Among Friends

After leaving the East India Company’s employment for the second time, Strachan was dependent on the goodwill of the Carmelite friars; staying with them in their convent in Isfahan. Drawing on the Order’s archives, the circumstances under which Strachan entrusted his library to them for safe return to Europe are described. The extent of Strachan’s friendship with Pietro Della Valle is explored showing that after his return to Europe, the Roman traveller believed his friend had travelled to India and died there. A number of recently discovered manuscripts which belonged to Strachan are quoted which suggest that the Scotsman had become a member of the scholarly debating circle centred on the Iranian court headed by Shah Abbas’ son-in-law, the mathematician and philosopher, Mīr Dāmād. The importance of such an association helps explain Strachan’s decision to remain in the East.