THE WOMEN OF PERSIA
Home life--Anderoon, women's quarters--Jealousy in
the anderoon--Anderoon of Khan Baba Khan--Two days in an
anderoon--H.R.H. Princess Hamadane Sultane--Visit to the anderoon
of H.R.H. the Zil-es-Sultan.
"The more your prayers to me, the more will your wives be in Paradise."
From Life of Al-Jazuli.
"Women are weak, as you say, and love of all things to be passive,
Passive, patient, receptive, yea, even of wrong and misdoing,
Even to force and misdoing, with joy and victorious feeling,
Patient, passive, receptive; for that is the strength of their being,
Like to the earth taking all things and all to good converting."
A. H. Clough.
Whilst in Persia I had a good many opportunities of becoming well
acquainted with some of the Moslem women, especially in Kerman,
as there I was for some time the only Englishwoman, and naturally
the women liked to see as much of me as possible, in order to see
and hear about life amongst the Feringhis. The Persian women are
much more volatile and genial than their Arab sisters, but on the
whole I prefer the latter, perhaps because I have had so much more
to do with them. The Persian lady is ready, the moment she sees you,
to shower compliments upon you and to tell you how much she loves you,
while her more austere sister of Arabia takes time to consider whether
you are a person to be trusted or not; and if after a time she does
give you her love, it is something worth the having.
When I first went to Persia I found the questions of the women most
disconcerting, but after a time, if their conversation became too
objectionable, I always told them it was not our custom to talk on
such subjects, and they generally took the hint, at any rate for the
time being. When in Kerman I started an "At Home" for Moslem ladies,
and in this way I got to know some of them very well, and also by
visiting them in their homes. They quite liked the idea of an "At Home"
day, and I well remember our first one. About twenty ladies came, each
one attended by a slave or two and a small boy to guard their shoes,
which of course they left at the door. It was quite a business unrobing
all these ladies from their black silk "chuddars," and arranging each
lady in her respective place, according to the honour due to her. We
had in our drawing-room a long divan, about 12 feet by 6, occupying
the whole of one end of the room, and cushioned according to Eastern
ideas. On this about twelve of the ladies seated themselves and looked
very comfortable and at ease, while the rest sat on chairs arranged
round the room, and looked most uncomfortable and uneasy. By-and-by
I noticed first one foot being tucked up and then another, till most
of the ladies were sitting native fashion on their chairs, and it
looked so curious I could hardly keep from smiling. After all were
settled, and their chuddars and veils carefully folded up and put
aside by the slaves, then the kalian or water-pipe was brought in,
each slave preparing the pipe for her own mistress.
I had arranged that my woman-servant, Bagi, should hand round tea,
but the ladies were horrified at the idea of taking tea which had been
poured out by a Parsee, as they believed it would make them unclean
for I don't know how long; so my poor Bagi had to take a back seat
and see others take her place. My next "At Home" day I was wiser, and
secured the services of the mother of our syce, who was a Moslem, as I
did not like to see a strange woman doing the honours of the tea-table.
Amongst the ladies that day was the wife of one of the ex-governors of
Kerman, and the good lady did not let any one forget that fact! They
were always most interested in seeing and hearing all about Feringhi
life, and were specially interested in photographs and pictures. One
lady said to me directly she was seated, "I want to see a picture of
Jesus Christ;" and on my showing her one, she most reverently kissed
it and put it to her forehead. They much enjoyed listening to our
little organ, and one lady was so delighted that she gave her husband
no peace till he bought her one, and then nothing would satisfy her
but I must go and teach her how to play. As her instrument arrived
from Teheran with half its notes missing, it is easy to imagine
that her musical talent (?) was somewhat put to the test. However,
she was very proud of her instrument, and quite happy playing with
one finger an accompaniment to some weird Persian song.
Of "home life" in Persia there is none; there is no word in their
language for "home," and so it plays no part in their lives. Life in
the home varies very much according to the rank of the husband. The
poorer wives and village women are blessed by being obliged to work,
but the better class have absolutely nothing to do, from morning
till night, but smoke, drink tea, and talk scandal. The poorer wife
is certainly the better off of the two, for she has to rise early in
the morning to get her husband his early cup of tea before he goes
off to work; then she has the house to look after and the children
to think of and sew for; and last, but not least, the evening meal
of pillau or kabob to cook ere her lord and master returns from his
labours; while her less fortunate neighbour has nothing to do but to
talk of the latest scandal of the anderoon, and then to pay a visit
to another anderoon to tell and receive the latest news there.
The anderoon is that part of the house which is given up to the women,
and is as a rule the best part of the house, for there the men of the
house retire when their work is done, to be waited on and fussed over
by the womenfolk.
When a man is well off and has more than one wife, he generally keeps
them in separate compounds; but often two will be living together in
the same anderoon, and as a rule they do not love each other very much.
The great and chief causes of jealousy in the anderoon are the
children, or rather lack of children. For instance, a young bride is
brought to her husband's house, and for a time she is the pet and
favourite of her husband, and all is well; but if as time passes
no child comes to cheer her heart, then the husband soon tires of
his new plaything and looks about for a new and prettier one, till
one sad day the poor young wife hears that her husband is about to
bring home another to share her life and home. We can imagine what
rage and jealousy will burn in her heart, and how she will hate the
new inmate of the anderoon, and especially if after a time her enemy
becomes the mother of a boy. Then her hatred reaches a climax, and
it is by no means uncommon for her to have recourse to the "cup of
coffee" either for herself or her enemy. That "cup of coffee" is a
most useful (?) institution in Persia, as it is often very difficult
to detect the poison hidden therein.
It is impossible for us even to think of the miseries through which
some of these poor women pass; and if we see how unhappiness and
wretchedness is fostered in an anderoon containing two wives, how
much more miserable and awful must be the life when the number of
wives is multiplied by two or even more.
But while there are many unhappy anderoons, yet as "the exception
proves the rule" in most cases so it does here. For I remember one
home in which two wives were living in apparent peace and happiness;
but here, again, there was reason for their unity, as neither of
them had any children, and so there was no cause for jealousy. Their
husband was an aristocratic old man of about seventy years of age,
and he had taken these two young wives to cheer his old age. He had a
little son by one of his many former wives, of whom he was passionately
fond, and this boy was very ill for some months, suffering from heart
disease. His two young wives nursed this boy day and night in a most
devoted manner, and apparently really loved the boy, and were very
sorry when he died. It was owing to this boy's illness that we had the
opportunity of spending two days in the anderoon of Khan Baba Khan,
and very pleasant and interesting days they were too. It was the
year that we were in Kerman, and we had just gone away for our summer
holiday to that lovely garden of Mahoon, when one day a very urgent
messenger came to my husband from Khan Baba Khan begging him to go
and see his boy, who was very ill. The old man had sent his carriage
for us, with instructions to his man to drive the doctor straight to
his garden, situated some sixteen miles on the other side of Kerman,
where the boy had been taken ill. As soon as we were ready we started
off, but could only reach Kerman that night, where we rested, and
the next day arrived at the garden of the Khan.
It was a very pretty garden, with plenty of trees and running water. On
our arrival we were ushered into the room prepared for us, and in
a few minutes the poor little invalid was brought in, and even then
he seemed to have the mark of death on his face; but he was a very
self-willed boy, and every one had to humour him in everything, as the
fits of temper which he indulged in were very dangerous for him in his
weak state of health. While the doctor was examining and prescribing
for the invalid in another room the two ladies came to see me, and
brought a very appetising dinner; chickens cooked to perfection and
pillaus formed the staple part of the meal. The ladies then retired,
and my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our first meal taken together
in a Persian anderoon.
After dinner my husband again visited the patient, and the ladies
came to prepare our room for the night. This was quite an elaborate
undertaking. First of all, a huge mosquito net was fixed up by
attaching the four corners to tapes and nailing them to the wall. The
underneath part of the net rested on the floor; on this the mattresses
were placed, so that once you were inside the net you were in what
seemed like a good-sized room. In fact, during the next two days we
used to sit inside the net reading or writing, as outside there was
no respite from the plague of mosquitoes and sandflies. Sleeping on
the floor is very comfortable; in fact, I don't quite see the need of
bedsteads, unless the room is infested with rats or other creeping
creatures! The next two days passed very pleasantly; whenever my
husband went out of the room, almost simultaneously I would hear a
voice at the window asking permission to enter, and the ladies would
come in for a chat. We became great friends, and this friendship lasted
till we left Kerman some months later, and then the Khan lent us his
carriage to drive to Yezd, as he wished to express his gratitude for
all my husband had done for his boy. Unfortunately the boy even then
was past human aid, and after two or three months of suffering he died.
I have always been glad of these two days actually spent in a Persian
home, as it enabled me to see what their everyday life really was;
but as I have said, this was quite an exceptionally happy anderoon,
with none of the wrangling and quarrelling generally connected with
the homes of Persian women.
While in Yezd I met and soon became very friendly with a most charming
Persian lady. She was a daughter of one of the late Shahs, and thus
was a princess in her own right; her husband was a nephew of the late
Shah, so she was doubly connected with Persian royalty.
H.R.H. Princess Hamadane Sultane was in many ways quite unlike the
majority of Persian ladies. She was a strong-minded, clever woman, and
was very anxious that her children should be brought up in European
fashion. These children certainly had a very good time compared
with other Persian children, as their mother refused to let them
become little women before they had passed out of childhood's days,
and although they were then nine and ten years old were generally
playing with their dolls or other toys brought from Paris for their
amusement. The princess very much wished her children to learn English,
but I suggested that she should learn it herself first and then teach
it to her children. To this she gladly consented, and so twice a
week I used to go up and give her lessons. She quickly got over the
A B C stage, as she had some slight knowledge of French, and took
a great delight in picking out the words of an easy English reader,
and in a very short time she greeted me in very quaint broken English:
"Good morning; I hope you are well." Unfortunately, I had to leave my
interesting pupil at this stage, as we were leaving Persia for England,
and I never saw her again; but I have heard that she continued her
English lessons for some time. I do not think I ever knew any one
with so many dresses as this princess had; every time I saw her she
appeared in a different costume, and always in rich silks, satins, or
brocades. I asked her once if she knew how many gowns she possessed,
and she confessed that she had no idea, and added that it would not be
at all right for me to see her more than once in the same dress! And
I certainly never did, although I was visiting her twice weekly for
some months.
This good lady exercised a very great influence over her husband
(a most unusual thing in Persia), partly, perhaps, on account of
her social position and also because she possessed a large amount of
property in her own right. Before she came to live with her husband in
Yezd she said she would only come with the understanding that she was
to be the only wife, and I believe the prince kept to the agreement as
long as she was with him. But he must have found it very hard, for I
have heard that before his wife came no girl dared be out after dusk,
so afraid were they of the prince and his courtiers.
One day I was visiting in the anderoon in company with the lady doctor
who was attending one of the children, and lunch was announced; so
the prince made us sit down with them and partake of the mid-day
meal. After lunch the prince amused himself by vaccinating all
the children he could lay hands on (not his own, but those of the
servants). The children did not seem to see the joke quite so much
as the prince did! They were much too frightened to run away, and
stood trembling in their shoes waiting for their turn to come. At
that time, too, no one in the anderoon dared say they had toothache,
for if they did immediately the prince would call for his forceps, and
out would come a tooth. Perhaps it might happen to be the offender,
but just as likely it would be an innocent tooth which had never
given its owner a moment's pain!
I shall never forget the delicious coffee which was always served
when visiting at this house. It was a mixture, I believe, of coffee
and chocolate; and I have never tasted anywhere such coffee. I asked
the princess to give me the recipe, but my make never came up to the
original, and I think perhaps they did not mean it to!
The princess was very fond of sending to Paris for boxes of goods
on approval, and it was rather amusing to be there when the things
arrived. Sometimes most beautiful Parisian blouses would come, quite
unsuitable for her; but she loved to try them on and then put them
away, never, perhaps, to be looked at again. I have very pleasant
memories of my friendship with Princess Hamadane, and have as a yad
gari (remembrance) a lovely silver tray of Persian work, which she
presented to me on our leaving Yezd; also the photographs of her
three children--two girls and a boy.
It is quite impossible to tell of all the interesting visits paid to
different anderoons; but I should like to mention some visits paid
to the anderoon of the Zil-es-Sultan, a brother of the late Shah. He
was then Governor of Isphahan, and my husband at that time was taking
charge of the medical work there for a year.
The governor one day sent his carriage, with the request that the
English doctor would go to see one of his wives, and also bring
his wife with him; so we went, and had a very pleasant three-mile
drive from Julfa to Isphahan. Arriving at the palace, we were met by
the chief eunuch and conducted to the anderoon, into a large room
surrounded by glass mirrors. Here in a far corner, seated on the
ground, was "something" covered with what looked like a large white
sheet. This "something" turned out to be one of the ladies of the
anderoon, who was suffering from dimness of sight. She was one of the
prince's favourite wives, and so he had taken the trouble to allow
her to see the doctor. After a great deal of palaver she consented
to lift a corner of her chuddar, and, while shielding the other part
of her face, to uncover her eyes. Her husband was very anxious for
her eyes to be thoroughly examined, and he ordered a dark room to be
speedily prepared, so that the examination should be as complete as
possible. While we were waiting for the room and lamp to be ready
the prince took out a little pocket-mirror from his waistcoat and
carefully looked to see if his hair was in perfect order, and then,
having satisfied himself that all was as it should be, he entered
into conversation with my husband over the state of his wife's eyes.
Another day I paid quite an informal friendly visit to two or three
of his wives. Each wife had a separate compound to herself, and her
own set of servants and slaves, and no wife was allowed to visit
another without special permission from the chief eunuch or from the
prince himself.
That afternoon two or three had asked for and received permission
to drink tea in the house to which we had been invited, so we had
quite a nice little tea-party, and a very gay one too so far as the
costumes were concerned; but the subject of dress being so stupendous,
we will leave it for another chapter.