Last week I wrote about Jonas Hanway, the Caspian Trader, and his account of Shah Abbas advising the Ottoman Sultan that he would stop the Persians wearing green stockings if the Sultan stopped dogs in Turkey from pissing on the grass. When I was looking for images of Hanway, I found several (for example here …
Today the commonest tale told in Iran about Shah Abbas concerns the 999 caravanserais he is supposed to have constructed. Jonas Hanway, in his Historical account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, tells lots more. My two favourites stories are about the shrewdness of Shah Abbas. The first is about Abbas’ supposed “method …
Happy Yalda! Yalda is the longest night of the year – or, more positively, the night after which the days become longer, and the sun starts to win again. Although it’s on December 20 or 21st, I’ve put this posting up early, since SOAS are having a special Yalda night on the 17th and you …