Introduction 

James Justinian Morier's novel The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan was first published in 1824 and remained popular well into the twentieth century. Despite Morier’s diplomatic career as a representative of Britain in Persia (present-day Iran) and his non-fiction travelogues which follow his journeys through the region, the fictional Hajji Baba endured as his most popular work, as evidenced in part by the plaque on the frame of the portrait of Morier featured in this exhibition. The novel's success led Morier to write a sequel, Hajji Baba of Ispahan in England (1828), and fictional accounts about other characters within a similar Persian setting, namely Zohrab, the Hostage (1832) and Ayesha, the Maid of Kars (1834). While these titles are worth mentioning to emphasize the scope of Morier’s fictional writing, this paper will focus on the first Hajji Baba. The novel was lauded as an accurate portrayal of Persia by many of Morier’s contemporaries, and came to have a significant afterlife even in Iran. By discussing the prefaces written by British intellectuals in several English-language editions of Hajji Baba displayed in this exhibition, as well as their accompanying illustrations, this essay seeks to examine contemporary British Orientalist attitudes, and then address the significance of the book’s translation in Persian. Orientalism in this paper refers to the British essentializing outlook on the Middle East, where countries from the region are portrayed as static and quaint, as opposed to the West, which is considered rational and constantly developing. Examples of Orientalist narratives beyond Morier's are studied by Ada Berktay in her essay, “'Voyage en Orient': Narratives of the East, as Written by the West."

Content and Context

Hajji Baba begins and ends with fictional letters penned by Europeans which frame the narrative within. The premise is that Hajji Baba was a living individual who gifted his diary to a British traveler, who himself went on to translate and publish it. The narrative follows the eponymous Hajji Baba on his life adventures traveling throughout Persia. Through a series of encounters during which he plays a variety of roles, lowborn Hajji Baba eventually becomes the assistant of the Persian ambassador to Britain. The story is partly based on Morier's own experiences and acquaintances during his time in Persia. In particular, the Persian envoy to Britain featured in the novel, Mirza Firouz, reflects the actual Persian envoy to Britain at the time, Mirza Abdul Hasan Khan. The Mirza and Morier were reportedly friends until the publication of Hajji Baba; however, Morier's portrayal of Persia was so unfavorable that Khan reportedly decided to cut ties with him.1
 

Hajji Baba corresponds to the picaresque genre, a type of satirical, episodic fiction that centers on a lovable rascal. The early nineteenth century in Britain ushered in a new kind of picaresque novel, where the main character is a foreign, non-British character who traverses an "exotic" country. This shift coincided with the growing European geo-political interests in the Middle East, triggered by France’s invasion of Egypt in the late eighteenth century, as explored by Ewan R. Wall in his essay "The historical context of James J. Morier’s travels: France, the U.K. and Persia 1798-1815." Contemporary fictional works similar to Hajji Baba include Anastasius, or, Memoirs of a Greek (1819) by Thomas Hope, and Pandurang Hari, or, Memoirs of a Hindoo (1826) by William Browne Hockley.2
Morier’s portrayal of Persia focuses on the country's manners and customs, and ultimately presents Persia as a backward and amoral place. In fact, while Hajji Baba “exposes the corruption from the inside,” he eventually triumphs by working within this corrupt system.3
 

The Edition Published by Richard Bentley (London, 1835)

The edition published in London by Richard Bentley in 1835 -- the earliest edition of Hajji Baba on view in the exhibition -- was published eleven years after the novel's first release. Unlike later editions, it does not contain an introductory essay. However, it is the first example of an illustrated Hajji Baba, featuring on the title page two small, detailed illustrations of moments in the book's narrative. Indeed, the first edition, from 1824, was not illustrated, as was typical for publications in the early nineteenth century. The immediate success of Hajji Baba must have encouraged Richard Bentley to publish a more sophisticated edition of the novel, enhanced with illustrations.     

Below each illustration is a quote from the novel which corresponds to the illustrated scene. The illustrations, created through a combination of engraving and etching, both feature intricate backgrounds. The first one, placed below the book's title and author's name, depicts Hajji Baba attempting to trick another character (Fig. 1). The former wears a hat (kolah) and tunic (qaba) similar to those worn by Morier in the portrait displayed in the exhibition as analyzed by Mina Williams in "Between Fact and Fiction: Qajar Costume in the Portrait of James Justinian Morier in the Columbia University Art Collection." As stated in the quote, Hajji Baba is shown grimacing and staggering, making a scene in front of a man wearing a turban and sitting on a carpet. In the middle of pouring a drink, the latter looks on towards Hajji Baba with concern. The textured background of this indoor space is rendered intricately: the wall behind Hajji Baba is decorated with a plant pattern, echoed on the floor where he stands. The second illustration, set in a mountainous landscape, takes up the entire page opposite the title page (Fig. 2). Hajji Baba, distinguished from the other characters by his slightly pointier hat, as seen in the first illustration, holds a shaving razor and leans over a seated, portly figure, who is tilting his head to be shaved. Three standing figures, dressed in miliatry gear and surrounding Hajji Baba, are present: the man on the far left is leaning on a rifle, while the one on the far right has a markedly curved scimitar hanging from his belt. Further to the right, a shield, quiver, and bow hang from the central pole of a tent, while other tents appear further in the background, which indicates that the scene is taking place in a military encampment. The dramatic, rocky landscape situates the scene in a distinctly non-British location. In fact, in both illustrations, the setting immeditaly signals to the viewer the novel's non-British context.

Introduction by Lord George Curzon (1895)

According to some British intellectuals in the nineteenth century, Hajji Baba was vital reading for anyone who sought to understand Persian culture. The book was extremely popular in Britain and can be credited with popularizing certain notions about Persia which endured for many decades.4
The 1895 edition of Hajji Baba published by Macmillan and Co. (New York and London) which features an introduction by Lord George Curzon (1859-1925) is a case in point. At the time of its publication, Curzon was a minister in the House of Parliament and was serving as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. From 1899 to 1905, he served as Viceroy of India, the highest ranking position in the British administration in India, and went on to have a long career in the Foreign Affairs department. As Edward Said notes on Curzon in his influential book, Orientalism, Curzon saw the East as "a large geographical space wholly owned by an efficient colonial master.”5
Curzon’s introduction to Hajji Baba is indicative of the contemporary, educated British understanding of the novel as offering an accurate account of Persia, notwithstanding its fictional nature. Curzon writes:

"Above all, in its delineation of national customs, the book is an invaluable contribution to sociology, and conveys a more truthful and instructive impression […] than any disquisition of which I am aware in the more serious volumes of statements, travellers, and men of affairs."6

At the time of Curzon's writing, Persia was still relatively unexplored by the British, which might explain why the novel's allegedly authentic view of Persian life could be valuable to British readers. At the same time, Morier’s travelogues, examined in detail by Amanda Morrow in "Constructing Reality: Mapping James Justinian Morier's Journeys to the East" and by Mo Zang in "Illustrations in James Justinian Morier's Travelogues: Turning Sketches into Prints," offered a realistic glimpse of his experience of everyday life in Persia as the author traveled through the region. These were not as popular or as widely read as Hajji Baba and are not mentioned in Curzon’s introduction. Clearly, the fictional perspective of Persia presented in Hajji Baba was more appealing to his contemporaries. More generally, the introduction is replete with statements about Persia that are not only offered without supporting evidence, but also reveal the profoundly Orientalist mindset of its author:

"Constant demand for a new issue is a proof not merely of the intrinsic merit of the book as a contemporary portrait of Persian manners and life, but also the fidelity with which it continues to reflect after the lapse of three-quarters of a century, the salient and unchanging characteristics of a singularly unchanging oriental people."7

Curzon's description of Persian culture as monolithic and unchanging is characteristic of the Orientalist outlook, but even more striking is the fact that this satirical work of fiction is perceived as a true and faithful representation of the entire culture. 

This 1895 edition of Hajji Baba also features numerous black and white engraved illustrations, some that take up an entire page, others that are inserted between blocks of text. These images are consistent with the orientalist argument. The one entitled The British Ambassadors and the Shah, on view in the exhibition, captures an important moment in Hajji Baba, as it shows British representatives meeting with the Persian leader for the first time (Fig. 3). The latter, sitting on a throne and surrounded by members of his Court, occupies the background of the composition. His figure, sketchily outlined in black ink on a cream-colored bakground, is difficult to make out, as are the figures constituting his entourage. By contrast, the two British men standing in the foreground, despite being outnumbered and shown from the back, dominate the scene, as their dress, rendered in deep black, makes their presence much more noticeable. Furthermore, they are visibly armed. In other words, there is a clear spatial, formal, and iconographical hierarchy between the two groups. While the exotic setting was a major component of the illustrations from the 1835 edition, the power relation between the British and the Persians is at the core of The British Ambassadors and the Shah in the 1895 edition. 

Introductions by Sir Walter Scott (1828) and E.G. Browne (1947)

A two-volume 1947 American edition of Hajji Baba, published by the Limited Editions Club of New York, features introductions by Sir Walter Scott and by E. G. Browne. The Limited Editions Club of New York was founded in 1929 and specialized in publishing high-quality and finely illustrated editions of classic books, which were sent to the Club's subscribers.8
 By 1947, Hajji Baba was already well-known in New York: a Hajji Baba Club, named after Morier's book character, was founded back in 1932 and still exists, the Club's members today mostly being collectors of Middle-Eastern and Asian carpets and textiles.

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was among the most prolific authors in nineteenth-century Britain. Notable among his works are the historical fiction novels Waverly (1814), set in mid eighteenth-century Scotland, The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), set in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Scotland, and Ivanhoe (1820), set in twelfth-century England. These exemplify the type of historic, Romantic, adventure writing for which Scott was most famous. Considering Scott's tremedous status as a writer, his praise of Hajji Baba undoubtedly increased nineteenth-century readers' interest in the novel. Evidence suggets that Scott originally wrote his essay in 1828, after the publication of Hajji Baba in England, which was slightly less successful than its predecessor.9
Nevertheless, the inclusion of the essay in the edition published in 1947 creates the impression that the text was originally written for the first Hajji Baba. Given Scott's enduring fame and reputation in the twentieth century, it is possible that the Limited Editions Club sought to emphasize Scott's association with Hajji Baba, thus signaling to its members that the book was indeed a highly-praised classic.

Scott dedicates much of his essay to the literary aspects of Hajji Baba, comparing the story to other fictional travel novels such as the aforementioned Anastasius. Similar to Curzon, Scott makes sweeping statements about Persian culture and Persian people:

"The genius of the Persians is lively and volatile to a degree much exceeding other nations of the East. They are powerfully affected by that which is presented before them at the moment—forgetful of the past, careless of the future— quick in observation, and correct as well as quick when they give themselves leisure to examine the principles of their decision— but often contented to draw their conclusions too rashly and hastily."10

Scott's Orientalist stance is also tangible in his emphasis on Britain as an educated nation, endowed with a redeeming mission vis-à-vis Persia:

"The terrible hurricane of moral passions which had vent in the French revolution, and the protracted tempest of war which ensued, have, like the storms of nature, led to good effects; and of these not the least remarkable has been the connecting, in intercourse of feeling and sentiments, of nations not only remote from each other in point of space, but so divided by opinions as to render it heretofore impossible that the less enlightened, wedded as they were to their own prejudices, should have derived the slightest improvement, whether in arts, government, or religion, from the precept or example of their more cultivated allies."11

Furthermore, though Scott states that “Hajji Baba met with universal good reception,” he includes in his essay a transcription of a letter written to Morier by an unnamed, displeased Persian Minister of State, thought to be Mirza Abdul Hasan Khan.12
 While this letter inherently contradicts Scott's assertion, it ultimately reveals that the latter intended the term "universal" to refer to British audiences exclusively -- yet again an example of his orientalist mindset. 

The final part of Scott’s introduction contends that “the name of Morier may be remembered as the first who led the way to the illumination of Persia by the introduction of English literature into the pavilions of Tehran.”13
This statement, highlighting Scott's British-centric views, effectively erases Persia’s rich literary tradition, which had existed for centuries.

The 1947 edition also includes an introduction by Edward Granville Browne (1862-1926). Browne was a prominent British Orientalist who wrote several books on Persia, such as A Year Among the Persians (1893) and A Literary History of Persia (1908). His introduction to Hajji Baba first appeared in an 1895 French edition of the novel, and was reprinted in its entirety in the Limited Editions Club edition. Similar to Curzon and Scott, Browne makes several hyperbolic statements in praise of Hajji Baba, emphasizing both its accuracy in its portrayal of Persia and its significant role in an English education:14
 

"Indeed, I might almost venture to assert that never has any writer of any nation succeeded in portraying, not merely the manners, customs, and forms of speech, but the character and modes of thought, of an alien race, as Morier has portrayed the Persians in his immortal pages. […] The traditional piece of counsel to intending travellers in Persia, “take an English saddle, and a copy of Hajji Baba,” remains the best that can be given."15

However, Browne’s introduction, unlike Curzon and Scott's, also challenges the Orientalist notion that Persian culture -- and more generally, culture in the Middle East -- is monolithic:

"And yet, in justice to the Persians, a people which, with all its faults, possesses many lovable, some admirable, and a few truly great and noble qualities, it is only fair to say that, thoroughly true to nature as Hajji Baba is, he is but one type, though a common one, of his many-sided countrymen."16

Browne's essay is contemporaneous to Curzon's, but unlike Curzon and Scott, Browne lived and traveled in Persia. This first-hand experience may have enabled him to understand that Hajji Baba, while entertaining, was not wholly true to life (although that is not to say that Orentalist beliefs were not held among British people who did travel to the Middle East). However, despite Browne's slightly more critical stance, the three nineteenth-century prefaces to Hajji Baba discussed in this essay demonstrate that Orientalist sentiments were entrenched at the highest levels of the formally educated British society, whether statesmen, writers, or academics.

Hajji Baba in Persia

Hajji Baba’s afterlife in Persia seemingly subverts the book’s Orientalist inclinations. The novel was translated into Persian in 1886 by Mirza Habib Isfahani (1835-1893), a renowned poet, Persian grammarian, and translator, and his version of Hajji Baba is considered a Persian classic which outshines the English original.17
In a surprising but conscious reversal, Isfahani’s translation transformed Morier’s stereotyping tale into a self-aware, self-referential criticism of life in Qajar Persia.18
 Further emphasizing this point, Mojtaba Minovi (1903-1977), a renowned Iranian scholar who was active in the twentieth century, wrote that Morier “has showered the Iranians under the Qajar rule with so much ridicule and sarcasm and scorn that even our offspring several generations hence will be unable to shake off the absurdities committed by their ancestors.”19
 

Hajji Baba’s story is, narratively and literally, bookended by the protagonist's interactions with, and salvation through, the British. This most certainly contributed to the book’s popularity in Britain as it reinforced narratives about British supremacy, as evidenced by the Orientalist introductions examined in this essay. Its Persian translation, however, seized upon the harmful and reductive stereotypes to transform the book into a cautionary tale about Qajar Persia. It would be remiss to credit Morier with this effect, however. The book was translated into Persian almost a century after it was first published, and there is no evidence that Morier sought to have it translated. It was through Isfahani’s efforts that this story returned to Persia. Though it was once intended to amuse the British public, arguably at the expense of Persian culture, Hajji Baba became what satire often strives to be: social criticism, which ultimately has the power to inspire change.

• 1Henry B. McKenzie Johnston, “Hajji Baba and Mirza Abdul Hasan Khan - A Conundrum.” Iran, 34 (1995) pp. 93-94 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4299926
• 2James Watts, “James Morier and the Oriental Picaresque.” Comedy, Fantasy, and Colonialism, ed. by Graeme Harper (London; New York: Continuum, 2002), pp. 59
• 3Watts, “James Morier and the Oriental Picaresque,” pp. 63
• 4Amir Ahmadi Arian,, “The Unstable People of a Tumultuous Land,” Iranian Studies, 49 no.1 (2014), 57-75, https://doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2014.961337 pp. 58, 60
• 5Edward Said, Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979. pp. 213
• 6James Morier, Hajji Baba. New York; London: Macmillan and Co., 1895, pp. xiv
• 7Morier, Hajji Baba, Macmillan and Co, 1895, pp. ix
• 8Edward Halpern, "A Guide to Collecting Books by the Limited Editions Club," Abebooks.com, https://www.abebooks.com/books/george-macy-illustrated-classics/limited…
• 9John Gibson Lockheart, Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 4, (Paris: A. and W. Galignani, 1838). pp. 180
• 10Morier, Hajji Baba, 1947, pp. xi
• 11Morier, Hajji Baba, 1947, pp. xiv
• 12 Morier, Hajji Baba, 1947, pp. xii, xiv
• 13 Morier, Hajji Baba, 1947, pp. xvi
• 14Morier, Hajji Baba, 1947, pp. xvii
• 15Morier, Hajji Baba, 1947, pp. xviii
• 16Morier, Hajji Baba, 1947, pp. xix
• 17Hamid Dabashi, Persophilia: Persian culture on the global scene (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2015), pp. 165
• 18Dabashi, Persophilia, pp. 171
• 19Ahmadi, “Unstable People,” pp. 72