Taahirah Safarzadeh, Simin Daneshvar, Mastoreh Kurdestani, and Taj al-Sultana; are all female poets and writers who took up writing and literature in the Qajar, Pahlavi, and Islamic Republic Era. They translated the Quran into English and produced ever-lasting stories.

In the official Iranian calendar, the 14th of July has been named “Pen Day”, and it is an opportunity to remember the dignity and respect of the ones who write and are in the world of literature, plus play an important role in the cultural development and growth of the society.

All those who choose the path of writing are certainly concerned about culture because they know that this path is not the path of wealth accumulation, but will be the path of acquiring knowledge, wisdom, and knowledge. These people play an important role in the cultural, growth of a society.

Looking at the ancient history and literature of Iran, we find that the number of famous and influential women in our contemporary history in various fields, including poetry, fiction, translation, literature, and other sectors is much more than we think.

First girls-only school in Iran

If we look at the history of the Qajar era, we see that the number of female speakers and writers in this era is absolutely limited, and that is because women entered education much later than men. Mrs.Estrabadi is one of the female speakers and writers of the Qajar era and also the founder of “Maiden’s School”, the first girls’ school in Tehran. This great lady has a book titled “Maayib al-Rajal(Male’s Disadvantages)” which she writes in response to the book “Taadib Al-Naswan”. The book ” Maayib al-Rajal(Male’s Disadvantages)”, which was written after the Taj Al-Sultana Diary, is one of the great sources of research on women’s issues in the Qajar era.

Why is the book of Lady Taj Al-Sultana so valuable and important?

Taj al-Sultana, the daughter of Naser-u-din Shah and Queen Toran al-Sultana ( A kin, memoirs are among the most useful and important biographies of the Qajar era. She writes these memoirs at the request of her teacher and cousin. From the literary point of view, this book has many prose characteristics in terms of illustration, description, and also the characteristics of its characters. Furthermore, it is valuable because of the information it provides about the last 5 years of Naser al-Din Shah, Naseri, and Mozafari court.

What was Taj Al-Sultana’s opinion about his brother Muzaffar-U-din Shah?

Taj al-Sultana refers to important events such as the murder of Naser al-Din Shah, the reign of Muzaffar, the role of Seyyed Jamal al-Din Asadabadi and Amin al-Sultan, constitutionalism, women’s rights, and her personal life, and it shows that the scope of her information was wide at that time. Since she considered Muzaffar al-Din Shah to be capricious, opportunistic, and luxury-seeking, in her memoirs, she speaks and expresses regret about the moral corruption of Muzaffar al-Din Shah, her courtiers, and the role of political men of that time. She also complains about her brother’s trips to other countries, which resulted in nothing but a large amount of debt for Iranians, and, in a way, criticizes the history of her family.

Is there any information about the status of women in this book?

Because of her love for her father, Taj al-Sultana criticizes the status of her successor, the nobles and agents of the Mozafari era, and writes in his book: “The prime minister and the ministry during the time of my dear brother Aziz was similar to tazia.”

In addition to these reports, as a court woman, she gives information about court women and the social situation of women, also talks about women’s superstition, ignorance, and illiteracy, emphasizes the education of women and their role in society, and writes: “Women should be trained to solve their problems.”

Who is the Kurd mystic?

Another woman of the Qajar era who can be considered a female writer is “Mah-Sharaf Khanum” nicknamed “Kurdistan Magician”, a historian and poet of the Kurdish language who was born in Sanandaj in 1840. She learns from her father and grandfather.

Throughout her life, this woman never stops researching and carefully studying the works of great poets like Saadi and Hafez, and she sees life in reverence and eagerness to see God. She had more than 20,000 verses of poetry, unfortunately, a huge part of it has been lost and what remains has been published.

What is the reason for Mastorah’s fame?

Mastorah’s fame is not only for her poems, but also for being a poet and a great historian, and the book “Tarikh al-Akrar” is one of her works that describes the history of Kurdistan. The prose of this book is very simple and fluent and covers the historical events of Kurdistan until 1251. She revised his book again and wrote the events until 1884. She adds Mastoreh until 1888 and finally the book “Tarikh al-Akrar” was published in .

Also, in addition to the history of Ardalan, there is a treatise on beliefs and sharia that was published by Abdullah Mardukh. In addition to these scientific and moral virtues, she was also proficient in the art of calligraphy especially in Persian and Arabic calligraphy. She was one of the leaders in the art of calligraphy, and according to Mirza Abdullah Raunq, the author of the book Hadiqa Amanollahi, She was a great professor. 

Were there any noblewomen in the Pahlavi era?

Yes, Simin Daneshvar was born in 1300 in Shiraz in a family of literature and art and later married Jalal Al Ahmad. Daneshvar is the first Iranian woman to write stories seriously and published her short stories in Kihan newspaper and Banu and Omid magazines, and 1948 she published her stories in a collection called “Atash Kashmus”.

In the 1930s, Daneshvar traveled to America for an opportunity to study and study, and there he learned the methods of storytelling, atmosphere creation, structure, and technique from the professors.

Her most famous work is the novel “Sushon”, which was recognized over time as valuable in three ways.

First of all, because of the superiority of this novel among women writers in Iran. Then secondly, because of the theme of the work and its message of anti-tyranny and anti-colonialism, and the social and political commitment of the work. Finally, because of the prominence of the novel in terms of aesthetics and literary techniques and techniques used in it.

Source: Fars News Agency