Download or read book Persian Pleasures written by Willem M. Floor and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 659 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Masters and Masterpieces of Iranian Cinema written by Hamid Dabashi and published by Mage Publishers. This book was released on 2023-05-23 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An academically acclaimed and globally celebrated cultural critic, Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He is the author of a number of highly acclaimed books and articles on Iran, Islam, comparative literature, world cinema, and the philosophy of art, among them Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future; Dreams of a Nation: On Palestinian Cinema (editor), Iran: A People Interrupted, and Iran without Borders: Towards a Critique of the Postcolonial Nation. He lives with his family in New York City.
Download or read book History of Glass and Ceramics in Iran 1500 1925 written by Willem Floor and published by Mage Publishers. This book was released on with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Safavid Persia in the Age of Empires written by Charles Melville and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-02-25 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the establishment of the new Safavid regime in Iran. Along with reuniting the Persian lands under one rule, the Safavids initiated the radical transformation of the religious landscape by introducing Imami Shi'ism as the official state faith and in this as in other ways, laying the foundations of Iran's modern identity. In this book, leading scholars of Iranian history, culture and politics examine the meaning of the idea of Iran in the Safavid period by examining contemporary experiences of both insiders and outsiders, asking how modern scholarship defines the distinctive features of the age. While sometimes viewed as a period of decline from the high points of classical Persian literature and the visual arts of preceding centuries, the chapters of this book demonstrate that the Safavid era was nevertheless a period of great literary and artistic activity in the realms of both secular and theological endeavour. With the establishment of comparable polities across western, southern and central Asia at broadly the same time, the book explores some of the literary and political interactions with Iran's Ottoman, Mughal and Uzbek neighbours. As the volume and frequency of European merchants and diplomats visiting Safavid Persia increased, especially in the seventeenth century, and as more Iranians recorded their own travel experiences to surrounding Muslim lands, the Safavid period is the first in which we can document and explore the contours of Iran's place in an expanding world, and gain insights into how Iranians saw themselves and others saw them.
Download or read book Sugar and the Indian Ocean World written by Norifumi Daito and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-07-11 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tracing the history of the sugar trade and its consumption in the Persian Gulf during the 18th century, this book explores the interplay of social, economic and political interests created by this popular commodity. The study of sugar has, until now, focused mainly on its significant growth in European markets from the mid-17th century and, more recently, parallel developments in East Asia. In this book, Daito shows how the sugar trade also developed in, and became important to, the Indian Ocean World. Studying how the consumption of sugar wavered after the brutal overthrow of the Safavid dynasty in 1722, this book shows how the Dutch East India Company and the trading network responded to political upheavals in the region and, consequently, the changing trading conditions. Arguing that sugar continued to be imported and consumed despite these political disturbances, Sugar and the Indian Ocean World proves this was not a period of economic stagnation for the region, and shows how sugar became an important intersection between socio-cultural practices and the Indian Ocean economy.
Download or read book Angels Tapping at the Wine shop s Door written by Rudi Matthee and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-06-01 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islam is the only major world religion that resists the juggernaut of alcohol consumption. In many Islamic countries, alcohol is banned; in others, it plays little role in social life. Yet, Muslims throughout history did drink, often to excess--whether sultans and shahs in their palaces, or commoners in taverns run by Jews or Christians. This evocative study delves into drinking's many historic, literary and social manifestations in Islam, going beyond references to 'hypocrisy' or the temptations of 'forbidden fruit'. Rudi Matthee argues that alcohol, through its 'absence' as much as its presence, takes us to the heart of Islam. Exploring the long history of this faith--from the eight-century Umayyad dynasty to Erdogan's Turkey, and from Islamic Spain to modern Pakistan--he unearths a tradition of diversity and multiplicity in which Muslims drank, and found myriad excuses to do so. They celebrated wine and used it as a poetic metaphor, even viewing alcohol as a gift from God--the key to unlocking eternal truth. Drawing on a plethora of sources, Matthee presents Islam not as an austere and uncompromising faith, but as a set of beliefs and practices that embrace ambivalence, allowing for ambiguity and even contradiction.
Download or read book History of Paper in Iran 1501 1925 written by Willem Floor and published by Mage Publishers. This book was released on 2022-10-04 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chinese invented papermaking, which by the 8th century had reached the Muslim world in Samarkand and Baghdad, and Spain by the 11th century. Much later at the end of the 18th century onwards, modern, industrial papermaking was developed by the Europeans. The History of Paper in Iran, 1501 to 1925 sets out for the reader the types of paper made in Iran during the Safavid and Qajar periods and the crucial role imported paper played in the country. The Iranian government attempted to introduce modern European paper production technology, first by sending students abroad to learn about this technology and then by purchasing equipment to set up a paper industry. However, during the 19th century, domestic Iranian paper production came under increasing pressure from paper imports, and the government abandoned its efforts to modernize the domestic paper industry. The authors, renowned scholar Willem Floor in collaboration with Amélie Couvrat Desvergnes a museum conservator of artworks on paper and books, identify and illustrate the watermarks and/or countermarks of the various paper producers and provide examples of the diversity of quality, composition, and nature of the different types of paper used by various strata of the Iranian society. Also provided are detailed import data, showing which country exported paper to Iran, via which routes, as well as their changing market position over time. Finally, the various end uses of paper, from books and farmans to paintings, and diverse packing and utilitarian paper are examined and, where possible, quantified data are presented. This book will reward scholars and general readers alike.
Download or read book Transportation Technology in Iran 1800 1940 Chapar Carts Carriages Automobiles Bicycles Motor Cycles Lodgings Sewing Machines Typewriters Pianos written by Willem Floor and published by Mage Publishers. This book was released on 2023-08-21 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Mirz Ali Qoli Kho i The Master Illustrator of Persian Lithographed Books in the Qajar Period Vol 1 written by Ulrich Marzolph and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-02-22 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present publication, by Ulrich Marzolph and Roxana Zenhari, is a comprehensive assessment of the art of Mirzā ʿAli-Qoli Khoʾi, the unsurpassed master of the art of illustration in Persian lithographed books of the Qajar period.
Download or read book From Persia to Napa Wine at the Persian Table written by Najmieh Batmanglij and published by Mage Publishers. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wine is seen as the natural partner of many great cuisines, but few people associate it with Persian food, one of the world's most sophisticated culinary traditions. The ties, in fact, are age-old. From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table weaves together history, poetry, a look at modern viniculture, and a wealth of recipes and wine pairings to celebrate the rightful relationship of wine and food on the Persian table "Whoever seeks the origins of wine must be crazy," a Persian poet once declared, implying that simple enjoyment of this greatest gift of the grape ought to be enough. Since he wrote those words, however, winemaking has been traced all the way back to the northern uplands of the Fertile Crescent some seven millennia ago, the start of a journey that would take it across the Near East and then into Europe in the dawning years of civilization. Iran was one of the nurseries of the wine grape, and, as empires rose and fell there, princes, priests, poets and people in ordinary walks of life all embraced wine in various ways. After Islam came to Iran, wine drinking sometimes slipped from public view, but it never disappeared. In this lavishly illustrated book, Najmieh Batmanglij explores that long and eventful history, then shifts her story to California's famed Napa Valley, half a world away. There, in a kind of up-to-the-minute homage to the past, an Iranian-American named Darioush Khaledi uses the latest vinicultural techniques to make superb wines at a winery reminiscent of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the ancient Persian empire. The final section of the book offers 80 recipes, a guide to Persian hospitality, both old and new, and seasonal menus for various occasions. Grapes play a role in most of the recipes, whether in the form of the fruit, the leaf, the juice, the syrup, unripe grapes or their juice (verjuice), vinegar or wine. Although these recipes are presented for the modern table, they are traditional--based on sources as various as a tenth-century Persian cookbook or the culinary archives of a sixteenth-century Persian court.The book has two special sections. One, written by Dick Davis, a leading authority on Persian literature, discusses the unique links between poetry and wine-drinking in Persian culture. The other, by wine-and-food expert Burke Owens, offers guidelines for pairing wine with the distinctive ingredients used in Persian cooking. He has also provided wine suggestions for each recipe.
Download or read book Food of Life written by Najmieh Batmanglij and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Food of Life written by Najmieh Batmanglij and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Completely redesigned for today's generation of cooks and food enthusiasts, this 25th Anniversary Edition provides a treasure trove of recipes, along with an immersive cultural experience for those seeking to understand this ancient and timeless cuisine. This edition is a more user-friendly edition of the award-winning and critically acclaimed cookbook series which began in 1986. The book provides 330 classical and regional Iranian recipes as well as an introduction to Persian art, history and culture. The book's hundreds of full-colour photographs are intertwined with descriptions of ancient and modern Persian ceremonies, poetry, folktales, travelogue excerpts and anecdotes. This edition is a labour of love. The book began in exile after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 as a love letter to Batmanglij's children. Today, as accomplished adults in their own fields, her two sons, Zal and Rostam, encouraged her to redesign the book for their generation. "Food of Life" propels Persian cooking into the 21st Century, even as it honours venerable traditions and centuries of artistic expression. It is the result of 30 years of collecting, testing and adapting authentic and traditional Persian recipes for the American kitchen. Most of its ingredients are readily available throughout the U.S. enabling anyone from a master chef to a novice to reproduce the refined tastes, textures, and beauty of Persian cuisine. Food-related pieces from such classics as the 10th century Book of Kings, and 1,001 Nights to the miniatures of Mir Mosavvar and Aq Mirak, from the poetry of Omar Khayyam and Sohrab Sepehri to the humour of Mulla Nasruddin are all included. Each recipe is presented with steps that are logical and easy to follow. Readers learn how to simply yet deliciously cook rice, the jewel of Persian cooking, which, when combined with a little meat, fowl, or fish, vegetables, fruits, and herbs, provides the perfect balanced diet. This 25th Anniversary Edition contains 50% more pages than its 2009 predecessor and special added features: New Recipes adapted from Sixteenth-Century Persian cookbooks; Added vegetarian section for most recipes; Comprehensive dictionary of all ingredients; A glance at a few thousand years of the history of Persian Cooking; Master recipes with photographs illustrating the steps; Colour photographs of most recipes with tips on presentation; Updated section on Persian stores and Internet suppliers; Fahrenheit and Centigrade temperatures for all recipes; Choices for cooking recipes such as "kuku" in oven or on stovetop; Encourages use of seasonal and local ingredients from farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) sources or one's own backyard.
Download or read book Persian Pleasures written by Willem M. Floor and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pleasure/keyf in the form of food, drink or drugs, is the subject of this book, which looks at how their consumption has played a key role in social interaction in Iran for the past 2,500 years and how this has evolved over time, shaped by changes in Iranian society and Persian culture as a whole. Food has always been about more than just fuel: a meal is a feast for the senses, as well as an occasion to relax and be sociable, aspects that the many foreign travelers to Iran have commented upon over the centuries. One of the opening chapters allows us to see Iranian food and customs through foreign eyes in a fascinating overview of the subject. A further insight into Iranian food from the past is offered by the work of the fifteenth-century Persian poet Boshaq, nicknamed At'ameh/the Gourmet. Long before cooking became a television phenomenon in America, he decided that food made a good subject for poetry and his poems reveal what would have been on the menu for the well-to-do Iranians of his day. Drinking together was even more of a social event in Iran than sharing food, in particular when enjoyed with regular companions and in the comfortable surroundings of a familiar social venue. The next two chapters look at the rise of the coffeehouse in the seventeenth century, important as a meeting place for various social, artisanal or political groups, to discuss ideas, swap news, or play chess and other games. We then see how, by the nineteenth century, Iran had transitioned from a country of coffee drinkers to a nation of tea drinkers and learn how coffeehouses turned into teahouses without even changing their name. In the seventeenth century, tobacco from the New World was introduced to Iran and quickly became a passion, not to mention another pastime that could be enjoyed in the relaxing environment of the coffeehouse. Chapter seven takes an intriguing look at tobacco cultivation and Iranian smoking customs and paraphernalia through the ages, from the traditional water pipe to the modern cigarette, while an extensive later chapter provides wide-ranging analysis of the use of psychoactive drugs in Iran from the earliest times to the present in the most detailed study of the subject available to date. Iranians were also once a nation of wine drinkers, and a substantial section of the book is devoted to tracing the history of wine production and consumption in Iran from its peak in imperial times to its gradual decline as Iranian society became more Islamic. Although alcohol and certain drugs have been considered unlawful in Islamic Iran at different periods, they have been tolerated to some extent because of the enjoyment and sociability they offer and because physical intoxication was/has been regarded by the Sufis as akin to the spiritual rapture experienced when in communication with the divine. The Islamic ban has even been seen as non-Qur'anic by some. As a means of banishing melancholy arising from a sense of alienation felt by Iranians through the ages, sociability has always been very important, today more than ever, enhanced by the pursuit of keyf in all the forms presented here. Carefully researched and full of fascinating detail, Persian Pleasures takes a fresh look at a complex topic, with findings that, despite the apparent familiarity of their subject matter, may surprise the reader and give abundant food for thought.
Download or read book From Persia to Napa written by Najmieh Batmanglij and published by . This book was released on 2024-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wine is seen as the natural partner of many great cuisines, but few people associate it with Persian food, one of the world's most sophisticated culinary traditions. The ties, in fact, are age-old. From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table (Mage; $50; 264 pages, with 160 color photos) weaves together history, poetry, a look at modern viniculture, and a wealth of recipes and wine pairings to celebrate the rightful relationship of wine and food on the Persian table. "Whoever seeks the origins of wine must be crazy," a Persian poet once declared, implying that simple enjoyment of this greatest gift of the grape ought to be enough. Since he wrote those words, however, winemaking has been traced all the way back to the northern uplands of the Fertile Crescent some seven millennia ago, the start of a journey that would take it across the Near East and then into Europe in the dawning years of civilization. Iran was one of the nurseries of the wine grape, and, as empires rose and fell there, princes, priests, poets and people in ordinary walks of life all embraced wine in various ways. After Islam came to Iran, wine drinking sometimes slipped from public view, but it never disappeared. In this lavishly illustrated book, Najmieh Batmanglij explores that long and eventful history, then shifts her story to California's famed Napa Valley, half a world away. There, in a kind of up-to-the-minute homage to the past, an Iranian-American named Darioush Khaledi uses the latest vinicultural techniques to make superb wines at a winery reminiscent of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the ancient Persian empire. The final section of the book offers 80 recipes, a guide to Persian hospitality, both old and new, and seasonal menus for various occasions. Grapes play a role in most of the recipes, whether in the form of the fruit, the leaf, the juice, the syrup, unripe grapes or their juice (verjuice), vinegar or wine. Although these recipes are presented for the modern table, they are traditional--based on sources as various as a tenth-century Persian cookbook or the culinary archives of a sixteenth-century Persian court. The book has two special sections. One, written by Dick Davis, a leading authority on Persian literature, discusses the unique links between poetry and wine-drinking in Persian culture. The other, by wine-and-food expert Burke Owens, offers guidelines for pairing wine with the distinctive ingredients used in Persian cooking. He has also provided wine suggestions for each recipe.
Download or read book Irreverent Persia written by Riccardo Zipoli and published by Leiden University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poetry expressing criticism of social, political and cultural life is a vital integral part of Persian literary history. Its principal genres - invective, satire and burlesque - have been very popular with authors in every age. Despite the rich uninterrupted tradition, such texts have been little studied and rarely translated. Their irreverent tones range from subtle irony to crude direct insults, at times involving the use of outrageous and obscene terms. This anthology includes both major and minor poets from the origins of Persian poetry (10th century) up to the age of Jâmi (15th century), traditionally considered the last great classical Persian poet. In addition to their historical and linguistic interest, many of these poems deserve to be read for their technical and aesthetic accomplishments, setting them among the masterpieces of Persian literature.
Download or read book The Mirror of My Heart A Thousand Years of Persian Poetry by Women written by Rabe`eh Balkhi and published by Mage Publishers. This book was released on 2023-05-09 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. This new bilingual edition of The Mirror of My Heart – the poems in Persian and English on facing pages – 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-four poets in this volume is introduced in a short biographical note, while explanatory notes give further insight into the poems themselves.
Download or read book Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia written by Lady Mary Leonora Woulfe Sheil and published by . This book was released on 1856 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Elibron Classics title is a reprint of the original edition published by John Murray in London, 1856.
