Tahqiqāt-e Tārikh-e Ejtemā’i (Social History Studies)

Food Semiotics in the Travelogues of Ottoman Ambassadors to the Qajar Court (1210 – 1344 AH)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

arman forouhi 1
samira jafari 2

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Iranian Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Meybod University, Meybod, Iran.

2 MA in History of Islamic Iran, Islamic Azad University, Yadegar Imam Branch, Tehran, Tehran

https://doi.org/10.30465/shc.2026.53811.2673
Abstract
This article provides a semiotic analysis of food and reception rituals in the Qajar court (1210-1344 AH) from the perspective of Ottoman ambassadors’ travelogues. Moving beyond traditional approaches in the history of diplomacy, this study examines Qajar court banquets not as a sideline to the political text, but as a symbolic “field” for the exercise of power. Food is not seen simply as an element of hospitality or sustenance, but rather as a complex and structured “text” that carries political and social messages. Using a combined theoretical framework (Barthes’ semiotics and Bourdieu’s sociology), this article argues that the pattern of food consumption in the Qajar court was a tool for “symbolic violence” and the consolidation of power hierarchies against the neighboring rival, the Ottoman Empire. Unlike European travelers who were fascinated by Eastern “exoticism,” Ottoman ambassadors, in their travelogues, deciphered the details of the Qajar table as indicators of the economic power and political stability of the host state with a “familiar but competitive” perspective. The findings of the research, based on a descriptive-analytical approach and relying on early sources, especially Ottoman travelogues, show that elements such as “absolute silence during meals” and “special techniques for cooking pilaf” were, for the Ottoman observer, indicators of the centralization of the Shah’s power and the cultural-religious distinction of Iran, and represented as “signs.” This analysis elevates the table from a marginal, nutritional phenomenon to a tool for exercising “symbolic power” in the international relations of that era.

Keywords

Food semiotics
Qajar period
Ottoman travelogues
Pierre Bourdieu
cultural diplomacy
Subjects
Bibliography
1.       Amanat, Abbas (2012),Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896 (H. Kamshad, Trans.), Tehran: Karnameh Publication. [In Persian]
2.       Anvari Efendi, S (2023),The Iran Embassy Report (Documents, Correspondence, and Minutes of the Erzurum Negotiations, 1259-1263 AH), Edited and Translated from Ottoman Turkish with Introduction and Appendices by Nasrollah Salehi and Safiyeh Khadiv, Tehran: Dr. Mahmoud Afshar Endowment Foundation. [In Persian]
3.       Ashpazbashi, Mirza Ali-Akbar Khan (1974),Sofreh-ye At'ameh [The Table of Foods], Edited by Seyyed Mohammad Mirkazemi, Tehran: Bonyad-e Farhang-e Iran. [In Persian]
4.       Browne, Edward (1992),A Year Amongst the Persians (Z. Mansouri, Trans.), Tehran: Safi-Alishah Publications. [In Persian]
5.       Dürri Efendi, Ahmed (2006),Sefâretnâme-ye Iran: Gozaresh-e Safir-e Osmani dar Darbar-e Shah Soltan Hossein-e Safavi [Embassy Report of Iran: Report of the Ottoman Ambassador to the Court of Shah Sultan Hossein Safavid] (M. T. Emami, Trans.), Tehran: Dr. Mahmoud Afshar Endowment Foundation, [In Persian]
6.       Dogan, Esra. (2009), Ottoman Hajj Caravans as Narrated by Iranian Travelogues of the Qajar Period,Miqat-e Hajj Quarterly, 18(70), 101-132. [In Persian]
7.       Riahi, Mohammad Amin (1989),Sefâretnâmeh-ye Iran: Gozaresh-haye Mosaferat va Ma'mouriat-e Safiran-e Osmani dar Iran [Iranian Embassy Reports: Reports of Travel and Missions of Ottoman Ambassadors in Iran], Tehran: Toos Publications. [In Persian]
8.       Ra'isnia, Rahim (1995),Iran va Osmani dar Astaneh-ye Gharn-e Bistom [Iran and the Ottoman Empire on the Eve of the 20th Century] (Vols. 1 & 2), Tabriz: Sotoudeh Publications. [In Persian]
9.       Alizadeh Birjandi, Zahra (2006), Factors Affecting Iran-Ottoman Relations in the Qajar Period,Doran (Zamaneh) Electronic Monthly, (50), 3. [In Persian]
10.   Mohammadi Aeen, Shahrzad (2016), A Critical Review of Travelogues' Views on the Food Culture of Iranians in the Qajar Period,Tarikh-e No Scientific-Specialized Quarterly, 6(15), 73-100. [In Persian]
11.   Münif Pasha, Mohammad Tahir (1977), Sefâretnâme-ye Münif Pasha (A. Sohrabian, Trans.),Historical Studies (Barresi-haye Tarikhi), 12(3), 75-98. [In Persian]
12.   Nader Mirza Qajar (2020),Karnameh-ye Khoresh: Dastour-e Ghazahaye Nader Mirza Qajar [The Record of Food: Recipes of Nader Mirza Qajar], Edited by Nazila Nazemi, Tehran: Atraf Publication. [In Persian]
13.   Aksan, Virginia H (2007),Ottoman wars 1700-1870: An empire besieged, Pearson Longman.
14.   Amanat, Abbas (1993), “Russian Intrusion into the Guarded Domain”: Reflections of a Qajar Statesman on European Expansion. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 113(1), 35–56. https://doi.org/10.2307/604195
15.   Asadi, Farshad (2020), Reception customs in Qajar dynasty of Iran from the point of view of European tourists,International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 7(7), 51-59. https://doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v7i7.1804
16.   Barthes, Roland (1964),Éléments de sémiologie. Seuil.
17.   Barthes, Roland (1972),Mythologies. Hill and Wang.
18.   Barthes, Roland (1997), Toward a psychosociology of contemporary food consumption, In Carole Counihan & Penny Van Esterik (Eds.), Food and culture: A readerRoutledge(pp. 20-27).
19.   Bourdieu, Pierre (1977),Outline of a theory of practice, Cambridge University Press.
20.   Bourdieu, Pierre (1984),Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste, Harvard University Press.
21.   Cole, Callie L (2022), The Ottoman model: Basra and the making of Qajar reform, 1881–1889,Comparative Studies in Society and History, 64(4), 843-873. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417522000305
22.   Dehghani, Ramezan, & et al (2019), Education in the Qajar period from the perspective of European travel writers,Sociological Studies of Iran, 9(2), 1-24.
23.   Dürri Efendi, Ahmed (2006),Dürri Ahmed Efendi sefaretnamesi (Ali Ürkündağ, Ed.), Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi, Original work published, 1720.
24.   Royal Collection Trust (n.d.),The court of Fath 'Ali Shah at the Nowrooz Salaam ceremony [Painting], RCIN 1005133, Retrieved from https://www.rct.uk/collection/1005133/the-court-of-fath-ali-shah-at-the-nowrooz-salaam-ceremony
25.   Turan, Şerafettin (1961),Kanuni'nin oğlu Şehzade Bayezid vak'ası. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi.
26.   Unat, Faik Reşit (1968),Osmanlı sefirleri ve sefaretnameleri [Ottoman ambassadors and their embassy reports]. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi.
27.   Wacquant, Loïc (2005), Habitus. In Jens Beckert & Milan Zafirovski (Eds.), International encyclopedia of economic sociology (pp. 315-319). Routledge.
28.   Yasincizade, Abdülvehhap (1811),Musavver İran sefaretnamesi [Illustrated travelogue of Iran], (Manuscript No. 4562), Topkapi Palace Archives, Istanbul.
29.   Exoticism (n.d.), In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 9, 2026, from https://www.britannica.com/art/exoticism-art
 
Tahqiqāt-e Tārikh-e Ejtemā’i (Social History Studies)
Volume 15, Issue 2 - Serial Number 30
Autumn and Winter 2025-2026
March 2026
Pages 171-194

  • Receive Date 19 December 2025
  • Revise Date 24 April 2026
  • Accept Date 26 April 2026

Home

Guide for Authors

Reviewers

Contact Us