The Strange Clothing and Eating Style of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

According to the Saed News analytical report, citing Javan News Agency, among the Qajar kings there is no doubt that Naser al-Din Shah should be considered the healthiest and most cheerful of them. It is said that Naser al-Din Shah enjoyed very good physical strength and health, and had he not been killed by Mirza Reza Kermani’s bullet, he could have continued ruling in full health for several more decades.

Ain al-Saltaneh, in the first volume of his Diary of Memories, writes about Naser al-Din Shah’s interesting lifestyle:

“He used to consume everything together and never avoided mixing foods. Just after having lunch, half an hour later he would eat watermelon, ice cream, and melon. The king’s temperament is a strange matter. Most people and most physicians believed that if the Shah had not been shot, he would have remained in this physical condition for thirty, even forty years.

From the time he was shot until three hours after midnight, his body remained warm and he continued to bleed. This itself is clear evidence that his constitution and health would certainly not have deteriorated for another forty years and would have remained strong. He used to ride horses a lot and walk long distances.

He wore fur and squirrel-skin clothing throughout the year. In winter, he never sat near a fire or in a heated room, yet he would wear nearly fifteen to twenty layers of clothing at once, including shirts, brocade garments, and fur. The Shah’s strength was in no way different from his youth. What young man can speak with one or even two women throughout the night in any season? No king and no ruler in history has ever enjoyed such pleasure and ease. One hour of his comfort and well-being was equal to the entire lifetimes of Khosrow Parviz, Harun al-Rashid, and Mamun.”