Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Mohammad Ali Kazembeyki

Associated professor of History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The mismanagement of government administrative organizations in the Qajar Iran and its consequences is not an unspoken issue. The record of the central government to eliminate this shortcoming indicates its failure. On the other hand, this inefficiency had a heavy cost for the people. Thus, getting rid of the consequences was a difficulty that the people themselves had to overcome. Social reaction to the mismanagement in the Qajar period is the problem that the present work studies in the case of public opposition of the people of Astarâbâd, a province on the south eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, to the will of the central government. Explain that, shortly after the abolition of the tobacco concession (January 1892/Jumadi al-Awal 1309 AH), in August 1892/Muharram 1310 AH Astarâbâd became the scene of mass opposition against drinking alcohol and then for several months against the governor of the province. So far, the occurrence of these happenings and their results have been neglected. The present article is a historical-analytical research, based on archival materials, that deals with the role of mismanagement (independent variable) in the occurrence of the popular reaction in Astarâbâd (dependent variable). Examining the social forces active in this political action and also its result are other goals of the present work. The findings of the study show that mass opposition in Astarâbad first caused by extreme frustration and deprivation of the people and then led to their rational-calculation of opposition to the government-appointed ruler to improve the situation in the province. Although the insurgency initiated by the lower classes in order to combat the cholera outbreak, the secondary stage - the rejection of the governor - welcomed by other urban classes and local military commanders who demanded improvement in the multifaceted consequences of chronic mismanagement in the province. Despite the religious motive as well as the participation of different classes and groups, the resistance in Astarâbâd had all the characteristics of a "rebellion" and lacked participation and the support of a political organization. In spite of success in opposing the will of the central government, the rebellion due to its nature- lack of both public political awareness and political organization- failed to bring about desirable and lasting result for the province and the people of Astarâbâd as well.

Keywords

• The Qajars
• Mismanagement
• Rebellion
• Astarâ
• bâ
• d
• Russia

Extended Abstract

Opposition to Mismanagement in the Qajar Iran: Uprising in Astarâbâd (1310 AH/1892 AD)

Introduction

For Nâsir al-Dîn Shah, the cost of abolition of the tobacco concession granted to the Regie Company was more than the money his government borrowed from foreigners to compensate the company. The abolition, by reducing the authority of the government and also providing the satisfaction of the opponents of granting the tobacco privilege, renewed the course of the country's affairs as in the past, because the resistance did not lead to more political demands. Although the Shah's revision of the tobacco concession was a blow to the Qajar government, its direct and immediate consequences has so far received little attention.

     It was not until a few months after the abolition of the tobacco concession that Muhammad Hassan Khan-i I‘timad al-Saltana, then minister of press and publication, wrote in his diary of 17 Muharram 1310: "I heard that the ulema of Astarâbâd had rebelled, breaking and destroying the Armenian pubs, thus causing some disorder" (I‘timad Al-Saltana 1345: 828; repeted in Nategh 1373: 243). Little is known about the incident in the Iranian documents and histories as well as in modern works, although the evidence suggests that the incident went beyond "some disorder " and lasted for several months in a province that was not far from the capital.

     The uprising of Astarâbâd was rooted in dissatisfaction with the existing conditions including mismanagement in the province. Until then, however, the government's efforts to reform and increase the efficiency of the administrative organizations in the country had not been successful. Hence, the burden of the various consequences of mismanagement was on the shoulders of the nation. The reaction of the people to the chronic mismanagement in the Naserite era is the problem which the present article studies in the case of the "rebellion" in Astarâbâd. For this purpose, the effect of mismanagement (independent variable) on the occurrence of mass opposition in Astarâbâd (dependent variable) is on the agenda of the present study.

     Using an analytical historical method based on archival materials, the present work tries to answer the questions about the cause, social origin, ideology and the goal of this neglected event. Being based on the statements of I‘timâd al-Saltana, the hypothesis of current research is the adherence of the people of Astarâbâd to the Sharî‘a.

     In addition, with regard to I‘timad al-Saltana's reference to “rebellion” to the Astarâbâd incident, the nature of the protest is raised, although he does not necessarily mean "rebellion" in its current scholarly sense. Explain that, the present concept of “rebellion”, which refers to the illegal and possibly violent opposition of mass uprisings against government institutions, a set of rules, individuals or policies with the aim of changing them without the system of power being fundamentally questioned.  The culmination of such an action is political violence, which might lead to the destruction and armed clashes between insurgents and security forces. Two theories have been considered as to the cause of the riots: a) anger caused by despair and deprivation; b) rational calculation of expected gain. The purpose of the present study is also to examine motivation of sudden outburst of opposition of the people of Astarâbâd according to the definition.

     The issue of reaction to mismanagement in the Qajar era has not received much attention, although it has been mentioned in modern works on the resistance to the tobacco concession, the constitutional movement and the rise of new sects in Iran. But the Astarâbâd uprising is neglected in both Iranian primary sources and modern researches. Nevertheless, there is relatively detailed information about this incident by in Muhammad Taghi Âghâ, the British consular agent in Astarâbâd. Reports of this eyewitness to the events is the main source of the present work.