A01=Rudolph Matthee
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
Alcoholic beverage
Amir Kabir
Arak (drink)
Armenians
Author_Rudolph Matthee
Bandar
Black tea
Brothel
Caravanserai
Category=JBSR
Category=NHG
Central Asia
Coffeehouse
Courtier
Drink
Drinking
Edict
Enthronement
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Georgians
Grand Vizier
Hamadan
Hashish
Herat
Indulgence
Injunction
Islam
Kirman (Sasanian province)
Literature
Majlis
Mazandaran Province
Mosque
Muhammad Baqir Majlisi
Mullah
Muslim world
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar
New Julfa
Nishapur
Opiate
Opium
Orgy
Ottoman Empire
Pashtuns
Persian people
Physician
Prostitution
Qajar dynasty
Qajars (tribe)
Qazvin
Qizilbash
Religion
Russians
Safavid dynasty
Samovar
Sayyid
Sharia
Sheikh
Sobriety
Sodomy
Southern Iran
Stimulant
Sufism
Sultan Husayn
Tabriz
Tax
Tobacco
Tobacco Protest
Tobacco smoking
Transliteration
Treatise
Uzbeks
Warfare
Yazd
Product details
- ISBN 9780691144443
- Weight: 28g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 26 Jul 2009
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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From ancient times to the present day, Iranian social, political, and economic life has been dramatically influenced by psychoactive agents. This book looks at the stimulants that, as put by a longtime resident of seventeenth-century Iran, Raphael du Mans, provided Iranians with damagh, gave them a "kick," got them into a good mood. By tracing their historical trajectory and the role they played in early modern Iranian society (1500-1900), Rudi Matthee takes a major step in extending contemporary debates on the role of drugs and stimulants in shaping the modern West. At once panoramic and richly detailed, The Pursuit of Pleasure examines both the intoxicants known since ancient times--wine and opiates--and the stimulants introduced later--tobacco, coffee, and tea--from multiple angles. It brings together production, commerce, and consumption to reveal the forces behind the spread and popularity of these consumables, showing how Iranians adapted them to their own needs and tastes and integrated them into their everyday lives.
Matthee further employs psychoactive substances as a portal for a set of broader issues in Iranian history--most notably, the tension between religious and secular leadership. Faced with reality, Iran's Shi'i ulama turned a blind eye to drug use as long as it stayed indoors and did not threaten the social order. Much of this flexibility remains visible underneath the uncompromising exterior of the current Islamic Republic.
Rudi Matthee is Professor of History at the University of Delaware. He is the author of "The Politics of Trade in Safavid Iran: Silk for Silver, 1600-1730".
