Qajar’s strange beliefs about Shams-ul-Amara

Everyone knows that before Milad Tower, the symbol of Tehran was Freedom Tower. What was before that? “Head in the National Garden”. before that? “Shams-ul-Amara” which was the first symbol of Tehran and strange ideas were formed about it in the minds of the simple-hearted Qajar Iranians. “Shams-ul-Amara” was the tallest building in Tehran in the style of western buildings, which was ordered to be built by Naser al-Din Qajar. Did Shah Qajar see the western buildings during Farang’s trip? no It was the year 1244, and Naser al-Din had not yet traveled to Farang, but it was like this: “The movement of Iranians to Farangistan and watching postcards and newspapers and seeing the photos of that country in the Shahr Farang apparatus, inspired Naser al-Din Shah to build a building in the style of European mansions.”

The construction of Shams-ul-Amara also aroused the envy of many and its story was as follows: “Construction was started under the management of Dost Ali Khan Moirul-Mamalek and the architecture of master Ali Mohammad Kashi on the eastern side of Golestan Palace and on Shams-ul-Amara street, which was later renamed to Nasiriyah and Naser Khosrow, and lasted for two years. It took a long time… The general design of the building, with two similar towers on both sides of the clock tower, is inspired by European architecture, but the tiling, mirror work, carvings, windows, sashes, and the interior architecture and rooms inside each other are Iranian… The mansion was built by Naseruddin Shah. It was opened, and many elders and city managers of that time were jealous of Moair al-Mamalek because of the implementation of this huge project.

Watch from the top of the Qajar skyscraper!

There are various speculations about the reason for building Shams-ul-Amara and Naser al-Din’s motive for erecting such a high building, which was a skyscraper in his time, including that Naser al-Din wanted to monitor the situation in the city, and they wrote about this: “Before the construction of Shams-ul-Amara, the Shah did not tour the city and He only knew about the conditions of the people and the surrounding streets from the reports of the spies, the inspectors, the waiters, Farashan and the mouths of this and that. But with the construction of the high five-story Shams-ul-Amara building, which was actually the first tower and the tallest building in Tehran and therefore became known as the building of the sun or the sun of buildings, Naser al-Din Shah spent a few hours of his time every day watching the city and the daily life of the people. spends”.

Naser al-Din himself has repeatedly written in his memoirs about what he called Tamashah and once he described it as follows: “In the morning… dressed in clothes, we came out and walked in the garden. I went to Shamsul Amara. We sat there for a while and watched the street. We came down… Dinner… We went… Shams-ul-Amara. We sat there for a while and watched the people coming and going, then got up and went inside.” Of course, this spectacle was not dry and empty, and Etimad al-Sultaneh wrote in his memoirs: “A group of elders of this country used large telescope cameras.[تلسکوپ] They have and see many mountains, seas, and deserts.

Naser al-Din liked it very much after the opening of Shams-ul-Amara, and this was his job for a long time, and according to history: “The king used to visit Shams-ul-Amara during the day, sometimes many times, received foreign ambassadors there, prayed, had lunch, from this room to That room went and looked at the four sides of the city from the four sides of the mansion.

I went to the door of Shams al-Amara…

With the construction of this beautiful skyscraper, Naseri Street gained another glory and became the most important street in Tehran and a place for people to visit and take photos. Etimadul-Sultaneh wrote: “Shams-ul-Amara street and street are the best streets in Tehran… Cast iron lamps[چُدنی] It is on the sides of the installation, which is lit all night and is a place for public sightseeing in the morning and evening. People from all walks of life are there until three o’clock at night. On the right side of the alley, there are dekakin and people’s houses, and on the left side is the wall of the citadel… [در قسمت] The lower part of this building is a pharmacy… The upper level is a laboratory and a public photography studio, where anyone who wants to take a photo can go there… Every day, a crowd of people come to this place to study medicines, spices and take pictures.

The fame of Shams-ul-Amara as a symbol of Tehran was so much that it has a folk poem for itself, that is, street and market poetry, which says: “I went to the door of Shams-ul-Amara, where the sweetheart has his home…

The owls that changed the kingdom

Until the end of the Qajar period and even during the first Pahlavi period, different parts of Shams-ul-Amara were used for government affairs and also for meetings of the cabinet. Of course, this famous building was not without problems; It had a big clock and the sound of its bell was so loud that: “it could be heard in most places of the city” and it was rumored that: “If a pregnant woman hears the bell of this clock, she may miscarry her child.” In general, there was a lot of pessimism about the Shams-ul-Amara clock, and some people considered it sinister and made up stories about it.

The story of the strange stories related to Shams-ul-Amara and its clock, from garlic to onion, has been told by the contemporary historian “Jaafar Shahri” in the book “Old Tehran”. His narration is very readable and attractive and it is like this: [سقف اتاقکی که ساعت در آن جاسازی شده است]The Shams-ul-Amara clock, which always had a flag flying above it, had wonders that Tehranis talked about.

One is that during the decline of Muhammad Ali Shah’s rule, one day crows attack the flag and tear it to pieces with their beaks. Two days later, Mohammad Ali Shah fled, the constitutionalists prevailed and the monarchy changed.

Second, a large double-sided clock was installed on top of Shams-ul-Amara, and it was said about the sound of this clock that it had a sound that people in four farsakhs heard. [۲۴ کیلومتری] They could hear his voice clearly and the patient would empty the mold after hearing that voice. Although this was nothing more than an exaggeration and made it too big, it was said that the frequent complaints of the residents forced the king to order the sound of the clock to be lowered, so that it could be softened with felt…

Third, the owls of Shams al-Amara, there were two male and female owls that had a nest in the chamber of this clock, and it was common that every time they appear, the reign changes. It was said that when Naseruddin Shah was killed, they had been out of the nest for three days, and on the third day, the king was shot and the throne passed to Muzaffaruddin Shah. What brought this rumor or the truth to the lips was the appearance of these two owls on the days of 16 to 19 September 1320. When the owls came out, people said that God will bless the outcome of the appearance of the owls, when the Allies attacked Iran, famine, killing and insecurity took place everywhere and what the pen cannot express.