Saed News: The Golestan Palace Album House is considered one of the richest collections of photographs and films. This collection includes photographs from the Qajar kings' reign, along with albums gifted to them, and its history dates back more than 170 years.
According to the history service of Saed News, Charles James Wills was an English doctor, traveler, and writer who traveled to Iran during the Qajar era as a medical officer for the British Telegraph Department. Dr. Wills documented his journey in a book titled In the Land of the Lion and the Sun, which has been translated into Persian as Iran a Century Ago. Here, we read a short excerpt from his memoirs.
This excerpt from Dr. Wills' memoirs describes his early days in Tehran and his visit to Naser al-Din Shah’s zoo:
From the day I arrived in Tehran, I longed for the first opportunity to visit the royal zoo. However, we had recently received word that, by order of Naser al-Din Shah, all the animals in the zoo had been released from their cages. This posed a potential danger to visitors.
Nevertheless, we decided to obtain permission and visit this exclusive zoo at all costs. Finally, one morning, we succeeded and went there. Among all the animals, I was most fond of the zoo’s monkey—a calm, harmless, and affectionate creature that allowed me to pet it freely.
A photograph of the Golestan Palace peacock, 1274 SH (1895 AD).
In addition, there were two lions, a bear, and two young, bold tigers. All of them roamed peacefully alongside a number of deer, gazelles, and mountain goats, without disturbing one another. However, getting too close to the wild and rebellious tigers was neither pleasant nor risk-free. At the end of the zoo stood a magnificent royal villa, truly a sight to behold.
That day, on our way back, an interesting incident occurred as I was accompanied by Colonel G. and Mr. B. While crossing the barren lands behind the zoo toward home, we suddenly spotted a large figure emerging from the wild bushes near the riverbank. Seeing this animal, we immediately feared that one of the zoo’s lions had managed to leap over the wall. My hair stood on end, and we all froze in terror.
Then, with a quick glance at each other, we picked up our pace, careful not to run and agitate the beast. Cold sweat covered my body, and I braced myself for the moment it would leap onto my shoulders from behind. A few hundred meters ahead, where the bushes became shorter, we paused and stole another glance at the creature. What we saw made us laugh with relief, though we also felt ashamed of our mistake and cowardice—it was nothing but a large yellow dog, oblivious to our distress, casually trotting toward us.
Kandy was a cat that lived a luxurious life in the Qajar court. Naser al-Din Shah was the most cat-loving ruler of the Qajar dynasty.
The Swans of Naser al-Din Shah’s Palace
A pair of male and female swans laid five eggs in the garden of Golestan Palace in 1312 AH (1894 AD).
