Figure 1.-- Mass'oud Mirza Zell-e Soltan (مسعود میرزا ظلالسلطان --Mass'oud Mirza the Sultan's Shadow") was a Persian prince of the Qajar Dynasty. He was known as the "Yamin-al-Dowleh" ("Right Hand of the Government"). He was made governor of Isfahan for over 35 years, and the governor of the Mazandaran, Fars, and Isfahan for a total of 40 years. One of his hobbies was photography and he left a fascinating glimpse the life of the Qajar Dynasty in the late-19th nf ealy-20th cedntury. Iranian-born anthropologist Pedram Khosronejad who has been studfying these images tells us that based on the captions of other photos from the same album written by Masoud that the the baby is a granddaughter, probably Nim Taj Khanum (Lady Nim Taj), with her African slave, in Isfahan, durung the 1890s. For Qajar riyltyy, abysitting and accompanying royal and aristocratic children to their classes were among the main duties of African slaves. Photograph: Zell-e-Soltan/Kimia Foundation.
African slaves were used in various ways in Persia. We note obvious ways such as agricultural labor and other manual labor endeavors, seamen, as well as domestic servants. Educated slaves, all male and commonly eunuchs, had roles in state administrative functions. Women of course were used as concubines as well as domestic servants. One source suggests it was a matter of prestige to have slaves in the household. We are not sure how the ethnicity of the slave entered into this calculation. An Iranian anthropologist tells us, "In Iran’s modern history, Africans were integral to elite households. Black men were mostly eunuchs working inside the king’s harem and houses, while black women were servants to Iranian women." [Khosronejad] The photographic record shows them being used extensively in security roles, including bodyguards and the military. Slaves who had not been castrated were sometimes assigned to the armies of the Qajar elites. Personal slaves were assigned to children, including babies (figure 1). In the West these would have been women slaves. In Persia we see burly uniformed men serving as nannies. Ir is unclear to what extent the available photographic record which comes primarily from high status families is an accurate reflection of actual prevalence.
Sources
Khosronejad, Pedram. Khosronejad is an Iranuian-born anthroplogist now working in the United States. Quoted in Denise Hassanzade Ajiri. " The face of African slavery in Qajar Iran – in pictures," Above Whispers (2016). The captions are provided by anthropologist Pedram Khosronejad who has collected extensive photographic evidence of African slavery in Iran.
