CHILDREN’S WORLD - PETS - PERSIAN CAT

PERSIAN CAT It is believed that first long-haired cats arrived to Europe at the beginning of the 17th century with caravans from Persia (Iran) and Turkey. So, the Italian Della Valle (1586 – 1652) was the first to describe the long-haired cats which he saw in Russia and Afghanistan. He wrote that they originated from the province of Khorasan in Persia. Here is precisely what he wrote: “By its size and shape the cat does not differ from domestic cat. The most beautiful on that cat is its long hair, equally greyish on the whole body with the exception of darker hair on the back and head. The colour is somewhat lighter on the chest and belly. The hair is shiny, soft and silky and on some places curly. The most beautiful part of the body is tail - very long and covered in hair 12 to 15 cm long. The Persian cat spreads and elevates it above its back like squirrel and the tail top reminds of feathers. Persian cats are exceptionally time and thus the Portuguese transported them from Persia into India“. Della Valle also recorded that he had four such pairs of cats which he intended to take with him to Italy. This was the first written record about long-haired cats, transported to Europe though it is believed that such cats had been transported from East to West also earlier i.e. that they were transported by Vikings, crusaders, tradesmen and seafarers. It is also known that cats were kept also on ships that sailed towards America in order to catch mice and rats; some of those cats were also long-haired. Later, from those cats new and different long-hair breeds developed. Almost at the same time when Della Valle brought cats to Italy, Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc imported long-haired cats from Turkey into France. They were brought to French court, and later transported also to Great Britain. Cats started to be given names after their place of origin: Persian (after Persia) Angora cats (after Angora in Turkey) etc. Long-haired cats spread throughout Asia and at the same time throughout Europe. More and more often they were arriving with travellers and diplomats who - returning from far-away countries – were bringing to their families exotic kittens as present. To have a long-haired cat became the matter of prestige at the majority of courts and among the nobility in whole Europe. Apart from being imported the long-hair cats also started to be bred and sold.