Ispahani Family History
Indian Subcontinent 1820-1971
Hussaini Dalan, Dhaka, Bangladesh- photograph taken in 1904
Built as an Imambara for Shia Muslims by Prince Shah Shuja, son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan during the mid- 1600s.
For about 20 years it has been my intention to have a website displaying all the old photographs that have been given to me by family members and others in the Iranian diaspora in Burma and the Indian sub-continent. These are mostly of families that I had known as ‘The Community’ comprising of the Shirazees, Kabulis, Ispahanis, Khorasanees and many others. They were all descendants of intrepid people who, for various reasons, had left Iran for a better life in what was, at that time, the wealthier regions of Burma or India. I heard stories of one or two ancestors leaving Iran because of familial pressure to become mullahs but in the main it seemed to be for economic reasons as well as for reasons of political instability and the wars that bedevilled swathes of Iran’s borders in the 19th century.
After becoming acquainted with Zahra Razavi in London in the early 2000’s my interest in the history of the Ispahani Family grew. Having grown up with disjointed snippets of information from my mother and aunts and uncles, I heard from Zahra stories that my family and I had previously been unaware of; stories of Ammah’s origins, relationships between past family members and so on. It was good to be able to put names to the faces in photographs given to me by her as well as Dr Purvin and Mirza Shahab Ispahani, the latter two being the grandchildren of Mirza Hashim Ispahani. These photographs were given to them by Shahab’s father, Justice Mirza Ali Ispahani, who had taken the time to meticulously name everyone in these old photographs along with the dates they had been taken.
Rokia Sultan Ispahani, wife of Mirza Ahmad with her three younger children
L to R Ruhie, Joonie, Robaba (photo dated to 1935) Taken in Calcutta
Segunbagicha, Dhaka, 1963
Standing - L to R, Mirza Sajid, Razia Sultan (Sultani), Mirza Ali Behrouze
Sitting - L to R, Mirza Imran, Mirza Salman, Mirza Shakir, Mirza Mehdy (Sadri) Ispahani, Farah, Saba
I then came across Mirza Hashim’s memoirs which also included Ispahani family history. He was born in 1866 and narrated much interesting information about his father’s and grandfather’s generation. This further increased my interest in the Ispahani family history and, after gaining access to Mirza Abol Hassan’s reminiscences and those of my grandfather, Mirza Ahmad, the idea to place all of this information on a platform which all family members could access seemed appropriate. Dr Purvin took great interest in the memoirs and has produced a comprehensive synthesis of all 3 to produce a chronological history of past family events and movements in locations of past ancestors. This can be found on this website alongside the memoirs.
My mother Ruhie Khorasanee, Alijoon Ispahani, Zahra Razavi, Dr Purvin Ispahani and Yasamin Shirazi Khelwati all helped me with endless discussions and and emails which enabled me to overcome my inertia and get on and finish this endeavour. I am deeply grateful to them for all their help in making this project a reality.
Lastly, I would like to add that if anyone has any queries or suggestions I can be reached at nafiseh_ispahani@hotmail.com I would also like to apologise in advance to all the members of my extended family if I have omitted them or their side of the family in the family tree I have produced. My website designer has assured me that the family tree is downloadable, so family members who have been excluded can use my tree as a template and add themselves and their families.