The real Baghdad may be more prosaic, and residents can live peacefully in turbulent times, such as walking into a café, ordering a cup of Turkish coffee or black tea, smoking a gus of smoke, and chatting with neighbors about history, politics, philosophy, movies, poetry, topics that have been discussed for a whole century at Shahbandar, an Arab café on Mutai Naibi Street, and today it is one of the few traditional literary cafes left in Baghdad.
Near baghdad's Old Town, Mutai Naibi Street is named after the ancient 10th-century Iraqi poet Mutai Naibi, which was historically the "Bookstore Street" of Baghdad, and even now it is full of bookstores and open-air book markets, where Baghdad's oldest bookstore is still located. Mutai Naibi Street, the literary center of Baghdad, is an oasis for local intellectuals. If it is the "left bank" of Baghdad, then perhaps Shahbandar is the flower café in contemporary Baghdad.
The habits of the intellectual class in Baghdad are here to talk about the data charts in this article
Maybe you've heard of Mutai Naibi Street long ago, in another way. In 2007, it was hit by a suicide bombing just 40 yards from the café, built in 1917 during the Ottoman era. Twenty-six people were killed, including four sons and one grandson of Shahbandar owner Ali. The café was completely destroyed, and Ali himself lost consciousness and was buried under the rubble. He was rescued by the people.
After the disaster, ali, 75, rebuilt the great-great-grandfather's café and, as in the past, hosted its old patrons, only to change the name of the café to Shahbandar Martyrs' Cafe. Pictures of the deceased children hung behind the counter in the café, where Ali always sat.
Ali tried to restore the café to its former glory: antique brass water jugs, Russian-style samovar, wooden furniture with leather decorations were placed in the store. The walls are covered with historical photographs recounting the history of Iraq. The photographs show the Pashas of the Ottoman Empire and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, a close friend of Lawrence of Arabia, and a picture of them on the wall. As well as the British traveler, diplomat, and spy Gertrude Bel, he also assisted Faisal and Lawrence in mapping the borders of modern Iraq. These historical photographs came to an abrupt end until the reign of Saddam Hussein. In addition, portraits of Iraqi poets and artists are decorated with walls to pay homage to the past. They also set foot here on Fridays.
"Since its inception, the café has been a meeting place for generations of influential Iraqi intellectuals, thinkers and politicians." Ali said. One writer, Abdel Amir al-Maja, discovered that the famous politician Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi of modern Iraq and the famous poet Maruf al-Rasafi were once regulars of Shahbandar.
The shop is hung with historical photographs of "Lawrence of Arabia"
The café is open every day, but Friday is its busiest day, as it is a traditional day off for Muslims and a weekly book market on Mutai Naibi Street outside the café, where people flock from all over. The café offers lemon tea cooked in the traditional way and a variety of flavors of shisha, but guests are forbidden to play backgammon and dominoes here, and in Ali's words, Shahbandar makes room for cultural exchange and serious conversations, which is one of the characteristics that distinguish it from other modern cafes.
Baghdad's first café, Khan Jahan, was built under Ottoman rule in 1590. By the early 20th century, literary cafes in Baghdad flourished on both sides of the Tigris River, especially Rashid Street, which runs along the east bank of the Tigris River. While these cafes once witnessed the turbulent politics of modern Iraq, as well as the cultural and social picture, most of them are now gone and turned into shops.
Ahmad Suheil is a journalist, and for him, while iraq has never had a salon or club, the presence of a literary café makes up for it. "I always come to Shahbandar on Fridays for a while." "What appeals to me most here is the typical Baghdad atmosphere, where old photographs hanging on the walls take me back to the past I've read or told my father," Suheil said. ”
Khouloud Samy, a college student studying Arabic literature, occasionally comes to Mutai Naibi Street to shop for books, and the Shahbandar Café is the only place he can relax after a few hours in the bookstore and library. He also noticed an increase in the number of female customers in cafes, which in the past had not accepted women. But now women can also talk about it here, and Heba Ibrahim is one of them, who works for the government and is a translator. On a recent Friday night, she and four female friends came here. "Anyone can come here," she said, "as long as you have an open mind." No one will talk to us here. ”
Abjad Design, a Dubai-based designer firm, also designed the perimeter of the café
For Shahbandar, the biggest difference from the past is that Iraq's intellectual class is on the exodus. Historian Moyad al Bassam, 66, said, "A lot of the people who sat with us are gone. This is Iraq, we are Iraqis, death is inseparable from us. ”
None of Ali's five surviving sons were willing to take over the café. "They say there's no future for the industry. But my roots are here, and I want the café to continue to operate. ”
"Maybe one day, tourists will come back to Baghdad. Here they can find the real life of baghdadis, experience and understand our culture, our history. ”
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