Larger than Life: The Malek ol-Tojjar family at the interface between Russia and Iran during the long Nineteenth century

The story of Russian-Iranian relations is essentially the tale of neighbours who, on a national or individual level, clash or collaborate as circumstances demand. As such it goes back much further and deeper than generally assumed. After a brief summary of the historical background, this talk will illustrate how Iranian lives were affected as the balance of power between Russia and Iran changed in the nineteenth century as the reversal of relations resulted in loss of territory and migrations and how they impacted lives not only politically,but also economically, socially and culturally. A few brief examples from personal lives will be given to highlight the extent of that impact, but the main focus will be on the Malek al-Tojjars, as the careers of father and son closely trace the history of Russian-Iranian relations from the early nineteenth century to the aftermath of the 1917 Revolution and include three key events of the economic Great Game as it heated up in the second half of the nineteenth century, namely the Tobacco Rebellion of 1891-92, the rivalry between the British and Russian banks, and the fate of Iran’s first joint-stock company and its subsidiary, the Ardabil-Astara Road, all of which illustrate the pitfalls that lie on the path of private and public initiatives in a period of transition.

Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian

Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian was born in Tehran in 1940 and currently lives between London and Geneva. She is a fellow trustee of the Soudavar Memorial Foundation and an independent scholar and author who has written in English and Persian on a variety of (mainly) historical subjects. Her scholarly articles have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals and co-authored books as well as on the Internet. Her many publications in English as well as in Persian include:

1996 - ‘James Baillie Fraser in Mashad or The Pilgrimage of a Nineteenth-century Scotsman to the Shrine of the Imam Reza’, in Iran 34  

2000 – “Haft Qalam Arayesh: Cosmetics in the Iranian World”, in Iranian Studies 33:3  

2003 – “Haft Qalam Arayesh in Iranian Lands: From Prehistory to the Qajar period” in International Qajar Studies Association Journal, vol. III 

2008 – "Persian, Pasionaria and Princess“ (in memoriam of Mariam Firuz)” in Journal of the International Qajar Studies Association, vol. VIII

2009 – «Georgia and Iran: Three Millennia of Cultural Relations: An Overview” in Journal of Persianate Studies 2 

2010 – “The Twin Gardens of Rosewater Valley – Memories” in Journal of the International Qajar Studies Association vol. IX

2011 –  “An Iranian Perspective of J. B. Fraser’s Trip to Khorasan in the 1820s” in Iranian Studies 44:2

2013 –  “How the Russians hosted an entrepreneur who gave them a belly-ache: New revelations on Hajj Kazem Malek al-Tojjar and the Russian Connection” in Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions: Russia  Since 1800, edited by Stephanie Cronin

2013 – "Bankers by Appointment to the Qajars” in Journal of the International Qajar Studies Association Vol. XII-XIII

2014 – “Revisiting and revising the tobacco concession with Haj Kazem Malek al-Tojjar" in Iranian Studies 47:4