Rose of Isfahan (Gul-e Surkh-e Isfahan)

Rose of Isfahan (Gul-e Surkh-e Isfahan), The rose of Isfahan, the floral emblem of Isfahan, the city of the rose.

The rose gul-e surkh or gul-e sūrī belongs, in the scientific classification of plants, to the family Rosaceae and the genus Rosa.¹ In Iran, a species of it known scientifically as Rosa damascena is called the Persian rose, gul-e gulāb², gul-e Ātashī³, gul-e Muḥammadī⁴, or Damask rose, and is cultivated for rosewater extraction. A variety of the rosewater plant is called gul-e sepāhānī or gul-e surkh-e Isfahan, which is a double-petaled rose of a clear, light pink color and very fragrant.⁵ The center of origin of the rosewater plant is the foothills of central Iran, and the origin of most of its cultivated varieties in Iran is Isfahan Province.⁶

In the historical and literary sources related to Isfahan, the presence of this rose signifies its importance. The rose motifs alongside the figure of Khusru Parvīz on a capital discovered in Isfahan, belonging to the Sasanian period and preserved in the National Museum of Iran, indicate the significance of this flower in Isfahan before Islam.⁷

There are numerous references in historical sources to the importance of the rose in Isfahan after the advent of Islam. Among them: Abū al-Sheikh al-Eṣfahānī*⁸ (d. 979/369) and Māfarrukhī*⁹ cite the text of a letter from Ḥajjāj ebn Yūsuf, the Umayyad governor (r. 660–714/40–95), written in reply to a letter from Vahzād, son of Yazdād Anbārī, the governor of Isfahan, requesting a reduction of taxes. In this letter, Ḥajjāj, along with saffron and other blessings of Isfahan, mentions the rose as one of the city’s valuable assets, which indicates that in the early centuries of the Islamic period, the rose of Isfahan was renowned and its cultivation common. Amīr Mu‛ezzī (d. 1127/521) refers in an ode to the rose of Isfahan as “the Sepāhānī rose” and to its famous rosewater.¹⁰ Neẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 1215/612), in the story of Alexander’s proposal to Rushanak in Isfahan and the description of their wedding feast, also mentions “the rosewater of Sepāhān” alongside the musk of China.¹¹ Afūshteʾī (d. ca. 1598/1007) records Shah ‛Abbās*’s journey to Isfahan in October 1592/Muḥarram 1001, describing the people’s reception with the decoration of the city and the flower arrangement of the Naqsh-e Jahān* garden, and calls the rose of Isfahan “the fiery rose that scatters rosewater.”¹² Ramzī-Kāshānī, in 1712/1124, in verses depicting a debate among the flowers of the new Hazār-Jarīb* garden, regarded the rose as the noblest flower of Isfahan.¹³ Mīrzā ‛Abdullāh¹⁴, known by the pen name “ʿEshq” and one of the poets of Shah ‛Abbās II’s era, in a poem reports the use of roses in  floral decoration during the “Ceremony of the Bridge” for the inauguration of the Kh^wājū Bridge*.¹⁵ Ṣāʾeb Tabrīzī* (d. 1669/1080) likewise, in describing the flower-scattering ceremonies held in 1657/1067 for the inauguration of this bridge, mentions the rose of Isfahan.¹⁶ Ashraf Māzandarānī (d. 1708/1120) in a poem also refers to the “Ceremony of the Bridge” in the time of Shah ‛Abbās II.¹⁷ Likewise, Sāyer Mashhadī (Sāyrā), a poet residing in Isfahan during the reign of Shah Sulaymān I, describes in an ode the flower-scattering festival at the Kh^wājū Bridge.¹⁸

In addition, two cookery treatises from the Safavid period mention the use of rosewater in the preparation of various jams, halva, sweets, and common dishes of Isfahan.¹⁹ In a manuscript catalogue describing forty caravanserais of Isfahan from the Safavid era, preserved in the British Museum, the caravanserai of Muḥabbat-Ali Beyg Laleh (Muḥb Ali Laleh Beyg) is identified as one of the places where roses were offered in the Grand Bazaar of Isfahan.²⁰ Pietro Della Valle*, in the 17th century, in his travel account, refers to the celebration of the “Festival of the Rose” in springtime Isfahan, during which people joyfully scattered roses over one another.²¹

The rose continued to have a prominent presence in later and modern sources. For example, Mīrzā Hussein Taḥvīldār (1915/1294) mentioned various kinds of roses in Isfahan and emphasized their abundance and strong fragrance.²² Mīr Sayyed Ali Jenāb Eṣfahānī (d. 1930/1309) also referred to the widespread cultivation of roses in the courtyards of Isfahan’s houses and to the grafting of the rose with a durable imported variety called the “London rose,” carried out by a local man named Hussein Taryākī.²³ Jalāl al-Dīn Humāyī (d. 1980/1359) called the abundance of roses in Chahār-Bāgh during the Qajar period a “forest of Gul-e Muḥammadī” and wrote that, at the time of their blooming, groups of people would go to Chahār-Bāgh at dawn and make a living by filling baskets and cloths with buds and picked roses. Humāyī also quoted a verse by his father, Humāy-e Shīrāzī, stating that the guards of the rose gardens forbade people from picking roses outside the designated harvest days by crying out “ma-chīn ma-chīn.” (‘don’t pick up [the roses]’)²⁴ Jāberī-Anṣārī (d. 1956/1335), in his tarīkh-e Isfahan, likewise mentioned the presence of rose guards at the gate of the Zereshk garden in Upper Chahār-Bāgh.²⁵ Jamshīd Mazāherī* (d. 2017/1396) referred to the rose guards as “gulbān” ) rose warden( and named a man called Darvīsh Hasan, who was a gulbān in Chahār-Bāgh and used to warn people melodiously against picking roses up. The musical piece “Bayāt-e Darvīsh Hasan”²⁶ in the Isfahan mode takes its name from him.²⁷ Hasan Kasāʾī* (d. 2012/1391), famous singer, considered him one of the dervishes of the Ẓell al-Sulṭān* era, who in Sī-u-se Pul* (i.e. 33 bridges) and Chahār-Bāgh* used to chant the “ma-chin ma-chin” call in the Bayāt-e Isfahan* mode, which became known as “Bayāt-e Darvīsh Ḥasan.”²⁸ Ali Javāher-Kalām also referred to the custom of anointing the shrine with rosewater and henna at a sanctuary near the Shahrestān Bridge* (the tombs of Imāmzāde Hussein and Imāmzāde Ebrāhīm) and the tomb of al-Rāshīd be-llāh, the ‛Abbāsid caliph, in 1924/1303.²⁹

Pierre Loti* (d. 1923/1302) spoke of the importance of the rose among the people of Isfahan, noting that they always carried roses in their hands. He mentioned women who, when crossing the bridge, held bouquets of roses, emphasizing that in spring the rose was seen everywhere in the city, so much so that coffee sellers, confectioners, and tea vendors would place roses in their pots and stalls, and even hang them from their belts. He described the rosebushes in Chahār-Bāgh and wrote that, during the rosewater-distilling season, veiled women would go among the roses of Chahār-Bāgh, cutting them with scissors and gathering them in baskets or on the ground. He further referred to the flower-filled gardens and rosebushes along Chahār-Bāgh Avenue and described the deep fondness of the people of Isfahan for roses, noting that even the beggars sitting under the bridge held roses in their hands. He then depicted the rose-filled garden of the Chahār-Bāgh Madrasa and the very large rosebushes in Chehel-Sutūn*.³⁰

Claude Anet* (d. 1931/1310) described the roses around the Sī-U-Se Pul Bridge and Chahār-Bāgh, referring to Isfahan as “the city of the rose.”³¹ Gräfin Maud von Rosen, a Swedish traveler who visited Isfahan in 1934/1313, noted that the city was known as “the rose of the world” because of its roses.³² Roger Stevens, the British ambassador to Iran (1954–1958/1333–1337), mentioned the rosebush hedges that adorned Chahār-Bāgh and enhanced its beauty.³³ Leconte de Lisle (d. 1818/1233), in a poem entitled Les Roses d’Ispahan, wrote of his love for a girl named Leylā, with Isfahan as the imaginary setting of this romance. In this poem, while referring to the fragrance of the roses of Isfahan, he states that the purpose of his imagined journey to the city was to see its roses.³⁴ Rainer Maria Rilke (d. 1926/1325), the German-language poet, also mentioned the roses of Isfahan.³⁵ Jean-Christophe Rufin* (b. 1952/1331), the French novelist, in his work Sauver Ispahan, set during the final years of Shah Sulṭān Hussein Ṣafavī’s reign (r. 1694–1722/1105–1135), referred to the roses of Isfahan, their varieties, and the skill of the city’s gardeners in cultivating different kinds of roses.³⁶

In addition to its historical and cultural aspects, the taste and fragrance of the rose are of importance in fields such as agriculture, the food industry, cosmetics and hygiene, perfumery, pharmaceuticals, and tourism. The organization of local, national, and international events such as the Rose and Rosewater Festival contributes to its broader and better recognition.³⁷

/Shahin Sepanta/

Bibliography

Abū al-Sheikh al-Eṣfahānī. ṭabaqāt al-muḥaddethīn be-eṣbahān wa al-wāredīn ‛alayhā, ed. ‛Abdul-Ghaffār Sulaymān Bandārī and Sayyed Kasravī Hasan, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‛Ilmīyya, 1989/ 1409.

Afūshteʾī, Maḥmūd b. Hedāyatullāh. neqāvat al-āthār fī dhekr al-akhyār: dar tārīkh-e ṣafavīyye, ed. Eḥsān Eshrāqī, Tehran: ‛Elmī va Farhangī Publications, 2020/ 1399.

Amīr Mu‛ezzī, Muhammad b. ‛Abd al-Malek. dīvān, ed. ‛Abbās Eqbāl Āshtīyānī, Tehran: Ketābfurūshī-ye Eslāmīyye, 1939/1318.

Anet, Claude. gulhā-ye surkh-e Isfahan: Iran bā utumubīl, safarnāme-ye Claude Anet, tr. Faḍlullāh Jelve, Tehran: Revāyat, 1991/ 1370.

Āshpazbāshī, Nūrullāh. resāle-ye māddat al-ḥayāt, in du resāle dar ṭabbākhī va ḥalvāpazī, ed. Mahdi Ravānjī, Qum: Ebtekār-e Dānesh, 2012/ 1391.

Della Valle, Pietro. safarnāme-ye Pietro Della Valle: qesmat-e marbūṭ be Iran, tr. Shu‛ā‛ al-Dīn Shafā, Tehran: ‛Elmī va Farhangī, 1969/1348.

Eshrāqī, Fīrūz. Isfahan az dīd-e sayyāḥān-e khārejī, Isfahan: Ātrupāt, 1999/ 1378.
Ashraf Māzandarānī, Muhammad-Sa‛īd b. Muhammad-Ṣāleḥ. kullīyāt, ed. Hūman Yūsefdehī, Tehran: Dr. Maḥmūd Afshār Publications, 2021/ 1400.

Ḥalvāʾī, Yaḥyā b. Hussein. resāle dar ḥalvāpazī, in du resāle dar ṭabbākhī va ḥalvāpazī, ed. Mahdi Ravānjī, Qum: Ebtekār-e Dānesh, 2012/1391.

Humāyī, Jalāl al-Dīn. tārīkh-e Isfahan: ḥavādes va vaqāyeʿ va ḥukām va salāṭīn-e Isfahan, ed. Māhdukht Bānū Humāyī, Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2016/1395.

Hunarfar, Luṭfullāh. ganjīne-ye āthār-e tārīkhī-ye Isfahn, Isfahan: Saqafī, 1971/1350.

Hunarmandī, Hasan. bunyād-e she‛r-e nu dar farānse, Tehran: Zavvār, 1971/1350.

Ja‛farī Zand, Ali-Reza. Isfahan pīsh az eslām: dure-ye sāsānī, Tehran: Ān, 2002/1381.

Jāberī Anṣārī, Muhammad-Hasan. tārīkh-e Isfahan, ed. Jamshīd Mazāherī, Isfahan: Mash‛al, 1999/1378.

Javāher-Kalām, Ali. yāddāshthā-ye safar-e Isfahan dar sāl-e 1303 shamsī, ed. ‛Abd al-Mahdi Rajāʾī, Qum: Majma‛-e Dhakhāʾer-e Eslāmī, 2012/1391.

Jenāb Eṣfahānī, Ali. rejāl va mashāhīr-e Isfahan (al-eṣfahān), ed. Reḍvān Pūr‛aṣṣār, Isfahan: Sāzmān-e Farhangī va Tafrīḥī-ye Shahrdārī, 2006/1385.

Karīmī, Hādī. farhang-e rustanīhā-ye Iran: gīyāhān, Tehran: Parcham, 2002/1388.

Kasāʾī, Hasan. radīf-e mūsīqī-ye Iran bā ejrā-ye setār va āvāz (6 CDs), Isfahan: Āvā-ye Nuvīn, 2009/1388.

Kīyānī, Muhammad-Yūsuf. “mu‛arrefī-ye yek nuskhe-ye khaṭṭī-ye mūze-ye brītānīā: kārvānsarāhā-ye meydān-e naqsh-e jahān va bāzār-e Isfahan,” Asar, no. 21, Summer 1992/1371.

Loti, Pierre, Vers Ispahan, [Paris] 1925, repr. Tehran: Société de Publication d’Ouvrages Classiques sur l’Iran, 1978.

Māfarrukhī, Mufaḍḍel b. Sa‛d. maḥāsen-e Isfahan, ed. ‛Āref Aḥmad ‛Abd al-Ghanī, Damascus: Dār Kanān li’l-Nashr wa’l-Tawzī‛, 2010/1431.

Māhvān, Aḥmad. farhang-e gīyāhān-e Iran, Mashhad: Daftar-e Jughrafiyāʾī va Enteshārāt-e Māhvān, 2002/1381.

McKinley, Michael D., Complete guide to Roses, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2004.

Muẓaffarīyān, Valīyullāh. farhang-e nāmehā-ye gīyāhān-e Iran: lātīn, englīsī, fārsī, Tehran: Farhang-e Mu‛āṣer, 2008/1387.

Naṣr-ābādī, Muhammad-Ṭāher. tazkere-ye naṣrābādī: tazkerat al-shu‛arāʾ, ed. Muḥsen Nājī-Naṣrābādī, Tehran: Asāṭīr, 1999/1387.

Neẓāmī, Elyās b. Yūsuf. sharafnāme, ed. Vaḥīd Dastgerdī, Tehran: Maṭba‛-ye Armaghān, 1937/1316.

Nīkbakht, Ali and Kāfī, Muḥsen. gul-e muḥammadī-ye Iran, Isfahan: Isfahan University of Technology, 2010/1389.

Qahremān, Aḥmad and Ukhuvvat, Aḥmad-Reza. sharḥ-e taṭbīqī-ye gīyāhān-e dārūʾī-ye kuhan, vol. 2, Tehran: University of Tehran, 2009/1430.

Rahnamā, Tūrāj. sudāzadegān-e sarzemīn-e mūsīqī va she‛r: āshenāʾī bā nevīsandegān va shā‛erān-e emrūz-e uṭrīsh, Tehran: Cheshmeh, 2017/1396.

Ramzī Kāshānī, Muhammad-Hādī. “ramz al-rayāḥīn dar vaṣf-e Isfahan va munāẓere-ye gulhā,” Vahīd, vol. 3, no. 7, July 1966/1385.

Reḍāzāde Malek, Raḥīm. pazhūhesh-e taqwīmhā-ye Iranī, Tehran: Gulāb, 2005/1384.

Rufin, Jean-Christophe. suqūṭ-e Isfahan, tr. Muhammad Majlesī, Tehran: Dunyā-ye Nu, 2000/1379.

Ṣā‛eb Tabrīzī, Muhammad-Ali. dīvān, ed. Muhammad Qahremān, Tehran: ‛Elmī va Farhangī, 1985–1991/1364–1370.

Taḥvīldār, Hussein b. Muhammad Ebrāhīm. jughrafiyā-ye Isfahan, ed. Manūchehr Sutūde, Tehran: University of Tehran, 1963/1342.

‛Uṣāre, Muhammad-Hasan and Khaṣṣāf Mufrad, Hussein. negareshī jāme‛ be gīyāh-e gul-e muḥammadī: dānesh, ṣan‛at va bāzār, Tehran: Safīr-e Ardehāl, 2024/1403.

1. Muzaffarīyān, pp. 461–463; Qahremān and Ukhuvvat, vol. 2, p. 505.[↩]
2. Karīmī, p. 649; Māhvān, p. 481.[↩]
3. Māhvān, ibid.[↩]
4. Karīmī, p. 649; Māhvān, ibid.[↩]
5. McKinley, pp. 226, 230; ʿUṣāre and Khaṣṣāf Mufrad, p. 28.[↩]
6. Nīkbakht and Kāfī, pp. 3–4.[↩]
7. Hunarfar, p. 5; Ja‛farī Zand, pp. 225–226.[↩]
8. Abū al-Sheikh al-Eṣfahānī, vol. 1, pp. 29–30.[↩]
9. Māfarrukhī, p. 55.[↩]
10. Amīr Mu‛ezzī, p. 697.[↩]
11. Neẓāmī, p. 251.[↩]
12. Afūshteʾī, p. 336.[↩]
13. Ramzī Kāshānī, pp. 620–621.[↩]
14. Naṣrābādī, vol. 1, p. 141.[↩]
15. Reḍāzāde Malek, pp. 216–217.[↩]
16. Ṣāʾeb Tabrīzī, vol. 6, p. 3618.[↩]
17. Ashraf Māzandarānī, p. 322.[↩]
18. Hunarfar, p. 583.[↩]
19. Āshpazbāshī, p. 47; Ḥalvāʾī, p. 132.[↩]
20. Kīyānī, p. 144.[↩]
21. Della Valle, pp. 86–87.[↩]
22. Taḥvīldār, pp. 48–49.[↩]
23. Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 199, Annotations, pp. 703–704.[↩]
24. Humāyī, vol. 2, p. 707.[↩]
25. Jāberī Anṣārī, vol. 1, Mazāherī’s notes, p. 165.[↩]
26. See also: Bayāt-e Isfahān.[↩]
27. Jāberī Anṣārī, vol. 2, p. 253.[↩]
28. Kasāʾī, 2009/1388.[↩]
29. Javāher-Kalām, p. 106.[↩]
30. Loti, pp. 191–192, 208, 213, 215, 227, 229, 232.[↩]
31. Anet, pp. 235–236, 240, 256.[↩]
32. Eshrāqī, pp. 663, 665.[↩]
33. Ibid., p. 682.[↩]
34. Hunarmandī, pp. 527–528.[↩]
35. Rahnamā, p. 110.[↩]
36. Rufin, pp. 83–84.[↩]
37. ʿUṣāre and Khaṣṣāf Mufrad, pp. 183, 240–241, 387.[↩]