Mozaffar ad-Din Shah

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah with the Qajar crown

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah ( Persian مظفر‌الدین شاه Muzaffar ad-Din Shāh , also Musäffer-ed-din [ mozæfːæroˈdːiːn ʃɔːh ]; *  1853 ; † January 9, 1907 ) was the fifth Qajar ruler and ruled as the Shah of Persia from 1896 to 1907. Mozaffar ad-Din Shah was married to an unknown number of women, had 7 sons and 15 daughters. His successor was his eldest son, Mohammed Ali .

Concessions and Loans

Illustration of the Shah Mozaffer od-Din on the title page of Le Petit Journal (1900)

The eldest surviving son of Naser el-Din Shah , Mass'oud Mirza Zell-e Soltan , could not take over his father's inheritance because his mother was a Persian and therefore not a member of the Qajars . Mozaffar came to the Persian throne at the age of 43 after the violent death of his father. Mozaffar was considered fearful and not very active.

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah on the cure in Martigny les Bains (1902)

While nation-states emerged in Europe in the 19th century in which political decisions were no longer influenced by the nobility, but by an economically strong bourgeoisie due to industrialization, Iran remained stuck to a feudal system with strongly absolutist features. Land reform and the abolition of large estates and serfdom were not even attempted. The development of a comprehensive education system remained as much a dream as the development of a modern administration or an independent judicial system.

But that's not all. Mozaffar not only continued the concession policy of his father Naser al-Din Shah , he also took out substantial loans from Russian and British banks, primarily to finance his trips to Europe. At the beginning of Mozaffar's reign, Iran's external debt was £ 500,000. They came from the unsuccessful attempt by Naser al-Din Shah to completely license the cultivation, processing and sale of tobacco to a British monopoly. After massive protests by the tobacco traders ( tobacco movement ), Naser al-Din Shah had to withdraw the concession and compensate the concession holder. This policy of financing the luxurious lifestyle of the ruling family on credit increased Iran's external debt from the aforementioned £ 500,000 in 1892 to £ 2.6 million in 1914 and £ 10.6 million in 1919. The repayment of the loans was secured by the transfer of tax and customs revenues. The Russian state set up its own branch in Tehran, the "Banque d'Escompte et des Prets de Perse" , to manage the various loans that flowed to the Iranian state and to collect loan repayments. The British had set up the Imperial Bank of Persia in Tehran to manage their loans .

Due to the unsuccessful economic policy, Iran became increasingly dependent on England and Russia . Parts of the country developed into real spheres of influence for these powers. In order to better coordinate their economic interests and to avoid disputes, the British and Russians signed the Treaty of Saint Petersburg in 1907 , in which Iran was divided into a Russian, a British and a neutral zone. The Iranian government was not included in the negotiations, but only informed after the conclusion of the contract.

Constitutional reforms

Liberal ideas increasingly spread through the press, leading to massive criticism of the absolutist style of rule of the Qajar dynasty. While the early protests were directed against individual decisions of the Shah, such as the granting of a tobacco concession, later demands were aimed at the establishment of courts in order to be able to defend against arbitrary decisions by the administration and the increasing economic influence of foreign concessionaires. By 1903 a real political movement emerged that bundled the individual demands from the population and called for social changes. The demand of the common citizen for justice (adalat) became the demand for courts (adaltkhaneh) , for a legal system and ultimately for a constitution that should regulate the rule of a country based on the European model. The end of absolutism, which had heralded in Europe 200 years ago with the French Revolution, now seemed to have reached Persia as well.

The beginning of the constitutional revolution is generally dated to the late autumn of 1905. The governor of Tehran publicly flogged several sugar traders for accusing them of selling sugar at inflated prices. The protests and demonstrations that followed could not be contained, even by armed force, forcing the Shah to dismiss both the governor of Tehran and the prime minister. Mozaffar ad-Din Shah also gave in to the demands of the constitutionalists and signed a decree on August 5, 1906, ordering the establishment of a class-based , advisory assembly . The electoral law for this assembly was passed as early as September 1906, and on December 31, 1906, Mozaffar signed a document called Qanun-e Asasi ("Basic Law"), which later became the constitution of Persia.

Even the sudden death of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah could no longer change the direction it had once taken. The end of absolutist rule in Persia had come.

Cultural developments

As backward as Mozaffar ad-Din Shah was in political matters, he was modern in cultural terms. At the world exhibition in Paris he attended a public film screening. He was so enthusiastic about the new cultural technology that he commissioned his court photographer Mirza Ebrahim Khan Akkas Bashi to buy “all the necessary technology” and bring it to Tehran. Mirza Ebrahim began with documentaries that show Mozaffar ad-Din Shah on the road and on private and public occasions. In 1904, Mirza Ebrahim Khan Sahhafbaschi held the first public cinema screenings in Tehran. His cinema was closed after a month, however, because Sahhafbaschi was a vehement advocate of democratic reforms and Mozaffar ad-Din Shah had his house and property confiscated for this reason and sent him into exile.

literature

• Richard Walker: The Savile Row Story. An illustrated History. Prion, London 1988, ISBN 1-85375-000-X .

Web links

Commons : Mozaffar ed-Din Shah Qajar  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• portrait

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wilhelm Litten : Persian honeymoon. Georg Stilke, Berlin 1925, p. 165
2. ^ Children of Mozaffar-ed-Din Shah Qajar (Kadjar).
3. ↑ ^{a b} 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. 7.
4. ↑ Gholam Reza Afkhami: The life and times of the Shah. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-520-25328-5 , p. 5.
5. ^ Wilhelm Litten: Persian honeymoon. Georg Stilke, Berlin 1925, pp. 171 f. And 185
6. ^ Massoud Mehrabi: The History of Iranian Cinema. Part 1. 2002.