The Education of Women and The Vices of Men: Two Qajar Tracts

Introduction

57 Introduction First, from the beginning I praise God, who created women from the left rib of man. In the beginning of the year 1312 hijri [1894–95], which coincides with the forty-eighth anniversary of the auspicious reign of His Majesty the Shadow of God in Tehran, which is the capital of his most fortunate and sagacious majesty Naser al-Din Shah, may his reign be eternal, one day one of this humble author’s closest friends delighted me with her presence in my humble abode. She found me wasting my time on this book. Although it may not be of any importance, she found it of utmost interest and asked me to write a chapter about my ancestors and what professions they had been engaged in. Having been given this task, I had no choice but to write this short account. Because I did not have much knowledge of some of the details, I therefore took them from the chronicles of the illustrious Qajar government. This humble author is the daughter of the late Mohammad Baqer Khan, the commander of the Astarabad cavalry, who was one of the loyal servants of this powerful and victorious government. In the wars with the Turkmen, his services were known and evident to all government leaders. After fifty years of service, he was martyred while executing his services. My grandfather was the late Karbala’i Baqer Khan, the qollaraghasi of the late king, may his soul rest in peace. In the days when the king [Fath ‘Ali Shah] was heir apparent and governor of Fars, he was of service to him, and once, during the hunt, 58 The Vices of Men he cut a lion into two with his sword in front of the shah, and the sound of “bravo” was echoed from the Leo of heaven. After sixty years of service, he was martyred in the war with Fathi Khan.1 The late shah bought his severed head for one thousand tumans, put it with his body, and buried him. My other grandfather, the late Hamzeh Khan, from the time of the late shah until the beginning of the reign of the current shah, was employed in government service in the border area of Astarabad. All his services are known to His Majesty. All great services that he has performed in Torshiz and Goklen2 and other parts have been recorded in the Qajar chronicles, and there is no need for further description. My mother is the daughter of the late Akhund Molla Kazem, a mojtahed from Mazandaran, residing in Barforush, may God elevate his stature . He was an outstanding master in many sciences, and for fifty years he was busy teaching sciences and dispensing justice in the religious courts in the capital of Tehran. After his death, my mother was employed in the royal harem for thirty years in the service of Her Highness Shekuh al-Saltaneh, the mother of the heir apparent. She made several journeys to Azerbaijan and for several years was in the service of His Highness the crown prince; now she resides in the holy places [Karbala and Najaf] and is engaged in prayer for the preservation of the royal family. In short, this humble author did not consider herself able to educate men; therefore, I wrote The Vices of Men in answer to The Education of Women so that men’s failings would be known. Perhaps they now will refrain from educating women and devote themselves to their own education. I do so in four chapters, including their manner of treating women, and then discuss their own behavior. The first chapter is about Introduction 59 the manner of drinkers of wine. The second chapter is about the manners of the gamblers. The third chapter contains a description of the users of opium, bhang, the pipe,3 and hashish .4 The fourth chapter is a discussion of rowdies, cutthroats, sodomites, and perverts.5 The target of this humble author is those men who are of low morals because it is obvious that such behavior and comportment cannot come from wise, intelligent, and capable men. So these characteristics are owing to a lack of intelligence and understanding in those people, who are even lower than animals of burden and more dangerous than wild animals, and God Almighty has truly said about them, “They are lower than cattle, nay even worse.”6 An intimate and confidante of...