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Women in the Qajar era, like the previous eras that ruled Iran, played a role only in the role of wife and mother within the framework of the traditional system and closed views. In such traditional societies, the main role of women in the family is defined, and women spend all their time taking care of children and home affairs. These limitations and the closed space of the society were such that even the effect of Qajar women’s clothing on their social status can be easily understood.
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With a general review of Iran’s history, we can conclude that from the end of the Safavid period to the middle of the Qajar period, practically no effort was made to create a change in the country’s cultural structure. But in the Qajar era, under the shadow of new world developments, Iranian society underwent a new stage of political and social changes, which was very different from its previous era. Meanwhile, intellectuals and women’s rights activists have played a significant role in creating these changes.
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In this article, we first intend to have a brief overview of the history of the Qajar dynasty and the effect of women’s clothing on their social status, and then introduce one of the modernists and activists of women’s rights in that period.
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A brief history of Qajar
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In this article, we do not intend to retell the history of Iran, but to familiarize yourself with the atmosphere of the society of that time and to understand the limitations and the social system ruling Iran, we have brought you a brief explanation of the Qajar dynasty.
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The Qajars were a tribe of Turkomans in the Estrabad region (modern Gorgan) and their lineage goes back to a person named Qajar Nuyan, one of Genghis’ generals. The Qajar dynasty was founded by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar through the victory over Zandiya and the beginning of the Qajar dynasty was from 1799 to 1924 AD, corresponding to 1175 to 1304 AD. When Agha Mohammad Khan came to power, the people of Iran had experienced decades of war, chaos and insecurity. He spent his entire reign to unify Iran and made Iran start a new era. After him, power passed to Fath Ali Shah, Muhammad Shah, Nasiruddin Shah, Muzaffaruddin Shah, Muhammad Ali Shah and finally Ahmad Shah. The kings of this dynasty ruled Iran for about one hundred and thirty years.
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Tents and veils; Traditional clothing of Qajar women
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The establishment of new governments and political developments will change the economic, social, cultural and religious status of a society. In the meantime, the society’s behavior and the type of clothing also undergo changes. During the Qajar era, women’s outerwear consisted of chakchur, chador, and veil, and only the type of fabric and its decorations separated the rich and noble women from the women of the lower class of society. For example, sometimes ladies of nobles and elders used to sew galbton embroidery and silver border around their black tent.
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But in general, it can be said that women’s clothing outside the house in this historical period was the same and all women were the same, to the extent that it was impossible to recognize their faces.
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In such societies, women were deprived of social and political freedoms, and because they were forced to use veils for hijab, it gradually led to the exclusion of Muslim women from society and even from centers of education and science. Although the Qur’an basically does not distinguish between men and women in terms of value, women were considered to be a man’s property during the Qajar era.
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A review of Iran’s history shows that the social life of women has always had many ups and downs, and even though they made up half of the society’s population, they were always faced with various injustices and humiliations, such as: being rejected and homeless due to the lack of love of their husbands, not having enough knowledge. From their social rights, lack of correct and inclusive education and… They were facing each other.
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The social status of women in the Qajar period
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In the Qajar period, although there was no prejudice and strictness towards men and women like in the Safavid period, in general, no effective step was taken towards women’s freedom in this period either. During the Qajar period, Iranian women faced various injustices and problems, and men did not value women.
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In such a situation, examining the social status of women brings nothing but boredom and pain for today’s women; Because they find out that women in the not-so-distant history lived as Lady Sheil writes about them:Iranian women have great skill in bearing any humiliation and blame».
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With the emergence of superstitious beliefs since the Safavid period in Iranian society, women became so attached to the name of religion that they no longer had anything to do except to go to prayer meetings and empty their complexes. In the meantime, the size of the harems also expanded day by day and little by little the social, economic and even human pillars of this border and environment were destroyed. This situation reached its peak during the Qajar era, when women were imprisoned in the interior and married women hoped that they might give birth to a son and be able to secure their position in the husband’s house.
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In this period, derogatory perceptions about women were so common that even their bold actions were considered male morals, and basically, boldness was thought to be a special characteristic of men.
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The prevalence of such thoughts in most cases led to excessive restrictions on women. For example, in the streets of Tehran, women were asked to cross on a path other than the path of men. At that historical moment, even many Iranian intellectuals were silent about the status and rights of women. Because the society conditions of that day did not see Iran in such a way that they could talk about women’s issues and rights. But at the same time, active Iranian men and women took basic measures to fight against these conditions and make people aware. Including these people Maryam Omid She was the founder of Shokoofeh magazine, which we discussed in the article about Maryam Omid, the first female Iranian journalist.
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Mirza Fethali Akhundzadeh was one of the first modernists in Iran who worked very seriously and fundamentally in the issues related to women, to the point where he is considered the leader of modernists in Iran.
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Akhundzadeh; The leader of women’s rights and status During the Qajar era
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Mirza Fath Ali Akhundzadeh was born in 1228 AH in the city of Nakho (Nokheh) in a prosperous family. His father Mirza Mohammad Taqi bin Haji Ahmed was from Tabriz and his mother was from Maragheh. According to the custom of that time, Mirza Fath Ali started literacy at the age of 7 by reading the Quran in a school. In 1241 A.H., he went to Ganja with his mother and met Mirza Shafi, who was one of the intellectual masters, in the Shah Abbas Mosque of the city, and the first stage of his spiritual and intellectual transformation began.
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The second stage of his intellectual and spiritual transformation was in 1250 A.H., at the age of 22, his mother’s uncle introduced him to Abbas Ali Bey known as Beki Khan, the author and translator of the ruler of the Caucasus.
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Due to his familiarity with Persian, Arabic and Turkish languages, Akhundzadeh worked as a translator of oriental languages in the service of the Russian ruler in Georgia, and through this, he got to know Georgian and Russian writers. In Tbilisi, which was the center of new thoughts in the Caucasus in those days, he was familiar with scientific, literary and modernist circles and visited these circles.
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After getting acquainted with Russian and Georgian intellectuals, Akhundzadeh thought of political, social, and economic activities, including establishing a school, newspaper, and theater. He decided to make people literate in order to educate them and familiarize them with their rights and to inform women about their human rights. He believed that the development of the East is possible if the people are educated and the nation is educated, and for this reason, he is considered the leader of the modernists of the Islamic world.
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Mirza Fathali Akhundzadeh did not remain silent for the rights and status of Qajar women
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The wave of thought and enlightenment and efforts to improve the status of women as well as the credibility of science in Europe and the Western world; It started especially after the industrial revolution, reached Iran in the Qajar era and created a phenomenon called “enlightenment and modernism”. It was in this situation that with the emergence of the women’s legal movement in the West and its influence, the modernists and thinkers of Islamic countries including Iran criticized the status and position of women and took up writing to support women and created works in this field.
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Akhundzadeh, who was one of the passionate, freedom-loving and reformist children of Iran, started his work with the knowledge of literature and new thought and knowledge by writing plays and storytelling. In his writings, Mirza Fath Ali believed in individual freedom and equality and considered the natural rights of every human being as its source. Believing in women’s freedom, removing polygamy of men and establishing equality between men and women in all social rights, education and freedom of women’s hijab were among the most progressive thoughts of Akhundzadeh.
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Akhundzadeh’s thoughts about women are remarkable in several ways. One of the most important thoughts of Akhundzadeh about women is the freedom and equality of women and men in the field of social rights. He, who tried to express his thoughts about women in the form of plays and storytelling, was very successful in dealing with women’s issues and their problems in Muslim societies. In fact, the female character in his plays represents the modern woman, freed from the intellectual and religious constraints of the traditional society and presenting the effective and fundamental role of women in determining their own destiny.
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In fact, such a woman can play a very effective and constructive role in society. In the plays of this thoughtful man, one can understand his thoughts and opinions about the modern woman.
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Akhundzadeh’s writings about women’s rights and freedom, spreading culture and knowledge, changing the Islamic alphabet, and challenging absurd thoughts and wrong decisions had a major impact on the progress of Iran during the Qajar era. An educational system that is independent of a person’s gender in education.
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He considers a government to be libertarian whose goal is to grant political and social rights to men and women and to respect these rights. Akhundzadeh’s emphasis on the issue of education and literacy was the most, as far as he believed that before teaching science and knowledge to the people, any other measures for the progress and progress of that society are useless.
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final word
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By studying history, we can see that men always considered their activities more important and women’s busyness was not so important. However, Iran’s intellectuals have paid attention to women and their place in Iranian society almost at the same time as other Islamic countries and following western movements, and have raised issues in this field in their works. Mirza Fath Ali Akhundzadeh was one of the modernists of the Qajar dynasty who paid a lot of attention to women’s issues and tried to change the status of women in Iranian society and improve her position. This thinker believed that because women play the role of mothers and educate the future generation of the society, they should first be educated themselves in order to educate an informed and enlightened generation. Of course, the emergence of these ideas in the Qajar government and considering the effect of Qajar women’s clothing on their social position, has been a very difficult and challenging task.
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But in spite of all the problems and challenges, it has been recorded in history that the efforts to improve the status of women and to assert their rights in the Western world, especially after the French Revolution in 1789 AD, led to the emergence of concepts such as individual rights, wisdom, citizenship, and people’s sovereignty. Pay attention to them. In this context and following the French Revolution, Olympe Dugoge wrote the first declaration of women’s rights in France in 1791:
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O woman, get up, the bell of wisdom has resounded throughout the world; Get your rights. The powerful empire of nature is no longer confined to prejudice, petrification, superstition, and lies… You women, when are you going to open your eyes?
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References:
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The evolution of the social and cultural situation of women in the Safavid and Qajar periods
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Woman in the thought of Mirza Fateh Ali Akhundzadeh
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Investigating the social and cultural demands of women in the press of the Qajar era
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