Peeps Into Persia
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Dorothy de Warzee, Peeps Into Persia, bahai-library.com.
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Peeps            into            Persia

BY

DOROTHY DE WARZEE
(Baroness d Hermalle)

With 51 lilustrations from Photographs

LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED
PATERNOSTER HOUSE,              E.G.
1913
DEDICATED
TO THE READER
——

CONTENTS
CHAP.                                        page
I.     The Journey from Baku                   I

II.     First Impressions of Teheran           25
Street Scenes
....
III.                                            37
IV.     ^The   Bazaar                           48
V.     ^The Women of the Anderoun              59
VI.      Religious Festivals                    76
VII.      Gardens of Delight                     89
VIII.     Social Life in Teheran    .           106
IX.     Animal Life and Sport     .           129
X.     ^The Civil Service    and the Army    146
XI.     Education and Medicine                164
XII.     ^The Arts in Persia                   177
XIII.     ^Superstitions                        200
XIV.      Islam and the Churches    .           211
XV.    —A Sketch of Recent Events in Persia    224
Index                                 239
ISLAM AND THE CHURCHES
his   name.          A     pilgrimage            is    no easy         matter        to

undertake       ;    it   means,      as    a        rule, a    lot    of     expense
and great           fatigue.          It        is    usually     arranged          by
a     special        person          who         makes          this     his      pro-
fession.        Each person pays as much                               as     he can
afford,    and the professional agent arranges every-
thing   —mules, tents and food.                                 The     pilgrimage
usually starts in the spring, in order to allow the

people to reach their homes in the late autumn
and to avoid travelling                         in     the      winter       months.
The time spent in the holy cities is quite short in
comparison with the time taken to reach them.
Most      of    the principal               cities      regarded         as      sacred

are in Arabia, but those                    most frequented in Persia
are    Meshed and                Koum.               But     with      the       Shiah,

as     with         the         orthodox              Sunni,      the         greatest

pilgrimage of             all   is   to the           tomb      of the       Prophet
himself at Mecca, and this alone confers                                    upon the
pilgrim the           title     Hadji.
Although the Shia are more severe than the
Sunni      about non-Mohammedans they are more
ready      to       accept       innovations.                There      are       some
who make of Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, a god,
and these are known                        as    the Ali-AUahis.                 Then,
again,     there          are   several         sects      of    Dervishes        who
get their inspiration from                      Suffiism        —that       is   to say
PEEPS INTO PERSIA

they aim, or are supposed to aim, only at the
higher life, and take no interest in earthly things.
In 1844      a    prophet arose who,                       in    spite      of     his

youth   —he was barely twenty-five —found many
disciples     even among the older and more serious-
minded men of all classes. This was Ali
Muhammed, better known as the " Bab." The
word       Bab        means door or                     gate,    and        he pro-
claimed himself             as       the     door         to     knowledge              of

a    better   life.      Unhappily he was the cause                                of    a

great      deal of      trouble ; his followers were perse-
cuted,      and        on          several        occasions            many were
massacred in cold blood.                     He himself was arrested,
and,    finally,       after       having been treated                     as    cruelly

as   possible,        he was shot            at    Tabriz in 1855.                      He
nearly escaped, as the first volley fired at                                him only
loosed his        bonds        ;     had he kept                his    presence of
mind he could have fled in the direction of the
bazaar.       There he would have been safe, and his
cause      would have                been        strengthened               by what
would have been regarded                           as    a   miracle.           But he
was weakened by imprisonment and ill-treatment,
and he fled towards the                           citadel,       where he was
immediately captured and killed.                                After his death
there      followed a              discussion           among         his       disciples

as    to    his       successor.           Some         said         the    Bab       had
ISLAM AND THE CHURCHES
designated to succeed him a certain Mirza Yahya,
who, having lost                his    mother at an                 early age,       had
been       brought           up by the mother                       of    the       chief
follower         of    the     Bab.         He     had, however, a                  half-

brother,          who        also     claimed           the     succession,          and
rivalry          broke         out         between            their        respective
followers.            This half-brother of Mirza Yahya                                 is

known        as       the     Behai'ullah,          and        his       disciples     in

Teheran are many.                      When he died he was suc-
ceeded by             his    son Abdul Bahai,                 who lived             until

191 1   at       Acre,       when he went on                   tour in Egypt,
Europe and America.                         The Bahais claim to have
nine    million             followers,       of    whom         a     considerable
number are in America.                        The Bahais can conform
to    other religions and                    believe      chiefly         in    a   pro-
gression         of    ideas ;        as    new     ideas       come,          as   new
things are invented or discovered, a                                 new prophet
is   needed           who       should            not    contradict             former
prophets,         but        should         improve on               their      sayings

and     doings.               women needed to
For      instance,

be kept in seclusion before men became properly
civilized now that men have made progress it is
;

time to think about the women.
The     Bahais count                  Behai'ullah         as    greater        than
the Bab,          who was merely his forerunner, as John
the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ.
PEEPS INTO PERSIA

When Nasr-ed-Din Shah was murdered in 1896
the act was put               down to the Babis, and a terrible
persecution began against that sect, which reached
its   height in 1902.              At one time the councillors of
the        Shah conceived the horrible idea                            of    giving
any Babi            they      captured         to    a    great    personage,
when His Majesty would be able to judge of their
fidelity      and loyalty to him by the tortures they
would         cause      to       be inflicted on           their prisoners.

One can imagine the horrors that took place, the
tortures       that      were       inflicted.       But even              this    did
not suppress Babism.                     I    was talking to           a    Persian
the other day, and                  he told         me      that   lately          the
Babis        had       suffered      much       less      persecution,             and
since       this   was the case the sect was dying                                 out
rapidly.           I    do    not     know,         however,       if       this    is

really so.

One of the Bab's great ideas was to place women
on     a    different        footing,        to give      them     a       place in
the world, and to raise                       them       to a higher place
in     the    regard         of    the       men.      He    strongly             con-
demned polygamy and divorce, and recommended
his    followers      to be kind to their women      and
children.          He has naturally many followers among
the fair sex.

INDEX
Abbas, Sham, 138, 183, 2jo.                                 Banks, 160, 161.
Aftab, or Sun, The Order of the,               1    16.     Barbers, Persian, 37.
Ahmed Mirza,      Shah,        his    levee,       112      Barbod, 179.
et   seqq. ;   hi»       dress,    113;      as     a   Barferush, 230.
sportsman, 143       ;   ascends the throne               Basil, Dr., 173.

of Persia, 228.                                           Bath, The Persian, 38.
Ain-ed-Dowleh, Grand                Vizier, 224.            Baiaar,    The,     at    Resht,     12;    at
Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, 214, 215.                         Teheran, 48 et seqq.
All, Mohamed,     Shah, 227, 230.                           Beggars, 27, 40-42.
Ali Muhammed (The Bab), 216-218.                            Behai'ullah, 217.
American High School, 166.                                  Belgian Legation, 126.
American Mission, The, 165             ;   Church,          Belgian Custom House, Enzeli, 9.
220.                                                      Birds, 132.
Animal life in Persia, 129.                                 Biroun, The, 60.
Anderoun, The, 60 et seqq., 165.                            Borchgrave, M. de (Belgian Minister),
Arabic language. The, 187.                                    26.
Arbab Jemshid, 99.                                          Bride,   A Persian, 73.
Armenians, 222, 223.                                        British Legation,        124-126, 172, 224,
Army, The Persian, 161-163.                                   225, 227, 232.
Arshed, Sadar, 230.
" Avesta," 189.                                           Caldeens, The, 220.
Aaad-el-Mulk, 229.                                        Calendars, Persian, 202-205.
Camels, caravans of, 20         ;   sacrifice of,

Bab, The, see Ali Muhammf.d.                                  85 ; habits of, 129.
Bahadur, Sadar, 230, 231.                                 Carpets, Persian, 32-36.
Bahai, Abdul, 217.                                        Caspian Sea, The, 1-5, 176.
Baku, 2-4, 9.                                             Cemetery, A Persian, 57, 58.
Bala-Bala, 17, 19.                                        Charms, 54.
-- Peeps Into Persia (Used by permission of the curator)