Issue 16&17 - Spring & Summer 2021

Issue 16&17 - Spring & Summer 2021

​In issue 21-23 of Mardomnameh, we look at the history of the present and the importance of historical contextualization (temporal and spatial) in understanding contemporary social phenomena in Iran. We also look at social life in the city of Kermanshah in 1913, the mass migration of the poor to this city and the local community groups' fight against poverty. You can also read about the iconic Chaharbagh street of Isfahan, Iranian gardens, female travellers in the Achaemenid dynasty and social welfare in Sassanid political ideology. Other sections include articles on architectural history, food history, book reviews and an interview on the interconnections between social history and people's history. 

​In 1913, Kermanshah experienced a mass migration of poor and homeless people who had reached the city from the outskirts, enduring torment, hardship and suffering along the way. These were often pilgrims and traders who lived a respectful life in their cities before setting out to Mesopotamia for trade and business and being attacked by trade route bandits on their way back to their homelands.

​Chahar Bagh is a geographical, economic and social axis of Isfahan. This street was constructed 400 years ago and during the time of Shah Abbas I and it has maintained the significant status envisioned by its founders up to this day. Unlike some other historical streets that have lost their glory, Chahar Bagh has not been sidelined in urban development plans and is still considered the backbone of Isfahan city.

Understanding social phenomena in modern Iran has often been plagued by ambiguity and phrases such as "the situation is complicated", "Iran's conditions cannot be explained by theories", "it is anomic and incomprehensible"; etc. ​​​​​​​But the science should aim to explain the nature of phenomena as relegation to incomprehensibiblity further adds to complexity and inaccessibility. 

​Scholars divide the history of social welfare into three stages. Stage one was the tribal and village life, where needs were supported within families and village communities. Stage two was the establishment of religious and charitable institutions to support the poor. In stage 3, governments became responsible for social welfare. I believe that social welfare in the Sassanid society was in stage 3 where the government executed welfare policies.

​The Dushan Tappe garden was an important royal hunting ground in the Nasseri era. It also had a special gateway to Tehran and remained prosperous until the Pahlavi era. Nasser al-din Shah refers to this garden in his memoirs, traces of which still remain in the Firuzeh Palace. A rare practice in the paintings of the Nasseri and Qajar period, was the depiction of women at the end corner of the frame, reflecting their social status in the era.

​As is known, there are limitations to our historical records on people's history and topics such as travel history. Thus, reconstructing the history of daily life in ancient Iran is a complex process. Moreover, the passage of time has removed traces of many material objects of daily life. However, the tablets of Takht-e Jamshid depicts the scenes of people's daily life cannot be found in other resources of Achaemenid history.

Differentiating between writings on the history of literature on the one hand and historical fiction on the other is a complex task which brings us back to a central epistemological debate : To what extent can literature be a medium of historical reflection? What is the significance or influence of historical knowledge in understanding works of literature? 

In Sherry Turkle's words, photos and family photos are "evocative objects underscoring the inseparability of thought and feeling in our relationship to things. We think with the objects we love; we love the objects we think with." Family photos that come to life through family recollections are significant sources in family historiography​​​​​​​.

The distinguishing feature of people’s history of architecture is not a just a matter of subject or methodology but a matter of perspective. From a broader viewpoint, an architectural site represents not just the final construction but a process of people as forces of construction. In people's history of architecture, the traces and faces of such forces are explored.

Lion is a recurring pattern in Tanavoli's work, depicted both individually and next to the sun in sculptures, rugs and paintings. The oil paitining of a lion pictured above is a compilation of different rectangles, resembling Bakhtiari stone lions. The half circle sun behind the lion embodies a cedar tree which is one of the oldest design patterns in Iranian history. 

The groundwork for the publication of satirical periodicals in Iran was laid by the constitutional revolution in 1906. In five months, the Azarbaijan Periodical was published with the backing of figures such as Sattar Khan. The periodical was modelled after the famous Molla Nasredin periodical (1906-1931) that was printed in Tiflis (Tbilisi) at the time.

Robberies were planned in different ways. Thieves adopted new methods of stealing after previous methods were exposed to the public. In urban areas, robberies occurred predominantly in shops where access to cash or commodities was presumed. Stealing tactics from shops varied depending on the shop location, time of day and crowd numbers.​​​​​​​