WILLEM FLOOR

SEYYEDS IN QĀJĀR 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 ] 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 , 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 ‘Arabshāhi.6

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 , 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. One of these tasks was to judge cases involving seyyeds, as the state did not like to interfere with them.19 Governors could not fine them and if a seyyed had killed a commoner, he could not be sentenced to death, “for this would be a sin against God – for it is universally believed that God created all other men for the sake of Mohammad and his descendants; hence a Say-yid’s punishment must come through the leader of that order.”20 For example, when around 1900, a seyyed, who was a luti or blackguard, had murdered a Parsi in Yazd, the

13 Arendonk & Graham 2000. 14 Mez 1922, pp. 144-150 (Abbasids); Bosworth 1963, p. 198 (); Busse 1972, pp. 280-297 (Buyids); Horst 1964, pp. 166-167 (Seljuqs); Spuler 1983, p. 203 (Ilkhans), Nakhjevāni 1964, II, p. 2, pp. 204-206 (Jalayarids); Roemer 1952, p. 149 (Timurids); Morimoto 2012. 15 Minorsky 1943, p. 42; Floor-Faghfoory 2007, pp. 75, 113-115. 16 Greenfield 1904, pp. 120-121; E‘temād al-Salṭana 1306, p. 241. 17 E‘temād al-Salṭana 1306, pp. 117, 214. 18 Greenfield 1904, p. 120; Forsat 1314, p. 531 (); E‘temād al-Salṭana 1306, p. 214. 19 Greenfield 1904, p. 120; Browne 1891, II, p. 402. 20 Adams 1900, p. 387. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 249 governor sent him for judgment to ; the mojtahed of Yazd travelled to Tehran to ask for the seyyed’s freedom and the ordered his release. Therefore, Malcolm, a British missionary in Yazd commented: “The Seyids are also more lightly punished, and consider themselves outside the reach of the very small amount of justice that exists.”21 Contrariwise, when on 10 July 1913, a gendarme in Shirāz killed a seyyed, he was condemned the next day by a civil court, after a travesty of a trial and almost imme- diately executed.22 The formal subordination of the naqib to the Minister of Justice indi- cates the state’s desire to keep some measure of judicial control over this separate branch of the judiciary.23 It also happened that officials found a way around a seyyed’s inviolability. According to Moser, General Gasteiger Khan had been insulted by a seyyed. He had him brought to his tent where he respectfully received the seyyed. Gasteiger Khan then suddenly took off the seyyed’s green turban, the sign of his privileged social position. The General then ordered his soldiers to give the seyyed a serious bastinado. After the punishment had been completed the seyyed was brought to Gasteiger Khan who placed the turban on his head and led him with much respect from his tent.24

FAKE SEYYEDS However, the supervisory system was not watertight and throughout the centuries, due to war, pestilence, famine and other manmade and/or natural disasters, many new, be it pseudo-seyyed families came into being. One of the most famous examples is that of the Safavid , whose ancestors for almost two centuries had been Sunni Sufis and never had claimed to be seyyeds. However, after Esmā‘il I’s rise to power (1501) and the establishment of the new dynasty he claimed descent from the prophet and therefore, the necessary documentation and family tree were created to legitimize his claim. Of course, the Safavid family was not the exception as many before them had done the same thing and many after them did likewise. It was a well-known fact in Qājār times that many seyyeds had no claim to such distinction. These fake seyyeds took advantage of the reverence and the pecuniary benefits paid to seyyeds by presenting them- selves as a real seyyed in communities where they were unknown. There were strong incentives to pass oneself off as a seyyed. It sufficed to put on

21 Malcolm 1905, pp. 101-02. 22 Government of Great Britain 1914, p. 152 (no. 317). 23 Benjamin 1887, p. 355. 24 Moser 1887, p. 420. 250 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016 a green belt or turban, for even to question the validity of the claim to being a seyyed was considered to be blasphemy.25 To prove their claim to their exalted descent, many seyyed families kept a record of their genealogy. “This family record, called Sajjara [sic; shajareh], is handed down from father to son and serves as credential to the Say-yid tribe. Each family must possess a credential of this kind, at least 200 years old. Should it be worn by age and use, the heads of families may draft copies and duly certify them.”26 According to Vambery, barely 10% of seyyeds had a family tree that was considered legitimate.27 In fact, according to Dieulafoy, there were only four families in Iran who were recognized as having a legitimate claim of descent from ‘Ali, upon indis- putable grounds.28 Whereas, for example, the Ṭabāṭabā’i seyyeds had a recognized family tree,29 a well-established seyyed family, such as that of the Maḥallāt seyyeds appear not to have had one. According to Ṣadr al- Ashrāf, several times Minister of Justice and Prime Minister and a member of the Maḥallāt seyyed lineage, there were no documents concerning his family’s descent and his uncle only knew six male forebears. Although his family claimed to have come to Maḥallāt in the Abbasid period.30 Percy Sykes noted that the seyyeds of Aqda, “considered the Parsis their kinsmen and were, in fact, converted Zoroastrians.” He explained that because “it is still the custom to give a title of honour to those who become Mohamedans would satisfactorily account for the inhabitants being Seiids.”31 Pseudo seyyeds had such family trees fabricated in the ‘Atabāt, in particular in the town of Samarra and therefore, they were referred to as ‘Samarra sayyids’.32 The journal Nasr al-Din (no. 31, 3 November 1906) poked fun at these shenanigans, in a cartoon styled: ‘The Sayyed factory of Ganja.’ In it a man is seen changing the white turban of a peasant to the black one of the seyyeds. (See Fig. 1).

25 Layard 1894, p. 349; Wilson 1895, p. 205. In his poem, ‘the Seyyeds’ (Seyidin), the Azeri poet Mo’jaz wrote that he might swear at a fake seyyed, who indulged in all of society’s vices, but would kiss the threshold of a true seyyed’s door. Mo’jaz n.d., part 1, pp. 94-95. 26 Adams 1900, p. 387. 27 Vambery 1872, p. 4262. It would be interesting to know on what basis this legiti- macy was determined. 28 Dieulafoy 1887, p. 77. 29 Greenfield 1904, p. 121; Polak 1865, I, p. 38. 30 Sadr 1364, pp. 25-26. 31 Sykes 1902, p. 156. 32 Greenfield 1904, p. 121; Polak 1865, I, p. 38. This phenomenon was not limited to Iran, but also occurred in other Moslem countries, see Bell, Shah, Parfitt, and Thomas, 2010, II, pp. 217-224. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 251

Fig. 1: ‘The Seyyed factory of Ganja’, Mullah Nasr al-Din no. 31 (3 November 1906).

The existence of fake seyyeds was also reflected in the large number of tombs of imāmzādas, which supposedly hold the remains of a seyyed, offspring of one of the twelve Shiite Imams. In 1885, the chief professor of a madrasa at Qazvin told the Dieulafoys, for example, that he was quite aware of the fact that in Iran alone there were more than twenty imāmzādas claiming to house the remains of the same seyyed, in addition to those extant in the country where the seyyed had resided or even had not resided at all. However, the point was, according to this scholar, one did not really need the remains of an imāmzāda to dedicate a tomb in his honour and pray to him.33

33 Dieulafoy 1887, p. 116; for another example of a fake tomb, see Wilson 1895, p. 218. 252 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016

NUMBER OF SEYYEDS According to Yate, referring to the situation around 1900, “Persia swarms with Saiyids, a lazy, worthless set of men as a rule, who do not work and expect to be fed by others, and the Khojah is the same.”34 Other contemporary European observers, such as Fowler, Wilson and Bricteux, concurred with Yate’s opinion.35 In 1907, according to Grothe, there were as many as 100,000 seyyeds or 1 pro mille of the estimated population in Iran, while Polak, in the 1850s, wrote that the sayyeds as a group represented as many as 2% of the entire population.36 Another nineteenth century source estimates their number even higher, viz. at 20% of the urban population, which cannot be right, but indicates that the impression existed that seyyeds were omnipresent and were a hard to avoid urban phenomenon.37 The impression of the omnipresence of seyyeds probably was caused by their unequal distribution, in particular in shrine cities (in particular and Qom), Shushtar and Dezful and other major cities.38 According to Floyer, in Baluchistān they were not as common as at Yazd and other places in Iran.39 Contrariwise, he observed that in Kermān, “every second man or boy was a Seyed, and I never was so tired of Muhammad’s family in my life.”40 Likewise, Loftus observed that in Dezful “every third man appears to be either a descendant of the prophet, or a priestly dignitary.”41 In rural areas it sometimes happened that seyyeds dominated a village’s population as was the case in, e.g., the Khabujān area in Khorāsān.42

SEYYEDS ENJOYED GREAT RESPECT Although Moslems are all supposed to be equal, seyyeds are ‘more equal’ than other Moslems due to their alleged ancestry. Because of their descent, seyyeds enjoyed general respect and immunity from normal state

34 Yate 1900, p. 267. 35 Wilson 1895, p. 205, Fowler 1841, p. 28; Bricteux 1908, p. 107. 36 Grothe 1910, p. 166; Polak 1865, I, p. 38; Moser 1887, p. 420. 37 Greenfield 1904, p. 121. 38 Vambery 1867, p. 316; Yate 1900, p. 333; Bigham 1897, p. 126 (Qom); Grothe 1910, p. 353, see also Migeod 2006, pp. 146-147. 39 Floyer 1979, p. 34. 40 Floyer 1979, p. 352. 41 Loftus 1857, p. 312. 42 Sani‘ al-Dowla 1301, I, p. 159. For other similar examples, see Greenfield 1904, p. 121; Polak 1865, I, p. 38; Grothe 1910, p. 353; Afżal al-Molk Kermāni 1396, p. 242, 244; Stack 1882, II, p. 261 (seyyed villages between Kermān and Yazd); Sykes 1902, pp. 434-435 (near Sirjān); Gasteiger 1881, p. 38; Bricteux 1908, p. 107; Wolff 1845, p. 146 (Qadamgāh, village on road to Mashhad); Fraser 1971, I, p. 353; Mounsey 1872, p. 256; de Bode 1845, II, p. 246; Landor 1903, I, p. 368 (near Iṣfahān). S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 253 regulations. We have already seen that seyyeds had their own courts and were treated more leniently by the authorities than non-seyyeds. Further- more, they were exempt from taxes, received support from the receipts of khoms tax, and enjoyed “the privilege of blackguarding and browbeating their brethren whose blood is not so holy.”43 The population in general did not seem to have minded this preferential treatment. It treated seyyeds with great deference, in particular at the shrines of the Imams. According to Adams, “their high-priest [naqib al-sādāt] is more honored than a prince.”44 When a seyyed of rank entered a meeting all rose and gave him the place of honour and served him first.45 According to von Kotzebue:

A seit considers himself privileged to tell the truth to the King at all times. He is at liberty to enter any house, and his host is obliged to give him the best reception, and even to offer him presents. The lowest Persian, as a seit, can have immediate access to a minister whenever he pleases, and seats himself at his table; particularly if the latter be himself a seit.46

Being invited to a seyyed’s house was a great honour,47 while being snubbed by a seyyed or when he withheld his favour was seen as bad.48 Therefore, in the first half of the nineteenth century, non-Moslems some- times availed themselves of the company of a seyyed to travel safely through hostile territories. A well-known example was that of Layard, who accepted the company of Seyyed Abu ’l-Ḥasan when passing through Khuzestān and Lorestān inhabited by tribes “equally fanatical and suspi- cious of a stranger, especially of a European, the presence of a seyyid as my companion might be of no little advantage to me” as a sayyed “is almost invariably treated by them with respect.”49 Likewise, Lt. Conolly when traveling from Astarābād to Khiva among the Turkmen had a seyyed as a traveling partner, and likewise Percy Sykes, while Lt. Pottinger adopted the guise of a pirzāda, when traveling in Mekrān.50 Because of their purported descent, seyyeds were looked upon as holy and good Moslems, therefore, believed that they were “invested with

43 Wilson 1895, p. 205; Bigham 1897, p. 127; Gasteiger 1881, p. 19; Adams 1900, p. 388 (“By virtue of law, one-tenth of all property is addicted to them”). 44 Adams 1900, p. 387. 45 Donaldson 1938, p. 57; Adams 1900, p. 387. 46 von Kotzebue 1820, p. 188, note. 47 Rice 1923, p. 63. 48 Sadr 1364, p. 24; Ghani 1367, p. 28. 49 Layard 1894, p. 349. 50 Conolly 1834, I, p. 28; Sykes 1911, p. 118. Pirzāda “means a religious devotee, and is considered a sacred appellation.” Pottinger 1976, p. 139, note *. 254 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016 inherent sanctity, and entitled to peculiar respect.”51 Among the Turkmen, wherever they went a sayyed was addressed “as Eshān”, or “They.”52 Mullahs who were sayyeds were regarded as being even holier and women gathered around them to catch the water from their ablution when it fell from their hands. This water was preserved in case of illness as it was believed to have healing power. As sayyeds were believed to have healing powers, mothers went to them with a sugar lump and asked a sayyed to touch it with his tongue, after which she gave it to her child certain that it would help. A sayyed’s spittle also was believed to have healing power. Sayyeds were also asked just to be present in the room of a sick person and pray over the patient, claiming marvellous recoveries as a result; also, their clothes were believed to have been imbued with healing power and they were asked for pieces of them to use as curative or preventative use.53 People, therefore, delivered oaths by their heads, vowed to marry a sick daughter to a sayyed “should she recover, believing that God will take the disease away on the Say-yid’s behalf!”54 Sayyeds not only were believed to be able to heal people, but also animals. Among the Turkmen there was a sayyed who offered to cure a horse by weeping into its eye, but its owner thought the price too high.55 On ‘eyd al-qadir, the date on which when the prophet Moḥammad supposedly designated ‘Ali as his successor, which was also known as Seyyeds’ Day, people believed that it was a merit and duty to kiss the hands of seven seyyeds. Women flocked to the houses where female sayyeds were living, kissed their hands, feet, and their garments and even opened their clothes and kissed their neck and breasts. In return, the female seyyeds pretended to forgive the women and their families those sins committed during the last 70 years and those that they would commit the next 70 years.56 The holiness of seyyeds also apparently worked long- distance, for “A man will sometimes marry a woman who is a Sayyid, and send her on pilgrimage, so that he may have the merit of it. He will divorce her on her return.”57 Apart from holiness, seyyeds were apparently also healthier and sturdier than the rest of the population, at least according to Landor:

51 Fowler 1841, I, p. 28; Bigham 1897, p. 127. 52 Sykes 1911, p. 118. 53 Donaldson 1938, pp. 57-58; Sykes 1902, p. 102; Sykes 1911, p. 118. 54 Adams 1900, p. 387. 55 Sykes 1902, p. 24. 56 Donaldson 1938, p. 58. 57 Rice 1923, p. 105. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 255

Both sexes of whom [i.e. seyyeds] are reputed for their extra- ordinary powers and vitality, women are said not to become sterile till after the age of fifty. ... [Seyyeds] are a superior race altogether, more wiry and less given to orgies-drinking and smoking, – which may account for their natural power being preserved to a later age than with most natives. ... Their women are prolific. ... They are robust and handsome, both men and women ... They are dignified and serious in their demeanour, honest and trustworthy, and are a fine race altogether.58

Around the turn of the twentieth century there was a well-known old seyyed in Mashhad, called Seyyed Shāh, who was well off. He collected money from the rich to give to the poor. On special holidays large crowds came to his house to receive some coins. Each of these coins was regarded as sacred as his hands had touched them and it was believed to bring good fortune. When he went out a crowd assembled around him touching his hand. He acted as a self-appointed censor of public morals to which end he had a bundle of sticks in his hands. If he met a man with unshaven head and shaven he would beat him with a small stick. He did the same when, for example, he saw a man eating a cake of bread, because “no one should eat before performing his ablutions, and that the food should be laid on a cloth.” If he saw a woman improperly dressed he reprimanded her by a sudden flick of one of his sticks. One of these women told Donaldson, a long-time resident of Iran as an American missionary, that she had suffered a headache for hours. He had struck her when “the wind swirling down a narrow street had blown her garment about and exposed her somewhat, and as she was wearing stockings instead of the full bloomers which came down to the ankles, he was offended.” Others considered a tap with this stick as a favour, a curative for several ailments, including headaches! Villagers even asked him to strike them so that their sins might be forgiven and they might go to heaven. The inhabitants of Mashhad considered him a Saint.59 Seyyeds were always welcome among the tribes, although there were fewer in number there. As soon as one entered a tent or cottage

He was surrounded by men and women begging for charms or ‘du‘as’, and his time was chiefly occupied in writing verses from the Koran on bits of paper or parchment, to be enclosed in little bags and tied round the necks of women who wished for offspring, and of children suffering from sore eyes. Sometimes these texts were written on the inside of a coffee-cup, and then washed off wit

58 Landor 1903, I, p. 207. 59 Donaldson 1938, pp. 57-58; Sykes 1902, p. 102. 256 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016

water, which was drunk as an infallible remedy for every disease. The seyyid himself had little belief in these nostrums, but he found it to his advantage, not to discourage the confidence felt in them by good Musulmans.60

Seyyeds called “Suggeran,” were held in special reverence by and Turkmen. Their persons were exempt from violence, “but the protec- tion they extend to others is respected.” Such was their authority that a murderer on the eve of execution “must be released at the request of such a holy person.” ... “They grant effectual safe-conducts, and frequently become the means of intercourse between hostile tribes when all other is interdicted.”61

SAYYEDS WERE ALSO FEARED Being revered also meant that you were feared, because a by-product of veneration is fear and it was a feeling that was strong among the popu- lace, in particular in urban areas. “Looked upon as a religious body, the natives are afraid to offend them in any way.”62 According to Bricteux, the rural population preferred not to have seyyeds or mullahs live in their village and live off their meagre means.63 Such a sentiment made sense, because how else to look upon an alleged holy person with powers that could ruin your chances both here and in the hereafter; moreover, one who would eat you out of your own house and home. This fear, therefore, was experienced as a reality by many. Among the Yamut Turkmen seyyeds enjoyed an extraordinary position. When Yamut raiders had taken sheep they believed belonged to the Goklān tribe they soon found out this was not the case. The sheep belonged to a khwāja or seyyed, who came to the chief’s tent the next day and demanded restitution of his sheep. The chief, Morād Khān, “at once gave back his share of the sheep, with many cries of ‘Taubah, Taubah’ (repentance, or remorse). The dread that the Turkmen have for the Khojahs is a curious one. It is a dread pure and simple that makes them restore property stolen from Saiyids in the way they do, sooner than incur the wrath or the curse of the owner.”64 Not every seyyed had the same powers, and, according to Fraser, seyyeds were divided into several classes,

60 Layard 1894, p. 369. 61 Fraser 1840, I, p. 99. 62 Hume-Griffith 1909, p. 113. 63 Bricteux 1908, p. 106. 64 Yate 1900, pp. 246-247; Sykes 1911, p. 118. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 257

Some of which enjoy a higher portion of reverence than others, as being possessed of certain attributes derived, as is believed, from their venerated origin. ... Of these, one of which is only arrogated by some few families, is the power of enduring the action of fire unharmed. ... It is asserted, that these gifted person will go into a sort of oven called a tendour, around which fire is heaped until it is red hot, and that they will heap fire upon their heads, and yet still call out “I am cold!” – and walk out unhurt. They will take a piece of red-hot iron out of the fire without injury to their hands; and in short, if we believe what is said of them, they are fireproof.65

Fraser wistfully added that nobody had ever seen a seyyed doing this. Seyyeds also counted on this fear for their powers, and as long as nobody called their bluff, these alleged powers were quite effective. But when the bluff was called the seyyed experienced a sometimes fatal reality check. In in the 1890s, there was a noted highway robber, who constantly avoided capture. To catch him, “A sayid promised to throw a spell around him, and in consideration of this he received five hundred tomans.” However, the robber was not afraid of anybody, as the soldiers were of him, and shot the seyyed between the eyes. “His magic was vain protection.”66 Seyyeds also tried their wiles on Europeans. In Baluchistān two well-dressed and well-accoutered old seyyeds tried to browbeat Floyer and force him to pay them. Floyer called their bluff and paid them back in kind, as a result of which they were browbeaten. Seeing that they had lost the advantage they then changed their behaviour and started begging for a handout. Floyer then had his servant give them more than they had expec- ted and they parted on very good terms even inviting Floyer to their homes.67 Given the reverence and fear among the population it is not surprising to note that not everybody wanted to share in the special charisma of seyyed. Just as in the case of Qājār princesses, it was said that men did not want to marry a female seyyed as she was too demanding; however, most parents gladly gave their daughter to a seyyed, even not asking for a dowry and paid for the whole wedding as they considered this a privilege.68

65 Fraser 1840, I, pp. 149-151. 66 Wilson 1895, p. 221. 67 Floyer 1979, pp. 33-34; for another scheme to extract money, see Loftus 1857, p. 324. 68 Donaldson 1938, p. 58. 258 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016

Moser with some exaggeration wrote “every wearer of a green turban is synonymous with a cheat.”69 Malcolm relates that although individual seyyeds and mullahs were respected, as a body they were not.

In every tale in which roguery is described, we meet with the name of a Moollah, Syud, or Hajee. A Persian writer, who makes some severe remarks upon these holy mendicants, relates, that a man pur- chased a fine bunch of grapes of a person who sat behind a small window. After he had paid his money, he took hold of the end of the bunch, but, in pulling it through the lattice, every grape fell on the inside and he held nothing but the bare stalk. ‘Oh Syud! Oh Moollah! Oh Hajee!’ he exclaimed. The man within instantly ope- ned the door, and said, ‘You knew me then, my friend?’ – ‘I never saw you before,’ said the person who addressed himself; ‘but I was quite convinced no one that had not the right to all these sacred titles could ever have played me such a trick.’ Anecdotes of this character are repeated in every company in Persia.70

Fraser noted that seyyeds, “who, holy as they may consider themselves, were all, so far as our dealings with them could prove, most rude and insolent varlets.”71 And indeed, many seyyeds acted in a hostile manner towards foreigners, even going so far as to incite people in the street to curse Europeans or throw stones at them, as happened in 1907 to Grothe in Hamadan.72 Therefore, Europeans experiencing and witnessing their general behaviour considered seyyeds an obnoxious burden and a plague, “and in some ways a danger to society,”73 because they not only preyed on people, but also behaved arrogantly and undermined public order.74 According to Ferrier, who experienced their behaviour at close quarters, “they are the veriest bloodsuckers of the people, who are obliged to keep them at their own expense. Nothing can equal their ignorance, but … generally speaking, they are afraid to refuse their demands, intolerable as they may be.”75 When in 1834, Fraser again visited Iran and arrived at the village of Seyyed Ḥāji near Khoy, which was inhabited by seyyeds, he found that “holy as they may consider themselves, were all, so far as our dealings with them could prove, most rude and insolent varlets.”76 Ḥajj Seyyed

69 Moser 1887, p. 420; see also Fraser 1834, pp. 352-353. 70 Malcolm 1820, II, pp. 573-74. 71 Fraser 1973, I, 353. 72 Grothe 1910, p. 225. 73 Gasteiger 1881, pp. 19; Malcolm 1905, p. 102. 74 Loftus 1857, p. 312; Bricteux 1908, p. 106; Grothe 1910, p. 225. 75 Ferrier 1857, p. 41 (for an example of a seyyed’s behaviour). 76 Fraser 1973, I, p. 353; see also Loftus 1857, pp. 386-387. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 259

Ḥasan was a rich merchant in , who in 1898 banned Jews from trading in the bazaar; he also spread a rumour that Zell al-Solṭān’s sons were unclean because their tutor, Sparroy was an Englishman. Moreover, a Persian gentleman called Mirzā Ṣāleḥ taught Sparroy Persian, and therefore, also was unclean. Consequently, Ḥajj Seyyed Ḥasan did not allow Mirzā Ṣāleḥ to buy food in the bazaars, because he could not directly attack the British tutor. Sparroy was able to induce Zell al-Solṭān to fine the Seyyed, allow the Mirzā to buy food in the bazaar and the Jews to trade again.77 Bricteux relates that when in 1904, in Semnān, he wanted to give a coin to a beggar, a seyyed intervened, who berated the beggar for asking money from an impure foreigner and ordered him not to accept the coin. Also, when in the same town he wanted to study the Semnāni dialect, offering money to the locals, they refused to do so out of fear for the seyyeds, who told them not have any contacts with the impure foreigner.78

SOURCES OF INCOME To ensure that his descendants were not only treated with respect, but also were not penniless, the prophet allegedly said: “A fifth of your goods you must give to the Sayyeds.”79 The khoms indeed was channelled to religious professionals, in particular to the sayyeds. The latter had peculiar ways of collecting it. Seyyeds, as we have seen, were a kind of religious hereditary nobility and entitled to part of the khoms tax under Shiite law. Consequently, “It is an act of greater savab (act of merit) to give to a drun- ken seyid than to the most deserving beggar.”80 As a result, many profes- sional beggars claimed to be seyyeds and reminded passers-by that “I am a child of the Prophet. It is necessary [vājeb] for you to give to me.” If the beggar had a child with him he said: “This child is a Saiyid and you must give to him.”81 There was a seyyed in Mashhad who stood against the wall and silently wept for his ancestors, and those who gave him earned thavābs.82 The consequence of all this was, according to Malcolm, that “a large proportion of the philanthropy of Persia goes to support a begging class, who are in every way a burden, to society.”83 After 1906, such

77 Sparroy 1902, pp 98-103. 78 Bricteux 1908, pp. 105-106. 79 Donaldson 1938, p. 56. However, according to a ḥadith narrated by Abu Huraira, seyyeds are not allowed to receive zakāt. (“Al-Ḥasan b. ‘Ali took a date from the dates given in charity and put it in his mouth. The Prophet said, ‘Expel it from your mouth. Don’t you know that we don’t eat a thing which is given in charity [sadāqa].’ ”). Muslim, Ṣaḥiḥ, Book 12, Hadith 120. 80 Sykes 1910, p. 134; Malcolm 1905, pp. 101-102; Rice 1923, pp. 134, 207. 81 Donaldson 1938, p. 57. 82 Donaldson 1938, p. 57. 83 Malcolm 1905, pp. 101-102. 260 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016 behaviour was made fun off in the satirical press, such as in the very popular weekly Mullah Nasr al-Din. In the issue no. 22 of 16 September 1913, a man tells a number of people in the street in the right hand side cartoon: “People, a seyyeda in my house, naked and hungry, is lying down and whoever gives anything they will be rewarded thousand fold in the other world.” In the other cartoon the man tells his wife: “You lie down here for one or two hours.” (see Fig. 2)

Fig. 2: Cartoon from the Mullah Nasr al-Din journal, issue no. 22 (16 September 1913).

There were also practical ways to help the poor, such as when in Lure- stān a sacrifice of animals was made to Bābā Bozorg. In that case, the meat was later given to the sayyeds or the poor.84 Some seyyeds, because of their local influence, would lend their support to the ruler or local governor by allowing him to pay of his debts. For example, Fatḥ-‘Ali Shāh (r. 1797- 1834) considered it politically convenient to pay the debt of Mirzā Abdol- Vaḥḥāb, one of the leading seyyeds of Tehrān who formed a powerful body. This debt amounted to the huge sum of £30,000. To celebrate this largesse Mirzā Bozorg, the vizier of Azerbaijān, gave a party for all sey- yeds of Tehran, while Mirzā Shafi‘a, the grand vizier, gave each of them one tumān.85 Seyyeds did not only indiscriminately pester passers-by. “The more noble among them will sit in their houses and receives tithes of fruit,

84 Wilson 1941, p. 164. 85 Ouseley 1823, III, p. 367. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 261 coffee, tea and money, of the surrounding people. When these are not willingly given, a servant will be sent with authority to demand and take them.”86 They also targeted their sources of income by demanding that wealthy notables paid for their upkeep. As a result, there was not a notable who had not a seyyed or two on his pay-role.87 The lower ranking seyyeds went after the harvest into the villages of the jurisdiction where they lived.

They go to the village chief who considers their visit a great honor. He sends criers into the village to announce the arrival of the seyyeds and that they submit themselves to their charity. They will not forget them when they meet Mohammad. The peasants hasten to bring presents to the village chief’s house where everything is gathered. These presents normally consist of wheat, barley, straw, cheese, mostala, cream, fowls, cotton etc. and also some silver coins. The sayyeds then have dinner with the chief and grey- and the chief humbly ask them to accept their gifts, which they gravely do. The next day they leave and go to the next village. These illustrious beggars thus are assured of a comfortable living for only showing up once a year. This takes them two months per year during which they collect produce to the value of 700-800 tumans. Entering gatherings of the great they did not hesitate to ask for a contribution and nobody refused, they even accepted my money though I was an infidel.88

The manner in which the demands for money were made was often bordering on insolence. Ferrier was at a general’s house, where he “found several Syuds with him, who were doing their best to talk to him out of some money, and, unless one has witnessed the fact, it is impossible to conceive the impudence of these descendants of the Prophet.”89 They behaved in a similar manner towards Europeans as Floyer experienced. In Kermān he found it impossible to avoid seyyeds and remarked: “We were not yet free of the Syeds. One old man forced himself into my room three times, in spite of being put out forcibly by [his servant] Ghulāmshāh, and would seize me by the coat and grin in my face, saying simply ‘Money, 90 money.’ When remonstrated with, he said indignantly, ‘But I’m a Syed!’ ”

86 Adams 1900, p. 388. 87 Drouville 1976, I, p. 119. 88 Drouville 1976, I, p. 121; see also Adams 1900, p. 388; Stark 1934, p. 22. The der- vishes behaved in a similar manner and paid their dervish chief. Drouville 1976, I, pp. 122-124. See Lambton 1969, pp. 248-249 for the collection of harvest tithes by seyyeds and other religious professionals. 89 Ferrier 1857, p. 41. 90 Floyer 1979, pp. 360-361; see also, de Bode 1845, I, p. 387. 262 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016

Because seyyeds enjoyed great prestige this led to a proliferation of seyyeds (fabricated or not) because of the material reward this position offered. Many true believers cheated the Imam out of his 5% share by conniving with his descendants, who, for a fair remuneration, would hand out a signed statement that the religious obligatory payment had been truly effected.91 To increase their fair share many people also would dress up their children and/or relatives as beggars and would grant these fake poor their share of the bounty for the poor. If they were religious professionals they could keep the rest for themselves.92 Sometimes, rich persons, inclu- ding religious professionals, did not pay their full contribution either.93 Such mercenary practices were, of course, known to the Iranian public and over time jokes were made about such behaviour, like in the following example (still in circulation today):

They asked a Lur: “why are not you allowed to have more than four wives in Islam?” He said: “If it was five then khoms is owed on them and one of them has to be given to the seyyed.”

از ﻟﺮه ﻣﯿﭙﺮﺳﻦ ﭼﺮا در اﺳﻼم ﭼﮭﺎر ﺗﺎ زن ﺑﯿﺸﺘﺮ ﻧﻤﯿﺸﮫ ﮔﺮﻓﺖ؟ ...ﻣﯿﮕﮫ : ﭼﻮن٥ ﺗﺎ ﺑﺸﮫ ﺧﻤﺲ ﺑﮭﺶ ﺗﻌﻠﻖ ﻣﯿﮕﯿﺮه ﺑﺎﯾﺪ ﯾﮑﯿﺸﻮ ﺑﺪﯾﻢ ﺑﮫ ﺳﯿﺪ

It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that all seyyeds were arrogant and preyed on their compatriots, which was not so as shown above in the case of Seyyed Shāh in Mashhad. There were also many sey- yeds, who were not xenophobic and fanatic, but in fact were quite huma- nistic in their outlook on life and people.94 Such was the case with Seyyed Moḥammad Ḥoseyn of Isfahan, who saved the French botanist Eugène Boré, who was going to be set upon, if not worse, by irate because he wanted to convert them to Roman Catholicism. He spirited the misguided Frenchman away from Jolfa, hid him in his house at Isfahan and then took him in person to Kāshān, so that he could escape via Enzeli.95 Dieulafoy reported that by the 1880s the custom of preying on those who were moneyed had greatly fallen into disuse, though in the large towns, such as in Isfahan, where seyyeds were numerous, they continued to exert much influence and in particular impose themselves on small shopkeepers who did not have the clout to oppose them.96 There were religious scholars such as Moḥammad Mehdi Nirāqi who criticized the

91 Greenfield 1904, p. 136; Polak 1865, I, p. 336. 92 Greenfield 1904, p. 137. 93 Sirjāni 1361, p. 642. 94 Bricteux 1908, pp. 106-107. 95 Dieulafoy 1887, pp. 309-310. 96 Dieulafoy 1887, pp. 310-311. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 263 hereditary seyyed class for their assumption that piety is an innate quality obtained through lineage, but they were the exception.97 As of the 1930s, with the spread of modern ideas, change in dress code, increased education and other changes taking place these customs were disappearing among the educated class. The masses, however, persisted in their beliefs for some decades.98 The journal Mullah Nasr al-Din was one of those vehicles combating superstition, veneration for seyyeds and ‘olamā when none was deserved, and the misuse of religion by them for personal enrichment and power. In issue no. 1 of 13 January 1913, a cartoon is seen with a ceme- tery, where most grave stones are destroyed or dilapidated, except for one. The text of the cartoon makes fun of the fact that Moslems ignore the greatness of their author Mirzā Fatḥ-‘Ali Akhundov, whose grave was in ruins, while heaping favours and money on a sayyed’s grave. A man asks: “Whose is this destroyed grave?” Reply: “Mirzā Fatḥ-‘Ali Akhundov’s.” He again asks: “Whose is this beautiful grave?” Reply: “That one is of a seyyed.” (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 3: ‘Grave of Mirza Fatali Akhundov (renowned author)’ cartoon from Mullah Nasr al-Din journal, issue no. 1 (13 January 1913).

97 Cole 1989, p. 26. 98 Donaldson 1938, p. 58. 264 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016

Likewise, the Azeri poet Mo‘ez Shabestari, who was an outspoken social critic, had harsh words for the dead beat life style of many seyyeds in his poem “Seyyed.”

What is the reason that the seyyed is in need of this or that? Why does not he open a shop or engages in farming? Why is that at the foot of the pulpit he sits humbly, Why should this young seyyed beg from the people? He is neither sick nor blind or old Let us see what work he cannot do this athlete of a seyyed? How come Ali was becoming a stranger to the Jew Ali that lion of God, king of Jinn and me? The king of men was proud, where is your pride? Is there a sign from that Lion of God in You? If the peasant dies of hunger the landlord does not open (his store- house) But he is ashamed of you, you should be ashamed as well. For one qrān you are begging people so much, That one qrān neither buys a carpet nor a house for you. If you live in this way for a hundred years Neither your shirt nor your cloak (abā) will be changed. His abā old, his shirt torn, his shoes worn out, Have a look at him and wake up, O seyyed. With begging a man does not get rich, But the man who sells beet roots may become a merchant. As many as there are seyyeds with hundred thousand tumāns You go and earn your living as such, O seyyed. Why are you making yourself so unfortunate, O ignorant man, Are you sick or have you become old, O seyyed? Don’t be ashamed, work; “a worker is God’s friend.”99 Is this noble or begging, O seyyed? Begging is so wrong that that even a man born blind does not always beg, O seyyed. Working and earning a living makes your life easy And God provides for those who work, O seyyed. In the month of Moḥarram and Ramaḍān you get 10 tumāns It won’t last you more than three months, believe me, O seyyed. Ten tumāns is money that suffices for bread only That money finishes and winter comes with a storm, O seyyed. When you extend your legs to that cold korsi,

99 This refers to the ḥadīth that reports the prophet Moḥammad saying: al-kasib ḥabīb ollāh. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 265

You will see your father who is in the grave, O seyyed. As last year your goqurmā (meat kept in fat for the winter) did not last in the vat, This year your ash (thick soup) will remain without meat as well, O seyyed. This winter you will have to sell that samovar, Again your tea-pot will remain all alone, O seyyed. Although bitter as it is, this poem of mine, If you listen to me you will not be a loser, O seyyed.100

EMPLOYMENT First, as Wilson noted, “Many of them are wealthy and honorable men engaged in all avocations, but it is a mistake to have such a privileged order in the kingdom.”101 However, not all of them were wealthy and seyyeds were to be found in all walks of life. In fact, most of them had to work for a living in all kinds of jobs.102 Given their perceived holiness it is obvious that many of them were employed in a religious function or were engaged in an activity that was associated with religion. According to Ṣadr, most seyyeds earned their living as rowża-khwāns.103 In the village of Dimushk, a seyyed was employed as mo‘eẕẕin, rowża-khvān and mullah.104 Many seyyeds held the guardianship of the shrine in the town of village in which they were living.105 Among the Lurs, during the wedding ceremony seyyeds praised the qualities the bride and groom, while they tied the big toes of those fallen in warfare together with a thread.106 Seyyeds also organized pilgrimages to holy places, in particular to Mashhad. “For two months previously to his intended departure [the seyyed] scours the towns and villages, inviting the faithful to join his green standard, and undertake a pilgrimage to the holy places. A sufficient number being collected, he passes them in review, and, raising the wind from each to the extent of four of five sahebkrans a head, promises to conduct them in safety” to the shrines. … : “He promises also to halt at the best and the cheapest stations, to preserve them from the effects of the evil eye, the temptations of the devil, the machinations of the bad genii, to consult the stars, to leave on

100 Mo‘jaz n.d., part 2, pp. 12-14 (translation by Ḥasan Javadi). 101 Wilson 1895, p. 205. 102 Grothe 1910, p. 166. 103 Sadr 1364, p. 25. 104 Wilson 1941, p. 64. 105 Ghani 1367, p. 25. 106 Wilson 1941, pp. 155, 158. 266 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016 propitious days – in a word, he promises to make this pilgrimage the happiest and most acceptable to God that was ever made.”107 Once arrived in Mashhad many other seyyeds and mullahs were awaiting the pilgrims to lighten their burden and purse. Seyyeds congre- gated at the entrance of the Mashhad shrine, where they had installed themselves as guides, reciting to pilgrims the customary prayers in Arabic, which the pilgrims had to repeat after them, and telling where they had to prostrate.108 Also, seyyeds were found in the higher echelons of the religious hierar- chy, in which case they were called Āqā.109 Referring to the situation during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, Malcolm reported that “The priesthood of Persia … are almost all Syuds.”110 Polak went even further and around 1860 wrote that you could only become a mojtahed, sheikh al-eslām or emām-jom‘a if you were a seyyed.111 Indeed it would seem that seyyeds dominated those functions in Qājār Iran as they did the ranks of the ‘olamā (35%) in the ‘Atabāt and continued to do so the entire nineteenth century.112 The sādāt-e ‘āli or first rank seyyeds indeed occupied the leading religious functions in Iran, in particular those granted by the state (Minister, mostowfi, governor) and the well paid functions in the shrines.113 There were quite a few seyyeds who were village chiefs,114 while also, there were many landowners and farmers among them.115 Others worked as merchants or as (ṣarrāf) such as Ḥajj Seyyed Esmā‘il in Tehran, who was a seyyed of moderate wealth, but one who had a great reputation among all classes of people. Therefore, for a fee, he acted as a kind of offshore bank for those wishing to hide their money from others.116 De Rochechouart’s assertion that most merchants were seyyeds is an exagge- ration.117 Moreover, not every seyyed was as important as, for example, Mirzā Koma, the chief of Behbahān, around 1840, “being of a distingui- shed seyyid family, was preceded on his march by a large green flag

107 Ferrier 1857, p. 56; Adams 1900, p. 388; see also Dieulafoy 1887, p. 67; Buckingham 1971, p. 187. 108 Sykes 1902, pp. 94, 207, 109 Greenfield 1904, p. 119. 110 Malcolm 1820, II, p. 573; Wilson 1941, p. 122. 111 Polak 1865, I, p. 325. 112 Litvak 1990, pp. 45-46. 113 Seyyeds also were governors. Layard 1894, pp. 201, 205, Polak 1865, I, p. 38; Dieulafoy 1888, p. 63; Benjamin 1887, p. 227; Migeod 2006, pp. 144-145. 114 Fraser 1840, I, p. 99; Wilson 1941, p. 179. 115 Rice 1923, pp. 137, 301; Ghani 1367, p. 29. 116 Sadr 1364, p. 125; Ghani 1367, p. 29. 117 de Rochechouart 1867; see Forsat 1314, p. 549 for Shirāz. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 267 embroidered in gold with texts from the Koran.”118 For the lower class seyyeds had to fend for themselves and consequently, seyyeds worked for a living as farmers, artisans, merchants, government officials, soldiers, and muleteers.119 There were also seyyeds who worked as servants, even for Europeans.120 Although seyyeds might be a nuisance, they also had great nuisance value. Mojtaheds and other religious and civil leaders were quite aware of this. Both civil and religious leaders had many unsavoury characters in their employ such as lutis and many seyyeds, who might be used or, if need be, also hired out, to those who wanted to create a riot or a nuisance or settle a dispute with an opponent.121 Usually, a seyyed was used to spread a slanderous rumour, after which a mob of seyyeds, low-class mullahs and lutis would form a ‘spontaneous’ demonstration to strong arm the targeted party or to injure of even kill them.122 When in January 1909 an owner of a number of cases of tea wanted to falsely declare them on importation at Bushehr, the customs officials seized the case. The owner complained to Sheikh ‘Ali Dashti, a local mullah, who gathered some seyyeds and told them to go to the Customs House to make trouble there. But before things went out of hand the chief of the Customs Department bought them off. Another instigator of riots, Seyyed Morteża Ahrami, received a payment of 250 tumāns from the head of the Customs Depart- ment in early March 1909, as a precautionary measure so that an attack on the Customs House would not take place.123 Seyyeds were also used in a more indirect-coercive manner. E.g., creditors would use a seyyed to work as servers of bills or collecting agents, because they would not be beaten by the debtor’s servants due to the inviolability of their person. Their behaviour was often so obnoxious that Moẓaffar al-Din Mirzā, when governor of , forbade seyyeds “to frequent bazaars and

118 Layard 1894, p. 205. He was not the only warrior-seyyed, but so was Seyyed Seyf al-Sādāt near Ahvāz, a former rebel against Sheikh Maz‘al of Moḥammereh. Wilson 1941, p. 138. 119 Bigham 1897, p. 126; Greenfield 1904, p. 121; Gasteiger 1881, p. 19; Dieulafoy 1888, p. 333. 120 Arnold 1877, p. 185; Sykes 1910, pp. 97 or 77 (seyyed as a cook); Loftus 1857, pp. 386-87 (as diggers). 121 Dieulafoy 1887, pp. 239, 314. For a discussion of the relationship between religious and political leaders and lutis and similar violent elements, see Floor 1977. 122 Wilson 1941, p. 316; “This morning I looked out of the window and I saw two sayeds in the employ of the mojtahed of this town [Mollā Gholām Ḥoseyn] who said: the mojtahed has banned all export of grain from Bushire on pain of an uprising of the people.” NA, FO 248/210, Declaration A.S Constantine, 02/12/1874. 123 Political Diaries 1990, III, pp. 423, 491. 268 W. F L O O R StIr 45, 2016 thoroughfares in large bands. Merchants in whose employ they are, must not depute them to settle pecuniary claims.”124

SEYYEDS HAD LOCAL INFLUENCE The influence of seyyeds was greatest in local communities where they were long established, in particular when they were a member of a promi- nent lineage, such as the Ṭabāṭabā’is, whose credentials, and thus their respect, were well-known and acknowledged. Likewise, the so-called Razavi seyyeds, or descendants of Imam Reża, enjoyed special privileges in Mashhad, and comparatively few of them apparently worked for their living.125 In most, if not all towns there was a seyyed lineage consisting of a number of families such as the lineage those of Maḥallāt and the Farahān seyyeds of Ārāk.126 In Shushtar the majority of elite families were seyyeds.127 In Sabzevār there were the ‘Arabshāhi seyyeds, all from one line of the ‘Arabshāhi tribe.128 One of them held the guardianship of the shrine of Yahyā, the original ‘Arabshāh. They numbered about 100 fami- lies living in and around Sabzevār. Although they had internal quarrels, towards outsiders they showed a united front. They had a leader whom they all obeyed. Everybody in Sabzevār, whether mullah, governor or offi- cials sought to get their backing as they were very influential and people listened to them. Their opposition spelled trouble for anyone. Whenever they held a meeting people flocked there; officials were helpful hoping for their supports in other things. They were landowners, farmers, scholars, mullahs, religious students and merchants. Also, when an ‘Arabshāhi gave his word he kept it and they helped people. The bazaar would be closed and their commands were implemented when they said so. The most res- pected hojjat al-eslām trembled before them and officials sought their friendship, knowing that otherwise nothing would get done, if they disag- reed. Despite all that influence and authority, ‘Arabshāhi seyyeds allegedly never misused their power.129

DISCUSSION In the foregoing we have seen that seyyeds are those who claim descent from the prophet via his daughter Fāṭema. Because of the advantages (fiscal, judicial, financial, inviolate status) attached to this identity many

124 Floor 1977, pp. 68, 73. 125 Yate 1900, pp. 333-334. 126 Sadr 1364, p. 24-25 127 Layard 1894, p. 29; Sani‘ al-Dowla 1294, I, p. 434. 128 Ghani 1367, p. 27. 129 Ghani 1367, pp. 28-29. S E Y Y E D S I N Q A J A R I R A N 269 persons claimed such descent to enjoy these benefits. Therefore, early on, a system of registration, supervision and management was established. However, over the centuries ample opportunity existed and was used to create false seyyed identities. Initially, such a national supervisory system appears not to have existed under the Qājārs, although it may have at the local level. It was only in the 1870s that Nāṣer al-Din Shāh re-established a supervisor over the seyyed class. Seyyeds wore a green or dark-blue turban and/or waistband and enjoyed great respect and even veneration from the population at large. They both served this population (by providing suc- cour, talismans, medicines, etc.), but also preyed on them by demanding money from them. Also, because of their perceived holiness they also played a role in mediating conflicts and other problems. Although most were active in religious related activities, they were found in all kinds of stations, functions and employment. Many of them were mercenary, arro- gant, and demanding, while there were many seyyeds who were helpful, serving, and humble, and anything in between. As such they were but a reflection of the great variation of people within Iranian society itself at that time and at the same time showing that despite their alleged holiness they were only very human. The profound changes that were taking place in Iranian society as of the 1920s, including the diminishment of religious festivals, changes in dress and increasing education, resulted in a reduced role and less veneration of seyyeds, such that many seyyeds nowadays don’t even let it be known that they are the prophet’s descendants.

Willem FLOOR

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