Episode 15: Oh Husayn!

"By God’s wisdom, because cats in Ardebil have short lives, there are very many rats, more than in other regions. The mice chew up the people's clothing – their woolen cloaks, for example. So this city has a royal auction for cats. There are professional cat-brokers, much in demand, who sell cats in cages. The Divrigi cat is a particular favorite, fetching a price of up to 100 gurus; still, it does not live long here. When the brokers cry their wares, this is the patter they sing in a loud voice: ‘You who seek a feline, A cat to hunt your mice: To rats it makes a beeline, but otherwise it’s nice; An enemy to rodents, And yet it’s not a thief; A pet to share your grief.’”At least that’s the story from Evliya Celebi, an Ottoman citizen who was born in 1611, died around 1683, and documented 40 years of travels in a manuscript that apparently remained unknown until 1742. A complete edition in Turkish did not appear until 1938, and – as unbelievable as it may seem – critical translations had to wait until the 1970s.The city of Ardebil is located in the midst of a great plain and surrounded by mountains. Mount Sabalan to the west is always covered with Snow, and mount Bakru lies to the southwest. The air from these mountains is sometimes extremely hot and sometimes extremely cold, so that autumn can even begin in August and the air brings what he calls “epidemical diseases” that kill a great number of persons every year.The ambassadors take a tour of Sheik Sefi’s tomb, but only after giving up their personal weapons, for anyone who carries even a knife into the tomb is subject to execution.On May 14, the citizens of Ardebil begin a 10-day festival celebrating the memory of Husayn ibn Ali – grandson of Muhammad himself – killed at the battle of Karbala in the year 680 AD. The battle marked an important milestone in the schism between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, and the Safavid state used it and other observances in a government-run operation to convert its majority Sunni population to the Shia faith.Over the years, Safavid shahs gradually instituted forms of piety specific to their brand of Shi‘ism, and some historians say the reforms begun by Abbas I “created a new dependency of the monarchy on a greatly strengthened Shia clergy for its legitimacy – a development which could be said to have led eventually to the overthrow of the monarchy in the Islamic revolution of 1978-9.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit semipropilgrim.substack.com