How did the Russian samovar end up in Iran?

Video: How did the Russian samovar end up in Iran?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

While the most popular Russian words in the West are Sputnik and KGB, the most popular Russian word in Iran is samovar. Although how is it - Russian? Most Iranians are convinced that the word is Persian, just like the metal pot-bellied "device for heating water with a firebox inside", familiar to every Russian, is from Persia, not from Russia.

While we ourselves are ashamed of this "outdated, rustic" boiler, considering it at best a sweet tradition of antiquity, for the Iranians the samovar has become a symbol of hospitality.

Now it can be found at every step: in hotels, restaurants, hostels, private houses and even in mosques. And, of course, in the markets. There is so much variety here: small, huge, cast iron, brass … Many are decorated with skillful embossing, enamel, glaze, gilding and even precious stones.

For every taste and wallet: from five to tens of thousands of dollars. There are even small samovars-souvenirs, they say, buy the true symbol of Iran! The most chic is the gas samovar: it connects directly to the gas pipe and constantly keeps the water hot - what if there are unexpected guests?

Almost no one has heard of Tula and the Russian samovar tradition. Tell about what the word "samovar" means - they will be offended. No, they will answer, the samovar is an original Iranian invention, and the word samāvar (سماور) comes from the word "sanabar" - "teapot".

The truth can be found either in museums or in antique shops. There are old samovars (several hundred years old), and the hallmarks of pre-revolutionary Tula masters expose the truth.

- So what? We gave you tea, and you gave us a samovar,”smiles Hamid, the owner of one of these shops in the Iranian city of Yazd. - Everything is fair.

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They say that the fourth shah of Iran from the Qajar dynasty, Nasser al-Din (Nasruddin Shah), brought the samovar to Iran from Russia two centuries ago, and this gave impetus to the spread of a new fashion. And after, at the beginning of the 20th century, tea began to gradually replace coffee (it was much cheaper), the fashion for samovars became widespread. At first, samovars were imported from Russia, but soon local craftsmen began to make them - and the Russian samovar acquired the Iranian style: oriental patterns, Arabic script. And instead of Russian cockerels, the face of that very shah is usually painted on a teapot.

It's not a shame to go to Tula with such a samovar.

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