The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan was first published in 1824. Sargozasht-e Haji Baba-ye Isfahani is the title of Mirza Habib Isfahani's translation of this novel into Persian.
Morier’s work is rumored to have been based on the life and character of a prominent figure during the Qajar period, Abolhasan Khan Ilchi, who served as the Special Iranian Ambassador to England from about 1810 to 1813 and wrote Heyratnameh (The Book of Wonders), the accounts of his travels to England.
Morier traveled with Ilchi to England and then accompanied him back to Iran. Because of this, Morier displays an astonishing knowledge of Iranian customs and beliefs, and often shows knowledge of aspects of Iranian life which would have been inaccessible to non-Iranians.
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Initially, it was thought that the translation was the work of Haji Sheykh Ahmad Ruhi, an outspoken opponent of the dictatorial regime of the Qajars in Iran. Later, however, this error was rectified when a letter was discovered that was written by Ruhi to the British Orientalist scholar, E. G. Browne, in which he states that the translation is the work of Mirza Habib Isfahani and asks Browne to help publish it.
This work is considered to be one of the masterpieces of 19th-century Persian literature. Even though Sargozasht-e Haji Baba-ye Isfahani is a translation, many Iranians think of it as an original work. This is one of those rare cases in which a translation far surpasses the original and, indeed, becomes an original work of art.
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