A beautiful marriage contract from 1874, signed by accomplished poet and calligrapher Abu’l Qasim Farhang. It is a good example of the arts under the Qajar Dynasty in Iran, which brought to an end a long period of political instability, reuniting Iranian territory after the disunity and warfare that characterized much of the eighteenth century. This period witnessed a transition from tribal to centralized rule. Iran became entangled in a web of superpower rivalry (between Britain and Russia) and suffered significant losses in the Caucasus which prompted a program of modernization. Modernization brought in an unprecedented influx of military, technological, and educational innovations from Europe. Artistic innovations followed. Court poets revived the simplicity and elegance of classical poetry of the tenth and eleventh centuries. There was a government-sponsored building spree of palaces and public buildings, with life-sized paintings to adorn their pavilions. This in turn prompted local governors to imitate the capital in style and extravagance. The Qajar Dynasty oversaw a flourishing of the arts in many forms, and this beautifully drawn and detailed marriage contract is a shining example of that.
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