Episode 19: Isfahan Throwdown

Our ambassadors arrive in Isfahan on August 3, 1637, and immediately get into a running street battle with servants of the Indian ambassador. The shah demands someone's head.Olearius tells us that, in general, the Indians are good natured, civil, friendly, and their conversation not unpleasant, provided that no one does them any injury. But they are also apt to resent any kind of insult, they are never satisfied without taking the blood of those who do the offending.The first audience with Shah Safi occurs on August 16. Forty horses from the shah’s own stables arrive to take them to dinner. Shah Safi sits on a satin cushion, behind the fountain, his back to the wall. He is about 27 years old, Olearius says, “handsome bodied, having a graceful aspect, and of a clear and smooth complexion, somewhat hawk-nosed, as most of the Persians are,” with a little black moustache on his upper lip.The Germans are seated near 13 very handsome women dancers, and some of them are the most beautiful courtesans of the city who pay a yearly tax to conduct their business and must come to court whenever the shah sends for them. “We were told,” Olearius writes, “that a man might have had his choice of them for a tuman.” You will remember from episode 13 that a tuman is not an actual coin, but a unit of accounting. In the 1930s, one tuman was equivalent to about five American dollars.The Germans discover afterward that a spy had been hidden nearby during dinner, observing their demeanor, listening to whatever they said among themselves, and reporting back to the shah. Bruggeman is critical of the paintings, the entertainment, and the manners of the Persians, and that this works to his disadvantage and prejudice during the later negotiations. 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