Ali Asghar Khan Atabak

Ali Asghar Khan Atabak

Ali Asghar Khan Atabak Amin al Soltan (* 1858 ; † August 31, 1907 in Tehran ) was Prime Minister under Naser al-Din Shah for many years . During the Constitutional Revolution in 1907, he became the second prime minister after the establishment of a constitution in Iran.

Life

Ali Asghar Khan Atabak was the son of Aqa Ibrahim Amin al-Sultan, the valet of Naser al-Din Shah, who had risen to become court minister.

After the death of his father, Ali Asghar Khan received the title Amin al Soltan and became court minister himself. A few years later he received the title Atabeg and took over the post of Prime Minister. Instead of continuing Amir Kabir's reform policy , Atabak massively expanded the granting of concessions to the British and Russians.

In November 1896, six months after the violent death of Naser al-Din Shah, Ali Asghar Khan was dismissed as prime minister by Mozaffar al-Din Shah . He initially retired to Qom, later travels via Russia to China and Japan and then emigrated to Switzerland. For his mediation in the granting of the oil production license to William Knox D'Arcy , Atabak received £ 25,000 in shares in the oil production company to be founded.

During the Constitutional Revolution, Mohammed Ali Shah called him back to Iran to reappoint him as Prime Minister. His entry into Iran was initially prevented by revolutionary freedom fighters. Only after a resolution by the first parliament of Iran ( Majlis ), which was constituted in 1906, was Atabak able to enter and on May 4, 1907 take over the office of prime minister and in personal union the office of interior minister of the still young constitutional monarchy.

Atabak Palace

One of Atabak's first tasks was to reform the financial system so that state revenues and expenditures were no longer at the discretion of the Shah, but in the hands of Parliament. The financial reform Atabaks meant the end of the tax administration through the Mostofis , the former financial manager under the Qajar -Schahs. A power struggle ensued between parliament and the Mostofis, led by Mohammad Mossadegh , who was the Mostofi of Khorasan at the time, and his uncle Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma . Farmanfarma and Mossadegh had initially supported Atabak, assuming that he would keep the Mostofi system.

Atabak's most important task was to enforce the Basic Law of Iran, which was passed by parliament on December 30, 1906 and signed by Mozaffar ad-Din Shah on the same day. The Basic Law of Iran, drafted by a group of MPs chaired by Saad al Dowleh, consisted of 51 articles. As before, the Shah remained head of state. He appointed the government. The ministers were no longer personally responsible to the Shah, but to Parliament. Parliament could at any time demand the removal of a minister. From now on, all new laws had to be passed by parliament. All state loans, concessions and state contracts had to be approved by parliament. Parliament had the right to employ administrative officials in order to establish an orderly state administration. The sessions of Parliament were public.

Immediately after the Basic Law came into force, it was heavily criticized by the clergy for not complying with Islam and Sharia law . Sheikh Fazlollah Nuri , who was politically and financially supported by Atabak, made himself the leader of the critics , who called for a "ratification" of the Basic Law by the clergy. As part of this "ratification process", the Basic Law was expanded to include a total of 107 articles. In Article 1 of this amendment to the constitution, Shiite Islam was established as the state religion of Iran. Article 2 introduced a body of five clergymen to review all parliamentary bills for conformity with the principles of Islam. Laws that violate the principles of Islam cannot come into force. Atabak succeeded in persuading the various political forces to reach this political compromise. The radical forces of the constitutional movement, who wanted a separation of state and religion, saw civil liberties being undermined and wanted to eliminate Atabak.

On August 31, 1907, Atabak was murdered after leaving parliament. Abbas Aqua, a member of the freedom fighters, who committed suicide immediately after the attack, was identified as the perpetrator. Years later, Haidar Khan Amu Oghlu of the "Organization of Social Democrats in Tehran" confessed to the act as the leader of the murder. According to American political scientist Nikki R. Keddie, Mohammad Ali Shah also allegedly planned the murder of Atabak.

Ali Asghar Khan Atabak Amin al Soltan is still reminiscent of the palace and Atabak Park he built in Tehran.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the rise of Reza Shah. IBTauris, 1998, p. 5.
2. ^ Abdollah Mostofi: The administrative and social history of the Qajar period. Vol. II. Mazda Publishers, 1997, p. 347.
3. ^ Abdul Ali Masumi: Enghelab Mashruteh. Nonyad Rezaiha, 2006, p. 72. ISBN 2-916531-03-3
4. ^ The administrative and social history of the Qajar period. Vol. II. Mazda Publishers, 1997, p. 378.
5. ^ Rouholla K. Ramazani: The foreign polica of Iran. University Press of Virginia, 1966, p. 73.
6. ↑ Janet Afary: The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1911. Columbia University Press. New York, 1996, p. 112.
7. ↑ Nikki R. Keddie: Modern Iran. Roots and Results of Revolution . 2nd ed., Yale UP, New Haven 2006, p. 69.

Web links

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