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Seyyeds in Qājār Iran According to European Sources

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Seyyeds in Qājār Iran According to European Sources WILLEM FLOOR SEYYEDS IN QĀJĀR IRAN ACCORDING TO EUROPEAN SOURCES SUMMARY Although socially and religiously an important group not much has been written about the seyyeds in Qājār Iran. So far the most detailed study is by H.-G. Migeod, who made a very useful contribution in his excellent dissertation (finally published in 2006, i.e. 50 years after its conception, cf. pp. 139-155). However, Migeod did not cover all aspects of this group and, therefore, I would like to add to our store of knowledge by offering this more comprehensive treatment of this group during the Qājār period. Keywords: religion; seyyed (Sayyid); Qājār; social groups; politics. RÉSUMÉ Bien que les seyyeds constituent un groupe important du point de vue social et religieux, il existe très peu d’études sur leur rôle en Iran des Qājārs. Jusqu’ici, l’analyse la plus détaillée est celle proposée par H.-G. Migeod dans son excellente thèse de doctorat (enfin publiée en 2006, ou 50 ans après son élaboration), qui reste une contribution très utile sur ce sujet. Néanmoins, Migeod n’a pas traité tous les aspects de ce groupe, raison pour laquelle je voudrais ajouter à notre réservoir des connaissances la présente étude, qui propose une analyse plus complète de ce groupe à l’époque qājāre. Mots clés : religion ; seyyed (sayyid) ; Qājār ; groupes sociaux ; politique. * * * WHAT IS A SEYYED? In the not so recent past, seyyeds constituted a hereditary class of reli- gious nobility in Iran, due to their claim to be descendants of the prophet Moḥammad through his daughter Fāṭema. Therefore, the American missionnary Wilson submitted that seyyeds constituted “a semi-religious order.”1 This was due to the fact that according to the so-called ḥadīth 1 Wilson 1895, p. 205; Gasteiger 1881, p. 19. 245 STUDIA IRANICA 45, 2016, pp. 245-273 246 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016 al-thaqalayn, the prophet Moḥammad allegedly said: “I will give you two weighty things, one the Word of God [i.e. the Quran] and the other is my select progeny (itrāt), that is family (Ahl al-Bayt or Sayyids). Beware of how you behave (with) them when I am gone from amongst you, for Allah, the Merciful, has informed me that these two (i.e., the Quran and Ahl al- Bayt) shall never be separated from each other until they reach me in Heaven at the Pool (of al-Kawthar).” Which translated into popular parlance was explained as “Consider my children great, honour the good ones for my sake and the bad ones for God’s sake, and this shall be merit for you.”2 Whether true or not, it became a tenet of faith especially for Shiite Moslems to accord the prophet’s descendants not only a special place, but above all respect and deference, which above all, bordered on reverence, as well as income, about all of which more later. The determining factor of what kind of seyyed you purportedly are is the name of your fore-mother who bore children to ‘Ali. Because descendants of ‘Ali through his offspring from other women than Fāṭema are properly speaking not seyyeds, there were sometimes called ‘Alavi seyyeds.3 Therefore, only those who are descended from Fāṭema, the prophet’s daughter and her husband ‘Ali ibn Abu Ṭāleb, the prophet’s cousin are seyyeds. They had two sons, Ḥasan and Ḥoseyn and conse- quently there are Ḥasani and Ḥoseyni seyyeds. Thus, these seyyeds are also collectively referred to as the Bāni Fāṭema. Seyyeds who are descended from a male seyyed were known as sharīf and ranked higher than those who were descended from a seyyeda mother only, who were known as mir or mirzā.4 In Sabzevār, for example, people said that a child of whom only the mother was an ‘Arabshāhi seyyeda was not a pure ‘Arabshāhi. However, according to Qāsem Ghani, who himself was an ‘Arabshāhi seyyed, it was customary among all seyyeds, not just those born to a seyyeda only, to put the title of “mirzā” in front of their name, a point also implied by Ṣadr.5 The seyyeds were grouped according to their purported ancestor, each of which often further split into lineages or bran- ches. The main groups were named after the Imam they were allegedly descended from. For example, a descendent of Imam Ḥasan was called a Ḥasani or a Ṭabātabā’i seyyed and so on (Ḥoseyni, ‘Abedi, Zeydi, Bāqeri, 2 Donaldson 1938, p. 56. 3 Greenfield 1904, p. 121. 4 This is rather ironic, since the determining factor of what makes somebody a seyyed is his descent from Fāṭema, another woman! 5 Greenfield 1904, p. 121; Ghani 1367, p. 30; Sadr 1364, p. 24; Layard 1894, p. 205 (“The Mirza, being a descendant of the Prophet”); Binning 1857, I, p. 285. On the meaning and development of the terms sharif and seyyed and who were meant by it, see Arendonk & Graham 2000. Turks called seyyeds ‘mir,’ Mohseni 1385, p. 31. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 247 Ja‘fari, Musavi or Kāẓemi, Rażavi, Taqavi and Naqavi). The various branches of seyyeds often took their name from a local ancestor of one of the main groups such as in Ardabil the purported Safavid seyyeds were named after Sheikh Ṣafi al-Din and in Sabzevār the lineage was called 6 ‘Arabshāhi. HOW TO KNOW IF SOMEBODY IS A SEYYED? In theory it was easy to recognize a seyyed. Their dress was much the same as that of the mullahs, except they usually wore a green belt, or some other green token on other parts of the costume as a sign that its wearer was the prophet’s descendent, green being the prophet’s colour. Less often, it seems that they wore a dark blue or green turban or headband.7 According to Adams, “The Sayyid’s turban is to him more precious than a king’s crown; it is the emblem of his glory – the girdle a symbol of strength.”8 However, seyyeds in government service were not allowed to wear a turban and in the army they also were not allowed to wear a green waistband.9 In some regions subtle distinctions of rank were made, such as in Lorestān, where “Saiyids, reputed descendants of the Prophet, in blue turbans, headed by one who was also a Haji as shown by his green waist- band.”10 This custom of wearing a green insignia apparently was initiated in 1371 by the Mamluk ruler Ashraf Sha‘bān b. Ḥasan (r. 1363-1377), who ordered that all sharifs should wear a green badge on their turban.11 As if this distinction was not sufficient, seyyeds in Qājār Iran generally rode on grey horses, “and claim that all horses of that particular color belong to them.”12 However, how might one know that the wearer of green really was a seyyed and not an imposter? Early in the Islamic period, ca. 860 CE, this problem was already identified. As a result, a so-called naqib al-ashrāf 6 Grothe 1910, p. 353. 7 Fowler 1841, I, p. 28; Layard 1894, p. 349, 369; Wilson 1895, p. 205; Bigham 1897, p. 126; Sparroy 1902, p. 18; Sykes 1902, p. 24; Sykes 1910, p. 100; Hume-Griffith 1908, p. 113; Merritt-Hawkes 1935, p. 106; Moser 1887, p. 420; Landor 1903, I, p. 368; Stark 1932, p. 22. According to Bricteux 1908, p. 107, n. 1, the green turban was hardly seen in Iran. However, it is often mentioned in Western Iran, where Bricteux did not go, see, e.g., Loftus 1857, p. 312, 324; Grothe 1910, p. 225. 8 Adams 1900, p. 387. 9 Gasteiger 1881, p. 19. 10 Wilson 1941, p. 153. According to Edmonds 1922, p. 350, “The Mirs of Dirakvand claim to be saiyids, descendants, not indeed of the Prophet himself, but of Aqil, his cousin and in token thereof many of them wear sashes of green round the waist.” He further noted that seyyeds wore “a black handkerchief round the felt hat.” Idem, p. 449. 11 Arendonk & Graham 2000. 12 Adams 1900, p. 387. 248 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016 was appointed, whose task it was “to keep a register of nobility, to enter births and deaths in it, examine the validity of alleged Alid genealogies,” as well as to supervise their morals, support their claims on the treasury, and see to it that trusts for the sharifs were properly managed, finally that female sharifs made proper marriages, i.e. not below their rank.13 There- fore, the Abbasid successor states in Iran likewise appointed a chief seyyed, variously called naqib al-noqabā, naqib al-ashrāf or naqib al-naqibi-ye sādāt, who had similar tasks.14 Under the Safavids, this chief seyyed was called naqib al-ashrāf or naqib al-mamālek. To provide him with additional income the naqib al- ashrāf was in charge of the guilds and with the kalāntar was responsible for the collection of the fiscal revenues. At the provincial level there were local naqibs, who were under the national naqib.15 The same system existed in late Qājār times and the naqib bore the same titles as in the Safavid period, although in the Qājār era the chief seyyed was generally referred to as ra’is-e sādāt. The naqib was no longer involved with the guilds, but was charged with the supervision of all dervish groups.16 However, it seems that Nāṣer al-Din Shāh created the function of naqib al- sādāt only in the 1870s.17 Supervision over the seyyeds was decentralized, to which end a naqib was appointed in each major town, usually the head of the local lineage of seyyeds, who often received the title of ra’is al- sādāt or a variant thereof.18 The manner of the selection of the naqib al-sādāt is still unclear as is the extent of his precise tasks.
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