Hajji Firuz
Encyclopedia
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
: حاجی فیروز) is the traditional herald of Nowruz
Nowruz
Nowrūz is the name of the Iranian New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the Persian New Year....
, the Iranian New Year
New Year
The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....
. He oversees celebrations for the new year perhaps as a remnant of the ancient Zoroastrian fire-keeper. His face is covered in soot and he is clad in bright red clothes and a felt hat. While ushering in Nowruz, Hajji Firuz plays a tambourine and sings "Haji Firuz eh, sali ye ruz eh" (It is Haji Firuz time, It happens one day in a year). People of all ages gather around him and his troupe of musicians and listen to them play the drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
, saz
Baglama
thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
or kamancheh
Kamancheh
The kamānche or kamāncha is a Persian bowed string instrument related to the bowed rebab, the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and also to the bowed lira of the Byzantine Empire, ancestor of the European violin family. The strings are played with a variable-tension bow: the word "kamancheh"...
, and dance through the streets with tambourines and trumpets spreading good cheer and the news of the coming New Year.
History
Haji Firuz is believed to be based in a tradition called "Mir-Norowzi". Mir-Norowz was a comical figure chosen to rule the municipality for the last five days of the year (also called Panjeh). The temporary five-day king (Hakem Panj Roozeh) would often parade the city with a group of singers and dancers for the Norowz Celebrations.Importance of Haji Firuz
The sound of his songs and the sight of his dance is often analogous to hearing ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
music in a shopping mall, telling all that Nowruz
Nowruz
Nowrūz is the name of the Iranian New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the Persian New Year....
is in the air. Although the blackness of his skin has been the source of some racial controversy in Iranian intellectual circles, Haji Firuz's intentions and spirit have always been well-received and loved by the people. People consider it only as a face paint and there is no racial implication.
Others believe that the appearance of Haji Firuz is related to creating a happy atmosphere in the families. The New Year's Day must begin with joy, happiness and laughter so that during the rest of the year the families will continue to be happy. If the families are not happy, the Fravahr
Faravahar
Faravahar is one of the best-known symbols of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of ancient Iran. This religious-cultural symbol was adapted by the Pahlavi dynasty to represent the Iranian nation....
s who are guests of the families will leave the households which may result in the loss of abundance and blessings from the household. It is for this reason that during these days there are people with funny makeup and joyful songs who will bring laughter and joy to families and with their comical jests and songs bring laughter to houses, streets and market places.
Fire holds an important role for Zoroastrians. It appears that Haji Firouz represents the red-dressed fire keepers of the Zoroastrians, who at the last Tuesday of the year, was sent by the white-dressed Moghs (Zoroastrian priests) to spread the news about the arrival of the Nowruz. The fire-keeper's second duty was to call on the people to burn their old items in the fire, and to renew their life and regain health by obtaining the solved energy of the fire. The dark colour of the fire-keeper's face is allegedly caused by the heat of the holy fire. Fire-keepers use of rather unfamiliar expressions combined with their humorous nature, brought laughter to people's faces.
Mehrdad Bahar
Mehrdad Bahar
Mehrdād Bahār was a prominent Iranist, linguist, mythologist and Persian historian.Mehrdad Bahar, was the youngest son of Persian poet Mohammad Taghi Bahar. He held a PhD degree in Persian literature and Ancient Iranian languages from Tehran University...
opined that the figure of the Haji firouz is derived from ceremonies and legends connected to the epic of prince Siavash
Siavash
Siavash or Syavash is a Persian male given name.The following people have the given name Siavash:*Siyâvash, a character in the Persian epic Shahnameh*Siavash Alamouti, Iranian scientist*Siavash Akbarpour, Iranian footballer...
, which are in turn derived from those associated with the Mesopotamian deities of agriculture and flocks, Tammuz
Tammuz
Tammuz Tammuz Tammuz (Syriac: ܬܡܘܙ, Hebrew: תַּמּוּז, Transliterated Hebrew: Tammuz, Tiberian Hebrew: Tammûz, Arabic: تمّوز Tammūz; Turkish: Temmuz Akkadian: Duʾzu, Dūzu; Sumerian: Dumuzid (DUMU.ZI(D) "faithful or true son") was the name of a Sumerian god of food and vegetation.-Ritual mourning:In...
(Sumerian:Dumuzi). Later, he claimed that Haji firouz’s blackened face symbolizes his returning from the world of the dead, his red clothing is the sign of Siavash’s red blood and the coming to life of the sacrificed deity, while his joviality is the jubilation of rebirth, typical of those who bring rejuvenation and blessing along with themselves .He speculates that the name Siyāwaxš might mean "black man" or "dark-faced man" and suggests that the black part of the name may be a reference either to the blackening of the faces of the participants in the afore-mentioned Mesopotamian ceremonies, or to the black masks that they wore for the festivities.
Etymology
Haji Firuz is also called Khawja Piruz, Khawja means master and Piruz/Firuz means successful. "Haji" in here is just a form of address and has nothing to do with the Islamic (Haajhi) hajjHajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
, like using 'sir' to address a gentleman in English without the person being a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
in the technical sense.
Typical songs
Haji firouz-e /Sal-i ye ruz-e sal-i ye ruz-e....It’s Ḥāji Firuz/Hame midunan /Man-am midunam....Everyone knows /I know as well.
ʿEyd-e nowruz-e /Sāl-i ye ruz-e....It is Nowruz /It’s only one day a year.
The following song is usually sung with a traditional "funny accent" or a mimicking of a speech impediment:
Arbab-e khod-am salāmo ʿaleykom....Greetings my very own lord
Arbab-e khod-am sar-eto bala kon!....Raise your head my lord!
Arbab-e khod-am be man niga kon,....Look at me, my lord!
Arbab-e khod-am lotf-i be ma kon....Do me a favor, my lord!
Arbab-e khod-am boz-boz-e qandi....My very own lord, the billy goat,
Arbab-e khod-am chera nemikhandi?....Why don’t you smile, my lord?
Criticism
In an essay on the Iranian Nowruz, Iranian-American scholars Golbarg BashiGolbarg Bashi
Golbarg Bashi , born in Ahvaz, Iran, is an Iranian-Swedish feminist professor of Iranian Studies at Rutgers University in the US. Among other topics, Bashi has published works and given talks about human rights in the Middle East and the situation of women in Iran.-Biography:Golbarg Bashi was born...
and Hamid Dabashi
Hamid Dabashi
Hamid Dabashi born 1951 in Ahvaz is an Iranian-American Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City.He is the author of over twenty books...
interpreted the figure of Hajji Firuz from a racial perspective and called for the elimination of facial coloring from the Nowruz festivities. In their essay, they wrote of the "deeply racist figure of Blackface Hajji Firuz, doubtless a nasty remnant of African slaves that were bought and sold and made into an object of ridicule at the same time. We have been horrified to see Iranians celebrate the Nowruz here in the US in colorful parades down Fifth Avenue, an otherwise perfectly beautiful thing to do, while parading a figure of Hajji Firuz, much to the horror of African-Americans who cannot believe that in this day and age there are still people that flaunt such racist acts unconsciously."