THE Persians are eminently a social people. They are
vivacious and entertaining; fond of jokes and story-telling,
and ready in repartee. They are much given to visiting and
feasting. This is remarkable, since the great bond of society
with us is entirely wanting: the social intercourse of men and
women is not permitted, and the idea of it shocks their sense
of propriety. Men visit with men, women with women. Dancing
amazes them beyond measure, and seems an immodest license and
a perversion of liberty.
The Persians are a polite people. They have elaborate rules
of etiquette, and many set phrases and compliments suitable
for every occasion. Visits are made at the festivals, both for
congratulation and condolence, and often for the transaction
of business. The physician is honored with an hour's social
chat before the ailments of the caller-in are mentioned. He is
expected in return to make himself comfortable in the parlor
for a prolonged tea-drinking before being inducted into the
sickroom. Time is of little value. Social calls are often of
three or four hours' duration.
The greatest social event in Persia is the festival of the
New Year or Noruz. It commemorates the entrance of the sun
into the sign of Aries at the vernal equinox. It is the most
fitting and beautiful time for the New Year. Then the sacred
year of the Jews and of some European nations began. March
25th was the first day of the year in Scotland until 1600, and
in England until 1752. At this season, Persia, throughout most
of its borders, begins to put on its robe of verdure, flowers
begin to bloom, and the farmer takes up his work in the
fields.
Some Persians affirm that the world began to move in its
orbit on that day. Others place the origin of the festival in
the time of Jemshid, the founder of Persepolis. He introduced
the solar year, and celebrated its first day as a splendid
festival. The sculptured procession on the great staircase at
Persepolis is supposed to represent the bringing of presents
from the various provinces at Noruz. This is the only festival
of ancient Persia that has not been displaced by the sacred
seasons of Mohammedanism. The Persians never fail to enter
into its enjoyment, except when the movable lunar calendar of
Islam brings some religious ceremony at the same time. From
1893 to 1896 Noruz falls in the great fast of Ramadan. The
festivities with which ancient kings celebrated it are
curiously described in the "Arabian Nights," in
"The Enchanted Horse." In the introduction to this
story it is said: "Noruz, or the new day, is a festival
so solemn and so ancient throughout the whole extent of
Persia, taking its origin even from the earliest period of
idolatry, that the holy religion of the Prophet, pure and
unsullied as it is, has been hitherto unable to abolish it;
although it must be confessed that it is a custom completely
pagan, and that the ceremonies observed in its solemnization
are of the most superstitious nature. Not to mention large
cities, there is no town, borough, village, or hamlet, however
small, where the festival is not celebrated with extraordinary
rejoicings. Those that take place at court surpass all others
by the variety of new and surprising spectacles, so that
nothing that is attempted in other parts of the world can
approach or be compared with this sumptuous
magnificence." A thousand years after Haroun-al-Raschid
the festival still holds its place. To an outside observer its
ceremonies do not seem as "pagan" as some of those
connected with Shiahism.
Prior to the festival of Noruz the dervish pitches his
white tent before the door of some nobleman, and sits there
and yells, "Ya hak!" ["O truth!"] until
his claims to charity are satisfied. The letter-carrier
presents himself to receive an anam; the cook expects a
new coat; the mirza, and even the physician, are remembered by
their patrons; and the alderman receives goodly donations from
his constituents. During the last week of the old year the
bazaars are profusely decorated. Gay cloths, carpets, and
shawls are exhibited in the shops. Pictures, mirrors, mottoes,
bunting, and embroideries are hung up. Arches are constructed,
spanning the streets with pendent ornaments. Villagers crowd
in front of the open shops, and groups of boys stroll about to
see the sights. Every one buys a collection of nuts, raisins,
figs, dates, dried apricots, grape-juice paste, etc. These
fruits must be of seven kinds, the name of each beginning with
the letter "S." The collection is called the yeddi
luvn.
Many send to their friends a plateful, with the compliments
of the season. The last Wednesday, called Akhir Chahar-Shenba,
is a gala day. It is the children's festival, but the whole
population is ready for a frolic. Clowns in fantastic costumes
and ludicrous masks, and strolling minstrels with tambourines
and cymbals and leading a monkey, perform and collect shahis.
Boys crowd the streets, and women gather on the housetops, to
see the shows. School-boys enter into the spirit of the day
and make a mock visit to their principal. One of them, arrayed
like a Kurdish sheik, in long flowing robes, great turban, and
a cotton beard, and with attendants armed like Kurds, but with
canes for swords, presents himself and declares that a fine
has been levied upon the school. He receives a present, and
they all go off to expend it on some of the good things in the
bazaars.
As the great day approaches, every man says to himself,
"Well, to-morrow is Noruz. I must get my head shaved, go
to the bath, dye my hands, nails, and beard with henna, put on
a clean skull-cap, and see if the tailor has my new coat
ready. I must buy some sugar and tea, tobacco and candy, and
then I shall be ready for all comers."
In the capital the festival is ushered in and celebrated
with elaborate ceremonies by the shah and his court. The crown
prince in Tabriz keeps the day with similar rejoicings. At the
astronomical termination of the year a tray of the seven
fruits is brought before the prince. Some of these are eaten.
Incense is burned, according to a custom of the
fire-worshipers. One hundred and ten guns are fired off, with
reference to Ali, who is said to have been named successor to
Mohammed on this day. Consuls, nobles, and high officials,
clothed in their uniforms and decorations, pay their salaam to
His Highness, and partake of a feast. Luck-money, coined with
the name of the shah, is distributed to all. Some of these
gold and silver tokens are sent to the mujtehid and other
ecclesiastics. They presage a fortunate year for the
recipient, because the king thus indicates his royal favor.
After the salaam there is a military review in the medan
or public square. The trumpet is sounded; the officers on
their gayly caparisoned horses present themselves with their
companies. Each soldier receives a token of fourteen shahis
in value. After the review, wrestling-contests and ram-fights
enliven the scene. In some villages buffalo-fights are a part
of the programme. These powerful animals, sometimes made
ferocious by partial intoxication, make a rough contest. In
other places, such as Hamadan, the day is ushered in with a
display of pyrotechnics. From the housetops thousands of
rockets and "fusing-jugs" are set off.
The festivities extend over two or three weeks. The bazaars
are generally closed and business suspended. All are bent on
pleasure. Merry-making reigns supreme. Days are designated for
visiting particular classes or wards of the city. On the first
day the official class exchange visits, while the religiously
inclined give the honor of precedence to the mujtehids. On
succeeding days the crowd moves from ward to ward. Calls are
often an hour long. About breakfast-time (noon) a group of
friends may unexpectedly enter, and a new supply of pilaw
must be served up quickly. Families that have suffered
bereavement during the preceding year do not make visits, but
receive them, serving to their guests bitter coffee and
omitting all sweetmeats.
Noruz is a pleasant time to renew old acquaintances, make
new ones, and to visit both rich and poor without interfering
with their business engagements. I shall give an account of
the visits made during one Noruz season, since they afford the
best opportunity to become acquainted with the social customs
of the people. According to a custom in visiting men of rank,
we sent a request to the governor-general, the former
Amir-i-Nizam, that His Excellency might appoint a convenient
time to receive us. The governor's house, in a group of
government buildings, was built in semi-European style, with
windows on all sides and faced with red brick. He had two
large reception-rooms, one furnished in Persian, the other in
European style. The Persian room had portieres over the doors,
and was carpeted in the usual manner, with a larger
center-piece, two kenarehs or side-strips, and a gala or
head-piece, the four rugs neatly covering the entire floor.
The kenarehs and kala were of soft kecha or
felt, half an inch thick, and the color of camel's hair, with
a simple figured border. Over these was spread, for their
protection, a breadth of cotton cloth, called ru-farsh.
At the upper corners of the reception-room were divans,
consisting of mattresses and pillows, and covered with the
finest Senna rugs. On one of these divans the governor sat to
receive Persian visitors; the other was reserved for men of
high rank, while other guests sat on the carpets around the
sides of the room.
We had removed our galoshes and hats on being ushered in.
The governor, in stockinged feet and with hat on, received us
cordially, rising and shaking our hands. To his "Salaam
alakum!" [" Peace to you!"] we responded,
"To you peace! May Your Excellency's feast be
blessed!" He replied, "May your favor be
increased!" After being seated on chairs we inquired
concerning His Excellency's "noble condition." He
replied in the customary phrase, "Al hamd ul Ullah!"
[" Praise God, I am well!"]; but on second inquiry
he declared that he was feeling ill, and most of his
conversation in the midst of tea-drinking was about his
ailments. He ended the interview by saying that he had a peeshkesh
for the doctor, which proved to be ten imperials.
Afterward we called on the beglar-begi or mayor. He
is of the Dumbli family, which have ruled in Azerbijan before
the Kajar dynasty. He has great wealth, being lord of many
villages. All the guests in the saloon rose and remained
standing while he led us into a room furnished with tables and
chairs. A special feature of the room was the great number of
gilded and illuminated firmans and honorary degrees from the
shah, framed and hung on the walls, or placed in the niches.
According to custom, tea was brought in in tiny glasses having
handles of silver, and placed on glass saucers. The cupbearer
served each person on an individual waiter of silver, and in
the order of the rank of each one, as judged from the position
of their seats. He first offered tea to his master, but he,
with a wave of the hand, declined to be served until after his
guests. The tea was piping hot without cream, and as sweet as
a syrup. On the waiters was a little bottle of Shiraz
lemon-juice and sliced Farad (grape-fruit) for flavoring it.
After a time the attendants reappeared. One bore a salver on
which were tiny coffee-cups in holders. The latter resembled
in shape an egg-cup. They are sometimes chinaware, and
sometimes Zenjan-silver filigree, of exquisite workmanship.
The other attendant bore a coffee-pot; he lifted one of the
coffee-cups, placed it in the holder, and filled it about
two-thirds full of very thick, black, sweet coffee.
The kalean or water-pipe was brought in and passed
to us. We declined with the phrase, "It is not our
custom." The host took a few whiffs and passed it to the
guests in the saloon. Finally we said, in the customary form
of adieu, "Will you command our dismissal? " He
replied, " Do you withdraw your graciousness?" If
the host wishes to shorten the visit he can hasten these
courses.
A visit to the kalantar, the chief alderman, showed
us some different phases of Persian life. An hour's ride on
horseback brought us to his place in the suburbs. He had
extensive grounds, beautifully laid out with fountains and
flower-beds and shaded avenues. In his greenhouse were orange
and lemon trees bearing fruit. One of his rooms was papered
with chromos, another with cuts from the illustrated papers.
He had a large household of retainers. The kalantar was
fond of religious discussion and familiar with the Bible. He
had written a book in defense of Islam against Christianity.
His opinion was that Paul undermined and corrupted the
religion of Jesus. He found in the prophecy of Habakkuk of the
Holy One from Mount Paran, who drove asunder the nations, a
prediction of Mohammed. Conversation on religion is habitual
among the Persians.
Here there were set before us some choice sweetmeats. Among
the favorite confections is gaz. It is made from the
juice of the tamarisk tree and has a delicious flavor, which
is increased by being mixed with pistachios. Another favorite
is fig-paste, called "ease of the throat." This is
variously flavored and colored. Among the candies popular in
Persia are sugared burned almond, pomegranate jelly cut in
little squares, kappa, a taffy of molasses and nuts,
rock-candy, and peshmak, which is made of sugar and
butter, crystallized like snowflakes or thistledown, and
formed into pyramids, cones, and other shapes. A very rich
pastry sprinkled with sugar, but without fruit, is much
prized. Their cakes, made of rice-flour and nuts, with
sheep-tail fat and saffron flavor, are rarely agreeable to
foreign taste. Year by year confections are being improved by
contact with Tiflis and Constantinople. The best sweetmeats
are now made in the houses of the wealthy, and some of their
ladies are expert in the art. At Noruz and other festivals
great khonchas of candies are sent in by the clients of
the great, and the center of the parlor is occupied by a large
display of them. It has lately become the custom to rent a
large amount of confections for an occasion, only those being
paid for which are eaten, and the rest returned.
These visits, together with others to mollas, merchants,
and physicians, gave us considerable knowledge of the life of
well-to-do Persians. The impression was gained that their
manner of living is very comfortable. Their wealth is not
great, but they have the conveniences and luxuries which the
country affords, or which they think it necessary to import.
Their houses are neither of marble nor of cut stone, nor do
they have many of the charms of beautiful architecture. But
the wealthy class in the cities have pleasant rooms, excellent
food, fruits and flowers in abundance, troops of servants
waiting their every beck and call, stables full of valuable
horses, incomes easily earned, plenty of leisure for an
afternoon siesta and for social intercourse, many holidays and
a disposition to enjoy them; and withal they have no reason to
envy the far more opulent but possibly less contented
plutocrats who under steam pressure and with lightning
rapidity are "bulling and bearing" one another in
the marts of civilization.
New-Year's calls on the poor of Persia revealed a striking
contrast. We knocked at the outer door, that the women might
have a chance to conceal themselves. Bending low, we stooped
down and passed under a long arched way, and entered a little
yard with mud-plastered walls. The cahvakhana or hall
opened into a half-underground room, in one end of which was a
poorly made window, covered with oiled paper, its cracks being
similarly pasted over to keep out the wind. Its flopping,
ill-fitting door was low, while the sill was very high, in
order that the shoes may be taken off in the hall and not
obstruct the opening and shutting of the door. The rafters
overhead were unceiled. The furniture consisted of common
carpets (ghelim), a mirror brought with the
wedding-outfit, a copper basin and ewer, a small tea-urn and
some glasses, and a kalean on the lower niches. On the
upper niches were a few bottles, and on the once whitened
walls had been pasted some cigarette-papers, caricature
prints, and verses from the Koran. The host greeted us with a
hearty "Welcome! You have done me a great favor." We
replied, "May your festival be blessed, may your house be
blessed!" He answered, "It is a present to
you." The other guests rose, placed their right hands
first on their hearts, then to their foreheads, and bowed low.
We knelt on our knees on calico cushions, the weight of the
body resting on the heels. The host, though his circumstances
were straitened, was bright in conversation. A small boy
dressed like a grown man entered, and we inquired, "Who
is this?" "He is your slave," he replied; which
meant, "He is my son." A dish of wheat was growing
on the window-sill, a symbol of the renewal of the year. A
fish was swimming in a pan, which called forth a remark from
him that fish always look toward Mecca at Noruz. He placed
before us a few candies, some boiled eggs, and pickled grapes.
He had the samovar already boiling, and sat down beside it,
washed the cups and saucers, and placed tea before us. We did
not decline to drink, for the poor man would feel aggrieved.
He honored us specially by almost filling our tea-glasses with
sugar, though he himself sipped his tea through a small lump
which he held between his teeth and retained to sweeten
succeeding sups. What does a poor man have besides the things
within sight? His goods consist of a few rude dishes of native
pottery, a jar or two of pickled herbs and dried vegetables, a
flour-bin, some copper pots, and a chest of clothing. With his
wages of a dime a day as a laborer or servant he must provide
for his Khadija and Ismiel, Husain and Fatima. He thanks God
for the blessing of such a family; but how do they live on
such a pittance? Most of it goes to buy bread, which, with
some salty cheese to give it taste, or a glass of weak tea,
constitutes his breakfast; his luncheon is bread and sour
milk, garlic or onions or some cheap fruit; for dinner a stew
of meat and vegetables, highly seasoned with red peppers and
onions---a large quantity for a little meat---makes his bread
palatable. Lack of employment or high prices reduce him to
bread and water. In winter a few shahis' worth of charcoal
lasts the family a long while under the kurisee.
In sleeping rich and poor alike lie on the floor. The
bedding, which consists of a short mattress, a round pillow,
and coverlets, is folded up and placed in a recess by day. In
summer many of the people sleep on the roofs, rising when the
sun disturbs them. The social habit, which is so universally
exemplified at Noruz, is a striking trait of the Persian
character. One of the social institutions of great attraction
is the tea-house. The tea-houses are of various grades. Some
are rudely furnished, with merely a raised platform which
surrounds the sides of the room, and is covered with matting
or carpet. Others have an air of comfort imparted to them by
divans, mirrors, chandeliers, etc. With tea at half a cent a
glass, and one pipeful of tobacco sufficing for a crowd, it is
no wonder loafers seek them and business men make appointments
in them. The common pipe, cigarettes, and the Bateau or
water-pipe are much used. In the latter the smoke passes
through the water and is drawn into the lungs. Lemon-juice and
other flavors are sometimes mixed with the water.
The ordinary kalean is about two feet high. It
consists of a vase capable of holding about a quart of water,
a top about the size of a goblet, in which burning charcoal
and dampened tobacco are placed, a wooden tube which supports
the top on the vase, and a mouthpiece or stem about twenty
inches long. The support and stem are turned on the lathe, in
various ornamental designs. The vase and bowl are of glass,
stone, china, brass, or silver, and are set with turquoises or
other jewels, and carved, enameled, and decorated with
pictures of the shah, flowers, and similar objects.
Another place of social resort and gossip is the bathhouse.
Custom and religion require frequent ablutions. For the men,
with their dyeing of the hair and nails with henna, scraping
the flesh with tufa, etc., the bath is a frequent necessity,
and no less so for the women, whose hair-dressing, dyeing of
eyelashes, etc., require so much time and attention. The
bath-houses are below the level of the street, so as to be
supplied with water. The arched domes are lighted through
slabs of alabaster. One may know when he is near the
bath-house by the long rows of colored towels hung on the
street walls. The fuel used is weeds, thorn-bushes, straw,
dried manure, bones, carcasses, or any other rubbish, and the
odor inside and out is sometimes very offensive. The
atmosphere of the vaulted room is very hot, as in the case of
the Turkish bath. The water in the plunge-tank is changed only
once in two or three months, and is consequently a prolific
breeder of disease.
The Persian has few kinds of amusement. His theater is the
"Takia " or passion-play of Muharram; his lyceum
lecturers are the dervishes on the street corner, and the
poets and marseyakhan in the residences of the rich. Singers,
musicians, and dancers are adjuncts of weddings and other
feasts. The Persian gentleman does not dance. A prince, seeing
some European noblemen dancing, expressed his surprise,
saying, "Why do you exert yourselves so much? In Persia
we hire people to dance for us." No violent games of ball
and no severe gymnastics are in vogue, except for the pehlavans
or wrestlers. Horse-racing and hunting are favorite
amusements, chess, checkers, and backgammon are old and
standard games. Cards are being introduced throughout the
entire country, and gambling is unhappily prevalent.
The custom of giving presents is universal. A person
returning home brings a sogat or present to each of his
relatives and friends. The custom is so binding that some men
unwillingly go in debt to avoid a breach of it, and others
stay away from home from inability to do what is expected of
them. Gifts of dainties from the table, of the first-fruits
from the orchard, and of loaves of fresh bread are sent from
friend to friend. Formal tokens of commendation from a
superior are greatly prized. The shah yearly sends a khallat
or robe of honor to each governor on the renewal of his
appointment. Its bearer is an important official. He is met by
the governor at a villa called khallat-pashan, where
the latter puts on his robe. Its style and elegance indicate
the degree of appreciation intended to be shown It is a high
honor for a royal person to give another a robe which he
himself has worn. When the crown prince wished to show his
appreciation of Dr. Holmes by presenting him with a robe of
honor, he first wore it himself a few days.
Certain other presents may be regarded as taxes. Such are
the large amounts sent by the governors to the shah at Noruz.
Of a similar nature are those sent to local officials by
subjects and by foreign residents, as a recognition of
obligation for civil protection. On the receipt of such a gift
it is customary to give the bearer a sum of money, showing
appreciation of the gift and its sender. Fees, tips, and anams
are very common. Peeshkesh is a gift to a superior, and
is generally made with the idea of procuring an equivalent in
cash, favor, or influence. Baksheesh is a freewill
offering to and inferior.
