Sepahsalar Tonekaboni

Mohammad Vali Chan Sepahsalar-e Azam-e Tonekaboni

Mohammad Vali Chan, Sepahsālār-e Tonekāboni ( Persian محمدولی‌خان سپهسالار تنکابنی; * 1847 in Tonekābon ; † 1926 ), known asسپهسالار اعظم تنکابنی Sepahsālār-e A'zam-e Tonekāboni , was Prime Minister of Iran in 1910 and 1915.

Life

Mohammad Vali Chan was born in Tonekabon, a city in the province of Māzandarān on the Caspian Sea , in 1847 . His family had already received land from Aga Mohammed Khan , the founder of the Qajar dynasty . His land holdings were correspondingly large. He was considered one of the richest men in Iran.

Mohammad Vali Chan began a military career. His father and grandfather already held high positions in the Iranian army under the Qajar shahs. Mohammad Vali Chan was the commander of the Māzandarān regional army. Under Mozaffar ad-Din Shah , he was responsible for customs administration on Iran's northern border with Russia. He also became governors of Astarabad , Ardabil and Gilan . He also held high positions in the Ministry of Post and Telegraphy, Customs Administration and Finance Administration.

During the Constitutional Revolution of 1906–1911, he initially supported Mohammed Ali Shah in his attempt to dissolve the constitutional government and parliament and to reestablish the absolutist monarchy. He was also involved in Mohammad Ali Shah's attack on Tabris against the constitutional forces led by Sattar Khan .

After a dispute with former Prime Minister Abdol Madschid Mirza , who claimed high command in the siege of Tabriz, he switched sides, supported the constitutional movement against Mohammad Ali Shah, marched to Tehran and helped overthrow Mohammad Ali Shah.

After the successful restoration of a constitutional government, Mohammad Vali Chan became Prime Minister of Iran from October 1909 to July 1910, from July 19 to 26, 1911, and from March 1916 to mid-August 1916. On August 6, 1916, he signed an agreement with the British and Russian ambassadors that authorized Russia and Great Britain to each recruit 11,000 Iranian troops to replace the gendarmerie . In return, Iran should be allowed to suspend ongoing loan repayments. State revenues should be controlled by a joint commission. Russian newspapers have already said that Iran is now under British and Russian protectorates. Ahmad Shah refused to sign this agreement and Mohammad Vali Chan resigned from his post as prime minister. British, Russian and Turkish troops had occupied the north, south and west of Iran in the course of the fighting during the First World War. Mohammad Vali Chan fled to Qazwin after there was a danger that the Turkish troops would march into Tehran . After the end of the war, Mohammad Vali Chan became governor of Azerbaijan in 1919 .

In 1926, Mohammad Vali Chan committed suicide after running into significant financial difficulties. The trigger was a dispute with the newly appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer Arthur Millspaugh . Millspaugh, who had been called to Iran to establish a functioning tax system, lifted the privilege given by the Qajar Shahs to "loyal public servants" not to pay taxes. This also included Mohammad Vali Chan, who owned almost half a province and the largest citrus plantations in northern Iran. When those concerned refused to pay the outstanding taxes, Millspaugh put their names on a "list of tax evaders" and dispatched tax collectors who, with the help of armed police, reinforced the tax claims.

literature

• Cosroe Chaqueri: The Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran, 1920-1921. Birth of the trauma. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh PA et al. 1995, ISBN 0-8229-3792-1 , ( Pitt series in Russian and East European studies 21), p. 474f.
• Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the Rise of Reza Shah. From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Rule. IB Tauris, London et al. 2000, ISBN 1-86064-629-8 , p. 10.

See also

• Bagher Khan
• Sardar Asad
• Sattar Khan

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik during the First World War . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1960, pp. 263f. (also dissertation, University of Hamburg 1960).
2. ^ Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the Rise of Reza Shah. From Qajar collapse to Pahlavi rule . IB Tauris, London 2000. pp. 275f. ISBN 1-86064-629-8 .