A mihrab . . in a pit

I went to see the madrasa at Zuzan on the recommendation of one of the builders at Khargird – I always ask any builders I meet where the good local buildings are, and this method sometimes comes up trumps. Now, I know that the building is dated at June 1218, and is one of only …

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Alexander the hero?

From 334BC onwards Alexander was aiming to conquer the whole of the Persian empire. He raced through Anatolia, defeating Darius III at Issos (click and rollover to see annotations on the mosaic) and then again – at Gaugamela. Babylon and Susa then surrendered without a struggle, giving Alexander access to the immense Achaemenid treasures. Alexander …

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‘No equal in all the world’

The very large Musalla complex in Herat (click here for the original plan) was built in 1417 – by the same architect who built the lovely Khargird Madrasa. It gradually crumbled away until 1885, when a Russian attack on Herat was feared (it never materialised) – most of the building was then destroyed under the direction …

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Earthquakes: Bam

Without in any way wanting to minimise the recent tragedies in Japan, I could only be reminded of the 2003 earthquake in Bam, which caused such destruction in the historic citadel as well as killing around 30,000 people there. A 3 minute UNESCO film and, even better, a 5 minute Jadid Online film gives a …

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My yellowness for you, your redness for me

The Iranian New Year 2570 begins (in London) on Sunday 21st March at 23.21 (click here for times in other places) Happy New Year everyone! Happy Norooz! Just in case you’re not up to speed, here’s a great 47 second ‘History for Dummies’ video guide to Norooz. Even if you dont understand any Persian, you …

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Speed: Shah ‘Abbās . . and shoelaces

Shah ‘Abbās the First was a famously itinerant ruler: travelling up to a annual maximum of 4500km (in 1591-2 – and that’s not counting his prodigious hunting trips). On each of his average-thirty-odd annual moves, Melville has calculated that the Shah generally covered 34-45 km/day. ‘Abbās could, however, travel much faster: Pietro della Valle wrote …

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The first European portraits of Persians

The earliest known portraits of Iranians by Westerners reached record prices in the October 2010 Christies sales: £157,250 for a 1604 drawing of “Mehdi Quli Bey”; and £229,250 for a 1604 drawing of “Sinal Shah Kamlu”, with his even more extravagant mustachios (against estimates of £35-50,000). Click on the links to see what you might …

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Moving thrones

In a recent posting about the litters, or cages, that many women (and invalids) used to get around Persia, I said that I thought that Figueroa – the Spanish ambassador in 1617-19 – did not use the undignified cages. So what might he have used? Another litter that is well documented as being used is …

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Whose view of Shah Abbas?

The first of the images of Shah Abbas the Great shown here is an undated and unpublished portrait in a private collection. If its provenance can be confirmed, it is a unique and important representation: especially since it was apparently painted from life, and by an Italian artist. Abbas does indeed look very like John …

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