His name was Mehraban Poulad. People called him Arbab Mehraban. He was born in 1262 (1883) in Yazd, in a place called Dastur’s neighborhood. His fatherm Poulad and his mother Parizad, were among the nobles of the Zoroastrian community in Yazd. It was the time of Nasser-eddin Shah Qajar. His father passed away when he was sixteen years old. He went to Shiraz to be with his mother and sister and to resume his father’s business in Saray-e Moshiri. He stayed in Shiraz for twenty years, and after his marriage, he came back to Yazd.
In Yazd, in the same Dastur’s neighborhood, he established Mazdyasnan Company with Zoroastrian traders. The fertile land of Khuzestan and its flourishing ports became the travel route for Zoroastrian merchants. The region of Kianpars and Kianabad in Ahvaz is a reminder of the great migration of Zoroastrians from Yazd to this region, and the Shiraz endowed garden is a memory of that same period.
Arbab Mehraban took over management of the Ahwaz branch of their company for several years. He later went to Borujerd and ran his own business until 1314 (1935).
1314 (1935) onwards the life of Poulad family goes into silence; in this year Arbab Mehraban passed away and it was rumored that he was killed. His death still remain a mystery. He is buried in Borujerd. His business closed down and his wife, Shirin Varjavand, moved to Tehran with the children.
From this date onwards, there is no mention of his name and fame in official and administrative correspondences. His suspicious death and the hard life of his survivors caused his memory to fade in the family.
We are now talking of 80 years later, i.e., the year 1393 (2014). The house of Arbab Mehraban has been rented out except for the upper story (a room like an attic), the key to which is in the hands of Mehraban Poulad. His name is the same as his grandfather’s, the famous Arbab Mehraban Poulad, and like him, is a Ph.D student in linguistics. He heart and soul is in this ancestral house. He comes from time to time to inspect the house, repair the damages, satisfies his nostalgia and returns to Tehran. One day, when he opens the door to the attic, he sees some suitcases. He brushes away the dust on them and finds them full of paper, books and documents. But he cannot make anything out of them.
He gets help from his teacher, Dr. Salomeh Gholami. Dr. Gholami is a lecturer at Goethe University in Germany. He comes to Iran; he goes to the Dasturan neighborhood in Yazd. With great care, Pouladi and his wife bring out the paper and books, turns over the pages with care, and read them, as if they are antiques, but of course they are. Thousands of manuscripts, old books, and the largest archive of Zoroastrian documents and manuscripts in Iran.
The museum opens in the end of the year 1400 (2021). Now, Arbab Mehraban is also head of the Mobed’s Association of Iran. Here, it is bamasi Alley, the same Zoroastrian neighborhood of the Dasturs, which has both history and age; the wall are tall and thatched, and old houses with beautiful doors and iron doorknobs and aqueduct wells that rise from the heart of the houses. There is also a fire temple here; the Central Zoroastrian Association of Yazd is also here. This Ghajari house, near the home of Mehraban Pouladi’s ancestors, has four porticos (peskam or soffeh) on four sides, facing the sun, which are symbols of the four natural elements; It has a corridor, and a yard, a garden, and a pond. Mehraban Pouladi buys it, restores it, turns the rooms into a museum, sorts the letters by date and subject, organizes the photos, and assigns each room to a topic. Mehraban Poulad’s wife says “I have spent my eyes on these letters”.
From the hallway of this house to the last room, it is full of photos that tell history; see them is like a trip to the rod down history. Sometimes it is an answer to the frequently asked questions of the mind.
The first photos are in the hallway; photos of Arbab Mehraban with a group of Zoroastrian nobles and merchants standing and sitting togetyher, on some occasion. On the walls of all the rooms, next to the books and manuscripts and the girls’ education certificates, there are framed photos, each of which has a history and a story. portrait of Zarathushtra: pure and luminous. A table in front of this tabeau is decorated with green coated sugar cones. The rest of the photos in the porch are of festivals and celebrations: Abangan, Tirgan, Sedeh, etc. And the porch itself is a place to hold ceremonies. The main room of the house is allocated to Arbab Mehraban. His photo is enlarged, in a big frame. His looks are kind and smiling, his eyes tell us so.
There is also a photo of the poet “Forsat-e shirazi” on the wall. He has had a long-standing friendship with Arabab Mehraban and has lent his books to Arabab Mehraban for printing. Letters and correspondences with nobles and people in business can be seen in every corner of the room. All these dealings with the merchants of Shiraz, Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, and Abadan, correspondence with high ranking officials and heads of the government, endowment documents for the well-being of Zoroastrians, and membership in the Nasseri Association are proof of the greatness and manna of his deeds. They are signs of the decisive role that Arbab Mehraban played during the ups and downs of Zoroastrians’ lives and affairs. The endowment document of Shiraz Bagh is a perfect example of this crucial role. Arbab Mehraban and twenty-one other Zoroastrians buy a garden in Shiraz and leave it at the disposal of Zoroastrians, travelers, and merchants who come and go to this city. And this donation remains after about 80 years.
Another room is allocated to the father of Arbab Mehranan, i.e., Poulad tirandaz. A big photo of Parizad, his wife, on the wall ads to the feeling of attachment to this room. Her looks are a paradox of both sadness and joy, as if it is the Mona Liza tableau.
Mehraban Poulad’s wife says “All the members of the house are bound to the attachment that you are talking about”. A room is also allocated to coins and stamps. Don’t letters need coins and stamps for posting? So, this room complements the other rooms. The two rooms being his father’s and grandfather’s rooms, this room is the grandson’s room; the one who rolled up his sleeves and made this exquisite collection. The exhibited coins and stamps are from the personal collection of Mehraban Pouladi, which is well placed next to manuscripts and old books.
The oldest coin is a Sassanid era coin. The oldest handwritten Avesta available is found here. You can see the lithographic books of Saadi, Hafez, and Rumi here; There are some letters that could be written for a particular class. Among them is a letter in the Avestan script; another confidential letter between the writer and Arbab Mehraban written in the Zoroastrian Dari dialect.
In this house, the discovery of a book of prayer, hadith, and a handwritten Qur’an, the date of which is not known, or a document showing Arbab Mehraban’s kindness and charity towards Muslims, is a sign of his tolerance; a sign of peaceful relationships and compassion of Zoroastrians towards Muslims. Of course, this is expected because it is Yazd here, a city famous for its tolerance and peace
And the last room to visit is the kitchen; the kitchen has the same old style. The smell of half-burnt firewood and clay oven will throw you back to your grandmother’s house when you enter it. A part of it has been turned into a dining room with traditional Zoroastrian drinks and food. This is not just a museum of manuscripts but a house museum that takes hours to see because it is beautiful, original, and old. After visiting this house museum you can treat yourself to delicious herbal tea and sirog.
