Transportation & Technology in Iran, 1800-1940: : Chapar, Carts, Carriages, Automobiles, Bicycles, Motor Cycles, Lodgings, Sewing Machines, Typewriters & Pianos

Willem Floor

• Publisher: Mage Publishers Inc.
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781949445619
• eBook ISBN: 9781949445695
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

Only 100 years ago the main means of transportation in Iran was by quadruped. Transportation & Technology in Iran, 1800-1940, by renowned Iranian studies scholar Willem Floor is an in-depth, illustrated, four-part study of the subject. Until the 1920s Iran had no more than 700 kilometers of roads suitable for motor vehicles, which situation greatly impeded Iran's economic development. Caravans traveled 40 km/day, though travelers in a hurry could cover 150 km/day when using the courier system ( chapar ), which is the subject of part 1. Wheeled transportation, (in part 2 of the books) was rare and limited to only a few parts of country due to the lack of roads. This situation underwent change when carriages became popular in urban areas and on the few modern roads after 1890. Motorized transportation grew in importance after 1921 and really took off in the 1930s, with the construction of a new road network. As a result, newer, more powerful trucks reduced the cost of transportation significantly, thus lowering the cost of retail goods. The increase of motorized transport also meant that car dealers, import rules, mechanics, garages, supply of spare parts, and gasoline distribution as well as traffic regulations had to be created ex nihilo; All these processes are detailed in the book. Like cars, bicycles and motorcycles also were increasingly used as of the 1920s, thus increasing choice in people's mobility. More road traffic also implied that travelers needed places to spend the night and eat. The change from caravanserais to guest-houses and hotels is discussed in part 3. These changes in transportation methods did not come alone, for other modern tools of change such as the sewing machine and the typewriter also made their appearance and had a major impact on people's availability and use of time. Finally, the piano made its entry onto the Iranian musical scene, and although not perfectly in tune with the traditional Iranian musical system, it is now as much part of music making in Iran as the tar and santur (part 4 of the book). All these changes and new technologies did not happen overnight or without problems, and slow adoption initially was limited to the upper-class. However, with falling prices and changing needs and policies these new technologies eventually reached a larger public and the idea that they once were 'exotic' and 'out of reach' is now inconceivable to Iranians. The studies in this book provide a new vantage point and understanding of the transfer of modern technology for scholars of the social-economic and cultural history of the Middle East.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Traditional Modes of Transportation
• THE CHAPAR-KHANEH SYSTEM
• The Kajaveh and Takht-e Ravan
• The Use of Carts
• Modern Modes of Transportation wheeled vehicles
• Carriages
• AUTOMOBILES
• Obstacles to the Use of Cars
• Import Arrangements
• Traffic Rules and Administrative Regulations
• PERSIA
• AUTOMOTIVE PARTS, ACCESSORIES, AND SERVICE EQUIPMENT
• Bicycles
• Motorcycles
• Modern Ways of Lodging Travelers
• Hotels in Iran, 1870-1940
• Tools of Change
• the Sewing Machine and the Typewriter Conquer Iran
• The Sewing Machine
• Typewriters
• A Short History of the Piano in Iran
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• index
• Fig. 1: Kurdish postillion
• Fig. 2: Belit (ticket) for the hire of a gari (lorry).
• Fig. 3: Chaparing
• Fig. 4: An official travel permit or tazkereh.
• Fig. 5: Chaparchi
• Fig. 6: Chapar-khaneh at Tisi-Hutch (exterior).
• Fig. 7: Chapar-khaneh at Haouz-e Sultan.
• Fig. 8: Chapar-khaneh at Kuhrud.
• Fig. 9: Chapar-khaneh at Tisi-Hutch (interior).
• Fig. 10: Chapar-khaneh at Kushku Baira.
• Fig. 11: ‘Limited mail express’
• Fig. 12: Mail stage
• Fig. 13: Opposite and above: Post driver and carrying the mail in Khorasan.
• Fig. 14: Relais on the road to Qazvin.
• Fig. 15: Above and opposite: Travel permits or tazkerehs.
• Fig. 16: Chapar-khaneh at Robat Karim.
• Fig. 17: Persian post-carriage
• Fig. 18: Chapar-khaneh at Kudum.
• Fig. 19: Postwagon in a bad position.
• Fig. 20: Unidentified chapar-khaneh (Qom area).
• Fig. 21: Kajaveh
• Fig. 22: Takht-e ravan, a Persian ink-sketch.
• Fig. 23: Takht-e ravan
• Fig. 24: A two-wheeled cart, arabeh
• Fig. 25: A two-wheeled cart, arabeh
• Fig. 26: Repairing a wagon wheel.
• Fig. 27: A four-wheeled horse-drawn Russian vehicle, tarantas.
• Fig. 28: Horse-drawn street car
• Fig. 29: Horse-drawn carriage on the road from Tehran to Rasht.
• Fig. 30: On the Persian Highway.
• Fig. 31: Fourgon without springs.
• Fig. 32: Diligence on the Tehran-Qom road.
• Fig. 33: Changing vehicles.
• Fig. 34: Overturned carriage.
• Fig. 35: German carriage makers’ ad.
• Fig. 36: Hansom carriage and freight wagon.
• Fig. 37: Mozaffar al-Din Shah and M. Serpolet inspecting a Serpolet car in Paris.
• Fig. 38: Koch car.
• Fig. 39: Above and opposite: German car manufacturers’ ads.
• Fig. 41: Road map 1927
• Fig. 42: Top, Old caravan route at the Pol-e Dokhtar Pass.
• Above, A road replacing the old route.
• Fig.43: Permit or tazkereh allowing a vehicle to use the Russian road from Qazvin to Tehran.
• Fig. 44: German Adler car on Rasht-Tehran road.
• Fig. 45: Road in Khorasan.
• Fig. 46: Benz truck on a difficult road in 1924.
• Fig. 47: Ad for German cars, 1910.
• Fig. 48: Ford dealer ad.
• Fig. 49: Dodge Car dealer ad.
• Fig. 50: Car insurance ad.
• Fig. 51: Engine of a Benz truck cooled down by a raffia mat.
• Fig. 52: Transport of oil products in tins.
• Fig. 53: First gasoline station in Tehran.
• Fig. 54: BP ad.
• Fig. 55: Baghdad-Kermanshah car ad.
• Fig. 56: Baghdad-Kermanshah car.
• Fig. 57: Beirut-Damascus-Baghdad-Tehran car ad.
• Fig. 58: Transport Company ad.
• Fig. 59: Transport company ad.
• Fig. 60: Doroshkeh
• Fig. 61: First traffic rules 2 Shavval 1331/2 September 1913.
• Fig. 62: Announcement to obtain driving permit and license plate.
• Fig. 63: Above and opposite: First car regulations 10 Rabi` I 1338/ 2 December 1919.
• Fig. 64: Big wheel bicycle.
• Fig. 65: Two-wheel bicyclist on the road to Mashhad.
• Fig. 66: Bicycles
• Fig. 67: Bicycle permit
• Fig. 68: Polo cyclist team
• Fig. 69: Street scene in Isfahan with bicycles, a Volkswagen, and a gari.
• Fig. 70: Bicycle repair shop.
• Fig. 71: An early motorcycle
• Fig. 72: Public transportation relais in Shahrud.
• Fig. 73: Qazvin mehman-khaneh built by Naser al-Din Shah.
• Fig. 74: Hotel Prevôt
• Fig. 75: above and opposite: Tehran Hotel adds.
• Fig. 76: Above: Grand Hotel and Hotel Astoria ads.
• Fig. 77: Opposite: Pension Europe ad.
• Fig. 78: Kazerooni guest-house.
• Fig. 79: The Grand Hotel Enzeli.
• Fig. 80: Letterhead Hotel Amerique, Isfahan.
• Fig. 81: Qazvin Mehman-Khaneh.
• Fig. 82: Hotel Europe Rasht ad.
• Fig. 83: Grand Hotel Rasht ad.
• Fig. 84: Mehman-khaneh in 1932.
• Fig. 85: Ramsar Hotel.
• Fig. 86: German ads for sewing machines.
• Fig. 86: Above and opposite: Sewing machine ads.
• Fig. 87: Russian sewing machine ad.
• Fig. 88: German ad for typewriters.
• Fig. 89: Anis al-Dowleh behind a harmonium.
• Fig. 90: Golestan tile with piano and Naser al-Din Shah.
• Fig. 91: Fakhr al-Taj at the piano.
• Fig. 92: The Donaldsons’ home with piano.
• Fig. 93: German piano sellers’ ad.
• Table 1: Travel time from Tehran to major chapar stations and mail delivery time (1890)
• Table 2: Post stages from Tehran – Tabriz
• Table 3: Post stages from Bushehr to Tehran
• Table 4: Post stages from Yazdekhvast to Shiraz
• Table 5: Post stages from Kermanshah to Tehran
• Table 6: Post stages from Mashhad to Tehran
• Table 7: Post stages from Astarabad to Tehran
• Table 8: Post stages from Rasht to Tehran
• Table 9: Post stages from Kerman to Tehran
• Table 10: Post stages from Erzerum to Tabriz
• Table 11: Tariff for carriages, &c. from Rasht to Tehran and vice versa in 1899
• Table 12: Tariff for carriages from Isfahan to various destinations in 1910
• Table 13: Posting conveyances (1913-14) were charged for at the following rates:
• Table 14: Total imports of vehicles (inc. carriages, bicycles, cars, etc.) in 1903
• Table 15: Number, staff and geographical distribution of carriage makers (kaleskeh-sazi) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 16: Number, staff and geographical distribution of coach houses (doroshkeh-khaneh) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 17: Number, staff and geographical distribution of wagon houses (gari-khaneh) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 18: Import of British vehicles (1925-27)
• Table 19: Import of motor vehicles 1924-1929
• Table 20: Origin of import of motor vehicles 1927-29
• Table 21: American imports of automobiles, parts and accessories (1929-38) in US$.
• Table 22: Number, staff and geographical distribution of car dealers (namayandegi-ye forush-e otumobil) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 23: Number, staff and geographical distribution of car repair shops (mekanichi) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 24: Location of car repair shops in 1932 (excl. some of large cities)
• Table 25: Number, staff and geographical distribution of gasoline sellers (benzin-forush) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 26: Number, staff and geographical distribution of car spare parts sellers (lavazem-e otumobil-forush) in Tehran (1306/1927).
• Table 27: Number, staff and geographical distribution of body-shops (otumobil-sazi) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 28: Number, staff and geographical distribution of garages (garazh) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 29: Car Traffic in Tehran in 1306-1308 (1927-1929)
• Table 30: Number, staff and geographical distribution of bicycle shops (ducharkheh-sazi) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 31: Number, staff and geographical distribution of mehman-khanehs in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 32: Number, staff and geographical distribution of sewing machine sellers (mashin khayyati-forush) in Tehran (1306/1927)
• Table 33: Total import of pianos and harmoniums in 1903
• Table 34: Import of pianos and other musical instrument in 1913 (in francs)
• Table 35: Number, staff and geographical distribution of piano service shops (piyanu-sazi) in Tehran (1306/1927)