Bagh-e Ferdows

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The main palace building of Bāgh-e Ferdows (ca April 2008)
The main palace building of Bāgh-e Ferdows (ca April 2008)

Bāgh-e Ferdows [1] (Persian: باغ فردوس), also known as Emārat-e Bāgh-e Ferdows [2] and The Mohammadieh Palace, is part of a historical complex of garden palaces in Tajrish, Shemiran, North Tehran, between Zafaraniyeh and Jafar Ābād.[3] This complex consists of two castles, the North Castle and the South Castle, of which the former has decayed. The complex was originally designed by Hāji Mirzā Āqāsi,[4] the Prime Minister of Mohammad Shah Qajar, and was used as a summer residence by the Qajar family and some nobility. Mohammad Shah Qajar died here in September 1848 and the complex became disused in subsequent years.[5] [6]

Mohammad-Vali Khan, Sepahsālār-e Tonekāboni
Mohammad-Vali Khan, Sepahsālār-e Tonekāboni

During the reign of Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar, the ownership of the compund was transferred to Nezām od-Dauleh, Mo'ayyer ol-Mamālek, who refurbished the palaces and gave the place the name Ferdows. Later, Doost-Ali Khan, the brother-in-law of Nasser ad-Din Shah, using the workmenship of architects from Esfahan and Yazd, built a new building at the Southern edge of this structure, giving it the name Rashk-e Behesht.[7] Following this, the palace complex changed several hands, until it was bought by Mohammad-Vali Khan, Sepahsālār-e Tonekāboni,[8] from Amin ol-Molk [9] in 1897. Sepahsālār Tonekāboni added some further pools and fountains to Bāgh-e Ferdows and regenerated the aqueduct that in earlier years had fed the garden with fresh water. The impressive gate of the garden dates also from this time. Later Bāgh-e Ferdows was handed over to Tomanesian Company for repaying debt. In turn, this Company used this complex as a means of obtaining a state loan during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi. In 1937 the Ministry of Education (Vezārat-e Ma'āref) housed a primary and a secondary school, Shapour Schools, in this compound. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979 until 2002, Bāgh-e Ferdows served as a training centre for film-making. Since 2002, it houses Film Museum of Iran.[10]

Bāgh-e Ferdows is also the name of an area in the South of Tehran, near Bāgh-e Jannat.[11] [12]

The Iranian motion picture Bāgh-e Ferdows, 5 O'clock in the afternoon (2005)[13] refers to a public park in front of Bāgh-e Ferdows, from where the main palace is in view.



[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ The literal meaning of Bāgh-e Ferdows is The Garden of Paradise (see Bāgh). The following is however suggestive that this literal interpretation may not be precise, if correct at all. According to Dehkhoda (in Loghat'nāmeh-ye Dehkhoda) and with reference to the pertinent investigations by Dr Mohammad Moin, the word Ferdows is an Arabicized word of the Persian origin, referred to twice in Avesta as pairi-daēza, where pairi stands for perimeter and daēza originates from the infinitive daēz, meaning to accumulate, to surround or to enclose. The Achaemenid Dynasty built over the entire Persian Empire, especially in Asia Minor, pairi-daēzas, or paradises, which consisted of extensive gardens and parks. According to OED, as well as Dehkhoda, Xenophon was the first to use the word paradeisos in the meaning of enclosed park, orchard, or pleasure ground. Dehkhoda writes that the Hebrew word pārdēs entered into this language in the 5th century BC, following the arrival of Jews in Babel and that in the sections of the Old Testament that predate this arrival, the notions of Heaven and Hell are not specific; only later has pārdēs, originally meaning garden and orchard, been endowed with the spiritual meaning that is signified by this word (as well as paradise) in later times, up to the present date. Dehkhoda adds that pārdēs has been used synonymously as the Hebrew word gān in the meaning of Garden of Eden. He continues that the word Ferdows, that has been used twice in Qur'an, has its root in Judaism and Christianity and that the Islamic scholars are generally united in considering that the word Ferdows has been used in Qur'an in the meaning of garden and orchard; there is, however, no consensus amongst these scholars as to the nature of this place. Note that since the Arabic language does not accommodate the letter P, the P in the Arabicized Persian words, as well as the Hebrew word in the present context, is replaced by F — compare Ferdows with Pairi-daēza and Pārdēs.
  2. ^ Emārat here means building.
  3. ^ Loghat'nāmeh-ye Dehkhoda, Third Edition (Tehran University Press, 2006).
  4. ^ Hāji Mirzā Āqāsi is said to have been a Sufi believer, and Mohammad Shah to have been influenced by Sufism. This has been considered to be the cause of Mohammad Shah not having been on good terms with the Shia clergy. See: Mohammad Shah, Farsi Wikipedia.
  5. ^ Sadeq Dehqan, A Glorious Complex: Bagh-e Ferdows, Iran Daily, Arts & Culture, Thursday 20 July 2006, [1].
  6. ^ Khodadad, Mohammadieh Palace, Bagh-e Ferdows, Picasa Web Albums.
  7. ^ Rashk-e Behesht means Envy of the Paradise. According to Dehkhoda, Behesht is the Farsi for the Avestan word Vahishteh which is rooted in the combination of the words Vohu (which is the comparative of the suppressed adjective Anghu, meaning good), and Isht. Thus Behesht means The better world, Ferdows or Paradise. With reference to an earlier footnote, in which Ferdows is discussed, one notes that in principle Behesht and Bāgh-e Ferdows need not refer to the same metaphysical location.
  8. ^ Mohammad-Vali Khan, Sepahsālār-e Tonekāboni, also known as Sepahsālār-e A'zam-e Tonekāboni, was the leader of the constitutionalist revolutionary forces from Iran's northern provinvces of Gilan and Mazandaran. He was the first to arrive in Tehran and liberate the city from the Royalist forces. He became Minster of Defence in the first constitutionalist government that followed dethroning of Mohammad-Ali Shah Qajar in 1909. He subsequently became Prime Minister, holding this post between October 1909 and July 1910. For the time being see: Haj Ali-Gholi Khan, Sardar Asad II.
  9. ^ Amin ol-Molk is the honorific title of Pāshā Khan. Sadeq Dehqan's reference in Iran Daily, loc. cit., to "Aminol Malek" (i.e. Amin ol-Mālek) seems incorrect. For Details consult: Dowlatshahi-Qajar, Shajareh'nameh Project.
  10. ^ See the History section in Film Museum of Iran.
  11. ^ Loghat'nāmeh-ye Dehkhoda, ibid.
  12. ^ According to Dehkhoda, Jannat means both Garden (one in which the ground is fully covered by trees) and Behesht (concerning Behesht, see an earlier footnote). It is most likely that the Urdu word Jinnah, as in Mohammad Ali Jinnah, may be the equivalent of the word Jannat. If this is indeed the case, then it is appropriate to make mention here of the historical garden Bāgh-e Jinnah (formerly known as Lawrence Gardens) in Lahore, Pakistan.
  13. ^ Written, produced and directed by Siamak Shayeghi, with Reza Kianian, Ladan Mostofi and Azita Haijan playing in the principal roles.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • Film Museum of Iran, Home, History, Cinema Saloon.
  • TaymazG, A photograph of the building of the main palace in Bāgh-e Ferdows, 12 August 2007, flickr.