Coffeehouses, Games and Entertainment in Safavid Iran

In seventeenth-century Safavid Iran, coffeehouses, Isfahan’s royal square and palace halls offered different settings for leisure. Isfahan, in central Iran, became the capital in 1597–98 under Shah Abbas I (1588–1629). A Persian qahva-khana, or coffeehouse, served coffee and gave customers somewhere to sit, talk, hear performers and play games. Coffeehouses probably appeared under Shah Tahmasp I (1524–1576); surviving descriptions identify several in Qazvin and Isfahan during Abbas I’s reign.

On this page5 sections

A room for customers, conversation and games

Isfahan’s coffeehouses clustered around Naqsh-e Jahan, the royal square, along Chahar Bagh Avenue and near busy roads, bazaars and religious schools. Travelers’ descriptions of coffeehouse interiors record large vaulted rooms, often with a pool in the middle. Carpeted raised recesses along whitewashed walls served as benches. The establishments stayed open from morning until late at night, with lamps lighting the interior and activity growing busiest around sunset. Their layout let customers stay and listen as well as buy a drink.

Men with leisure, including artists, poets, scholars, musicians, high officials and Sufis (Muslim practitioners of mystical devotion), met there. A visitor might discuss news or politics, listen to music, play chess or another board game, or join a conversation with people who returned regularly. Shah Abbas II sometimes visited the coffeehouse called the Arab and talked with poets. He also provided space on Chahar Bagh for Baba Shams Tishi Kash’s establishment and permitted wine to be served there.

Storytellers, poets and their audiences

Professional storytellers, known as naqqals, made the coffeehouse a regular stage. A Shahnameh-khan recited episodes from the Persian epic poet Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, the Book of Kings; a qesseh-khan narrated romances such as the adventures of Amir Hamza, hero of a popular Persian prose romance. Mulla Momen Kashi, nicknamed Yakka Savar, was known for reciting Ferdowsi’s epic, while Mirza Muhammad Bavanati specialized in Hamza’s adventures. A stable audience allowed a storyteller to continue a long narrative over several days. Owners welcomed skilled performers because listeners helped bring customers, and each listener might give the reciter a reward according to his means.

Poets read their own work, recited classical verse and competed with one another. Nasrabadi’s seventeenth-century collection preserves names and poems associated with coffeehouse gatherings, including exchanges on the royal square. Shah Abbas II enjoyed hearing expert reciters perform Ferdowsi. In a large room, more than one speaker could address customers at once: a storyteller in one corner and a preacher in another. Coffeehouse entertainment therefore depended on the performer’s skill, the audience’s attention and payment, and the proprietor’s interest in keeping people there.

Play and spectacle in the royal square

Naqsh-e Jahan, Isfahan’s royal square, was an open field for public games. In Safavid polo, teams of mounted players chased a ball with short sticks, bending low from the saddle to drive it between goalposts at a gallop. A c.1520–1530 Safavid illustrated chronicle depicts Shah Ismail playing qabaq, a mounted archery game. Riders galloped past a high gourd target set on a pole, trying to pierce it with an arrow. Other reported amusements included ram and bull fights and wolf baiting. Professional entertainers such as wrestlers, weight lifters, jugglers and tightrope walkers performed in city squares and open spaces.

The square and adjacent bazaar were illuminated for holidays, royal victories and visits by foreign envoys. Jugglers and rope dancers performed as crowds gathered. In 1672, a reception on Ali Qapu’s terrace placed refreshments alongside marksmanship, polo and wild-animal combats in the square below.

Court receptions and music

Royal entertainment also took place within coffeehouses and palaces. In 1619, Shah Abbas I invited Spanish, Ottoman, Indian, Russian and English envoys to a banquet in a large Isfahan coffeehouse. A central fountain, mirrors, candles and lamps transformed the room for the reception. After the meal, young Circassian dancers from the Caucasus performed alongside local dancers. The event joined a familiar urban meeting place to diplomatic hospitality, with performers working for the shah’s assembled audience.

Shah Abbas II completed Chehel Sotoun, a palace pavilion in a garden, in 1647. The building served for receptions and coronations. Its banquet hall paintings depict Safavid rulers receiving foreign leaders amid large retinues, musicians and dancing women. The upper rooms of Ali Qapu, overlooking the square, included a decorated music hall with carved plaster niches intended to display porcelain and other wares.

Supervision and religious criticism

Coffeehouse conversation could draw official attention. Shah Abbas I ordered clerics to watch over these gatherings because political discussion concerned him. A Muslim cleric, or mullah, might arrive early, address customers about Islamic law and morals, and use poetry or historical stories to hold their attention before they returned to daily work. At other times he offered a prayer or sermon. The Shiite scholar Sayyed Ne‘mat-Allah Jazayeri accused those who listened to songs and storytellers of worshipping Satan. Shah Abbas II briefly closed coffeehouses at his minister’s request, then allowed them to reopen under better management. Such interventions affected how performances were delivered and where customers could gather.

The religious setting of Safavid Iran shaped some of these debates, while the same city’s rulers also sponsored performances and receptions. For a wider view of homes, work and worship, see Daily Life in Safavid Iran.