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An Iranian Perspective of J. B. Fraser's Trip to Khorasan in the 1820s
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Abstract
This paper is based on an earlier one about James Baillie Fraser's trip to Khorasan in the 1820s, the first European to travel there in the Qajar era. But instead of focusing on Fraser's experience, the information given by him is used to view the circumstances in Khorasan from an Iranian perspective, which, in turn, is derived from a study of the three main categories of people met by Fraser. Through them and their careers, the paper analyzes the problems, both inherited and new, that the early Qajars faced from the outset. Each of the three categories is dealt with separately under the headings of Prince-Governors, Princes in Exile or in Obeisance and, finally, High Priests. Together these complete the overall picture in Greater Khorasan and, by extension, throughout Iran at that particular time. What emerges from a study of their careers are the seeds of some of the major trends that were to mark nineteenth-century Iran. Khorasan, with its size and position, was particularly well placed to afford a view of a society still dependent on tribal vagaries and the dominant role of the religious hierarchy. Above all, the geo-strategic location of the province affords a privileged view across to the outlying parts of Greater Khorasan which, although still viewed from inside as a part of Greater Iran, were, due to inherent instabilities, liable to manipulation by British and Russian imperialism. The most effective tool of the latter was a propensity to promote new national entities on the ruins of an empire struggling to sustain itself without means and with a dated mindset of which most people were sorely unaware. By projecting the circumstances of time and place onto the future, one can perceive a certain degree of inevitability in the upcoming history of Qajar Iran.
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Footnotes
The present article is an expanded version of the paper presented by the author at the seventh conference of the International Qajar Studies Association (IQSA) in Paris in June 2007 on the theme of “Diplomats and Travelers in the Qajar Era.”
References
1 Wright, Denis, “James Baillie Fraser: Traveler, Writer and Artist 1787–1856,” Iran, 32 (1994): 125–133CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
2 Farmanfarmaian, Fatema Soudavar, “James Baillie Fraser in Mashhad, or, the Pilgrimage of a Nineteenth Century Scotsman to the Shrine of the Imam Rida,” Iran, 34 (1996): 101–115CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
3 Fraser, James Baillie, Diaries (dates in the Diaries refer to day of writing, not the day of the event) and Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan in the Years1821 and 1822 (London, 1825)Google Scholar. See Narrative, 471–472, for durgah, and 511, for culmeh.
4 Soudavar Farmanfarmaian, Iran, 101.
5 Fraser, Narrative, 284.
6 For general historical information, sources in Persian include Hedayat's Rauzat al-Safa, Sepehr's Nasekh al-Tavarikh, Fasa'i's Farsnama-ye Naseri, E‘temad ol-Saltaneh's Tarikh-e Montazam-e Nasseri and for the history of Khorasan, the same author's Matla’ al-Shams. The best source in English for the early Qajars remains Watson's, R. G., A History of Persia: From the Beginnings of the 19th Century to the Year 1858 (London, 1866)Google Scholar.
7 A few years later, Mohammad ‘Ali Mirza Dowlatshah, the eldest son of Fath ‘Ali Shah by a Georgian mother, would reach the gates of Baghdad (lost to the Ottomans in 1639) but died of cholera before the final assault.
8 Hambly, G., “Agha Muhammad Khan and the Establishment of the Qajar Dynasty,” in Cambridge History of Iran, 7 vols., ed. Avery, Peter, Hambly, Gavin and Melville, Charles (Cambridge, 1991), 7: 106Google Scholar.
9 G. Hambly, “Fath ‘Ali Shah,” in Cambridge History of Iran, 7: 130.
10 Hambly, “Agha Muhammad Khan,” 110–111.
11 G. Hambly, “Iran During the Reigns of Fath ‘Ali Shah and Muhammad Shah,” in Cambridge History of Iran, 7: 150.
12 Hambly, “Fath ‘Ali Shah,” 150. Each of the five sons was born to a different mother. Mohammad Vali Mirza is variously mentioned as the third or fourth son. His mother, Bibi Kuchak Khanum, was a Bakhtiari, the sister of Sadeq Khan Borujerdi and Ali Khan Chahar Lang.
13 Mirza, Ahmad, ed-Dowleh, ‘Azod, Tarikh-e Azodi, ed. Kermani, Hossein Kuhi (Tehran, n.d.), 66Google Scholar. Agha Mohammad Khan asked him what he would do if he gave him his sword, to which the young prince replied: “One sword cannot hang from two waists, I will behead you with it.”
14 Bamdad, M., Sharh-e Hal-e Rajal-e Iran dar Qarn-e 12, 13 va 14 Hijri, 6 vols., 3rd ed. (1363), 4: 26–32Google Scholar. Bamdad's biographies of individuals, despite some flaws, are a convenient source for general information on many of the characters discussed.
15 Hambly, “Fath ‘Ali Shah,” 165. The page contains some errors, notably about the capture of Muhammad Vali Mirza and the Shah's permission of the Shah to execute the Qara'is. Nor is the beating of the Prince by order of the Shah mentioned in the usual sources.
16 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 4: 27–28 for Firuz ed-Din and 28 for Sufi-e Islam. The latter was an Uzbek who had fled Bokhara due to persecution of heresy by Shah Morad; in Herat he attracted a large number of devotees throughout his long life.
17 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 4: 30.
18 This incident is mentioned in every Persian source, including Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 4: 30. See also Mahmud, Mahmud, Tarikh-i Ravabet-i Siyasi-ye Iran o Ingilis, 8 vols. (Tehran, 1336), 1: 181Google Scholar. The second uprising was met unsuccessfully by the Governor of Mazandaran, Mohammad Qoli Mirza, but Geraili tribesmen recognized Yusuf Khwaja and shot him through the mouth. It is therefore doubtful that his remains are buried in the sprawling mausoleum in the awkwardly bastardized Sino-Islamic style shown to tourists visiting Kashghar.
19 Mawlavi, A. H., Mostawfi, M. T. and Shakurzada, E.“Astan-e Qods-e Razavi,” Encyclopaedia Iranica (London, 1987), 2: 828Google Scholar.
20 Fraser, Narrative, 463.
21 The Prince's links with Mashhad were never severed. Several of his sons and their offspring continued to reside there; at least two of them served in the campaigns of Herat.
22 Ja'far Na'ini, Mohammad, Jame‘-ye Ja'fari, ed. Afshar, Iraj (Tehran, 1383)Google Scholar. In the introduction, Afshar gives a list of publications and constructions commissioned by Mohammad Vali Mirza and ‘Abd al-Reza Khan as compiled by Na'ini. Full lists are scattered throughout the book. See p. 17 for Na'ini's appointment as secretary to Mohammad Vali Mirza. The date of publication of this book follows the Iranian Shamsi calendar, but the events chronicled in the text are in Hijri. Admittedly, a scribe writing in florid Indian style, would tend to flattery, but the work was penned after the Prince had left.
23 This incident is well-documented in every Persian source, but only the Jame’-ye Ja'fari refers to astrological omens (p. 626).
24 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, for Mohammad Vali Mirza 4: 26–32, for ‘Abd al- Reza Khan, 2: 264–267.
25 McNeill evaluated the treasure left by Mohammad Vali Mirza in Yazd at one million tomans (GD 371/30 and 43, Scottish Records Office).
26 ‘Azod-ed-Dowleh, Tarikh-e Azodi, 58. Mohammad Vali Mirza insisted that the Shah deliver ‘Abdol-Reza Khan into his hands and guaranteed that the prisoner would not be harmed. That would explain why the harem fell upon him with household utensils in the absence of the usual implements of torture or execution. The author does not elaborate further, since, he says, the incident was the talk of the town.
27 ‘Azod-ed-Dowleh, Tarikh-e Azodi, 56.
28 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 4: 32.
29 Tafazoli, Abu'l-Qassem, Rusta-yi Ammama va Anis al-daula, ed. (Tehran, 1363), 113Google Scholar.
30 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 1: 367–378.
31 Bamdad, Shahr-e Hal, 1: 368.
32 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 1: 273, note 3.
33 Hambly, “Fath ‘Ali Shah,” 7: 164–165. Hossein ‘Ali Mirza bore the title of Farmanfarma, not to be confused with the same title borne by the son and grandson of ‘Abbas Mirza. The latter's son, Firuz Mirza, received governorship of Fars under the same title and passed it on to his son, ‘Abd ol-Hossein Mirza.
34 Bamdad, Shahr-e Hal, 1: 374. He seems to have spent part of this time in Shiraz, since the poet Qa'ani is cited as having written in his memoirs that he accompanied the prince from Fars to Mashhad.
35 Bamdad, Shahr-e Hal, 1: 374.
36 Fraser, Narrative, 497.
37 Bamdad, Shahr-e Hal, 1: 375–376. Pakravan's, Emineh, Abbas Mirza (Paris, 1973)Google Scholar chronicles the intrigues of these two brothers against the Crown Prince in a well-documented historical novel.
38 Azod ed-Dowleh, Tarikh-e Azodi, 53.
39 Hambly, “Fath ‘Ali Shah,” 155.
40 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 1: 376–367.
41 Wright, “James Baillie Fraser,” 131–132.
42 Bamdad, Sharh- e Hal, 6: 81–82, quoting Malek Iraj Mirza, the 27th son of Fath ‘Ali Shah.
43 Fraser, Narrative, 497.
44 Bamdad 2:375 uses the expression ‘kur o gur kard’, i.e. he blinded and buried.
45 Bamdad, Shahr-e Hal, 6: 82.
46 Fraser, Narrative, 477–478.
47 Fraser, Narrative, 478.
48 Fraser, Narrative, 475.
49 Shah Ismail I Safavi killed Shaibani Khan in battle at Marv.
50 Hambly, “Agha Muhammad Khan,” 106.
51 Hambly, “Agha Muhammad Khan,” 107 and note 4.
52 Yuri Bregel “Central Asia VII,” Encylopaedia Iranica, 5: 197. This is the citadel visited by O'Donovan around 1880: The Story of Merv (London, 1883), 233–237. It is still known by that name in its Turkicized form, Bairam Ali.
53 Hambly, “Agha Muhammad Khan,” 110.
54 Farmanfarmaian, “James Baillie Fraser,” 113 note 24. According to Nasekh al-Tavarikh, when Agha Mohammad Khan reported having heard the voice of ‘Aqa Bahram Quli’, all the Qajar clansmen present vowed to obey.
55 Hambly, “Agha Muhammad Khan,” 113.
56 Fraser, Diaries, 172–173.
57 D. Balland, “Afghanistan X,” Encylopaedia Iranica, 1: 553 and A. Amanat, “Herat VI,” Encylopaedia Iranica, 12: 220. The Hazara tribes of the Hindukush, ethnic cousins of the Hazara tribes of Khorasan, were also Shi‘ites.
58 Gauhar Shad's patronage in Herat and Mashhad had brought out the best in Persian architecture styles, but the greatest era of patronage in Herat was under Soltan Hossein Bayqara and his Vizier, Mir Ali Shir Nava'i. This was when the painter Behzad and the poet Jami, among others, produced their finest works.
59 In spite of a briefly successful joint attempt by Shah Ismail and Babur, Balkh ended up in Shaibanid hands in early Safavid times. Nader Shah's elder son, Reza Qoli, had retaken it before Ahmad Shah Durrani staked his claim. After the latter's death, part of the province had once again become a bone of contention. C. E. Bosworth “Balkh III,” Encylopaedia Iranica, 3: 591.
60 Mahmud, Mahmud, Tarikh-i Ravabit-i Siyasi-i Iran va Ingilis, 8 vols. (Tehran, 1336), 1: 174Google Scholar.
61 McChesney, R. D., “Central Asia VI,” Encylopaedia Iranica, 5: 176–178Google Scholar for the appanage system.
62 Tura, ultimately derived from Turan, is equivalent to the Persian “Mirza”—itself a contraction of amirzada.
63 Fraser, Diaries, 145–146 and 172–173.
64 Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal, 1: 108. According to Hambly (“Agha Muhammad Khan”, 114), at the time of his death Agha Mohammad Khan was planning campaigns against Herat as well as Bokhara or Baghdad.
65 Fraser, Diaries, 197. Fraser interestingly remarks that “despite his knowledge of geography” he apparently did not “realize the improbability of the British getting to Bokhara.”
66 Fraser, Diaries, 172–173. Fraser's handwriting is not always decipherable, compounding the difficulty of making sense of contradictions. In one passage, Soltan Morad is said to have been “disaffected” and therefore conspired with Mohammad Hossein Khan to poison Beg Jan (meaning perhaps Danial, the father of Soltan Morad, long since dead). After being found out, he fled to Shahr-e Sabz, was captured, then pardoned and given a village to reside in until his death. Elsewhere Fraser says that Soltan Morad and the Khan of Marv (i.e. Mohammad Hossein Khan) were threatened with execution and therefore decided to run away to Mashhad. There is also a vague reference to some plan communicated by Mohammad Hossein Khan to the clergy of Mashhad with regard to Shiism. It is not clear how much credence can be given to such contradictory accounts, but the overall impression conveyed is of a confused state of affairs.
67 Fraser apparently did not realize that anyone accustomed to working with the astrolabe would also find the sextant familiar enough.
68 Fraser, Diaries, 146–150.
69 D. Balland, “Afghanistan X,” Encylopaedia Iranica, 1: 549.
70 Balland, “Afghanistan X,” 1: 548–549.
71 Mahmud, Tarikh-i Ravabit, 1: 176–179.
72 Mahmud, Tarikh-i Ravabit, 1: 176–177. Mahmud believes that the capable minister inherited by the Qajars from the Zands, Haj Mirza Ebrahim, saw through this game, and was therefore a victim of his clear-sightedness. After him, the rulers of the country were not well versed in world affairs and awoke to their ignorance only too late. However, Mahmud's belief that the Afghans would have bowed to Iran instead of engaging in internecine warfare, is belied by the unfolding of events. Amanat's contention (“Herat VI,” Encylopaedia Iranica, 12: 220) that Fath ‘Ali Shah wanted to neutralize Zaman Shah's intention to invade Khorasan is questionable too. That may have been true of earlier or later Afghan rulers, but Zaman Shah, like Dust Muhammad Khan, had his eyes on India.
73 Mahmud, Tarikh-i Ravabit, 1: 175 and Amanat, “Herat VI,” 220.
74 Dust Muhammad Khan called himself Amir al Mu'minin instead of Shah, a title that would not be used again until the reign of Amanollah Khan in 1926. After recapturing Peshawar from Ranjit Singh and the Sikhs, he came into conflict with British interests resulting in a long exile in India.
75 Fraser, Diaries, 201.
76 Eastwick, Edward B., Journal of a Diplomate's Three Years Residence in Persia, Vol. 1 (London, 1864), 251–254Google Scholar.
77 Fraser, Narrative, 179 and 183.
78 Fraser, Diaries, 55: 147–148.
79 Werner, Christoph, An Iranian Town in Transition: A Social and Economic History of the Elites in Tabriz, 1747–1848 (Wiesbaden, 2000), 215–217Google Scholar. Werner found that the renowned Mujtahidi family of Tabriz had only joined clerical ranks in the early Qajar period. Prior to that, their ancestor had been in the employ of the Zand administration (Divan).
80 Fraser, Narrative, 484.
81 The most complete source to date on Mirza Mehdi, his genealogy, biography and offspring are to be found in the introductory chapters to the Divan-e Hajj Mirza Habibollah Khorasani, 86–87, by Hassan Habib (Chap-e Taban, probably Mashhad), but there is a discrepancy between the genealogy given under the portrait of Mirza Habib on the frontispiece page (which traces him back to Imam Ja'far Sadeq through his son Isma'il, his grandson, Muhammad, and further down the line, through Shah Ne'mat-ollah Wali, and that given in the manuscript of Shajara-ye Tayyeba by Maulana Mohammad Baqer al-Razawi al-Mudarres (who mentions Imam Musa al-Kazem, Divan-e Habib, 87). It is to be noted that the nisba of the family was later changed from Isfahani to Khorasani as they became entrenched in the religious life of Mashhad.
82 See Farmanfarmaian, “James Baillie Fraser,” 113, note 35 for sources on Behbahani and the Usulis.
83 Habib, Divan-e Habib, 102, quoting Anjoman-e Khaqan by Fazel Khan Garrusi.
84 Habib, Divan-e Habib, 88–89.
85 All the standard historical sources refer to these watershed events of the early Qajar period.
86 There are several versions of this crime in nineteenth-century historiography, as cited in the introduction to Habib, Divan-e Habib, 90–95). Hassan Habib gives highest credence to the oral tradition transmitted within the family (Divan-e Habib, 95–96). For details, see Farmanfarmaian, “James Baillie Fraser,” 114.
87 Hourani, Albert, “From Jabal Amil to Persia,” BSOAS, 49, part I (1986): 133–140CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Bosworth, C. E., Baha’ al-Din al-‘Amili and His Literary Anthologies, Journal of Semitic Studies, Monograph no. 10 (Manchester, 1989)Google Scholar. The title of Third Martyr has been attributed to at least three other contenders, including one later one, Molla Mohammad Taqi Baraqani, uncle of the Babi feminist poet and proselyte, Qorrat-al-‘Ayn, Molla Baraqani was strongly opposed to Babis and Shaikhis and was killed by a Babi devotee in 1847–48 AD (Encylopaedia Iranica III: 740 D. McEoin). Mirza Mehdi has generally been the favorite choice for the title of Third Martyr, although Modarres places him fourth. See Farmanfarmaian, “James Baillie Fraser,” 114, note 40 for the use of the word ‘martyr’ in this context. Ironically, Mirza Mehdi's best-known work among theologians was his commentary on the written works of the First Martyr (Divan-e Habib, 87).
88 Most written sources only confirm the nomination of Mirza Hedayat-ollah to the first and third posts combined, but not the others. There are two conflicting versions of the hereditary trusteeship of the Gauhar Shad Mosque, namely through Mirza ‘Abd ol-Javad or through a parallel line descended from Mirza Mehdi's brother (personal letter to this author for the first, oral communication for the second). Mirza Hedayat-ollah enjoyed such prestige that he was entrusted with taking delivery of the golden door bequeathed by Fath ‘Ali Shah to the shrine (Divan-e Habib, 97–98) Sources quoted by Hasan Habib about the descendants of Mirza Mehdi include important excerpts from Fraser, notably about his conversion by Mirza ‘Abd ol-Javad (also cited in Vol. 2 of Matla’ al-Shams).
89 Fraser, Narrative, 485. See Farmanfarmaian, “James Baillie Fraser,” 112, note 31, about allegations that Shahrokh had left six boxes of jewels in the care of Mirza Mehdi as an amanat. In the Diaries (179–180) Fraser contradicts himself by telling how Mirza Mehdi, having recovered the gold removed from the gratings of the shrine by the sons of Shahrokh, had them reformed again into an incomplete grating.
90 Fraser, Diaries. Fraser does not entirely absolve his friend from those vices.
91 Fraser, Narrative, 484–485 and 504, Diaries, 145–146. Nowhere does Fraser indicate an awareness of the achievements of medieval Persian science, not even of Biruni's work on longitudes, which would have been of particular relevance to his own field of interest.
92 Fraser, Narrative, 498–99, note. Fraser mentions how the Mirza had abused European knives by trying to cut iron with them, and having thus damaged them, dismissed them as worthless.
93 Fraser, Narrative, 504.
94 Fraser, Narrative, 502 and 507 and Diaries, 180–181.
95 Fraser, Narrative, 503.
96 Fraser, Narrative, 503 and 506.
97 Fraser, Narrative, 509 and 522.
98 Fraser, Narrative, 510–511.
99 Fraser, Narrative, 512–513. Persian sources know Mirza Davud more as a man proficient in mathematics, though he composed verse as well.
100 Fraser, Diaries, 180–181.
101 Fraser, Narrative, 511.
102 Fraser, Diaries, 180–181.
103 Farmanfarmaian, “James Baillie Fraser,” 108.
104 Fraser, Narrative, 512–515.
105 Fraser, Narrative, 528–529. Fraser was told that the two eldest brothers had been sent on an urgent unannounced mission to the tribes of Northern Khorasan.
106 Fraser, Narrative, 540 and Diaries, 231–232.
107 Fraser, Narrative, 491.