Photos of the Iranian princess, the wife of Shah Nasser Qajar, continue to excite impressionable and naive Internet users. Hundreds, if not thousands of articles are devoted to her, which discuss the tastes and preferences of the Shah, who lived almost two hundred years ago.
Nasser al-Din Shah Kajar
The Iranian shah, who ruled the country for 47 years, was the most educated man in Iran, who knew several languages, loved geography, drawing, poetry, and the author of books about his travels. At the age of seventeen, he inherited the throne, but was able to enter power only with the help of weapons. He was an extraordinary person who managed to carry out small, from the point of view of our time, but significant reforms of the country for his time.
As a competent person, he understood that only an educated and developed Iran could exist on an equal footing with other countries in this world. He was a fan of European culture, but he realized that the religious fanaticism that was rampant in the country would not allow his dreams to become a reality.
Nevertheless, much was done during his lifetime. A telegraph appeared in Iran, schools began to open, army reform was carried out, a French school was opened, the prototype of the future university, where they studied medicine, chemistry, geography.
Nasser Qajar Theater
Nasser Qajar knew the French perfectly, was familiar with French culture, in particular with the theater, but he was primarily the Shah of Iran, a Muslim. Therefore, his dream of a full-fledged theater could not come true. But he, together with Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Naggashbashi, creates a state theater, the troupe of which consisted of men. In the photographs of the actors you can see the famous "Iranian princess Anis al Dolah". Yes, this is a princess, but not a real one, but performed by a male actor.
The Iranian theater did not play productions from the life of the people. His satirical repertoire consisted entirely of plays describing court and social life. All roles were played by men. This is not an isolated case. Remember the Japanese Kabuki Theater , where only men play. True, the Japanese actors played in masks, and it was hardly possible to see their fused eyebrows and mustache. By the way, thick fused eyebrows from the inhabitants of the Arab and Central Asian countries have always been considered a sign of beauty, both in women and in men.
Founder of Iranian Theater
The head of the first state theater was a man known in Iran, Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Naggashbashi, who is considered the founder of the Iranian theater. All roles were played by men, only after 1917 was it allowed women to be actresses and participate in performances.
Old pictures
Nasser al-Din from his youth was fond of photography. He had his own laboratory, where he personally printed pictures. He took pictures himself, he had a French photographer who was shooting him. In the late sixties of the 19th century, the Sevryugins brothers opened their studio in Tehran, one of them - Anton - became a court photographer.
Shah shot everything, Sevryugin helped him in this. He kept photographs of wives, close associates, theater artists, his trips, ceremonial meetings, military operations in the palace safe. After the Iranian revolution, all its archives were declassified, and the pictures fell into the hands of journalists. It is difficult to say who is depicted in these photographs. Relying on the Internet is not worth it. Captions for the same photos on different sites differ dramatically. Their reliability is very doubtful.
On a German site, an interesting comment was sent to an article about Nasser al-Din sent by a resident of Iran. He writes that the khan did not like women, therefore, in order to be like men and thereby please the shah, they painted themselves a mustache. It is difficult to say how true this is, but this partially explains clearly the male faces in women's clothing and the fact that an outsider (photographer) takes the khan in the circle of masculine women.
Who is the Iranian Princess Anis
Anis al Dolyah is, most likely, the name of the heroine of a play that was played with some acting characters in various situations (cases from life). Something like modern TV shows. Each actor played one role for many years.
Shah Nasser Kajar had the official wife of Munir Al-Khan, who bore him children, including his heir, Mozafereddin Shah. She was from a noble and influential family with considerable power. There is no doubt that the shah had a harem. But who lived in his harem, it’s impossible to say right now.
Photos of Shah's Concubines
The photos of Iranian princess al Dolly and the Shah’s concubines posted on the Internet are most likely pictures of theater artists or excerpts from plays. Coming to any theater, we see in its foyer the composition of the troupe in photographs, where you can often see make-up actors, that is, excerpts from their roles.
Let us not forget that the Shah was a supporter of everything European, but remained a Muslim dictator who did not tolerate any dissent. Deviation from the norms of the Qur'an (in this case, photographing women with open faces) would push away from him thousands of his loyal subjects. His enemies, whom he had plenty of, would not fail to take advantage of. Attempts were made on him more than once.
The Shah visited many European countries, including Russia. He was delighted with Russian ballet. He could not put something like that in his country, therefore he creates a play about it by dressing up the Iranian princess Anis (photo below) and other supposedly women in ballet tutus. By the way, the Shah wrote books about his travels, which were published in Europe and Russia. Perhaps he wrote plays for his theater.
What does the name Anise mean
Why does the Iranian princess have such a strange name Anis? It is no coincidence that it was during the time of Shah Nasser al-Din that two religious rebels were shot dead who dared to recognize the Koran as obsolete. This is the founder of a new religion, called Babism, Baba Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi, as well as his ardent follower and assistant Mirza Muhammad Ali Zunuzi (Anis). There is a legend that during the execution of a detachment of 750 Christians, Baba strangely appeared in her cell, and Anis was not touched by bullets.
It is the name of Anis that the satirical Iranian princess bears. Each time it caused laughter and bullying. Having clothed his opponent in women's clothing, which in itself is a shame for a Muslim, the Shah took revenge on those who went against the Koran. We do not know the names of other “inhabitants” of the Shah’s harem, maybe they can also tell a lot. Of course, these are only assumptions of what actually happened, we will never know.