Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar was the fourth Shah of Iran. He ascended the throne in 1848 and had been ruling for 47 years.
There were about a hundred concubines in his harem. Not everyone can agree that the ladies were beauties.
The ruler of Iran had a very extraordinary taste. We could never know this, if the Shah wasn’t a great fan of photography. He personally photographed his concubines.
This is one of Sheikh palaces. By the way, Nasser Qajar had a personal photographer, who photographed only men and buildings. It was forbidden to make photos of the harem. Only shah could make photos of his concubines.
And here is the beloved wife of the Shah of Iran – Anis al-Doleh.
In those days fat was considered a sign of beauty and well-being. Women of the harem were protected from hard work and were well fed.
Looking at the photos of concubines, it is hard to believe that these are women. But historians have confirmed this fact. In those days it was fashionable to have fused bushy eyebrows and mustache.
The Shah’s family wasn’t small. Looking on the number of concubines in the harem, you can understand that the ruler had a lot of children.
In the spare time, the women of the harem had fun – picnics, a variety of celebration with music and dancing.
Of course, these women were rivals. However, they were tolerant to each other.
If you’ve noticed, on many photos concubines are dressed in skirts of ballerinas. In 1873, Nasser al-Din Shah, by the invitation of Alexander II, visited St. Petersburg and attended the ballet. Shah liked ballerinas and after his return he ordered to sew the same skirts for all his concubines.
That’s how women of harem looked like. Impressive?