Candles

I don't know why, but I found the section in Jane Austen's England about candles strangely fascinating.  Around the turn of the 19th century, there was no electricity, and gas lighting was still a fancy new technology. Aside from the home's hearth, the primary source of light at night came from candles. Depending on your status in life, there were plenty of candle options, too.

The most expensive and highest-quality candles were made of beeswax. The flax or cotton wicks were either wrapped with sheets of beeswax or melted into a solid candle. Because they worked well in chandeliers and produced very little smoke, these candles were favoured in public buildings like theatres and churches.

Whale oil candles filled a similar niche as beeswax candles. They could be made in moulds and also burned cleanly.

Unfortunately, these pleasant candles were expensive, so the everyday folks had to turn to tallow candles. The wick of these candles would be repeatedly dipped in hot animal fat, then cooled to solidify. These candles would give off a flickering light and a bad smell. They also needed thicker wicks that would produce smoke. This wick would need to be regularly trimmed with scissors called "snuffers" while burning to avoid the charred wick getting too long. Mutton tallow was the choice animal fat, but beef and pork fat were also used.

All of those candles were taxed, however. The poor would need to make their own rushlights. Rushes would be picked, peeled, dried, and drawn through used cooking grease. Rushlights didn't last very long, but were cheap and gave a reasonably clean source of light.

Oil lamps were popular in coastal areas with access to cheap whale oil. Essentially, lamps were shallow containers filled with oil and held a suspended wick. Cheaper lamps produced more smoke and stink than candles, but some of the later lamps with glass chimneys did a better job of preventing that.

Sources:
"Jane Austen's England" - Roy and Lesley Adkins

The Safavids – Pre-Iran Iran

For those that don't realize, Persia and Iran are interchangeable words for the same place and have been for centuries. It's a interesting thing to think about. The Iran of today is a descendant of many great civilizations and empires, predating even Islam.

This post is about a specific period in Iranian history: the Safavid dynasty. This was a dynasty that grew out of the destruction wrought by the Mongols across Asia and Arabia, and essentially made Iran the Shi'a heartland it still is today.

It has its beginnings as a community that collected around a Sufi Sheikh named Safi al-Din. From the outset, Safi al-Din's Sufi order was similar to others. It was a spiritual community of like-minded individuals that followed the charismatic leader's teachings. The group did not have any particular political aspirations. However, as time went on, a pattern of hereditary leadership developed. After Safi al-Din's passing, his son inherited, followed by the son's son, then the son's son's son, &c.

As time continued, this Safavid order began to militarize and more resemble an insular cult. As the group began to interact more with anti-government groups, the local princes decided to put a stop to things. In 1488, the current head of the Safavid order was killed, along with his eldest son.

However, the younger son, Ismail, survived and was whisked away into a life of hiding for roughly a decade. At the age of twelve, he left his life of hiding, mobilized his Safavid military force, and overtook the prince that had his father and brother assassinated. Three years later, he was strong enough to declare himself Shahanshah, "the king of kings". This was an ancient Persian title that was intentionally chosen to distinguish himself from the Arab caliphs and sultans to the west.

Another major shift was Ismail's declaration of the state religion as Twelver Shi'ism (a Shi'a branch that would take a while to explain, so maybe I'll save it for another post). He declared that he had direct communication with the Shi'a's Hidden Imam (seriously, it's a long story), and directed missionaries to spread the word across the Ottoman Empire to the west. He even began persecuting the Sunnis living within his domain for not following the correct path.

Needless to say, the Ottoman sultan of the time was less than pleased with this attempted power grab and began executing Shi'i living within his own borders. This led to a polarization of Islamic sects, with Sunnis fleeing west to Ottoman lands and Shi'is fleeing east toward Safavid lands. Ismail pushed to blend Shi'ism with Persian culture and intertwine the two.

Tempers finally broke years later when the Ottoman army marched on Iran. The two armies met at a place called Chaldiran. With the use of their powerful firearms, the Ottomans defeated the Safavid army and ostensibly won the battle. However, they could not hold the city they conquered during the onset of winter and fell back. The Safavids retook the city, destroyed the land between the two empires, and ensured that neither army could cross over. The old dividing line, to this day, marks the border between the two modern successor states: Turkey and Iran.

The Iranian border solidified, and Ismail's remaining reign was relatively peaceful. Succeeding leaders oversaw a glorious growth in arts, architecture, industry, and technology.

For better or worse, time marched on, and the usual pattern of dynastic succession began to set in. After several great rulers, the Safavid dynasty began to devolve, preferring the decadent lifestyle over actual governance. Meanwhile, the Shi'a scholars began to draw power away from the monarchy. They gradually felt that the ruler did not really speak for the Hidden Imam; these ayatollahs actually spoke with that authority. Unfortunately for the ruling class, the merchants and the peasants believed them.

Now, monarchies don't like it when others question their authority. The Safavid rulers imported European military consultants to ensure that its armies were strong enough to keep the rabble in check.

This did little to slow the Safavid collapse during the late 18th century. Succession struggles allowed factions and provinces to break away, while Sunni neighbours were able to break in. Eventually, the Safavid dynasty completely dissolved. A new dynasty, the Qajars, filled the vacuum, but they were little more than puppets of the European powers. The Shi'a scholars continued to hold their religious authority, and felt nothing but disgust for this state of foreign control.

Sources:
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansary

Sufism - The Mystical Side of Islam

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Sufism is the more mystical branch of Islam. It grew out of many Muslims' desires to have a more personal experience with God. They would look at the religious laws coming into existence and felt there must be more to Islamic spirituality than blindly obeying. To accomplish this, believers would collapse into themselves and not only fulfill God's laws, but also completely dedicate themselves.

These early Sufis would find all sorts of ways to express their love of God. Some would pray constantly. Some, known as dervishes, would voluntarily relinquish all of their wealth. Some would wear clothing made of rough-spun wool, also known as suf in Arabic. Making the etymological connection will be left as an exercise for the reader.

Generally, Sufis were pretty laid back, so to speak. They weren't trying to form a new religion, sect, branch, or fork. They just really loved God and wanted to do everything they could to get closer to Him.

Some Sufis, apparently, were better at getting close to God than others. These charismatic leaders would occasionally attract groups of followers, form little communities of their own, and earn the honorific "Sheikh", or "elder". These groups would start to form their own traditions, beliefs, and understandings, but would generally move on when they lose their leader. In rare cases, however, a Sufi group can grow into a powerful dynasty. Actually, I think I'll save that last bit for another post.

Believe it or not, one of the earliest Sufi stars was a woman. Rabia al-Basri was born in Basra during the early 700's. As a child, her parents died and she was sold to a rich household as a slave. One night, her master heard her praying and was so awestruck by her passion that he agreed to free her and arrange a marriage for her. However, she declined and declared that she was already in love. She was in love with God. From then on, she became an ascetic and a mystical poet. Many Muslims gravitated toward her message of love for God and hoped some of her spirituality would transfer to them.

Needless to say, traditional Muslim scholars did not appreciate these shenanigans. They began to drop the hammer when some Sufi Sheikhs began declaring themselves God. Executions and torture were put into effect, but did little to stop the growing popularity of Sufi mysticism.

Mind, not all Sufi Sheikhs were overtly heretical. Most were relatively tame. For example, a Baghdad Sufi named al-Junayd would go to work every day, but would then return home and devote himself to God. He would perform four-hundred units of Muslim prayer, read the Qu'ran constantly, and generally try to win the struggle with his own desires.

Sufism remained a big deal for centuries. The people's interest in establishing a more personal connection with God never really abated. Overtime, Sufism's more relaxed, pick-and-choose spirituality helped spread Islam to further nomadic people.

Sources:
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansary