Isfahan, now Iran’s third-largest city (around 340 km south-east of Tehran), is known by locals as the ‘Pearl of Iran’ and by Poles as the ‘City of Polish Children’. Following the evacuation from the USSR of the so-called Anders’ Army and the accompanying civilians (a total of over 114,000 people) to Iran (a country known to foreigners as Persia for centuries), there were around 20,000 Polish children, of whom around 3,000 were in Isfahan. This revitalised Iranian-Polish relations. Among other initiatives, the Society for Iranian Studies in Tehran (1942–1945) was established, under whose auspices field expeditions involving Iranian and Polish scholars were organised. During one such expedition (in October 1943), one of the forgotten Polish artefacts was discovered and restored to Poland’s historical memory.

Isfahan, capital of the Safavid Empire

In the late 1590s (according to most sources, in 1598), Shah Abbas I the Great of the Safavid dynasty moved the capital from Qazvin (near the border with the Ottoman Empire) to Isfahan, which was situated more centrally within the country. Thanks to the efforts of Abbas and his successors, the city became one of the largest (with over 1 million inhabitants) and most beautiful of the 17th century, boasting dozens of religious schools, hundreds of mosques and public baths, and thousands of shops and workshops. Isfahan attracted visitors from afar, including merchants, travellers, envoys and missionaries: first Spanish and Portuguese, and later Polish.

Teodor Miranowicz – Jan III Sobieski’s envoy to the Shah

In 1606, Abbas authorised the establishment of a bishopric of the Apostolic Church of Armenia (one of the so-called Eastern Churches), and in the 1640s the Catholic church in Isfahan was placed under the protection of King Władysław IV Vasa. Among the envoys arriving in this dazzling city was Teodor Miranowicz, an Armenian who served twice as Jan III Sobieski’s envoy to Shah Suleiman I (who reigned from 1666 to 1694). It was here that he passed away in December 1686, and it is here that his gravestone stands.

The Armenians were excellent merchants. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, they virtually dominated trade with the East, meeting the nobility’s growing demand for oriental goods, particularly weapons, textiles, clothing and spices. They were involved in the import, and later the production, of carpets, and lent money (even to kings).

Polish ties with Persia

Thanks to their contacts, knowledge of languages and familiarity with trade routes, the Armenians were ideally suited to the role of diplomats – it was no coincidence that they constituted the majority of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s envoys to Persia.

During his second and final mission to Persia, Teodor Miranowicz was tasked with ascertaining whether the Safavid monarchy could become an ally of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Ottomans. This was a time when Jan Sobieski, basking in the glory of a great commander (the victories at Chocim in 1673 and Vienna in 1683), was pursuing an active anti-Ottoman policy with the aim of enhancing the Commonwealth’s standing. These included, amongst other things, establishing cooperation with the Crimean Khanate and Persia. In the case of the latter, this was a reference to earlier attempts: the alliance between Kazimierz Jagiellończyk and Uzun Hasan, Sultan of the Turkmen White Sheep Horde (1473–1474), Stefan Batory’s proposal for an alliance presented (via Venetian envoys) to Shah Isma’il II (unsuccessfully), and the successful cooperation between Sigismund III Vasa and Abbas I the Great (when the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was at war with the Turks in 1620–1621, the Persians undertook a relief expedition into the territories of eastern Turkey). Władysław IV continued these good relations with the Safavid state. Ultimately, Safavid Persia, plunged into a deep political crisis at the end of the 17th century and unable to wage war against Turkey, refused to support Sobieski.

Polish graves at the ‘ ’ cemetery in Isfahan

In Iran, an Islamic country, Christians of all denominations were and are often buried in Armenian cemeteries. In such a cemetery in Isfahan, situated on a hill overlooking the city, there is a Polish section surrounded by a low wall along the main cemetery avenue. It is well-maintained; the graves, set amongst grass and wildflowers, are in good condition.

The centrepiece of the section is a small monument topped with a cross. In the centre of the memorial is an eagle and the inscription: TO POLISH EXILES – OUR FELLOW COUNTRYMEN . Among the eighteen modest gravestones of refugees, arranged in two rows, there are seventeen civilian graves (mainly children and young people) and one military grave. In addition to these, in front of the pedestal itself, there are three further graves: the first – that of an envoy of the Polish monarch; the second – an unknown Catholic (†1980); and the third – an anonymous individual (†1910).

The gravestone of Teodor Miranowicz in Isfahan

Miranowicz’s stone gravestone bears a bilingual inscription in Russian (Cyrillic) and Polish (Latin script): In the year Z ̃R̃Č ̃E ̃ [7195] on the night of  K̃S̃ [ 26] of December, by the will of God, Theodor Miranowicz, envoy of His Royal Majesty of Poland, passed away in Isfahan / Here lies the sinner Theodor Miranowicz, envoy ^of the King [ sic] ^{of Poland} , 26 December 1686 . The epitaph was moved to the cemetery beneath the cathedral in New Jolf (an Armenian quarter in Isfahan established by Shah Abbas in 1606 and still in existence today), probably when the Polish section was created (it is not certain whether the royal envoy’s ashes were also transferred along with the tombstone).