SAEDNEWS: The memoirs of Zahra Khanom Taj al-Saltaneh, daughter of Naser al-Din Shah, are a historical treasure that contain engaging details about life in the Qajar court. In these writings, Taj al-Saltaneh often takes a critical view of the rule of Qajar monarchs, including her own father.
According to the Saed News analytical news site, quoting Parsineh, Zahra Khanom Taj al-Saltaneh was the daughter of Naser al-Din Shah and Maryam Turan al-Saltaneh, born in 1262 SH (Persian calendar). She was one of the educated and literary women of the Naser al-Din Shah court, and her memoirs reflect her literary taste and writing talent.
In her memoirs, Taj al-Saltaneh recounts many interesting details about life at the royal court during her childhood and youth. Written in a critical tone and literary style, these memoirs are a valuable source for understanding the culture, society, lifestyle, and politics of the Qajar era.
In this section of her memoirs, we read about her experience of going to a traditional school (maktabkhaneh) and her strong dislike of it. Her desire to stay at home and play with her dolls was so strong that she resorted to a strange and dangerous trick in order to get a few days off from school.
At the age of seven, by order of the Sultan, I was sent to a maktabkhaneh, and a teacher, a nanny, and attendants were assigned to me… I was taken to the school, gifts were given, and celebrations were held. However, I was very sad and distressed that my freedom to play had been taken away and that I had been separated from my beautiful toys and dolls. Most days I was upset with my teacher and nanny and refused to study by any means. They would even beat the girls I played with, but it had no effect on me. I was very stubborn and defiant and did not pay attention to threats… I considered myself all-knowing and the ruler of everything, because from the time I became aware, I had seen nothing but respect, honor, and obedience, and everything I wanted had been provided for me.
I always wished that my teacher would become ill or even die so that I could be free for a few days to play and be mischievous. Coincidentally, this teacher was young and healthy and never fell ill. Until one day I told my playmates that if they did something to make our teacher sick for a few days, I would give them a large portion of my toys in return…
That Saturday, when we went to school, one of the boys named Abbas Khan brought a large amount of gunpowder and placed it under the teacher’s seat, attaching a fuse to the door. When we were about to be dismissed for lunch, he lit the fuse. The unfortunate teacher, unaware of anything, sat back on his bedding, and suddenly the gunpowder ignited, burning all his clothes and injuring him severely from the waist down.
The afternoon classes were canceled, and we were free from lessons for about a week. However, later it was discovered that this had been done at my instigation. I was punished with several strikes on my hands, and because of those blows, I never again disrespected my teacher. Since I had never been beaten before, I became ill and bedridden for a week as a result of the punishment.
