Lion and lion trainers in the works of Qalandar painters

In folk beliefs and literature of Iranian people, name and emblem of lion is more or less connected with Qalandar Dervishes and Futuwwa cult. The lion tattooed on the skin has been favorite for members of traditional gymnasiums (Zurkhaneh) that in fact, were military branch members of Futuwwa cult (named ‘Seyfi’; attributed to sword). Emblem of lion has been associated with the name of Imam Ali (peace upon him), the first Shiit Imam, and the legendary inventor of the most dynasties of Futuwwa in Islamic middle ages. Futuwwa was a kind of sufi chivalry in Islamic countries, and people linked to the cult were mostly of lower social class. In that era, most of craftsmen and artisans were attached to a guild, and ceremony of arriving to a guild was similar to ceremony of arriving to a Futuwwa circle. In addition, some specific chivalry circles of artisans were existed in different social classes; in royal libraries, in team houses of Qalandars (Khaneghah), or even in Gymnasiums. In post-Mughal Iran and India, some of these groups had a lot of experience on showing and training lion. This study is trying to discover and analyze the historical connection between some groups of lion trainers and some specific Persian miniatures; the miniatures that display subjects like “lion in chain”, “Qalandar and lion” and “lion attack”. These painterly works have been repeatedly reproduced in some limited visual forms, and accepted by the people that were deeply attached to the cult or were owned by that. They reflect the world vision of some groups of Futuwwa and Qalandarieh, and at the same time, support and confirm their world vision. “World vision” as a kind of “group consciousness” is the imaginary idealized world of a group of people that its members are in same economic and social conditions. Hidden world vision in these paintings is the same world vision of some circles of Qalandars and Fettian (plural of Fata; means chivalrous), But process of creating these artistic works is aligned with the process of creating in Futuwwa guilds. Certainly, along with this kind of Structural Sociologic approach to the issue, Idealistic and Mystic approaches could be valid too. A scientific approach must answer the question that how a social form transform to a mystic form. This is the question that is not generally answered in idealistic approaches, but this sociological approach responds to the question. In some coffeehouse paintings, the lion lying down in front of Imam Ali’s feet, is the same favorite lion of Luti showmen and Qalandar lion trainers, and is associated with the “lion of god” or “Shir-e Khoda” Imam Ali. Perhaps by contemplation on these pictures, members of the cults found their ideal imaginary world; the pictures that were a kind of social support for the groups attached to Futuwwa and qalandarieh