Historian with a Camera

When it comes to coffee table literature, one thinks of glossy books replete with a flurry of truly sensational, eye-catching photographs and striking images with little text to accompany their visual, graphic, and spatial features. However, the book ‘Persia – Land of Emperors and Kings’ by Dr. Iftikhar Salahuddin can frankly be referred to as a literary exception from the word go because of its in-depth, research-based knowledge besides offering readers scores of stunning photographs and captivating visuals deserving heaps of commendation and praise.

Based in Karachi, Dr. Iftikhar Salahuddin, an ear surgeon by profession, has an abiding passion and lasting interest in an otherwise bland subject and scholarly academic domain called history. Along with his perpetual love for knowledge and erudition, his undying passion for photography takes him all over the globe in quest of absorbing photographs and exciting images linked with history or having something to do with the forgotten past.

Based on his history photography portfolio and frequent travels to far-flung corners of the world, Dr. Salahuddin has delivered lectures both in Pakistan and abroad on diverse topics related to his favourite domain, such as Ancient Religions, Persian civilisation, Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire, Muslim Spain, China, and many more. Before pending down the under-review book, he authored the book titled ‘If Stones Could Speak,’ which is based on his photography of 60 destinations in countries throughout the world, coupled with another book ‘Jerusalem – A Journey Back in Time,’ which made him won the Karachi Literature Festival Peace Prize.

Without a doubt, the book ‘Persia – Land of Emperors and Kings’ by Dr. Iftikhar Salahuddin is a pictorial journey back to the history of the richest Persian civilization, laced with a striking glimpse of modern-day Iran. The book, based on extensive research and painstaking travelling to distant historical sites, clearly transcends ordinary travelogues and serves as a complete reference guide for lovers of history who want to see the world captured through the lens of a historian.

More than a coffee table book, ‘Persia – Land of Emperors and Kings’ by Dr. Iftikhar Salahuddin is the most beautiful photographic journey to history, enriched with a plethora of vivid images, awe-inspiring photographs, and a detailed account of the era known as Persia. When a single picture is believed to be worth a thousand words, this book proves to be an extraordinary pictorial depository of history that can equally be compared with those of the world’s best-selling coffee table tomes of historical genre. The book ‘Persia – Land of Emperors and Kings’ stands out as a perfect blend of photographic passion with an eye for detail that too many books in this genre lack from the word go.

The most vivid photographic journey to the distant past, this beautifully illustrated book spans the whole of Persian history, covering almost each and every part of history that belongs to Persia and its leading figures. For example, it has chapters on Ancient Persia, Cyrus, who was the founder of the Persian Empire, Persepolis, the throne city of Emperor Darius, Zoroastrianism, the original faith of Persia, Hellenization of Persia, Parthian Empire reclaiming Persian heritage, Persia’s last pre-Islamic dynasty known as Sassanids, the Muslim conquest of Persia, Turkic Seljuk’s invasion of Persia along with the iconic scholars of the Seljuk period, Genghis Khan’s invasion of Persia, the rise of Temur along with the leading Persian poets in the Mongol era, including Saadi Shirazi, Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi, and Hafez Shirazi. In addition to that, it has detailed discussions of the early and declining periods of the Qajar dynasty, the Pahlavi dynasty and its fall, the ensuing rise of theocracy in Iran, and lots more.

In the author’s words, a historian with a camera, the book is a tribute to the era known as Persia with all its majesty, grandeur, and splendour. Reflecting the author’s pronounced fascination with the past, architecture, poetry, and culture, the book can be equalled with a historical and political treatise because it is a well-researched effort laced with some remarkable photography by the author himself.