About AJPF
The nonprofit Amir-Jahed Pars Foundation (AJPF) is proud to honor the Persian Patriot and renovator Amir-Jahed.
Amir-Jahed who, as a nationalistic writer and composer, spent his life time against foreign political pressure, illiteracy, and Islamic Shamanism in Persia, using his pen and his music, between the two World Wars and thereafter until his death in 1977. He founded the first yearly chronicle, the first Almanac in Persia in 1926, raising the level of journalistic accuracy in Iran to its contemporary international peers. Amir-Jahed accomplished pioneering renovation in classical Persian music and lyric poetry, and directed the School of Classical Persian Music in the Ministry of Art and Culture of Iran. Amir-Jahed’s literary and musical legacy, abbreviated and presented in AMIR-JAHED PARS epithet, is reminiscent of the initial Iranian Corporation’s Permit accorded to him by the Pahlavi Monarchy Government dated 24, 11(Persian month of Bahman), 1304 (February 13, 1926).
Contents to be reviewed are included in five short sections as follows:
- Amir-Jahed Pars Foundation.
- A short narration of Amir-Jahed’s life.
- Fundamental renovations Amir-Jahed introduced in Persian music.
- His Patriotic Poetries.
- The publication of Pars Almanac, which included the unique undeniable source of the chronology of events during the greater period of Pahlavi Dynasty (1305 to 1332).
Amir-Jahed Pars Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The Foundation presents patriotic efforts and results M.A. Amir-Jahed achieved in his lifetime which includes renovation in the cultural sphere of the Old Persian beliefs under stagnant Islamic nonchalance, reaching ultimately a solid level of progress during the reign of Reza Shah the Great and continued in the reign of Mohamed Reza Shah. Amir-Jahed contributions mainly upheld the general Persian patriotism and assured novelty in the field of Persian literature, musicology, historiography, and sense of realism.
The Foundation aims to promote the highest level of Persian prose and poetry, and reform the greatest patriotic enthusiasm in Iranians to safeguard the fundamental Iranian culture from Arabic influences. It plans to present Amir-Jahed musical master pieces and fine literary works to interested Iranian-Americans, and similarly, admirable musical singularities of other masters through conferences, publications, and the Internet. The Foundation welcomes public supports of talent, expertise, and tax deductible donation, as allowed by IRS 501(C)(3), to accomplish its objectives.
AMIR Jahed Bio
Life, work and dedication of Amir Jahed for creating more educated and liberal Iran.
Mohamed-Ali Amir-Jahed was born to an Azari father (Abbaasgholikhan) and a Tehrani mother in Tehran in 1274 Persian Solar year (1895 Christian). His primary and secondary education in Maktab Khaneh and Darolfonoon continued until he lost his father in young age and started to work as reporter for liberal News Letters in Tehran.
He was a fond patriot and erudite libertarian poet. During the First World War with a great part of northern Iran under control of the Russian Army, he was wounded badly and taken hostage by Russian consulate in Ghazvin. He composed his first patriotic song “my head and body seem sliced by enemy’s attacks, just as is my country”, while he was in the Russian hospital in Ghazvin.
He escaped by a miracle which was the news of the Russian revolution of 1917 that dismantled Russian Embassy in Ghazvin. He then joined the Swedish Military Police Academy in Tehran and became the organizer of the Police Department of Shushtar, followed by that in Bushehre, and finally in Ghazvin.
While in Bushehre, he had to put a friend of Shaykh Khaz-al (a notorious English follower) in Prison, and slap an inebriated British officer. He passed the Capitulation trial at the British consulate successfully, and moved to Ghazvin as organizer of the Police department. There, before the Coup d’Etat of Rezakhan in 1299, he met Rezakhan when releasing his inebriated soldier to him. In that meeting he found Rezakhan to be intelligent, very patriotic, and an astute officer. By Rezakhan order, Amir-Jahed and representatives of the Ghazagh and Military Police constituted the very first coordinated structure for safeguarding the town of Ghazvin. After his services in Ghazvin, Amir-Jahed quit his work, went to Tehran, got married and started working in the Ministry of the National Consultative Assembly of Iran. He then had more time for his literary interests and musical compositions, passing more times with well known personalities sharing the same interests.
The famous three pioneer Iranian musicologists, Shaydaa, Aaref, and Amir-Jahed are the originators of Persian poetry with concomitant musical composition in the history of Iran. Amir-Jahed has produced mainly patriotic verses with compositions enhancing their effects, and also highly elaborated expressive love songs as well as humanitarian and philosophically oriented musical master pieces. The greater numbers of his earlier productions have been recorded by the famous “His Master Voice” company in London, in the first decade of 1300 Persian solar year (1921 Christian), presenting adorable singing of the famous cantatrice Ghamar. The most commonly known Amir-Jahed songs are: “In the Iranian Land”, “the mercy of this heart”, “Nightingale in the prairie”, “At Farvardin promenade”, “O Human gender”, “The country of the heart”, “O cupbearer”, “The love treaty” among others exceeding hundred examples.
Amir-Jahed founded the first Persian almanac named Pars Almanac, “Salnameh ye Pars”, using utmost scrutiny possible in order to present the exact dates of Governmental activities and all occurrences of changes in various public spheres of progressions, novelties, and interesting developments in the country. Pars Almanac was published from 1305 till 1332 (1926-1953), for 28 years. It contained the exact chronology of events in Iran and the world.
Amir-Jahed received a first grade decoration from the ministry of Science in 1323(1944), and another first grade decoration from the ministry of Culture and Art in 1334 (1955). His name was the first recorded among the patriotic nationalists who contributed to the progress of Iranian music, at the time of the 2500 celebration. The Rudaki Hall in Tehran honored Amir-Jahed in two occasions, presenting some of his selected musical works by Iranian masters and notable singers. After eleven years of his active work, directing the Free Conservatory of Music in Iran, Amir-Jahed passed away following a heart attack, on 16 of Ordibehesht month of 1356 (1977). His funeral, organized by the Iranian Ministry of Art and Culture, and attended by many known government figures and Iranian masters of art and music, ultimately deposed his body to the land he so much cherished and loved.
A detailed Life History of Amir-Jahed (236 pages) written by Dr. A.K. Amir-Jahed is available and can be obtained from Amir-Jahed Pars Fondation.
Amir Jahed Biography Book
Pars Almanac
Before the Pars Almanac appeared in Iran in 1305 (1926), Iran had a governmental calendar in which months names were in Arabic and Turkish. By the order of the fifth National Consultative Assembly the calendar was written in Persian but lacked the European dates. It should be noted that after Arab invasion of Iran, both Old Persian solar calendar and the Arabic lunar one were used and after Mongols the Turkish calendar was also added. In 1304 (1925), the pioneer Arbaab Kaykhosro Shahrokh with the help of Amir-Jahed, introduced the first small Persian solar calendar in Iran. The same year, Amir-Jahed obtained the Permit from the Ministry of Culture for publishing the solar Pars Almanac which first appeared in 1305 and continued for 28 years until 1332. Pars Almanac used Persian, Arabic, and French for naming the months. It contained various sections of Historical, Artistic, Various Instructional, Athletic, Literary, Medical, Political (Iran and the world general), Amusement, and Advertises.
The most important aspect of Pars Almanac for the Iranian population was the content describing what had happened each year in the world and in Iran at a time that no Radio, Television, and any globally containing source of information was present in Iran. The next most important was the inclusion of the Iranian historical and literary subjects of all sorts that were mostly written by notable writers about Persian poetry and poets, and all various aspects and stages of the progression of the Persian Empire until the present day. Also, practically the Almanac contained one musical new Persian song of Amir-Jahed with complete notes attached to it every year. It is of interest to note that until Radio became available in Persia, Almanac Pars publication kept a high yearly sale rate of about 30,000.
Music & Poetry
NOVELTIES INTRODUCED IN THE PERSIAN MUSIC & POETRY
Music
In the prosodic structure of Iranian music and lyric understanding, there is some equality in attractive tonality that does not easily accord with its European musical counterpart. Noting this discordance, Amir-Jahed asked Dr. Barkeshly to write an accurate comparison in his first Divan edition, to help understand the basis of the problem more clearly. Dr. Barkeshly article showed the fundamental difference between the Persian music that seems entirely dependent on Dastgah (an enchained progression of one fixed series of melodies) and the European music that is practically free of such dependence.
In Amir-Jahed music, according to the special aim of the poet to produce special effect, continuation of the melody has not always followed in the same Persian musical Dastgah, and sometimes has beautifully gone from one Dastgah to another and back. Some examples of this neology in Amir-Jahed music has been well pointed out by the erudite Master musicologist, the late Saba. Saba has scrupulously reviewed “Nightingale in The Prairie” and “The country of the Heart” of Amir-Jahed. What he has discovered is a beauty that the intercalation of a passage from one Persian musical Dastgah to another can astonishingly introduce a beautiful musical surprise that has never been tried by Persian masters before. This has been reported by Saba in both 1331 and 1332 Pars almanacs as a novelty not found in Persian music before. Another similar specificity in Amir-Jahed music, reported by the master Hossein Dehlavi, is the use of multiple Dastgah as he has found in the “love Treaty” of Amir-Jahed where three Dastgah, Sepaahan, Shur, and Homayoon, have been used together with impeccable musical beauty.
There are also four historical patriotic hymns that each has been made for specific reasons. The first encouraged the early small Iranian army confronting the group of Samitghoo troops successfully in 1301(1922). The second is the one specially made to honor the Reza Shah after his first decade of ruling with significant progress occurring in every aspect of the Persian life in the entire Iran, only due to Reza Shah’s vigil patriotism and decisive actions. The third is the hymn for the First Iranian Boy Scout organization, and the fourth is for the celebration of Imperial Coronation, which is included in the compendium of the second Divan of Amir-Jahed.
Poetry
Amir-Jahed had published a good number of patriotic, criticizing, and advising poems during the First World War in newspapers in Tehran, but only a small number of them are included in his two Divan publications. The first, published in 1333 (1954), contained part of his poems and most of his songs with corresponding musical notes and all poetries with them. There was also a short historical revision about the Persian music and old musicians by Amir-Jahed and few other Masters, and that publication became immediately out of print.
The second publication of Amir-Jahed Divan came out with additional new songs and with Amir-Jahed and other Masters comments in 1349 (1970). At that time Amir-Jahed was visiting his son and daughter in America and the second publication was under his friends control in Iran, which showed minor differences with the first one. The second publication of Divan was dedicated to his Excellency Mehrdad Pahlbod, the Minister of the Culture and Art department of Iran. The content of the first publication could be found in the second one, with new additions of the series of musical notes of songs Amir-Jahed had used to embellish the theatrical presentation prepared by the great writer Mosta,an. In addition, the hymn honoring the Coronation of the second Pahlavi, and the three Dastgah song of ”Love Treaty” and few added instructional advices were the interesting adjunctions in the second Divan.