57 pages • 1 hour read
S. A. ChakrabortyThe City of Brass
S. A. ChakrabortyFiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: Middle East
This book takes place in what is the modern-day Middle East in addition to India and some parts of China. The way that S.A. Chakraborty builds the world is directly based on her studies of Middle Eastern history and her time studying in Cairo, Egypt. When Nahri lives in the human world in Cairo, she references the fact that the French have taken control of Cairo from the Ottoman Turks and goes on to say, “Indeed, when the Franks and Turks weren’t fighting over Egypt, the only thing they seemed to agree on was that the Egyptians couldn’t govern it themselves” (1). This historical context provides the reader with a tight time period, as the French campaign in Egypt took place between 1798 and 1801. This time period was the beginning of extensive Western colonization of this area. Nahri’s statement also proposes ideas surrounding colonization, global politics, and ethics that are explored through the fictional societies in the novel, since she criticizes the denial of self-determination.
Chakraborty also uses King Suleiman (known in the Western world as King Solomon) as a temporal anchor. About 3,000 years before the story’s present day, Suleiman’s rise to power established the world of djinn as they know it. Similarly, the Bible holds that King Solomon unified the kingdom of Israel around 950 BCE, and he is revered in Judaism and Christianity and viewed as a prophet in Islam.
Also mirrored in the novel is the Islamic campaign in the region of modern-day Iran around 600 CE. This campaign took place about 1400 years before the story’s present day, aligning with the narrative of Daevabad being conquered by Islamic rulers during that time. This historical context connects the magical world to the real world: the differing perspectives surrounding colonization, the constant exchange of culture and tradition, and the influence of geography, food, religion, and history on a society.
Religious Context: Islam and Zoroastrianism
Religion plays a vital role in the course of this book. One of the main characters, Ali, is devoutly religious. Chakraborty never writes the name of his religion, but because the religion is taken from humans, they use words like “sheikh” for religious leader and “adhan” for call to prayer. Because of Chakraborty’s own religious history and commentary on her novel, it can be assumed that Ali’s religion is Islam. It is also Islam that suggests the existence of djinn, upon which Chakraborty bases the premise of an invisible world full of spirits living alongside humans. Djinn are believed to have produced offspring with humans, which inspires the shafits in the novel. Ali’s religion causes him internal conflict because it requires him to see all beings equally and at times disobey his parents if their orders contradict the word of God. It also makes it difficult for Ali to respect other religions. He believes that his is the one true religion, so he sees the Daeva tribe’s fire-worshiping as corrupt.
The religion of the Daeva tribe mirrors Zoroastrianism, which was the dominant religion in modern-day Iran until the Islamic campaign of the region. After their campaign, which is represented in the novel as the Geziri tribe conquering the city of Daevabad, those who adhere to Zoroastrianism are persecuted for their faith. Their religion prioritizes the elements of fire, water, earth, and air, each of which (in the novel) create a race of non-human beings with spirits. They also revere the elements of fire and water as sources of wisdom and purity. In addition, Zoroastrianism proposes the idea of daevas as god-like beings. Zoroastrianism upholds the idea of eternally lit flames, one of which is represented in the novel in Nahri’s room, where she tries but fails to keep the fire lit at all times. Her relationship to her tribe’s religion represents her struggle to adopt their culture and beliefs.
There are also characters who view religion through a political lens, like Ghassan. He views his ancestor’s adoption of Islam as a purely political move—if they accept a human religion, they can unify the tribes and use divine approval for their rule. However, when he thought his family might die, he began to pray. Each character’s religious leanings are closely tied to their moral character—some characters use religion to gain or maintain approval of the masses, some are guided by their beliefs, and some remain in conflict throughout the novel.
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