From Irena: “As always Friday’s cultural info provided by you was a delight. Ma’ani must have been quite a girl to have her own coat of arms. “I tried to leave a comment on your site, but got caught out by the required Captcha phrase – I don’t know what this is. Anyway, here is …
I’ve already posted something about the splendidly luxurious litter Pietro della Valle had made for his beloved wife Ma’ani. But she was actually very comfortable riding horseback and camping out. When the couple travelled across the Darya Namak area north-east of Kashan, on their way up from Isfahan to see Shah Abbas in Mazanderan, she …
A while ago, I included details from an 1850s description of the famous Ardabil collection of ceramics being used for charitable feasts for the poor – and also referenced some (copyrighted) images showing the ceramic collection looking very like piles of washing up after a big party ( in Pope’s catalogue from 1956). Now the …
Following on my previous posting on the lovely stucco mihrab at Zuzan, two people kindly reminded me to properly credit Blair and Adle for the work they have done on the site. I had intended to draw further on this work – perhaps to write about the three phases of construction of the mosque-madrasa; or …
Shah Abbas and Jahangir had a complex relationship. There was an ongoing dispute over the key southern trade centre of Kandahar; but both men frequently professed their “brotherly love” (click here and here for earlier blog entries about jewel gifts), whilst at the same time engaging in more or less petty insults – always dressed up …