The story of a 500-year-old job with 33 skills; Who was the most famous Iranian delak?
Delaki can be included in the list of occupations that have a history of several hundred years. Some researchers believe that the dalaks started their work from the Safavid period, when public baths were built one after another in the geography of Tehran at that time, and slowly their scope of activity expanded beyond public baths.
According to Hamshahri Online, Nasrullah Haddadi, a researcher and Tehran expert, says about the historical background of Delaki in Tehran: “The origin of the bath in Iran has a history of several thousand years. The ancient Iranians came to the conclusion that the skin of the human body after a few days has a dead membrane and should be removed from the body. The construction of baths in Tehran has less history and goes back to the Safavid era; Moreover, Hamam Khanum or Hamam Qiblah was built in the same historical period in Tehran, and the profession of pampering emerged. Therefore, we can say that Delaki in Tehran is about 500 years old.”
From the Safavid period until a few decades ago, when their business was relatively prosperous, the Dalaks were all-rounders who, in addition to fists and money, sometimes also performed the work of breaking hair, cutting hair, pulling teeth, and cupping. They informed about the events of the day. In other words, the Delaks were people whose work did not require expertise and they worked in this trade with completely traditional methods.
Haddadi says: “The book “Garmabah Culture”, written by Alireza Lotfi and Hossein Masjedi, is a good reference to find out the history and passing away of the work of dalaks in old Tehran. This book examines this job through the eyes of famous European tourists, which is worth reading. Henri René Dalmany, a famous French tourist, who came to Tehran during the Qajar rule, mentioned in a part of his travelogue that the main work of dalaks was carrying bags and fists, but things like cupping, removing leeches, cutting veins, shaving heads, etc. They took care of shaving, circumcising male babies, treating fractures and bone dislocations, pulling teeth and inserting the navel, which some doctors refused to do.”
The job of a decorator is not exclusive to men, and decorators also used to pierce girls' ears in women's bathrooms. Haddadi believes that the dalaks were respectable people in popular culture for some reasons: “As European tourists have narrated, the dalaks of Tehran had important responsibilities, including the sign of marriage, which was seen as important by the public. They had a coded language between them, and the two Delaques sometimes spoke in their own language when they wanted no one to overhear their conversations. This is the information that different tourists give us and it is mentioned in Garambah dictionary book.
British diplomat and author James Moriah, in another part of the same book, quoted Hajibaba, one of the most famous Iranian Delaks, who narrated that he was a master of 33 Delaky fountains, which means the same 33 actions that Delaks performed in different cities and gradually He had also reached Tehran.
