Kashan city was the center of carpet weaving in Shah Abbas period and many carpet weaving workshops were established in this city based on his command. Silk, silver and golden carpets which are best-known as Shah Abbas carpets are attributed to this city. The history of Kashan carpets can be assessed in two periods: a golden period and a period after approximately two centuries of the closure.

The oldest carpets of Kashan are related to 11^th HJ, the century which is considered to be the golden age of Kashan industries. The delicate and elegant texture is the main feature of Kashan carpets in so far as their patterns seem to be embossed. The field of many carpets has crimson color (Zamin-e Laki) with dark blue borders.  Although Kashan carpet weavers produce today different sizes of carpets, the reputation of Kashan carpet is mainly for its Sajadeh carpets (prayer mat carpet). Kashan carpet weavers have adopted the Isfahan patterns among them the followings are more important: Toranj (medallion), Mihrab (alter), Goldani (vase), Derakhti (tree), Shekargah (hunting ground), Boteh Jegheh (paisley motif), sajadeh (prayer mat), panj par (star).

Knot in Kashan Carpet is asymmetric (Persian Knot) and the wool used is Marinos.  About 120 years ago there was a man named Mola Hasan who imported Merinos wool in Qajar period; he turned the remained wool into a carpet through his wife, after industrial stagnation. Afterward, using this kind of wool has become customary and that is why the handmade carpets of Kashan have a soft and velvet-like surface. Dyeing wool is one of handicrafts related to carpet weaving and it is carried out using herbal pigments; interesting in this respect are pomegranate shell, walnut shell and grape leaves.

Abbas Kashani has written about the colors of Kashan carpets in this way: “Kashan carpet is like the paradise of colors; its colors are like the sound of music”. In 2010, Carpet of Kashan has been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

One of the most important arts in Fars region with a universal reputation is carpet weaving which is famous as Fars Carpet. The texture in most of the old Fars carpets was woven of wool and all carpets produced in this province are the products of the nomad women in whole process.

The method of weaving is different among each tribe, all of them except for two-faced Gabbe, however, is woven using the horizontal looms because of its portability on the cattle. Like other regions, the carpet weaving tools are Dafin, scissors and knife, in which the knife is the substitute of hook in vertical loom weaving.

The main tribes of Fars are Ghashghaei, Khamseh, Boyer Ahmad and Mamsani Lors; Ghashghaei is the largest tribe in Fars and even in Iran with more than hundred years of history. All patterns of loom textiles in this region is mentally designed, transferred from a generation to another over centuries; the asymmetric (Persian) and symmetric (Turkish) knots alike are popular in this region which differs based on the given tribe and pattern. The most important motives in Fars carpets are as follows: Herbal motifs, flowers, stars, checked forms, Swastika, animal motifs, jagged leaves and fishes, bird motif, bush motif, cross motif with medallion. Ghashghaeis weave, also, a special product named Lion Gabbe in which they are tend to depict one, two or more lions in parallel lines; with respect to the historical, religious and traditional records of “lion motif” in this region, it can be stated that Ghashghaei tribe is the inventor of Lion Gabbe in Iran.

In spite of many differences in patterns and weaving methods as well as the dispersion of tribes, there still exist some common features among Fars carpets; interesting in this respect are the domination of geometric style, the absence of corners, the domination of dark colors over the bright colors and the soft and loose texture. In 2010, Fars Carpet has been inscribed on UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Musicians and singers of North Khorasan include three groups as Lovers, Bakhshies and Leveler (Luti); playing instruments like Kamancheh, Dotar, Sorna, Drum, Quseme and Ney, they compose songs compatible with each historical and cultural event. When the sheep get sick, they composed hymns like Lalezar and in case of enemy attack romantic songs as Allah Mazar are made. Meanwhile, Bakhshis are Dotar players who relate orally to people a corpus of morality, mysticism, poem and literature from a generation to another up to now.

Most of bakhshies today live in North Khorasan especially in Quchan, Bojnord, Shirvan and Esfarayen cities. It is stated that there exist 4 to 5 Bakhshies in each village. The presence of Kurds, Turks and Fars in North Khorasan has made difference between this music and that of southern and eastern parts of the province so that the Turk and Kurd characteristics in the northern form is more obvious.

In addition, the Kurdish music (Kormanj) tend to be more joyful and festive, Quchani music (Turkish), however, is mostly mystical. Bakhshies’ Dotar implies some profound concepts so that each wire is considered as the symbol of a narrative or meaning; interesting in this respect are the story of Adam and Eva’s, day and night’s, paradise and hell’s creation. Bakhshies are masters of many Maqams in such a way that they have defined certain Maqams compatible with each ceremony like wedding, Norouz and various parties.

 The main popular Maqams in North Khorasan are Navaei, Tajnis (resurrection), Grayli, Shakhtaei and Bolbol (Philomel) each containing many branches and portions.  In addition to playing instruments, Bakhshies are also skilled in composing poems and making their own musical instruments. Folk people define a person as bakhshi if they are proficient in playing, singing, storytelling and reading out poems; they also should be reached the higher levels of consciousness and mysticism thereby being Bakhshi reflects a kind of blessing and position gifted by God.

Among the most famous Bakhshies Khan Mohammad Gheytani, Ahmag Gholi Ahmadi, Mohammad Hossein Yeganeh, Haj Ghorban Soleymani, Alireza Soleymani, Ali Gholamrezaei Almejoghi, Olia Gholi Yeganeh are remarkable. In 2010, Music of the Bakhshies of Khorasan was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in UNESCO.

Zoorkhaneh or Humorous sport is an epic art indicating the Islamic, mythic and ancient Iranian beliefs. This traditional sport is done by 10 to 20 men and it is considered a kind of dramatic sport like Gymnastics. The place of performing this sport is traditionally called Zoorkhaneh (the house of power) which is an enclosed club similar to the shrines in ancient Iran, based on some beliefs.

The establishment of the first Zoorkhaneh has been attributed to Pouria Vali, the Iranian best-known athlete, in 722 HJ; it is, however, goes back to the ancient times. The entrance of Zoorkhaneh is intentionally built smaller and shorter than the other buildings’ doors, because an athlete has to bend for entering, as the symbol of his humility. The roof of the club has a high dome shape similar to other religious and historical buildings.

The field of playing movements placed in an octagonal hollow with about 70 cm depth where the followers and equipment situated around. Wearing the special athlete clothes, a group of men present in the hollow during the performance, and they play some epic movements individually or collectively. A person named Morshed directs the rhythm of performance through playing Zarb-the main musical instrument in this ritual- and singing the humorous, epic or religious poems. He is considered to be the symbol of Master and Sheikh in the Iranian mysticism who reminisces and readouts the moral and social teachings.

There exist different and special equipment in Zoorkhaneh; interesting in this respect are kabbāde- a bow-shaped iron instrument-, push-up-board, Mill- a large wooden sport weight used exclusively in Zoorkhaneh- and stone- two flat stones in form of a shield used as a sport weight in Zoorkhaneh competitions. with this regard, some believes on Zoorkhaneh Sport as the oldest form of bodybuilding in the world.

What is, however, remarkable is that those who come to Zoorkhaneh for learning these sport practices in the past had to learn the spirit of chivalry, generosity, charity and other heroic traits. Today, there exist 500 Zoorkhanehes in Iran 50 of them are active in Tehran city.

In 2010, Zoorkhaneh Sport was inscribed on List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in UNESCO.

Ta’ziye literally means mourning, however, what is evoked for Iranians by hearing the name of Ta’ziye is a special religious and ritual drama in which those who are familiar with the drama techniques perform some theatre for the sake of Moharram and the pains of the third Shia Imam, his family and friends in the region of Karbala and during their battle with Yazid. Since reading artistically the poems is more important than the method of performing the events, it has been named “Ta’ziye Khani” in comparison with “Rodha Khani”.

 It usually begins with performing Pish-khani (reading a kind of introduction) of the main part. The person who establish Ta’ziye is named “Bani” (builder), one who directs it called “Ta’ziye Gardn” (runner) and its acters are “Ta’ziye Khan” (reader) OR “Shabih Khan”. The origin of Ta’ziye is not clearly determined, however, some believe that the roots of this ritual dates back to pre-Islamic Period in Iran and especially to the 3000-year-old ritual of Soog-e Siavash, the Iranian hero, which is considered to be the basis of Ta’ziye.

The formal form of 3000-year-old ritual in Iran, however, is attributed to the Shia Dynasty of Buyids; in 352 AH, Moez al-Dole ordered people to shut down the Bazaar, wear black cloths and read Rodha. Therefore, the foundation of Shabih Khani performance was established in that period. After that, under the rule of Shia Safavid government Ta’ziye was highly flourished. However, it is stated that the golden age of Ta’ziye in Iran is Qajar period during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah.

The establishment of Tekyeh Dowlat during his rule was supported as an imitation of Opera Hall Theatre in England. Ta’ziye Khani and Rodha Khani were forbidden by the government of Pahlavi I and they ruined Tekyeh Dowlat. Today Iranians perform Ta’ziye Khani every year in all cities from north to south such as Natanz, Shahrood, Isfahan, Markazi, Qom, Tehran, Kerman, Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr etc. in addition, Ta’ziye is considered to be a kind of ritual drama attracted the great theater historians and theorists’ attentions around the world. Ta’ziye was inscribed on UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

Recitation or Parda Khwani is one of the ancient rituals in Iran, with different changes over time. The origin of recitation goes back, in terms of etymology-meaning “story-telling”-, to Parthian period and the Gosans who were well-known for relating the epic stories. Although there existed other similar traditions in form of storytelling accompanied by music, during Sassanid period, with paying especial attention to folklore, national and epic narratives, we mean by recitation, nowadays, a prospered ritual in Islamic era which cannot be assessed separated from its religious attributions.

In addition to narrating the epic stories of Shahnameh (Book of King), moral tales of Masnavi (the mystical masterpiece of Molana-Jalal al-Din Mohammad Rumi) and even the popular Iranian romantic stories  (including Leili & Majnun, Khosrow & shirin), recitation in Islamic period is mostly concerned with the religious stories and narratives,  stressing the importance of Karbala and the Day of Ashura.  Therefore, there is a tightly-coupled relationship between recitation and literary genres like Maghtal Nevisi (Martyrographie: the stories of martyrdom of Ali and his family).

Because this genre made a contribution to some famous rituals concerning Ashura; one of the most important of them is Rawda Khwani (reading the Rawda- commemoration of Shia’ religious tragedies), which is a kind of religious recitation.  The identified basis of Rawda Khwani is the famous Hossein Waiz Kashifi’s Maghtal (the martyrdom book) namely Rawdat al-shuhada which was written in 908 HJ, when the Safavis period had been begun in Iran; this literary work created the foundation of all Shia’ Rawdas and consequently the rituals of Tazieh and Shabih khwani (presenting or staging a resemblance) in Iran.

In addition to the musical aspect, rhetorical and high verbal skills of the narrator, their powerful memory and enough mastery of the ancient epic, moral and religious narratives, the glorious ritual of recitation is always accompanied by a visual element, too, so that different kinds of painting play a pivotal role in recitation in all areas of Iran. The historians have traced the primary samples of these paintings in early Islamic era when the religious Parda was appeared. Buyyids, the Iranian Shia believers, have gone the first way towards creating Parda for religious, specifically Ashura, paintings while promoting them.

Parda was being used, subsequently, in Safavid era, during the Shah Ismail attack to Uzbekan, in Herat, in order to excite the Iranian Shia army. The current travelogues also report a person called Ghazieh Khwan in the court of Shah Safi who was performing the ancient and contemporary kings’ acts using dramatic and exciting movements.

Among different kinds of folklore, narrative and religious paintings, Coffee-House painting has a tightly-coupled relationship with recitation; some believes that the evolution process of Rawda Khwani ritual, from its Safavid static into the Qajar dynamic form, in Husseinieh, can be considered as the root of these portable paintings which have been called Shamayel (means Icon) OR Parda, both as the products of Tazieh; therefore, the recitation ritual when comes with paintings is also called Shamayel-Gardani OR Parda-Dari.

Building Lenj and boat is one of the oldest local industries in south of Iran dating back to Afsharid period. However, the history of Iranian sailing can be considered to be even longer after discovering Sasanid antiquities in today’s Mongolia and also Parthian and Sasanid ports.

The habitants of the north beach of the Persian Gulf use their own hand-built Lenjes for sea journeys, trading, pearl diving and fishing. They experienced the business trips to Mumbai, Basra and the eastern cities of Africa and Tanzania using wind Lenjes, in the past.

This industry has a long cultural history; the poems sung by women returning from the sea or the boatmen songs at work can be considered the intangible heritage of this industry. Like many other professions in the past, the knowledge of building Lenjes has been passed on from father to son, over time. Lenjes are mentally built without any plan.

Lenj-builders had learned the primary plan of Lenjes from their fathers and they also learned it from their ancestors; therefore, the whole process of Lenj-building has been empirically transferred. The traditional Lenjes were built of jungle woods resistant to moisture, the trunks of local trees such as Gum Arabic tree, Mesquite, Jujube and nonlocal trees as Berry and Plane as well as an Indian high-quality wood namely “sāy” which was used for the body of vessels.

Formerly, the main centers of Lenj- Building were Kong, Lengeh ports and the historical port of Laft (in Qeshm Island). Today, most of Lenjes are built in Qeshm, Kulghan, Dargahan, Ramchah, Suza, Laft, Dulab and Guran cities. Masters of this profession coat the seams of Lenjes using bitumen, after the end of building process; therefore, they will be resistant to water penetration. Traditional Skills of Building and Sailing Iranian Lenj Boats in the Persian Gulf were inscribed as the eighth Iranian Intangible Heritage in 2011.

There are some nearby villages in the west of Kashan City which is called Aredhal altogether. The center of these villages is Mashhad-e Ardehal that is also known as Mashhad-e Qali (means carpet) by the locals. Being the martyrdom place of one of the Shia’ Imamzadehs is why this place is called Mashhad which literary means the place of Shahadat (martyrdom).
The ceremony of Qalishuyan is one of the ritual ceremonies dating back to approximately one thousand years ago in Mashhad-e Ardehal village. This ritual has been inscribed on the UNESCO Cultural and Spiritual Heritage List. Being also known as “Jomeh Qali” (literary means a Friday which is devoted to carpet), Qalishuyan ritual is in fact a symbolic show of the martyrdom happening, funeral and burying Imamzadeh Soltan Ali which is held every year by Kashan and Khave Ardehal inhabitants.  At the beginning of 2nd century A.H. Imam Mohammad Baqer, the fifth Imam of Shia’, sent his son, Ali, by public request, to Kashan and Fin, in order to promote Islam and guide people. But he was martyred by the contemporary rule of the region. The region of Aznaveh village which become then famous as Ghatlegah (literary means shamble, the place of killing) is one of the holly and spiritual places located in 4km to the holly shrine of him. After this happening, some of Fin people who were the inviters and enthusiastic of him carried his body in a carpet on their shoulders while fighting with infidels. And some others dispersed the enemies to open the way for the population who wanted to wash the bloody carpet in a stream and bath the body before burying. The ceremony is in fact the symbol of washing the blood of Ali ibn Mohammad Baqer.
Qalishuyan ritual is the only religious ceremony that is held by the headquarters based upon the solar calendar in Iran, in the 2nd Friday of the autumn, often between the second and the third weeks (the closest week to Mehr 17), between ninth and fifteenth days of Mehr. One week before holding the ceremony, in the first Friday of Mehr, which is known as Jaar Friday (Jaar means public call for an event), Kashan people are invited to the ceremony. The inhabitants of Kashan, Khaveh village and other surrounding villages and cities, especially along the desert, are all gathered in this ceremony, they consider their presence in and watching Qalishuyan ritual to be one of the most important religious orders so that in their beliefs the reward of the pilgrimage to Soltan Ali Holly Shrine is equal to making a pilgrimage to Karbala and the presence in Imam Hossain Holly Shrine. Wearing a black cloth with a piece of wood in their hands, the participants are prepared for the ceremony in the Sahn of Amer ibn-Naser, one yard inside Soltan Ali holly shrine, and they are finally gathered in Safa Yard, in a certain manner, after going to and returning from Imamzadeh Hossain, one of Imam Zein ol-Abedin’s sons, located near to the holy shrine. At first, the trustees of Imamzadeh and Khaveh village hold the rituals of reading Rhode and mourning, they receive the rolled holly carpet from Khaveh inhabitants while taking it through Safa porch to the Safa Yard. They take the carpet to the monument of Imamzadeh Hossain to wash it in a certain stream while shaking the wood and chanting the name “Hossain” that indicates a symbolic fight with killers. The carpet is again delivered to the trustees in Safa yard, after washing ceremony. The ceremony is finally finished in Finiha yard after turning several times around the yard while mourning. Interesting among the other events around Qalishuyan ritual is the establishment of a bazaar for one week to ten days in the neighborhood of Soltan Ali monument buying from which may bring blessing according to the beliefs of people. It also should be said that the tradition of washing carpet gives the ritual an Iranian-nationalistic aspect to the extent that some believe that holding this ceremony in Mehregan is tightly related to the story of Siavash and the worshiping ritual of Tishtar (the God of Rain) and requesting the rain. It is also possible this place to be one of the ancient temples of Tishtar before burying of Soltan Ali and it was turned into the current Islamic form after the appearance of Islam and the accordance of the happenings around Imamzadeh Ali.

Kamancha is one of the Iranian traditional and original musical instruments with a long history. The name of Kamancha has been appeared in some poems and texts from early Islamic periods. The first historic evidence of Kamancha is related to Farabi’s Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir in 4th century AH.  He called Kamancha is his book by its Arabic name “Rebab”; therefore, some believe that Kamancha has been made by the evolution of Rebab.

Some poets as Masud Sa’d in 8th century AH have referred to the name of this instrument and also we can observe the depiction of Kamancha player in Chehel Sotoun Hall of Isfahan (Safavid period). Kamancha was one of the most authentic musical instruments in Iran during this period. It is placed in the group of bowed string musical instruments constituting of three parts of bowl, handle and base made of metal, bone and skin.

The bowl in the instrument is the producer of sound used as a sound box. It had firstly three strings and the forth one was added in Qajar period in an imitation of Violin. In the past, the bowl was being made of maple and walnut wood and decorated using inlay and shell, however, today it is mostly made of berry wood. The bowl is covered by skin on which the bridge and strings are set.

The Kamancha bow is made of a narrow wood with parallel threads of horsehair stretched between two ends. Kamancha is played in sitting down mode held by the left hand vertically and the player moves the bow on the strings horizontally.

Violin entered Iran in the period of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah and it became mostly the substitute of Kamancha by many players. Therefore, Kamancha was shelfed for a long time up to 1332 SH when Ali Asghar Bahari put lots of efforts into teaching Kamancha; when the national radio broadcasted his solo Kamancha for the first time many people became increasingly interested in learning Kamancha and it was flourished again.

Nowadays, we cannot fine a traditional musical group without the sound of Kamancha. Among the most prominent Kamancha players in Iran Ali Asghar Bahari, Kehan Kalhor, Rahmatollah Badiei, Mojtaba Mirzaheh and Ardeshir Kamkar must be referred. In 2017 Art of crafting and playing with Kamantcheh was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Polo, Iranian Royal Game

Today introduced by Olympic international committee as one of the universal sports. Polo has been popular among the kings and Iranian grandee in the past and its name as an aristocratic sport is derived from that.  This game dates back to 600 years BC and its genesis is related to Achaemenid era. In fact, Polo firstly just had a recreational function in order to show the Iranian military horses talent. Based on the historical evidence, Shah Abbas I was playing Polo in Qazvin and Isfahan (Naqsh-e Jahan square). Unfortunately, Polo gradually was forgotten after the Safavid era, however, it was considered again through contact with Europeans in Pahlavi era, but its former significance never returned again. Nowadays, some effort has been done to promote the Polo and it is hoped that Polo will be inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list as an Iranian sport up to 2017. The name of Polo is taken from a piece of wood which is used in this game and the players’ proficiency in hitting the ball with Polo, horse riding, coordination and balancing in the game in highly important.

Polo Standards

Polo is played in two different fields; a rectangular turf field and a manage field with appropriate dimensions according to the country where the Polo is running. Turf fields dimensions are 160×300 yards (146×270 meters). Goals are posts which are set eight yards (seven meters and thirty cm) apart, centered at each end of the field. The horsemen hit to the wooden or plastic ball with 3/25 inches diameter (8 cm) and the weight of 4/5 Ounce (140 Grams) with a Bamboo in different size from 120 to 140 cm which is appropriate based on the horse and the horseman height and if the ball passes among the goal columns in each height, it will have a score. Polo can play in 4 or 6 sets (Chukka) for 7 min and 30 seconds with 4 min break between Chukkas and 10 min halftime between second and third Chukkas. When a player galloping to the other part of field, where the ball is throwing there, the other players cannot prevent to cross that player unless they have a rational distance and there is no risk there to him. Bandage the hands and feet the horses for caring them is obligatory in Polo. Beating the Chogan to the feet of the horse, hitting the ball from opposite directions (left side), hitting the ball among the hands and feet of the horse and opponent are the errors in this game. The errors penalties are different based on the game rules and they will do by free knock in on the goal from different distances.

An Exciting Game

In the beginning of Polo match, each four-man team dressed in certain cloths  and prepared with necessary facilities such as equestrian helmet, gloves, Polo’s whip, riding boots without laces and knee pads stand behind the midfield line. The first player’s (striker) task is to attack and also help to defend. The second player’s (striker) duty is more important in defend, the third player (usually the best player in the team) has the duty to convert the defensive movements to counterattack and the fourth player’s (defensive) task is taking away the ball from the goal. After situating the players in the field, the referee throws the ball among them from 4/6 meters distance and the game will start with catch the ball by one of the teams. Each player of teams  may change his location in the field with the other player based on the game conditions and then back to his location and ,lead the ball to the opposite team goal by Chogan hit and prevent the ball from entering to their goal according to the special rules by coordination within the group. The field should change after each goal and the winner team is which one who has the more scores at the end of the game. An extra time will give to the game if the scores of teams are equal and the team who achieved more scores will be the winner. Two horseman referees, a seated referee, a time keeper, a goals recorder and one linesman judge the game. Polo matches are just stopped at the end of each Chukka for rest and change the horses in normal conditions .The maximum use of one horse is in 2 Chukkas during a game by horsemen. Polo horses should have special characteristics such as speed, strength and agility. Iranian horse, Kurdish horse and foreign horse and thoroughbred horse are the appropriate horses for this game.

Dotār is the oldest stringed musical instrument not only in Iran, but also in all the Middle East and Central Asia. The depiction of this musical instrument is existing in some of the ancient rock reliefs. In a book composed in Pahlavi language Dotār is called Tanbur or Tambur.

Some of the musical instruments, songs and music have been mentioned in the narratives of the fictional history of Iran (e.g. Pishdadian and Kayanian dynasties) and in the historical texts (related to Medes, Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid). We read in Shahname, in the entry of Kay Kāvus Kingship and His Going to Mazandaran: “he sat happily along the fountain, found a golden cup and filled it of wine/ he also found a Tanbur next to the wine/ and made the desert a festivity by playing”. Moreover, in the existing Pahlavi texts and stories of ancient times we can see the name of some of the current musical instruments; for example, in Pahlavi story of Ridag and Khosrow: “The king asked which musicianship is better and more pleasant? Ridag answered that these are all fine and delightful: Chang, Tanbur, Barbat and Nāy”. As obvious by the ancient manuscripts of the Persian history and literature the age of this musical instrument can be estimated to more than six thousands of years.

There are two kinds of Dotār in the written documents of the past so that we know one of them as Khorasani Dotār and another as Baghdadi Dotār, according to most of the existing literature. The great Iranian philosopher and scientist, Al-Farabi, established his musical research based upon Dotār-e Khorasani opening an independent entry for scientific description of the instrument in his highlighted and famous work Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir (The Great Book of Music).

As obvious by its name, Dotār has two strings which are played by the finger or plectrum. Today the crafting and playing Dotār is popular in the regions of the east and north of Khorasan, Torkaman regions, Katul in Golestan province and the east of Mazandaran. In fact, Dotār can be considered as the musical instrument of the northeast regions of Iran. Dotār is usually crafted using the wood of mulberry, Armenian plum, jujube and walnut trees and its strings were made of silk instead of wire in the past.

The greatest Dotār player of Iran, Haji Qorban Soleimani describes the tenor string of his Dotār to be female (Hava) and the bass one as male (Âdam). Highly important among the skillful Dotār players of the east of Iran are also Mohammad Soleimani, Abdollah Sarvar Ahamdi, Gholamali Pourataei and Osman Mohammadparast.

In Azar 1398 (December 2019) the skill of crafting and playing Iranian Dotār has inscribed on the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Miniature or Persian miniature is an art that brings the ability of depicting the whole nature in a small frame and basically refers to any delicate artistic phenomenon, regardless the way it has been created. The word miniature in Persian literally means a small and delicate nature, though the word itself has entered the Persian language in the middle of the recent century and almost since the Qajar period, it is an art which has for long existed and is of an ancient history in Iran.

The historical development of Persian miniature is attributed to the distant past before the advent of Islam. Indeed, Persian miniature, which has once been inspired by Chinese painting methods assimilated with unique perspective of Iranian art, has made a path for emergence of divine effects in Iranian painting before the advent of Islam; and, afterwards, has finally merged with theosophy and Islamic thoughts.

The tiles, some of which still exists, suggest that years before Mongol invasion of Iran, the same painting and drawing styles and methods, which were then adopted as styles of book paintings, were used in Iran. On the contrary, there is another popular belief which suggests the origin of this art is Iran, it is believed by many researchers that this art has originated in Iran, and afterwards has spread to China; and, in the Mongol period it has returned to Iran in a rather developed form.

Hence, in the first centuries after emergence of Islam, Iranian artists made an extraordinary effort to complete and develop this art, establishing special painting schools such as schools of Shiraz, Harat, Tabriz, Qazvin, and Isfahan, and combining it with Arabic script or handwriting. Gilding edges and frontispiece of Qur’an, arabesques and Khitan patterns are all the precious works of miniature which originated as a combination of miniature and Arabic handwriting, in the third century AH, i.e. when Iranians succeeded to enter the Abbasid court. Unfortunately, a considerable portion of these works was destroyed during the Mongol invasions in the seventh and eighth centuries. Moreover, during Ilkhanid period when the country has returned to a relatively calm situation, other prominent works of art emerged including Shahnama of Ferdowsi and Demotte Shahnama.

After this period, due to the constant intellect and freedom of act with which craftsmen were provided after Bagdad school, Iranian miniature works in Herat school developed to some extent and finally the art of Persian painting and miniature, after Herat period, was transferred to the Safavid era. In this period, after selection of Tabriz as the capital, Kamaleddin Behzad was invited to Tabriz and was appointed as the head of the royal library and, in collaboration with great craftsmen, endeavored to develop and evolve it. Therefore, in an overall classification, style and school of painting in Safavid era can be considered two distinguished sections:

    Tabriz School whose style remained as before until Qazvin became the capital. Regarding this school, it can be noted that miniatures in this era were all of a similar type, and in terms of elegance, pen strokes, color and design, it followed the Herat school, and differs only slightly.

    Isfahan School which was established when Isfahan became the capital city, and during this period style and methods of work changed dramatically and as obvious and typical examples we can refer to decorative motifs of mosques in Isfahan, as well as Chehelsotoon and Ali Qāpu palaces.

You can visit handicraft shops and workshops and buy the best souvenirs for yourself while traveling with Rosha and accompanied by tourist guides.