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October 23, 2005
Rudi Matthee
I went to see a talk by Prof. Rudi Matthee of the University of Delaware. He is a professor of Safavid history (ca. 15th-18th cent.) and a graduate of the UCLA himself.
He has written a book about the use of narcotics and drinking in Iran from 1500-1900. It is a magnificent work of scholarship. As I have mentioned before, the historiography of the Iranian history is miles behind that of Europe. Most of the time, what is written about the Iranian history is still concerned with political hisotry.
Prof. Matthee's, however, has done an excellent job of using a theme (the use of narcotics and drinks and the social institutions associated with them) to draw a very interesting picture of social, cultural, and economic history of the Iranian lands during the era. It talks about the role they played in people's social relations, how the institutions were developed, how various instruments (such as water-pipe) came to existence, and how the trade in things such as coffee, tea, and drugs was a way of connecting Iran to the rest of the world.
His talk was excellent, and his book is also. He spoke in Persian which was impressive. He is from the Netherlands and he has studied here, but he speaks very good Persian and uses a colloquial grammar, which makes it even more impressive.
I hope his book gets translated and published in Iran very soon, since other than its factual content, it can become a great methodological guide for the research and writing of history.
Posted by Khodadad at October 23, 2005 10:07 PM
Comments
I have not thought much about the role of various intoxicating and mind altering substances in shaping history. I have certainly been aware of their existence in history, though. The drinking of wine and the smoking of tobacco and marijuana are all ancient customs. It is interesting to contemplate that such things played a very important role in creating networks of trade between disparate groups of humanity from ancient times up to the present. Considering the pharmacological Victorianism that pervaded 20th century America, and continues to the present day, I suspect that many Americans would find this book to be quite surprising. Prior to the 20th century, though, many substances containing now outlawed drugs were readily available at every neighborhood drugstore or barber shop in America. Even the original formulation of Coca-Cola contained real cocaine! Marijuana was legal until the early 1900's, when the tobacco industry lobbied Congress to criminalize it out of fear that competition with a cheaper and superior mind altering substance would cut into their profits.
Good luck to Prof. Matthee! He seems like an interesting person.
Posted by: David at October 24, 2005 06:50 PM
Khodadad,
It was a pleasure seeing you on campus today. I very much enjoy reading your website.
Do you think this book would be accessible to an ignoramus like myself, or do you know of a better introduction/survey of modern Iranian history?
Thanks beautiful,
patrick
Posted by: patrick sharma at October 26, 2005 04:14 PM