Meet Narges
and Haji Naneh
In 1906, Narges was kidnapped and illegally enslaved for her Black skin in Tehran.
They are here to tell their story of finding strength and freedom through each other.
In 1906, a prominent merchant bought a gift for his wife: a dark-skinned Black woman named Narges. When he brought her to their home in Tehran, all Narges could do was cry. “I’m a free woman,” she protested, “my mother was an enslaved woman, but my father was free. Don’t buy me. I’m a free woman.”
This wasn’t what they were expecting. The merchant sent for the slave trafficker and asked for his money back.
The slave trafficker arrived the next day. She gave the merchant 80 toman and got ready to leave with Narges.
But before they left, the merchant’s wife quietly gave Narges instructions on how to escape: hang back as the slave trader walked ahead, and slip into the neighbor’s house. The mullah who lived there could give Narges refuge.
As they left the merchant’s house, Narges spotted the mullah’s front door and made a swift escape.
Once inside, Narges shared her story with the mullah. I’m a free woman, she told him, my mother was an enslaved nanny and my father was a free man.
The mullah listened and agreed. Narges was a free woman. He told her she was free to stay as long as she wanted
The slave trader, however, had other plans.
The slave trafficker knew she could not force Narges to come with her. She took Narges presents as bribes to leave the mullah’s home.
“I’ll never sell you again,” she lied. “Come with me.”
Narges ignored the slave trader and stayed put.
Impatient, the slave trader found a new customer. A parliamentary representative and his wife agreed to buy Narges for another 80 toman.
But they needed a new plan. A new plan to kidnap Narges again, this time, from the mullah’s home.
Eager to enslave Narges and take her home with them, the parliamentary representative and his wife went to the mullah, asking him to release her.
The mullah repeated what he had told the slave trafficker before: Narges was free and she could leave when she wanted.
The representative’s wife went to Narges.
“Come with us,” she said. “We’ll treat you like our daughter.” she lied.
Narges refused.
The slave trader and her new customers came up with a new plan: to bribe the mullah’s wife with gold bangles and convince her to release Narges.
Eager for her new baubles, she agreed, and together they went to convince the mullah.
And so the quest for re-enslaving Nargues ensued…
The mullah relented too. Together, they hatched a plan to let the slave trader kidnap Narges en route to the public bathhouse.
They waited for the time to come.
Narges, like others living in Tehran at the time, would have gone to the public bathhouse once a week, a mundane routine in her weekly schedule. This time, though, she would be kidnapped. She would never return to the mullah’s house, her temporary place of refuge, again.
Instead, the parliamentary official and his wife returned home with Narges in tow. They had their new slave that they had plotted for.
And the mullah’s wife returned home with her new golden bangles.
And the slave trader returned home, with 80 toman in her pocket.
Narges was re-enslaved in Tehran again.
Narges knew her enslavement was illegal. She needed a new escape.
While she had been biding her time at the mullah’s house, Narges had been planning a safe exit.
She had heard of Haji Naneh.
Haji Naneh was a formerly enslaved Black woman who was now living in Tehran freely since her emancipation. She helped other enslaved Black women escape to freedom.
After a few days of enslavement at the parliamentary member’s home, Narges ran away.
And she finally met Haji Naneh.
Haji Naneh and her network protected Narges until it was safe for her to go out again.
Then, one day, Narges managed to go straight to the Parliament.
There, she secured papers: Narges was a free woman.
No one could attempt to enslave her – and try to get away with it – again.
Narges stayed with Haji Naneh’s network, helping other Black women in Tehran find safety from enslavement.
We’ve arrived at the end of Narges and Haji Naneh’s history series. For many of us at the Collective, like for many of you, it has been a learning journey. We hope that you all see the importance of looking at ourselves and our collective history to better understand who we are today and where we want to be tomorrow.
Sources:
Munis al-Dawlih, ed. Sirus Sa’dvandian, Khātirāt-i Munis al-Dawlih (Tehran: Kitābkhānih va Markaz-i Asnād-i Majlis Shurā-yi Islāmī, 2001)173- 175.
Beeta Baghoolizadeh, “Seeing Race and Erasing Slavery: Media and the Construction of Blackness in Iran, in 1830-1960,” Ph.D. Diss, University of Pennsylvania, 2018.
Produced with:
Creative Direction: priscillia kounkou hoveyda
Historian: Prof. Beeta Baghoolizadeh
Artist: Mina M. Jafari