Anthony A. Lee | University of California, Los Angeles (original) (raw)

Books by Anthony A. Lee

The Baha'i Faith in Africa: Establishing a New Religious Movement, 1952-1962

A first history of the Baha'i Faith in Africa, with a focus on West Africa and Cameroons.

Drafts by Anthony A. Lee

Abstract: The American Baha’i community has been focused on activism for racial unity and civil r... more Abstract: The American Baha’i community has been focused on activism for racial unity and civil rights for some 100 years. This paper attempts to locate the moment when this teaching became active and important in Baha’i history.

I am interested in the study of slave culture, as I see this as the most important tool that we h... more I am interested in the study of slave culture, as I see this as the most important tool that we have to recover the history of the slave community in the United States before the Civil War. Slave folktales are an important aspect of that culture. I contend that they constitute the literature of most ordinary African American people during this period. As any other literature, these folktales provide us with an important tool with which we might investigate the consciousness of a community.

Recovering Biographies of Enslaved Africans in Nineteenth-Century Iran: A First Attempt Anthon... more Recovering Biographies of Enslaved Africans in Nineteenth-Century Iran: A First Attempt

Anthony A. Lee
Lecturer, UCLA

Abstract

African slaves were brought to Iran in large numbers in the nineteenth century as part of the Eastern slave trade. While there are no definite historical statistics on the number of slaves exported from Africa to Iran, estimates among scholars for the Indian Ocean trade during the nineteenth century vary from between one and two million. Possibly two-thirds of these slaves were women and girls. In Iran, these Africans were almost always destined for residence in Iranian households as servants, eunuchs, and concubines.
Little scholarship has been undertaken on the history of Africans in Iran. There are enormous gaps in our knowledge of slavery in Iran and of the influence of African people and culture on Iranian history. More than a decade ago, Edward Alpers called forcefully for the study of the history of Africans in the northwestern Indian Ocean. However, his pioneering call for more research, for the most part, has not been taken up by other scholars. This paper is a first attempt to discover the individual biographies of slaves in nineteenth-century Iran and to reconstruct at least a part of their lives.
Scholars of Middle Eastern slavery have warned about the limited value of Western legal distinctions between slavery and freedom when applied to the Muslim world. Such binary, legal concepts of slave vs. free presuppose a secular state that is able to protect the lives and property of individuals based on their claim to citizenship. They are unhelpful when discussing societies which are not built around the power of the state, but rather on concepts or kinship, belonging, religious authority, and hierarchies of dependence.
This paper will examine four cases of slave experience in Iran in an effort to demonstrate the widely varying conditions of enslaved persons during the nineteenth century. First, Bahrazian Khanum and Nur Sabbah Khanum, two sisters who found their freedom in 1892, but who in the absence of protectors were quickly re-enslaved. Second, Haji Mubarak and Fezzeh Khanum, servants of the middle-class merchant and Babi (later, Baha’i) Prophet, Mirza ‘Ali-Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850). The former an educated eunuch entrusted with his master’s business affairs; the latter a lifelong companion to the Prophet’s wife who became a holy figure in her own right. Third, Khyzran Khanum and a young boy named Walladee, two slaves who fled to the British consulate in Lingeh in 1856 seeking freedom, but found no protection. And, fourth, Gulchihreh Khanum, captured and enslaved as a child in the late 1800s. She became a servant in a wealthy Iranian home and the beloved nanny of the family’s children, but continued to protest her enslavement to the end of her life.

Papers by Anthony A. Lee

African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal

Historians have so far found little to say about Africans in Iran. This is true of the history of... more Historians have so far found little to say about Africans in Iran. This is true of the history of the Indian Ocean slave trade in general, especially as compared to the large amount of scholarship now available on the Atlantic slave trade. There are huge gaps in our knowledge of the history of African slavery in Iran in particular and of the influence of African people on Persian society and culture. African historians estimate that between one and two million enslaved Africans were exported from the east coast of Africa into the Indian Ocean trade in the nineteenth century alone. Most of these were sent, at least initially, to Iranian ports before being sent on to other parts. Some two-thirds of these enslaved African were women, intended as household servants and concubines. The story of Africans in the Iranian Diaspora is virtually unknown. Ziba Khanum (d. 1932), an African woman, lived as a slave in the city of Yazd, in central Iran, in the second half of the nineteenth century. She bore her master a son. Ghulam-‘Ali (1871-1949), later known as Ghulam-‘Ali Siyah (the black). According to Islamic law (the shari’a), this would have changed Ziba Khanum’s legal status to umm-walad (mother of a son), meaning an enslaved concubine who cannot be sold and whose children are heirs to their father’s fortune. The master died in the late 1880s, when Ghulam-‘Ali was a teenager. For some reason, however, he inherited nothing from his father and soon left Yazd. The children of his father’s wife did inherit. Ziba Khanum remained in the household of her master after his passing as a dependent of the family. This fact alone raises the issue of the limited value of Western categories of slavery and freedom, usually based on the model of American slavery. This Western concept in theory contrasts a free (male) citizen whose rights are protected by the law with an enslaved (also usually male) person who can claim no such protection. Such a paradigm is not appropriate to a discussion of slavery in in Iran in the nineteenth century. This was a pre-modern societies that was not constructed around the idea of rights, citizenship, or of a secular state, but rather built on concepts or kinship, belonging, religious authority, and hierarchies of social dependence. Ziba Khanum’s legal status as a free woman, after her master’s death, seems to have been of little consequence. The only document that exists which mentions Ziba Khamum’s name is a family genealogy that was created by members of her master’s family in 1995 in Germany, which claims her and her son as relatives without any reference to race. All of the information for this article was taken from oral interviews with descendants of Ziba Khanum (her grandchildren) and other relatives (her daughter-in-law). These informants related family traditions and personal reminiscences that included Ziba Khanum as a beloved (and heroic) ancestor. This research demonstrates that there is still a living memory of slavery and enslaved individuals reaching back to the nineteenth century that should be exploited by historians of slavery in Iran. Ziba Khanum’s son, became an Afro-Iranian merchant, traveling to Palestine, to India, and to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. He returned to Yazd after some years as a wealthy and notable person. The enormous mansion he built in the city still exists and has been turned into a modern boutique hotel. As a teenager Ghulam ‘Ali became a Baha’i, a member of a persecuted minority religion in Iran. Possibly his mother did also. Ziba Khanum lived in her son’s Baha’i household, after his return to Yazd, with his children and grandchildren until the end of her life. Some of the grandchildren now live in the United States. This article discusses issues of race, gender, slavery, and religion as experienced by an Afro-Iranian family in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Despite being able to reconstruct a narrative of Ziba Khanum’s life, I was unable to get her relatives to remember even one word that she said. She remains subaltern and voiceless. Therefore, the article discusses Gayatri Spivak’s aggressive challenge in her noted essay, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” in which she questions the use of subaltern subjects in writings about the history of India. The responses of Eve Troutt Powell and other African historians to this challenge is discussed. How much can the historian actually say about Ziba Khanum? The article makes the hopeful discovery that a history of African women in Iran is possible, even at the level of individual biographies. An examination of Ziba Khanum’s life, as well as the lives of other enslaved women in the household, can begin to fill the gaps in our knowledge of African slavery, as well as issues of race. religion, and assimilation in twentieth-century Iran.

Religions

Tāhirih, also known as Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (1814–1852), was one of the leading disciples of the Bāb (1... more Tāhirih, also known as Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (1814–1852), was one of the leading disciples of the Bāb (1819–1844), Sayyid ‘Alī-Muhammad of Shiraz, the founder of Babism. She was formally educated in Islamic learning and theology, but relied heavily on inspiration for some of her most radical doctrines. Her poems contain radical theological pronouncements that would propel the Bābī movement beyond Islam. By no means typical or representative of other Bābī scholars, her theology seems to be filled with a woman’s sensibility, with its inclination towards peace, justice, and reconciliation. At certain moments, Tāhirih anticipates developments in Bābī /Bahā’ī teachings that would not take place until decades later. Tāhirih’s poetic voice offers a unique Bābī theology understood, perhaps, only by her few (women?) followers at the time.

International journal of the black and African diaspora, 2022

Historians have so far found little to say about Africans in Iran.1 This is true of the history o... more Historians have so far found little to say about Africans in Iran.1 This is true of the history of the Indian Ocean Diaspora in general and the Indian Ocean slave trade, especially as compared to the enormous amount of scholarship now available on the Atlantic slave trade and the New-World Diaspora.2 There are 1 23 Moojan Momen, "Iran: Province of Yazd," draft of article for "The Baha'i Encyclopedia" (1994). https://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_yazd. 24 Encyclopedia Iranica, s.v.," Inheritance ii. Islamic Period." 25 Some say six months and some nine months. But there is agreement that he was not able to see Baha'u'llah because of the latter's strict terms of imprisonment. In fact, in the late 1880s and early 1890s, when Ghulam-'Ali would have arrived in Palestine, Baha'u'llah was not under strict confinement. More likely, Ghulam-'Ali had arrived at Baha'i headquarters unannounced and without permission, which was strictly forbidden by the Prophet. He was received into the household, but he was not allowed to see Baha'u'llah until he left and was invited back. (See H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory (Oxford:George Ronald, 1980: 362ff) on the conditions of Baha'u'llah's confinement during this period. Nonetheless, upon arrival in the household, Ghulam-'Ali gave his 700 tumans to 'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921), the eldest son of Baha'u'llah, who was in charge of household affairs. This may have been intended as a contribution, since the 700 tumans were returned to him, only over his protests, when he left Baha'u'llah's household. He finally agreed to accept 600 tumans back. After he left Palestine, he travelled first to Alexandria, Egypt. While there, within a day or two, he received a message that Baha'u'llah was able to receive visitors and he was invited back to the Holy Land. On the second visit, he met with Baha'u'llah. His descendants proudly insist, therefore, that he was able to achieve two pilgrimages during his lifetime. 26 This was considered a great honor among Baha'is, and a blessing, since all of the writings of Baha'u'llah were considered sacred scripture by the Baha'is (and still are). 27 The Tablet reads in full: "He is the Witness, the All-Informed. All created things bear witness to the revelation

Little scholarly research has been undertaken on the history of African slavery in Iran in the ni... more Little scholarly research has been undertaken on the history of African slavery in Iran in the nineteenth century. What has been written focuses, almost by necessity, on statistical information or on the lives of the wealthy and powerful. Haji Mubarak and Fezzeh Khanum offer a rare opportunity for historians of Iran to reconstruct the biographies of two ordinary slaves. Because of they were the slaves of the Shirazi merchant, Mirza ‘Ali-Muhammad, the founder of Babism, surviving Babi and Baha’i chronicles (and oral traditions) include them in their pious histories and record at least part of their lives. At the same time, these histories erase these persons by steadfastly refusing to acknowledge any significance in their presence.

The Baha'i Faith in Africa, 2011

The Baha'i Faith in Africa

One million Baha'is live in africa. This is the first academic volume to explore the history ... more One million Baha'is live in africa. This is the first academic volume to explore the history of this movement on the continent. The book discusses the diverse and contractivory American, Iranian, British, and African contributions to this new religious movement.

Journal of Religious History, 2012

Today about one million Baha'is live in Africa. The Baha'i Faith was introduced to the British Ca... more Today about one million Baha'is live in Africa. The Baha'i Faith was introduced to the British Cameroons in the early 1950s and spread as a new movement within the networks of the Basel Mission, a Swiss Presbyterian missionary society. Enoch Olinga, an educated African convert from Uganda, was able to act at the centre of the movement without outside supervision and invent new forms of Baha'i identity. His successes are examined, as well as the responses of European missionaries and lay African Christians. African traditional religious practices may have also contributed to rapid Baha'i conversions. 1. This article is based on chapters five and six of my book,

The Sermon (there were two of them, interrupted by a moment of contemplation) was on the impossib... more The Sermon (there were two of them, interrupted by a moment of contemplation) was on the impossibility of imagining death or anything after that—only hotel rooms and penthouse windows, shoes empty on the floor, the private pool below the balcony blue in its shininess, the lapping of the ocean tide on the rocky shoreline, its pleasant whisper— which obviously is not enough.https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/onearth/1020/thumbnail.jp

The Baha'i Faith in Africa: Establishing a New Religious Movement, 1952-1962

A first history of the Baha'i Faith in Africa, with a focus on West Africa and Cameroons.

Recovering Biographies of Enslaved Africans in Nineteenth-Century Iran: A First Attempt Anthon... more Recovering Biographies of Enslaved Africans in Nineteenth-Century Iran: A First Attempt

Anthony A. Lee
Lecturer, UCLA

Abstract

African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal

Religions

International journal of the black and African diaspora, 2022

The Baha'i Faith in Africa, 2011

The Baha'i Faith in Africa

Journal of Religious History, 2012

African American Studies Center, 2005

Slavery in the Islamic World, 2018

Historians of African history estimate that between one and two million enslaved Africans were ex... more Historians of African history estimate that between one and two million enslaved Africans were exported from the East Coast of Africa into the Indian Ocean slave trade during the nineteenth century to Arabia, Iran, India, and further east. But, the history of Africans in the Indian Ocean Diaspora is almost unknown. This chapter attempts to begin an historical exploration of a particular population of African women, those enslaved in the court of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar (1831–1896) in Iran.

Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 1976

This volume is the first history of Benguela and its hinterland, located on the central coast of ... more This volume is the first history of Benguela and its hinterland, located on the central coast of present-day Angola, to be published in English. It is a brilliant addition to a growing number of monographs devoted to various African ports and their involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. 1 Until now, this literature has focused exclusively on West Africa and the trade in the North Atlantic. This study shifts the historian's interest southward to Benguela, a major point of departure for enslaved Africans, most of whom were transported to Brazil. During the course of some two-hundred years, more than 700,000 slaves were boarded on ships at the Portuguese port of Benguela. Therefore, this book emphasizes the centrality of the South Atlantic in the slave trade by highlighting the direct Angolan connection to Brazil and the importance of Brazilian-born actors in the South-Atlantic world. Divided into five chapters, the first two chapters of the book trace a chronological history of the Portuguese settlement at Benguela. Chapter 1 covers the first abortive attempt to gain a foothold in 1587, at what became known as Benguela Vehla (Old Benguela), to the establishment of the new colony at Benguela in 1617; then carries the history to 1710. Chapter 2 follows the development of the town as a major Atlantic slave port from 1710 to 1850, when the Portuguese outlawed the slave trade. To her credit, Candido at this point turns away from demographic analysis in the following chapters, seeking to write a social, political, and economic history of Benguela and the African societies that surrounded it. These societies were deeply transformed by the overwhelming importance of the slave trade and the continuous, endemic violence that it projected. Chapter 3 discusses the integration of Benguela and its hinterland into the international economy of the Atlantic world; and chapter 4 delves into the actual process and mechanisms of enslavement. Chapter 5 focuses on the political reconfiguration of the African states in the area of Benguela from 1600 to 1850. This book is based on extensive research in Portuguese-language archives on four continents-in Angola, in Brazil, Portugal, and the United States. Looking at the region with a fresh perspective, Candido writes a revisionist history of the entire South Atlantic during the era of the slave trade. She takes issue, for example,

RECOVERING BIOGRAPHIES OF ENSLAVED AFRICANS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY IRAN Anthony A. Lee, Ph.D. Afri... more RECOVERING BIOGRAPHIES OF ENSLAVED AFRICANS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY IRAN Anthony A. Lee, Ph.D. Africans were enslaved and brought to Iran in large numbers in the nineteenth century as part of the EastAfrican slave trade. While there are no definite historical statistics on the number of slaves exported from Africa to Iran, estimates among scholars for the Indian Ocean trade during the nineteenth century vary between one and two million. Possibly two-thirds of these slaves were women and girls. 1 In Iran, these Africans were almost always destined for residence in Iranian households as servants, eunuchs, and concubines. Historians have written little about the history of slavery in Iran. . 2 In 1997, Edward Alpers called forcefully for the study of the history of Africans in the northwestern Indian Ocean region, including in Iran. 3 However, his pioneering call for more research, for the most part, has gone unanswered. Behnaz Mirzai concluded that reports in the mid-nineteenth century ...

The Baha'i Faith in Africa, 2011