Bücher veröffentlicht von Mage Publishers

Originally, Khorshid Khanom or "Sun Lady," was the symbol of the Mother Goddess, but later she became the goddess of fertility and water, and the protector of her believers. Since Achaemenid times and thereafter, she was the personification of Anahita, who was immaculate and fiery, and associated with fertility, water, and Venus.Despite Khorshid Khanom's ubiquitous presence in Iran and beyond, she seems to be totally absent from primary sources, secondary historical monographs, encyclopedias, and even from folklore literature, except for lullabies and children's ditties. Khorshid Khanom: A Study in the Origin and Development of the Shir-o Khorshid Motif, by renowned scholar Willem Floor in collaboration with art historian Forough Sajadi, fills this lacuna. It draws from folklore, literary and artistic sources to explore the inspirational source of the motif. It identifies the first surviving artworks depicting a human-faced sun, and discusses how this motif developed and was used over the centuries, not only to represent fertility, but also as the symbol of royal power and charisma from the pre-Islamic period down to the twentieth century.

I gaze into the mirror of my heart,And though it's me who looks, it's you I see.So speaks one of the many distinctive voices in this new anthology of verse by women poets writing in Persian, most of whom have never been translated into English before; this is especially true of the pre-modern poets, such as the unnamed author of the lines above, known simply as the "daughter of Salar" or "the woman from Esfahan."One of the very first Persian poets was a woman (Rabe'eh, who lived over a thousand years ago) and there have been women poets writing in Persian in virtually every generation since that time until the present. Before the twentieth century they tended to come from society's social extremes. Many were princesses, a good number were hired entertainers of one kind or another, and they were active in many different countries - Iran of course, but also India, Afghanistan, and areas of central Asia that are now Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Not surprisingly, a lot of their poetry sounds like that of their male counterparts, but a lot doesn't; there are distinctively bawdy and flirtatious poems by medieval women poets, poems from virtually every era in which the poet complains about her husband (sometimes light-heartedly, sometimes with poignant seriousness), touching poems on the death of a child, and many epigrams centered on little details that bring a life from hundreds of years ago vividly before our eyes. The Mirror of My Heart is a unique and captivating collection introduced and translated by Dick Davis, an acclaimed scholar and translator of Persian literature as well as a gifted poet in his own right. In his introduction he provides fascinating background detail on Persian poetry written by women through the ages, including common themes and motifs and a brief overview of Iranian history showing how women poets have been affected by the changing dynasties. From Rabe'eh in the tenth century to Fatemeh Ekhtesari in the twenty-first, each of the eighty-three poets in this volume is introduced in a short biographical note, while explanatory notes give further insight into the poems themselves.

The history of modern Iran has been momentous, precarious, and turbulent. The country's struggle with democracy started in 1906 with the Constitutional Revolution that established Iran's first parliamentary democracy and ended in 1921 with a coup d'état that eventually brought a new monarch to power. Sepahdar: Fathollah Khan Akbar is the biography of a consequential player during this period.By the 1880s, Fathollah Khan Akbar had inherited enormous wealth from his uncle, and had added to it from running the Gilan and Mazandaran customs administrations. He was an important provincial landowner who on several occasions had hosted Mozaffar al-Din Shah. However, as the Constitutional Revolution started to take shape and protests hit home, he became involved in national politics and came out in support of the cause and the Majles. Over his forty-year political career, during which he witnessed the rule of five monarchs, Sepahdar experienced setbacks such as imprisonment and kidnapping, as well as victories such as the 1909 "Triumph of Tehran," which he personally financed while exiled from the city by the shah. Throughout these ups and downs, and while Iran had been divided into zones of Russian and British influence, Sepahdar played all sides while maintaining a strong sense of patriotism and independence. During both his short premierships, he repeatedly defied British authorities when Iran's interests were at risk.This book is for those interested in Iran's political history in the first quarter of the twentieth century. It sets out, in granular detail, the events, obstacles, and characters involved in the struggle to form an independent democracy. And it provides much new information, including how Sepahdar and the future Reza Shah Pahlavi collaborated to achieve a coup that was bloodless. As a bonus, the preface by Goli Akbar Kashani, Sepahdar's granddaughter, is suffused with family stories and memories.

Khosrow and Shirin is a love story by Nezami Ganjavi--considered the greatest medieval Persian romance poet--based on historical characters of the seventh-century Iranian court. Written 850 years ago, the narrative poem is presented here for the first time in a stunning modern-verse English translation by Dick Davis, the pre-eminent translator of Persian poetry.The love between an Iranian prince (Khosrow) and an Armenian princess (Shirin) is at the center of this tumultuous tale in which the exigencies of politics and warfare intertwine with no less powerful forces of erotic desire and the quest for personal and spiritual fulfilment. Nezami vividly dramatizes the clash between heroism and sensuality as they are pitted against the desire for the amenities of order and humane civilization. These marvelously presented discordant themes result in a complex love story based on conflicting concepts of love, one regarding the beloved as a prize to be conquered and possessed, the other unrequited and all-consuming, relishing the very notion of the annihilation of the self through love.Davis has captured the energy and poetry of Nezami's original in a delightful, contemporary idiom, and given us a story to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its luminous lyrical mastery. Davis's superb introduction and textual commentary provide insightful background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Davis's translation. Khosrow and Shirin will enchant both the classicist and the general reader, to captivate a new audience for Nezami's masterpiece.

Only 100 years ago the main means of transportation in Iran was by quadruped. Transportation & Technology in Iran, 1800-1940, by renowned Iranian studies scholar Willem Floor is an in-depth, illustrated, four-part study of the subject. Until the 1920s Iran had no more than 700 kilometers of roads suitable for motor vehicles, which situation greatly impeded Iran's economic development. Caravans traveled 40 km/day, though travelers in a hurry could cover 150 km/day when using the courier system (chapar), which is the subject of part 1. Wheeled transportation, (in part 2 of the books) was rare and limited to only a few parts of country due to the lack of roads. This situation underwent change when carriages became popular in urban areas and on the few modern roads after 1890. Motorized transportation grew in importance after 1921 and really took off in the 1930s, with the construction of a new road network. As a result, newer, more powerful trucks reduced the cost of transportation significantly, thus lowering the cost of retail goods. The increase of motorized transport also meant that car dealers, import rules, mechanics, garages, supply of spare parts, and gasoline distribution as well as traffic regulations had to be created ex nihilo; All these processes are detailed in the book. Like cars, bicycles and motorcycles also were increasingly used as of the 1920s, thus increasing choice in people's mobility. More road traffic also implied that travelers needed places to spend the night and eat. The change from caravanserais to guest-houses and hotels is discussed in part 3. These changes in transportation methods did not come alone, for other modern tools of change such as the sewing machine and the typewriter also made their appearance and had a major impact on people's availability and use of time. Finally, the piano made its entry onto the Iranian musical scene, and although not perfectly in tune with the traditional Iranian musical system, it is now as much part of music making in Iran as the tar and santur (part 4 of the book). All these changes and new technologies did not happen overnight or without problems, and slow adoption initially was limited to the upper-class. However, with falling prices and changing needs and policies these new technologies eventually reached a larger public and the idea that they once were 'exotic' and 'out of reach' is now inconceivable to Iranians. The studies in this book provide a new vantage point and understanding of the transfer of modern technology for scholars of the social-economic and cultural history of the Middle East.

Widely regarded in his lifetime as the greatest living authority on all things Iranian, across an enormous range of disciplines, Albert Houtum Schindler lived and worked in Iran from 1868 to 1911. All who either met or corresponded with him came away praising his encyclopaedic knowledge and remarkable insight. A member of numerous learned societies in Europe, he sustained a wide web of intellectual contacts and was insatiably curious. As an employee of the Indo-European Telegraph Department, the Imperial Bank of Persia and the Persian Bank Mining Rights Corporation, he experienced firsthand the ups and downs of Iran's slow but inexorable movement towards modernity. Yet when he died in 1916 his obituaries were frustratingly brief. Private when it came to the details of his personal life, Albert Houtum Schindler gave little away. This book is the first full-scale examination of the life and legacy of an extraordinary witness to the late-Qajar period and the land, people and history of Iran.

In Russian Sources on Iran, 1719-1748, polyglot scholar Willem Floor brings together annotated translations of reports by officials in Russian service that so far have either been used rarely by scholars, or not at all. It includes a detailed account of the mapping of the Caspian Sea by a Russian team from 1719 to 1720; and the Russian occupations of Derbend in 1722, of Baku in 1723; and of Gilan in 1724. There is also a comprehensive report of the locations and characteristics of the various ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan in 1728. As well as two reports by Persian officials about the events that led to the downfall of the Safavid dynasty. Next follows a travelogue that describes the Russian withdrawal from occupied Iranian territory, as well as an itinerary of Prince Golitsin's embassy to the court of Nader Shah in 1732. A Russian consul's report on Reza Qoli Mirza's assassination attempt of Nader Shah and its aftermath is followed by a detailed and very interesting account of Prince Golitsin's second embassy to Iran in 1747. This coincided with Nader Shah's murder, and describes the impact of this event on Gilan. Apart from political information, these original sources stand out for their wealth of information on natural and socio-economic history of the regions visited. This book is a must read for any student of Iranian History.

This comprehensive and richly detailed study by renowned scholar Willem Floor is the culmination of what is known about domestic glass and ceramic production-location, quality, craftsmen-in Iran from 1500 until the end of the Qajar period in 1925. Because of increasing imports, the Qajar government tried to improve domestic glass and ceramic techniques through transfer of technology, (once through direct foreign investment). The reasons for these failed attempts are discussed as well as the development of the import of glass and ceramic products. Over time, there was not only a change in the places of origin of glass and ceramic imports, but also in their volume and composition, which, during the Qajar period, included a large variety of cheap articles for mass consumption. There is an appendix for each chapter giving a market assessment for glass and ceramic production in Iran, written in French by Belgian consultants in 1891. The Belgian assessments offer a detailed chemical analysis of glass and ceramics made in Iran, as well as an inventory of the types of glassware and ceramics made by domestic craftsmen. It concludes with proposals for the establishment of a modern glass and ceramic factory in Iran.This superb body of research will not only be of great interest to Iranian scholars inside and outside the country, but also to everyone interested in the story of glass and ceramics throughout the world.

this is the first of a projected six-volume collection, covering four turbulent decades of Iran's history. The twelve original handwritten notebooks begin in 1926 with Shadman's days as a cleric and end in 1966 shortly before his death. In between is a rich tapestry of accounts of daily events, reflections, observations, accounts of dreams, cultural and political history, anecdotes, and telling details about the country's changing history of manners, all from the astute perspective of Shadman. Seyyed Fakhr al-Din Shadman was born in Tehran in 1907 to a family whose economic comfort came from the inherited wea­lth of the mother, and whose tolerant piety came from the father, a cleric both forbearing and fervent in his religious beliefs. Fakhr al-Din went from a traditional school (maktab) to a high school, on to a teacher's college and finally to the Faculty of Law, where in 1927 he received his law degree. By then he was fluent in Arabic, French, and English. After several years of teaching and tutoring in Iran and working as a journalist and an editor at a leftist publication, and after working in the newly established Ministry of Justice, Shadman left for Europe. He spent seventeen years abroad, mostly in England, working for the Iranian government as its representative in the Anglo-Iranian Oil Com­pany (AIOC). He also continued his education and received two doctoral degrees-one from the University of Paris in 1935 in Law and Political Science, and another in 1939 from the London School of Economics in History.The diaries bring to light not only a detailed account of why the early generation of intellectuals advocating modernity joined the Pahlavi project and how almost all of them were sidelined, but also how Shadman used his diaries for literary experimentation and private self expression. The cont­ours of Shadman's eventful and consequential life are covered in detail in his daily journals.

Iranian women have been writing Persian poetry for over a thousand years, and in the tumult of our contemporary moment, poetry has emerged once again as an outlet with a unique power to move and connect us, to inspire fury, tears, joy, laughter, and surprise. In this bilingual anthology, encompassing both the most progressive and the most regressive eras for women in Iran, Mojdeh Bahar introduces readers to the poems of Iranian women during the past sixty years. Focusing mainly on poets writing today, Song of the Ground Jay engages with a diverse array of Iranian women's voices that includes the full spectrum of aesthetic sensibilities-with varying styles, tones, and themes, painting a dynamic and cohesive portrait of modern Persian poetry by women. For anyone who has wanted to try their hand at a conversation with contemporary Persian poetry by Iranian women but doesn't know where to start, Song of the Ground Jay opens a door and invites you to walk in.

A remarkable woman who lived through extraordinary times, Houri Mostofi was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1919, descended on her mother's side from Iranian royalty and on her father's from a "God-fearing" family of scholars and government administrators. When she was twenty-two, Houri married Mohsen Moghadam, a young man from a merchant family who went on to become a successful businessman, often traveling abroad, while Houri dedicated herself to teaching, charitable public works, and running international women's associations in Tehran. Together, they also raised three children, in whom Houri was keen to instill the same spirit ofindustry and self-discipline she had learned from her own parents.Houri was among the first women to go to university in Iran, working as a teacher for nearly forty years and diligently continuing with her own education in later life, including traveling to the U.S. as a Fulbright Scholar, and, after being forced into exile following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, studying for a PhD at the Sorbonne in Paris. From a privileged social class, with a glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle, Houri was a pioneer, nonetheless, and a feminist for her own time. Through her hard work and frequent acts of bravery-from standing up to sinister intruders to dogged persistence in the face of intransigent officialdom-she made sure that, as a woman, she was never overlooked, never invisible, even when hidden under a dark chador at the Revolutionary Court. It was women like Houri who were the precursors of the young women fighting for equal rights and justice in Iran today.¿The resulting memoir tells the fascinating story of her life, with all its ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, set against the backdrop of an impending revolution that would topple the world she and her family had always known and turn it upside down.

Obeyd-e Zakani, who died in 1372 is among the great poets of Iran but little known in the West. This selection of his work is the first to be translated into English. Obeyd was a remarkable satirist and social critic who looked upon his world of extravagant indulgence and corruption with the censorious eyes of a Juvenal, and portrayed it with the cynicism and wit of a Voltaire, and the hilarious grotesqueness of a Rabelais. He used scathing stories and sardonic maxims to paint a world full of deceit, greed, lust, sycophancy, and perversion, where old values and virtues were scorned and extremes of wealth and poverty, violence and bloodshed were the order of the day.