Document Type : Research Article

Author

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

Keywords

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.