I’m fascinated by the renowned polymath Shaykh Bahaie – and an earlier posting on the blog has already showcased his amazing camel-powered oil mill, and mentioned his one-candle-powered hamam.
Now his house in Isfahan is apparently up for sale.
The house website explains that the building was nominated for the UNESCO prize of “most beautiful house in Asia” in 1996. It’s situated in one of the oldest parts of Isfahan, just to the west of the Masjid Jame, and has 11 rooms. The house has apparently been altered and added to over many centuries, but the oldest parts of it date back to the Seljuk era. Most of the construction is said to be Safavid – but there is a talar / shahnishin built in the early Qajar period, and a gorgeous late Qajar mirrored hall.
An underground passageway to the famous hamam has been found, and descendants of the house’s owners are said to remember visiting the bath in this way.
The website says that Shah Abbas’ influential aunt, Zainab Soltan Begum, originally lived in the house and that “after her death in 1017AH [1608CE] Shah Abbas gave Sheik Baha’i the house as a present, under the condition that the religious Sheik prayed five times a day for the soul of his aunt. The Sheikh lived here to his death”.
The Zaynab part of the story can’t be quite right: this powerful lady outlived not only Shaykh Bahaie, but also Shah Abbas – three years after Abbas died she was evicted from the harem that she had controlled; after being outwitted by Muhibb Ali Beg (the tutor of the ghulam slaves), working with the concubine-mother of Shah Safi.
Regardless of that, the house has rightly been recognised as an outstanding example of the restoration of Qajar-era houses in Isfahan. The gallery of photos here (scroll to the left and use the the blue dot / arrow arrangement to look through) offers a unique opportunity to see around one of these very special houses – usually closed to outsiders. There’s even an interactive floor plan: click on the room, and you can see what it’s like inside.
And the external photos really make it clear that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover – would you have expected such cool sumptuousness from the dusty photos of the outside?