C.J. Wills was an English physician who traveled widely in Iran
from 186681 while working for the Indo-European Telegraph
Department. With a discerning eye for detail, Wills wrote an intimate
anthropological account of Qajar-era Iran, rich with description
of everyday life, popular beliefs and practices, and arts and
crafts, as well as health practices and communications that were
his professional concern. In the Land of the Lion and Sun, the
second volume to appear in Mage's Persia Observed series, provides
a fresh and fascinating insight into both a time and place, as
well as the biases and sympathies of a generation.
In his introduction to this new edition of Wills' book, Abbas
Amanat presents a critical reading of Wills' career, his works,
and his view of Qajar Iran.
New Introduction by Abbas Amanat
Chapter I: I Go To Persia
Chapter II: Post Journey to the Capital
Chapter III: Teheran
Chapter IV: Teheran
Chapter V: Hamadan
Chapter VI: Hamadan
Chapter VII: Hamadan
Chapter VIII: Hamadan
Chapter IX: Kermanshah
Chapter X: Kermanshah
Chapter XI: I Go to Ispahan
Chapter XII: Julfa
Chapter XIII: Ispahan
Chapter XIV: Julfa and Ispahan
Chapter XV: Ispahan and its Environs
Chapter XVI: Ispahan and its Environs
Chapter XVII: Ispahan
Chapter XVIII: Ispahan
Chapter XIX: My Journey Home and March to Shiraz
Chapter XX: Shiraz
Chapter XXI: Shiraz Wine-Making
Chapter XXII: Shiraz and Fussa
Chapter XVIII: Shiraz-The Famine
Chapter XXIV: I Fall Into the Hands of Bridgands
Chapter XXV: Shiraz
Chapter XXVI: Shiraz-Persian Customs
Chapter XXVII: Shiraz
Chapter XXVIII: Beasts, Birds, Fruits, and Flowers
Chapter XXIX: Persian Character, Costumes, and Manners
Chapter XXX: Travelling-Artwork-Foods
Chapter XXXI: Education-Leave, and Return via India
Chapter XXXII: From the Persian Gulf to Ispahan
Chapter XXXIII: Julfa
Chapter XXXIV: Journey to and from Teheran
Chapter XXXV: We Return via the Caspian
Appendix A: Table of Post Stages
Appendix B: Duration of our Journey from Ispahan to London
Appendix C: Travelling in Persia
Appendix D: Russian Goods Versus English
Glossary of Persian Words
Index
"The character of the Persian, as it appears to me, is that
of an easy-going man with a wish to make things pleasant generally.
He is hospitable and obliging, as honest as the general run of
mankind, and is specially well disposed to the foreigner. He is
very kind and indulgent to his children, and as a son his respect
for both parents is excessive, developed in a greater degree to
his father, in whose presence he will rarely sit, and whom he
is in the habit of addressing and speaking of as "master;"
the full stream of his love and reverence is reserved for his
mother and an undutiful son or daughter is hardly known in the
country. Home virtues among the Persians are many.
No act of serious import is ever undertaken without the advice
of the mother; no man would think, for instance, of marrying contrary
to his mother's advice; and by the very poorest the support of
their parents would never be looked on as as burden. Respect for
the aged is universal; "this grey beard" is a common
term of respect and an aged man or woman will frequently give
an opinion unsolicited, and such advice is often requested, and
always listed to as valuable." (p. 314)
"A visit to the tomb of Saadi, or that of Hafiz, is common
among the Shirazis for the taking of omens or "fal,"
as they are termed. For a few coppers the dervish who usually
acts as guardian to the tomb produces his well-thumbed manuscript
copy of the poet, and, after an invocation to the Deity, he thrusts
his knife into the closed volume between the leaves. Taking the
passage at the top of the right-hand page, he recites it to the
anxious inquirers" (p. 277)
C.J. Wills was an English physician who traveled widely in Iran
from 1866-81 while working for the Indo-European Telegraph Department.
