Usually at the end of each Persian calendar month, we highlight the national trends in Internet searches through Google’s Trend service. However, as of this month, we will be moving from the macro to micro with specific results from the Iranian capital.
Tehran has interesting search results, as it bucks the trends of national events and sometimes even doubles down on specific subjects, be it celebrities or national events. In any case, this month we will be focusing on the prior 30 days of searches from the metropolis of some 12 million people.
Results from Tehran’s citizens can gauge the pulse of the nation, and with a city the size of the populations of Armenia, Albania, Qatar and Namibia combined, results can be surprising.
Our breakout term this month for the Iranian capital is Hadi Norouzi—a well-known footballer who died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 30 this month. Like the national search results, his sudden death and speculations about the cause of death fueled searches. However, no foul play was attributed to the footballer’s death.
Like our national search results, religion too is playing a major role in this month’s results. Muharram, the lunar month in the Arab calendar that started on Oct. 15, and the month in which Iranians remember the sacrifice of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the prophet’s grandson, and that of his 72 companions more than 13 centuries ago by the army of tyrant king Yazid, was trending in Iran.
Unlike national results, the search results drop off quicker than the national average.
Following the Muharram theme, “Download Nohe” trends in third place. Nohe refers to elegies recited in honor of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH).
Again in fourth place this month is the search term “Ashura” written in Persian, it is the 10th day in the month of Murraham marking the climax of the religious mourning period. Large events are organized and free food is distributed across the country.
Again, the Muharram theme continues through the charts as “Nohe” on its own appears next followed by a specific search result, “Mahmoud Karimi.” Karimi is one of the leading eulogists who recites verses about the battle in Karbala, Iraq, where Imam Hussein (PBUH) was martyred.
Karimi is particularly famous in Tehran during the period of mourning. He is famous for his voice and has a long history in the service, according to Wikipedia. He is also famous for stating that “mourning should not mix with political issues”.
“Download Maddahi” written in Persian comes next with an increase in searches of 550% during the past 30 days. Like prior search results, Maddahi is the eulogy chanted through the month with men playing the tracks on CDs bought across Tehran.
“Imam Hussein (PBUH)” is the next search term being requested by citizens of the capital, which again is followed by “Maddahi” on its own in ninth place through the month of November.
In last place this month, we have another eulogist named “Javad Moqaddam” written in Persian script. Throughout the month, news websites in Iran have been letting users download odes related to the famous battle of Imam Hussein (PBUH).
Eulogists like Moqaddam and Karimi are local celebrities and in high demand for their impressive recounting of the historical events.
