2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire

Coordinates: 29°56′04″N 52°53′29″E / 29.93444°N 52.89139°E / 29.93444; 52.89139
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2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire
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2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire
The Cyrus Charter of Cyrus the Great served as the centrepiece of the national event's emblem
Persepolis is located in Iran
Persepolis
Persepolis
Location of the ancient Iranian city of Persepolis, where the main celebratory events were held due to its status as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire
Native name دوهزار و پانصدمین سال بنیانگذاری شاهنشاهی ایران
Date12–16 October 1971 (1971-10-12 – 1971-10-16)
Location Imperial State of Iran
Coordinates29°56′04″N 52°53′29″E / 29.93444°N 52.89139°E / 29.93444; 52.89139
Also known as2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire

The Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire[1] (Persian: جشن‌های دوهزار و پانصدمین سال بنیانگذاری شاهنشاهی ایران) was a national event in Iran that consisted of an elaborate set of grand festivities during October 1971 to celebrate the founding of the ancient Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great.[2][3] The intent of the celebration was to highlight Iran's ancient civilization and history as well as to showcase its contemporary advances under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[4] The celebrations highlighted pre-Islamic origins of the country while promoting Cyrus the Great as a national hero.[5] Note that the celebration was actually 2,520 years after the founding of the Archaemenid Empire, as it was founded in 550 BC.

Some historians argue that this massive celebration contributed to events that culminated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution while others argue that the extravagance of the proceedings was exaggerated by revolutionaries motivated to discredit the Shah's regime.[5] As a result, some accounts of the event may have overstated its cost and luxury.

Planning

Tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae
, where the festivities started.
The military parade in Persepolis during the celebrations.
Persian Immortals, as portrayed during the parade.
Official emblem

The planning for the party took a year, according to the 2016 BBC

Tomb of Cyrus, as well as Tehran
.

Tent City of Persepolis

Tent City of Persepolis.
Tent in Persepolis.

The Tent City (also called Golden City) was planned by the Parisian interior-design firm of Maison Jansen on 160 acres (0.65 km2). They referred to the meeting between Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520.[6] Fifty 'tents' (prefabricated luxury apartments with traditional Persian tent-cloth surrounds) were arranged in a star pattern around a central fountain. Numerous trees were planted around them in the desert, to recreate how ancient Persepolis would have looked. Each tent was provided with direct telephone and telex connections for attendees to their respective countries. The entire celebration was televised to the world by way of a satellite connection from the site.

The large 'Tent of Honor' was designed for the reception of the dignitaries. The 'Banqueting Hall' was the largest structure, and measured 68 by 24 metres (223 ft × 79 ft). The tent site was surrounded by gardens of trees and other plants flown in from France and adjacent to the ruins of Persepolis. Catering services were provided by

Maxim's de Paris, which closed its restaurant in Paris for almost two weeks to provide for the glittering celebrations. Legendary hotelier Max Blouet came out of retirement to supervise the banquet. Lanvin designed the uniforms of the Imperial Household. 250 red Mercedes-Benz 600 limousines were used to chauffeur guests from the airport and back. The dinnerware was created using Limoges porcelain and linen by D. Porthault
.

Festivities

2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire
2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire
2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire

The festivities were opened on 12 October 1971, when the Shah and the Shahbanu paid homage to Cyrus the Great at his mausoleum at Pasargadae. For the next two days, the Shah and his wife greeted arriving guests, often directly at Shiraz's airport. On 14 October, a grand gala dinner took place in the Banqueting Hall in celebration of the birthday of the Shahbanu. Sixty members of royal families and heads of state were assembled at the single large serpentine table in the Banqueting Hall. They dined off a special dinner service of 10,000 plates commissioned from the English china manufacturer, Spode, each plate decorated in turquoise and gold, with the Shah's coat of arms. The official toast was raised with a Dom Perignon Rosé 1959.

The food and the wine for the celebration were provided by the Parisian restaurant

Guinness Book of World Records. A son et lumière show, the Polytope of Persepolis designed by Iannis Xenakis and accompanied by the specially-commissioned electronic music piece Persepolis,[8] concluded the evening. The next day saw a huge military parade of armies of different Iranian empires covering two and half millennia by 1,724 men of the Iranian armed forces, all in period costume, followed by representatives of the Imperial Armed Forces, with a large military band, manned by military musicians and providing the music for the parade, split into two - the modern band playing in Western instruments and a traditional band wearing uniforms of the bandsmen from different eras of Iranian history. In the evening, a less formal "traditional Persian party" was held in the Banqueting Hall as the concluding event at Persepolis.[9]

The inauguration of the Shahyad Tower

On the final day, the Shah inaugurated the

his mausoleum.[9]

The event brought together the rulers of two of the three oldest extant monarchies, the Shah and Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Emperor Hirohito of Japan was represented by his youngest brother, Prince Mikasa. By the end of the decade, both the Ethiopian and Iranian monarchies had ceased to exist.

Security

Security was a major concern. Persepolis was a favoured site for the festivities as it was isolated and thus could be tightly guarded, a very important consideration when many of the world's leaders were gathered there. Iran's security services, SAVAK, captured and took into "preventive custody" anyone that it suspected of being a potential threat.

Criticism

The Ministry of the Court placed the cost at

US$17 million (at that time); Ansari, one of the organizers, puts it at US$22 million (at that time).[6] The actual figure is difficult to calculate exactly and is a partisan issue. The New York Times reported several months before the event, "The enormous expense of the celebration is hardly likely to strain the treasury, which is enriched by oil and many other resources. But there is muted criticism here of such conspicuous expenditure in the face of widespread poverty and back wardness in this largely rural country of almost 30 million people."[12]

According to the BBC documentary, Decadence and Downfall the celebrations cost about 120 million United States dollars. However, this claim has been described as having no real basis. In addition, the documentary claims the approximately 50,000 birds the Shah imported died within a few days due to the desert climate. Historian Robert Steele has described this claim as infeasible, arguing that the October climate in Persepolis is more mild than reported and so the birds would have been accustomed to the local weather.[13] Many accounts from journalists and historians exaggerate cost estimates and claim the regime wanted to spend whatever was necessary. However, the Shah only approved the celebration plans after the scope was reduced to one-quarter of the original plan in order to reduce costs.[14]

List of guests

Commemorative set of 9 gold and silver coins, minted in Iran
Commemorative silver coins from a set minted on the occasion of the celebrations
Obverse of the Medal for the 2500 anniversary of the Persian Empire.
Reverse of the Medal for the 2500 anniversary of the Persian Empire

Queen Elizabeth II had been advised not to attend, with security being an issue.[6] The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne represented her instead.[15] Other major leaders who did not attend were Richard Nixon and Georges Pompidou. Nixon had initially planned to attend but later changed his mind and sent Spiro Agnew instead.[6]

Some materials

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Zhang Tong attended instead.[17]

Some of the guests who were invited include:

Royalty and viceroys

Title Guest Country
Emperor Haile Selassie[15]  Ethiopia
Princess Princess Sara Gizaw of Ethiopia[15]  Ethiopia
King
Frederik IX  Denmark
Queen
Ingrid
King
Baudouin  Belgium
Queen
Fabiola
King
Hussein  Jordan
Princess
Muna
King Mahendra  Nepal
Queen Ratna
King
Olav V
 Norway
Emir
Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa  Bahrain
Emir Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani  Qatar
Emir Sheikh Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah  Kuwait
King
Konstantínos II  Greece
Queen
Anne-Marie
Prince Michael
Princess Michael
Sultan
Qaboos bin Said al Said  Oman
Musahiban Abdul Wali Khan  Afghanistan
Princess Bilqis Begum
King
Moshoeshoe II  Lesotho
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Tunku Abdul Halim  Malaysia
Raja Permaisuri Agong
Bahiyah
Sheikh
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi
Prince
Franz Josef II  Liechtenstein
Princess
Georgina
Prince
Rainier III  Monaco
Princess Grace
Grand Duke
Jean  Luxembourg
Grand Duchess
Joséphine Charlotte
Princess Marie Astrid
Prince Bernhard  Netherlands
Prince Philip  United Kingdom and
Commonwealth realms
Princess Anne
Prince Aga Khan IV

inline Nizari Imamate

Princess Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan
Crown Prince
Carl Gustaf
 Sweden
Prince Juan Carlos  Spain
Princess
Sofia
Prince Victor Emmanuel  Italy
Princess
Marina
Prince Takahito  Japan
Princess Yuriko
Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala  Thailand
Prince Moulay Abdallah  Morocco
Princess Lamia
Governor General Roland Michener  Canada
Governor-General
Sir Paul Hasluck
 Australia

Presidents, Prime Ministers and others

Title Guest Country
President
Josip Broz Tito  Yugoslavia
First Lady
Jovanka Broz
Chairman of the Presidium Nikolai Podgorny  Soviet Union
President Franz Jonas  Austria
Chairman of the State Council Todor Zhivkov  Bulgaria
President Emílio Garrastazu Médici  Brazil
President Urho Kekkonen  Finland
President Cevdet Sunay  Turkey
President of the Presidential Council
Pál Losonczi  Hungary
President Suharto  Indonesia
President
Ludvík Svoboda  Czechoslovakia
President Yahya Khan  Pakistan
President Suleiman Frangieh  Lebanon
State President Jacobus Johannes Fouché  South Africa
President Léopold Sédar Senghor  Senegal
President V. V. Giri  India
President
Moktar Ould Daddah  Mauritania
President
Hubert Maga  Dahomey
President Nicolae Ceaușescu  Romania[15]
First Lady
Elena Ceaușescu
President
Mobutu Sese Seko  Zaire
President Rudolf Gnägi   Switzerland
Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas  France
Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil  South Korea
Prime Minister Emilio Colombo  Italy
Prime Minister
Prince Makhosini  Swaziland
Deputy Chairman of the Council of State
Mieczysław Klimaszewski  Poland
Vice President Spiro Agnew  United States
Chief Earl Old Person

inline Blackfeet Nation

Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress
Guo Moruo  China
President of the Bundestag Kai-Uwe von Hassel  West Germany
Foreign Minister
Rui Patrício  Portugal
First Lady
Imelda Marcos  Philippines
Cardinal
Maximilian von Fürstenberg  Holy See

Film

Iran's National Film Board produced a documentary of the celebrations, titled Forugh-e Javidan (فروغ جاویدان) in Persian and Flames of Persia in English. Farrokh Golestan directed, and Orson Welles who had said of the event "This was no party of the year, it was the celebration of 25 centuries!"[6] agreed to narrate the English text, written by Macdonald Hastings, in return for the Shah's brother-in-law funding Welles's own film, The Other Side of the Wind.[18][19] The film was aimed at a Western audience.[20] Despite a requirement to show the film in 60 cinemas in Tehran, its "overheated rhetoric" and popular resentment at the extravagance of the event meant it did poorly at the domestic box office.[21]

Legacy

Persepolis tent city ruins in 2007

Persepolis remains a major tourist attraction in Iran. In 2005, reports suggested that the Islamic regime of Iran intended to reconstruct the tent city created for the 1971 celebration.[15] In 2005, it was visited by nearly 35,000 people during the Iranian new year holiday.[15]

The tent city continued operating for private and government rent until 1979, when it was looted in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution and the departure of the Shah. The iron rods for the tents and roads built for the festival area still remain and are open to the public, but there are no markers indicating what they were originally for.[22] The dedicated Shahyad Tower remains as a major landmark in Tehran, although it was renamed Azadi Tower in 1979.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire". Ministry of Information. 14 September 1971. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  2. ^ Amuzegar, The Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution, (1991), pp. 4, 9–12
  3. ^ Narrative of Awakening : A Look at Imam Khomeini's Ideal, Scientific and Political Biography from Birth to Ascension by Hamid Ansari, Institute for Compilation and Publication of the Works of Imam Khomeini, International Affairs Division, [no date], p. 163
  4. ^ a b Nina Adler (14 February 2017). "Als der Schah zur größten Party auf Erden lud" (in German). Der Spiegel. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  5. ^ a b Steele, Robert. The Shah's Imperial Celebrations of 1971 AD.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Kadivar C (25 January 2002). "We are awake. 2,500-year celebrations revisited". Archived from the original on 8 November 2002. Retrieved 23 October 2006.
  7. ^ Van Kemenade, Willem (November 2009). "Iran's relations with China and the West" (PDF). Clingendael. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  8. ^ Karkowski, Z.; Harley, J.; Szymanksi, F.; Gable, B. (2002). "Liner Notes". Iannis Xenakis: Persepolis + Remixes. San Francisco: Asphodel LTD.
  9. ^ a b "The Persepolis Celebrations". Retrieved 23 October 2006.
  10. ^ British Museum explanatory notes, "Cyrus Cylinder": "For almost 100 years the cylinder was regarded as ancient Mesopotamian propaganda. This changed in 1971 when the Shah of Iran used it as a central image in his own propaganda celebrating 2500 years of Iranian monarchy. In Iran, the cylinder has appeared on coins, banknotes and stamps. Despite being a Babylonian document it has become part of Iran's cultural identity."
  11. ^ Browne, Malcolm W. (27 July 1971). "A Spectacle in Fall to Mark Persia's 2,500 Years". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  12. ^ Steele (2020), p. 5.
  13. ^ Steele (2020), p. 144.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Tait, Robert (22 September 2005). "Iran to rebuild spectacular tent city at Persepolis". The Guardian. Persepolis. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  15. ^ [1], spelt as "Kuo Mo-jo"
  16. ^ 庶英, 郭 (24 August 2004). "忆父亲郭沫若". Guangming Online. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  17. .
  18. .
  19. ^ Watson, James A.F. (March 2015). "Stop, look, and listen: orientalism, modernity, and the Shah's quest for the West's imagination" (PDF). The UBC Journal of Political Studies. 17. Vancouver: Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia: 22–36: 26–28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  20. .
  21. ^ Iran Daily (23 June 2007). "Team Named For Renovating Persepolis". Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  • Steele, Robert (2020). The Shah's Imperial Celebrations of 1971 AD_ Nationalism, Culture and Politics in Late Pahlavi Iran. Bloomsbury Academic _ I.B. Tauris. .

Further reading

External links