he became a popular mass orator, as well as the head of an important freemasonic society which he used for political purposes. He was in contact with the heir-apparent to the khedivate, Tawflq, and he and cAbd5h plotted to assassinate the Khedive Ismacll and put Tawfiq on the throne. However, Ismacil was deposed by French and British pressure in 1879 and Tawfiq was heavily dependent on the will of the French and the British. According to cAbdfih, those who calumniated the Sayyid had no influence among intelligent men, and all favored AfghAni until the accession of Tawflq. The Sayyid had supported him, but certain detractors, including the English consul-general, intrigued against him with Tawfiq. Calumniators made false accusations against Afghanl and changed Tawflq's opinion of him; consequently Tawfiq ordered his expulsion. While it is true that Afghani had enemies who influenced Tawflq, it is also true that Afghani was, at this time, delivering fiery speeches against the foreigners, and continuing his secret political masonic work, so that Tawfiq had reason to want to be rid of him. The mention of the British consul is paralleled by other charges made by Afghani to the effect that the British persecuted him repeatedly. British documents evince no special concern about Afghani, and there is no evidence that the British played any important role in his expulsion; indeed, in personal letters Afgh&nl attributes this role rather to one of his Egyptian enemies. cAbdjhljs emphasis on jealousy and enemies reappears in Afghanils words. He often refers to jealous and lying enemies who calumniated and mistreated him, and were responsible for his political failures. cAbdfih then tells how Afghanl went to Hlyderabad, India, where he wrote the "Refutation of the Materialists." At the time of the(cUrabi) revolt in Egypt he was called 103
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
to Calcutta, where the government of India guarded him until the British victory in Egypt. He was then allowed to go where he wished and went briefly to London, then to Paris. It was during this time that Afgh3nl tried to take on an Islamic and pan-Islamic coloring. The "Refutation" should be seen as essentially a political tract, directed against the pro-British Muslim Indian reformist, Sayyid Atmad Kh&nand his followers. In a later article Afghini attacked Sayyid A4mad Khln and his followers directly as tools of the British who were undermining their own nation. Afghini'ls defense of Islam is largely for the purpose of using it as an instrument; Islam is a tool to produce political solidarity and other social virtues. If mass confidence in it is undermined, Indian Muslims will adapt the beliefs of their conquerors and become completely subservient to them. Al-CUrwa al-Wuthqa gave an interpretation of Islam stressing values that Afgh&ni and Abdiih considered modern Muslims might need, such as solidarity, military strength, and self-confidence. At the same time, it contained articles against British rule in Muslim lands and became the chief organ of the idea of pan-Islam, the union of all Muslims around the Sultan-Caliph--at that time Sultan CAbd al-Ijamid II. Until then Afghinl had concentrated on the problems of each individual Muslim country in which he found himself, but he now adopted the pan-Islamic ideal that had first been put forth in the Ottoman Empire, and became its chief publicist. He gave leadership to the increasingly defensive and anti-European mood of the Muslim world, spurred partly by European victories in the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia, and Egypt. Like increasing numbers of Muslims, he felt that Islamic unity was necessary to ward off further encroachments. At the same time there is clear evidence that, despite his defense of Islam and pan-Islam, internally AfghanI did not become more orthodox. In his "Answer to Renan," written in Paris in 1883 in French and directed at a French audience, Afgh&nl makes a variety of negative statements about the Muslim religion, stating in conclusion: IRANIANSTUDIES
104
It is permissible, however, to ask oneself why Arab civilization, after having thrown such a lively light on the world, suddenly became extinguished, why this torch has not been relit since, and why the Arab world still remains buried in profound darkness. of the Muslim religion Here the responsibility appears complete. It is clear that wherever it became established this religion tried to stifle science and it was marvelously served in its designs by despotism . D . . As long as humanity exists, the struggle will not cease between dogma and free investigation, between religion and philosophy; a desperate struggle in which, I fear, the triumph will not be for free thought, because the masses dislike reason and its teachings are only understood by some inof the elite, and because, also, science, telligences however beautiful it is, does not completely satisfy humanity, which thirsts for the ideal and which likes to exist in dark and distant regions which the philosophers and scholars can neither perceive nor explore. 11 Afgh&ni here states both his preference for philosophy over religion and also his conviction that philosophy is only for the elite, and that the masses can be appealed to only in religious terms. This partly explains why he made more religious appeals when trying to reach a large audience. cAbd5h touches lightly on the events between the end of al-cUrwa al-Wuthga late in 1884 and Afghani's return to Iran in 1886. In fact, this was a period in which Afghani did some new role-playing, and managed to convince the British poet and Arabophile Wilfrid Blunt, the Parisian socialist editor Hienri Rochefort, and others that he was the European agent of the Sudanese Mahdi, with whomhe in fact had not the slightest contact. Afghani also estab-
105
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lished contact with Sultan CAbdal-Hamid through two Egypwho entered the Sultan's circle in Istanbul. tian disciples Afghani apparently hoped that the Sultan would use him in he was searching his pan-Islamic program; as previously, The for a ruler to whomhe could be a trusted adviser. usual version that it was Sultan cAbd al-Hamid who first opened relations between them is false; rather Afgh&ni Blunt also brought Afmade the preliminary overtures. ghani to London and introduced him to Randolph Churchill and Sir Henry DrummondWolff. Wolff was about to go to Istanbul to try to negotiate British withdrawal from Egypt on terms favorable to Great Britain, and Blunt wanted Afghnl to accompany him. Afghani was afraid to go without guarantees that the Sultan would not give, and Wolff eventually decided that taking Afghanl would be a mistake. Having spent his whole life as an opponent of the British, Afghini now almost entered into British employ (although for a goal near his heart--the evacuation of Egypt) and this incident has been taken by some in the Near East as evidence that Afgh&nl was a British spy for his whole life. This period was also that of his one known sexual French police liaison, with a young Germanwoman in Paris. reports tell how Afghani was forced to vacate his premises by his landlord because he brought this womanto live with him, and his landlord considered her a German spy. The landlord, a certain Paolini, said that the woman, Catherine. made Jamil al-Din succumb to her desire to enter into intimate relations with him. Later correspondence from Catherine to JamMl al-Din reveals strong affection on her side, but since he did not even open her last two letters, it is doubtful that it was fully reciprocated. In general, Jamal al-DiLn's affects were wholly tied His personal bonds were missions. up with his political who to his devoted disciples, men--either nearly all to wrote to him and addressed him in worshipful terms, or to powerful figures who were likely to help him achieve his With both groups he would often break off his regoals. With the powerful, this break was often a result lations. of Jamil al-Di"n's attempting to play two roles at once-that of adviser to rulers and that of arouser of the masses IRANIANSTUDIES
106
action. Since rulers like or educated groups to political Tawfiq, and later the Shah of Iran, were afraid of local political activity, they broke with Jamal al-Din, as did Sultan cAbd al-Hamid. Jamal al-Din is reported as being hostile or uncomfortable in discussions concerning women, and particularly hostile to the idea of marriage. In the 1884-1885 period, Jamnl al-Din's multiple role-playing caused him trouble, since he was simultaneously presenting himself as a partisan of the Sultan-Caliph and as the agent of the Sudanese Mahdi, whose Mahdist claims the Sultan opposed. In addition he was working with the British, and Blunt records that Jamal al-Din agreed to support his scheme for an Arab caliph. As a result, the Sultan, whomAfgh&nl wanted to influence, became very suspicious of Afghanl both as a partisan of the Mahdi and of the scheme he believed to have widespread an Arab caliphate. British backing, for establishing In was selfsome cases, then, Afghini's multiple role-playing defeating and aroused suspicions. CAbduh"writing in 1886, concludes with some generalizations about Afghnil, who, he says, was the most zealous man he had ever seen for preserving the principles of the Sunni Hanifite rite. There are many stories that contradict this statement, including one of Afghanl's deliberately skipping the time of prayer after being reminded of it several times by a member of his Istanbul circle; on the other hand, AfghAni clearly wished to present himself as an orthodox Mluslim. At the same time that CAbdiih was writing, however, Afghani was presenting himself as an orthodox Shi'i in Iran. cAbdiih goes on to a summary encomium of Afghani but notes his violent temperament, with anger often ruining what prudence had built.12 After 1886 there is no single standard biography like cAbdils, but Afghani's version of these years has been incorporated into the accounts of Rashid Rio1, Jurji Zaydan, Mulammadal-Makhziimlil, and others. AfghAni stated that he was invited to Iran by Nasir al-Din Shah, who want107
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
ed him to be either prime minister or minister of war, and to codify Iran's laws. In fact, he passed through Iran on the way to Russia--the minister of press did convince the Shah to invite him to Tehran after he reached southern Iran but he had only one interview with the Shah and there was no offer of any high post or duty. According to a brother of the Shah's, Jamil al-Din frightened the Shah by offering himself as a "sharp sword" to be used against the Shah's foreign enemies--Afgh&ni later used the same sugAfter a few months, gestive phrase to the Ottoman Sultan. the Shah suggested to Afghini's host that he take him out of Iran, and this he did. Of his subsequent stay in Russia in 1887-1889, Afexcept to relate conversations he had ghani spoke little had with the Tsar, and to say that the Shah and his ministers tried to see him in St. Petersburg when they came The available evidence there in 1889, but that he refused. shows that Afghani never met the Tsar, and he definitely did not see the Shah or his prime minister, despite his efforts to do so. He did manage to meet with them in Munich, however, and said that they gave him a mission to return to then at a low Russia to improve Russo-Iranian relations, The point because of Iranian concessions to the British. On his reprime minister firmly denied any such mission. turn to Iran, Jamil al-Din claimed that the prime minister had invited him--which the prime minister himself denied-They and that he was under the protection of the Russians. in turn denied this. While in Russia, Afghani was trying to convince the Russians to go to war with the British, which he thought He uprising in India. would bring about an anti-British had already suggested the idea of war as a solution to Muslim problems years before in a petition encouraging a RussoBritish war, and in his support for the Mahdi. Wars, asand violent plots were part of his approach sassinations, to solving the problems of the Muslim world--an approach that revealed the hasty temperament noted by CAbdih, rather than a desire to work gradually to spread his ideas.
IRANIANSTUDIES
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A story told by a Muslim who knew Afghanl in Russia suggests the lengths to which Afghini would go to attract the attention of the powerful. Afgh&nl had asked him to reserve a box at the opera near the Tsar's box, and after the performance Afghini began to say his prayers in a loud voice. Everyone, including the Tsar and his family, noticed him, and a general was sent to stop him, but to no The very next story related by the same author reavail. counts how Afghani missed the time of prayer at one gathering, despite the pleas of one of those present; thus the about point of the first story is not his punctiliousness saying his prayers. Back in Iran Afghani was bitter that the prime minister, who he said had given him a mission in Russia, would not see him. Probably Afgh&nLdid not always distinguish reality from his own exaggerations and his indignation was genuine. After some months Afghani discovered that the Shah intended to expel him, and so took refuge in a shrine near Tehran, where he continued to talk to his disciples. After some threatening leaflets denouncing the government's sale of Iran to foreigners were distributed in the capital, the Shah blamed them on Jamal al-Din, and sent soldiers who violated his sanctuary and escorted him into the Iraqi border. Jamil al-Din was far more bitter against the Shah than against any of his other persecutors except the British, and he began to plan revenge. In letters written during his trip, he compares himself to the early
Shili
martyrs
and his
persecutors
to the victors
over the Imam .usayn, adding, "Now one must await the wonders of the Divine Power." Similarly, in a letter to RiyAQ Pasha in 1883,
Afgh&nl attributed
the troubles
that
had recently befallen Egypt to retribution for his own mistreatment.13 He did not attempt revenge on his Egyptian enemies, however, whereas he did work against both the Shah, and his prime minister, Amin al-Sultan. It is possible that the role of the Shah as a father-figure in his own homeland made him an object of special resentment. His exalted view of himself as a martyred instrument of destiny whose injuries would be revenged also deserves notice. 109
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To Iranian associates JamMl al-Din admitted his Iranian origin, probably because it would make him more in Iran. He disliked being publicly reminded effective of his origins in Asadab&d, however. In Iran, as in Egypt, society, he was a pioneer in setting up a secret political political and in suggesting methods of anti-imperialist and plaleaflets such as secretly distributed activity, cards. Soon after Afghani reached Iraq, the Iranian movement against a British-owned Iranian tobacco monopoly began. Afgh5ni wrote a famous letter to the head of the Shi'i ulama denouncing the Iranian government for its sale Many biographies credit of Iran's resources to foreigners. this letter with influencing the Shi'i leader's later declaration of a boycott on tobacco, and present Afghani as the chief figure in the successful tobacco movement, but in fact the activity of the Iranian ulama was more imporas in his In this letter, tant in both developments. Iranian period, Afghini expressed himself as a pious Shi'i. From Iraq Afghani went to England, where lhe gave against the Shah and his governtalks and wrote articles ment. While there, he was invited to go to Sultan cAbd al-Hamid's court at Istanbul and, after some hesitation, blamed Afghani for The letters of invitation accepted. writing items hostile to the caliphate in the British suspress, and other evidence shows that the Sultan still For a while activities. pected Afghini of anti-caliphal he was well treated by the Sultan, but then various inciOne of these was his dents lost him the Sultan's favor. CAbbas Hilmi, which khedive, Egyptian meeting with the new with plans possibly correctly, cAbd al-Hamid associated, to establish an Arab caliphate under Egyptian protection. At no time during his stay in Istanbul was Afgh&ni peractivity was mitted to publish anything, and his political to write limited to encouraging a group of Shi'i disciples to the Shi'i ulama in order to obtain their support for the Aside from this, AfghMni had a varying Sultan-Caliph. circle of followers to whomhe spoke mainly with highly exaggerated versions of his past life and influence. IRANIANSTUDIES
110
Disciples in this period record stories of his aversion to to the liberation of women, which women and his hostility contrasted with his reformism in other areas. When the Sultan wanted to give him a wife, he turned down the sugand threatened to cut off his own "organ gestion violently of procreation" if the Sultan persisted. Those who heard him were amazed at his words. Jamil al-Din's Iranian servant, Mirz& Rig,za came to see him in Istanbul after being released from jail, where he had been incarcerated for political acts, and Jamal alDin encouraged him to return to Iran and kill the Shah. Mirza Rizi successfully carried out the assassination. Jamal al-Din denied all connection with the deed and Iranian efforts to extradite him were resisted by the Sultan. The following year, 1897, Jamal al-Din died in Istanbul of cancer of the jaw. Afghani' s role in awakening Muslims to anti-imperialist, reformist, and pan-Islamic political activity through writings, teachings, speeches, and political organizations was a major pioneering one. Only the briefest account of his ideas can be given in this type of paper, but it is apparent that they were often new and have continued to be influential to the present day. He was a bold and forceful leader who made his mark on a widening circle of Muslims. III The history of wandering, role-playing, fabrication, and a martyred and exalted self-view sketched above cona special type of personality. stitutes Some of the Islamic and Iranian background of Jamal al-Din's personality was suggested at the beginning of this article, but even as an Iranian Jamal al-Din's personality is special. Some degree of imposture may be a national trait: MalkumKhan, Jamal al-Din's reformist associate, was known for it, and invented stories for Blunt regarding his founding a new religion of vast proportions and his influence on the Shah. Jamal al-Din, however, went beyond the usual bounds. Some light on his personality can be shed by the work of psychi111
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insights. Alatrists or those who have used psychiatric though the application of these ideas to Afgh&nl is highly the ideas themselves are often suggestive. tentative, Erik Erikson writes of a study of reformers and "Basic to their zeal (we found) innovators: ideological In another work to settle.",'14 'account is an infantile deny their naand to hostile are who those of he speaks giving the example of a girl who inventtional identity, ed a Scottish childhood because of a British womanwho had loved her more than her parents had. Erikson claims: "The power of the invented force behind the near-delusional 'truth' was in turn a death wish against her parents, which is latent in all severe identity crises."115 Otto Rank's The Myth of the Birth of the Hero contains examples of numerous myths, including several Persian ones, in which a king or hero is brought up by someone other than his parents, often returning home to conquer Regarding these lands, and sometimes even to kill the king. "The old saying that 'A prophet is not myths, Rank says: without honour, save in his own country and in his father's house,' has no other meaning but that he whose parents, or playmates, are known to us, is brothers and sisters, There seems to not so readily conceded to be a prophet. 16 be a certain necessity for the prophet to deny his parents." Rank says that feelings of neglect result in the fantasy of being a stepchild or adopted. He notes that among children hostile to their parents, ambitious daythose of dreams of getting rid of them and substituting higher social rank are common. The myth of the hero is a paranoid structure, as is dividing the parents into two The hero does not want a sets of good and evil parents. Hero myths, says Rank, are often similar to the family. Rank delusions of persecution and grandeur of paranoids. a rebel against also sees every revolutionary as originally There is a transfer of hatred from the father his father. to the king.17 Erikson and Rank thus suggest that hatred and a death wish toward the father are behind such traits as IRANIANSTUDIES
112
denial of one's own parents and country. Jamal al-Din's almost total neglect of his family and his failure even to talk about them suggest the relevancy of this interpretaHis indirect "killing of the king" of Iran, pretion. ceded by hatred and a desire for vengeance may also have been partly due to hostile feelings toward his father-one basis of his revolutionary activity. In the absence of more childhood data, such an interpretation is, of course, speculative. More light on these points is shed by Harold Lasswell's Psychopathology and Politics. One section of this work is a discussion of political agitators, based on a close personal analysis of several of them. Lasswell notes that the essential mark of an agitator is the high value he places on the emotional response of the public. The agitator exaggerates the change that will come-from an alteration in policy. "The agitator easily infers that he who disagrees with him is in communion with the devil, and that opponents show bad faith or timidity." He frequently neglects his family. Agitators were found to be indifferent to property and lacking in sexual possessiveness. They frequently manifest a hostility to their father, and sometimes to the whole family, which is transmuted into a desire for human brotherhood--replacing the brotherhood not found at home. Agitators are highly verbal, as could be expected, and often good at writing. Some tend to develop close relationships easily, but then break them off in an atmosphere of mistrust. This is tied to fear of sexual ties to a person of the same sex. Some suffer from fears of impotency and nearly all were found to have a strong latent homosexual component. They were often paranoid. Their sexual lives showed varying degrees of maladjustment. Orator types, adds Lasswell, are often successful impostors. Some agitators have a desire for martyrdom which Lasswell views as a "feminine" charac8 teristic. Many of these characteristics fit Afgh&ni, despite the cultural difference between him and the persons Lasswell was studying. His highly verbal character is manifested in both his speeches and his numerous teaching and 113
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and discussion circles, in which he did most of the talking. His exaggeration of the change that would come from following his formulas and his hostility to any opponents certainly conform to the personality model, as does his tendency to develop close ties and then abruptly break off relations. It is also clear that Afghfnl had at least a moderate case of paranoia. Many of his letters and conversations are full of complaints about persons whomhe thought were unjustly persecuting him, and he had the delusions of grandeur commonto paranoiacs--believing, for example, that God or fate would take revenge on his enanies for their mistreatment of him. He often saw himself as a martyr. Freud believed that paranoid delusions of persecution were a mechanism to ward off homosexual wishes.19 In a symposium on the Schreber case, which formed the basis of Freud's theory of paranoia, some psychiatrists denied of latent homosexuality in paranoia, the universality while others affirmed it. One psychiatrist thought that Schreber's homosexual tendencies were mainly a defense mechanism against a wish to kill and a dread of being killed by the father figure. He wrote that the assumed aggressor was almost always an authority figure.20 In an interesting paper, R. P. Knight states that an intense homosexual conflict is never absent in the male The paranoid also has an abnormal need to be paranoiac. loved, and in his battle against his supposed persecutors he tries to appeal to the loyalty and affection of all his friends and acquaintances, and even to prominent strangers. When they do not respond as he has expected, they are placed in the category of persecutors; there is a hostile element in his "love" for them. The drive to love, and be loved by, the object of the homosexual wish is supported by an intense need to neutralize a tremendous unconThis unconscious hatred is considered to scious hate. be traceable to hatred for the father.21 Thus there are numerous psychiatric descriptions of traits found in Afgh&ni in which hatred of the father IRANIANSTUDIES
114
acts as a triggering mechanism. We probably will never know enough about AfghAni's early family life to verify this hypothesis, but his later behavior suggests that it may well be true. As for ascribing to him a latent homosexuality, this idea upset many who first read it, but Afgh&nl's whole life style and attitude point in this There is nothing to suggest that it was more direction. than latent, but he had extremely close ties to men, while he avoided women for most of his life and expressed negative attitudes toward them. In addition to sub-clinical paranoia, Afgh&ni showed signs of a related psychological trait--impostorship. In two articles on impostorship, Phyllis Greenacre, discussing both famous historical impostors and impostors whom she has treated, finds them to be dominated by the to have an in"family romance" (the Oedipal struggle), tense disturbance of the sense of identity, and a malformation of the superego. For a typical impostor an audience is essential. As children they tend to be doted on by their mothers and have an aggravated fear of and hostility toward their fathers. They seem to seek confirmation of their assumed identity in order to overcome a sense of incompleteness. "Insofar as the imposture is accomplished, it is the killing of the father throulh the complete dis2lacementof
him>22
The public
is
seen as taking
the
place of the doting mother. All four of the cases Greenacre analyzed had some impairment of sexual potency and marked passive homosexual trends. Greenacre also notes that imposture is often related to paranoid conditions with founders of religious (especially cults). The impostor symbolically overthrows the king-father and takes his place. Large-scale imposture is, she says, most successful in times of disturbed or near-revolutionary social conditions, when people are looking for a saviour. The impostor cannot love, and has a craving for applause, recognition, and power.23 Helene Deutsch also writes of the impostor as one with a doting mother and a tyrannical or absent father.24 Afghini may also have been a pathological motives. though many of his lies had political 115
liar, A patho-
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logical liar is one who does not completely distinguish much so that the truth from his lies about himself--so The lies are lies cannot be detected by a lie detector. usually screen stories for actual occurrences--certainly Fantasy presented as reality may the case with Afghani. help entrench repression of unpleasant memories, and may be a form of revenge for having been deceived about sex A strong need to increase self-esteem or other matters. and to take revenge on adults for earlier disappointments are believed by one author to be commonto pathological liars.25 In an earlier summary statement on pathological lying, Otto Fenichel, quoting another author, says that the formula of the liar may be phrased: "If it is possible to make people believe that unreal things are real, it is also possible that real things, the very memory of He says Helene Deutsch which is menacing, are unreal." [pathological of pseudologia "has proved that the content lies] consists of screen stories of something that actually happened. They are comparable to national myths ,6 by wishes. facts, falsified which also contain historical The themes of early mistreatment and denial of his of his childhood, are certainly very obpast, especially Denial of one's true origins along with vious in Afghini. grandiose statements about the present and recent past are of Afgh&ni frequently found in both imcharacteristics No more than with the liars. postors and pathological case of paranoia can we say with certainty what was the familial basis of Afghanl's character, but what is known about his childhood and later behavior conforms to the literageneral patterns discussed in the psychoanalytic ture. Afgh5ni, of course, was not a psychopath, but an functioning leader. effectively The danger of this type of analysis is that it may in that reduces the chief characterisseem reductionist, and often negative to traits, individuals of leading tics Also, the that go back to their early childhood. traits, concentration on neurotic traits among reformers and reIRANIANSTUDIES
116
volutionaries may appear to denigrate their humanitarian a prominent leader like Afghini What distinguishes goals. from the innumerable other persons who break with their families is a strength of character and intelligence that enables them to turn a difficult situation to advantage. Afghini was able to turn away from the passive acceptance of authorities in the Muslim world of his characteristic time and to recognize the oppressiveness of rule by the British, by the Khedive and the Shah. He was also intelligent enough to encourage the use of new methods of political agitation in the East. He recognized the appeal of religion for most Muslims, and pioneered in wedding religion to reformist and anti-imperialist politics. PanIslam joined religion to a political, proto-nationalist aim. Such religiously tinged nationalism has been successful in arousing the masses in countries ruled or threatened by imperialism--India (Tilak, Ghandhi, etc.); Pakistan (Jinnah); Ireland, and nineteenth century Eastern Europe. Jamal al-Din thus utilized many effective tools to awaken and enlighten a varying group of followers. Afghan! tried to influence almost everyone with whom he had contact--rulers, disciples, masses, Europeans. Near the end of his life, however, he saw his error in having From prison he wrote to a Pertried to influence rulers. sian friend: Would that I had sown all the seed of my ideas in the Well receptive ground of the people's thoughts! would it have been had I not wasted this fruitful and beneficent seed of mine in the salt and sterile For what I sowed soil of that effete Sovereignty! in that soil never grew, and what I planted in that brackish earth perished away. During all this time none of my well-intentioned counsels sank into the ears of the rulers of the East, whose selfishness and ignorance prevented them from accepting my words. 27 In addition to his pioneering role in reformism, and political activism, Afgh&nl looked anti-imperialism forward to a type of politics that would rely more heavily 117
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on activity by the masses. He was able to use creatively Islamic traditions in new ways, and adapted them to political necessities of reform, self-strengthening, and independence. His intelligence, psychology, writings, and political activity endowed him with an ever-growing reputation and influence in the Muslim world. Although parts of this influence may be seen as negative, his role in the political awakening of the Middle East cannot be denied. NOTES 1.
The Times, August 30, 1879, and September 8, 1879, quoted in Nikki R. Keddie, Sayyid Jamal ad-Din "al Biography (Berkeley and Los Afghiini"l: A Political University of California Press, 1972), pp. Angeles: (Henceforth cited as Afgihani.) Points 116-118. about Afghini's life not footnoted below are discussed and documented in this biography.
2.
in Islam, of esoterism and dissimulation On traditions see Nikki R. Keddie, "Symbol and Sincerity in Islam," Studia Islamica, XIX (1973), 27-63.
3.
in Early See Nikki R. Keddie, "Religion and Irreligion Iranian Nationalism,"l Comparative Studies in Society and History, IV, No. 3 (April 1962), 265-295, and the sources discussed therein.
4.
Iraj Afshir and A?ghar Mahdavi, Majmilahli asnad va madarik-i chip nashudah dar birah'i Sayyid Jamil alDlIinmashhfurbi AfghAni (Documents in6dits concernant Seyyed Jamal al-Din Afghani) (Tehran: University of (Henceforth cited as Documents.) Tehran, 1963). in the first very good These were used effectively biography of Afghinl, HomaPakdaman, Djamal-ed-Din Assad Abadi dit Afghani (Paris, 1969). I was not entirely surprised to find that the reviews of my first book on Afghani, An Islamic Response to and Religious Views of SayPolitical Imperialism:
5.
yid Jaml
ad-Din
University
IRANIAN STUDIES
al-Af
hnin
(Berkeley
of Califfornia Press, 118
and Los Angeles:
19068), were divided
neatly into two categories: the non-Muslim reviews were all favorable and the Muslim reviews all unfavorable. This occurred despite the fact that the book is not hostile to AfghAnt. 6.
Keddie, Afghani, pp. 33-35, and Documents.
7.
Afgihni, p 16, citing Khatirat-i HiijjI Sayyah (Tehran: Ibn-i Sina, 1967/68), pp. 290-291. MirzA Riza almost surely referred to Afghinl as the Mahdi during his cross-examination the Shah. after assassinating See E. G. Browne, The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910), p. 82 and n.; and Afghani, p. 406 n.
8.
Afghfani, p. 45, citing "Cabul Diary."
the Government of India's
9.
Afghin,
Documents.
p. 54, citing
10.
Afghini, pp. 58-80; and Niyazi Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey (Montreal: McGill University Press, 1964), pp. 181-188.
11.
Afghini, p. 193; from Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, Refutation des materialistes, trans. by A.-M. Goichon (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1942), pp. 184-185.
12.
Muhammad CAbdflh, "Biographie," in Afghani, Refutation, pp. 31-57; these last points are on pp. 48-52.
13.
Afghani, pp. 333, 437, from Documents.
14.
Erik Erikson, Insi}ht and Responsibility W. W. Norton, 1964), p. 202.
15.
Erik Erikson, Identity, Youth and Crisis W. W. Norton, 1968), p. 174.
16.
Otto Rank, The M!yth of the Birth of the Hero and Other Writings, ed. by Philip Freund (New York: Vintage Books, 1959), p. 66. 119
(New York: (New York:
1976 SPRING-SUMMER
17.
Rank, The Myth, p. 95.
18.
Harold Lasswell, Psychopathology and Politics New York: Viking Press, 1960), ch. VI.
19.
Sigmund Freud, Collected Pa ers, III, trans. and James Strachey (New Yor : International Analytical Press, 1959), p. 444.
20.
of the Schreber Case: "Symposium on 'Reinterpretations Freud's Theory of Paranoia,"' International Journal XLIV (January 1963), pp. 191-223. of Psycho-Analysis,
21.
R. P. Knight, "The Relationship of Latent Homosexuality to the Mechanism of Paranoid Delusions," Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, IV (1940), 149-159.
22.
Phyllis Greenacre, Emotional Growth (New York: International University Press, 1971), I, p. 104.
23.
Greenacre, Emotional Growth, II, pp. 533-554.
24.
Helene Deutsch, "The Impostor: Contribution to Ego Psychology of a Type of Psychopath," Psychoanalytic Quarterly, XXXIV, No. 5, pp. 483-505.
25.
Thomas V. Hoyer, "Pseudologia Fantastica," typescript, Brentwood Veterans Administration Hospital, Los Angeles, 1957.
26.
Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (New York: W. W. Norton, 1945). Many thanks to my colleague Peter Loewenberg and to Dr. Marshall Cherkas for the psychoanalytic references.
27.
E. G. Browne, The Persian Revolution Cambridge University Press, bridge:
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(new ed.; by Alix Psycho-
1905-1909 (Cam1910), 28-29.
NOTES ON THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF EXTRAECONOMIC OBLIGATIONS OF PEASANTS IN IRAN, 300-1600 A.D. Farhad Nomani The maj'or goal of this study is to examine the of the Iranian origins, development and peculiarities to the landlords peasants' extra-economic obligations and the body representing them, the state, in the period Debetween the fourth and the seventeenth centuries.1 fining feudalism as a mode of production, it focuses only of the Iranian peasantry during on the various obligations this period in an attempt to show that the feudal characof servile obligations existed in Iran, reaching teristics their heights under the Mongols in terms of legal attachment to the soil.2 Feudalism is viewed as a mode of production which has two complementary aspects: the productive forces and A feudal economy is marked the relations of production. by a more or less "static" pattern of reproduction since the surplus product is spent for non-productive purposes. The act of production is largely individual in character, and the division of labor is rudimentary. Feudalism is also identified with a natural economy, i.e., an economy in which the product is produced not for sale, but for personal use. This means that only an insignificant portion of agricultural products enter into the process of circulation.
Farhad Nomani is Assistant University of Tehran.
Professor 121
of Economics at the SPRING-SUMMER 1976
the The production relations of feudalism, i.e., are based on the landrelations between the main classes, lords' ownership of the means of production, primarily of the land. However, alongside this formal ownership, there exists individual ownership by peasants and craftsmen of The their personal holdings and implements of production. essence of the feudal mode of production is the exploitative relation between the landlords and the dependent peasants, based on the exaction of surplus product by means of three types of rent: labor, kind or money. The peasants are personally dependent on lords, or a body representing This dependence is due to the ownera state. the latter, However, ship of the land by the landlords (or the state). unlike slaves, peasants are not to be sold and bought. The economic forms in which the surplus product of labor is exacted from the producers determines the relaHowever, "this tionship of non-producers and producers. same from does not prevent the same economic basis--the to innumerable the standpoint of its main conditions--due different empirical circumstances, natural environment, influence, etc., external historical racial relations, variations and gradations in appearfrom showing infinite ance, which can be ascertained only by analysis of the If the producers are empirically given circumstances."I3 not confronted by a private landowner, "but rather, as in Asia, [are] under direct subordination to a state which stands over them as their landlord and simultaneously as sovereign, then rent and taxes coincide, or rather, there 4 exists no tax which differs from this form of ground rent. of the producers does not end with The obligations the payments of rents in labor, kind or money. Other, in the form of different dues extra-economic obligations The form and and personal dependency are also exacted. But, in extent of these obligations vary considerably. of feudal peasants' general, the special characteristics (1) the bondage dependence can be summarized as follows: of peasants to the land; (2) the prohibition against peasants' moving from one place to another; (3) the subordinaadministrative and police tion of peasants to the judicial, of peasants to pay dues, authority; (4) the obligations IRANIANSTUDIES
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whether in money or in kind; and (5) the peasants' rights in the social estates.
limited
The Enserfment of the Communesand the Decline of the Slave-Owning System During the late Parthian and early Sassanian periods (from the first to the fourth centuries, A.D.) most of the in the central and eastern parts of population, especially the empire, consisted of free men who engaged independently in agriculture and who lived on their own land or on comof slave labor munal lands. At the same time exploitation was commonin the western parts of the Parthian and Sassanid empires.5 However, from the second to the fourth centuries A.D. communes were either disappearing due to their dispersement by landlords, or their transformation into organizations of peasants who did not enjoy full rights as The commune, in which land was held collectively, citizens. was gradually developing into an organization in which land was already becoming the freely alienable allodium of the family. The loss of the allodium and the transformation of the free property holding member of the communeinto a holder who went with the land, i.e., a dependent tenant, was now only a matter of time. The communes gradually lost their self-governing status by being added to the crown lands or by being granted to big lords who were exempt from taxes.6 At the same time, other lands and free communes had to pay exorbitant taxes. For this reason, many landlords and members of free communes abandoned their own lands and commendedthemselves to the protection of these powerful lords.7 This practice contributed to the rise of powerful landlords, and for peasants this meant the loss of their freedom. By the end of the fifth century A.D., the "enserfment" of the communes by the kings or powerful landlords intensified. This situation roused the peasants against the ruling class of Iran. The Mlazdakite movement reflected the interest and hopes of those reduced to dependent status.8 After increasing suffering under the landlords, large numbers of producers sought relief in the old comunal 123
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system which they succeeded in reestablishing in certain provinces, but only for a short period. The Mazdakites were liquidated and suppressed by Khusraw I (531-79 A.D.), and their newly formed communes were broken up and restored to their former landlords.9 More generally, communes during Sassanid times (227-651 A.D.) seem to have become organizations of peasants who had lost their full rights as citizens and were dependent on landlords. This transformation was one development towards the formation of a new relationship with the land. The other transformation in the same direction was the gradual freeing of slaves. During the second and third centuries the practice of partially freeing slaves attached to the land developed in slave-owning Mesopotamia (under Parthian and Sassanian rule). These slaves, called &nshahrik, worked on privately owned estates.10 They were given partial freedom (one-tenth to one-fourth of their complete freedom). An anshahrik who received such partial freedom could have a share of what he produced. Moreover, the children of these slaves could inherit their parents' partial freedom. This process, which gained momentumunder the early Sassanids (third to fourth centuries A.D.), of slavery in the Middle signalled the disintegration East.11 The practice of partially freeing slaves must be viewed as an attempt by slave-owning landlords to serve their own interests. Slavery apparently did not pay, and it therefore started to die out.'2 The slave owners' interests are reflected in particular in the early Sassanian law book called Matlk&n. The of this book show the introduction of new forms articles of exploitation which would make slaves more interested in their work. This practice was the continuation of the partial freeing of slaves that developed during the latter Like other objects these part of the Parthian rule.13 slaves could be negotiated in definite parts, and also A half-free slave could could be freed in definite parts. keep half of his earnings for himself.14 Concerning the personal property of the slaves, the Mitikan states that a slave could own some of the inunder some conditions, freed slaves struments of production.15 These partially IRANIANSTUDIES
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were bound to the soil, and were sold with the land.16 The estates also had a curator called a stur, who was a slave appointed by the owner. The stur corresponds to the villicus in ancient Rome, who also was a slave. 17 There is no information on the life and the future of such slaves. However, it is known that owners of plots of lands which were worked by slaves gradually hired out their lands to peasants against a set proportion of the harvest yield. These peasants could have been former commune members who had lost their membership or slaves who had been freed or who had bought their freedom from their masters. Whenpeasants became tenants of landlords, they eventually became dependent tenants of the lords, lacking civil rights.18 Therefore, the freeing of slaves contributed to the transition to new relations of production involving a class of producers who owned some means of production but who were personally dependent on individual 19 members of the ruling class or on a body representing them. Thus, with the fall of slave economy on the one hand and the dissolution of the communal land system and small free holdings on the other, a new form of personal and economic bondage developed. The Development of the Peasants' and Bondage
Dependence
Under the Sassanids (227-651 A.D.) peasants constituted "the mass of the population, and, though free de jure, were de facto reduced to the condition of serfs attached to the soil and sold along with the land and villages."20 At this time crown lands, and the lands of the nobles expanded.21 The great estates became self-sufficient, a natural economy ruled, and the peasants of the land produced everything required by the owner. Rents were mostly paid in kind, and the landowners resided on their estates, and lived in fortified castles. The great landowners had their own laborers, blacksmiths, bakers, weavers, carpenters, millers, and oil-presses and water-mills. The peasants owned some of the means of production, but not the land, and were 125
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According under obligation to perform labor services.22 to Marcellinus the Sassanian nobility arrogated to themselves "the power of life and death over slaves and comjudicial functions mons."23 In fact, in the villages, were exercised by the local landowners.24 The conditions of the peasants did not change much However, Moslem law did not after the Islamic conquest. It category of serfs.25 or a special recognize serfdom recognized only free Moslems, ahl al-gimmah,26 who were personally free but had few civil rights and no political Members of the taxable estate rights, and finally slaves. and townspeople, were peasants of consisted which (rac&y_), There are scattered formally regarded as personally free. references to peasants who were attached to the soil called culugh in Iraq. However, Culughs are also referred to The lack of prein some sources as owners of the soil. cision in the sources with regard to their exact status was probably due to the fact that Islamic law books wanted to abide by the law and therefore avoided a thorough discussion of it.27 According to al-Bal&zuri, who quotes the dictum of the Abti Uanifah and AbiuYisuf (two of the most important on Islamic law) on kharaj lands, if the Moslems specialists took land by assault and "divided the land among those who and its inhabitants slaves."28 conquered it, it is tithe-land, However, if the land was not divided, but was turned over the to the Moslems as a whole, "then its people sustainfed] is the to subject land of and the tax the poll burden khar&ij It is also known that but the people are not slaves .29 These under the Abbassids slaves were used in agriculture. slaves, called ginn, were attached to the land, and were bought and sold only with the land.30 Unfortunately, the available sources do not reveal the extent to which peasants were attached to the land or had a somewhat freer status. The sources do not mention rigorous measures to of fleeing peasants except bring about the repatriation for slaves. But there is evidence that al-Hajjaj took IRANIANSTUDIES
126
some measures to prevent the flight of those employed in He also prevented the migration from "socage-service." the country into towns which was contrary to religious laws. In addition, it seems that for some time during the early period of Islam, travellers had to carry with them their passports, which points to the existence of some re31 strictions. However, one way of indirectly binding the peasants to the soil was to make the responsibility for the payment of the tax of any given district a collective one. If a peasant had left the land or could not pay his tax, then the deficiency was divided among other peasants. Such a policy would make any peasant hesitant to flee since he was watched by others. The dependence of peasants on lords increased in the tenth century A.D. The population was forced to seek the "protection" of the local rulers and lords who eventually turned the former owners into their dependent tenants. With the growth of their political and social power, lords (who were mostly military people with igtac grants32) exercised public and private power over the peasants which increased the dependence of the latter on the former.33 The process of the growing dependency of the peasants on the landlords increased during the Buyids (9351055 A.D.) and Seljuqs (1021-1157 A.D.) who transferred the populated land conditionally (i.e., iqc4c, wagf),34 or unconditionally (milk)35 to the military caste, to highranking officials and to theologians. The grantees were also given the right to exact either wholly or in part the land tax and other taxes. In such situations the relationship between the landowner and the peasant in reality had the character of personal and territorial dependence. However, according to Ni;im al-Mulk, the grand viceroy of the Seljuqs, the owners of iqtac have "no authority over the peasants except to take from them--and that with courtesy-the due amount of revenue which has been assigned to them to collect; and when they have taken that, the peasants are to have security of their personal property, wives and "36 He also states that the peasants have the children.... 127
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right to come to the sultan's court to state their cases.37 This statement, which certainly pleased the theologians, shows that there was a tendency at that time for the state of affairs to be otherwise. However, the practical difficulties for the peasants to come to the court for their cases do not need to be enumerated. The peasants had to and the concentration of power in cover long distances, the hands of the governor or the owner of iq-c made it for the peasants to do so.38 Besides, as early impossible as the twelfth century the owners of icff& lands were granted wide immunities, which allowed the lords to exercise and police power over their peasjudicial, administrative ants.39 Apparently, mass flights of peasants occurred during the time of the Seljuqs, and many of the diplomas issued for owners of iq{&c urge them to bring back the The combination of peasants, and to treat them well.40 and state functions with the rights of the administrative landlords, which was a feature typical of both Western and Iranian feudalism increased the dependence of the peasants However, the binding of the peasants was on the lords. not legal as it was in Europe. Apparently, the feudal state before the Mongol invasion (thirteenth century A.D.) was not interested in the attachment of the peasants to the soil. After all, landlords did not have any demesne farming of their own, and population density was considerlands, so that it was able on the available agricultural not hard for the lords to find laborers for their lands.41 It deThe Mongol invasion changed this situation. The population vastated the country's productive forces. decreased by mass extermination, and cultiwas drastically Besides, the fiscal vable land was left uncultivated. policy of the conquerors and their unmitigated lawlessness The drove the peasants to mass flight and migration.42 legal binding of the peasants to the soil after the Mfongol conquest apparently occurred in response to these developments. However, the concept of dependence was not new to the Mongols, even though it did not refer to peasants. Chingiz-Khin's y&s& also viewed the dependence of the lowranking Mongol warrior on his lord as a personal dependence. The Mongol warrior was attached not to the soil, but to the IRANIANSTUDIES
128
person of his hereditary lord, the nomad aristocrat. Chingiz-Khan's yasa prohibited the movement of any warrior away from "the thousand hundred, or ten to which he was assigned," and forbade the harboring of fugitives. Violating the law meant death.43 Despite the fact that this law applied only to soldiers of the Mongol levy at first, it brought about the feudal attachment of the peasants insofar as the yas was extended to them and insofar as the basis of the yasa was the principle of universal attachment to the service of the state. Moreover, the units of the thousand, hundred, and ten were not purely military units. They were administrative division which were assigned iqgtc land with its peasants.44 The sources of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are full of statements concerning the attachment of peasants to the soil. This situation existed not only in Iran, but also in Asia Minor and even in Egypt under the MamluksA45 The decree of Gh&zanKhan (1295-1304 A.D.) concerning military fiefs confirmed the previously existing bondage to the soil. The villages were assigned with the peasants who lived in them. According to the decree any peasant who had left an area which was assigned as iwv&c during the previous thirty years, was to be sent back. Fugitive peasants were not to be given shelter. The owners of igtc were also forbidden to accept peasants from other provinces and were not to transfer peasants from one village to another on the ground that both villages belonged to them.46 Thus by the introduction of a yirlh (royal order) of Gh&zanconcerning the attachme7nth the peasants to the soil, what had been sanctioned formerly only by custom, was now recognized by law. The Iranian peasants became more effectively tied to the soil than had been the case previously. However, it should be mentioned that the decrees of Gh&z&nwere issued after his conversion to Islam. This situation obliged him to make a judicial compromise with the Islamic law which supposedly regarded peasants as free men. Besides, he 129
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needed the sanction of the Islamic law for his actions. The freedom of movements of the peasants was strictly However, peasants were treated denied by the decree. as "free" in law. This formal freedom in law was, of course, completely meaningless since peasants were sold and bought with the land and only with the land at this Besides, the owners of iqi&c were granted judicial time. and police immurnities, so that peasants in reality were to note that It is interesting dependent on the lords. according to another decree of Ghizin even the peasants on milk lands as well as on other lands were forbidden to leave the land. The binding of peasants to the soil but also to all thus applied not only to military igttcs, other kinds of landownership.47 Under the Ilkhans (1256-1336 A.D.) mass flights of peasants occurred despite the laws against these movenents. At times, however, such flights were encouraged by the landlords themselves because they needed peasants to work These encouragements were to be exon their own lands.48 fragmentation, due to the dominance pected since political entities. of natural economy, had created rival political structure attenuated Thus, to some extent the political of the royal order concerning the atthe effectiveness On the other hand, tachment of the peasants to the soil. inasmuch as the population of Iran decreased drastically during the Mongol invasion, landlords were generally inThe clined to prevent the peasants from mass flights. binding of peasants to the soil existed under the JalaFrequent orders for the yirid sultans (1304-1410 A.D.). searching for peasants and returning them to their former homes are found in the documents collected in the Dastiir al-Katib. 49 Servile
Obligations
of Peasants
Besides paying rent in kind, and sometimes in money to the landlords in pri(in the periphery of the cities) vate lands or i_1acs, and to the state in state lands, These peasants had a number of servile obligations.50
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included payments of various dues in kind or money and labor services. Unfortunately, the existing documents of the and texts have mostly mentioned the obligations peasants to the state and have rarely given examples of the personal services exacted from the peasantry in the other categories of landownership. However, one should not draw the conclusion that the exaction of personal services was rare in private lands or iqyacs. Although only a few examples of personal services of peasants in it is still possible the non-state lands are available, to give a general picture of such obligations. Under the Sassanids the peasants had to perform labor services for the lords, such as building the landlords' castles, serving in his private army, paying poll taxes, and providing his horses for the posting stations. Peasants also had to supply whatever the clergies in the villages needed and to present the lords a gift, often paid in kind, on different occasions.51 The obligations of the producers did not end with the payment of land tax and poll taxes under the caliphs. Many other dues which had been commonin Sassanian times continued to be exacted. Extraordinary levies were made for some special purposes, e.g., to pay for a military 52 expedition or to carry out public works such as building. According to al-Bal5zurl and Abfl Ytisuf, the most onerous obligation which was imposed mainly on the peasants was the billeting of soldiers called nuzl. It was limited to three days and nights, but probably was extended to longer periods. Regular support of officials also was the duty of the peasants. The "socage"l was another burden of the peasants which was supposed to have been abolished by "pious" rulers. However, these dues The "socage" in most continued throughout this period. cases was connected with public works. Another duty of the same group under the caliphs was the assessment of extraordinary expenses. Added to these dues were various police duties for the maintenance of the public works and some dues which were not acknowledged by the jurists, but were nonetheless imposed rather frequently. An 131
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often paid gifts, example of such a tax was the festival in kind.S3 A detailed list of these numerous dues must be left out for lack of space. However, those mentioned to show the heavy burden of the tax-paying are sufficient It was the producer who was subjected to these class. Landlords were not subjected to these impositions. taxes. Under the Seljuqs various dues were levied by the central government, the owners of igaci, and milk landThese were both extraordinary taxes and regular lords. Forced labor for the landlord in auxiliary work taxes. was common. Drafts were also made on the provinces. collected from the peasants These drafts were occasionally which meant that there was virtually no limit to the demands which might be made on them.54 Auxiliary forms of rent also existed under the Mongols. Peasants were forced to dig canals and provide labor for their periodic cleaning1 to work on construction of landlords' houses, palaces, Peasants were also forced by their fortress walls, etc. landlords to clear the woodland for ploughing in the lands near the Caspian Sea.55 and landlords in many Under the Mongols, officials places fixed the rate of the land tax and rent themselves, and an extraordinary number of dues and taxes were levied on the peasants and the urban poor. The sources mention different dues, which were exacted by the landforty-five But some of these lords and the state in this period. taxes were synonymous, and the majority of them existed The most important before the Seljuqs or even earlier. of these dues were nuzl,56 forced labor, the carriage 57 duties, and presents from the peasants to the landlords. Conclusion
In spite of the limitation of the sources for the Sassanian period, it seems safe to state that in Iran the emergence of new feudal dependencies of peasants took the freeing place through two simultaneous developments: free of the slaves and the enserfment of the initially members of communes. The peasants' dependence on the IRANIANSTUDIES
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landlords in this period was based on the latter's ownership of the land and was reinforced by the customary judicial and police authority of the lords. After the advent of Islam, although Moslem law considered peasants as free men, the monopoly of landownership and the exercise of legal and police powers over peasants did not bring about a change in their real conditions and status. There is no doubt that the official binding of peasants to the soil started later in Iran than in Europe, and it developed less clearly. But, with the development of igyiC, the increase of large holdings in the hands of the lords, and the expropriation and further disintegration of peasant communes, the dependence of the peasants on the lords and their attachment to the soil increased de facto. Moreover, under the Mongols such dependence and bondage, as well as personal services to the lords and the state increased considerably, and the peasants' bondage to the soil was recognized in the royal orders. NOTES 1.
This of course does not mean that feudalism ends in the seventeenth century. I hope to be able to extend the present analysis in the future.
2.
The other aspect of the exploitative of relationship the Iranian economic structure in this period, i.e., the economic obligations of the peasants or the exaction of feudal rents by the landlords will be examined in a forthcoming article by the author. See also my paper, "The Origin and Development of Feudalism in Iran," TahgiCat-e EgtesAdi, Vol. IX, Nos. 2728 (1972), pp. 17-61, on the development of feudal landownership in Iran. It should be pointed out that a controversy over whether Iranian society during the period under consideration exhibited characteristics of "feudalism" or of the "Asiatic mode of production" has developed among students of Iranian socioeconomic For a brief review of different viewpoints history. on this subject, see AhmadAshraf, "Historical Ob133
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stacles to the Development of a Bourgeoisie in Iran," Iranian Studies, Vol. II, Nos. 2-3 (1969), pp. 55-7. 3.
Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. III (New York: al Publishers, 1967), pp. 791-792.
Internation-
4.
Ibid.,
5.
Vladimir G. Lukonin, Persia II (Cleveland: Publishing Company, 1967), pp. 20-37.
6.
See further M. M. Diakanov, Ashkanian (Tehran: Anjuman-i Iran-i Bastan, 1965), pp. 71-72; and N. V. PiguTArikh-i Irnn, Vol. I levskaya and others (eds.), (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1970), pp. 110-11. See also Ferdawsi, ShAhnimah (Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1967), p. 404, for an account of a commune broken up by Bahram II (276-93 A.D.).
7.
The historian MasCiidi observes that the process of Acat the time of Bahram II. commendation started cording to Mascildi this was the cause of many future deHe reports that the situation problems of Iran. to such a degree as a result of the deteriorated crease in the amount of taxes received, that Bahram II had to force those who gave their lands to the powerful lords to go back to their own lands (Masciidi, B. T. N. K., 1965], Vol. I [Tehran: Muriij al-zahab, This situation pp. 244-48). may be compared with the change in Gaul towards the end of the Roman Empire. in order to protect themselves Free small peasants, of the officials, against brutal extortions judges under the and userers, "frequently placed themselves of powers; of men possessed the patronage, protection, and they did this not only singly, but in whole comso much so that the emperors of the fourth munities, this praccentury often issued decrees prohibiting
p. 791. World
tice" (Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works [New York: International Publishers, 196, pp. 57071).
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8.
The Mazdakite movement in the beginning of the sixth century A.D. was one of the most important social movements of Iran. See also, A. Christensen, Iran dar zaman-i s&s&niAn (Tehran: Ibn-i Sina, 1953), pp. 382-89.
9.
On this account, see al-Tabarl, TArikh al-rusil va al-mulilk (Tehran: B.T.N.K., 1972), pp. 167-75 and Ibn al-Asir, al-Kamil (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1970), pp. 82-90.
10.
At this time slaves were called bandak and anshahrik. These slaves were employed in households, agriculture, imperial mines, or in temples. Among the slaves, anshahriks had a special position. Primarily, they used to do agricultural work on the private estates (called dastkart) of slave owners. The slaves who worked on these private properties were a necessary complement to the land. Thus landowners used to sell dastkarts with their slaves on them. These estates were either small landed estates with few slaves, or large estates with many slaves working on them. Many of these slaves were captives taken in wars, brought from abroad (note that initially 5nshahrik literally meant foreigner, but later it was used for all slaves who worked on land), freemen enslaved for debt, or children born to slaves. Diaknanov, 2p. cit., pp. 68-71.
11.
Lukonin, 2L* cit.,
12.
In fact, a similar process started in the slaveowning state of Rome. There, too, latifundia economy based on slave labor was no longer profitable. Thus large estates were broken up into small lots and settled with slaves or quasi-free small tenant farmers called coloni. The important feature of the coloni was their attachment to the soil (as in the case of &nshahr-ik) on which they were born. They were sold with the land, and landlords could not free them from their bondage. The coloni eventually were absorbed into the servile population of the medieval
pp. 37-8.
135
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manor. See further M. M. Postam (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, Vol. I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966), pp. 246-55; and Gerald A. J. Hodgett, A Social and Economic History of Medieval Europe (London: Methuen and Co., 1972), pp. 25-35. 13.
According to an article in the Matikan (written in the early period of the Sassanids), "when a man has liberated the inshahrik, one-tenth of whomis his own, then the children born of that slave are each one free to the extent of one-tenth (L. Bogdanov, "Notes on Sassanian Law-Book," The Journal of the K.R. Cama, No. 18 [1931], p. 55).
14.
The Mitikin also speaks of a slave called bandak who was the property of two masters and had been granted by one of his masters the right of disposing of his earnings (L. Bogdanov, "Notes on Sassanian Law-Book," The Journal of the K.R. Cama, No. 30 [1936], p. 68). Concerning the children of slaves a decision said: "WhenFarrox makes with Mihryon the argument: 'of the slaves, which thirteen are mine own, shall one, which is necessary for thee, be thine own,' and when Mihryon declares, 'it is necessary' after ten years, and if inside the ten years a slave had been born from the slave, with regard to whomhe has declared 'it is necessary' then that slave, which had been born in that way was also out of his Farrox's possession" (ibid., p. 42).
15.
Ibid.
16.
Ibid.
17.
The existence of daskart and Ibid., pp. 30 and 44-5. its slaves clearly shows the existence of the private ownership of land that was accepted by law. This is contrary to what the proponents of the Asiatic mode See also Nomani, 2j. cit., pp. of production claim. 26-8, for the existence of private propertyfEn Iran.
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18.
J. Newman, The Ag4cultural Life of the Jews in Babylonia (London: Oxford University Press, 1932), pp. 49-61.
19.
This does not mean that slavery no longer existed. In fact, the employment of slaves for household duties or urban crafts proved particularly enduring even under Muslim rule (Alessandro Bausani, The Persians [London: Elek Books, 1971], pp. 87-8 and 116-17). However, this is not a peculiarity of Iranian society. We know that household slaves, and even productive slaves existed in different parts of Europe, especially in the southern and eastern parts up to the eleventh century. In fact, "the slave market at Cordova was second in importance only to that of Baghdad" (Hodgett, 2j. cit., p. 124). See also Charles Verlinden, L'Esclavage dans l'Europe medievale (Bruges: De Temple, 1955).
20.
RomanGhirshman, Iran from the Earliest Times to the Islamic Conquest (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1961), p. 310. Note that neither Lombardnor Merovingian law prohibited producers to leave the land. However, landlords effectively prevented the peasants from leaving the land (Hodgett, 2j. cit., p. 27).
21.
On the subject of landownership see Nomani, 2p. cit., pp. 22-7. However, there is no reference to the existence of state land as a category of landownership during the Sassanids. State lands became important after the Arab conquest (ibid., pp. 19-22).
22.
Ghirshman, 2p.* cit., pp. 343-44; Ann K. S. Lambton, Landlord and Peasant in Persia (London: Oxford University Press, 1953), p. 14; and C. Huart, Ancient Persia and Iranian Civilization (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927), p. 144.
23.
AmmianusMarcellinus, man, 1963), p. 393.
24.
See also Ghirshman, op. cit.,
Vol. II (London: William Heine-
137
p. 311.
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
25.
Maybe this is due to the fact that the socioeconomic and the forms of peasant bondages which relationships were as the Arabs found in the conquered territories yet unknown in Arabia. Thus Islamic jurisprudence has not recognized an intermediate position between freeHowever, here we have a problem of man and slave. serfdom, which deFor some historians definition. of scribes the status of peasants, is an institution separating public law that involves legal definition For our purposes serfdom is a serfs from non-serfs. socioeconomic condition that may or may not be defined in law. We have to remember that social realities have often existed for long periods without being Note that in Europe not all the recognized legally. Howserfs. producers were juridical agricultural ever, this fact does not eradicate their dependent status, and they, too, "were in practice as subordinated to the lords as were serfs" (Rodney Hilton, "The Manor," Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. I, No. 1 (1973), p. 107. Or, we know that, despite the fact that servile conditions existed in England before the twelfth century, it was not recognized legally until See also, Marc Bloch, Feudal Society, Vol. that time. I (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967).
26.
The historian al-BalUzuri gives an example of the terAcrible humiliation which these people experienced. cording to him after the Arabs conquered Kh&niqln "they attached seals to the necks of the dhimmas and after that "they collected its kharaj"11(Bal&zuri, Futuh al-buldan, Vol. I [New York: Columbia University Press, 1916], p. 430). Apparently this practice was commonduring early Islamic times (Frede Lokkegaard, Islamic Taxation in the Classical Period [Copenhagen: Branner and Korch, 1950], pp. 139-40).
27.
Ibid.,
28.
Baladhuri, Futuh al-buldan, Vol. II (New York: Columbia University Press, 1924), p. 237.
29.
Ibid.
pp. 94 and 172.
IRANIAN STUDIES
138
30.
S. Nafisi, Tfrlkh-i 1966), p. 366.
31.
Lokkegaard, 22. cit.,
32.
Iqta was a land assignment usually in recompense for See also C. Cahen, "Iktal,l" The Encyclopaeservices. dia of Islam (2nd ed.), Vol. III (1970);iiW Ann S. Lambton, "The Evolution of the Iqtac in Medieval Islam," Iran, Vol. V (1967).
33.
Cahen,, o2. cit.,
34.
Waqf was the endowment (usually of landed property) established for pious purposes, or for the benefit of the donor's family. See also Nomani, 2p. cit., pp. 29-32.
35.
Milk was the private pp. 26-29.
36.
Nizam al-Mulk, Siyassat-Nama sity Press, 1960), p. 33.
37.
Ibid.
38.
Note that the European peasants were confronted with the same problem both under the Frankish kings, and in England before the twelfth century A.D. (Hodgett, op. cit., pp. 30 and 173-74).
39.
See further Muntajab al-Din Badic Atibak al-Juvayni, cAtabat al-katAbah (Tehran: Shirkat Sahami Chap, 1950), pp. 20, 21, 23, 32-3, 40-2, 141 and 153; and Lambton, 2p. cit., pp. 70 and 74.
40.
al-Juvayni,
41.
The basic form of exploitation of the peasants in Iran during most of the period under consideration was muz&racah. Peasants depended on the landlord as tenants or subtenants and in most cases as heredi-
khlnidan-i
tihiri
(Tehran:
pp. 176-177.
p. 1089; and Lambton, ?E. cit.,
op. cit.,
Iqbal,
property of land.
139
See also ibid.,
(New Haven:
pp. 21-32,
p. 55.
Yale Univer-
52 and 68-9.
SPRING-SJMMER1976
In theory their tenure was based on a tary tenants. i.e., of muziraCah. Land of all categories, "contract" state, milk, iclsC and waqf lands, were divided into
small holdings worked by peasants under different conditions of tenancy, either paying rents in kind, or sometimes in money. See also Farhad Nomani, "Lectures on the Economic History of Iran" (Tehran: Faculty of Economics, University of Tehran, 1973), pp. 33-40 (Mimeo). 42.
see I. P. For an excellent account of this situation Kishivarzi va munisibat-i Petrushevsky, arj: dar Tehran Univeriran-icahd-i Muhhtl, Vol. I (Tehran: 1966) pp. 112-43. iitjFPress,
43.
al-Juvayni, E. J. Brill,
Thrikh-i 1911},
Vol.
jahin-gushi, p. 24.
I (Leiden:
44.
p. 23; and Rashid al-Din Fa&l Allah, Tfrikh-i Ibid., Messrs. Luzac anW Co., mubirak-i gh&z&nV (London: 1960), pp. 303-10.
45.
Feudalism in Egypt, Syria, See also A. N. Poliak, and the Lebanon (London: The Royal AsiaPalestine tic Society, 1939), pp. 64-73.
46.
Rashid al-Din
47.
I.
48.
For the case of the mass flights of the Harat ruler, see estates
49.
of the One document shows that due to the heaviness of the local exactions burden and the arbitrary where fled from a district peasants authorities, In but were brought back. they were registered, the peasants another document, for the same reasons, of Hamadan were brought back after their flight (Ibid., pp. 186-89).
50.
Landlords
Fa;l
P. Petrushevsky,
of private
IRANIAN STUDIES
Allah, 2p.
2p. cit.,
estates 140
cit.,
pp. 308-9.
p. 183. of peasants to the ibid., pp. 184-85.
(milk)
had to pay a land
tax to the government. They collected the tax in In such cases the surplus from their rental share. the land was divided between the state and the lord. Taxes and rent coincided on state and crown lands, or rather, there existed no tax which differed from rent in kind or money. Rent inclusive of tax was See paid to the landlords on wagf and iqtlc lands. further Nomani, "ILectures," 2p. cit., pp. 33-46. 51.
Ghirshman, ?2. cit., pp. 343-5; and Christensen, cit., pp. 127, 143 and 145.
52.
Lambton, 2p. cit.,
53.
Lokkegaard, 0p
54.
Lambton, 2i.
55.
Petrushevsky,
56.
In fact, the reason for the great uprising of the Sarbadars in Khurasan (1337 A.D.) was the unbridled license of a Mongol messenger who stopped for lodging at the village of Bashtin, and demanded wine and a woman (ibid., pp. 160-70).
57.
For a more complete list of these dues under the Mongols see ibid., pp. 245-305; and Lambton, pp. cit., pp. 102-3.
9a.
p. 47* cit.,
cit.,
pp. 185-91.
pp. 72-3.
2o. cit.,
Vol. II, pp. 290-94.
141
SPRING-SUMNER1976
CITY COUNCILLORSAND THE DILEMMA OF REPRESENTATION: THE CASE OF ISFAHAN AnnSchulz A decade ago, amidst general enthusiasm for nationbuilding activities, Samuel Huntington raised the question of whether political institutions might not decay as well as grow.1 Although he provided but a few guidelines to decay, he did introduce a healthy symptoms of institutional measure of skepticism into the literature on political development. This skepticism is particularly warranted in the case of representative institutions. Throughout much of the Middle East, the life of both political parties and legislatures at the national level have tended to be more formal than real.2 Institutionbuilding has been attempted at the local level, too, alhas recei'ved far less attention from though local politics students of comparative politics. This essay discusses the roles of political at the local level and representatives the impact of the political milieu upon the way in which these roles are shaped and interpreted by their occupants. roles develop over an extended period of Political time out of the interaction of politicians and their environment. For example, little immediate devolution of
Ann Schulz is Associate Professor in the Department of Government and International Relations, Clark University. IRANIANSTUDIES
142
decision making from Tehran occurred after the establishment of Iran's subnational council system in 1967 and 1968. In fact, during the early years, many constituents were unaware of the existence of the provincial and district councils even though legislation granted them wide legal The local councillors, authority. too, often were uncertain about their mandate. The Ministry of Interior sponsored several congresses for the councillors to discuss the role of local representatives in the country. These congresses addressed the issue of whether the institutions that do eventually emerge would resemble the specificatiors of the original legislation. Here, the concept of institution-building as it has If the formallybeen elaborated thus far helps us little. prescribed institutions do not exist in practice, what does? What meaning does the ambiguity of emerging institutional forms have for the people involved? What happens to the participants when they live with the unfulfilled repexpectations engendered by these non-representative, resentative institutions? This article attempts to provide some answers to these questions drawn from the experience of Isfahan's Municipal Council (anjuman-i shahr). It is based upon interviews with government administrators (7), city councillors (12) and constituents (30) in Isfahan during the spring of 1972.3 The study was stimulated by an interest in how these groups would react to a council which had assumed few actual responsibilities. Would it be possible to assume that such a council could, nonetheless, lend legitimacy to the political regime as a whole as well as provide its fifteen members with minimally satisfying political roles? Would either councillors or constituents be at least mollified, if not wholly satisfied, by a nominal gesture toward political representation at the municipal level?
143
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
Municipal Councils and Muni4pal
Councillors
Municipal authority is derived from national legislation in Iran. The present municipal law focuses upon the election and the functioning of the city councils which emto act on their behalf in making power municipal officials decisions relevant to many aspects of the city's affairs. It states that the powers of the city councils include: or adjustment of muni(1) "the composition, cancellation (2) "the provision of abundant and cheap cipal levies"; (3) "the regulation and supervision of water foodstuffs"; (4) "the and public transportation"; supplies, electricity creation and extension of streets and parks"; (5) "the election of the Mayor"; and (6) "approval of the municipal budget. 4 in which the the only three activities In reality, (and the council) were seriously involved were municipality issuing road-building contracts and building permits, and and garbage removal, (street-cleaning municipal sanitation and transportation Water, electricity but not sewerage). Price control were handled by independent commissions. of the utagh-i asnaf (the orwas under the jurisdiction ganization of the combined guilds) in Isfahan, which had of price regulaits own courts for prosecuting violations The placement of streets and parks was often detions. termined only after the intervention of the Ministry of Culture and the Arts in Tehran. Mayoral candidates were "Isuggested" to the council by the governor and the Ministry of Interior; the council simply ratified their suggestions. In issues involving either the mayor or the budget, the They did delete council acted primarily as a veto force. budget items and were instrumental in having mayors removed, although usually behind the scenes. in all At the time of the study, the councillors the major cities and most of the smaller ones represented In Isfahan, the councillors who took the Iran Nuvin party. office in 1972 had been unanimously elected as the Iran Before their names Nuvin candidates by 165,000 voters. ever reached the ballot, these candidates were cleared by in the Ministry in Tehran, officials party representatives IRANIANSTUDIES
144
of Interior and, finally, by the State Security Organization (SAVAK). Public campaigning was limited to speeches by party leaders. Successful candidates came from a variety of backof a crossgrounds; the council was more representative section of Isfahan's contemporary urban population than of its feudal past. Only two councillors were primarily landowners. One councillor was a civil servant and two were retired civil servants. One physician and two physicians' wives were serving on the council at the time of the study. Finally, three businessmen had council seats and, most conspicuously, two laborers had been elected in the previous year. During the 1960s, much emphasis was given to placing a few laborers and small farmers on legislative bodies at all levels. The lower house of the parliament (majlis), for example, had two or three laborer members during the 21st, 22nd and 23rd sessions (1963-1975). It is interesting to note, however, that social representativeness has tended to vary inversely with the legislature's power. Like the Isfahan council, majlis members assumed few policy initiatives during the above sessions. On the other hand, during the 1940s and 1950s, when it was relatively more independent, there were no labor members and many landowners.v
Despite the different political norms and dynamics which characterize the majlis and the municipal councils, these caveats concerning their representativeness apply to both levels. Neither the composition of the Isfahan c6uncil nor that of the parliament reflects very accurately the distribution of wealth, power or status in contemporary society. The labor members are not taken seriously by their colleagues and upper class constituents put as much distance between themselves and these "elective" institutions as possible.
145
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
The Councillor's
Role in Practice
affectlack of power has, inevitably, The council's of individual council members. The ed the role orientations question "which aspect of your work do you consider most from over half of the twelve council important" elicited respondents the statement that committee work was the most and one Only two mentioned their constituents critical. of these only in terms of his duty to "explain government The other answers ranged from "my leaderto the people." Only two ship position" to "paying attention in meetings." mentioned a second point, one who said it was his job to l"serve the Shahanshah" and the other "to educate the people politically.
"11
To the extent that committee work was singled out as of overriding importance, it might be possible to speak of role among the council members. But the couna specialist cillors' lack of power meant that they did not have the inrole implies. fluence over policy which the specialist discussions of the areas in Furthermore, the councillors' vague in which they "specialize" were characteristically For contrast to their colleagues in the administration. example, one member who, as chairman of the committee which oversees relations between the municipality and Isfahan's deferred to the Council President five "submunicipalities," Nor could the when asked how the local mayors were hired. Budget Committee chairman provide reliable budget figures. on the other hand, willingly Municipal administrators, provided information on both topics. This vagueness found expression in other ways. Most were reluctant to mention any problems of the councillors which they or the city might have had, even when the problems were obvious to both the councillor and the interviewer. For example, fully one-third of the municipality's expenditures in the year 1972-73 had come from debt finanHowever, despite the extent of the indebtedness, the cing. were unwilling even to admit to its existence. councillors The Assistant Mayor for Financial Affairs, in contrast, provided the figure without hesitation. IRANIANSTUDIES
146
who was otherwise very reticent, One councillor, said that our discussions were very difficult because he was "tafraid for his job." The hesitancy of almost all the to discuss policy problems as opposed to acouncillors chievements can be explained by the fact that they perceived their primary status as that of spokesmen or advocates for others. They did not have the kind of active decision-making role which would encourage them to confront municipal difficulties openly. Administrators, on the other hand, brought up problems more often and more spontaneously, precisely because they were more involved in policy making. On the other hand, the committee work, which many councillors emphasized, seemed to provide them with a clearly defined status. Committee meetings also offered the councillors an opportunity to focus upon policy issues in more depth than did the council meetings. Committees met fairly frequently (once or twice a month), although irregularly (whenever the relevant municipal officer had any proposals or information to present to them). The weekly council meetings, on the other hand, were very formal and often limited to a short speech by the president or, when there was a proposal before the council, to a pro forma vote. The councillors, then, liked to develop their (negligible) policy-making roles in formal ways. The constituent-representative role, however, was missing in the councillors' The council memresponses. bers had very little contact with their constituents, who rarely brought problems or requests to them. The constituents turned more often to the municipality officers themselves. Accordingly, in the course of the interviews, the councillors rarely mentioned their constituents in other than theoretical terms. When they did mention constituents, it was most often in the context of misunderstandings between the constituents and the council rather than in terms of conflict among the constituents themselves which the councillors might help resolve. "The people expect everything from us," one council member explained. "There is too little realization that the government's spending is regulated by the amount of taxes 147
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
paid." Others complained that the authority of the munito make zoning decisions was not generally acceptcipality ed by their constituents. If it can be said, as the councillors did, that people regard "the government" as an entity separate from themselves, it is an attitude which is reciprocated by for the most part, the council members. The councillors, saw themselves as an embattled group which was scorned by by Tehran. This attitude the people and left defenseless was related to the failure of representation. of isolation was attrifor want of an alternative, Conflict or failure, to the lack of by the councillors, buted, particularly understanding among the next less powerful group (the conor, less frequently, by the need for a more exstituents) tensive delegation of power to the municipal level by Tehran. roles Other questions concerning the councillors' among the three groups' attitudes brought out distinctions similar to those described above. When asked what were that a city councillor "the most important qualities again, seldom mentioned should possess," the councillors, in fact related to constituent relationships, qualities less often than did either the administrators or the conwere personal qualities To the councillors, stituents. most important, constituent relations second, and comand administrators, To both constituents petency third. competency second, and personal constituency ranked first, third. qualities If competency and constituency relations are idealto be possessed by members of an institypical qualities and decision-making functions, tution with representational in the eyes of its the council was least institutionalized council the of depended, in own members. The performance the eyes of the members' responses, less on its performance of certain prescribed roles, than it did upon the more accidental appearance within its ranks of "honest," "clean," and "just" individuals. Council members tended to avoid the issue of their IRANIANSTUDIES
148
with constituents. relationship When asked under what conditions the council might be more effective, five members argued that they needed more power from Tehran. By contrast, only three of the constituents and one of the administrators chose this explanation. Instead, fifteen constituents described the absence of effective "constituent relations'' as the source of the problem and three of the administrators agreed. Fewer constraints encouraged these two groups to ignore vertical relationships of political ties which might exist between power strata. On the other hand, none of the council members discussed constituentcouncil relationships. From the standpoint of the council members, then, the answer to the question of "What is being institutionalized" was either nothing (if councils must either represent an existing community or make decisions) or the "ShahPeople Revolution." In contrast, representativeness was the main quality which the administrators and constituents would demand from the council if it were to become a longterm participant in the political process. Probably the most important factor in accounting for the gap between the ideal-typical conciliar role and the councillors' actual conceptions of their roles was their sense of powerlessness to effect social change. Not only did the council's power fall short in terms of various external, objective criteria, but subjectively the council members were also sensitive to their position. All those interviewed were asked to rank-order thirteen occupations in terms of the contribution which persons in these positions could make to the progress of Isfahan. The results are shown in Table 1. We were primarily concerned with the relative positions of the governmental posts in the ordering. However, questions dealing with the governmental effectiveness are so sensitive that other occupations were included as well. In the rank-ordering process, the city councillors placed themselves lower than did the administrators, but higher than did the constituents. The constituents, in 149
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
TABLE1. RANKORDER OF IMPORTANT OCCUPATIONS BY RESPONDENTS IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS Councillors (Weighted Order Rank)*
Administrators (Weighted Order Rank)
Order
Rank)
Governor
(21)
Governor
(16)
Teacher
(45)
Mayor
(12)
Mayor
(13)
Medical Doctor
(44)
Constituents (Weighted
Teacher/ Engineer
( 9)
City Council
( 6)
Mayor
(39)
City Council
( 7)
Engineer
( 5)
Governor
(28)
Medical Doctor
( 5)
Agriculturalist/ Teacher
Agriculturalist
(24)
Police, Engineer
(19)
Clergy
(17)
City Council
(15)
Clergy
( 4)
( 4)
Clergy, Govt. Emp., Engineer ( 3)
Weighted ranks were calculated on the basis of the following scoring system: 4 points for first mention; 3 Those mentioned for second; 2 for third; 1 for fourth. fifth or lower received no points for those mentions.
IRANIANSTUDIES
150
as tenth in a field of thirteen. fact, ranked the councillors What this reflected, however, was partly the constituents' low estimation of all government representatives. When the non-governmental posts were removed, the rank-ordering of governor, mayor, and city council was the same for the cancillors and administrators. Constituents, however, ranked If anyone had the mayor higher than they did the governor. been mollified by the creation of the council, it did not appear to be its members.8 Political
Roles and Political
Environment
Role orientations of politicians are thought to depend upon many factors in addition to the power of the offices they occupy, such as the politician's social background and career pattern. For example, the unique role of the "new middle class" was to create and use impersonal political organizations to replace the personal political processes of the past in which face-to-face patron-client relationships predominated.9 The interviews also indicated that the Isfahan councillors' attitudes toward their jobs were related to their individual backgrounds and to their status on the council. The relationship appears to be one in which position on the council filtered the influence of councillors' background upon their attitudes. For example, one of the indications (which has been used above) of the councillor's identification with a decision-making role was his willingness to discuss policy problems. Not all the councillors were equally comfortable about doing so. Only two of the thirteen councillors interviewed raised, without being pressed, difficulties which were faced by the city and/or the council. One was the president of the council. The second was the president of the previous session. Both men were also members of the traditional Iranian upper class--one, a well-known physician, the other a member of an educated land-owning family. What the two "critics" had in commonwas a degree of satisfaction with their political and social positions, which encouraged them to develop the more difficult part of the conciliar role. 151
SPRING-SUMER1976
In addition, the president was compensated somewhat for the council's powerlessness by the status of his office. His name appeared at the top of Iran Nuvin's list of council candidates nomination list well before his election by the council. The president also was spokesman for the council both outside and within its meetings. He was often the only member of the Council who spoke at their sessions. He had more contact with municipality administrators than did the other members. He made committee assignments and called council meetings. There was some opportunity, then, for him to develop a sense of efficacy, but even for the president that was limited. Both his selection for the office and the continual reassurance from the prerogatives of the office rendered him the most secure of the councillors. A second group of four councillors mentioned specific municipal problems after some encouragement. This group was also unique. In this case, it was their upward mobility which differentiated them from the others. They were not members of the traditional but businessmen elite, and laborers for whom a council seat represented the opportunity to acquire visibility (and, it was commonly believed, All of these men were also economic benefits). active in the Iran Nuvin party. The local branch of the Its leaders went party was not active in making policy. comthrough the motions of meeting and hearing citizens' as a kind of ombudsman group, but the meetings plaints were brief and poorly attended. Neither of the council presidents found it worthwhile to participate actively in the party. in discussing the The businessmen were interested council's work, although they were not as knowledgeable This was not so oftm as the two presidents. about details true of the six remaining councillors who were interviewed. This third group spoke only of the impact of the "RevoluTheir comments were tion"t upon Isfahan's development. and they refused to discuss the vaguest of all, problems. of the symbolic representative. They were the most typical all came from landowning The "Revolution" councillors
IRANIAN STUDIES
152
families and were occupied in various governmental and professional posts. For them, the council seat offered little status; they were already members of the upper class. In fact, to the extent that the council's powerlessness underscored their own inability to force the regime to loosen its grip on municipal politics, the council seat was not only a nuisance but also a sign of the demise of their power. Their greater dissatisfaction with their position rendered them least willing to engage themselves in conciliar roles. The Constituents
and the Council
The council memberst perceptions of their roles varied with their backgrounds. Nevertheless, all its members reacted to their political impotence by (1) failing to adopt patterns of ideas and behavior that are customarily associated with representative institutions, and (2) developing a protective layer of defensiveness. And, in a number of ways, that protective layer still further inhibited their adoption of a representative role. In response, the attitudes of the constituents might have begun to conform to the representatives' behavior. Who would find it worthwhile to bring his demands to a group which is reluctant to admit to the existence of any problems? Public apathy toward the council could be seen in a number of areas. Less than fifteen constituents knew how long there had been a council, and five others gave incorrect answers. When they were asked what were the most important recent events for the development and progress of Isfahan, most of their responses did not refer to policies which were within the purview of the council, and those who did, did not attribute them to the council specifically. We might trace the apparent lack of public enthusiasm for the council to a lack of congruence between the values held by the constituents and those promoted by the councillors.10 Such incongruence could be anticipated 153
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
which are undergoing rapid change in societies especially and where a number of value patterns are prevalent among For example, Islam sectors of the population. different an extremely powerful force among the majority is still One indication of this was of the population in Isfahan. asked to identify the five were the constituents that when most important persons in the city, the ImamJumCah (or leader) was selected more often than were chief religious In contrast, while their conany municipal officials. stituents were discussing the need for religion to accompany development, the administrators and council members effects upon social progress. spoke of Islam's debilitating Whatever the truth is behind the latter assertion, religious it is evident that, outside Tehran especially, The and leaders are still highly respected. strictures organization which director of the awqaf (a semi-religious holds private endowments in trust) was chosen as an "imThe awqaf owns a portant person" by the constituents. land in Isfahan. commercial number of mosques as well as with the religious community The awqaf's association accounted, in part, for the esteem in which it was held. on the other hand, were regarded institutions, Political cynicism of Iranians The political with less good will. The interviews has been described at length elsewhere.11 with many rein Isfahan corroborated those observations, spondents claiming that council members were corrupt and One councillor complained that few could self-serving. leave public office (under any circumstances) with untarOur conversations suggested that few nished reputations. could occupy public office without the same risk. The lack of agreement on values between the counlack of and the latter's and their constituents cillors were both important causes of trust for public officials public apathy. However, when the question of disagreement as opposed to general values was over specific policies raised, the gap between "'ruler and ruled" narrowed. The were responses suggested that the council's difficulties reits between a policy to divergence due not primarily
IRANIANSTUDIES
154
and the constituents' sponsibilities policy interests. For example, when they were asked what were the most important steps to be taken for Isfahan to progress in the future, and recreamentioned traffic, constituents transportation These were the policy areas over which tional facilities. also the council had some authority. The constituents singled them out more frequently than did the councillors the or the administrators. According to this criterion, were more interested in the substance of the constituents council's work than were the councillors themselves. A number of councillors and administrators talked about the possibility of broadening the council's authority and extending it into new policy areas. The interview data were used to investigate the potential effect of such an extension upon the interest level of the three groups queswas made between policy areas that A distinction tioned. were handled on the national level in which the municipality would be most likely to be granted authority and those in which it would be very difficult to delegate responsibility (Table 2). The policy areas which were already under the municipality's legal authority have been described above. Policies that potentially could be delegated to the municipal level include education, health and housing, whereas economic planning and stability are probably the last areas in which (present) national authority would be delegated. "General political" development refers to responses that were not specific to a subject matter area, such as more resources, "better" public servants, etc. Looking at the in this way tended to generate more interest in policies from both the administrators and the council's activities the councillors,
t o o .
Further
delegation
of authority
to the council, therefore, might help to gain support for its work from its members. In addition, as far as substantive policies are concerned, the administrators would be fully engaged in municipal authority areas to the exclusion of national issues.
155
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
TABLE2. IMPORTANT AREASFORFUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THECITY BY LEVELOF AUThORITY RESPONSIBLE (Weighted Scores)* Responsible Authority
City Councillors (12) Score
Administrators (7) % Score
Constituents (3) Score %
Present Municipal Authority
20
32
8
22
60
41
Potential Municipal Authority
14
23
15
41
25
17
National
18
29
2
05
40
27
General Political
10
16
12
32
22
15
Total
62
100
37
100
147
100
*
The scores were calculated by assigning weights of declining size to items on the basis of the order in which three points for first mention, they were mentioned, i.e., two for second, one for third. The Future of the Council The likelihood of a significant expansion of the One proposal which, authority of the council is small. according to the pro-government press, is designed to accomplish just that was placed before the majlis in the fall of 1973. The bill stipulated that city councils would be IRANIANSTUDIES
156
the spending activities empowered to review or investigate This "power" could have been of municipal administrators. assumed to be included in the budgetary authority granted by the present municipal law without further legislation. The bill made no net addition to the prerogatives of the councils despite government statements to the contrary. The critical are problem is that the councillors afraid or unwilling to use the authority which they do have. For example, they were asked what steps they would take, if their own (residential) as individuals or as councillors, district needed a new school. (Some protested that there were l"plenty of schools in Isfahan.") Only one raised the of organizing other parents in the area with possibility a view toward either self-help or applying pressure on the Ministry of Education. Others suggested that they might donate money or offer to teach occasionally. When asked who might help them, two said other families in the disAll the others said that they would ask for help trict. from the "rich" or the "influential." These responses should not be described as apolitiof power in Iranian cal. They do mirror the realities Activism carries a risk, and the councillors politics. are undoubtedly responding to that risk by operating within established channels of personal influence which are safer if only because they are less public and do not extend the council members' commitments into uncharted territory. It is doubtful that innovations in local representation can be introduced piecemeal into such a context. Other than drawing attention to the overlap between the policy priorities given by councillors and their constituents, the interviews described here indicated that the establishment of the city councils did nothing to create a substantive role for intermediate political leaders. The Isfahan council reflected the national leadership's determination to avoid political As a result, the councillors' conflict. representative roles were minimized to such a degree that they were even of questionable symbolic value to the ideology of the "Shah-People Revolution." The traditional 157
SPRING-SLMMER 1976
upper-class councillors were the chief exponents of the council's symbolic role, yet their presence on the council was the least compatible with the more populist objectives of the "Revolution." Whether or not we should call this experience one of political decay, the more important conclusion that emerges from the present study is that perhaps certain kinds of political development cannot be directed by political elites. NOTES 1.
Samuel Huntington, "Political Development and Political Decay," World Politics, Vol. XVII, No. 3 (April 1965), pp. 389-430.
2.
C. F. Douglas E. Ashford, National Development and Local Reform (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967); J. Harris Proctor, "The Legislative Activity of the Egyptian National Assembly," Parliamentaay Affairs, Vol. XVII (Spring 1960), pp. 213-226; Avraham Ben-Tzur, "The Neo-Baath Party of Syria," Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. III, No. 3 (1968), pp. 161-182, for examples of the superficial results of institution-building experiences in the three areas.
3.
Interviewees in the constituent group were representatives of various asnaf (guilds), four students and one housewife. The asnif members represented a fairly broad cross-section of Isfahan in terms of income, occupation and ethnic background. The administrators included two Assistant Mayors, two District Mayors, the Director of the Transportation Company, an officer of the Water and Sewerage Companyand the Director of the Isfahan municipal awqaf (EndowmentOrganization). The interviews usually took between an hour and one and one-half hours. An abbreviated interview also was held with the ImamJumcah of Isfahan which was not complete and therefore is used as background. The interview schedule is included at the end of this article.
IRANIAN STUDIES
158
4.
Houshang Zandi, A Collection of Laws and Regulations on Municipalities and C4y Service (in Persian) (Tehran: Kharazmi, 1968/9). The translation provided here is from a Ministry of Interior mimeograph.
5.
Ann Schulz, "A Cross-National Examination of Legislators," The Journal of Developing Areas, Vol. VII, No. 4 (July 1973), pp. 571-589.
6.
The brevity of their responses to this question in contrast to the others was one of several indications that the councillors did not feel at ease discussing their roles publicly. The security of a legallydefined answer is widely appreciated, but there was none available for use in this instance.
7.
Three of the councillors did not answer this question-one argued that the council was effective; the other two deferred to the President of the council for his answer.
8.
There were other, indirect, indications that the council members were extremely sensitive about their positions. One was that the council president asked for a personal letter of introduction for this researcher from the provincial governor. He argued that the governor's introduction to the mayor was inadequate because the mayor was subordinate to the council. The council was the most hesitant of the three groups to participate in the interviews, and it was only after the president was convinced that individual interviews were purely a matter of methodology that he was willing to accept such sessions. Despite this context, however, the interviews were often interrupted by the disclaimer that "of course, we have nothing to hide from one another." Both the anxiety and the protestations were unique to the council members, among the three groups interviewed.
9.
Manfred Halpern, The Politics Middle East and North Africa ton University Press, 1963). 159
of Social Change in the Prince(Princeton, N.J. SPRING-SUMMER 1976
10.
Peter Bachrach, The Theory of Democratic Elitism (Boston: Little, Brown, 1967), discusses how the lack of congruence between voters' needs and what areas decision makers concern themselves with breeds apathy.
11.
Marvin Zonis, The Political N.J.: Princeton University
Elite of Iran (Princeton, Press, 1971).
SCHEDULE APPENDIX: INTERVIEW 1.
In your opinion, what were the most important events contributing toward Isfahan's progress in the past faced? year, or, the four greatest difficulties Name four.
2.
That are the most important steps to be taken for Isfahan to progress in the future?
3.
If Isfahan were to be an ideal city ten years from would it have? now, what characteristics
4.
If, on the contrary, its condition what would that be like?
S.
Referring to the answers to the last two questions, the the worst condition and "110"1 if "'1" signifies best, what number would you assign to Isfahan five years ago, now and five years hence? What numbers (over would you assign to your own personal situation the same period of time)?
6.
In your opinion, what characteristics councillor have?
7.
If your section of the city needed a new school, steps would you take?
8.
Whocould help you?
IRANIAN STUDIES
160
were to be bad,
should a city what
9.
In what occupation could a young man make the greatest contribution to Isfahan's progress?
10.
Please arrange the following occupations in order of their importance for Isfahan's progress: governor, mayor, city councillor, representative in parliament, farmer, doctor, engineer, policeman, lawyer, teacher, clergy, merchant, civil servant, physician. (The occupations were listed on cards which were presented in varying orders to the interviewee.)
11.
Please complete the following sentences: a. The city council cannot perform its duties cause.
b. c.
be-
. . -
The city The people
council think
would be more effective that
the city
council
if is
. ..
12.
If a friend needed a loan for his work and you could not help him, where would you send him?
13.
What do you like
or dislike
about living
in Isfahan?
[City Counc-il Members] 14.
If Isfahan is to progress, should municipality taxes increase or should more revenue come from the national Government budget?
15.
What was your father's
16.
Are you a native
17.
What is the most important part of your work on the city council?
18.
What do you like or dislike council?
19.
What is your occupation?
occupation?
of Isfahan?
161
about being on the city
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
20.
What is the function of the Iran Municipal Association? (Based in Tehran, the Association is to provide technical assistance to municipalities.) [Constituents
14.
and Administrators]
If you were [or as] a member of the city what would you do [or.
.
.
council,
do you do] for the city
and for the people? 15.
I shall read some statements to you. Please respond with whether you completely agree, agree, have no opinion, disagree or disagree completely. a. b. c. d. e.
Most people think that members of the city council are not concerned with their problems. Every day, from the standpoint of economics, life in Isfahan gets harder and harder. Trying to bring about reform is useless because no one will listen to me. Most people think that the governor's work is more important for Isfahan's progress than that of the mayor. If Isfahan is to improve, someone in Tehran must take action. [Constituents]
16.
Please name the five most important people in Isfahan.
17.
If your son were going to the university, which subject would you encourage him to study? (Listed were: science, medicine, engineering, Economics, political Why? literature.)
18.
If you were to have a quarrel with your neighbor, where would you turn for help?
19.
For how many years has Isfahan had a city
IRANIANSTUDIES
162
council?
HUSAYN
QULI
KHAN
QAZVINI,
SARDAR OF EREVAN: A PORTRAIT OF A QAJAR ADMINISTRATOR
George Bournoutian
Having lost
Transcaucasia
to the Russians
some one-
hundred-and-fifty years ago, Persian scholars have ignored the history of this region which once was a part of Iran under the Qajars. Russian and Armenian sources, although numerous, have tended to emphasize Russian rule in the area. They have also failed to utilize primary sources, such as those in archives, have neglected to record the favorable aspects, and instead have concentrated on a blanket condemnation of Persian rule in the Caucasus. Although it is true that Muslim rule, especially in the Qajar era, was particularly oppressive towards the Christian population of Transcaucasia, some bright moments did exist. This study,based on primary and archival sources, focuses on one such period in a specific area: the governorship of Husayn Quli Kh&nQazvini in the Khanate of Erevan (Eastern Armenia) during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Before discussing the kh&n's twenty-year tenure in Erevan, a biographical and historical sketch is in order.
George Bournoutian is a Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Louisville, Kentucky, November 1975.
163
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
tiusayn KhcinQazvlni, sardir of Erevan, and the son of MutammadKhin Qajar of Erevan, was born in 1742. No although the surname record of his birthplace is available, Qazvinl would indicate Qazvin as a logical possibility. However, his successful campaign in that area and his subsequent governorship of the region may instead account for his having that surname. There is no documented account of his youth, except that he was held hostage in the inspecific information menterior of Persia. The earliest tions that in 1795 he was connected with the household of Shah, in Shiraz. Bab&Khan, heir apparent to Agha Muhammad Here he was both a personal friend of the prince as well as an official with the title of xyuzbshi of the ghulam-i The friendship (head of the household slaves).' khi4S proved fruitful for both parties in the events that followShah in Shiishi ed. In 1796 the murder of Aghi Mu4ammad encouraged a number of (Ganjah/Elizavetpol/Kirovabad), pretenders to the throne, most important of whomwas the After raising support among the Kurd, $idiq Khan Shaqiqi. Turkmen of the north, $idiq Khin set out for Tehran, the But Aghi Mutammad'snephew and heir, capital of Persia. Baba Kh&n, reached Tehran first, accompanied by his loyal troops under the commandof Husayn. There the prince recruited an army, elevated his faithful companion to the position of khan and the commanderof the army, and sent In 1797 the forces of the heir him against the pretender. under tIusayn Quli Khan defeated the latter in the decisive battle of Qazvin and enabled Bibi Khan to ascend the throne as Fatt cAll Shah. In the same year, the Shah sent lusayn Quli to Isfahan to quell a Zand rebellion led by Muhammad Khan. This accomplished, he was commissioned to defeat Nidir Mirzi, the son of Sh&hrukh Shah Afshar, who was instigating an Afshar revival in Khurasan. By 1800, lusayn Kh&nhad eliminated the various threats to the crown and The traveller von had secured the new monarch's throne.2 Freygang noted that "the khan by his boldness had raised the reigning Shah to the Phrone"l and that he enjoyed his Fath CAll Shah, in turn, did master's full confidence. not forget his loyal companion and not only granted him numerous tuy4ls (land grants), but also married the khan's sister, and requested the hand of one of the khkn's daughUntil ters for his son CAbbas Mirz&, the heir apparent.4 IRANIANSTUDIES
164
the year 1802, ijusayn was stationed in Qazvin, where he guarded the northern routes to the capital. Then in 1802, factional strife surfaced again in Khurasan, particularly opposition to the throne by minor Afshar clans. Fati cAll; Shah appointed Iusayn Khan as governor of that province to quell the rebellion. During a period of five years, the khan managed to restore order by imprisoning the leaders and blinding some by the writ of the Sh&h.5 As the khan rose in stature and favor, his wealth and prestige increased. He spent some of that wealth on public works such as baths, caravansaries, and mosques in the areas under his domain. It was not long before lHusayn's wealth placed him among the richest men in the kingdom. Some of his relatives were also promoted and his brother, Uasan, was appointed to the position he had formerly held, that of yuizbshi of the ghulams.6 The major threat to the throne soon shifted from internal struggles to the Russian encroachment. In 1807, Fath cAll Shah, who was unable to forestall the Russian expansion in the Caucasus and had found the Caucasian khans unreliable, commissioned Husayn Khan to secure that strategic area against Russian expansion, and promoted him to the rank of sardar (commander-in-chief). The sardar hurried to Qarabagh to aid IbrThim Khalll Khan Javanshir, who was besieged by a Russian army under General Ivan V. Gudovich. Arriving too late to aid Ibr&hlm, the sardir advanced to Shirvin to stop Muftafa Khain's attempts to collaborate with the enemy. However, strong Russian forces prevented him from being successful there, and he had to retreat south of the Kura River, in the direction of Erevan.7 The territory of Erevan (see map) was on the maj'or invasion route and, if it could be held against the Russians would make their advance into northern Persia extremely difficult. In 1807 Persian reverses prompted the Shah to appoint Husayn Khin governor of Erevan. The monarch hoped that his friend's past successes would be repeated and that he would be able to contain the Russian advance. This advance was later known as the First RussoPersian War, and it lasted from 1804-1813. The fortress 165
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
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w~~0
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9
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IRANIAN STUDIES
166
0 sa
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of Erevan, although already well known for its strong forwas further strengthened and provisioned to tifications, withstand a long siege. In 1808, Uasan was sent to Erevan to aid his brother against the impending Russian attack, and the brothers succeeded in driving General Gudovich's troops from their territory.8 After their defeat the Russians, who were successful on other fronts in the Caucasus, did not venture to advance on Erevan. During this time British and French military advisors and engineers not only increased the strength of the fortress of Erevan, but helped to construct a new fortress in Sardarabad (Hoktemberian) southwest of the city of Erevan. A formal alliance with the Ottomans against the commonenemy and the concentration of the bulk of Persian forces around Erevan aided the Persian struggle against the Russians. However, after Napoleon's defeat, Russia and Britain resolved their major differences. When the Ottoman Empire also agreed to peace terms and stepped out of the conflict (Treaty of Bucharest, 1812), Russia concentrated more forces on the Caucasus and by 1813, Persia, left without allies, agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan. Russia annexed all of Transcaucasia, except the Khanates of Erevan and Nakhchiv&n. Thus Persia lost the Khanates of Baku, Sheki, Qarabagh, Ganjah, Kiuba, Shirvran, parts of Talish, and most of Georgia.9 Neither Persia nor Russia, however, was satisfied with the Gulistan agreement. Persia wanted to regain its lost provinces; while Russia, for socioeconomic and military reasons, wanted to expand to the bank of the Aras (Araxes) River. In 1814 Britain promised military aid to Fath cAll Shah, but only in the event that a foreign power invaded Persia. During the next decade both Persia and Russia expressed their dissatisfaction over the status quo and looked for various excuses to resume hostilities. The people who were most interested in resuming hostilities were the sardar, Husayn Khan, the heir apparent, cAbbas Mirza, and the Russian commander of the Caucasus, General Alexei P. Ermolov. All three preferred war to peace; all three had made their fame and fortune in war and would have been forgotten in peacetime. This was 167
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
true of CAbbis Mirza, who had to face rival especially heirs, and .usayn Khin, who received extraordinary powers The sardar conas the commander of a war zone region. stantly harassed the areas of Pambak and Shuragol (Shirak) by sending Kurds under the commandof Hasan Khan to loot General Ermolov in the Russian-occupied region. villages traveled to Persia in 1817 to settle the differences between the two countries regarding some of the clauses of On this trip he insulted CAbbas the Treaty of Gulistan. Mirzi by disregarding him as heir and paying his respects to another son of the Shah, a rival of the heir apparent. cAbb&s Mirza appointed the renegade Prince In retaliation close to his homeAlexander of Georgia to rule territories land where he incited rebellion against the Russians,10 and also appointed the murderer of General Tsitsianov to govern the disputed areas in Talish.J1 The dispute over the Khanate of Talish and southern Shamshadil, including the northern tip of Lake Gogcheh (Sevan), was the occasion for the Second Russo-Persian In 1826, the Decembrist insurrection in War (1826-1828). Russia and the turmoil that followed the death of Tsar Alexander I prompted the Persians to attack the Russian forces By August of that year the in Qarabagh and Shuragol.12 Persian armies had succeeded in regaining a major portion General Ermolov's requests for of the lost territories. reinforcements were ignored by the new tsar, Nicholas I, who suspected the commander of having Decembrist sympathies. Ermolov, therefore, was forced to renmain in Tiflis to safeguard the main center of Russian rule in the Caucasus. His some of whomwere exiled Decembrists, troops and officers, engaged in minor battles and fought without assistance, for they respected a man who had shown them compassion Their sucand aided them in the time of their disgrace. cesses were limited, however, and gave the necessary excuse to the tsar, who replaced Ermolov with General Ivan F. Paskevich in 1827.1 In the same year Generals Paskevich and Alexander C. against the Persians. Benkendorf mounted counteroffensives They not only recaptured the lands surrendered to the Russians by the Treaty of Gulistan, but advanced into the IRANIANSTUDIES
168
Khanates of Erevan and Nakhchivan. After fierce fighting between the two powers, especially in the vicinity of UchKilisa (Vagharshapat/Echmiadzin) and Ashtarak, where Armenian volunteers aided the Russian troops, the Russians finally took the fortress of Sardarabad and forced Hasan Khan to flee to Erevan.14 The Russians did not negotiate as they had in the past, but brought in heavy artillery and bombarded various Persian fortresses.15 After the capture of cAbbasabad in Nakhchivan, the Russian army concentrated on Erevan. Husayn Khan retreated from the fortress during the subsequent siege, but Hasan tried to hold the fortress and eventually was captured.16 After being held in Tiflis for four months, Vasan was released (Tbilisi) under Article XIII of the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which was signed in 1828, and which guaranteed the exchange of prisoners.7 By this treaty Russia obtained the Khanates of Erevan and Nakhchivan and reached the Aras River.18 The same treaty specifically deprived both rothers of their property in the Caucasus (Article XII). 9 The Russians insisted on this provision because the Qajar khans had strongly opposed them. They demanded no such confiscations in the other khanates, since the other khins had simply changed one master for another. If Husayn Kh&nhad followed the example of the other Caucasian khans and had surrendered peacefully, he would have retained all his property in Erevan as the Russians had previously guaranteed.20 Contrary to some sources, however, Husayn Kh&n did not die a poor and broken man.21 Welcomed by the Shah, he received various other positions in Persia, and died prosperous at the age of ninety in 1831.22 Although there is almost no information on H.usayn Khan's governing techniques outside the Khanate of Erevan, for that period numerous primary and secondary sources still exist. They make it possible to give an accurate and detailed account of his actions in that region. Therefore, .usayn Khan's governorship of Erevan provides the only information on his capacity as an administrator. As khan of Erevan, Husayn was the commander-in-chief of the military and the head of the civil adlministration of this province. The sources unanimously agree that, indeed, 169
1976 SPRING-SUMIMER
he was one of the most notable personages Morier, for example, writes, traveller,
in Persia.
The
Hossein Khan, the Serdar of Erivan, is one of the most powerful chiefs in Persia; he governs his country with nearly as much authority and independence as cAbbas Mirza....He has so strengthened himself by the vigour of his measures and the money he has collected that he can now bid defiance to exercises the power of the power of the king....He life and death over his people, and keeps up nearly royal state.23 The traveller
Ker-Porter gives the following
appraisal:
In short, he might rather be styled the Prince of Erivan, than its mere delegated governor; for he is looked up to by the natives, with the homage of subjects; and in his domestic arrangements he has assumed appendages which belong to royalty alone. His wives travel clothed in scarlet; a superb sort of raiment, not permitted in Persia to any women but those of the family of the King, or of his sons. He has also the privilege of covering the baggage carried by his mules, with highly ornamented clothes of blue and red, which are badges of royal equipage.24 The Shah used the khan as a balancing force against cAbbas Mirz&. The monarch his ambitious heirs, especially knew that Husayn Kh&nls power was bound to his and that the loyal commander would not forsake his master for any offer from the princes. He therefore granted unlimited power to the khin, who was stationed to the north of the lands governed by CAbb&sMirza. The latter, who wanted to see attempted to one of his sons in the lucrative position, dislodge this force and at one time even asked General Ermolov to complain about the kh&n's actions to the Shah.25 Husayn Khan was one of the few important nobles in Persia who was not required to leave court hostages in Tehran. He only rarely was summonedto the capital and he did not have to pay the customary bribes in order to IRANIANSTUDIES
170
retain his position. His court was modeled after the Shah's in Tehran. Travellers mentioned the elaborate and beautiful palace, fountains, and luxurious appointments that outshone those of other provincial courts and were second only to those of Fath CAll ShAh's.26 The sardar exercised the right of life and death over his subjects, and based his powers on an organized and obedient bureaucracy, which insured the collection of taxes and services, and a strong garrison. He did not face any major landed opposition or local magnates and even had sufficient to withauthority draw or restore favors and land grants. Barring the miliof the Shah or the heir apparent, tary intervention the khan had no restraint on his powers. His relationship was one of direct with the Shah and the heir apcorrespondence parent. No other official of the central government had the authority to inspect or regulate the administration of the khanate; even the customary vizier or mustawfl was not assigned to Erevan. Moreover, Fati cAll Sh&h, by declaring the sardAr's province a war zone, not only recognized his immunity from taxation but even sent him an additional six thousand tumnns for the expenses of the standing army. The kh&n's honorific salary of six hundred tumans was the only indication that he had a master outside his territory. Thus he alone controlled the total revenues of the province and was able to allocate thgm to mustering forces in de7 The sardar also received fense against the Russians. the right of 4aqq al--jarb (the rightt to mint coins), which placed his small territory on an equal standing with the much larger provinces of the interior.28 The judiciary was an important aspect of the khdn's power. Under the legal system, curf (customary law) was administered by his appointed officials, who oversaw the prices in the market, controlled weights, and regulated the daily life of the inhabitants of the land. The sardir himself reserved the right of ultimate appeal and heard every case having to do with capital punishment. His justice was
swift
and severe but assured the well-being
of the area.29
Probably the most substantial source of Husayn Kh5n's power was his control over the economic life of his khanate. He and his entourage were the major consumers of military 171
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
and numerous other serequipment, foodstuffs, furnishings, He also vices which employed local merchants and artisans. controlled the economy by his power to collect taxes in kind. He sold the surplus of these taxes on the open market; this made him the major food supplier in the city. Mbreover, he held a monopoly of the major cash crops such as grain, barley, rice, cotton, and salt; these he exported (mainly to Georgia) and in return, imported items such as sugar, coffee, manufactured goods, and particularly Georgian cloth which he sold throughout northern Persia.30 prices within the The grain monopoly served to stabilize khanate, for he built large anbirs (depots) to store the in times of famine, siege, or grain, which he distributed the city bread supply intact maintaining thus inflation, and avoiding dangerous social unrest.31 strong to .Husayn Khin's government was sufficiently allow the nomadic and settled populations to coexist withAlmost half outbreak of hostilities. out the traditional the population of the province was nomadic; Turkmen were generally recruited for the infantry, while Kurds served These nomads were assigned their in the cavalry forces. own areas, administered by their own clan chiefs, and were (such as lower taxes, exemptions, given special privileges to stay away pasture rights, land grants, and salaries) and to restrain their members from the settled villages In general from infringing upon the settled population.32 conflict between the there seems to have been very little two peoples, in contrast to the situation in the Ottoman the Kurds, wrought Empire, where the nomads, particularly the Armenians. havoc upon the settled population, especially The khan gained total control of the military by appointing his trusted companions to the important positions in the army; thus he eliminated the warlords who once He created a large and intricate controlled the region. bureaucracy, which carried out his commands and which enabled him to dominate the entire area. This salaried bulandreaucracy diminished the necessity for the traditional Private landholdowners to act as state representatives. ings were reduced considerably and this step allowed the khan to be independent of the local magnates.33 IRANIANSTUDIES
172
An important contribution of the new administration Before the governorship of was the regulation of taxes. of Eastern Armenia had to pay inhabitants Uusayn Khin the a variety of indirect taxes to the lords, over and above The khin ended this their assessed dues to the state. taxes bi-annually. practice by collecting Furthermore, he levied the taxes on the entire community at which level they were usually divided among the inhabitants by their basis. The tax burden of the elders on an ability-to-pay population was lowered and they enjoyed the benefits of safe roads, excellent communications and postal services, protection from nomadic harassment, abundance of produce, and vivacity of trade. Travellers commented on the numerous horse stations, custom and road toll centers, and the patrols guarding the roads. Brigandage, which was prevalent prior to the arrival of the sardar, was totally eliminated.34 It is not surprising, therefore, that, in a short time, both the government and the population of the Khanate of Erevan acquired wealth, the former in the form of cash and the latter in produce and animals.35 There is little information about the physical of the khan. The travellers who were characteristics permitted to see him at close range, or to speak to him, all came into contact with him when he was at an advanced age. Ker-Porter describes the sard&r in the following way: He seems to be about seventy; with a sensible and energetic countenance; and a frame, sufficiently strong and vigorous, to promise active service for many years to come. His eye is vivid and quick, his complexion sallow and his large beard, though not long, kept perfectly black....Years appear to have failed in abstracting anything from the mind or the body of the Sardar....His character for enand steady bravery is well known.36 terprise, Outside of battle the khan's major passions were hunting on his estates and consuming large quantities of wine. His harem was more a matter of prestige than use; his wives and concubines were remarkably free to travel outside their The trust demonstrated by the khan apparently quarters. 173
SPRING-SJMMER 1976
was rewarded by his women, for no scandalous accounts were circulated about his harem. Some historians have ignored the benefits accruing from these last years of Qajar rule and have chosen to portray the entire era of Persian rule as feudal and exthe of the subject populations, particularly ploitative Armenian.37 A modern historian of Erevan, for example, Armenian writer, Abovian, who cites a nineteenth-century accuses gusayn Qull Khin of cruelty toward the Armenian A closer examination of the original work population.38 shows that the modern historian either misread or deliberately distorted the text which states, "It is possible that Erevan had not seen such a kind, honest, and conscientious man as the sardar, but just as he was kind-hearted, his brother was cruel and evil; fear of him made everything Armenian author, in tremble." 39 The nineteenth-century spite of his general condemnation of Persian rule in Armenia, obviously also recorded some favorable aspects. These facts demonstrate that the Armenian population of lusayn Khan's government Erevan was treated benevolently. assessed taxes by population and not by religious affiliaThus taxes imposed on Armenians were assessed and tion. Armenians were collected by Armenian representatives. allowed almost as many religious buildings as their Muslim neighbors (seven churches to eight mosques), in a city in The Arwhich they constituted a five to one minority.40 celemenian Church was free to perform weddings, services, feasts, and ring church bells without any brate religious hindrance from the Muslims.41 Armenian churchmen were allowed to travel freely without the customary payment of Armenian waqfs (endowments) were treated road tolls.42 with almost the same respect as Muslim waqfs, and the Muslim waqfs which infringed on Armenian property were reprimanded.43 The majority of the Qajar governors of the various Persian provinces, among whomwere Uusayn Kh&nls predecessors in Erevan, behaved as alien military rulers whose main interest was self enrichment at the expense of the On the other hand, territory under their administration. Husayn Khan organized his administration in such a way that IRANIANSTUDIES
174
he not only refrained from acting as an alien and separate entity, but also, insofar as he controlled the army, trade, grain, property, labor, and materials, dealt with and revitalized many aspects of the economic life of that society. The khan and his bureaucracy did not govern as an alien military force, but merged political control with economic and social considerations. Uusayn Kh&nwas unquestionably the most important political figure and controlled everyone with his favors. He concentrated the triple administration of the military, bureaucracy, and financial branches in his own hands and never allowed one of them to consolidate its power against his wishes. The genius of can be better understood Ijusayn Khin's governing abilities when one realizes that even the government at Tehran did not function in such a centralized manner. It is to the credit of the governor of Erevan that he managed, although in a small region, to organize an administration which was not to be duplicated in Persia until much later. It is therefore shortsighted to list the ills of Persian rule in Erevan and to ignore the well-being of a community, which before the arrival of Husayn Quli Khan Qajar suffered from periodical famine, disease, looting, and disorder. NOTES 1.
M. B5md&d,Sharh-i hal-i rijal-i Iran dar qurun-i 12, 13, va 14 hijrL, I (Tehran, 1969), 402.
2.
H. Fasi'li, Farsnamah-i Na?iri, York, 1972), pp. 77-91.
3.
F. von Freygang, Letters from the Caucasus and Georgia: The Account of a Journey into Persia in 1812 (London, 1823), p. 284.
4.
M. Ormanian, Azgapatum, III (Jerusalem, 1927), 3481; A Eritsiants, Amenaynhayots katoghikosutiune ev xix darum, I (Tiflis, 1894), 184. Kovkasi_hayk
S.
N. Sipihr, 124.
Nasikh al-tav&rlkh, 175
trans.
by H. Busse (New
I (Tehran, 1964),
119-
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
6.
BamdId, 2p. cit.,
7.
R. Hidiyat. 288-290.
8.
B&mdid, 22. cit.,
9.
For the complete text of the treaty see J. Hurewitz, Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East, A Documentary Record_,1535-1941, I (Princeton, 1956), 84-86.
I, 404.
TIrikh-i
raiwat al-safi,
IX (Tehran, 1961),
I, 330.
10.
Alexander (Iskandar), a son of Iraklii II, King of Georgia, had sought refuge in Persia, following the annexation of his country by the Russians. He hoped to regain his ancestral throne and was aided by the Persians. For details of his actions, see W. Monteith, Kars and Erzeroum: With the Campaigns of Prince Paskevitch, 1828-1829 (London, 1856), pp. 72-78; W. E. D. Allen, A History of the Georgian People (New York, 1932), pp. 215-216.
11.
P. W. Avery, "An Enquiry into the Outbreak of the Second Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828,," Iran and Islam, ed. by C. E. Bosworth (Chicago, 1971), pp. 21-25; M. Kiy, "Muqaddam&t-ijang-i duvvum-i Irnn va Risiyah," Barraslh&-yi Tarikhi, IX (2) (1974), 49-78; V. Potto, Kavkazskaia voina v otdel'nykh ocherkakh, epizodakh, III (St. Petersburg, 1888), legendakh i biografiiakh, 6. A valuable source for the wars of the period is P. G. Butkov, Materialy dlia novoi istorii Kavkaza (St. Petersburg, 1869). General Tsitsianov was treacherously killed by the governor of Bfka, Iusayn, during the surrender of that city in 1806; for details see J. F. Baddeley, The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus (London, 1908), pp. 70-71.
12.
The insurrection of December 14, 1825 was a weak attempt to reform the Russian state. Although it failed, the ideals it stood for were not destroyed, M. T. Florinsky, Russia, A History and an Interpretation, II (New York, 1970), 745-752. For further details (Petrosee P. E. Shchegolev, Nikolai I i dekabrist
IRANIAN STUDIES
176
grad, 1919) and his Dekabristy 1926).
(Moscow-Leningrad,
13.
see N. Nersisian, For further details, Hayastanum (Erevan, 1958), pp. 5-60.
14.
The site of the Holy See of the Armenians, Uch-Kilisa means "three churches" in Turkish and refers to the monastery of Echmiadzin (which in Armenian means "the 'Only Begotten' descended") and the two adjoining churches of St. Rhipsime and St. Gayane.
15.
Kavkazskaia Arkeograficheskaia Kommissiia, Akty sobrannye Kavkazskoiu Arkheograficheskoiu Kommissieiu, VI, pt. 1 (Tiflis, 1868), 525-526, pt. 2, 394-396.
16.
For further details op. cit. ,
III,
Dekabristnere
on the Russian campaign see Potto,
343-520.
I, 99.
17.
Hurewitz, 2p. cit.,
18.
The full text of the treaty I, 96-102. pEj cit.,
19.
Ibid.
20.
Potto,
21.
A. Alboyajian, Patmakan Hayastani sahmannere (Cairo, 1950), p. 379.
22.
Bamdad, 2l.
23.
J. Morier, A Second Journey Through Persia,
pp. cit.,
cit.,
can be found in Hurewitz,
I, 311.
I, 404. Armenia,
Between the Years and Asia Minor to Constantinople II (London, 1818), 313. 1810-1816,
24.
R. Ker-Porter, Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia, During the Years 1817-1820, I (London, 1821), 202.
25.
Potto,
o2. cit.,
III,
16. 177
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
26.
M. von Kotzebue, MusAfirat bi Iran bi maCiyat-i safir kabir-i Risiyah dar sRl-i 1817 (Tehran, 1930), p. 70.
27.
Ker-Porter, II 321.
28.
G. Hambly, "An Introduction to the Economic Organization of Early Qajar Iran," Iran (2, 1964), 76; H. L. Rabino di Borgomale, Coins, Medals, and Seals of the Shahs of Iran, 1500-1941 (Hertford, 1945), pp. 62-65. Samples of the coins are available in the Museumof the History of the City of Erevan.
29.
I. Shopen (Chopin), Istoricheskii pamiatnik sostoyaniia Armianskoi oblasti v epokhu ee prisoedineniia k Rossiiskoi imperii (St. Petersburg, 1852), pp. 452453. This work is the major primary source on the Khanate of Erevan. Shopen was commissioned by the Russian government to survey the newly conquered area of Eastern Armenia. He had access to the tax rolls of Mirza Ismalil, the last Persian treasurer of Erevan, and to other surveys collected orally from the population.
30.
Morier, 2j. cit., II, 322-323; I. M. Lapidus, Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages (Harvard, 1967), p. 20.
31.
G. Sjoberg, p. 118.
32.
Shopen, gp. cit.,
33.
Ibid.,
pp. 449-459.
34.
Ibid.,
pp. 718-722.
35.
Ibid.,
pp. 1155-1182.
36.
Ker-Porter,
37.
D. P. Aghayan, et al., eds., V (Erevan, 1974), 13-18.
IRANIAN STUDIES
22. cit.,
I, 201-202; Morier, gj.
The Preindustrial
cit,
City (New York, 1965),
pp. 519-537.
2p. cit.,
I, 200-201.
178
Hay zhoghovrdi patmutiun,
38.
T. Kh. Hakobian, Erevani patmutiune, Erevan, 1959), pp. 20-22.
39.
Kh. Abovian, Erkeri liakatar zhoghovatsu, III (Erevan, 1947), 58. The above is also confirmed by Gh. Alishan, Ayrarat (Venice, 1890), p. 308.
40.
Shopen, 22. cit.,
pp. 635-636.
41.
Morier,
II,
42.
The Archives of the Catholicosate; now integrated into the Archives of the Matenadaran, Erevan, Armenian SSR, Persian MSS. 580, fol. ld; MSS. 614, fol. le.
43.
Matenadaran Archives,
p2. cit.,
1801-1879
321.
Persian MSS. 613, fol.
179
le.
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
REVIEW
ARTICLE
Az ?ab& ti Nimi: Tfrlkh-i Sad-u Panjah Sal Adab-i Firsi. By Yahya Aryanpur. Tehran: Kitabhl-yi Jibi, 2nd printing, 1972. Vol. I: vii + 422 pp.; Vol. II: 540 pp. SorourSoroudi
Modern Persian literature has not yet, despite its considerable achievements, received due scholarly attention. The continuing appeal of the classical tradition and the difficulty of viewing the modern from a comparable historical perspective have both contributed to the failure to produce serious studies of writers and poets of recent times. What was most needed was an introductory survey that would explain the circumstances of the birth of modern Persian prose and poetry. This is why when Az Sab_ ti Nlm was first published, it was warmly received by all those who take an interest in modern Persian literature. Mr. Aryanpur's two volume work provided a comprehensive study of the literary developments in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which led to the emergence of the modern schools. In his exhaustive and careful work he has gathered together in one place most of the available information on the main literary trends of the period from sources in a wide variety of languages, including Turkish and Russian. A complete critical analy-
Sorour Soroudi is lecturer in Persian language and literature at the Department of Iranian and Armenian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. IRANIANSTUDIES
180
sis of a work of such dimensions would require a lengthy and detailed study beyond the scope of the present review. In the following pages I will concentrate on some principal aspects of the book and touch upon a few specific questions as well. Az Saba ta Nlmad is divided into two volumes. Part one of the first volume is devoted to Nih;at-i Bazgasht, the "neo-classic" Return movement which was formed in mideighteenth century and flourished in the nineteenth century at the court of the Qajars.2 Part two entitled Bidirl (Awakening), discusses the changing political and intellectual atmosphere of the last century and the literature which was produced as a result of this change. The second volume discusses the rather short but important period of the Constitutional Revolution and its aftermath. of The first part of this volume studies the literature Xz&dl (Freedom), that is, the literature produced during The second part, the constitutional struggles of 1906-1911. Tajaddud (Modernization), discusses the beginning of modernizing experiments in poetry and the beginning of the literary dispute between the supporters of the classical poetic tradition and those who advocated a revolutionary change. However, as the author himself has remarked (II, pp. 434f), real poetic innovation did not begin before the work of Nima Yiishij in the twenties, that is, after the end of the period considered in the present work. Thus the whole period of 1906-1922 must be taken as an era of new beginnings both in prose and poetry which prepared the way for Nima and Jamalzadah to introduce the modern phase of the Persian literature. The author seems to be uncertain about the nature and the methodological approach of his work. In the subtitle he defines it as 'the history of a hundred fifty years of Persian literature.' In his forward, on the other hand, he says, 'I have disregarded the life and work of those creators who have done nothing but follow their literary ancestors or contemporaries and have not been of much consequence for the development of literature...' (I, v-vi). These two definitions seem to contradict each other. If the work is a history of literature, it should 181
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
include if not all, then at least the important poets and writers of the period regardless of their literary school This in or the consequences of their literary creativity. fact is what Mr. Aryanpur has accomplished rather successOtherwise, had he made his choice according to the fully. consequences,' he should have disregarded most 'literary of the poets included in his survey of the 'Return movemore than 'imitate their anment' since they did little cestors' and were of almost no consequence for later literary developments.3 The events of the long period surveyed in the present work have been of immense importance for the social and as well as literary, developments of modern Iran. political, the author has wiseTo demonstrate this close relationship, survey. ly introduced each part with a general historical information has It is only regrettable that the historical and edited to winnow out unnot been adequately classified necessary details and to concentrate on the main trends of As a result, some important developments such each period. at the beginning of as Iran's entrance into world politics the nineteenth century, and the rivalry of the two great powers, Russia and Britain, in obtaining concessions from Neither explained. the government are not sufficiently has it been emphasized that this policy of granting concessions led to Iran's financial and, to some extent, judicial enslavement by foreign powers. This was one of the of most important reasons for the growing dissatisfaction the on the merchants, various opposition groups, mainly It is also amazing Revolution. eve of the Constitutional that the Tobacco Rebellion of 1892 which greatly influenced the internal affairs and foreign policy of the country is dealt with in only two or three lines (I, p. It was this first successful rebellion against the 224). tyrannical Qajar government that for the first time brought together the ulama, the merchants, and the rising westerna coalition which repeatedly played ized intelligentsia, an important role in the modem history of Iran, most sucRevolution. perhaps, during the Constitutional cessfully, This same rebellion was also responsible for the complete shift in the foreign policy of Iran from Anglophile to IRANIANSTUDIES
182
of great importance for Russophile, a development in itself the revolutionary events of the early twentieth century. To understand the nature of the Constitutional Revolution it would also have been necessary to underline the gradual formation of the merchant middle class and the modern intelligentsia The fact during the nineteenth century. that most of the members of these two groups were concentrated in Tehran and Tabriz explains, to a great extent, why these two cities were the main centers of the revolution. Lack of harmony among the three main groups leading the revolution, the ulama, the merchants, and the intelligentsia, was one of the weaknesses of the revolution. Their cooperation, however, formed at the same time a source of great vitality. Besides the contradictory interests of the main protagonist groups, other important reasons lay behind the virtual defeat of the Constitutional Revolution despite its seeming triumph in 1909. Mr. Aryanpur has rightly mentioned 'feudalism and imperialism' among the factors of the defeat (II, p.10), but has not been very precise in his analysis of them. He might have drawn attention to the basic weakness of the budding bourgeoisie due, among other reasons, to its mercantile, non-industrial nature. He should also have mentioned that the peasants, then the overwhelming majority of the population, did not, except for a few cases, take part in the revolutionary activities. Lastly, while I agree with Mr. Aryanpur that the Constitutional Revolution was a genuine Iranian movement, we should face the fact that its course was, as was its final defeat, considerably influenced by foreign interest and intervention. 4 The literary discussion of the first volume opens with a short survey of sabk-i Hindi (the Indian poetic school). It is true that the Hindi school had deteriorated greatly by the middle of the eighteenth century, but the author's negative appraisal of the Hindi poetry in its totality seems to me quite unfair. It is interesting to examine the reasons which have led most of the traditional literary historians, whomMr. Aryanpur has followed, to pass unfavorable judgments on this poetic school. The 183
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
direct and indirect remarks of these literary historians First, desindicate two main reasons for this tendency. pite the fact that most of the Hind! poets were Persians or of Persian descent, their poetry is considered by most "This poetic style," as a 'foreign' product. of the critics says Aryanpur, "which had been created in non-Iranian territories and had developed in an unfavorable atmosphere.." are mine). The question is whether the (I,p.8;italics Hind! poetry was solely developed in India and to what exbe considered 'foreign' tent Mughul India can, culturally, terr-itory in relation to contemporary Iran. Even if we agree with this statement, I do not believe it should inThe second reason fluence our evaluation of this poetry. for these unfavorable judgments is that Persian classical poetry was idealized by later generations to such an extent that all subsequent poetic creation was judged not on its own merits and achievements, but in the light of The expansion of literary terthat 'golden tradition.' minology and subject matter by Hind! poets, the attention they paid to ordinary life and ordinary people, the fine works of such masters as SV"ib, have all been underestimated by literary critics who were biased against any masters.5 deviation from the works of the classical and even idolizing attitude The same idealizing toward classical poetry is at least partly responsible for the author's overly generous appraisal of the achieveIn the second Return poets. ments of some 'neo-classical' half of the eighteenth century the poets of this movement reacted against the already decadent Hind! poetry with its riddles and labyrinthine metaphors, by reviving the lucidHowever, as Mr. poetry. ity and fineness of classical Aryanpur himself has pointed out they were only clever poetry behind imitators of the shell of the classical which they tried to conceal vacuity of content and exaggerated praise of unworthy rulers (I, pp. 16, 19-20). He of Qajar court also emphasizes the complete indifference poetry to the conditions prevailing in contemporary Iranian society (I,p. 19) and justly underlines the exceptional attitude of a few poets such as Yaghmi and Shayb&nl (I, pp. assessment 116, 141). Contrary to his generally realistic of the Return movement, however, the author's evaluation IRANIANSTUDIES
184
of some individual poets cannot be accepted without reserA striking example is his highly exaggerated advations. miration for the works of Qilinl (I, p. 19). To complete the poetic picture of the period it would have been useful to include the contemporary thriving folk poetry which, contrary to the main bulk of the 'high' poetry (mystical as well as court poetry), faithfully reflected the problems and aspirations of the people, criticized the inefficiency and corruptness of the ruling class and pointed up social weaknesses. Discussion of this subject could have also considerably contributed to the better understanding of popular trends in the poetry of the Constitutional Revolution. 6 The second literary trend of the period was one which both reflected and enhanced the gradual awakening of Iranian society on the eve of the Constitutional Revolution. The author traces in detail the cultural factors which, hand-in-hand with the political developments, created a social and national consciousness among the urban population. One of the most important results of this awakening was the gradual emergence of a new generation of writers, poets, and publicists. The main purpose of this group was "to teach and enlighten the people" (I,p. 225). To realize this purpose they had to relinquish the bombastic, florid style which still dominated contemporary writing and was understandable to only a few. The inevitable result was that through the works of Akhiindz&dah, Tflibuf, Mirza Aq&Khan Kirmani, Mar&gha'l, Mirza Habib I fahnli and others, a new, increasingly simple style was introduced. This significant change, which greatly accelerated during the Constitutional Revolution, lay the foundations of modern Persian prose literature. One of the interesting subchapters in this part traces the origins of Persian drama beginning with tacziyah and shabihkhv&nL (Islamic passion plays) through humorous plays staged by court buffoons. This is followed by a survey of the works of Akhindzadah, perhaps the first modern playwright in Islamic countries. 185
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Mr. Aryanpur's extensive treatment of the writers and their works provides a very useful introduction to the period more dramatic developments of the Constitutional There are a few points, however, that and its aftermath. It should have not received due attention in this chapter. be remembered that already in this period, and following we enthe gradual acquaintance with Western literature, especounter the first attacks on classical literature, The poetic dispute between the traditionacially poetry. lists and the modernists which burst out vehemently in 1916 17 was to be expected following the developments of It required considerable courperiod. the Constitutional age, however, to attack the revered masters of classical That poetry in the second half of the nineteenth century. perhaps explains why AkhfnzMdahand Kirmfni, who were the in first to speak out, were both marginal personalities contemporary Persian society. The doubts that had penetrated the minds of Kirmini and khuindzidah were the first signs of the deep cultural The crisis resulting from the process of westernization. and culture sudden encounter with Western civilization when Iranian society was at a low ebb had a traumatic inWhen disfluence on the souls of many educated Iranians. cussing the thoughts of Sayyid Jamal al-Din Afghini, Mr. Aryanpur touches on his belief about the necessity of Islamic unity against Western influence and imperialism (I,p. its nature, and But the question of westernization, 381). responses it has created are among the most important issues in the modern cultural history of Iran and should not Westernization brought about a be treated so lightly. whole new assessment of the elements forming the Iranian The heated disconsciousness. cultural and historical Revocussions which began even before the Constitutional engage the minds lution in response to this problem still of many Iranian intellectuals.8 The second volume of Az Sab& ta Nlm&discusses the period and its literary developments of the Constitutional subject dissignificant The first literarily aftermath. of local newscussed in this volume is the efflorescence papers following the signing of the Constitution in 1906. IRANIANSTUDIES
186
These newspapers played an important role in the political and literary developments of the period, but the author's discussion of them frequently turns into a mere survey and enumeration of contemporary newspapers. What need is there to mention papers of uncertain literary or even political significance such as Sharq and Gharb (II,p. 108) and a number of provincial papers (II, pp. 112-224). One of the most interesting aspects of the Constitutional literature was the blossoming of satirical prose and poetry, a genre which had not formed an important part of Mr. Aryanpur underlines the significlassical literature. cance of satirical writings at that period by devoting two chapters to them (II, pp. 35 ff). He also draws attention to the Turkish satirical newspaper Mulla Nasraddin (published in Tiflis from 1906 on), and its main poet SAbir who was one of the principle sources of inspiration for Iranian poets. From a methodological point of view, however, it does not seem right to me to devote the chapter entitled yanz nivlsl (satirical writing) to works in Turkish--whatever their importance--while discussing the two main representatives of Persian satire under a different heading. Moreover, in addition to Nasim-i Shum&l (Ashraf al-Din Gil&ni) in poetry and Dihkhuda in prose, there were other poets and writers who wrote satirical pieces. By ignoring their works, particularly those of Iraj and Bahar, in this very context he presents us with an incomplete picture of the satire of the time. The next subject discussed is shicr-i rasmi or 'high' poetry as compared with the more popular poems which were influenced by folk poetry (II, pp. 121-172). The works of Bahar, Amirl, Lhiiti, and others demonstrate the way in which existing poetical traditions were mobilized to serve the needs of the Constitutional period. In qa2idahs people and their heroes were praised instead of kings and courtiers. In ghazals the 'motherland' took the place of the divine or the earthly beloved. At the same time the use of new words and expressions and the prevailing tendency towards simplicity differentiated the style of some of these poems from their classical models, despite the unI fail, however, to derlying similarity which persisted. 187
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
see why CArif's works and the survey of tanlif (chanson) are included in this chapter. It is true that CArif raised the tasn4f to the level of a respectable genre, but even in this capacity it defies classification as 'high' poetry because of its particular traits. Tanlf was indeed one of the important genres of the Constitutional poetry and deserves the attention granted to it by the author. However, we should remember that although Ckrif was the main chansonnier of the time, other poets including Bahir, Dihkhuda, and Nasim-i Shumal, wrote taSnifs and their works should also have been mentioned to provide a complete perspective of the Constitutional Also, I cannot share the tajnlf.10 author's appraisal of this literary form as "rapidly deteriorating" on the eve of the Constitutional Revolution (II, p. 158). With the exception of some commondoggerals which are to be expected, the late nineteenth century ta5nifs, as shown by the examples provided by the author himself (II, p. 157-158) are fine examples of the genre. 11 Cjrifvs assessment of the tagnlf in the immediate past (II,p. is based, to a consider159) on which the author relies, able extent, on his exaggerated self-esteem and shows that he was familiar mainly with worthless court doggerals and not genuine popular tasn?fs. The tasnif itself was far from having "a limited and narrow framework" (II, p. 161). The formal flexibility and the thematic diversity of tanif contrasts sharply with the 'high' poetry's stereotype. The influence of folk poetry12 is most noticeably apparent in topical or journalistic poems which became one of the main poetical categories of the Constitutional period and even later. Many poets chose the popular forms or less rigid classical forms for their topical poems.13 This choice was, as the author has pointed out, a result of the of the time. Poets wanted to communicate with necessities forms the masses and therefore adopted the more flexible of folk poetry (II,p. 29). "The revolutionary poets' lack of acquaintance with the pompous, stiff language and the artistic elaborations of classical poetry..." (II, p. 29) does not apply to all the poets of the time. Poets such as Bahar and Dihkhud& were well versed in the niceties of classical poetry, but under the circumstances they occasionally chose to express themselves in more popular forms IRANIAN STUDIES
188
and styles. The range and diversity of the topical poems require a more thorough and detailed treatment than the author has given them. I agree with Mr. Aryanpur that these poems have more historical and political importance than literary value (II, p. 35). Yet it should be erroneous, I think, to judge their literary value according to the standard of One can hardly deny the beauty and arclassical poetry. tistic value of many of the topical poems.14 The main question, however, is whether and to what extent the revolutionary poetry, including the topical poems, enriched and influenced the course of modern Persian poetry. Contrary to the poetic legacy of the Return movement that "did not benefit Persian poetry at all" (II, p. 28), the Constitutional poetry on all levels was of utmost importance to the later poetical developments. The emergence of modern Persian literature, particularly poetry, cannot be fully understood without the transitional link of the Mashriiah (Constitutional) literature. The decline of rigid classical forms,15 the use of popular and folk poetry with its formal, prosodic, and thematic diversity, the fruitful interaction between the literary and spoken languages are some of the characteristics of the Constitutional poetry which made the process of modernization possible. The transitional nature of the Constitutional poetry has not been sufficiently emphasized by Mr. Aryanpur. Many of the so-called 'poetic innovations' of the postrevolutionary period, including those claimed by cIshql, are rooted in folk poetry either directly or through adaptations which took place in the Constitutional period. Strophic forms, unequal number of hemistichs in each strophe, and many rhythmic and rhyme variations are all comnon features of folk poetry.16 However, the main innovation of the Constitutional period was the gradual but penetrating change in the outlook of the poet and in his relationship with his surrounding world. For example, in NImals poetry this new outlook combined with other qualities and factors and provided the main impetus for renovating Persian poetry. 7
189
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Most of the important literary figures of the period such as Bah&r, Dihkhuda, Lihiuti, CArif, Iraj, Nasim-i Shumal, CIshql, and others have been discussed individualI am bewildered, however, that one of ly by the author. figures of the Conthe most outstanding and interesting Farrukhi Yazdi, has been igperiod, Muhammad stitutional nored. A fierce spokesman for democracy and social justice, he later on paid for his courage and died in prison in 1938. Farrukhl's revolutionary ideas and his literary inraise certain issues concerning the Constituclifiations tional poetry regarding the relation between the poet's Farrukhi's poetry demonand poetical beliefs. political strates that revolutionary tendencies in social and politgo hand-in-hand with a ical domains did not necessarily Despite his radical socialrevolutionary bent in poetry. poetically. ist opinions, Farrukhi remained a classicist example. Bahar's poetic styles provide another interesting Although he sometimes used popular forms and styles to poetry as soon reach the people, he returned to classical In other words, as the revolutionary excitement subsided. stand, Bahar's literdespite his revolutionary political CIshqi and ary outlook basically remained classical.18 tendencies unorthodox displayed hand, other on the L5hiiti, as well as in their political in their literary creativity beliefs. A whole chapter (II, pp. 317-331) has been dedicated Like other to 'pro-German sentiments in Persian poetry.' period contemporary national movements, the Constitutional sentixenophobic strong by was characterized in Iran also ments. These sentiments were directed mainly against Britain and Russia who openly interfered with the internal The reverse side of this coin affairs and foreign policy. was xenophilic sentiments towards Germany.19 However, these feelings were only one of the many manifestations history of of a major trend in the modern intellectual sentiments Iran--the appearance of strong nationalistic centered on the glorious history and culture of Iran. Therefore, it is both puzzling and regrettable that the author has devoted a whole chapter to a secondary subject The seeds of this national while ignoring the main trend. IRANIANSTUDIES
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movement in modern times were planted, as we saw earlier, in the first encounter with the West in the nineteenth cenBut the movement did not blossom until the time of tury. the Constitutional Revolution and World War I. Different of this movement such as strong anti-Arab manifestations and even anti-Islamic sentiments, the tendency to purge the Persian language of foreign (mainly Arabic) elements, the idealization of pre-Islamic civilization, and attempts to revive ancient Iranian models in art, architecture, etc., are still controversial issues.20 Az Sab& ta Nim&concludes with a discussion of the period 1914-1921; it was towards the end of this time span that Nlma Yiishij laid the foundations of modern Persian poetry. Following RashId Y&sami's terminology, Aryanpur has called this period dawrah-yi biddri-yi shaciran, "the period of the poets' awakening." This was a time when poets consciously avoided the imitation of classical masters, while some of them even entertained the idea of 'literary renovation.' More than being 'awakened,' however, it seems to me that poets now had the leisure to pay more attention to the artistic aspect of their creativity. As a result of the zeal and the upheaval of the Constitutional period, as long as freedom of speech was respected, poets and writers who were involved in social and political activities had placed their pens at the service of the revolutionary movement. In these circumstances the content of a poem was frequently more important than its literary value. Following the defeat of the Parliamentary regime in 1911, when the old ruling class took power in a different guise, and specially after World War I, when foreign intervention once again marred Iran's independence, the political and social atmosphere became increasingly hostile to intellectual freedom. Although some poets continued their struggle at the cost of their freedom and even their lives, more and more poets were forced to relinquish their political ideals. As a result, the artistic aspect of the poems received more attention than it had in the recent past. Poets felt impelled to explore literary avenues which would express the new needs created by the recent revolutionary events. The nature of the solutions which were put forth caused the literary dispute which erupted in 1916-1917. Mr. Aryanpur 191
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
is the first scholar, to my knowledge, who has paid sufficient attention to this interesting literary dispute (II, As mentioned above, however, the criticism pp. 436-465). of classical literature which set off the dispute of 1916 had its precedents in the works of Kirmini and Akhiindz&dah in the nineteenth century. Since then the literary dispute between 'the old and the new' has continued intermittently. However, in recent years it has largely been resolved, for modern poetry, by virtue of its achievements, and because of certain political and social developments, has now established itself as a legitimate school of Persian poetry.21 As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Az _ab& t& Nimi is the most informative single source so far published on the literary developments of this long and which follow each important period. The bibliographies The reservations part make this work even more important. and suggestions which I have expressed in this review are not intended to undermine, in any way, the significance of this work which has, in such a short time, established as an essential itself guide for all students of modern Persian literature. NOTES 1.
There is some lack of correspondence between both the title and the subtitle of the book and its contents. The main title Az 5ab& t& Nimi (From aabA to Nlm&) would rather suit a survey of poetry alone, since Saba and Nlma were main poetic figures at the beginFlowning and the end of the period under discussion. ever, since during this period poetry still maintained its prominence, one should not attach too much importance to this fact, although the work discusses on the other The subtitle, both poetry and prose. hand, is more encompassing than the work itself. T&rikh-i sad-u Panjah SMl Adab-i F&rsi (The History of a Hundred and Fifty Years of Persian Literature) creates the impression that the book covers all the created in Persian whether in Iran or literature
IRANIAN STUDIES
192
abroad (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Tajikistan). The addition of the words 'in Iran' to the subtitle would have prevented such misunderstanding. 2.
for the diviHowever, I fail to see any justification sion of this part into two chapters each covering one half of the nineteenth century, for nothing of importance occurred in the middle of the century to change or modify the course of the Return movement.
3.
This is true of most, if not of all, of the court poets such as Sabi, Q&lani, MatmQdKhin and others.
4.
The author makes other evaluations and judgments which For leave much room for discussion and modification. instance, Mr. Aryanpur's high esteem for Malkam Kh&n is not shared by other scholars. and his contributions See Hum&Natiq, "Mi va Mirz& Malkam khanha.-yi M&," Nigln, X, 115, pp. 35-43.
5.
The same classical conservatism was one of the major obstructions to the modernization of poetry during the first half of this century.
6.
The author does provide some examples of these folk poems when he discusses the works of cxrif (II, pp. However, the influence of folk poetry on 154-159). the Constitutional poetry goes far beyond the works of cirif.
7.
literature see F. On their criticism of classical Adamiyyat, Andishaha-yi Mirz& Fath cAll Akhundzadah (Tehran, 1970), pp. 238-251; Mlrza Agha Khan Kirminl, Kitib-i Rayhan, unpublished manuscript, private library of Professor Mujtaba MlnuvL, p. 6; also N&;im al-Islim Kirmini, Tirlkh-i Bidirl-yi Iranian, introductory volume (Tehran, 1967), pp. 175-6.
8.
See the works of Bahir, Piir-Diviid, and Amirl for examples of these responses during the Constitutional period. 193
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
9.
In these cases the author could simply have referred the reader to M. S. H&shimils four volume T&rlkh-i Jariyid va Majall&t-i Iran (Isfahan, 1948- 54).
10.
Some examples of Bahir's tagnifs are provided when works are discussed (II, pp. 347-349). the latter's This discussion does not release the author from the obligation to provide a comprehensive picture of the general subject (Constitutional ta;nif) at least through references to other sections of the book.
11.
For more examples of these ta?nifs see V. A. Zhukovskii, Obraztsy Persidskaro Narodnago Tvorchetsva (St. Petersburg, 1902).
12.
poetry The influence of folk poetry on Constitutional Other genres and was not limited to taUnif alone. forms such as lullaby, parody, and taranah were also adopted. For examples of parody see Nasim-i Shumal, Bagh-i Bihisht (Tehran ed., n.d.), pp. 115-116; and of lullaby ibid., p. 83, and Ir&n-i Naw, February 2, 1910, p. 1.
13.
Other forms, however, even the rigid classical of qasidah were used to write topical poetry.
14.
See M. A. Dihkhuda, Majmuica-yi Ash c&r, ed. M. Mucin (Tehran: Zavvwr, 1955), p. 127.
15.
Although these rigid forms made a come-back in the period, they never regained their post-Revolutionary previous position.
16.
For numerous examples, see Zhukovskii, 5-114.
17.
This new outlook, as we shall shared by all the poets.
18.
Mr. Aryanpur's appraisal of Bahflr's post-Revolutionary poetic works and beliefs is somewhat different from ta Nimi, II, p. 338. mine; see Azjabi
IRANIANSTUDIES
194
see later,
2j.
form
cit.,
pp.
was not
19.
Similar sentiments were shared by most of the peoples of this region at the time of World War I.
20.
These nationalistic tendencies were shared by many poets of the period, but IbrThlm Puir-Davud surpassed all the others in the extremity of his opinions.
21.
See S. Soroudi, "The dispute of the 'old and the new' in modern Persian poetry,," Asian and African Studies, X, 1 (1974), pp. 25-38.
195
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
BOOK REVIE WS The Siege of Mosul and Ottoman-Persian Relations By Robert W. Olson.
and Altaic
Series,
Indiana
University
Volume 124, 1975.
1718-1743.
Publications:
xviii
+ 237 pp.
Uralic
$16.
JohnR. Perry The Islamic Middle East in post-Mongol, and especially in modern,times is generally considered as a balkanized congeries of discrete units more or less analogous with European empires and nation states, rather than a slightly dislocated continuation of the Caliphal ecumene of early is in most cases justiThis distinction medieval times. fied, but tends to obscure both residual and new dynamics of interaction among member-states of the region. Writers, both Eastern and Western, often approach their topic in monographs in relative isolacountry- or culture-specific tion from its fellows, except in terms of Western political, economic and cultural influences. Where a broader view of the region is offered, it still falls under the rubric of "Continuity and Change," in which (overt or implicit) Continuity is carried on an endless caravan from Mecca, via the West. The and Change is routed almost exclusively case of the Ottoman empire and Iran in particular should, however, convince us that the countries of this region did interact on their own terms (to put it mildly) between the
John R. Perry is Assistant Professor in the Department of at the University Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Chicago. IRANIANSTUDIES
196
fourteenth and the early twentieth centuries, whatever the situation in more recent times; and a few genuinely bilateral studies of their wars, diplomacy, commerce and cultural exchanges might make us less reliant on Traditional Islam and Westernization as catch-all explanations for problems of their historical The appeardevelopment. ance of a book on an aspect of this interaction is promising for the future not only of Iranian and Ottoman studies, but for that of the region as a whole. Dr. Olson's main thesis is attractive: that Nadir Shah's failure to take Mosul in 1743 not only prevented the collapse of the Ottoman empire's whole eastern frontier and a possible Iranian conquest, but forestalled a popular revolt in Istanbul itself which might have toppled the government. To illustrate his argument he marshals a quantity of disparate data of considerable incidental interest. Thus the deleterious effects of the sixteenthcentury price revolution, the consumption of much revenue in the province of origin before it reached Istanbul, the
sivi? fiscal
crises
(pp. 14Sf), all conspired to weaken
the Porte's authority at home and push it into foreign adventures to recoup wealth and prestige. Iranian irredentism after the partition of 1724, Nadir Shah's ambitions to force concessions beyond what he had negotiated (but not ratified) in 1736, the perpetual problems of frontiers, commerce and pilgrim traffic between the two empires, are explained and documented as motives for the attack on Mosul. The siege itself is described in a mere eighteen pages: the successful defense of Mosul is shown to be the work of the v&ll, Hajji Husayn Pasha of the local Jalili family, and of the citizens, who regardless of religion or class pooled their wealth, manpower and civic pride to assume the role of the distant and disorganized Ottoman army. The dynamics of popular revolt in Istanbul and the largely ineffectual counter-measures taken by the government are examined at length in relation to the Patrona Halil rebellion of 1730, and the conclusion is drawn (pp. 81-83) that sections of the military, the ulema and the guilds were henceforth likely to side with, and help mobilize, the discontented urban proletariat. 197
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
Evident throughout are analogies with previous and subsequent Ottoman-Iranian clashes, and symptoms of a later The frontier v&lls and serstage of Middle East history. askers (equivlalent to the Iranian v&lls, beglerbegLis and appointees of the Porte--in reality folsardars)-nominally lowed an independent policy, defying or placating Iranian rulers as it suited them. While this doubtless contribuit could also ted to prolonging or renewing hostilities, cushion the Ottoman interior from the results of its own weakness. The three fronts (eastern Anatolia, Kurdistan and the Shatt al-cArab) on which the Ottomans could be threatened simultaneously by an aggressive Iran--as under Shah Abbas, Nadir Shah and later Karim Khan Zand--always presented the dilatory Ottoman commandwith the same dilemwhich was a feint, which was the holding ma of priority: As a result, all were action and which the main thrust? neglected by Istanbul; but strong local rulers effectively saved them from and a surprising degree of local solidarity Iranian occupation time and again (except in the case of Basra in 1776, which Karim Khan took only after a year of of Mosul The autonomous mini-dynasties gruelling siege). Britain's comand Baghdad were eventually to facilitate domination of the Gulf's northmercial and later political ern hinterland and the dismantling of the Ottoman empire. Unfortunately, Olson's ambitious project is vitiated by shortcomings in documentation, organization and presentation. The author is no Iranist, as he freely admits (and of regularly emphasizes by an obsessive turkicization Iranian names, as Tebriz, Hemedan, Shah Huiseyin). For the Iranian side of the story he relies mainly on Lockhart's of AstarTbAdl's JahinNadir Shah and Jones' translation assessgushly-i Nidirj, along with their often uncritical The large number of secondary ments of Nadir's policies.. sources in Turkish reinforces the general effect of a a This is not in itself Turk' s-eye view of the period. defect (in the absence of a study from any standpoint); but reference to primary sources of all kinds, even the is Ottoman archival materials cited in the bibliography, made less frequently than one would expect in a pioneering one with such copious and lengthy footwork, especially notes. IRANIANSTUDIES
198
Data and arguments are presented in a generally longwinded, haphazard and occasionally ungrammatical fashion, now in bland repetition resulting now in a puzzling elipsis, (Mehmet I's dismissal of the Kapudan Papa is described in terms on pp. 152 and 155, with identical footnear-identical notes). Despite the addition of a glossary, there are at of Sharicat in the text, and a long, least two definitions irrelevant footnote on the origins of Nestorian Christianity. Niebuhr's map of Mosul, acknowledged once in a preface, is again cited twice where versions of it are reproduced, and with a different page twice in adjacent footnotes--once Ortho- and typographical errors of all kinds reference. are sprinkled throughout with the abandon of an end-of-term college newspaper. They begin, ominously, in the Notes on Transliteration and SpelliUp playfully pun on themselves this rumor," p. 151), romp on polyglottally C"l...disspell (seventeen errors in the seventeen-line German quotation on p. 168; an abridged translation would have been preferable for many reasons), develop Leitmotivs (Gombroomfor Gombroon, passim) and go to town in the Bibliography (nineteen in the thirty entries of p. 221). A misplaced comma (p. 43) implies that Nawruz falls on December Sth. Malapropisms, mixed metaphors and crossed cliches abound: a "horde of gold" (p. 71) might contain a "slave coin" (i.e. Slavic, p. 87) and, in a "full-fleged (p. 189), [jjcTTttle" "crumble... in one fell swoop" (p. 103) as the result of a "triumvrirate of action" (p. 156--evidently not three men of action, but three consecutive actions). Olson's enthusiasm and ideas to some extent compensate for the fact that his work (originally a Ph.D. dissertation accepted in 1973), as a book in the generally (or is it, Khodi nakonad, formerly?) accepted sense is a mess. Other volumes in Indiana University's Uralic and Altaic Series show that they for their part are capable of responsible presentation of a difficult scholarly text. If the author and his editors and publishers were too busy to produce a readable and accurate account, instead of an I feel sure their embarrassingly rough draft of materials, readers would have preferred to wait.
199
1976 SPRING-SUMMER
Mirror of the Invisible World: Tales from the Khamsahof Nizjmt. By Peter J. Chelkowski (with an Essay by Priscella P. Soucek). New York: Metropolitan Museumof Art, 1975. 117 pp. $15.00. D.A. Shojai
One of the finest collections of poetical tales in Persian literature is the Khamsehor "Quintet" of Niz&mi. These tales, written during the last third of the twelfth century, abound with action, intrigue, pageantry, and romance. The plots are dramatic, the characters full-blooded and vulnerably human in their psychological make-up, and the overall design is so rich in allegorical meaning that the reader becomes deftly attuned to the higher plane of mystical thought. As a composite and panoramic view of life, these tales are a match for any chivalric romance in the West. Moreover, they have inspired the artistry of one of the finest schools of miniature painters: the sixteenth century school of Herat. What better book selection could the Metropolitan Museumof Art have made to commemorate the opening of its The volume, printed in Switzerlanl, new Islamic Galleries? is beautifully and bound. illustrated
D. A. Shojai is Chairman of the Comparative Literature Graduate Program at San Diego State University. IRANIANSTUDIES
200
First, the paintings: these are taken from a copy of the Khamseh in the Museum's collection made for the Timurid prince, Baysonghur of Herat, and dated 1524-25. There are twenty-six full-page color gravure plates in all. Twelve of these are facsimile size reproductions of paintings, with their tinted and frosted gold margins. The rest are enlargements, made in various magnifications, allowing the eye, as the publisher's catalog description states, "to explore a world of incredible refinement of Color is employed in its purest tones, detail and color. embellished by gold and silver, lapis lazuli and malachite, to harmonize with the lyrical balance of pattern and form." The description is accurate, and these miniatures are a handsome addition to the ones already in print--and larger, I believe, than any single manuscript collection of Ni;&ml paintings. As for the tales, three of the original five are greatly condensed and "retold in prose for the contemporary reader." These are not translations, but rather narrative versions "as retold by Vernon Newton from the transcription of Peter Chelkowski." Chelkowski is, understandably, apologetic about this. "Many Persian poems," he explains in the preface, "especially epics, are more leisurely paced and considerably longer than those with which Western readers are familiar; indeed, they seem exotic to Western ears, and are appreciated and understood mainly by linguists and scholars in the field. This is unfortunate, for in Persian poetry, and especially the Khamsehof Ni;iml, there is much to delight an American audience." All the same, he concedes, "since a direct translation of the Khamsehwould result in nearly sixty thousand lines, or fifteen hundred pages, the stories have been abridged in the retelling. We hope to be forgiven by the specialists for taking these liberties; indeed, we have taken them in an attempt to present Nizdmils wonderful tales as living literature and to convey them in the spirit
of the poet."
201
1976 SPRING-SUMNMER
This book, to be enjoyed, has to be read in this light. It is the stories that count, not the poetry or the message behind them. And one thing Chelkowski manages successfully to convey is Ni;imi's zest in telling a story. The first tale is that of the frustratingly thwarted but ultimately rewarding love affair between "Khosrow and A prince and a princess, who lightheartedly Shirin." fall in love in their youth, find that the world and their own nature come between them, when they become king and queen of different lands. Only at the end, when they are stripped of their power, are they free to explore the depth of their feelings for each other. The story is "retold" with admirable compactness and balance. No single incident looms disproportionately large. Rather, the narrative proceeds swiftly and dramatically to its moving conclusion. "Layla it and Majnun," the second tale, is paced even quicker: is the love affair itself that is focused on, not the lovers' character development--let alone the progress of their souls towards mystical union. Naturally, one could be critical of this, as well as of various pertinent omissions, esThe Story of Layla pecially when R. Gelpke's translation, and Majnun (Bruno Cassirer: London, 1966), is so readily available. But then, it is not Chelkowski's intention to vie with Gelpke's fuller version, but rather to be pithy and readable. Finally, the tale of "The Seven Princesses," is which contains the fabled world of the seven pavilions, so rich and well-told that it stretches one's capacity to when one's absorb the whole in one sitting--particularly is enhanced by the paintings. These are the finest delight in the book. At the end of each tale, Chelkowski provides a helpHis apology to "scholars" and ful and concise commentary. the research here is both "specialists" notwithstanding, Chelkowski makes use thorough and thoughtfully presented. of a wide range of sources: Iranian, Russian, German, as is a fine well as those available in English. The result one which no specontribution to Nizimi scholarship--and cialist "in the field" should overlook.
IRANIAN STUDIES
202
The introductory essay by Priscilla P. Soucek is more general, intended for the reader who is new to the subject. The first part gives a rather loose account of Niaimi's life: "loose" considering the terseness of the tales and the commentaries, but also how little we know of it. The second part is a viewer's guide to the manuscript and paintings. It is a pity that more scope was not given to the latter. Soucek, who is an adroit art is not at her best when writing about literahistorian, ture. Her observations are broad and her style is effusive. Also she relies heavily on survey-type scholarship. She is much more circumspect and informative, on the other hand, when writing about art. It is odd that this book, which cries out for a detailed commentary on miniature painting, should have such a small section devoted to it. An opportunity was missed here. But this criticism aside, another is really more to the point. The crucial question is whether or not a condensation of a literary work into another language and for another culture is an accurate reflection of the original. It is one thing to shorten a work for convenience, but another to alter its viewpoint. The trouble is, in trying to do one, invariably one ends up doing the other as well. FitzGerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyamis a prime example of this: an eclectic series of individual poetic statements in Persian is cut down and "transmogrified" into one English "poem." The result is a different Omar in each language. Does something analogous happen here? Not quite as blatantly, for the writers in this case do not attempt to reconstruct the stories. But in retelling the stories explicitly for the Western reader, they also cater to the viewpoint of that reader. This crucial shift occurs in the prose--which is charming, antiquated, and basically of The Arabian Nights vintage. Consider the fairy tale quality of these opening lines: "In the land of Persia, long ago, lived King Hormuzd the Great" ("Khosrow and Shirin"); "Long ago, in the desert of Arabia, lived many great chieftains, and the
203
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
greatest was the chieftain of the tribe of Banu Amir" ("Layla and Mainin"l); "In days of old, when Yazdegerd was king of all Persia, the land flourished as never before" ("The The reader assumes that Ni;iml depicts Seven Princesses"). a fantasy world. Consider the distance impliessentially cit in "In the land of Persia" (which to Iranians, by the way, is Iran), or the exaggerated effect of the superlatives. Or compare' the opening of "Layla and Majnun" with Gelpke's "Once there lived among the more down-to-earth version: a Sayyid, who ruled over a lord, great in Arabia Bedouin here may seem slight, but the Banu Amir." The differences impressions: compounded they lead to creating two different one closer to a stereotyped world, the other closer to that of the poet's conception. In this sense, Mirror of the Invisible World is an (albeit of mysterious and unexplained origin): apt title the tales, as presented here, do indeed "'mirror' a world which lacks the substance of the original. Moreover, this basic concession to a popularized by way of a view even creeps into the scholarly sections, Soucek, for example, blurring of certain distinctions. uses the term "Near and Middle East," as though the area Both Soucek and Chelkowski refer to Nizmil's were divided. as an "epic" and a "romance," not differwork alternately entiating between the two. (Of course, it could be argued that their main source, Jan Rypka, does not differentiate either: but that only underscores the need for a more circumspect view.) All the same, these shortcomings are not likely to affect the sale of this book, which has so far been excellent. According to Museumsources, an original printing of 17,500 copies was projected, of which the Museumhas received 14,100--the remainder being in flat sheets in Of these, only 415 were on hand as of August, Switzerland. sale to 13,685 since publication. the total bringing The reader may be interested to know that this book is being distributed by the Museumonly, and that the major has been through Christmas catalog bulk of distribution IRANIANSTUDIES
204
sales. Apparently, it is also available to qualified book dealers at the stated price less 40% for over two copies, directly from the Museum. Individuals may purchase the book by sending prepayment (including the standard charge of $1.25 for each order to one address) to the MuseumMail Order Department, Metropolitan Museumof Art, Box 255, Gracie Station, New York, New York 10028.
Politics and Petroleum: The Middle East and the United States. BrunsBy James A. Bill and Robert W. Stookey. wick: King's Court Communications, Inc., 1975. 190 pp. ManoucherParvin
By cutting through the more formal, heavily documented and scholarly studies written for the specialist, the authors of this timely book attempt to reach the "average interested citizen," while believing that the substance of their work is superior to that of the less objective and A comuneven journalistic approaches to the same subject. promise between the two extremes of scholarship and journalism, to popularize while preserving the essentials, embodies manifest benefits as well as potential costs. In certain sections the book obtains the fruits of the two worlds; at some others, only the fallen leaves. Thus, the usefulness of the work to the specialist is very limited, and to the general reader--i't depends. The above conclusions are examined in light of the content. The Middle Eastern countries are very appropriately into the following categories: classified the two "great Manoucher Parvin is Associate Fordham University. 205
Professor
of Economics
at
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
absolute monarchies," Saudi Arabia and Iran; Persian Gulf Iraq, Algeria and Libya; and rich radicals, principalities; trotting Egypt and Turkey, without oil but, nevertheless, along the hazardous path of modernization. In the introductory remarks concerning the people and culture of the Middle East, the influence of the ancient on, and its contributions to, Middle Eastern civilization the Greek and Romancultures are examined. Similarly, the reader is reminded summarily of the diffusion of knowledge-Europe from the Moslem Middle East bepure and applied--to Nothing is new in fore and after the Hijrah (622 A.D.). this except its style and appeal to a wider audience--the objective of the authors. The authors tics of tradition, (oil) facts of the and matter of fact. velopment in Iran,
characteristhen present the essential recent history, personages and economic Middle East. The treatment is unbiased For example, discussing recent deit is concluded that:
Despite serious domestic opposition emanating from an expanding middle class, the Shah of Iran continues to rule supreme on the basis of a blended policy introof reform and repression.... By selectively ducing dramatic change in some areas, he in fact change in other areas (pp. 49-50). intends to stifle Moreover, the success marized thus:
of the Shah in foreign
policy
is sum-
The Shah himself masterfully shapes Iranian foreign Although Iran is most closely allied with policy. the United States, the Western powers, especially the government in fact enjoys very amicable relations with all major powers, including the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China (p. 47). differences between the Saudi The authors find the essential and Pahlavi monarchies to be the existence of a large, somiddle class in Iran, but the comparison p-rephisticated IRANIANSTUDIES
206
For example, Iranians have never been maturely ends here. strict followers of Islamic law as prescribed in the Koran. The difference between Shilism and Sunnism itself implies formal and informal contrasts in the norms of substantial private and social behavior, possibly explaining the greater flexibility and adaptability of the Iranian culture in accepting modernization. The methodology and style of the book lends itself to unsupported, inaccurate or altogether incorrect remarks For instance and conclusions. The revolution in world oil economics, like all rewas primarily political in character. volutions, A confluence of political conditions provided the driving dynamic of the resulting social and economic changes [emphasis added] (p. 125). This statement is not really so conclusive, as other, more The technological convincing scenarios are available. progr es sin oil extraction and transportation made possible the economic exploitation of petroleum resources in the Middle East. Continued and growing flow of profits gave rise to conflict-producing conditions within as well as among concerned nations. The competition for a share or a greater share of the pie among world powers on the one hand, and the local powers on the other, resulted in petroleum politics--national and international. Politics came Oil companies did not make the original last, not first. pilgrimage to the Middle East for political or religious reasons, rather, they made the long and arduous trip for oil. The authors discuss the international investment activities of some of the oil producing countries without documentation, and when specific cases are stated, they are at times simply erroneous. For example, the Iran-Pan American World Airways deal is sealed, whereas the transaction has been apparently called off, at least for the time.
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SPRING-SUMMER 1976
Such obvious shortcomings should not detract the potential reader. The discussion concerning Libya's successful struggle with Occidental (the main establishment), Texaco, Esso, British Petroleum, Mobile and Shell is most interesting and intriguing. Arabs, having been victimized by divide-and-rule policies which, incidentally, were invented by ancient Middle Eastern despots, eventually used the same method against oil companies through Libya. Finally, the reader is, historically speaking, brought up to date. The events leading to the oil embargo and price explosion are neatly summarized and essential facts, figures and interpretation thereof provided. The authors rightfully discount the suggestion of American military seizure of OPECoil fields and propose the capitalization by the United States, having never been a colonial power in. the region, on the remaining residual goodwill toward the U.S. in the Middle East in the interest of promoting peace and preserving the national sovereignty of these countries against "an outside power hostile to America and the West" (p. 175). Although the book only partially succeeds in its the dust and smoke of confusion objective of clarifying and distortions created by Arab-Israeli desert wars, it is still a must and should be a first reading for beginning students of Middle Eastern oil and politics. Its drawbacks would loom larger, however, if it happens to be the last book read in the field.
IRANIANSTUDIES
208
Vis and Ramin. Translated from the Persian of Fakhr ud-Din GurganI by George Morrison. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1972. xix + 357 pp. E.Mottahedeh Marcia
Fakhr ud-Din Gurg&ni holds an important position in as the author of the first the history of Persian literature romantic epic. The epic tradition had already reappeared in Islamic Persian in the forms of the "heroic" epic with the Shahnamah of Firdawsi and the "didactic" epic with the Xfarlnnimah of AbulShakuir Balkht. However, Vis and Ramin was the first pre-Islamic romantic legends to be versified in modern Persian which has survived in tact. Both the meter chosen by Gurganl for his work, which was hazaj, and his style were to become characteristic of subsequent romantic epics. This genre was perfected by Ni45ml, who was influenced by his predecessor both in his choice of meter and in his use of metaphor. Thereafter, the romantic epic was all too quickly supplanted by the allegorical Sufi epic of succeeding centuries. Morrison's work includes an introduction, translaThe introduction contains tion and accompanying footnotes. information on the background of the poem, a few remarks on its style, a summaryof the plot and a brief consideration of parallels between the romantic legend of Vis and Ramin and that of Tristan and Isolde. Footnotes to the of translation are mainly limited to the identification place names, references to Zoroastrian religious beliefs and customs, and to scattered and, one suspects, fragmentary notes on close parallels with the Tristan-Isolde legend. Occasionally the footnotes are used to indicate variant readings, which are far more numerous than the few notes suggest. This undoubtedly facilitates the reading
Marcia E. Mottahedeh is Assistant 209
Editor of Iranian Studies. SPRING-SUMMER 1976
however, for one for a non-Orientalist; of the translation it reading the text and the translation simultaneously, would have been useful had the translator at some point for choosing one reading rather than noted his criteria another. is a close, word-for-word itself The translation In spite of the well-known rendition of the Persian text. this one of such a faithful translation, pitfalls stylistic Morrison has avoided both the provides enjoyable reading. temptation to render the Persian in verse or in rhymed prose, and the temptation to "modernize" the English verAlthough many of the more subtle virtues of the sion. the Persian poetry are inevitably lost in translation, overall impact of the epic, which is derived both from the bare narrative and, in the words of the editor, from "ipoetic sentiment... embellished by aesthetic devices," is clearly perceivable in the English. No attempt to translate a work of such length and In the could be entirely without inaccuracies. difficulty the inaccuracies are so minor as to present translation, In some cases the rarely alter the meaning of the text. of a inaccuracy is the result of an unclear translation Persian word, where a more precise English rendition would the meaning, or given more force to the metahave clarified of the word phor. For example, on p. 51, the translation "pazhxnuridah" meaning "parched" is omitted from the Persian bayt, "Chu kishti bud Cishap pazhmuridah; umid az "His love ab u az baran buridah" which Morrison translates, was like a tended plot, all hope of water and rain abandonsuch as, "His love was ed." A more accurate translation, like a parched garden" would have conveyed more forcefully In some cases, the transthe full impact of the simile. lator has chosen an English word which obscures the meanOn p. 53, the Persian "Bigui ba ing of the Persian text. in jahan digar jahan ast; girift&ri ravanra j&vdan ast," visita"There is another world beyond this: is translated, "Giriftrill" is translated tion"lof the soul is eternal." instead of ''bondage," while in the following 'tvisitation'' line, the same word is translated as "fetters."
IRANIANSTUDIES
210
Other inaccuracies have resulted from minor grammatical errors. For example, on p. 34, we read "Yellow and yellow again be he who sent you" for "Kih Zarda zard b&d"; the vocative "Zarda" is misunderstood, in this translation should be, "IOZard, yellow be and the correct translation he who sent you." Again, on p. 63, the Persian "Yakayak b& nis&rl &madahpish; chu kihl tfidah-yi gawhar zadah plsh" is translated, "One after another they came forward to scatter their offering, recalling a mountain with a mound of jewels set before it"; the last misrac can be more cleara mound of jewly translated "to scatter their offerings, els like a mountain before [him]." On the whole, Morrison has avoided the use of inaccurate English c:liches to translate Persian phrases; a phrase like "toe the line" (p. 34) for "riamgardad" is the exception rather than the rule. Aside from a few such small points, the English rendition is extremely accurate and felicitous. Morrison has proof an important Persian epic duced a readable translation which will benefit both students of, and specialists in, Persian literature, as well as those interested in comparative literature.
211
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
TO THEEDITOR: The editorial board of IS in a letter dated July 16, 1975 and signed by Professor Jerome Clinton, "released [me] from [my] obligation...to review The Divan of Manfchehri DImghann A Critical Study." "We have fallen rather far behind in the publication of reviews," said the letter, "and in order to catch up, we have decided to cancel all those which have been outstanding for more than a year." And yet, to my great surprise and in blatant contrast to that alleged decision, IS, more than 18 months later, has now published a review o the same book (Vol. IX, No. 1, pp. 76-79). Whatever the readers may think of this puzzle for which no explanation is needed, I feel entitled to offer some remarks, a brief substitute for what was to be a rather lengthy review, in the interest of our field of Persian literature and its students. I hope that they will be taken in the same spirit of objectivity and honesty as they are written. The book has already been lavishly praised by several I join them by pointing out the merit Professor scholars. the work of an early Clinton has earned by scrutinizing Withpoet and describing the categories of its contents. out unnecessarily repeating much praise for the author, I It is regrettable like to show some of its shortcomings. with some that Mr. Clinton did not discuss his dissertation IRANIAN STUDIES
212
one more knowledgeable in Persian before its publication. That would have saved him from a rather large number of very bad mistakes. Following are a few examples of total misunderstanding of the text and wrong translation (figures stand for pages and lines). 13/1 chang-e Ramtin (written: from the harp also; 13/2 nafe-h&-ye changra matin): moshk-e Chin (written: moshkchin): sacks of the musk gatherer; 13/3 sh&ceri tashbib danad shdceri tashbih-o *a poet mad8 - motrebi qalus danad moyrebi shakkar-tovin: understands the language of lovers, poetry is eulogy and metaphor - a minstrel knows his notes, minstrelsy is tuneful praise; 36/24 am&n: Faith; 37/29 Bu-Zar &n tork-e kashi:
...that
slayer
of Turks (he obviously
reads:
tork-
koshi, thereby destroying sense, grammar, and meter altogether); 41/63 sepehr: shield; 43/70 negar-e Azar: a portrait of Azar (sic, in fn. 30 he explains Azar as being "the angel who presides over fire"'!); 54/1 &hu-chashm: with wicked eyes; ibid. shacra: poetry; 63/1 be-digar zi: in turn; 65/3 goft-o-1gu: company (=quarrel); 6 74ab goashti: you let water flow; 79/8 Rostam-baraz: Rustam in battle; 90/52 b& Gha;ari: in abundance! (the case of the poet Ghazaleri with cOnsori and Soltan Mahmudshould be known to all first year students of Persian literature); 104/1 becham: bent down; 108/13 andar tak istad: he paused in his course; 118/23 mey-e moshkin: dark wine; 120/5 bebordam: he took; 144/64 ve-ra bud az En gibal: he has been strengthened thereby. One could go on and on; see for example, 9; 32/1; 36/21, 24, 25; 42/68 (Mr. Clinton has changed yul'az-zaman of the text into ult-tul va man and then has tacitly left it untranslated); 67/5; 7771 (O Kamkir ! ); 79/12; 80/22; 89/44; 90/49; 121/2-3; 132/4; 133; 134/3; 136/38; 138/44; 144/47. There is a confusion in the translation of a passage from Shams-e Qays including 52, last 4 lines, 53,3 ar (not r), and the meaning of khvar (=sun, but never "companion, friend," or "despicable, base"). We are told, p. 106, that Saddah (sic) is celebrated at the winter solstice, although even Manuchehri himself gives the exact date in 107/2. Esfandiyar was a legendary king (148, fn. 27; too bad that Esfandiyar did not know it himself! Or was it Ferdowsils mistake?). On p. 63 we read that "there is no extant" poem 213
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
from this period (ex. the 2 Manuchehri fragments) which This is description.'' contain "an extended architectural One needs only to look at the titles of the not true. poems by COn~ori to find an entire ga?ideh devoted to that subject (cf. Divan, ed., Dabir-SiRqi, 91-99, specially 1012-25 and 1128-31) as well as a large portion of another p. 25,j The assertion, 202ff., 1958-78). qa5ideh (ibid., serves the purpose of creating a "dethat "M&zandar&n" lightful pun" with I"m&z-andar-&n,"is another hasty application of a cheap criticism often leveled at Middle Eastern The fact is that Imdz-andar-&n" owes its presence poets. Is it so abin the line to "'Mizandaran,"lnot vice versa. surd to accept that our poet did see the Caspian region so and the deserts close to the north of his native D&mgh&n just to its south? Whydoes Professor Clinton simply transliterate them? Is yakshanoriginal words instead of translating bah (sic, p. 136) other than Sunday? Or is bulbul, p. Is not cIls ibn Maryam, from nightingale? 104, different p. 86, identical with Jesus son of Mary? What do jubba, rebab and kebab (sic), Khusraws, Shahriyfr, Iram within Iram, the sulsul, shayani and davari, and ar2havan (pp. mean? The 7, 12, 77, 82, 105, 89, and 136 respectively) low standard of the study is also visible in examples such as: 25 CUmr&n,36/28 Hutflah and Umiyah, 37/29 Bii Shaclb, 59 daw (two), 146 Manes (Man!). Typographical (?) errors, in addition to those published earlier by the publisher, are also abundant (I have found 23 in the Persian quotaanother aspect of carelessness. tions) and show still of dwelling In closing, not having the possibility on some basic problems of method and approach, may I advise my young colleagues in the U.S. to be more modest, models of sound scholarship learn from some distinguished in Europe, and keep in mind that methodology with all its for the learning itself. due importance can never substitute MOAYYAD HESHMAT of Near Eastern [Heshmat Moayyad is Professor of Chicago.] at the University Civilizations IRANIAN STUDIES
214
Languages and
THEAUTHOR REPLIES: The admonition to scholars that they seek assistance of those more knowledgeable in the field before publishing is an excellent one. I do wonder that Professor Moayyad should have repeated it to me here, however. He appears to have forgotten that he read my dissertation in the winter of 1972, and that I then asked him to render me that assistance he speaks of. He did not do so. Possibly he did not then have time to do the job as he would have more publicly. liked. He has now sent me his corrections, Even at this late date, I am grateful to be able to benefit from his impressive learning. As anyone who has studied it will know, classical Persian poetry is extraordinarily difficult, and one needs all the help one can get to be able to understand it. Professor Moayyad offers his corrections in the I would like to respirit of honesty and objectivity. spond to a few of them in the same spirit since I do not think that he has invariably understood what I intended, or improved upon it when he has. He makes much of the fact that I have left a number of Persian and Arabic words untranslated. "What," he asks, "do jubba, rebab and kebab (sic), Khusraws, ...mean?" If he had looked into Webster's Unabridged, that firm friend of academic translators, he would have found that a great many of these words have now I have been made welcome in English, and in the spellings used. "Bulbul" has in fact become the only English synonym for "nightingale"; and a good thing too, since translating every Persian word for that sweet-singing bird as "nightingale" is unpleasantly repetitious. The meanings of the other words he cites are all clear enough from the contexts in which they appear. Shayani and dav&ri, two other words he objects to, and admittedly very obscure ones, appear in this context: "142 I have gone to no court except that of the Shahinshah, Not to the court of the Hij&z, not to the court of Bukhara.
215
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
43
Not like you who serve both great and small, For two shay&n!s, or for one daviri;" (p. 89).
According to the Burhan-i Q&tic, the daviar is worth five shayxnis, and the shayani is worth seven tenths of a dirhem, and the value of the dirhem, we learn from looking elseHowwould professor Moaywhere, varied widely in this period. yad suggest I translate these terms? More to the point, would a reader's understanding of this line be improved by such a display
of petty
erudition?
I did not and do not think
so.
To move on, I do of course know about the literary rivalry of Gha;Rlirl and CUn~uri. I made explicit reference to it in my book (p. 44, n. 31). Professor Moayyad I is disingenuous or careless in suggesting otherwise. did not recognize, as I wish I had, the name Ghazl'irl I will pay Professor Moayin the truncated form gha;dr;. he would yad the compliment of assuming that on reflection students as he does here, that all first-year not insist, ought to be familiar with this minor of Persian literature poet's quarrel. Professor Moayyad misquotes me with regard to the question of the pun on "Mazandaran," and ignores the context in which it appears. My point was that the historian should be wary of reading poetry for its factual conPoets describe tent alone, and ignoring its poetic context. places they have never been, tell lies about their enemies-and their friends, and select words for a variety of reasons other than their surface meaning. So that in the line, "The clouds of M&zandar&nrose above the mountains/ Like a serpent writhing coil upon coil (p. 25)."' Manuas chihri's use of the word "Mazandaran," particularly part of a pun (maz, "'coils"; andar, "in`'; an, "that/it") very shaky evidence for asserting that he is by itself knew the flora and fauna of Mazandaran well, or that he was a fixture at the court of Falak al-Macall in Jurj&n. One may reasonably speculate that he was both, but such as that and speculation should be scrupulously identified no more. I may have made too much of the importance of being aware of the ambiguities and ambivalencies of poetic IRANIANSTUDIES
216
language, but the practice of taking it all too literally is a widespread and well-entrenched one, as anyone who knows the field can testify. At all events, the point is a serious one, and to dismiss it out of hand as "cheap is neither fair nor helpful. criticism' I do not wish to prolong this unduly. Professor Moayyad's criticisms point up the very great difficulties His corone faces in studying classical Persian poetry. rections of my readings reveal an erudition that I sincerely envy. I do not agree with all of them, of course, but perhaps the point to make here is that not one of them affects my interpretations of the poems in which they appear in any significant way. Moreover, my book is not a volume of translations, but a critical discussion of the form and substance of the poetry of Manuchihri Damghani. Professor Moayyad's criticisms do not touch on any of the substantive questions which, taken together, constituted my whole reason for beginning and carrying out the study. I hope that I may take his failure to do so as tacit acknowledgment that he finds less to quarrel with in my treatment of these substantive questions than with my readings of individuals words and phrases. W. CLINTON JEROME [Jerome W. Clinton is Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.]
217
SPRING-SUMMER 1976
TO TWENTIETHCENTURY LOCKSFROMIRAN: PRE-ISLAMIC An exhibition of traditionalpadlocksfrom the ParvizTanavoliCollection,Tehran supplementedby examplesfrom the ImamReza ShrineMuseum,Mashhadand the EthnologicalMuseum,Tehran. Itinerary of the Exhibition
1977 Jan.29 - March6 March26 - MayI May21 - June26 Nov. 5 - Dec. II 1978 March4 - April 19 April29 - June4
SmithsonianInstitution D.C. Museumof NaturalHistory,Washington, The Fine ArtsMuseumof the South LanganPark,Mobile,Alabama CulturalCenter Muckenthaler Fullerton,California RoyalOntarioMuseum,Ontario,Canada The Museumof Science,SciencePark Boston,Massachusetts FieldMuseumof NaturalHistory Chicago,Illinois
Catalogue
Accompanyingthe exhibitionis a 151 pagecataloguewrittenby ParvizTanavoliand John T. Wertime.This contains 13 color and 130 black and white illustrationsand includeschaptersentitled: 'The Lockand Locksmithin the TraditionalCultureof Iran:A ShortSurvey ' Shapes,Mechanisms, andKeysof the Locksin the ParvizTanavoliCollection *The Problemsof Origin,Identification,andDating 'The Evolutionof LockTypesin Iran This exhibitionis circulatedby the SmithsonianInstitutionTravelingExhibitionService. Inquiriesconcerningbooking of the exhibitionshould be addressedto Anne R. Gossett, SITES,SmithsonianInstitution,Washington,D.C. 20560. Cataloguesare also availablefor $6 a copy postpaid.Checksor money ordersshould be madeout to the SmithsonianInstitutionandsent to the aboveaddress.
A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION In Manuscriptssubmitted for publication, only those words need be transliteratedwhich do not appear in the third edition of Webster'sNew International Dictionary. The system of transliterationused by IRANIAN STUDIESis the Persian Romanization developed for the Libraryof Congressand approved by the AmericanLibraryAssociationand the CanadianLibraryAssociation.Copies of this table (CataloguingService - Bulletin 92) may be obtained by writing directly to the Editor.
IranianStudies is publishedby The Society for IranianStudies.It is distributedto members of the Society as part of their membership.Annual membershipdues are $12.00 ($7.00 for students). The annual subscriptionrate for librariesand other institutions is $12.00. A limited supply of the back volumes of the Journal (1968 to present)is availableand may be orderedby writingto the Editor. The opinions expressed by the contributorsare of the individualauthors and not necessarilythose of the Society or the editors of IranianStudies. Articles to be considered for publication and all other communicationsshould be sent to the Editor,IranianStudies, Box K-154, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass.02167, U.S.A. Communicationsconcerningthe affairs of the Society should be addressedto the Executive Secretary,The Society for IranianStudies, P.O. Box 89, VillageStation, New York, N.Y. 10014, U.S.A.
COVER: Figurallock in the shape of a harpy, Brass,2? x 1Yinches; 11-13th centuries. From the Smithsonian Institution Exhibition, "Locks from Iran:Pre-Islamicto Twentieth Century."
Iranian Studies Journal of The Society for Iranian Studies
Au 1
iRI
Autumn 1976
Volume IX
Number 4
THE SOCIETY FOR IRANIAN STUDIES COUNCIL and Universityof Tehran AhmadAshraf,Plan&BudgetOrganization AminBanani,Universityof California,Los Angeles Ali Banuazizi, Boston College Lois Grant Beck, University of Utah Jerome W. Clinton, Princeton University Oleg Grabar,Harvard University Gene R. Garthwaite, Dartmouth College Farhad Kazemi, New York University
ThomasM. Ricks,ex officio, GeorgetownUniversity MarvinZonis,Universityof Chicago COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE Gene R. Garthwaite, Executive Secretary
ThomasM. Ricks,Treasurer Ali Banuazizi,Editor IRANIAN STUDIES Journalof the Society for IranianStudies Editor: Ali Banuazizi
AssociateEditors:AnnaEnayat(Universityof Tehran), Vahid F. Nowshirvani (Yale University), Mangol Bayat Philipp (HarvardUniversity)
(BaruchCollege,City Universityof N. Y.) Book ReviewEditor:ErvandAbrahamian Assistant Editor: MarciaE. Mottahedeh CirculationManager: Christine L. Brennan
Copyright, 1977, The Society for Iranian Studies Published in the U.S.A. USISSN 0021-0862 Address all communications to IRANIAN STUDIES, Box K-154, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts02167, U.S.A.
Iranian Studies Journal of The Society for Iranian Studies
Volume IX
Number 4
Autumn 1976
ARTICLES 220
Charlotte THE AZERBAIJANICASHIQAND OF A DASTAN HIS PERFORMANCE
F. Albright
248
AL-E AIVIADTSFICTIONALLEGACY Michael
C. Hillmann
266
RECEN ECONOMIC CHANGESIN Reinhold BOIR AHMAD: REGIONALGROWTH WITHOUTDEVELOPMENT
L. Loeffler
BOOK REVIEWS 288
ECKHART EHLERS: Traditionelle und moderne Formen der in Iran Landwirtschaft
295
MICHAEL C. HILLMIANN: Unity
in the Ghazals
Michael
JAMALMIRSADEQI: Shabchiragh
302
LOUIS DUPREEAND LINETTE ALBERT: Afghanistan in the 1970s
305
The KHODADAD FARMANFARMAIAN: and Problems Social Sciences of Development
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 310 Hamid Mahamedi G. M. Wickens
Fischer
G. MvI.Wickens
of Hafez
299
314
M. J.
MohammadEstelami Ludwig W. Adamec James A. Bill
and
Ashiq
The
Azerbaijani
His
Performance of
a Dastan
Charlotte F. Albright throughout Iranian towns, and villages In cities, entertain poet-musicians) Azerbaij an C&shiqs (professional in coffee houses and at weddings. audiences cAshiqs comof poetic forms. The pose and perform songs in a variety poem called longest of these forms is the oral narrative In his preof Turkish. the dastan in the Azeri dialect
sentation protocol,
of these tales, yet within this
the cashig observes a standard established format, he has room
some segments of his entertainto improvise, to stretch It is this flexibility ment or to cut other parts short. format presentation within the framework of an established poems from growing stale that keeps these oral narrative
in the mind of the performer and in the perception audience. This paper will
briefly
describe
the CAshig,
of the his
training and performance. Then, one segment of a dastan will be analyzed to show what its components are, and how they can be manipulated by the performer. One portion of this performance known as the I'Micrdjndmahof cAbbas will be examined in greater depth to show how Tufarganli" elements of the cashig blends the musical and literary whole.2 such a performance into a unified F. Albright has completed her Ph.D. Charlotte of Washington. musicology at the University IRANIAN STUDIES
220
in Ethno-
In Azerbaijan,3 the title to a male, u'Cashig" refers professional musician who composes some of his own poetry and knows a great deal more by heart. He sings the poetry and accompanies himself on the saz (a long-necked, plucked This term is used with reference to musicians lute).4 in other parts of the Middle East and Asia, although with varying connotations. In northern Afghanistan, the word cashig as well as majnun (mad), and mast (drunk), are used by the lay person to describe professional musicians.5 In the province of Khorasan in eastern Iran, the term Cdshiq is used to designate a whole range of professional musicians. Some, like the Turkmen bakhshi (analogous to the Azerbaijani are respected for their ability to recashig) cite oral narrative poetry, and compose their own poetry, play the dutitr (a two-stringed, long-necked, plucked lute). Others, such as those playing the zurnd (a double-reed aerophone) and dahil (a large double-headed drum), are held in low esteem and called mutribfi Thus, here, as in Afghanistan, the term cdshi2 appears to be a general word meaning someone predisposed to make music. It may be that in Azerbaijan such a general term evolved to mean the specific kind of poet-minstrel found in Azerbaijan and Turkey today. The word I''cshiqg' comes from the Arabic meaning "lover." The use of this word to describe these musicians is not entirely coincidental since many of the stories the recite about the lives of other Cashiqs point out cashi's that ashiqs are often lovers. These men, at least in stories, frequently become obsessively attached to one woman. For example, both CAshiq Kurban and CAshiq cAbbas Tufarganli7 pursued the women they loved for years. In addition, many of the other tales and poetry the cdshigs recite are concerned with other lovers famous in Near Eastern literature, such as Layll o Majniin, Asll o Karam, and Garip o Shahsenem. In Azerbaijan, as well as in Turkey, his decision to become an cashi2 while still the young man has a dream in which he is the some symbolic gift. cAshiq Rasiil of Tabriz 221
a man makes young. Often of recipient says he dreamt AUTUMN1976
that a figure approached him bearing a small saz. This person asked Rastil if he could play the saz. Rasul immediately picked up the saz and began to play. When he awoke, he found that he could indeed play the saz the very first time he tried. In Turkey, Khizir, a dervish and patron saint of poetry, often gives a dreaming youth a potion. Upon waking, he is able to play the saz and compose poetry.8 In some regions the dreamer may be given freshly baked bread, an apple, or even green beans instead of the potion.9 cAshiq Dihqan had no such vision. He had fallen in love with his cousin. Since he was too young to marry, he decided to devote himself to the life of the Cashi. Others, such as CAshiq Josefl in Rezaiyeh, inherit the cashig's profession from their fathers. A young man who decides to become an cashig usually apprentices himself to an already established musician. CAshiq Dihqan became the student of cAshiq Farhat, also of Rezaiyeh. Dihqan would follow Farhat on his rounds to coffee houses and wedding celebrations, gradually learning his songs. He also observed other cdshiqs, and today his style and repertory are an amalgam of those influences. Unlike many cashiqs, cAshiq Dihqan is literate, and he copies the shorter poems he learns or writes into a small book he carries Since he knows these poems by with him. heart, it would appear that this book is more a status symbol than a necessity. The aspiring to his Cashig may remain apprenticed the skills master for years while he gradually acquires to become independent. necessary Today, with more reof poetry available, cordings and collections many men do not have the pati-ence for such a prolonged endeavor. cAshiq Haji CAll of Tabriz, who was seventy-five years old when I met him in 1975, was contemptuous of men who would take any shortcuts. Basgoz reports the following with cAshiq Haji monologue from an earlier interview cAll:
IRANIAN STUDIES
222
A young boy today calls himself ashik when he finds a ladle for his hand. (Derogatory comment based on in shape between a ladle and a the rough similarity Ladles, you saz). This is his only requirement. Young people do not know, are not very expensive. serve a master for years, as I did; they learn their songs from radio broadcasts and their hikayes (another term for dastan) from books. I never knew I learned everything from my master. such things. (The second parentheses are mine.) Although the cashiq sings numerous short songs (with poetic forms such as the goshma or baydtI12), collectively called cdshiq hav-asi (songs of the cashig), the longest form in the repertory is an oral narrative poem called dastan in Azerbaijan, and destan or hikaye in Turkey. distinguish between the destan, a (Turkish folklorists heroic epic tale such as Kuroghlu, and the hikaye, a tale and frequentwhich includes more prose, is more realistic, ly details as many love adventures as heroic exploits. 13). These narratives are part of the literary heritage of Turkic peoples generally, and many of the most popular narrative tales are known today in more than one Turkishspeaking area. Some of the oldest of these stories origare inally told by minstrels similar to the modern cds the tales of Dede Korkut, himself a minstrel and character The tales which were set in what in some of the stories. is now Azerbaijan, were certainly in existence in the thirteenth century, but quite likely date from an even earlier time.14 Their plots deal with the heroic deeds nobles and romances of the Oghuz Khans, their families, and enemies. Dastans today are, like the stories of Dede Korkut, tales of the adventures of famous warriors, kings, or famous lovers. The Kuroghlu story, a warrior epic, is It is recited among the Turks the most famous of these. of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhistan, and among the Tatars. Amongnon-Turkish peoples it is recited in Tajikstan, Armenia, and among the Kurds. Pertev Naili Boratav states,
223
1976 AUTUMN
Cette popularite vient sans doute de la particuKoroglu larite meme du heros et de ses exploits. est le type de personage epique, qui unit en lui de guerrier intrepide et ruse, d'les qualities aventurier galant et de bandit d'honneur, redresseur de torts.15 figures such as Other dastans deal with actual historical Shah Abbas, the great Safavid ruler, Shah Ismal1, the founder of the Safavid empire, or Jahangir, who fought against Tamerlane. There are about one-hundred dastans which are still performed in Azerbaijan today.16 The performance of one of these tales takes ten to fifteen days. CAshiq Dihqan says he is able to recite dastans for over a year without This is probably not an exaggeration. repeating himself. When an Cashig performs in a coffee house, he addresses the members of his audience (called the majlis) in various ways ranging from casual conversation to sung (a) These utterances can be grouped as follows: poetry. non-formulaic prose and extemporaneous speech, (b) formuand prayers, introductions, greetings, laic speech, i.e., The cashiq also (c) spoken poetry, and (d) sung poetry. plays the saz, but only in conjunction with his singing. (I have never heard an Cdshiq play the saz as a solo inThus, though we must add struments in a coffee house.) the fifth category of saz music to our list, we must also bear in mind that the words of the Cashiq are much more important to the audience than his saz music. His prethen, has five components, if we include (e) sentation, saz music. To demonstrate the way CAshiq Dihqan combines these components, I have analyzed a fairly typical performance (This of one segment of the dastan cAbb&s Tufarganli. story would be called a hikaae in Turkey since cAbbas is a historical person, an cashig, who is supposed to have lived in Azerbaijan in the time of Shah Abbas.17) I recorded this segment of the dastan on April 19, 1974. The IRANIANSTUDIES
224
overall performance in the Brother's Coffee House in Rezaiyeh had two main parts: (1) an introductory section, .and (2) the recital of the actual dastan. Chart I shows how cAshiq Dihqan used the five components discussed above in the introductory section of this performance. It should be noted
that
cur together
the
saz
as a unit,
music and the sung poetry
but alternately.
always
That is,
oc-
the saz
but not at the plays before and after each vocal section, same time. The dotted line separating columns (d) and (e) in Chart I symbolizes this relationship. The arrangement and content of components (a) through (e) can be varied daily by cAshiq Dihqan to suit his proFor instance, he might sing only one prelimigram needs. or as many as three or four. An intronary cashig havasi, include the formal ductory section will almost certainly greeting and prayer, though. In this performance the introductory section leading up to the recital of the cAbbas dastan lasted about twenty minutes, allowing the Tufarganli members of the audience time to get settled with a glass of tea or a pipe.
sists
The second portion of the coffee house program conof the recital of.the For this section dastan. Dih-
qin uses all the components identified
above with the ex-
ception of (c) spoken poetry. he tells a part Basically, of the story in his own words, then sings the poetry, and finally interprets any segments that might have been difficult for the audience to understand. Many cashigs employ
a similar technique for singing shorter poems as well; the performer announces the poem, sings it, and then recites the whole poem in a speaking voice.
Unlike Lord and Parry's "singers of tales" in Yugoslavia,18 Azerbaijani cashiqs cannot recite a dastan after only one or two hearings. The apprentice tries to learn the poem portions of the tale by heart just as his teacher performed them. Nonetheless, since he cannot duplicate the teacher's model exactly, there will be discrepancies between performances of the same dastan by two cRshigs. Moreover, due to time limitations or interruptions, the
22S
AUTUMN1976
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of the story. TheoCashiq may leave out some portions to recite retically, though, he tries the poems of the dastan in the same way he learned them each time he sings the tale. is the The second portion of Dihqdn's presentation of the dastan. In the summary of this performance to follow I have indicated the type of utterance Dihqan employs at the beginning of each section. To preserve the extemporaneous nature of the prose parts of the narraI have translated tion, Dihqan's own remarks wherever possible.
recital
1.
Non-formulaic
prose
and extemporaneous
speech:
Dihqan announces that he is continuing the cAbbas Tufarganli story from the day before. He has been it for two weeks and he hopes this will be telling the last day.
2.
Non-formulaic prose and extemporaneous speech: Dihqan recounts
briefly
what has occurred
in the
19 A young man named cAbbas previous episodes: has fallen in love with his uncle's daughter. He has gone to Shah Abbas in Isfahan to ask for the hand of the girl in marriage. Shah Abbas has refused the request and has thrown cAbbas into a black dungeon. cAbbas is released after a week. He asks the king what he must do to win the hand of the girl. Shah Abbas replies that cAbbas must answer the questions he will pose for him. The king then gathers learned men from seventy-two countries. They arrive and, on viewing Iran, think it is the best country they have even seen. They say Shah Abbas is the wisest king in the world. This is because Iranians live by the Koran. Dihqan then tells how the learned men blindfold cAbbas and give the girl a branch of a cherry tree and ask her to stand at the opposite end of the hall from cAbbas. 227
AUTUMN1976
3.
Sung poetry and saz music: Dihqan identifies note that the hero, spoken.
4.
sings the poem in which CAbbas correctly the branch the girl holds. We should in this dastan, Dihqan sings only when Abbas, sings. All the other parts are
Non-formulaic prose and extemporaneous speech: Dihqan notes that, according to his teacher, cAbbas gave two answers and both of them were correct. Then, the learned men give the girl and apple branch and ask cAbbas to identify it.
5.
Sung poetry and saz music: Dihqan sings the poem in which cAbbds identifies the apple branch. He uses the same accompanying melody as that of part 3.
6.
Non-formulaic
prose
Dihqan relates
and extemporaneous
speech:
how amazed the scientists
and
astrologers are. They agree that CAbbas is the most learned man in Iran. CAbbas, however, replies that he had not been asked anything very difficult. The wise men feel that the questions had been taxing, since cAbbas is only sixteen years old. that they whould ask CAbbas insists him a more difficult question. They assent and ask him to tell how the Almighty God created the world. They want to know specifically how long it took, what it was created from, and what the seven layers of earth and sky are. Then (as if this were not enough), cAbb&s is requested to tell what happened to Muhammadon the shab-i mic-j20 (the night Muhammadascended to heaven). The learned men want to know what he saw, how he went, and to which place he returned. Dihqan comments that this is not an easy task. cAbbas asks the scholars to prepare their pens and paper.
IRANIANSTUDIES
228
7.
Non-formulaic prose and extemporaneous speech, poetry and saz music:
sung
Dihqan sings cAbbds's lengthy answer to these questions. Dihqan calls this part of the tale the "Mi-
rajnamah of CAbbas Tufarganli. "
The saz accompani-
ment for this entire section is a melody called A transcription of the poem, its trans"Dubayt." and the saz melody are given below. lation, 8.
Non-formulaic
prose
and extemporaneous
speech:
The answers cAbbas gives are so complete that cAbb&s. Shah Abbas wants to make everyone praises but CAbbas refuses this honor. CAbbas his vizier, His only desire is to marry his cousin, and Shah Abbas finally to the match. gives his blessing 9.
Sung poetry
and saz music:
Dihqan sings the poem in which cAbbas proclaims He uses a third saz the beauty of his bride-to-be. melody for his poem. 10.
Non-formulaic
prose
and extemporaneous
speech:
Dihqan says that cAbbas Tufarganli and his beto beloved move to Khalkhal, a town near Ardabil, live.21 cAshiq Dihqan's recital of the last portion of the cAbbas Tufarganli dastan lasted about forty minutes. His total program, including the introductory section, lasted about one hour, a half an hour shorter than usual. the performance of a TurkBa?goz has transcribed ish hikaye, The Orphan Vezir, recited by the late A ik Mudami2 f Poshof, a small village in northeastern Anatolia. Although there are some differences in the format of the two performances (Dihqan performs in the morning, while Mudami performs at night), all the components I have identified in the performance of cAshiq
229
AUTUMN 1976
Dihqan are present
in Asik Mudami's recitation.
The melodies an Cashiq uses to accompany the poems he sings in a dastan (and other shorter poems) are called havas. The Cashig changes the hava each time he begins a new section of the story. Thus, in the dastan outlined above, Dihqan employed three different havas: (1) when CAbbas identified the cherry and apple branches, (2) when CAbbas sang the "Micrajnamah," and (3) when he sang of his beautiful fiancee. He is not obliged to use the same hava every time he performs a particular poem, but certain havas are more suitable for poems describing battle or fighting, while others lend themselves to poems about the beauty of spring, love, and other romantic themes. The saz and voice are heard conjunctly, not simulTo make this relationship I have transtaneously. clear, cribed the hava "Dubayt" and the first two lines of the
"Micrajndmah" text in Example 1. with a vigorous
labeled
saz
solo
that
The performance begins
includes
an introduction
(a) and a main melody that also functions
as a
cadential formula (a melody that gives a sense of tonal finality to a vocal or instrumental melody line) labeled (b). The melody, a type commonly used by cishigs, neither ascends nor descends, rather it revolves around the central pitch of the hava, b-flat.23 The vocal line ranges
first from f' to c' (as in Phrases 1 and 2 of the musical example) and then from f ' to b-flat (Phrase 3). This f' to c', f' to b-flat pattern continues throughout the "Micrijndmah.It The vocal pitch at the end of the first forty lines of the poem is indicated to the right of each line. The saz plays section (b) (the cadential formula) or one of its variations at the end of each line of poetry. Occasionally, though, Dihqan sings a line and a half of the text before pausing to play the cadential formula on the saz. He does this most frequently before the eight syllable half lines (see lines 8 and 9, 17 and 18, for example). The entire saz introduction is repeated between larger units of the poem, following the eight syllable half lines, for instance (see the text of the below). An analogous tonal pattern is used for many of the poems sung by CAshiq Dihqan and other
YtMicrijndmah,tY
cashigs from Rezaiyeh. IRANIANSTUDIES
230
Havia: Dubayt Poem: The MiCrajnamahof CAbb-asTufarganli Performer: CAshiqDihqan of Rezaiyeh, Iran
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}
AUTUMN1976
"The Mi%rajnamah of CAbbas Tufarganli" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Ay, arannar azal bashdan galin yad eydakh alldhi Achar bandanin uzui'na baghli goymaz o dar gahi Yaraddi bir qatre nurdan nazar saldi ab eyladi Kopukunnan yerler oldi gobarinen goylar oldi Yedi guinda basha galdi bilindi qodrat allahi Darsi chokh olan gazilar siza khabar verim yerdan Avvalinje yerda sadaf sadaf usta vardi balikh Balikh usta vardi okiuiz okiuizun burnunda magas DaCim yad eyler allahi Yerin ikinje bunydte ora devler makan edi Ora vared olan kimsanalar okhular qolhovallahi Yerin uchunje bunyate ora jinnler makan edi Ora vared olan kimsanalar okhular besmullahi Yerin dorduinje bunyate ora daryaye bipayandi Khodam orda khalq eyliyip doqsan min qanatli mThi Yerin beshinje bunyate otdan bir hasir salinip Hasir usta otdan bir takht o takht'usta kim aylashir Iblise nalat allahi
19 Yerin altinje bunyate 20 DaCim yad eyler allahi
c'
b-fl. c' c' b-fl. c' c'
b-fl. c'
b-fl. c b-fl. b-fl. b-fl. c'
b-fl.
orda bir malaek vardi b-fl.
21 22 23 24 25
Bizda galdikh bu dunyaye khudam verdi hamrahe Gatti chadurini gurdi Khatemin Anbiae EbrThimi atdilar nara Zakaridne chakdilar mushara Ot khalili yandirmadi atash dondi gulestand Bilindi qodrat allahi
26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Gal khabar verim bunyaddan tamam kulu kaCinatdan Ab o atash khak badan yaraddi adame safi allahi Amr eyladi EbrThima: Ya, Ebrahim bir dam yap Hazrat EbrThim bena goydi o KaCbe beytullahi Karaminan josha galdi amr eyladi Jabraela beheshdan Buraghi got'urdi Jabrael uzun yetirdi Uzun yer uzuna yetir habibini gonakh gatir Jabrael uzun yetirdi beheshdan Buraghi goturdi Uzun yer uzuna yetirdi habibe salam eyladi Habib Buraghi savar oldu avvalinje arsha varanda Gordu badiramish mahi
IRANIANSTUDIES
Final Pitch
232
c'
b-fl. c' b-fl. c'
b-fl. c' c' c'
b-fl. b-fl. b-fl. b-f1.
Final Pitch c' b-fl. b-fl. b-fl.
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
Ikinje arsha varanda gordu bir shajar boy chakir 0 shajar da bir gush vardi daCim deyir zekr allahi Uchunje arsha varanda Rasulun yolun sher aldi Verdi khatemini shera yeredi khahi na khahi Dortiunje arsha varanda chatti Masjidi Aksaya 0 masjid da kim aylashir Esaye ruhullahi Beshinje arsha vardnda orda bir malaka gordu 0 malkanin seksan min badani Har badanin da seksan min goli Har golunda seksan min ali Har alinda seksan min barmaghi qalam yazir Har barmaghinda seksan min qizil Kayir eshar olldhi
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
Altinje arsha varanda Buraq yerinde durdu Habibim mana izn yokhdi dahi Arz eyladi: shahparina hey deyirdi bar ellahi Mindi Jabraelin Yedinje drsha varanda Haq Rasula salam etti qalmadi Buyurdi: Ay, Habibim, khush galipsan niyatin shariyatan, tarighatan, Haqiqatan, marifatan, Rasulunan haq drdsinda iuchmin kalema soz olundi Minin ummata de gina Buyurdi: Minin desanda olur demasanda Ama minin dema dahi.
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67
man jaam Dedi: Ya, Rasulullah, taCam galdi Chakilip parda aradan shir birinjdan Man tak taC5m yemiram Dedi: bir al galdi Pardanan dalisinan Yedi taCam oldi peghambara hamrahi Bir dana alma galdi Ariya ydrdsi yedi, yarasi verdi o tukli ala Tukli al gheyb oldi dahi
68 69 70 71 72 73
ana gapi achmadi Peghambar MiCrAjdan geyidti (--unintelligible) kashdi ahi bir galdi gapini achdi Rasulullah ishdi (--unintelligible--) Rasul bir gula azdi girkhlar Rasul chun tashvisha d'u'shdi Arz eyladi: Yar Rasulullah, biz girkhimiz birukh, birimiz girkh Biz birukh, bizda farqi yokhdi dahi 233
d5hi
AUTUMN1976
74 Biri gakhdi aleyk (?) aldi Rasulun zulbandin yeghdilar 75 Bashlardilar ellallfthi 76 Sheykh oghlunun panThinda yakhshi sakhla guzel shahi 77 Baghishla Kerbala Shahi, ay, Husayn 78 CAbbasin chokh dur gunahi *Lines 60 to 67 are not on the original tape of the performance. They presumably come between two reels of tape, and were provided by cAshiq Dihqan more than a year after the original recording was made. Translation Note:
2S of the w?Micrdjnamah"
I have included cAshiq Dihqan's prose comments ab They are all spoken; about the poem in parentheses. not sung.
1 Oh, you who reached the divine truth at the beginning, let us start by praising God. 2 Who, when he opens that door for his servant, never closes it again. 3 He created (the universe) from a drop of light and from these he looked and created the waters. 4 From the bubbles different layers of earth were formed, and from the dust different layers of sky. God's power 5 It took seven days to create the universe. was manifested. (Dihqan stops and explains
the above text.)
I am going to tell 6 Those who know more become judges. you about the earth. 7 In the first layers there were shells, and on top of the shells were fish. 8 On top of the fish there was a bull, and on the bull's nose were flies. 9 All of them were praising God constantly. 10 In the second layer of the earth was the dwelling of devils. 11 Whoever enters this layer says there is only one God. IRANIANSTUDIES
234
12 The third layer of earth is the habitation of Jinns. 13 Whoever enters this layer begins in the name of God. is the (Dihqan explains here that "besmullahi" same as "bismullah." He adds, "It is written in the Koran and everyone knows that His Majesty CAll went to fight the Jinns in the fifth layer and that he came out of the lower layers.") 14 In the fourth layer of the earth there is a bottomless sea. 15 In this sea God has created a fish with 90,000 fins. 16 In the fifth layer of the earth a straw mat of fire was thrown down. 17 On top of the mat there is a throne of fire, and, who is sitting on the throne? 18 Satan, may God curse him! (Dihqan stops 19 In the sixth
layer
20 Constantly utters (Dihqan says,
and explains of the earth
the above text.) there
is
an angel
who
God's name. "That is
the mother,
Mary.")
21 We came to this world and God gave us companions. 22 He brought a tent and put it up for the Seal of the Prophets. 23 They threw Abraham into the fire and cut Zakaria in half with a saw. 24 The fire did not burn God's lover and it turned into a rose garden. 25 And this showed God's power. 26 Come, let me tell you about the foundations of all the heavens and the earth. 27 From water and fire, earth and the winds, from these God created Adam, God's Chosen One. 28 God gave an order to Abraham, "Oh, Abraham, build a roof." 29 His Majesty Abraham began to build the Kacbe, which is God's home.
235
AUTUMN1976
(Dihqan has to stop here to ask people not to crowd into the coffee house since there is no more room. He asks the audience to recite anDihqan goes on to explain that other salavat. the learned men who had come to listen to CAbbas were so surprised that they took a half hour Then, break for tea, water pipes, and fruit. the learned men kissed cAbbas and congratulated Shah Abbas. CAbbas, the poet, thanks them, but insists that he tell more. He commences to tell about the shab-i micrdj.) 30 God's generosity
effervesced,
therefore
he ordered
Gabriel.
31 Gabriel traveled a long way, and from heaven he brought Buraq. 32 "Travel far, a long way, and bring your beloved as a guest." 33 Gabriel traveled a long way, and from heaven he brought Buraq. 34 He traveled far, a long way, and greeted his beloved. 35 Muhammad rode Buraq. When he arrived at the first throne of God, 36 He saw a glowing, full moon. (In those times, when they went into the sky, they saw the moon, that is, passed close by it. Now, with all the equipment such as Apollo, they go to the moon, but in those days, they got the idea from the Koran.) 37 Whenhe arrived at the second throne of God, Muhammad saw a tree growing. 38 And there was a bird in the tree who constantly praised God. (Dihqan stops and explains
the above text.)
39 Whenhe arrived at the third throne of God, a lion stopped Muhammad. 40 He gave his ring to the lion and left willy nilly. IRANIANSTUDIES
236
(Dihqan explains
39 and 40.)
lines
41 When he arrived at the fourth throne of God, they reached the Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem). 42 Who was sitting in this mosque? Jesus, the Spirit God. (Dihqan explains
lines
of
41 and 42.)
43 When he arrived at the fifth throne of God, he saw an angel. 44 And that angel had 80,000 bodies. 45 And each body had 80,000 arms. 46 And each arm had 80,000 hands. 47 And each hand had 80,000 fingers. 48 And each finger was holding 80,000 red pens. 49 He records all our virtues and vices. (Dihqan explains
lines
43 through
49.)
50 When he arrived at the sixth throne of God, Buraq would not go any further. 51 It said, "My beloved, I'm not allowed to go beyond this spot."
52 So Gabriel gave Muhammad a ride on his biggest and Muhammad kept praising God. (Dihqan explains
lines
wing,
50 through 52.)
53 When he arrived at the seventh throne of God, God greeted the Prophet. (Dihqan says the custom of older people greeting younger people originated here.) 54 The Lord said, "Come in, my dear, welcome. You have reached your goal." 55 About truth, knowledge, the religious way and religious law, 56 Muhammadand God exchanged 3,000 words. 57 God ordered, "Tell 1,000 words to the people. 58 The next 1,000 words you can say or not, 237
AUTUMN1976
1,000 words."
59 But do not utter the last (Dihqan
explains
lines
53 through
59.)
60 He said, "Oh, Prophet of God, I am hungry." 61 A curtain was parted and milk rice appeared.
62 63 64 65 66 67
He said, "I will not eat alone." A hand came from behind the curtain. It ate and accompanied the Prophet. An apple came. He ate half of it and gave half of it to the hairy hand. All at once the hand vanished.
68 The Prophet came back from his night journey (--uninNo one opened the door. telligible--). 69 The Prophet breathed a sigh, someone came and opened the door. 26 70 (unintelligible) 71 Rasiil, because he was afraid (?) 72 One of them said to Muhammad,"Oh, God's friend, we forty of us are one and one is forty. 73 We are one, there is no difference between us anymore." 74 One of them greeted him and took hold of the Prophet's (turban ?). 75 They began to say,
''There is no God but Allah."
Shah Abbas) health. 76 Please give this Shaykh's son (i.e., 77 And for the sake of the King of Karbala, Husayn, please forgive this humble cAbbas, 78 Who has committed many sins. including Almost all the poems an cdshig sings, form. are in some easily recognizable those in dastans, in length. Most often poems are three to ten quatrains per line vary from and number of syllables Rhyme patterns
poem to poem. In the qoshma, for instance, the lines are eleven syllables long, and the rhyme pattern is a b c b, d d d b, e e e b, etc.27 The ?'Micr5jnamah''here, though, recurIt has no consistently is not so easy to classify. Because it long. it is, moreover, unusually ring pattern; does not conform to the usual pattern of cashig poetry in a closer look. the poem deserves Azerbaijan, IRANIAN STUDIES
238
Although the "'MiCrajnamahYt is formally irregular, there is some continuity of form and style. Some portions of the poem (lines 1 through 25, for instance) may have been composed as a unit, perhaps even by cAbbas Tufarganli himself. Generally, each line of the poem has sixteen syllables which can often be divided into two parts of eight syllables each.28 There is no regular stanzaic form. The only formal patterns are provided by the text. The enumeration of the seven layers of heaven and earth (lines 1 to 25) gives the listener a sense of movement and continuity. In addition, the appearance at irregular intervals of the eight syllable half lines with their end rhyme ahi provides the poem with a rough internal structure. Although such long, loosely-structured poems are rare among the songs of Turkic minstrels west of the Caspian Sea, they do exist farther to the east. The epics sung by professional minstrels among the Kirghiz and Kazakh peoples are recited in a non-strophic, recitative form known as terme. Certain songs are also composed in this style.29 CAshiq Dihqan could give me little information about the origins of the "Micrajnamah," nor could he tell me what type of poem it was. He said that the poem had been handed down sinah be sinah (chest to chest, that is, orally) for As to the poetic form, he indicated that it was years. simply
the "Micrajndmah.2Y
Nonetheless,
the tIMicrdjiY story
is known throughout the Islamic world, and is particularly popular
in Turkey.
The name I!MicrajYY properly
refers
only
to the ascension of Muhammad to heaven. The story normally does not include the description of the creation of the world in seven layers with which cAshiq Dihqan begins his recital. Quite likely, this initial folk cosmology also
has independent origins in the folk or classical literature of the region. CAshiq Dihqdn's predecessors may have combined both the story of the creation of the world and the "Micraj1" story to prove cAbbasls erudition. Or, perhaps, the real CAbbas Tufarganli actually found himself in a position to recite these pieces of folk religious history to win his bride.
239
AUTUMN1976
The source of the I'MiCr&jII story is to be found in some verses in the Koran. In Suras lxxxi 19-25, liii 1-12, and liii 13-38, there are descriptions of a heavenly messenger who appears to Muhammad. This is Gabriel of the t'Micrajnamah.It It is not explicitly stated in the Koran that Muhammadascended to heaven, however. In Sura xvii, there is a passage saying, "Praise him, who traveled in one night with his servant from the Masjid al-Haram to the Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings we blessed, in order to show him our signs." The Masjid al-Haram is in Mecca, and the Masjid al-Aqsa is in Jerusalem. Since no one could have traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem in one night, many writers have interpreted this passage to mean the Muhammad traveled from Mecca to Heaven in this length of time.30 Although the story of Muhammad's night journey to heaven rests on these Quranic passages, the details of the journey are further stated and amplified in the Hadith. The Hadith say that the Masjid al-Aqsa was the starting point for Muhammad's journey.31 The idea that Muhammad's ascension was an actual, not just a figurative journey to the seventh heaven, or throne of God, fired the imagination of the common man. Story tellers have embroidered and emthe basic ascension bellished story so that numerous versions have spread throughout the Moslem world. In "Micr&j" stories,
riding
Muhammadis usually
depicted
to heaven on a miraculous steed known as Buraq (or
The exact nature of this animal has varied through Burak). done in Herat in the fifteenth time. In paintings century, Buraq is shown as a small animal about the size of a donkey, but slighter in structure. Buraq has a human face.32 In a Uighur manuscript dating from approximately the same of Buraq is given: the following period, description Gabriel and Michael present Muhammadwith an animal named Burqg, saddled and bridled. It is smaller than a mule, but larger than a donkey, with a human face. The feet and tail resemble those of a cow.... When Buraq takes one step on the ground, he travels as far as the eye can see; when guided upwards, he flies through the air like a bird.33 IRANIAN STUDIES
240
In modern representations, Buraq is often shown as a splendid white horse with a human face, wings and peacock tail.34 In most versions
of the YIMicrijnamahI
Muhammad
passes through seven heavens accompanied by the angel Gabriel. Unlike our model, though, he is usually met at the gate to each heaven by an angel or prophet. Adam may be at the first gate, Yahya and cisa at the second, Yiisuf at the third, and so forth. Abraham often stands guard at the gate to the seventh heaven.35 In CAshiq Dihqan's "Micr&j" story, except for Muhammad'sencounter with the lion, his passage into each heaven is unimpeded, and there are no gates. Although some portions of Dihqdn's "Micrajnamah" appear to be local accretions to the basic story (such as the section in which the hairy hand comes to eat with Muhammad),other parts are parallel to passages in other For well-known versions, such as the Uighur manuscript. instance, in Dihqan's 11Micr&jn&mah,Y? there is a passage in which God and Muhammad exchange 3,000 words. Compare this with the following excerpt from the Uighur text: And the voice made me listen to 90,000 words: 30,000 about the law, 30,000 about the spiritual path, and 30,000 about the essence of truth. Then he addressed a connandment to me. He said, "Tell everyone the 30,000 words about the law. Tell those whomyou with the 30,000 words about the spiritual way. But do not tell anyone the 30,000 words concerning the essence of truth."36 The similarities between the two passages but this motif may well be widespread.
are striking,
The examination of one segment of the cAbbas Tufarganli story has shown the ways an cashig combines elements of spoken narrative, poetry, song, and instrumental performance in the presentation of an Azerbaijani dastan. He underscores the formal nature of the poetry by singing 241
AUTUMN 1976
it and accompanying this singing with the saz. By contrast, he emphasizes the extemporaneous nature of his explanatory comments by interpolating from the world in which anecdotes he and his listeners live. These explanations have two benefits: first, they enliven what might otherwise become a too erudite poetry recital, and, secondly, they allow the listeners to relate the events in these poetic dramas to their own lives. The master cdshig can combine the performance components available to him to create a dastan at once artistic and entertaining, and tailored to fit the mood of his audience.
NOTES 1.
In Turkey, the same Pronounced ashg in Azerbaijan. is used. word with Turkish orthography, ak,
2.
"The This paper is based in part on my dissertation, Musicians of Northwest Iran Music of Professional The ," University of Washington, 1976. (Azerbaijan)
information obtained is the result of work done with CAshiq Dihqan in Rezaiyeh and cAshiq Rasuil in Tabriz. 3.
Today, Azeri-speaking
people live
in the Soviet
of eastern portions Republic of Azerbaijan, Socialist of East Turkey adjacent to Iran, and the provinces in Iran. Although much of what and West Azerbaijan to Soviet Azerbaijan as well I say here is applicable it should be understood that as to Iranian Azerbaijan, area only. knowledge of the latter I have first-hand 4.
pluckfretted, saz is a long-necked, The Azerbaijani 106 cm. length, having nine ed lute of approximately Tunings divided into three courses. strings stell vary, but the most common tuning is one in which the two lower courses are tuned one whole tone lower than for instance, CAshiq Dihf, f, g. the high course, qan, a well-known performer in Rezaiyeh, removes the
two strings
from his saz's middle course which are
course. This, in effect, to the high-pitched closest low course one 4-stringed gives him two courses: IRANIAN STUDIES
242
tuned to f, and one 3-stringed high course, tuned to g. This is the tuning used in the musical example "Dubayt" (Ex. 1), and one can see that the f course is played as an open string drone, while the j course is the melody course. 5.
Mark Slobin, "Instrumental Music in Northern Afghanistan" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, UM7014644, 1969), p. 199.
6.
Stephen Blum, "The Concept of the cAsheq in Northern Khorasan," 33.
7.
Asian Music,
See Sancan M. Sadik,
Vol.
V, No. 1 (1972),
"Azerbaycan
Azerbaycan Yurt Bilgisi,
pp.
27-
Saz Sairleri,"
Vol. I, No. 2,
pp.
55-9.
8.
Pertev Naili
Boratav, "L'Epopee et la 'Hikaye,"'
Philologiae Turcicae 1965), p. 34. 9.
Fundamenta (Franz Steiner
Ilhan Basgoz, "Turkish of Minstrels," Journal (1965), p. 332.
in Verlag,
Folk Stories about the Lives of American Folklore, Vol. 65
10.
cAshiq Josef makes a point instead of "Yuisuf" because
11.
Tradition Ilhan Basgoz, "Turkish Hikaye-Telling Azerbaijan, Iran," Journal of American Folklore, 83, No. 330 (October-December 1970), p. 394.
12.
Ahmet Caferoglu, Literatur," "Die Aserbaidschanische in Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta (Franz Steiner
Verlag,
"Josef"
of being called he is Assyrian.
in Vol.
1965), p. 645.
13.
Boratav, "L'Epopee et al 'Hikaye, "' p. 30.
14.
Geoffrey Lewis, worth, England:
The Book of Dede Korkut (HarmondsPenguin, 1974), p. 18.
243
AUTUMN1976
15.
Boratav, "L'Epopee et al 'Hikaye,"'
16.
In Azerbaycan Khalg Dastanlari (Compiled and edited by M. H. Tehmasib and H. Arasli, Baku, Elm Publishing House, 1972) over one-hundred dastans are summarized.
17.
Caferoglu,
18.
Alfred B. Lord, The Singer of Tales (New York: Atheneum, 1970), p. 13.
19.
Other accounts give the following CAbbas:
"Die Aserbaidschanische
p. 24.
Literatur,"
information
p. 646.
about
One morning CAbbas swooned and yellow bubbles started foaming out of his mouth. The people of the village did not know what to think until an old lady recognized this affliction as a sign of hak vergisi (the true gift). She added that he could only be cured if a small saz were put into cAbbds's hands. Her son fetched such an instrument and no sooner was it placed in CAbbAs's hands, than he awoke and began to play. Later, CAbb&sbecame enamored of Peri, a beautiful Tabrizi girl. He had to endure many hardships to win her hand. (This passage was translated and paraphrased from Ahmet Caferoglu, "XVI-inci asir Azeri Saz,airlerinden Tufarganli Abbas," Azerbaycan Yurt Bilgisi, Vol. I, No. 10 (1932), pp. 98-101.) Another variant of the story was related by asik Dursun Cevlani. in 1960 in Turkey and was given to me by Professor Basgoz: cAbbas was the son of a wealthy merchant in Tufargan in Azerbaij an. He lost his father at seven years of age. At fourteen he was offered a love potion in a dream and, as a result, fell in love with Peri Khanum, the
IRANIANSTUDIES
244
daughter of Bahman Shah. CAbbas left his family to find her. Meanwhile, Peri was also given a love potion in a dream, and she fell in love with CAbbas. She waited for CAbbas to come for her. After a long journey, CAbb&s arrived at the palace in which Peri lived and revealed himself to her in a song. cAbbas stayed on in Bahman Shah's palace as a minstrel.
Shah Abbas, the Shah of Iran, was told of the beauty of Peri and had her brought to his court in Isfahan so that he could marry her. cAbbas In the presence of Shah Tufarganli followed. Abbas he solved a number of difficult riddles, answered questions, and proved that he had the of a God-inspired supernatural quality Cashig. Moreover, he proved that he and Peri were destined to marry one another because of their holy dreams; they were hak aqiki (supernaturally or-
dained cdshigs). Shah Abbas finally consented to their marriage, and they live happily ever after. 20.
''MicrRj!! originally meant "ladder," i.e., the ladder to which the eyes of dead men turned and by which their souls ascended to heaven (H. A. R. Gibb, Shorter
Encyclopedia
Cornell University
of Islam
Press,
[Ithaca,
New York:
1953], p. 382.)
21.
Mr. Ism4cil.cAll Faqlh of Tabriz gave me a great deal of assistance in translating my tapes of this dastan.
22.
Ilhan Bafgoz, "The Tale Singer and his Folklore Communication and Performance
Audience," (Mouton, 1975),
pp. 143-203. 23.
Pi'tches underlined are in the octave below Mi.ddle C. Pitches with an apostrophe are in the octave above and including Middle C.
24.
Azerbaijani
Iran.
Turkish
Whenwritten,
is primarily
its
script
245
a spoken
language
is Arabic.
in
Azerbaijani
AUTUMN1976
Thus, I in the Soviet Union. is written in Cyrillic for the htMiCrajhave devised my own transliteration the poem I have transliterated namah." Generally, written in Arabic script. as if it had been originally I have then added umlauts and the i sound wherever In cases where the spoken language difnecessary. fers from the standard Turkish written form (Ex. I have used arannar in Line 1 instead of erenler), the former. 25.
without would have been impossible This translation of cAshiq Dihqan, Ismac1l cAli the patient assistance all Iranian Azeri-Turkish Faqlh, and Hasan Zarflf, and Dr. Walter Andrews, of the University speakers, of Washington, Seattle.
26.
occur here because CAshiq portions The unintelligible sang facing away from the microDihqan periodically phone at the far end of the coffee house.
27.
See examples of various poem forms in Ashig Elesker, 2 vols. (Baku: Elm Publishers, compiled by Eleskerov, 1972).
28.
in The number of syllables Except is fairly uniform. 23, 27, 28, and 42, all the and the half teen syllables The last half of the poem,
29.
Viktor M. Beliaev, Central Asian Music, Translated by Greta and Mark Slobin (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1975), pp. 19, 78.
30.
H. A. R. Gibb and J. H. Kramers, Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press,
lines 1 to 42 of the poem for lines 13, 14, 21, 22, full lines contain sixlines eight syllables. however, is quite irregular.
1953),
pp. 381-2.
31.
Ibid.,
p. 382.
32.
Ernst J. Grube, The World of Islam (London: 1967), pr. 94-5.
IRANIAN STUDIES
246
Hamlin,
33.
Miradj-Nameh, after translator, Pavet de Courteille, a Uighur manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Libraire de la Societe Asiatique (Paris, 1882), pp. 2-3.
34.
See picture in Michael Rogers, The Spread of Islam 1976), p. 33. (Oxford: Elsevier-Phaidon,
35.
Gibb, 1953, p. 383.
36.
Pavet de Courteille,
p. 15.
247
AUTUMN1976
Al-e
Ahmad's
Fictional
Legacy
MichaelC. Hillmann In a twenty-four-year writing career that began in 1945 with the publication of the story "Pilgrimage" in Sukhan magazine and ended in 1969 with a heart attack at age 46, Jalal Al-e Ahmadestablished himself as a major voice in modern Persian fiction.1 His first and best known collection of short stories, The Exchange of Visits, appeared in 1946, followed in short order by Our SufferinL (1947), Sihtar (1948), and The Unwanted Woman(1952), which was reA fifth colprinted in 1964 with two additional stories. lection of stories entitled The New Generation remains unpublished, although a sampling of stories from that collection entitled Five Stories was published posthumously. The first of five longer pieces of fiction, Tale of the Beehives, was published in 1955. Three years later The School Principal appeared. Then, in 1961, came The Letter 'N' and the Pen, followed in 1968 by The Cursing of the Land, of which several chapters had previously been pubA final novel, A Stone on a Grave, relished separately. mains unpublished. if But, despite his productivity in prose fiction, the available scholarship outside of Iran may be taken as
Michael C. Hillmann is Assistant Professor in the Department of Oriental and African Languages and Literatures, The University of Texas at Austin. IRANIANSTUDIES
248
of the state of affairs in Iranian an adequate reflection studies,2 nearly a decade after his death, Al-e Ahmadremains either virtually unknown or unappreciated. During the 1950s and the early 1960s, Al-e Ahmad's name does not even appear in some seven articles surveying contemporary Persian prose literature.3 On the positive side, a number of brief discussions of Al-e Ahmadhave appeared that conof his significance stitute partial characterizations in contemporary Persian fiction.4 But even in these studies, Al-e Ahmad's achievements in fiction are not discussed in a context of familiarity with all his fictional works; and his longer works of fiction, all products of his maturer from 1954 to 1969, have not, as years as a writer, i.e., this brief essay proposes to do, been evaluated as a corpus of work in relative terms. AmongAl-e Ahmad's four published longer pieces of fiction, The School Principal is the most read and highly As a portrayal and indictment of negative asregarded.) pects of the Iranian government educational system at the local and elementary level, The School Principal holds a special place in contemporary Persian fiction by virtue of its then unprecedented direct, uncompromising realism and force in its presentation of a specific contemporary problem involving explicit social criticism, with the portrayal couched in prose of appropriate directness, vigor, and The School Principal is a book which seems informality. to have struck a chord of familiarity and recognition in many readers who discover in it a palpable verisimilitude and pieces of their own experiences.6 But in critical terms, The School Principal may be less successful as a piece of fiction than as a piece of social criticism; the reasons for this become apparent when the critic raises questions such as the following about the book: if the actual situation in elementary as Al-e Ahmaddeeducation in Iran were not essentially scribes it, what would the novel have to recommend itself? Or, when the educational system so changes as to make Al-e Ahmad's characterization of it no longer a reflection of the facts, what appeal will the novel have? In other-words, the critic can argue that Al-e Ahmadso forcefully and ex249
AUTUMN 1976
clusively maintains his issue-oriented focus of social criticism throughout The School Principal that it seems to give voice to very little about the human condition beyond the issue at hand. Specifically, the work seems to suffer from a basic flaw in the characterization of the protagonist and narrator of the action. At the outset, the reader meets the title character, a disillusioned and somewhat cynical former teacher supposedly representative of the whole class of position-seeking and bribe-giving school principals-to-be. The reader accepts this man and his personality as a premise of the subsequent action, which is basically a chronological recital
of daily events throughout most of a school year. At the story's end, the reader is expected to accept the plausibility of the new principal's resignation from the post which he strove so hard to obtain and to appreciate the fact that this nameless, friendless, humorless, almost onedimensional character has become, as one critic puts it, a complete individual, capable of making his own decisions and no longer representative of the class of unprincipled principals, a man, in short, who has undergone change as a result of the narrated experiences.7 But this may be for some readers to accept because the protagodifficult nist seems not to have been adequately motivated and deTo be sure, he veloped during the course of the story. may do the right
thing
at the end; it
is the thing
which
the reader might do. But, given the very limited development of his personality in the story, it may not be what the protagonist would necessarily and plausibly do. Reza Baraheni puts his finger on this problematic aspect of Al-e Ahmad's achievement in The School Principal in the course of the following (perhaps overstated) description of Al-e Ahmad's fiction in general: We have Al-e Ahmadwith a prose that is considerably better than Hedayat's and that perhaps is the best contemporary prose, but it is lamentable that this prose is not often put to the service of an examination of the internal workings of characters .... Sometimes.. .his characters pass in front of the reader's IRANIANSTUDIES
250
eyes like lightning without the reader being able to grasp them and give them permanence in his or her own mind. Al-e Ahmaddoesn't have the patience to describe mental and psychological situations of individuals or of society, and his distinctive tendency to surface characterization is a result of his never seeing the world from within, from the domain of hidden causes and effects. Instead of creating characters, he creates caricatures with an emphasis on the physical ridges and depressions. The School Principal is a wholly externalized work....The protagonist... lacks an interior and a psyche.8 In fine,
The School
Principal
may survive
as an
exemplary piece of social criticism and maintain its relevance for as long as its message reflects an actual set of social circumstances. But despite the force and value of this message as a limited
and despite achievement
the appeal of its prose, it stands in terms of the craft of fiction
because Al-e Ahmadchose to sacrifice aspects of character delineation for the sake of the economy and force of his critical intent. This judgment seems to hold true to a much greater degree in the case of Al-e Ahmad's longest piece of fiction, The Cursing of the Land, which, in terms of narrative, style, and critical intent, is a kind of continuation of The School Principal.9 To be sure, The Cursing of the Land has that significance which Ehsan Yarshater notes in observing that "The author's knowledge of village problems and the villagers' mentality makes the work an almost indispensable source of information on Persian rural life."10 But there is no gainsaying Baraheni's criticism that The Cursing of the Land...is the raw material of a story upon which Al-e Ahmadshould have imposed his imagination and then written... [for] despite its readability, it is a shame that Al-e Ahmadrecorded all of this material in such a formless fashion .....The Cursing of the Land lacks an internal, psy251
AUTUMN 1976
chological [the
basis
story],
Al-e
the middle of
and substance....In Ahmad is
nomist and the discussion
transformed
into
an eco-
which ensues between him-
like an essay which is self and others is exactly divided among several persons so that each person performs his own role by reading his own part.11 Tale piece of longer fiction, Al-e Ahmad's first of the four and the least is the shortest of the Beehives, A fable told as the author himself admits.12 noteworthy, mode, Tale of the Beenarrative in a "once-upon-a-time"
hives cannot, however, be altogether ignored despite its oversimplificaand allegorical brevity, superficiality, exit is a representative as a folk-tale First, tion. in the conample of a form which has regained popularity seems clearly Second, the allegory temporary period.13 a subj ect of obvious and special to refer to Iranian oil, Third, publication.14 at the time of the story's relevance
and allegory, Tale of the Beehives served as both folk-tale Al-e Ahmadas an experiment in the form which he was later to develop
and employ more effectively
in The Letter
and the Pen, the novel which may warrant ap2reciation Al-e Ahmad's best piece of longer fiction. Al-e Ahmad.himself both expressed particular
"N"
as satis-
with The Letter "N" and the Pen16 and, in several faction comments about its provided readers with telling places, On the subject of its style and narform and contents.
rative
point of view, he observes:
"If its prose seems
it is because I took the language of the masses. special, The language and simple. Yek1 bud yeki nabiud. Straight of The Letter "N" and the Pen is not me. I made use of for usAs for his motivation substance."_7 an existing alledistant, form and temporally ing such a narrative "I escaped inAl-e Ahmad openly admits: setting, gorical was not able to such a metaphor because I had no choice--I it as it was."'18 despite his cauUnfortunately, to tell tion, the bulk of the copies of The Letter "N" and the line the shelves of its publisher's Pen presumably still And the book remains almost unknown warehouse in Tehran. imAs for the allegorical years after its publication. at least two theport of the story, Al-e Ahmad reveals IRANIAN STUDIES
252
matic intents which alone could have made the book a subject of scrutiny scientists by Iranologist political and he asserts in the essay Gharbzadegi historians. First, most influential (Weststruckness)--his piece of prose non-fict i o n--that the story depicts the effects that historically have followed from the official linking of church and the Iranian state with the advent of the Safavids, that is to say, the creation of a society that was no longer willing to suffer for principles and ideals, but which prefer-19 red to pay lip service to past heroes and martyrs instead. Secondly, in an important autobiographical essay in Jahan-i Naw magazine, Al-e Ahmad asserts that The Letter "N" and the Pen portrays the course of the defeat of the leftist movements in Iran after World War II.20 The Letter "N" and the Pen begins with a variant of a famous Iranian folk tale that Al-e Ahmad relates in
the following
way:
Once upon a time a shepherd was passing by a city where a great commotion was taking place. He drew closer to see what was happening. Suddenly a falcon swooped down and landed on his head, drawing the crowd's attention to
him. molten
The cause of the commotion was that a week earlier lead had been poured down a vizier's
his successor
was now being chosen.
throat,
and
So the shepherd be-
came a vizier and, owing to his honesty, he and his family prospered till it came time for a successor to take his place, which is to say when the shepherd-vizier was poisoned. The dying vizier's last words were advice to his sons neither to be seduced by the appurtenances of political power nor to forget from where they had come. Sub-
sequently, the shepherd's family returned to their village, but his sons, having been raised in the city, were unable to adjust to rural life; so they sold their land, returned to the city, barked upon a career
and, lacking any other of running a school.
skills,
em-
The tale of the shepherd-vizier, as the narrator tells the reader at this point, is a mere prologue to The Letter "N" and the Pen. As a prologue, it establishes the narrative mode and point of view of the main action to 253
AUTUMN1976
For although the main story takes place in a time follow. and place different from that of the shepherd-vizier tale, Iranithe prologue prepares the reader for a traditional and on the subject of the ways of politics an folk-tale become actors in the political how people involuntarily arena. Further, with the allusion in the title Nuinva alQalam to the power of the pen described in the Koranic chapter of that name, the reader is prepared to meet the two scribal protagonists of the main tale who, like the shepherd, are to suddenly become entangled in the web of politics. The Letter "N" and the Pen is the story of two scribes, Asad Allah and Abd al-Zaki, who plied their trade near two entrances of the major mosque in a large city. They had grown up together, had roughly equal talents, and Otherwise, they were poles apart in terms were friends. and philosophy of material circumstances, social position, of life. Asad Allah, his wife, and their two children lived Amongtheir in a small, two-room house plainly furnished. coat, a shepherd's few possessions were a torn, sleeveless pair of shepherd's thonged footgear, and a knotted staff, objects Asad Allah's wife never understood her husband's were attachment to. The bulk of Asad Allah's clientele poorer people wishing to address petitions and complaints Times were such that reto various government agencies. quests for these sorts of services were numerous. During career as a scribe, on three ocAsad Allah's fifteen-year casions only had he been party to a transaction of some On the third of these occasions he had proconsequence. voked the ire of the city's leading religious figure, the Mizan al-Sharicah, by independently preparing the will of a Hajji, part of whose estate the government had hoped to confiscate. Consequently, the Mizan al-Sharicah had wanted Asad Allah flogged but was dissuaded by a group of local elders. Abd al-Zaki and his wife, a couple whose childlessness had seriously harmed their marriage, had a six-room house, and Abd al-Zaki's office was well located in the IRANIANSTUDIES
254
bazaar. Because his wife was a relative of Khanlar Khan, an intimate of the royal court slated to become the next poet laureate, Abd al-Zaki handled a large amount of business for society people. One day Asad Allah was at his shop with his young In a conversason Hamid, who was busy with schoolwork. tion between them the subject of wealth and inheritance came up, and Asad Allah informed his son that it was fate that had dictated that their family was not wealthy. Later that day, Asad Allah visited the office of Abd al-Zaki. After an exchange of remarks about the political situation, the tyranny and corruption of the government of the day, and the emergence of an increasingly popular, secret, heretical, and egalitarian group called the Qalandars, Abd al-Zaki described the recent death of an important Hajji, the settling of whose estate some distance from the city was to be the responsibility of the two scribes, although he considered it prudent that the Mizan al-Sharicah not be informed in advance of Asad Allah's role in the enterprise. At this point, a villager whose mule had been confiscated by the government burst into the office in bewildered indignation and told the scribes his plight. Abd al-Zaki lost patience with him, but Asad Allah prepared a would petition for him and also explained that officials have to be bribed if he expected to get his mule back. When the villager had left, Abd al-Zaki broached the subject of his marital woes and his thoughts of divorce. He ventured the opinion that a four-month liaison with a servant girl in his youth might have caused his sterility. Asad Allah recommended that his relative Khan Da'i examine Abd al-Zaki the next day. That evening, Asad Allah explained the situation to his wife and urged her to visit Abd al-Zaki's wife the following morning to persuade her to set up a carpet loom and business as a means of taking her mind off her problems. Asad Allah's wife did so, while the three men, Asad Allah, Abd al-Zaki and Khan Da'i, met in privacy at Asad Allah's 255
AUTUMN1976
house. Khan Da'i examined Abd al-Zaki, and concluded that nothing was wrong with him, and recommended that he take a trip. Asad Allah then revealed that the two of them were in fact planning a trip to the deceased Hajji's estate in the country. Khan Da'i told the scribes that the Hajji did not die of natural causes, but was poisoned, probably by government agents, and that the Hajji and his sons apparently were involved in the Qalandar movement. The purpose of this detailed review of the preliminaries to the basic action of the story has been to demonstrate how the unhurried pace and gradual momentum, together with the balanced contrast of the lives and personalities of the two protagonists, create and develop the folk tale quality of the story. The very human, everyday details and concerns with which the characters are fleshed out lends to the narrative, up to this point, a texture of credibility, and to the following action a retrospective plausibility that may be lacking in The School Principal. Finally, the very form and narrative point of view of the Iranian folk tale, which involves a who maintains direct verbal personable narrator-reporter contact with the audience, offers Al-e Ahmada natural desince the folktachment from the characters, especially tale narrator is generally a stock character who merely This relates and embellishes stories heard from others. detachment or what may be called aesthetic distance makes it possible for Al-e Ahmadto avoid speaking with his own voice and merging his own personality as a social critic with that of his characters. Perhaps it was this lack of distance that in The School Principal and The Cursing of the Land caused the flaws in character motivation and plausibility that were mentioned earlier. All of these factors afford The Letter "N" and the as fiction of proving more effective Pen the potentiality As sothan Al-e Ahmad's other longer works of fiction. cial criticism, despite its allegorical mode, it may be as pertinent and timely as The School Principal and The Cursing of the Land; but that is a critical question beyond the scope of this discussion. Instead, attention here is focused on the development of one major theme in IRANIANSTUDIES
256
the novel which may itself constitute another reason for the success of The Letter "N" and the Pen as fiction. The basic action of The Letter "N" and the Pen is revolution and how Asad Allah and Abd al-Zaki, among others, including the populace, are caught up in it. The Qalanders seized control of the city and attempted to establish a government of justice and concern for the rights of all. The two scribes whose honest characters were revealed by their refusal to compromise their integrity as scribes in the matter of the murdered Hajji's estate found themselves important and trusted administrators in the new government, roles which they had never sought but yet conscientiously executed. During the days of the rule of the Qalanders, the events vividly reveal the persisting of Asad Allah and his continself-reliance uing mistrust of the institution of government, even that of the Qalandars with all their good intentions, the initial opportunism and social climbing of Abd al-Zaki which turns into an enthusiasm and faith in the Qalandar cause (Abd al-Zaki may be a follower at heart, but a man of courage nonetheless), the unprincipled ambition, and sychophantic hypocrisy of Khanlar Khan, the materialistic villainy of the Mizan al-Sharicah, the unwavering faith of the Qalandar Hasan Aqa and the suspicious and timidity of the populace as a whole. lack of social responsibility Eventually, because of the lack of popular of the secret agents and through the machinations
support of the
ousted government, the revolution failed, and undramatiBut the Qalandars, who maintained their cally at that. principles to the end, recognized that their cause was lost and that resistance would mean the massacre of thousands, decided to emigrate to India. The day after the fall of the Qalandars, the old regime of corruption and injustice returned to power. Abd al-Zaki and Hasan Aqa accompanied the Qalandars to India. Other participants in the revolution were meted cruel deaths. of Khan Da'i, Asad Allah was Through the efforts saved from execution and sentenced to exile. On the day of his exile, Khan Da'i and Asad Allah's son Hamid brought 257
AUTUMN1976
those curious shepherd's accoutrements to the city gate where Asad Allah donned them and left for the wilderness never to return, destined to pursue a life of mendicant independence and self-reliance. Here the story ends. But the narrator has an epilogue. to the prologue, thus forming an effective
basic story,
and reports
It hearkens back frame for the
the fate of the shepherd-vizier's
sons, one of whom became poet laureate and the other, who was more self-reliant, stayed with the school business. The narrator reveals that some people assume that the latter was the actual author of the The Letter "N" and the Pen, while others are of the opinion that either Abd alZaki or Asad Allah wrote it. One strong piece of evidence for the attribution of the story to Asad Allah is the existence, the narrator tells us, of the following message
at the end of one of the manuscripts addressed to Hamid by Asad Allah.
It reads:
"Dear Son, if
you remember, one
day we talked about inheritance and I made some remarks you probably did not comprehend. In any case, this tale is my legacy
to you."
is the theme of the story, The legacy, obviously, of the actions, and that theme emerges from a consideration reactions and motivations of the characters. Asad Allah to and Abd al-Zaki are obliged by force of circumstance of the Qalandars and in the take part in the revolution brief period of their abortive rule to assume real politi-
cal responsibility and power. Even Asad Allah who repeatedly declares his suspicion of any sort of government, has a deep distaste for political power, and doubts that can really be just, is one day any political institution responsible for commanding troops to fire upon a group of Of the major characters, only Hasan Aqa is the populace. motivated from the beginning by a conviction in the cause and and concern for the future of his family and society and revolution the optimism that political resistance can He rebels for the purpose of introbring a better life. ducing justice in government and is inspired by his faith in the beliefs of the Qalandars. The Mizan al-Sharicah and Khanlar Khan have their own credible roles as men of inThen there are the people trigue, hypocrisy and self-interest. IRANIAN STUDIES
258
who, as a group, are generally suspicious of new ideas and change and unprepared to struggle long and hard or to sacrifice themselves for the sake of principles or beliefs; in addition, they are capable of hoarding, rumor-mongering, unwarranted fear, and hypocrisy, but they are not basically evil--they are merely pawns, capable of only the most cautious movement, and that at the insistence or threats of those with power, and only momentarily concerned with the fate of others. In this they are like the chickens left behind each time in Chubak's "The Cage," after the huge, hairy hand has gone. (Of course, unlike the chickens, people have a potential collective power of which they may be unaware.) One major theme of The Letter "N" and the Pen, thus, seems to be the very natural desire of the powerless majority for a life free of uncertainty and the confusion of change. When that is impossible and when one's fate is suffering and oppression, it is a thesis of The Letter "N" and the Pen that the masses generally prefer to endure hardships and oppression fatalistically, to undertake a defense of their personal rights only to assure personal survival, to avoid death at whatever cost, and to mistrust causes, even those apparently in their best interests. In contrast with the people as a whole and with the political elite (an equally self-interested and survival-conscious group), Asad Allah and Abd al-Zaki, when challenged to live up to their professional and personal codes, are prepared to use their particular skill and weapon, the pen, and devote themselves totally to the new cause. With the defeat of the Qalandars, the two scribes go their separate ways. Abd al-Zaki leaves with the enthusiasm and new meaning in life that the Qalandar cause had given him. Asad Allah leaves as he came, doubtful that political institutions can ever be or remain just. For him, it probably would not have mattered had the Qalandars succeeded in their revolution, for injustice and the corrupting effects of power would inevitably have become part of the Qalandar system, and their every act inevitably would have favored some and inconvenienced or If Asad Allah's view of humankind as oppressed others. 259
AUTUMN 1976
a social and political animal is true, it is a simple, yet bitter legacy which .he leaves for his son Hamid. It is a legacy that is both "once upon a time" and very much part of today. It is a shame Al-e Ahmadchose not to reveal what the Hamid of "once upon a time" did with his legacy or what he expected the Hamids of today to do with it. Besides this legacy, The Letter "N" and the Pen and Al-e Ahmad's other longer works of fiction offer clear evidence of the importance of the scrutiny of all his fiction both as relevant engage statements on Iranian society and as relatively significant achievements in the craft of fiction. Reflection on these fictional works should also prompt second thoughts about three popular views of Al-e Ahmadin particular and the course of modernist Persian fiction in general: when (1) that modern Persian fiction, as fiction, effective owes little directly to the Iranian literary past;21 (2) that Al-e Ahmadand other major writers of fiction active during the 1941-1953 period have in subsequent "social" writing "changed their method and style";22 and (3) that Al-e Ahmad, along with a number of was a "revolutionother major Iranian writers of fiction, ary" artist.23 NOTES 1. The exclusive focus in this article on Al-e Ahmad's fiction does not imply an imputation of greater sighis conworks vis-a-vis nificance to his fictional which receives siderable corpus of non-fiction, scrutiny in this writer's forthcoming Jalal critical and Forugh: 2.
of
Spokespersons
the
Iranian
1960s.
and retreatments numerous brief besides In Persian, is Anthere works, views of Al-e Ahmad's fictional of the whole issue va Honar 5, No. 4 (1964), dishah after Unfortunately, to Al-e Ahmad. which is devoted Ahmad's works in no critical study of Al-e his death, of the because as one would expect, Iran developed to allow commeunwillingness apparent government's
IRANIAN STUDIES
260
morative issues of journals and studies on Al-e Ahmad to appear. Nevertheless, during the years after his death, Al-e Ahmad's popularity among university and other
non-establishment
readership cording
rawshanfikr
has proved unflagging.
to Firdawsi
(intelligentsia)
For example, ac-
25, No. 1152 (February
18,
1974):
23, more than 30,000 copies of the fifth printing of The School Principal were sold during the April 1973 to January 3.
1974 period.
Rahmat Mostafavi, "Fiction in Contemporary Persian Literature," Middle Eastern Affairs 2 (1951):273-279; Peter W. Avery, "Developments in Modern Persian Prose," The Muslim World 45 (1955) :313-323; Mansour Shaki, "An Introduction to the Modern Persian Literature," Charisteria Orientalia Jan Rypka, ed. Felix Tauer (Prague: Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved, 1956), pp. 300-315; Sa'id
Nafisi, "A General Survey of the Existing Situation in Persian Literature," Bulletin of the Institute of Islamic Studies, No. 1 (1957):13-25; Ehsan Yarshater, "Persian Letters in the Last Fifty Years," Middle Eastern Affairs 11 (1960):298-306; Alessandro Bausani, "Europe and Iran in Contemporary Persian Literature," East and West, N.S. 11 (1960):3-14; and Franciszek Machalski, "Principaux courants de la prose persane moderne," Rocznik Orientalyczny 25, No. 2 (1961):121130. In the middle 1960s, Hasan Kamshad, Modern Persian Prose Literature (Cambridge: University Press, 1966), p. 125, is still referring to Al-e Ahmad as one of the "younger generation of writers" and mistakenly terms the allegorical Tale of the Beehives of stories; (1954) a collection Annette Destree, "Les
tendences actuelles de la litterature persane," Correspondence d'Orient: Etudes 11-12 (1967):30, footnote No. 1, makes the same mistake. The evidence that these scholars apparently indicates had not read Tale of the Beehives, just as Franciszek Machalski, "Principaux genres et especes de la prose persane contemporaine," 25th International Congress of Orientalists 1960 (Moscow, 1963) 2:279, seems not to
have read the short story collection Our Suffering, which he calls a novel. More significantly, in 261
AUTUMN1976
Kamshad's history of Modern Persian Prose Literature, only two of 226 pages are devoted to Al-e Ahmadwhile, Hejazi. for example, twelve pages are given to Mohammad In the 1968 revised English edition of Jan Rypka's History of Iranian Literature (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1968), p. 416, in the course of a sixty-page survey Vera Kubickova of 20th-century Persian literature, dismisses Al-e Ahmadin a single sentence, and that one sentence is misleading in that it cites Our Suffering as the work with which he launched his writing Finally, in a recent article on modern Percareer. in The Encyclopedia of Islam: New sian literature the Edition 4 (1973):70-75 (in which, incredibly, name of Gholamhoseyn Sa'edi does not even appear in the discussions of contemporary fiction and drama), Al-e Ahmadagain receives mention only in passing. 4.
For example, Milos Borecky, "Persian Prose Since 1946," Middle East Journal 7 (1953):240-241; Henry D. G. Law, "Introductory Essay: Persian Writers," Life and Letters and the London Mercury 63 (December 1949):199-200; G. J. Monnot, "Jalal Al-e AImad, ecrivain iranien d'audjourd'hui," Melanges de l'Institut domincain d'etudes orientales du Caire 9 (1967): "HumanValues in the 221-225; G. R. Sabri-Tabrizi, Works of Two Persian Writers," Correspondance D'Orient: Actes, No. 11 (1970):411-418; Girdhari Tikku, "Some Themes in Modern Persian Fiction," Socio-religious Islam and Its Cultural Divergence (Urbana: Univer1971), pp. 171-176; Ehsan Yarshater, sity of Illinois, "The Modern Literary Idiom," Iran Faces the Seventies (New York: Praeger, 1971), pp. 305-308; Mas'ud Zavarzadeh, "The Persian Short Story since the Second World War: An Overview," The Muslim World 58 (1968) :311312; and Michael Hillmann, "Introduction," The School Principal (Minneapolis and Chicago: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1974), pp. 7-32.
5.
It is available in John K. Newton's translation The School Principal (Minneapolis & Chicago: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1974); the reader is advised of Jerome W. Clinton's negative appraisal of the translation and
IRANIAN STUDIES
262
some aspects Studies
of my introduction
8 (1975):191-196
to it in Iranian
(naturally,
I do not agree
with Mr. Clinton's assessment and am even at a loss for words with which to respond to Mr. Clinton's suggestion that my positive view of Mr. Newton's translation had something to do with personal friendship). For the reader who does not know Persian, besides The School Principal, the following works by Al-e Ahmad are available in English translations: "The China Flowerpot," tr. Michael Hillmann, in "Introduction," The School Principal, pp. 8-12; "The Pilgrimage," tr.
H. D. G. Law, Life and Letters, pp. 202-209; "The Old ManWas Our Eyes," tr. Thomas M. Ricks, The Literary Review 19, pt. 1 (Fall 1974):115-128; "Someone Else's Child," tr. T. S. Gouchenour, Iranian Studies 1 (1968): 155-62; and "What Are Education and the University Accomplishing?," tr. Michael Hillmann, in "Introduction," The School Principal, pp. 13-18. Forthcoming translations from Al-e Ahmad's works include: "The Hedayat of The Blind
Owl," in Hedayat's
'The Blind
Owl
Forty Years After (Austin: University of Texas, 1977), three stories in Major Voices in Contemorary Persian Literature (Minneapolis Chicago: p Bibliotheca Islamica, 1977), and several stories in "The Persian Short Story," Literature
East and West,
ed. M. A. Jazayery
(forthcoming).
6.
reviewer in "Mudir-e Madraseh," One unidentified Rahnama-yi Kitab 1 (1958):119, almost apologetically the veracity of the picture which Al-e Ahcertifies Muhammad cAll Jamalzadah, "Mudir-e Madmad paints. 1 (1958):174, observes that Kitdb raseh," hamye success of The School Principal lies in the Al-e Ahmad's comprehensive realism and total avoidance of the sentimental and melodramatic.
7.
Reza Baraheni, Qissah-nivisi, Ashrafi, 1969), p. 291.
8.
Ibid.,
9.
Michael Hillmann, "Introduction," The School Princi, pp. 23-24, translates the opening scene of The
2nd ed. (Tehran:
pp. 442-43.
263
AUTUMN1976
Cursing of the Land and briefly discusses between it and The School Principal.
similarities
10.
Yarshater,
11.
Baraheni,
12.
Jalal Al-e Ahmad, "Guftugil ba Jalal Al-i Ahmad," Andishah va Honar 5, No. 4 (1964/65):393.
13.
L. P. Elwell-Sutton,,"The Influence
"The Modern Literary Qiah-niv`isi,
Idiom," p. 307.
pp. 443-44.
of Folk-tale
and Leg-
end on Modern Persian Literature," Iran and Islam, ed. C. E. Bosworth (Edinburgh, 1971), pp. 251-52, notes that the Tale of the Beehives embodies "the folk-tale form as a vehicle for...social criticism," but gratuitously adds that it "was no doubt suggested by Karel
Capek's Insect
Play.
14.
Jalil Al-e Ahmad, Arzydbi-yi 1965), p. 78; Sabri-Tabrizi,
15.
This view contradicts the prevailing opinion in Iran, and Shamim Bahar, "Mudir-i Madraseh va Nun va al-Qalam va Jalal Al-i Alhmad," Andishah va Hunar, pp. 490504, goes so far as to call the book a failure. But,
Shitabzadah (Tabriz, "HumanValues," p. 414.
as this writer experienced in delivering papers on the subject at the Tehran Central Youth Palce (August 1973) and the Fourth Annual Iranology Congress in Shiraz (September 1973), Iranian readers are nonetheless receptive to a reevaluation of The Letter "N" and the Pen and a reappraisal of its place in Al-e A1mad's fiction. And Amin Banani, during a Society of Iranian Studies panel discussion at the Middle East Studies Association 1974 Annual Meeting (Boston, November 7, 1974), even stated that The Letter "N"
and the Pen may well be Al-e Ahmad's best piece of longer fiction, although he feels that the use of traditional folk-tale phrases and narrator comments is somewhat excessive and heavy-handed, thus constituting a possible flaw in the story. 16.
Al-e Ahmad, Arzyabi, pp. 104-105.
IRANIAN STUDIES
264
17.
Ibid.,
p. 93.
18.
Ibid.,
pp. 93 and 100.
19.
Al-e Ahmad, Gharbz dagi, p. 23.
20.
Idem, "Masalan Sharl-i 3 (1969) :7.
21.
The question is briefly discussed in Michael Hillmann, "Persian Prose Fiction: Iran's Contemporary Mirror and Conscience," Highlights of Persian Literature, ed. Ehsan Yarshater (forthcoming).
22.
James A. Bill, The Politics Merrill, 1972), p. 76.
23.
Thomas Ricks, "Samad Bihrangi and Contemporary Iran: The Artist in Revolutionary Struggle," The Little Black Fish and Other Modern Persian Stories by Samad Behrangi (Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1976), pp. 97 and 110.
A4vilit,"
265
Jahin-e Naw 24, No.
of Iran (Columbus, Ohio:
AUTUMN1976
Recent Boir
Economic Ahmad:
Without
Changes
in
Growth
Regional
Development ReinholdL. Loeffler
I concluded my previous paper on this subject with the remark that the people of Boir Ahmad, faced with the of new land, depletion of their pastures, the unavailability of obtaining higher education, and the low the difficulty wages earned from migrant labor, were looking toward the future trusting a merciful God to open, as they say, five doors for each one that was closed. That was in 1971. Since then, doors have indeed been opening up for the people of Boir Ahmad, a process which is filling them with new expectations for the future, but which is also changing basically the structure of their traditional way of life. These changes are most pronounced in the western and eastern parts of Boir Ahmad, i.e., in the nearer and farther environs of the administrative centers of Yasuj and Deh Dasht. In the present paper I shall describe these changes, using as an example a village 36 kilometers to the northwest of Yasuj, the Deh Bozorg Sisakht, commonly called Sisakht, the largest village of Boir Ahmad (pop. in 1976: I shall first refer to the changes in the tradi2596). tional subsistence economy, and then turn to the new eco- 2 nomic opportunities, the newly opening doors, as it were.
Reinhold L. Loeffler is Associate at Western Michigan University.
IRANIANSTUDIES
266
Professor
of Anthropology
has changed in the In the area of agriculture little mode of the traditional past several years. Basically, agricultural production and the problems of development associated with it, as outlined in my previous article, still prevail. No change has occurred toward high-yield crops, extension of potentially profitable vineyards and orchards, scientific methods of production, land consolidation, cooperative methods of production, or dependable market arrangements. Nor are there any changes in sight. Not that development plans do not exist; in fact, almost every government office in Yasuj has prepared one and submitted it to its ministry in Teheran. However, not only with do they seem to differ widely in their suggestions, of some neglecting the specific ecological characteristics the area, but in due course all seem to end up in the archives of Teheran. On the other hand, government policies that do become operative may even work to the detriment of agricultural development. The price freeze on food items is a case in point. Because of the price freeze, more for his grapes today than a peasant receives little in he did five years ago, although the general inflation this period has been about 100 percent. Thus, as in the past, the peasants have been left largely to their own devices. Although the use of fertiand a tractor, acquirlizers has become almost universal, ed by a partnership of peasants, is used for some of the plowing and chopping of wheat, net incomes have hardly t o be increased. In view of the other opportunities outlined below, labor investment in agriculture no longer appears very profitable. Consequently, the production of sugar beets, which requires considerable labor input, has declined, although prices paid for this cash crop have tripled. While agriculture remains more or less unchanged, In fact, it seems animal herding is sharply declining. The traditional that this door is definitely closing. herding system of Sisakht is a form of transhumance. In spring, families move to "herding outposts," small settlements of crude houses and stables at a distance of a one-to three-hour's walk from the village. In late spring, they 267
AUTUMN 1976
move higher into the mountains,dwelling in branch huts (kapar) or, more recently, in Western-style tents. Midsummer finds them drawing closer to the village, using harvested fields as pasture, and with the beginning of fall they again move into the spring outposts for one or two months. Then, for the winter, sheep, women and children return to the village while the men of each herding unit take turns tending the goats in the outposts where the animals can feed on branch tips and twigs of trees and bushes.
In the summer of 1970, 123 households, then 33 percent of the total number of households, engaged in this type of outpost herding. The rest--usually families with herds under eighteen sheep and goats--herded them from the village itself because they felt that with such a small number of animals, the gains from the better pastures would be insufficient to compensate for the higher labor requirements and shepherd costs. By the summer of 1976
the number of households involved in the transhumance cycle had dropped to 55, a mere 12.6 percent of all households in the village, and many of these were determined, or at least strongly considering, to sell all or most of their stock in the fall of that year and to give up outpost herding for good. Already, the outpost houses were being torn down for firewood, and the local butcher, who in the past always had difficulty animals for obtaining slaughter, was flooded with more offers than he could accept. in animal husThe major reasons for this decline bandry seem to be the following: (1) decreased productiof shepherds. and (3) unavailability vity, (2) high risk, in some detail below. These are discussed income flation edly a clarified almost
As Table 1 shows, the gross Decreased_productivity. from herding has not kept pace with the general inThis has been undoubtrate of about 100 percent. of the recent price freeze. The price of result in 1970, which had been 200 rials/kg butter, doubled by 1974, but in 1975 it was reduced to
IRANIAN STUDIES
268
300 rials/kg. Similarly, the price of kashk rose from 110 rials/man in 1970 to 310 rials in 1974 and was reduced to 220 rials in 1975. TABLE 1 INCOME(IN RIALS) FROMA HERDOF 30 MILK-GIVING ANIMALSIN 1970 AND 1976
Gross income Operating costs Net gain
For details,
1970
1976
Percent Increase
39,130 6,500 32,630
66, 600 27,500 39,100
70 323 20
see Note 3.
These figures also indicate that the operating costs of herding have increased prohibitively. As the detailed tabulation (Note 3) shows, this has been mainly a consequence of two factors, the necessity to buy winter fodder, and higher wages for shepherds. The need to buy winter fodder, mainly dry pulp from the sugar factory in Yasuj, has sharply increased in the last five years as a consequence of the increasing depletion of the pastures and the later growth of vegetation in spring. The wages of shepherdsand the amount of the gifts which have to be given to their families have increased sharply in the last two years since migrant labor has become a more lucrative alternative. The young males are now able to earn good wages in the cities and consequently their families can ask higher compensations for their services than before. As the costs of shepherding increase, form of animal husbandry, as however, the traditional practiced in Boir Ahmad, is becoming less feasible. It seems to be profitable only when free or cheap labor is 269
AUTUMN 1976
e.g., a son herding the family flocks, but even available, then the yield is far too small to compete with industrial labor wages. The combined effect of suppressed gross income and higher operating costs is a net increase in gain from six less than the general inyears ago of only 20 percent--far This means that the present yield from flation increase. to maintain the livanimal husbandry is even insufficient ing standard of six years ago. But even if it were, people As I pointed out in my with it. would not be satisfied expectations had already tended to transprevious article, ways and means of life in 1971. By cend the traditional for now they have greatly exceeded that level, especially form of Since the traditional the younger generation. it is these expectations, animal husbandry cannot fulfill being discarded in favor of occupations that can. The risks of animal herding under the High Risks. prevailing conditions of an erratic climate and an absence In of effective disease control have always been great. the last few years they have apparently even increased. Epidemic diseases now appear more frequently than previously, and the scarcity of food as a consequence of the depletion of pasturage makes the animals increasingly to them. Especially in late winter and early susceptible spring when the animals are weak due to the new inadequacy of winter fodder and the delay of the growth of vegenew grass now appears 20 to 25 days later than tation--the In are ravaging the herds every year. in 1970--diseases the spring of 1971, which was also a catastrophic year in Fars, an estimated 25 to 30 percent of all adult animals and an even greater percentage of the newborns died in The following years have not been as disastrous, Sisakht. but bad enough to force household after household to give In late winter of outpost herding. up its traditional 1976 a disease, or combination of diseases and malnutrition, caused the loss of about 20 percent of the young. and maybe alThus, animal husbandry is presently, ways has been, operated with an unprofitably high casualty IRANIANSTUDIES
270
The veterinary service, established in Yasuj eight rate. years ago, has not altered this situation. Now there is even an office in Sisakht itself, complete with new concrete building, expensive equipment, and three well-salaried officials, but the latter do not make regular checkups, do not visit the outposts, and in general prove conspicuously absent when most needed. The peasants, again left largely to their own devices in this area, buy Terramycin from the office and inject it themselves when they feel it would help, but are unable to stem the tide of an epidemic. In sum, the high risk of animal husbandry makes this occupation increasingly unattractive. The cases of the few young peasants who had used their Kuwait-earned savings to buy livestock which they subsequently lost in epidemics serve as exemplary warnings against investing in such a project. of Shepherds. The Sisakhtis' Unavailability in finding shepherds is at least in part redifficulty lated to the high value that they place on the education of their sons. School attendance for boys of elementary school age, the usual age of the shepherds in Boir Ahmad, was already 86 p e r c e n t in 1966 . By 1970 strong social disapproval of using sons as year-round shepherds had developed. Few fathers in fact did so, and in 1976 they expressed their remorse for "having destroyed" the future of their sons. Instead of their sons,.Sisakhtis have been employing boys from neighboring tribes as shepherds and paying them a low wage in kind. Now that these boys have found access to better-paying jobs, the number of such potential shepherds is rapidly diminishing. Shepherds tend to run away before their contract term is up, and replacements are both expensive and difficult to find. This leaves the Sisakhti herd-owners with only one alternative: to tend the animals themselves. Practically all those who maintain their herds from the village, and an increasing number in the outposts, are now forced to do so, taking turns with the other men in the herding unit. But shepherding has always been considered an inappropriate and even undignified occupation for men. In addi271
AUTUMN 1976
tion, they feel that by engaging in some wage labor instead of taking their turn as shepherds, they are able to earn much more. Thus, this solution is not likely to be a lasting one, and if another is not found, it would be an additional reason for the decline of animal husbandry. The above three factors combine to induce peasants to leave this branch of their traditional economy. Nevertheless, as the statistics show, it could be turned into a profitable enterprise if the various rel'evant operations were to be modernized in ecologically adaptive forms, as I have suggested in an earlier article.4 For this, however, government or entrepreneurial initiative would be necessary. In the absence of such initiative, the solution to these problems is beyond the ability of the individual peasant. He is adapting by giving up this activity and turning to the newly accessible opportunities. This brings us, at last, to the doors that have opened. In order to adhere to the number given in the abovementioned Boir Ahmadsaying, I shall describe five such new doors: (1) education and employment, (2) entrepreneurship, (3) migrant and local labor, (4) services, and (5) loans. (1) Education and Employment. Since 1931 when the local landlord persuaded the government to send a teacher to the village--quite an unusual occurrence for tribal areas at the time--Sisakhtis have placed a high value on the education of their children, especially their sons. As mentioned above, as early as 1966, when elementary school attendance for boys in the rural areas of Boir Ahmadand Kuhgiluye as a whole was only 34 percent,5 the percentage for Sisakht was 86 percent and it has now reached 98 percent, i.e., all the boys who are not physically or In the past, however, psychically handicapped attend school. there was the problem of the availability of high school education for which the boys had to be sent to a town or a city, in most cases Shahreza. This placed a heavy financial burden on their families, although the students could live on a mere thirteen dollars per month. IRANIANSTUDIES
272
First, in the Since then two things have occurred. fall of 1971, Sisakht obtained its own junior high school, which enabled also boys frompoorer families (and, for the first Secondly, the general increase in time, girls) to attend. of loans, and most cash earnings, the greater availability recently, the existence of free boarding-schools permitted a larger number of boys to go elsewhere for senior high As Table 2 shows, the net effect has been a sigschool. the nificant increase of overall high school attendance: proportion of high school students in the total male population of the relevant age groups rose from 41 percent to 66 percent. TABLE2 FORBOYSIN 1971 AND1976 ATTENDANCE HIGHSCHOOL 1971 Number Percent* Junior High School Senior High School Total High School *Percent of total age groups.
33 19 52
49 33 41
male population
1976 Number Percent* 94 54 148
80 52 66
in the respective
In addition, the Ministry of Education is planto establish a senior high school in Sisakht in the ning fall of 1976. When these grades b eco me available locally, most students now in junior high school can be exSince attendance there pected to continue their studies. is now 80 percent, one can safely predict that in three years from now at least 70 percent of the upcoming male generation of Sisakht will obtain a high school diploma. A certain percentage of these may well continue with higher education. 273
1976 AUTUMN
Job opportunities for high school graduates are excellent at the present time, and everyone is able to find employment. But even with only a ninth grade or elementary of governschool education, there exists the possibility ment employment. Thus, Sisakhtis now earn salaries from a variety of jobs, the majority of which are connected with they hold positions the government. In the village itself as teachers in kindergarten, elementary and evening schools, school inand school janitors, secretaries, as directors, managovernor, district the of spectors, representatives ger of the local cooperative society, agents in the Office of Agricultural Development, midwives, forest rangers, mainly in gamekeepers, and postmen. Outside the village, center of Yasuj, they serve as officials, the administrative clerks, engineers, drivers, and in similar capacities in (Education, Cooperatives, Agrivarious government offices and in etc.), cultural Development, Housing, Electricity, private engineering and contracting firms, banks, and the However, most of them maintain their resisugar factory. dence and households in Sisakht. The number of these employees is rising sharply. For example, in the case of the elementary schools, the staff consisted of seven teachers in 1966, and nine in 1971, but by 1976 it had increased to seventeen teachers, an inspector, and a full-time principal, two secretaries, two janitors; all but three of these positions were fillSalaries have also increased significanted by Sisakhtis. ly. Teachers who earned approximately 5,000 rials/month in 1971 are now receiving between 25,000 and 30,000 rials. Since these salaries greatly exceed their present consumpby produce from tion needs, which are largely satisfied teachers now have a contheir own land and livestock, siderable amount of capital available for investment purposes. In the last few years a number (2) Entrepreneurs. teachof Sisakhtis from different backgrounds--peasants, obtained and capital craftsmen--using ers, store-keepers, tradfrom either government loans, land sales, salaries, ing or herding, have embarked on small-scale industrial A much-needed plaster factory and business enterprises. IRANIANSTUDIES
274
was installed to fire and grind gypsum stone quarried from a local source; this operation employs from ten to fifteen men and boys and produces an average of three tons of plaster a day in the dry season. Two dump trucks have been bought, which are used in connection with the operation of the plaster factory, and also to haul stones from areas around the village to the building sites. A minibus and two pick-up trucks were acquired to operate a frequently used passenger service between Sisakht and Y as uj . A coffee house has been opened which also offers simple meals and overnight accommodations. A womanwho learned vertical commercial weaving in a training program in 1971 employs approximately ten girls on two looms. Finally, a number of new stores, among them two grocery stores, have opened. For the future there are plans for more vehicles, a chicken farm, and a larger restaurant. All the new enterprises are, of course, fraught with intrinsic problems. The labor supply for the gypsum factory is erratic, and the work methods in the quarry are archaic and dangerous and have already resulted in serious injuries; the vehicles do not have qualified drivers and proper service, and consequently the accident rate is high and deterioration is rapid; a thresher attachment to the tractor chopped off a young man's arm and was subsequently sold; twelve general stores are too many for the demand, duplicate each other, and have lost part of the market for standard items like sugar, tobacco, and vegetable shortening to the cheaper cooperative store. The income from these enterprises varies. While the yields from the tractor and the weaving enterprise apparently are not considerable, and the stores and the coffee shop only provide a livelihood for their owners, the plaster factory and the dump trucks have produced sufficient income so that their owners are already considering expansion and new investments. The profitableness of the passenger service, balancing its high earnings and high costs and risks--not the least of which is the honesty of the driver who also collects a much disputed the fares--is topic; some of the teachers who had invested in it have already withdrawn their capital, while others are just 275
AUTUMN 1976
beginning to invest
in it.
Another form of entrepreneurial activity is contracting. Government offices are more often granting the funds and full responsibility for the completion of many development projects, such as schools, office buildings, cooperative stores, and water pipelines, to private entrepreneurs. At least seven Sisakhtis have taken advantage of this opportunity, and two of them have joined with outsiders to form regular contracting firms. Three facts should be noted in this context. First, investments are generally not made in the areas of agriculture and animal husbandry since they are not considered to be profitable. Second, entrepreneurs differ from the rest of the villagers in their pattern of consumption. In general, the life style of the people remains frugal in regard to food, conveniences, and the like; in fact it is almost the same as it was five years ago. But, while the mainstream of the community is now spending its money on building relatively expensive new houses, the entrepreneurs forego or postpone this luxury, and instead invest their capital in enterprises. Finally, it should be repeated that peasants also act as entrepreneurs. In fact, the innovations that probably most changed the appearance of Sisakht (i.e., one of the dump trucks and the plaster factory) were initiated and carried out by peasants. This fact, together with the others discussed here, a new image of the Persian peasant. He is presents customarily described as "largely inert...resistant to change.. .unaccustomed to use own initiative.. .not prepared to adapt to new conditions... [having] little incentive to improve... [having] developed a certain technique of fatalism.",6 In contrast, the material presented here suggests an entirely different characterization. The peasant emerges as one who works to the limits of his physical abilities in both the fields and the cities, saves through austere living, is concerned with providing education for his children, improves his housing, and invests in enterprises. The difference, if the customary picture was ever true, is almost certainly a result of IRANIANSTUDIES
276
the recent socioeconomic
changes.
(3) Migrant and Local Labor. Recent changes have made wage labor in nearby Iranian cities and in Kuwait both feasible and worthwhile enterprises for the peasants In the Iranian cities wages for unskilled of Sisakht. labor have increased from 90 to 100 rials/day in 1970 to 350 to 500 rials in 1976. This increase, together with a very frugal life style, allows the peasants who spend the season working in a city to make a subslack agricultural stantial amount of money. In the winter of 1976 approximately seventy men from the village engaged in such migrant labor; most of whomworked in the city of Bushire on conThe savings they struction sites of government projects. made rarely exceeded 40,000 rials which is, as has been shown above, about equal to the income from a large herd. prefer migrant labor now. It But the peasants definitely does not entail the high risks and year-long hardships and troubles of animal husbandry, it is becoming increasingly more reputable, and it enables him to bring home a lump sum of cash money. to Kuwait for wage labor was Previously,traveling very risky since the peasants had to cross the borders illegally; in 1973, three Sisakhtis were caught and served prison terms of more than two years in Iraq. Now it is Kuwaiti work permit and a possible to obtain an official multiple entry visa which permits them to interrupt their stay in Kuwait for as long as six months. The permit and the forty 70,000 rials--but passport are expensive--about villagers now working in Kuwait consider it a sound investment. They claim that it is possible to save between 70,000 and 120,000 rials in six months, and that after a few seasons they will have enough to satisfy their ambihouse and tions, that is, to build a new well-furnished to invest in a lucrative enterprise, like a truck or bus, from which to make a living. Opportunities for wage labor in the village itself are now provided by the enterprises mentioned (the gypsum factory, trucks, etc.) and especially by the current construction boom. In the summer of 1976, a cooperative store, 277
AUTUMN 1976
two schools, several office buildings in the shahrak, and private homes were under construction. at least thirty-six Formerly, house-building was accomplished with the aid of This arrangement has gradually neighbors and relatives. been replaced by hired labor; in one case, the new house owner even had to pay a cash wage to his own brother, a condition unimaginable five years ago. The wages paid are 270 to 400 rials/day for almost as high as in town, i.e., unskilled labor and more for skilled labor (masons, drivThis is due to the definite ers, carpenters, plumbers). labor shortage which is a result of the simultaneous demands for work on government projects, private construction, and agriculture. Many households obtain incomes of (4) Services. varying sizes from performing services like renting houses, firewood, sellcleaning, washing, baking bread, collecting These services are performed ing dairy products, etc. for outsiders staying in the mainly, but not exclusively, the teachvillage, such as the doctor and his assistants, ers of the high school, the bank clerk, the gendarmes, etc. Like local labor, these serv'ices function to chansome of the money brought nel to the rest of the population migrant labor and enterprises. in through salaries,
(5) Loans. Finally, it is comparatively much easier now to obtain loans, mainly from the Cooperative Society and the Agricultural Bank. The money obtained through these
prises,
loans
is mainly
financing
used for starting
the construction
n ew
enter-
of new houses,
cov-
and putting a son ering medical expenses in the cities, At the present time the majority of through high school. the villagers have taken out one or more loans, and it is to have debts amounting to not unusual for a villager Often, when the due date comes, 40,000 or 50,000 rials. the debtor borrows the money from some other source, pays back the loan, and immediately takes out a larger one for the following year.
Before discussing the socioeconomic concomitants of these changes, a brief demographic account is necessary. Present attitudes toward birth control seem to be wavering IRANIAN STUDIES
278
On the one hand, to have between tradition and modernity. many children is still considered to be the "natural" state a necessary provision for one's old age, a of affairs, source of status and social approbation, a moral obligation towards one's children (since brothers and sisters are thought to be the only reliable social support a son or daughter will have), and the role expectation of a married womanwho would be pitied if she were to remain childless and would be judged as shirking her duty if she willfully were to avoid bearing children. On the other hand, it is recognized that having children today creates expensive obligations, such as providing them with an education (the failure to do so is considered a sin), which can only be fulfilled if the number is few. Also, it is recognized that limiting the number of children permits a higher standard of living, and small families are associated with the desired middleclass city life and considered "chic." At present, both sets of attitudes seem to be shared to a greater or lesser degree by all villagers. Consequently, there is a general tendency to limit family size to four or five children, and it is with this intention that the pill is used. Presently 43 percent of all married women are taking the pill, either to prevent the birth of more children after it is apparent that five or more will survive, or less frequently, to space out pregnancies.
The net consequence of this behavior and the undera attitudes is, as Table 3 indicates, lying conflicting birth rate that is still relatively high, but which appears to be steadily declining. Thus, at least for the time, the birth control methods in use appear to be stathe population growth, serving more to compenbilizing sate for the radical lowering of child mortality since the introduction of medical care than to substantially reduce the number of children below traditional standards. On the basis of the overall tendency of the birth rate, however, as -well as the realistic assumption that the 279
AUTUMN 1976
modern attitudes toward the issue will increasingly place traditional ones, one can predict a definite of the birth and growth rates in the future.
redecline
TABLE 3 POPULATIONGROWTH IN SISAKHT SINCE 1971
Births N 1971/2 1972/3 1973/4 1974/5 1975/6
78 95 89 87 82
Crude Birth Rate 34.90 41.30 37.36 35.41 32.44
Natural Increase (Births-Deaths) Rate in Percent N of Population 65 82 75 71 68
2.908 3.565 3.149 2.890 2.690
What are, then, the socioeconomic implications and First of of these newly arising effects opportunities? it entails a change in the traditional all, occupational A new and the formation of a new class system. structure, middle class, which consists primarily of teachers, clerks and other types of salaried is growing rapidly, employees,
and the majority of households, which combine traditional agriculture and animal husbandry in varying proportions with wage labor in the cities, is taking on the characteristics of a new working class. By now there are few households that are not, in one way or another, reliant on income from the "new doors," whether it is earned by or a son, or a daughter (in the case one or both parents, of teachers or some combination of these. and midwives),
In the future one can predict a further decline of As has been mentioned above, 70 the role of agriculture. percent of the next generation of Sisakhti men can be ex-
IRANIANSTUDIES
280
pected to complete high school and will then be eligible for well-salaried positions in government or business. In addition, some young people will obtain salaried positions immediately after completing the ninth grade, and others will turn exclusively to wage labor. Thus, in coming years, the percentage of young men who will engage in agriculture and animal husbandry is not likely to be This would mean that in twentyhigher than 25 percent. six years, when the present population will have doubled according to the current increase rate, and the presentday agricultural households will presumably have disappeared, this 25 percent will amount to half the size of the present population. Thus, although a high percentage of young men will be able to give up the traditional occupations, the population working the land will have decreased to not more than half the present size. However, this prognostication ignores a number of factors. First, as has been mentioned above, the birth rate will decline in the future and emigration will become an additional trend; both conditions will depress the population increase and may even result in a population decrease. Second, not only will the young generation turn towards other occupations, but so will members of the population presently engaged in agriculture. Finally, the older members of present agricultural households will retire earlier because salaried sons will have the means to support them. Thus, if the prevailing favorable conditions continue, the percentage of the population engaged in agricultural work will actually decline more rapidly than the above rough calculation suggests. As a consequence of this trend, agricultural land will become available increasingly. This tendency is A brother takes a salaried posialready discernible. tion or stays all year in Kuwait, a married son decides to depend entirely on wage labor, an old peasant retires and none of his sons are ready to take over, etc., and all their agricultural land becomes available. Whether or not it will continue to be used as agricultural land is uncertain however. it seems Presently 281
AUTUMN 1976
not to be. There are two main reasons for this. First, people understand that in general there is greater profit in investing work in wage labor than in agriculture. Thus, men with little or no land who were willing formerly to accept any land contract as long as it allowed them to survive, have now adjusted to their situation by changing to wage labor and will no longer work another's land. And those peasants who have sizeable holdings, and, in the absence of their sons as well as of mechanization and affordable labor, find it difficult already to tend their own land, are unable to take on more. Consequently, a man who decides to stay all year in Kuwait, for example, has difficulty finding someone to cultivate his fields, even if he offers very good terms. Second, as a result of the present building activity, agricultural land is being used up at an alarming rate as new house sites and roads expand. If all the existing plans for the shahrak, additional streets and roads are realized, it is doubtful that any substantial amount of good agricultural land would remain. But as the people change their occupational base, they do not emigrate, at least not at the present. This is a distinctive characteristic of the changing scene in Sisakht. There is no notable emigration to the cities in contrast to most countries of Southeast Europe and, of course, Iran at large. At present, a large part of the first wave of the educated generation is still occupied at the university and in military service, and one cannot say where they will go eventually; however, the vast majority of those who have already entered the salaried class have remained in Sisakht, taking a position in the village or in Yasuj, and, in either case, maintaining a household in Sisakht. So far, these people want to remain in the village--or to return to it if they are stationed outside--and evidently the national economy is able to meet that desire. As mentioned above, the number of persons employed in the elementary schools of the vi 1 1 a g e has increased IRANIANSTUDIES
282
from nine to twenty-three in the past five years. One would think that, given the high percentage of school attendance in Sisakht, there is little room to expand. But attendance of girls has not yet reached 100 percent. of employing new and there is always the possibility directors, secretaries, inspectors, substitutes, janitors, etc., and Sisakhtis themselves are now qualified to undertake secondary school teaching. In addition, the construction of the shahrak, a small administrative center, is under way, and young educated Sisakhtis will be able to find employment in its various offices. is Finally,it planned to promote the administrative status of Kuhgiluye from a farmandar;-yi kul to an ustandari, which would make Sisakht the seat of a farmandar and entail the creation of a nearly inexhaustible number of offices and officials. Thus, the prospects are good that the young educated generation will also have the opportunity to remain there in the future. Whether they will actually do so remains to be seen. Their parents, in any case, are making provisions that they would. They arrange marriages for their sons while they are still in high school and go to great expense to build new houses for them in the hope that this will tie them to the village. Nor do the wage laborers emigrate. Virtually all of them maintain their residences and households in the village, adapting to the new opportunities through migrant and local labor rather than through emigration. The main reasons for this are apparently a desire to retain landed property rights, the possibility of possessing a spacious, respectable new house, the gratification of living among kith and kin in a community to which they belong, and last, but not least, the veto of their wives who dread the idea of living as a stranger in a city. Probably the clearest expression of the people's determination to remain is the current building boom. Since 1971 a whole new village quarter has developed and altogether about a quarter of all households have moved or are moving into new houses. This building activity greatly accelerated in 1976 when, as I have mentioned, thirty-six new units were under construction. The new 283
AUTUMN 1976
homes are no longer constructed in the traditional style of a simple one-room house built of sun-dried bricks. Now, houses are built according to the general Persian pattern-a walled-in yard and multiple-room structure--and, since 1976 when the dump truck and the plaster became available locally, they are almost without exception built of stone and plaster with, if possible, a tin roof. These new structures are expensive--300,000 to 500,000 rials, in contrast to a traditional house which would cost 10,000 to 20,000 rials--but they are now considered requisite. The traditional type has become unfeasible and unacceptable because of labor shortage (the lack of workers willing to make the sun-dried bricks), because of status reasons, because of one's perceived obligation towards one's sons, and because of one's own new expectations. In conclusion, what we witness in the case of Sisakht is a situation that is quite unusual in the Third World, a situation in which national prosperity can afford to ignore or any almost completely the development of agricultural other local resource, but is still able to permit the population to stay in t he ir locality, and, in addition, to raise their standard of living. The way in which this is accomplished is by making available to the population salaries for government jobs, wages for work on government projects, and loans from government sources. This development has now--with the establishment of an administrative center, economic differentiation, the deand the emergence of new classes-cline of agriculture, reached the level that we can identify as the transition from village to small town. This transition takes place not on the basis of a local development of trade, traffic, industry, resources, etc., but rather as the result of the formation of an administrative nucleus which, in a process will serve examplified by the growth of Teheran itself, in its turn to concentrate capital, investment, services, trade, and to sponsor the growth of a working and a middle class. In the course of this process the area will become increasingly more closely integrated into the political, economic, social, and cultural framework of the nation. IRANIANSTUDIES
284
As a final note it should be mentioned again that the changes I have described apply only to the parts of Boir Ahmaddefined in the introduction. In central Boir Ahmadthe economic self-sufficiency remains largely intact, and the traditional problems outlined in my previous article are still present. Sons still shepherd the family flocks, elementary school attendance has probably not exceeded 50 percent, veterinary services are absent or totally ineffective, the dependence on money lenders continues, and herding products bring an even lower price than in Sisakht. The practice of migrant labor is, however, swiftly increasing, even among predominantly pastoral groups. For example, in the Behbahan area, trucks pick up the tribesmen in their camps in the morning, take them to work in local industries, and return them in the afternom. In 1976, there were plans for the establishment by a private company of a large-scale modern animal-rearing and dairy farm, an enterprise in which the tribesmen were to buy shares by contributing their animals. Thus, there are signs of change, but the developments are only now starting and will probably take a different direction than those observed in Sisakht. NOTES 1.
R. Loeffler, "The National Integration of Boir Ahmad," Iranian Studies, Vol. VI, Nos. 2-3 (Spring-Summer 1973), pp. 127-135.
2.
The material on which this paper is based was collected between February and August 1976. I am grateful to Western Michigan University for a sabbatical leave; to the Ministry of Culture and Arts (Iran) and especially Mr. Khalighi, for granting the research permit; and last but not least, to the people of Sisakht and Boir Ahmadfor their untiring willingness to share their experiences with me.
3.
The following computation is based on 30 milk-giving animals (21 goats and 9 sheep), which corresponds to 285
AUTUMN1976
a herd of about 45 animals of one year or older, a If the estimate sizeable herd by Sisakhti standards. it is rather toward is slanted in either direction, the favorable side, as the productivity figures are (with an overall loss rate of only 10 peroptimistic cent and only moderate needs and consumption in the producing household of animals and dairy products) for 1976, are rather and the cost figures, especially Also, I did not take into account the conservative. general decline of milk productivity due to the depletion of pasturage and the consequent later onset of vegetation and the milking season.
Gross Income (In Rials) 1976 1970 9 kids 4 lambs 5 goats 2 sheep 1 ram (castrated) kashk (30 man) wool (10 kg) clarified butter
(70 kg)
Total Gross Income
4,500 4,000 5,000 4,000 2,500 3,300 1,830 14,000
8,100 6,600 10,000 6,000 5,000 6,600 3,300 21,000
39,130
66,600
Operating Costs (In Rials)
Shepherd's wage livelihood Shepherd's Bought winter fodder Medicines Total Operating Costs
IRANIAN STUDIES
286
1970
1976
3,000 2,500 1, 000
10,000 6,000 11,000 500 27,500
6,500
45
R. Loeffler, "Aktuelle ethno-sozio-logische Probleme des Nomadentums." In H. Besters, et al., eds., Nomadismus als Entwicklungsproblem (Bertelsmann Universitatsverlag, 1969), pp. 68-78.
5.
National Census of Population and Housing, November 1966; Vol. 164: Boyer Ahmadand Kohkiluyeh Farmandarikol (Teheran: Plan Organization, Iranian Statistical Centre, 1968), p. 1.
6.
Ann K. S. Lambton, Landlord and. Peasant in Persia (London, 1953), passim.
287
AUTUMN1976
BOOK
REVIEWS
Traditionelle und moderne Formen der Landwirtschaft in Iran: in n6rdlichen Siedlung, Wirtschaft und Agrarsozialstruktur [Traditional Khuzistan seit dem Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts. and Modern Forms of Agriculture in Iran: Settlement, Economics, and Agrarian Social Structure in Northern Khuzistan By Eckhart since the End of the Nineteenth Century.] Ehlers. With a contribution by Grace Goodell, "Agricultural Production in a Traditional Village of Northern KhuA publication of the Geographical Institute of zistan." Marburg University in the series, Marburger geographische Schriften, Vol. 64, 1975. x + 289 pp., 12 charts, DM33. Michael M. J. Fischer
transformation in Iran The problem of agricultural is central both to Iran's modernization potential and to understanding the cultural base of a large segment of IraSome 60 percent of the population still nian society. lives on the land, yet last year Iran's food import bill was $1.4 billion. Agricultural productivity is rising at less than 2.5 percent while the population is increasing at some 3.2 percent and food consumption at 10 percent. Oil revenues, vast as they may appear, even in the most can provide only temporarily a optimistic calculations lever to introduce a new economic order; that order then to survive. Oneobstacle to must become self-sustaining
Michael M. J. Fischer is Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology and Middle East Studies at Harvard University. IRANIANSTUDIES
288
industrial development is that the rural population and the urban lower classes are not sufficiently affluent to provide the mass demand required for sustained industrial expansion. Surely a better key to understanding peasant motivations, styles of cooperation, and individualistic planning than the general theories of peasant ignorance, passivity, fatalism, or the like, which too often pass for sociological perception, is an analysis of the complex traditional systems of land tenure and land use, and of the options available to contemporary farmers. Herein lies the interest of the present volume. In the Kennedy years, land reform, which had been proposed to the Iranian government as long ago as 1909, was seen as a political and economic tool for progress. Politically, a peasantry owning its own land would be a stable conservative force; economically, small owners would be.more hard-working and productive. Thus, in 1962 a serious land reform program was initiated, pursued diligently for a year and then with increasing slowness. By the mid-sixties, economic productivity rather than social goals had become the dominant slogan, and a series of other agricultural experiments as alternatives to a landowning peasantry were undertaken, particularly in Khuzistan. In the late fifties, a TVAmodel of development had been proposed for Khuzistan which was centered around a multi-purpose dam on the Dez River and included fertilizer and petrochemical industries. In 1959 a mechanized state farm (Haft Tepe) was initiated to the south of the Dez Irrigation Project (DIP). In 1969 the plan for the DIP was changed--against the IBRD contract and with the consequent refusal of a further World Bank loan--from support of a small peasantry to the introduction of capital-intensive, private agrobusinesses; four such enterprises were started in 1970. Only 14 percent of the DIP land was allocated for small peasants. In 1973 four agricultural corporations (re-aggregation of 27 land-reformed villages under state guidance) were set up. private
Ehlers argues against two of these experiments--the agrobusinesses and the farm corporations--and for
289
AUTUMN 1976
the small peasant and the state farm. A state farm, he argues, unlike the private agrobusinesses, is not inherently built on a profit-seeking basis, and so is not subject to the tendency to become a labor-minimizing, exportoriented enclave, with few back linkages to the domestic economy, and a proletarianizing effect on the labor force which is displaced into alienating ghetto-like shahraks. (Agricultural corporations are to obtain their own shahraks in the future.) Haft Tepe at least employs many people (over 2000 permanently and 1500 seasonally), and supports both a sugar refinery and a paper mill. On the other hand, he admits that theoretically the agrobusinesses might later support industries as well. He presents his evaluation in a table
positive
(0,
-,
+ corresponding
to indifferent,
negative
and
improvement, respectively):
Improved peasantry Agricultural Agrobusiness State farm
Productivity 0 + + +
corporation
Use of Labor 0
Industrialization
-
-
-
(+)
+
+
beGoodell elsewhere does not endorse Ehler's distinction tween state farms as better than private agrobusiness. Both Ehlers and Goodell agree that Land Reform could have transformed the traditional system into an affluent peasantry of the social dislocation created by little with relatively the private agrobusinesses. Productivity might not have increased much, but family incomes could have, and that increase gradually could have stimulated continuous innovation. Goodell presents this argument in a detailed examination of a village of 250 people (the figure 450 in the and text is a misprint) in which land was redistributed Her contribution cannot be the village then left alone. recommended too highly to all interested in rural Iran: it is not written in the glib, data-free style of which and planners have become enamoured, but anthropologists the concentration and effort required of the reader is National agricultural policy no well worth the effort. IRANIANSTUDIES
290
doubt will be argued more explicitly elsewhere. What the present article does is to argue by demonstration, rather than by explicit statement, that the abstract categories of planners (optimal allocations of land, labor and capital) are necessary but insufficient tools for pragmatic evaluations of peasant agriculture. For instance, it can be demonstrated that family labor tends to be more efficient (net profit/man-hour) than hired labor. Yet it may make good sense to hire labor on the farm while sons work for wages in town at the same hourly rate under conditions where (a) there is too little land to support the next generation, and (b) getting established in urban jobs precludes seasonal return to the farm. These and similar calculations regarding *the other factors of production remind one, as Goodell notes in passing, of the work done by Chayanov--an agricultural economist of the early part of this century--on peasant economics in Russia. In arguing that the impact of the land reform was "profound and in every important respect positive" for this particular village, Dr. Goodell makes a series of important observations about such critical issues as village stratification, mobility, exploitation of labor, the role of women, and limitations placed on the positive effects of land reform. The records of time spent working on different tasks demonstrate that both men and women are extremely hard-working. The village grows its own food except for sugar, cooking oil, tea, meat, chick peas, potatoes and tomatoes. In the five years since land reform, there has been an "astounding leap in rural earnings," the village has been practically the standard of rebuilt, living has risen, and more would be done if the government guaranteed permanent tenure and supplied electricity. There are 39 households; 25 of them received land shares; 6 are landless and rely on work outside the village; 8 are landless and rely on work in the village. Being landless in this village does not mean being poorer than the average landed families: there is work, and new landless families have even been allowed to join the village. In general the landless are recently sedentarized tribesmen and do not form a stagnant caste either economically or socially. Three of the four richest families today were among the 291
AUTUMN 1976
poorest a generation ago: they prospered through shepherding contracts. Senior women are involved in major decisions; women provide a quarter as much agricultural labor as men (Chart 12); women's labor is a crucial factor in keeping marriages from collapsing, a source of abuse (overworked daughter-in-law because her husband or an older male does not protect her), and a weapon (refusal to work). Among the limitations on the positive effects of land reform are capricious government price policies, lack of or incompetence of government agricultural services (e.g., veterinaries, blight control), and possibly the fragmentation of holdings for certain crops where efficiencies to scale might be obtained (e.g., Mexican wheat), which fragmentajoft system tion is a remnant result of the traditional (a share system named for the pair of oxen each shareholder needed before tractors were introduced). Dr. Goodell suggests that the peasants are working out the proper strategies and testing the ceilings of their productive capacities. To turn their village into a farm corporation, she seems to imply, would be to destroy the optimistic sense of community and purpose among the peasants. Ehlers' contribution is extensive where Goodell's is intensive. Essentially he has collected the various scattered writings on Khuzistan into a systematic geography of northern Khuzistan. As such, the volume compares favorably with Paul English's pioneering book of a decade ago on the Kirman basin: there is fuller archeological knowledge, a better understanding of the traditional organization of agriculture, and a more historically differentiated perspective on the trichotomy, tribevillage-city, from domination by the tribal element in the early part of this century to urban domination at present. The primary interest of the volume, however, lies in its description of the traditional agriculture and the four types of agricultural experiments. The principles of the traditional system will be familiar to those acquainted with other regions of Iran Land was ownalthough the terminology may be different. ed in a share system (6 dang = 24 peas = 576 barley grains = 13,284 sesame seeds); and was worked by teams (bunku). IRANIANSTUDIES
292
The several bunku of each village had scattered holdings of land in two or three-field rotation systems. Land was frequently re-allocated, both to adapt to changing labor supply, and to ensure that sharecroppers did not develop customary rights to any piece of land. Harvest division formulae varied by crop, and in some places also took the form of working a landlord's plot (garah). The system was regulated
iff
by a headman (kadkhuda)
(mubashir), with revolving
and occasionally
capital
a bail-
supplied by shop-
keepers and the bazaar. In 1960, 75 percent of Khuzistan's population was rural: 171,000 households had cultivation rights; 109,000 did not. Of the latter, 25,000 controlled 79 percent of the oxen, which they rented out as draught animals. The usefulness of the volume for comparison with other regions could have been enhanced by consideration of the work of Safinejad on the traditional communal forms of agriculture, that of Sarraf on the lower income obtained by farmers on farm corporations than by those on peasant holdings, and Keddie's work on the nature of village stratification, but these are minor quibbles indeed. More importantly, the book might have included a serious consideration of the original conception of the Khuzistan Water and Power Authority as an integrated TVA-type project and the problems incurred by not allowing the Authority to operate as an integrated unit, but instead leaving the various Ministries to pursue their competing claims to jurisdiction. Further, while the crops grown in the different experiments are listed by hectarage, there are no comparative figures on yields, the techniques used, and
technical
problems; such basic data surely are available,
even if in approximate and non-definitive or disputed form. Indeed one agronomist has provided estimates showing that wheat/ha. yields are no better under the agrobusinesses than under a traditional landlord, and only 25 percent better than on peasant plots using commercial fertilizer. Rice, the principal traditional summer crop, has been practically eliminated on agrobusiness land and nothing
has been substituted fallow
for it;
thus much larger areas lie
in summer than was the case 293
before
"modernization." AUTUMN1976
All such indications of problems, of course, are subject to the valid argument that it takes time to work out the proper strategies. And indeed the major complaint of agronomists is that plans originating from Teheran are both too rigid and at the same time subject to capricious changes. Thus, not only might it have been more efficient to drill deep wells rather than-the costly canal networks, but even given the government's desire for a unified water system (to keep control out of the hands of small well operators), it technically would have been more efficient to install sprinkler systems than the present, badly leveled, canal system; the DIP, however, was bound by a twentyyear-old plan calling for canals. Yet when results are not produced rapidly enough, there is no hesitation in drastically changing the organization of production; thus in ten years the DIP area has undergone four major reorganizations. In sum, the volume is a solid addition to the sparse literature upon which informed evaluation of social and economic change in rural Iran can be based. That Ehlers wrote in German and will therefore attract a relatively small readership is unfortunate.
IRANIANSTUDIES
294
Unity in the Ghazals of Hafez. By Michael C. Hillmann. 1976. Bibliotheca Islamica, Minneapolis and Chicago: 181 pp. G. M. Wickens
world of A quarter of a century ago, in the little provoked a bitIranian studies, this reviewer unwittingly around the very problems which controversy ter, sustained
form the subject of the present monograph. The issues were magnified, and muddied, partly by British academic politics between the and patronage, partly by an ancient hostility Iranologists (who were "long on" pre-Islamic Iran) and the Persianists (whose main concern was with Iran in the Islamic era, and some of whomundoubtedly treated Persian as, in Sir Hamilton Gibb's phrase, "culturally a dialect of Arabic"). As Hillmann indicates, the "unity" question itself is a very old one, but I was perhaps the first to suggest
that
a search
for unity
in a traditional
"Western"
and dramatically clisense--logical, linear, integrated, mactic--might be misguided; and that at least one different sort of pattern seemed to be present, in a "radial" use of images and allusions around one or more basic concepts. Though my articles were exploratory, somewhat primitive and wide-sweeping, even overstated, they still seem (and not only to me) to have said something new, fruitful, and basically valid; and I would certainly have attempted to prune and refine my thesis by subsequent studies, had not the violence and duration of the attacks upon me (print was not the only medium employed) eventualtopic until others ly numbed my thinking on this particular
had moved in to take its place. Those who took my part, both then and later (and they included such stalwarts as Rypka and Lenz), have always expressed regret at this aborted endeavor. But, in the event, all has not "gone
G. M. Wickens is Professor Studies
at the University
of Middle East and Islamic of Toronto. 295
AUTUMN1976
upon the wind": the real issues have continued to engage others, both within Iranian studies and somewhat outside. In this development, the present work represents a significant milestone and a signpost for the future. Much has happened during the last twenty-five years A whole new generation to encourage work in this field. in the United States; of scholars has appeared, particularly and comparativist great advances have been made in critical generally; and there is now a strong work in literatures sense in Islamic Studies, not least in lit"disciplinary" erature, which would have been inconceivable to most of Hillmann works and generalists. the older philologists from the basis of such new-found strengths. (1) InThe divisions of the book are as follows: troduction; (2) The Problems; (3) Unity: A Definition and Its Discovery; (4) Organic Unity in Hafez's Ghazals; (5) Thematic Unity and the Importance of Rhymeand Rhythm in and Hafez's Ghazals; (6) Unity in (Apparent) Multiplicity the Hafezian Ghazal as a Performance; (7) Conclusions; Notes, Bibliography, and Index. Very properly, two-thirds of the work is taken up by 4, 5, and 6. The Notes and Bibliography (a total of nearly 30 pages) are particularly valuable, and will make this a standard reference work for some years to come. What does Hillmann attempt, and what does he achieve? Examining in extensive detail sixteen well-known ghazals studied), (including inevitably the two which I originally affirmation, namely he arrives at a basic and irrefutable that Hafez displays wide variations of form and style; so that one type of critical analysis may well not be fully In partior even hold good,for all cases. illuminating, cular,
he suggests
that
the "Shirazi
Turk" ghazal
(my treat-
ment of which really touched off the controversy) is an I would accept "extreme"--case of randomness exceptional-standards. (That was the as judged by traditionalwestern reason for my choice of it for demonstration purposes.) of "unity," Further, after attempting a definition he very plausibly traces various types (my own hypothesis IRANIANSTUDIES
296
being more or less set aside) in the different ghazals he has selected--organic, thematic, rhythmic, rhyming, lexiand so on--often with two or more cal, music-accompanied, There is no question that Hillmann makes in combination. very acceptable cases (though some are carried to conand intuitive siderable lengths of subjective interpretain which he chooses to work. I tion) within the limits believe he misses the point of my "radial" theory, which is certainly not exclusive: that the focus or foci may
form an ultimate,
self-justifying
principle
for the asso-
He certainly ciations indicated. disregards my, admittedof my approach to other ly very speculative, application poetry, and to intellectual and artistic expression generally, albeit others have begun to work along those lines. But let me return to the "inwardness" of his own methodology, as well as his general line of argument. Of certain general weaknesses, Hillmann himself seems by no means unaware. For example, though he has as well, he chooses poems in which the other criteria
verse-order seems more or less stable, while suggesting that at least some of the unstable cases are due to careBut how is such carelessness as much as anything else. Can it be lessness (or whatever) possible and tolerable? widely paralleled in the West in real practice (theoretical experiment is irrelevant here)? Again, even after heroic
efforts
in many directions,
he finds
himself
ob-
liged to speak of "superficial unity" (see quotation below). Would we have to look hard for even that in, say, Shakespeare's sonnets? And can anyone fail to respond in them to the epigrammatic, last two lines--almost like
ledger page?
summing-up effect of the the total at the foot of a
All we can positively
ghazals is the first by "title" reference)
count on in most
couplet (fixed by internal rhyme and and the last (marked by the takhal-
Are we meant to count on more? Where virtuosity lus). within a very flexible framework is possible, and even sought, it is above all in the mechanics of such virtuosity that one must seek any unifying principle or principles. Where, as in Shakespeare's sonnets, the form is prescribed in virtually every respect, any unifying principle must lie--if only sometimes conventionally--in the 297
AUTUMN1976
event or statement poured into that form.
Even in some
of the neatest and tightest ghazals (to make a Western judgment) one could not easily say why the poem concludes when it does rather than earlier or later. In this sense, for Shakespeare the question does not arise: if he cannot fill his prescribed vessel adequately or without obvious curtailment of his purpose, the weakness is immediately apparent. By a development both logical and paradoxical, as we all know, the West has recently abandoned form altogether in favor of first raw, then random, then meaningless, expression. Perhaps Hillmann would not claim more than to have indicated the magnitude and complexity of the problem, and to have put the study of it on a firm basis. Three quotations may be in order. "It may rather imply that Hafez did not structure many of his ghazals in a so-called organic pattern, in which the finality of the number and or-
der of interior
bayts plays a significant
role"
(p. 147);
"And when all is said and done, the case or thesis of this study rests with the demonstration that some of Hafez's of the variant chosen for scrutiny, ghazals, regardless exhibit palpable superficial unity" (p. 148); and "...in other cases, other qualities may be shown to compensate for the lack of unity" (p. 149). A few minor details. Hillmann might oral and "mental" closely whether the vital p. 53) does not militate powerfully against cal methods, particularly the dogma that the
consider more tradition (cf. textual-critioldest MS is
In his metrical comments he must also the most authentic. now take account of L. P. Elwell-Sutton's masterly new study. (His transliterations, would serve incidentally, to demonstrate the metrics better if they explicitly included the nim-fatheh.) Again on prosody: the necessary corrective to G. M. Meredith-Owens' statement in Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd ed.) might be more elegantly phrased in terms of length, closure, and nasalization--all operating for syllables, not words as such (p. 165, Note 10). The compound adjective jahan-ara means here "world-ordering" (cf.
"world decorating." 53, "be" should
IRANIANSTUDIES
161, Note 28) surely not etc.),
in the Pope quotation
Finally,
read "but,"
(p.
razm-ara,
as in the paraphrase.
298
on p.
Shabchiragh [The Luminous Stone]. By Jamal Mirsadeqi. Tehran: Entesharat-e Agah, 2535 [1976]. Mohammad Estelami
Jamal Mirsadeqi is one of the best known short-story writers of contemporary Iran whose works have consistently dealt with socially themes. Some of his presignificant vious works, such as the novelette, shab [ThroughDirazna-yi out the Long Night], or the short story, Fajicah [The Tragedy], deal with such contemporary social problems of Iran as generational conflict, traditional versus modern values, and liberty of conscience versus prejudice.1 Most of these themes, however, are posed and developed within the context of the family. But, in his most recent work, a novelette entitled Shabchiragh, Mirsadeqi departs from the context
and focus of his earlier his
works and adds a new dimension to
writing.
The title itself, Shabchiragh (a phosphorescent gem that glows from within), is a symbol for the main character of the work, Ali, a young man of exceptional promise and ability
who struggles
alone
in a hostile
and whose worth becomes recognized
only after
environment
his death.
Ali's story is told in retrospect by four of his closest friends, among whom is the narrator of the novelette. Through them we see Ali at several crucial stages of his as a hard-working student, as life--first then variously a young man trying to free himself from the cruel mistreatment of his elder half-brother, as a young ideologue who is a political mentor to his friends, and as an expolitical prisoner just freed from five years of imprisonment and filled with the vain hope that social conditions
have changed and that the intellectuals become more united and active.
have developed and
MohammadEstelami is Associate of Persian LiteraProfessor ture at the University for Teachers' Tehran. Education, 299
AUTUMN1976
Ali's hopes are shattered when he fails to reestablish the group of which he had previously been a prominent leader and in which he had strongly believed. His friends have forgotten the group's aims and goals and do not want to participate. Filled with lofty ideals and aspirations and a belief in the social responsibility of the individual, Ali trusts his friends and depends upon them for support and cooperation. When he finds them false and himself betrayed, he attacks them and then stops attending their meetings. As once before in his youth (when he spoke up for his classmates on their request, but in the end was deserted by them), Ali again finds himself isolated and alone. The ensuing sense of disillusionment and betrayal immobilizes him psychologically. In the end, he loses his job, his wife whomhe loves, and finds escape in narcotics. He still sometimes sees his old friends, but there is no real affection or sincerity left between them. Even then, Ali holds onto his ideals. For him they never change. When at last he dies in a hospital, his wife and friends admit that they are responsible for his fate. Whereas in his previous works Mirsadeqi has focused on problems arising within the family, in Shabchiragh he focuses on conflicts within the peer group. Relationships within the group are shown to be tenuous and unreliable and the resulting problems devastating to the main character. There is a strong sense of futility in the interactions of the group as each member recognizes Ali's rare and unimpeachable integrity and yet fails to support or protect him. Most of the figures are seen as little streams, running towards a swamp into which they disappear. Mirsadeqi's shift of focus in Shabchiragh as compared to his earlier works, can be clearly seen in a comparison between Ali and Kamal, the protagonist of the short story Fajicah. In Fajicah as well as in Dirazna-yi shab and several of his other works, Mirsadeqi depicts characters who typify the youth of his own generation. Kamal is a young man who opposes the prejudices of his father's generation and tries to live by principles which to him and his friends are valid and honest. He does not operate IRANIANSTUDIES
300
in a vacuum and is one of a group of similarly minded young people. Ali, on the.other hand, although motivated by the same principles as Kamal, is obliged to struggle against the attitudes of his own generation and against the inconstancy and egotism of his friends. His ideals and exceptional qualities alienate him from his peers and make him stand alone. Compared to Kamal, Ali is the embodiment of perfection and his struggle appears to be more encompassing and socially oriented. Ali never fights for his own comfort or benefit. He is totally dedicated to his society. Yet it is precisely because of such a lofty and perfect representation of Ali that Shabchiragh does not succeed as much as some of Mirsadeqi's other works. The domestic turmoil faced by Kamal is real. It is something which has touched everyone of his generation. Ali's character and situation is more unusual, more remote from typical experience, and thus more difficult to identify with. His character and those of his friends, therefore, lack the vitality and clarity of Kamal and members of his family. But in spite of these shortcomings, Mirsadeqi's Shabchiraq represents a perceptive treatment of a subject that is of considerable importance for intellectuals and contemporary society as a whole. NOTES 1.
In addition to the two novelettes, Dirazna-yi shab (1972) and Shabchiragh (1976), Jamal Mirsadeqi has published the following collections of short stories over the past fifteen years: Shahzadeh khanum-i sabzchism [The Green-Eyed Princess] (1962); Chishmhayi man khastih [My Eyes Are Tired] (1966); Shabha-yi Tamasha va gul-i zard [Spectacular Nights and the Yellow Flower] (1968); Tn shikastiha [These Shattered Ones] (1972); An siuyi talha-yi shin [Behind the Heaps of Sand] (1975); and Na adami na sidayi [No One, No Voices] (1975).
301
AUTUMN 1976
Afghanistan in the 1970s. Edited by Louis Dupree and New York: Praeger Publishers, 1974. Linette Albert. LudwigW. Adamec
Afghanistan in the 1970s is a volume containing contributions by 14 authors, which discuss various aspects of social integration and modernization in Afghanistan over a period which is not confined to the 1970s as the The work is similar to one by Grassmuck, title implies. Adamec, and Irwin to which it adds some new perspectives and more up-to-date information. Louis Dupree and Linette Albert, the co-editors, provide a brief introduction and a concluding chapter. Louis Dupree begins by defining the special problems of He feels that because Afghansociety. a peasant-tribal istan is not a nation state in the Western sense, the development models for social, economic, and political acquired by Western educated Afghans are largely irreleof a vant. He proceeds to outline the characteristics introduces the subsequent chapsociety, peasant-tribal ters, and digresses to discuss the impact of the leaderDaud, who came to power as the book was ship of Muhammad nearing completion. Hasan Kakar examines "trends in Afghan history," and political describing first the tribal, religious, components of Afghan society and then outlining the conLeon Poullada development of Afghanistan. stitutional follows with a similar focus, expounding on the "search for national unity in Afghanistan" to overcome the heterogenous character of the country and the divisive factors and tribal power. of central power versus rural, religious, Modernism represented in the ideologies of nationalism and
Ludwig W. Adamec is Professor of Oriental Studies and Director of Near Eastern Center at the University of Arizona. IRANIANSTUDIES
302
parliamentary democracy seem to aggravate the division rather than bring unity to Afghan society. Ralph Magnus of traditional and modcontinues the discussion politics ernization the constitution by analyzing of 1964 and the He sees an alternation forces behind its creation. of as the pendulum swings from political political extremes, chaos to dictatorial rule, and he wonders whether the "White Revolution" of Iran might be a useful model for solving Afghanistan's problems. Richard Newell furnishes a brief outline of Afghanistan's foreign relations in which he examines not only diplomacy and nationalism, but also the more tenuous factors of tourism and the drug problem. Marvin Brand provides an economic perspective and suggests that certain priorities to acbe established celerate economic growth and development. Nigel Allan of rural Afghanthe process of modernization describes istan using the example of the Koh Daman region. Richard Tapper reminds us that nomadism is not dead, and that in Afghanistan it both contributes to the national wealth and fills an ecological niche. He feels that modernization in the nomadic way of life might lead to the development of agrobusiness schemes of livestock breeding, as practiced in some areas of Iran. The status of women is examined by Erika Knabe, and her point is well taken that the emancipation of women is just as important as the of races to the national equality unity of Afghanistan. Baqui Yusefzai looks at student power in the context of Afghanistan's political development. He sees a number
of factors underlying student unrest: the generation gap, youthful idealism, an excess of dogmatism, but at the same time a fickleness of purpose which wavers between dedication to the improvement of society and the promotion of personal interests. Old trails and new paths in educa-
tion are examined by William Sayres, starting with the Veda as the first (religious) textbook in Afghanistan to the contemporary Curriculum and Textbook Project of the Afghan Ministry of Education, in which Sayres participated. The longest chapter in the book is by Nancy Dupree.
It deals with archaeology
and the arts in the creation 303
of
AUTUMN1976
a national consciousness in Afghanistan. The chapter also contains a 14-page chart on archaeological exploration in Afghanistan. Mark Slobin completes the survey of the arts with an examination of the traditional attitudes toward music, the roles and status of the musician, and the changes brought about with the introduction of the radio. Linette Albert's final chapter provides a general perspective, and with one cartoon from the Kabul Times illustrates better than could a thousand words the changing trends *in women's fashions from chaderi to mini-miniskirt. In view of the contemporary orientation of the book, it is surprising how many of the authors felt it necessary to discuss the reigns of Amir Abdur Rahmanand King Amanullah. A few minor lapses include one author's anachronistic reference to a road "leading to Bactria" (or was it Hekataes--who made the reference? p. 113), and another's use of the Arabic term madrasa for a pre-Islamic educational institution (p. 184). There are also a few typographical errors and misspellings as for example majlis-iyaya for majlis-i-ayan (p. 21), elmol-i-belad for umm-albilad (p. 184), and Azam instead of Azim (p. 31--AzMim-never attempted to "assassinate the king [iaT the foreign minister"), and Koh-i-Daman should read Koh Daman (throughout the book), but these errors are inevitable in a work of this type. The book is well-written and will be of special interest to the student of contemporary Afghanistan as well as to the general public with an interest in nonWestern social, economic, and political development.
IRANIANSTUDIES
304
International Society for Iranian Studies
Review: [untitled] Author(s): James A. Bill Reviewed work(s): The Social Sciences and Problems of Development by Khodadad Farmanfarmaian Source: Iranian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Autumn, 1976), pp. 305-309 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4310245 Accessed: 29/01/2009 04:01 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=isis. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
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http://www.jstor.org
The Social Sciences and Problems of Development. Edited by Khodadad Farmanfarmaian. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Program in Near Eastern Studies, 1976. xv + 332 pp. $4.00. JamesA. Bill
In a private interview in 1970, the then Minister of Health told this reviewer that the key to development in Iran was to hold seminars to talk problems out. Since that time, Iran has been a world leader in sponsoring seminars to which scholars, national and international and technocrats politicians, industrialists, journalists, This have flocked to discuss every conceivable topic. volume is the result of a particularly acute attack of seminaritis which took place at Persepolis in June 1974. Sponsored by the Plan and Budget Organization of Iran, Tehran University, and Princeton University, this conference met to hear 44 papers presented on the general topic of "The Social Sciences and Problems of Development." This volume consists of 17 of these papers. Eight of the articles focus on development more generally conceived while the last nine selections deal with Iran specifically. Like most such collections that are published on the heels of a large conference, this volume contains selections that vary widely in relevance and quality. The subjects of concern include such disparate topics as syntheses of development theory, regional development observations based on the Indonesian experience, doctorpatient relations in an Iranian town, a call for quantitative history in Iran, a discussion of Qajar family structures, an elaborate macro-econometric projection for Iran, and an article on economic dualism informed by the case of Peru. The quality of the essays is even more
James A. Bill is Professor of Texas at Austin.
of Government at the University
305
AUTUM1976
Some of the varied than the range of topics discussed. along of irrelevancies papers are deadly dull recitations paraphrasings of development manuals. with superficial In the general are very good indeed. Other selections section, the essays by John Galtung, Nikki Keddie, and The two Teodor Shanin are worthy of special attention. best papers in the section on Iran are those by Ismail Hemmassi. In the latter section, the Ajami and Mohammed papers by young scholars such as Taghi Saghafi-Nejad, C. T. Thompson, and Byron Joseph Good contain much valuable original material despite their rather narrow foci of interest. weaknesses with There are two major interrelated and this volume. The first concerns the discontinuity abrupt break between the two sections of the book. There no serious attempt is no coordination, no follow-through, to apply the important developmental lessons learned in part one to the Iranian case discussed in part two. Rather than designed to confront the key issues throughout, the conference is arranged so that these issues are highlighted in the general section and then sidestepped in the analWhat does computerized history ysis of the Iranian case. Medicine in have to do with the problem of inequality? Marketing in Shahi participation? Maragheh with political of mobilization regimes? to the fragility A great strength of this study is its recognition from the very beginning that development involves much more than economics; it concerns crucial human, social, In his introduction, dimensions as well. and political "Howdo people the editor asks the following questions: perceive the trade-off between in the developing societies in the increased per capita income and their participation process of decision making and development? To what exto sacrifice higher per capita tent is there willingness These questions and income for greater participation?" others like them are never answered. In his essay, caused by Richard Webb talks about specific difficulties This is what is done precisely "the neglect of politics." in the section on development in Iran in this book. After IRANIANSTUDIES
306
one writer emphasizes the political aspect, he evades the subject by saying that "the issue is an internal political matter about which outsiders are not qualified to comment" (p. 100). Yet, in an absolute monarchy is it possible to discuss problems of development without mentioning the monarch?1 There is no discussion of the White Revolution as a strategy of "development," no analysis of political participation, nor of administrative change, political stability, social justice, etc. The following are among the more relevant observations made in the first section of the book. All are, of course, ignored in the second section. --"As people become more competent and confident, they will be less tolerant of authoritarianism in any form" (Suzanne Keller, p. 9). --"A country's development should be measured at the bottom, not as an average, and certainly not at the top" (John Galtung, p. 36). --"A government that would deal radically with the skewed income distribution that characterizes most third world countries, and rapidly develop (sic) health, education, political participation and criticism would be a desideratum" (Nikki Keddie, p. 56). --"...mobilization
policies
are not going
to suc-
ceed. Too many mobilization regimes have gotten nowhere and have been replaced" (Leonard Binder, p. 75). --"The most important single fact of the social development of the peasantry during the last generation is the extent to which predictions and reforms did not work in the way expected" (Teodor Shanin, p. 110).2 Despite the above comments, certain articles are well-done and deserve serious attention. In his "Per307
AUTUMN 1976
spective on Development," John Galtung provides an essay that destroys many of the developmental myths propagated Amongother things, he argues that by Western scholars. development is too important to be left to the empiricists. Nikki Keddie's piece on "History and Economic Development" makes a number of provocative points which include the development generally preceded argument that agricultural and stimulated industrial development in the first developing nations. Teodor Shanin questions the conventional wisdom that equates development with "de-peasantization." His article, entitled "Peasants and Social Development," sharply indicates that the forced breakdown of peasant life may impede rather than promote development. Ismail Ajami's study of "Land Reform and Modernization of the Farming Structure in Iran" must be read very carefully. It outlines the history of the Iranian land reform program and then directly states its economic failure. The formation of rural cooperatives and farm corporations have had only limited success in providing the resources and expertise required by the peasant farmers. Ajami's cautious conclusions in this regard are supported by a number of other recent studies including several by the World Bank. But, instead of being content with Ajami goes on to make an interesting moderate criticism, He recommends an alternate farming positive proposal. and modern methods system that would combine traditional kind of group by emphasizing the buneh organization--a operation farming in which the strengths of large-scale are combined with the advantages of individual ownership. In a paper entitled "Migration and Problems of DeHammassi documents velopment: The Case of Iran," Mohammed the alarming facts of rural-urban migration in Iran today. The real bottleneck is Tehran, the destination of most migrants and a city already bursting with economic, social, in that In one census district and environmental problems. city, 85 percent of the residents are non-Tehranis by birth and one out of every three families of four members or more live in one room. Hemmassi is not afraid to make the problems some policy suggestions designed to alleviate that arise from such migration patterns. Amongthe more IRANIANSTUDIES
308
specific of his proposals is an examination of the feasibility of changing the location of the national capital In the course of such as is being done in Egypt today. his paper, Hemmassi sounds a warning that seems to summarize the state of Iranian developmental problems very Seminars, symposia, conferences, plans, succinctly. proposals, and studies are necessary but not sufficient When such activiconditions for developmental success. ties tend to become ends in themselves, they only contribute to the problems by fostering a false sense of acIn Hammassits words: "But experiences of complishment. show other developing countries, including Iran itself, alone cannot solve the problem; it is the that strategies administration and implementation of them which leads to success. " NOTES of text,
the Shah is only mentioned
1.
In some 330 pages three times.
2.
Fifteen months after this seminar, another symposium of dewas held at Persepolis to discuss processes Known as the Aspen Institute/ velopment in Iran. Persepolis Symposium, this gathering did confront the issues of social and political development. Although one may raise serious questions concerning the content of the papers, it is clear that this seminar was much more successful in addressing the key developmental issues in Iran than was the Iran/Princeton effort. For the published record of the Aspen conference, see Jane W. Jacqz (ed.), Iran: Past, Present and Future (New York: Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, 1976).
309
AUTUMN1976
Letters
to
the
Editor
TO THEEDITOR: Dr. Clinton's recent review of Mazzaoui and Millward's Social and Cultural Selections from Contemporary Persian (Iranian Studies, Vol. VIII, No. 4, 1975) has prompted me to add several of my own observations on the book. Although Dr. Clinton some of the mildly mentions weak points of Mazzaoui and Millward's he is perreader, is a haps too generous that "this in concluding reader substantial over those improvement already available." I used this as an experiment reader in a secondat the University year Persian class of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1974. In spite of the authors' claim that the selections meet their two primary of "vigcriteria orous language," and "interesting subject matter" (p. ix), and I found that the selections my students were tiresome and provided a misrepresentation both of the Persian language and of Iranian as a whole. society and culture To begin with, the title of the book, Social and Cultural Selections from Contemporary is misleadPersian, of the book indiing. The readings, as the introduction
cates,
are taken from only two semi-official
papers,
and literary
news, political announcements,
"inside problems tion.
Since
and Kayhan.
l
the
authors
pages," which primarily of
city
IRANIANSTUDIES
life
which
advertisements
articles, are are
310
left
evening news-
they have excluded with
consist dramatized
articles
of reports beyond
and
from
on propor-
The authors claim that the sixteen selections included represent "typical" situations in Iranian society (p. ix). Students are thus encouraged to form a view of Iranian society based on these selections, which include two attempted suicides by women over love problems (I and III), "flirtation in public" (IV), "telephone nuisances" (XIII), which the authors claim to be "almost a national pastime" (p. 79), and vagrants in the streets of Tehran Of the two selections (XII). on marriage, II and VIII, the former deals with a very peculiar and uncommonproblem. As regards to the more general social issues, the student is led to believe the Iranian's view of society revolves around the preservation of old brick-baking furnaces (XIV), and the restoration of the monumental mosque in Ardabil, which is somehow linked in one lesson (X) to an attempted theft of a golden rod from a Qazvin mosque. Even the few general selections center around individual or superficial problems: "Womenwill be lawyers too!" (V), "Whyhave you moved to Tehran?" (VI and VII), and so forth. This summary can only lead us to reject the author's claim that the subject matter adequately reflects situations "typical of the social and cultural milieu of contemporary Iran" (p. ix). One wonders whether a textbook in English based on unreliable newspapers which predominantly report suicide attempts, rapes, sex scandals, bank robberies, and "Legionnaire's Disease" would be truly representative of American society and culture, and whether it would be acceptable to American instructors as a serious textbook for teaching English as a second language. The authors of the reader describe the language of the selections as "direct, forceful and lively" and, furthermore, as "simple, unadorned, straightforward Persian" (p. ix). But, as Dr. Clinton has already indicated, it is really not valid to describe the language and style of the selections in the reader in such a manner. In fact, it is the jargon of journalists and reporters who have to fill many columns every day in a short time, and who are not concerned with writing in a simple and lively style. This often results in a complicated, repetitious style, 311
AUTUMN 1976
full of grammatical errors and uncommonusages. One idea might be repeated in the same passage three or four times (see Selection IV). In short, the student is faced with the language of Iranian journalism, as described by Dr. Clinton: "a hodge-podge of styles--colloquial, literary, bureaucratic--and dense with neologisms and borrowings from French and English." In terms of arrangement, the authors themselves admit that they have made no attempt to arrange the selections according to any pedagogic method. Eachselection has an introduction in English, a glossary, some grammatical notes (which mix accurate explanations with frequent mlstakes and ambiguous statements), followed by exercises and drills. Following are examples of the inaccuracies and mistakes which can be found: p. 4:
"zan + a + shil = zanashul... from Pahlavi,..." the alef,
pp. 3 & 108:
p. 5: p. 22:
p.
25:
p. 25:
p. 25:
"akhlran,
'finally"'
= zindigi-yi zanashu';, (unclear explanation). (instead
of "recently").
cictiqad kardan" (does not occur in Persian). "bad bar avardan 'to turn out badly"' "to bring up, e.g., a child, badly").
(instead
ma nistand. "Faqal pisaran murid-i na;ar-i are not only concerned with our sons here."' (should be "boys," not "sons").
of
'We
are being addressed. "khanum-ha, 'ladies'--they The same in line 78" (In both cases khanum-ha is the subject of the following verb.) "'chasbidan:
ra in zavahir-i
This verb is intransitive; tamaddun-i gharb ra is
thus the for the
dative, not for the obj ect." (The verb chasbidan is in fact transitive, authors
themselves
suggest
in their
23 and 114, where it is listed to." The ra serves the direct object.)
IRANIANSTUDIES
its
312
as the
glossary,
pp.
as meaning "to cling
normal function
of marking
p. 29:
"talkid,
p. 32:
"vizarat-i taCavun va umuir-i rustaha, 'Land Reform and Rural Co-operatives"' (should be "Co-operatives and Rural Affairst").
p. 38:
"ba surCati kih..., the connective article 'kih' here has the meaning of 'ta,' i.e., in order to." (In fact, here kih is the normal relative marker meaning "that" or "which.")
p. 40:
"Agar dar murid imkan bishavad
'confirmation"'
(instead
given in a student exercise, Persian.)
of "emphasis").
(This phrase,
...."
cannot be said in
p. 126: t'mucarrifi kardan, 'to report, of "to introduce").
expose"'
(instead
Perhaps the weakest point of the book appears in the questions following each selection to be answered by students. The form of these questions in many instances shows the authors' uneasiness in writing Persian. Even if these questions are not grammatically incorrect, they sound odd to a native speaker. In many selections, the questions that follow do not have a uniform tense sequence relevant to the actual text; the set of questions on page 25 provide a good example. Or, the questions sometimes contain problems in word order: p. 25: p. 40:
(V
X i
jas
i l.
Still others are lacking the indefinite form questions in Persian:
Ii
Ij v IW 'S
(15S
necessary
to
p. 52: II1
AU
313
1 97
AUTUMN1976
In some cases, they are simply not asked in a form used in modern Persian: p. 40: Jl sIj j 1. Pj; I.L
p . 5 2:v
A-
l
ag
z f 1 v( L,
Although I too appreciate the efforts put into the preparation of this book, I cannot agree with Dr. Clinton improvement" over that the book is really "a substantial other readers available for teaching Persian at an intermediate level. HAMIDMAHAMEDI [Hamid Mahamedi is currently University of Pennsylvania.]
teaching Persian at the
TO THEEDITOR: I have no general criticism of Professor ElwellSutton's review of Morals Pointed and Tales Adorned (Iranian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, 1976) other than the usual one--that the gratifying words of praise tend to get lost The general message in the mass of detailed objection. would seem to be that I show promise and should go on trying! However, one or two remarks might clarify my practipositions. cal difficulties and my theoretical in scholarship might be partAny out-of-dateness ly excused on the grounds that the work was finished in 1964, and underwent a series of disasters for nearly 10 in finding funds and a publisher, indifficulty years: ordinate slowness of appraisal, loss of the best typescript, fire, delays in printing overseas and through etc. At the same time, there is--certainmail-strikes, ly at Toronto (and one gathers elsewhere)--enormous difIRANIANSTUDIES
314
ficulty in getting to hear in reasonable time of Persian publications, to say nothing of actually obtaining them at all. (We have recently set up a special committee to try to fill inordinate lacunae which have appeared in our Persian holdings in the Library over the last decade.) As my students and colleagues would attest, no one could agree more readily than I with Professor ElwellSutton that, in a literature (and a general culture) with a long, strong oral tradition, the oldest written document is not necessarily the best. This dogma belongs where it started, in the limited, elitist and heavily worked material of the Classics and Biblical studies. Indeed, I would go further and repeat something I have often said already: in a literature that is vast, "living" often popular, like Persian, the textual-critical approach can be quite inappropriate: Persian literaessentially, ture is what it has come to be to millions of readers and listeners and "utterers" over the centuries. G. M. WICKENS [G. M. Wickens is Professor of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto.]
315
AUTUMN 1976
A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
In Manuscriptssubmitted for publication, only those words need be transliteratedwhich do not appearin the third edition of Webster'sNew InternationalDictionary.The system of transliterationused by IRANIANSTUDIESis the Persian Romanizationdeveloped for the Libraryof Congressand approved by the AmericanLibraryAssociationand the CanadianLibraryAssociation.Copies of this table (CataloguingService - Bulletin 92) may be obtainedby writingdirectlyto the Editor.
IranianStudies is publishedby The Society for IranianStudies.It is distributedto membersof the Society as part of their membership.Annualmembershipdues are $12.00 ($7.00 for students). The annual subscriptionrate for librariesand other institutionsis $12.00. A limited supply of the back volumesof the Journal (1968 to present)is availableandmay be orderedby writingto the Editor. The opinions expressedby the contributorsare of the individualauthorsand not necessarilythose of the Society or the editorsof IranianStudies. Articles to be consideredfor publicationand all other communicationsshould be sent to the Editor,IranianStudies, Box K-154, Boston College,ChestnutHill, Mass.02167, U.S.A. Communicationsconcerningthe affairsof the Society should be addressedto the ExecutiveSecretary,The Society for IranianStudies,P.O. Box 89, VillageStation,New York,N.Y. 10014, U.S.A.
COVER: Wallpaintingin ChihilSutun,Isfahan.From:E. Grube,"WallPaintings in the SeventeenthCenturyMonumentsof Isfahan,"ErnstGrubeIranian Studies,Vol. VII, Nos. 3-4 (1974), p. 542.
