Persian Society: 1673-1677 Essay

Jean Chardin was a well-educated son of a French jeweler. Chardin was a well-known European traveler of Persia in 17th century who produced substantial literature on Persian society. In his book Travel to Persia, Chardin describes the Persians as those who spend their money without care as soon they get it with no thought spared to their future needs. As soon as they lay their hands on some money, they either buy slaves, hire wives, set up a well-equipped carriage, furnish a house extravagantly and/or dress sumptuously (185). The Persians are characterized as kind, generous, and helpful to strangers, abhor fighting and worship Gods name. They are vigilant about the education of their children, they send their children twice a day to school and after school they keep them involved in their business and profession. They keep eunuchs to monitor their children strictly, not allowing them to go out on streets and to meet the relatives only with a eunuch serving as chaperone. At the age of sixteen, they marry their children off and do not allow them travel before they turn twenty (188-189). Chardin further elaborates that Persian men visit young women if their wives are over thirty and their wives, if they become pregnant early, get their fetus’ aborted because of fear of waning interest of their husbands. This situation did result in a decrease in their population. They are very civilized people but their behavior also encompasses negative characteristics too such as use of coarse and vulgar language, cheating, lying and frequently breaking promises (129-130). According to Chardin, â€Å"They are not to be trusted in service, nor in all other engagements† (187). Thus Chardin has depicted the conflicting character of Persian society in his book by stating that, â€Å"Whoever sees them only passing by, or in a visit, will always give them the best character in the world, but he that deals with them and pries into their affairs will find that there is little honesty in them† (188).