The culture of persia in the 19th early 20th century. Iran in the second half of the 19th century
Second half of the 19th century became a period of active colonial expansion in Iran of European countries, primarily England and Russia. At the same time, the Kajar ruling group more readily agreed to satisfy the demands of foreign powers than the demands of their people. As the main means of strengthening the enslavement of Iran, foreign capital used the receipt of various kinds of concessions from the Shah's government, as well as the provision of monetary loans to Tehran.
During Crimean War Taking advantage of the fact that the British were occupied with the siege of Sevastopol, Nasr al-Din-Shah decided to undertake a campaign against Herat in order to forestall its capture by the Afghan emir Dost Mohammed. In October 1856, after a five-month siege, Herat was taken. In response, England declared war and occupied part of Iranian territory, including Kharg Island, the cities of Bushehr, Mohammer (now Khorramshahr) and Ahvaz. According to the Treaty of Paris, signed in March 1857, the Shah recognized the independence of Herat, and in the event of a disagreement between Iran, on the one hand, Herat and Afghanistan, on the other, he pledged to seek mediation from London.
In 1862-1872. England obtained from the Shah's government the conclusion of three conventions, according to which it acquired the right to build ground telegraph lines to ensure uninterrupted communication between London and India. These lines were instrumental in expanding British influence in Iran. The serving staff, which consisted of the British, enjoyed the right of extraterritoriality. On the telegraph lines themselves, as on mosques and foreign embassies, the privilege of the best extended (an inviolable place of refuge for the authorities).
In 1872, the shah granted the owner of the English telegraph agency, Baron Y. Reiter, a concession for the monopoly exploitation of all industrial resources of Iran for a period of 70 years: natural resources, construction of irrigation facilities, construction of roads, etc. However, this kind of concession caused a wide wave of protests in the country (Russian diplomacy also opposed it), and soon Nasr al-Din Shah had to cancel it. As compensation, the Iranian government allowed Reuters in 1889 to organize the Imperial (Shahinshah) Bank of Persia, which received the right to issue banknotes, control the mint, accept state revenues and customs duties on its current account, and began to set the exchange rate of foreign currencies.
In 1888, an English citizen Lynch acquired a concession for the organization of navigation on the only navigable river in Iran, the Karun. In 1891, the British company Talbot took over the purchase, sale and processing of all Iranian tobacco, against which powerful protests began throughout the country, and the higher clergy even issued a special fatwa banning smoking. As a result, in 1892 the Shah was forced to cancel this concession. To pay off the penalty to the Talbot firm, the Shahinshah Bank allocated to Nasr al-Din Shah a loan of £ 500,000. Art. secured by southern Iranian customs, which became the first major foreign loan.
If in the south of Iran the influence of England was predominant, then in the north it belonged to Russia. In 1879, a Russian citizen Lianozov received permission to operate the fisheries of the Caspian Sea, including the Iranian rivers flowing into it. In 1889, the Shah's government issued the Russian capitalist Polyakov a license to organize the Accounting and Loan Bank of Persia, which later opened branches and agencies in Tabriz, Rasht, Mashhad, Qazvin and other cities of the country. It received duties from the northern customs of Iran. There was a fierce competition between the Shakhinshah and Accounting and Loan Banks. In 1890, Polyakov was allowed to establish the "Persian Insurance and Transport Society", which built and took control of highways connecting the cities of North and Central Iran with the Russian border, as well as water communications along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.
As for the railways, under pressure from England and tsarist Russia in 1890, the Iranian government undertook to refrain from building them.
The ruling group of the state, constantly in need of money, provided concessions for relatively small amounts, and sometimes very unexpected ones, also to others. European countries... In particular, the Belgians were given permission to equip gambling houses, the production and sale of wines, the French were granted an unlimited archaeological excavations and to export half of the discovered ancient relics from Iran.
Since the 1870s, Iran's imports of foreign manufactured goods have sharply increased, the competition of which undermined local handicrafts and impeded the creation of a national industry. At the same time, the export of agricultural products and raw materials from the country grew, dictated by the requirements of the external market. The area under crops for cotton, tobacco and other industrial crops began to expand in the country. Iran was turning into a raw material appendage of the European powers.
Foreigners took over not only the economy, but also some areas of government. Created in 1879 under the leadership of Russian officers, the Cossack regiment, later deployed into a brigade, became the only combat-ready part of the Iranian army, which increased the dependence of the shah's regime on tsarist Russia. Along with the Russians, Austrian, German, Italian and French military instructors appeared in Iran. Foreigners began to infiltrate the central administrative apparatus - in the Ministry of Posts and Telegraph the decisive vote belonged to the British, in 1898 the Belgian Naus was put in charge of the customs business. In the northern regions and in the capital, persons who were pleasing to the Russian ambassador were appointed to responsible positions. The southern regions were ruled by the British, who, regardless of the opinion of the Shah's government, entered into agreements with the local khans, subsidized them and supplied them with weapons.
The strengthening of the position of foreign capital also entailed changes in the class structure of society. As a result of the growing dependence of agriculture on the demands of the foreign market, representatives of the merchants, officials and clergy began to seize plots of small landowners and buy up the lands of the feudal aristocracy and the shah's family, thereby forming a layer of landowners of a new type. The development of commodity-money relations and an increase in the share of taxes levied in money led to the usurious enslavement of the peasants. Often the same landowners acted as usurers.
In the second half of the XIX century. attempts to move in cities from handicraft and manufactory production to factory production, the organization of national joint-stock companies and societies where it would be used wage labor, due to a lack of relevant entrepreneurial experience, a properly trained technical staff, and a shortage of capital, as a rule, they ended in failure. The artisans and hired workers who lost their jobs and means of subsistence, together with the ruined peasants, replenished the army of the hungry and went to work in tens of thousands in Russia - in the Transcaucasia and the Trans-Caspian region.
Committed in 1873, 1878 and 1889. trips to Russia and Europe Nasr al-Din-shah introduced certain innovations into the sphere of public administration: he established the ministries of the interior, post and telegraph, education, justice, founded a number of secular schools for the sons of the feudal nobility, and made some Europeanization of the clothes of the courtiers. However, these measures were superficial and did not affect the foundations of the existing system. The attempt to limit the judicial power of the clergy revived many authoritative and influential Shiite theologians against the Shah.
In 1893-1894. in Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz and other cities, there were massive "hunger riots". On May 1, 1896, the assassination of Nasr al-Din Shah by the pan-Islamist Reza Kermani and the coming to power of his son Mozaffar al-Din Shah did not change the situation in the wake of the growing popular discontent. Having dismissed several ministers and governors, the new shah and his entourage continued to adhere to the reactionary course of his father. Under him, the influence of foreigners in Iran was further strengthened, popular discontent continued to grow, and unrest, which was gaining an ever wider scope, multiplied.
Historians of the Soviet school identified three periods of the revolution:
the first period - from December 1905 to January 1907 (before the adoption of the constitution);
the second period - from January 1907 to November 1911 (disengagement of forces, political leapfrog, attempts at counterrevolutionary coups);
the third period - from November to December 1911 (armed intervention of England and Russia in the internal affairs of Iran, suppression of the revolution).
1. The first period of the revolution is not accidentally called constitutional, because at that time the main struggle was the struggle for the adoption of a constitution and the convocation of parliament. The immediate reason for the revolution was the events in Tehran at the end of 1905. They were preceded by a long internal crisis that engulfed all aspects of the life of Iranian society. Until the beginning of the XX century. the government, at the cost of some concessions and political maneuvers, managed to smooth out these contradictions. But by the beginning of the 20th century, the vibes of revolutionary spirit reached Shiite Iran. In December 1905, anti-government protests began in Tehran under the slogan of the resignation of the country's Prime Minister Ain-od-Doule. According to Russian historians and diplomats of the early 20th century, Doule was a real rogue who took bribes everywhere and from everyone. Only "thanks" to the first minister did the revolution in Iran begin in 1905, and not 10-100 years later.
In addition to Doule's resignation, the opposition demanded the expulsion of foreigners from the administrative apparatus, the introduction of a constitution and the convocation of parliament (Majlis). The immediate reason for the escalation of the conflict was the events in the capital Tehran. By order of the governor, 17 merchants were seized and beaten, among whom were the Seids (descendants of the Prophet). They did not comply with government orders to cut sugar prices. In protest, in December 1905, all bazaars, shops and workshops were closed. Part of the clergy and merchants settled in the best in the suburbs of the capital. This is how the revolution of 1905-1911 began. In modern historiography, the events of 1905-1911 are not uncommon. called the constitutional movement, and this is justified, since in the initial period, all opposition groups acted as a united front, demanding the adoption of a constitution and the convocation of parliament.
The main events took place in Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz. In the summer of 1906, the reform movement entered its final stages. The July strike forced the shah to dismiss the first minister, Doule, and soon the government issued a decree introducing a constitution. In the fall of 1906, the regulation on elections to the Mejlis was published. The elections were two-stage, were held according to the curial system, with a high property qualification. Representatives of six "estates" sat in the first parliament: princes and Qajars, clergy, land aristocracy, merchants, "landowners and farmers", artisans.
It is not difficult to calculate that 38% (the first and fourth lines of the second column) were representatives of the clergy and landowners. Slightly less - 37% (second row, second column) of the composition of the Mejlis are representatives of the middle and small merchants. However, together with artisans and small entrepreneurs, there were 46% of them, that is, an absolute majority in parliament.
Parliament immediately began to work on the finalization of the constitution. In December, Shah Mozaffar al-Din approved the draft constitution and died 8 days later. In January 1907, his son, an ardent reactionary and opponent of state liberalization, Mohammad Ali Shah, ascended the throne. Constitution 1906-1907 impressed Western observers with her liberal spirit. Perhaps this was due to the "strange alliance" that took shape at the first stage of the revolution. This union included representatives of the spiritual and secular intelligentsia. They united to solve two major tasks: limiting the power of the Shah and resisting the Anglo-Russian penetration into Iran. It is noteworthy that the revolutionary elite relied on the traditional monarchism of the people (the shah is good, but the advisers are bad). Already in 1907, this strange alliance fell apart, the clergy came to an agreement with Mohammad Ali Shah.
At the second stage of the revolution in 1907, Mohammad Ali Shah, under pressure from the Majlis, signed the "Additions to the Basic Law", that is, the drafting of the constitution was completed. The "Supplements" significantly expanded the powers of the clergy. A special "commission of five" was created, it included the most prominent Shiite leaders. At the same time, the "Supplements" did not cancel the liberal ideas of the "Basic Law". Democratic freedoms were proclaimed in the country, the creation of provincial and regional anjomens was sanctioned, the inviolability of the person, private property, housing, freedom of speech, press, etc. was declared. True, all freedoms were supposed to be controlled by a "commission of five". Religious leaders, members of the “Commission of Five,” were given the right to decide whether a particular law corresponded to the spirit of Islam or not.
Thus, the model of constitutional monarchy was accepted by the ulema only if it preserved, or even better strengthened, the power of the clergy.
In the second period of the revolution, a disengagement of forces took place, and a struggle between various political groups for power began. Each group declared itself a champion of freedom and democracy, and sought to speak on behalf of the entire people. Democracy and freedom are politically biased words.
Probably, freedom as permissiveness and "refined" freedom of the intelligentsia are possible in any country. The Shiite clergy and "Europeanized" liberals understood the tasks of the revolution in different ways, but the adoption of the constitution brought them together for a short time.
The revolutionary events in Iran are interpreted by foreign powers as signs of a weakening of the central government. England and Russia, taking advantage of the political situation, signed on August 31, 1907 an agreement on the division of spheres of influence in Iran, Afghanistan and Tibet. This agreement completed the formation of the military-political alliance of the Entente. According to the agreements, the southeastern regions of Iran, Russia - the northern regions of the country, including Iranian Azerbaijan, became the sphere of influence of England. The Mejlis refused to ratify the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907. The situation in the country became more and more tense. In December 1907, the Shah brought his troops to the capital. In June 1908, with the help of the Cossack brigade of Colonel Lyakhov, Mohammad Ali Shah carried out the first counter-revolutionary coup. The Mejlis was dispersed, democratic newspapers were closed, political repressions began, etc. Left-wing deputies of the Majlis and some leaders of the enjomen were thrown into jail or executed.
Under these conditions, the center of the movement moved to Iranian Azerbaijan, to the city of Tabriz. The highest point of the revolution was the Tabriz uprising of 1908-1909, sometimes called “ civil war". Sattar Khan and Bagir Khan led the uprising. But the prefix khan is an honorary title, for Sattar-khan was a native of peasants, Bagir-khan was a craftsman before the revolution. The activities of Sattar Khan were covered with legend. In the eyes of his compatriots, he was a "commander, leader of the people", a true loot. Luti, in the view of ordinary Iranians, is, first of all, a strong man, a hero who commands respect for his physical strength. In the cities, the luti "kept quarters" and were a reliable protection for the life and property of their inhabitants. V spoken language luti means "a generous and noble person" 177. Sattar Khan and Bagir Khan organized Fedai detachments, fought for the restoration of the constitution and parliament.
The Transcaucasian Bolsheviks led by S. Ordzhonikidze and not only them took part in the Tabriz uprising. In addition to the Bolsheviks, Armenian Dashnaks, Georgian Mensheviks and others fought on the side of the Iranian revolution. According to G.V. Shitov, Sattar Khan's Life Guards consisted of "250 Dagestan thugs, without any party affiliation" 178. In 1909, the Shah's troops, with the help of the khans of the nomadic tribes, succeeded in laying siege to Tabriz. The blockade ring was shrinking, there was no fresh water, food. However, the rebels did not surrender. Russia decides to help the Shah and begins military action against Tabriz. The inconsistency of the punishers had the opposite consequences for the rebellious city. Russian troops defeated Tabriz, but also broke the blockade ring. Hungry, exhausted, but alive, the rebels left Tabriz for Rasht, and from there, together with the Gilan and Bakhtiar fedays, to the Iranian capital Tehran. S. Ordzhonikidze took part in this campaign. The city was taken on July 13, 1909. Shah was forced to sit in the best in the Russian diplomatic mission. However, this did not help him retain the throne. Mohammad Ali Shah was deposed. In August, the shah with the remains of the shah's treasury arrived in the city of Odessa, where he was greeted with appropriate honors. His place was taken by his young son Ahmed. The Mejlis was restored, the liberals came to power. In 1909, on the basis of the Mujahideen organizations, the Democratic Party was created, which stood on the principles of bourgeois nationalism.
Sepakhdar from Gilan became the head of the government. The elections to the second Majlis were even less democratic, with only 4% of the Iranian population taking part in them. In November 1909, the second Majlis took a course towards "suppressing popular revolts." In 1910, the government forces defeated the Fedayev detachments. The Mejlis supported the government in its assessment of the economic situation in the country. In order to overcome the financial crisis, it was decided to invite American advisers to Iran. In May 1911, a financial mission arrived in Iran, headed by Morgan Shuster, he was associated with the oil company "Standard Oil". Russia and England did not want the strengthening of American influence in Iran. With the help of Russia, the shah makes a second attempt to regain power. Taking advantage of the political leapfrog, in July 1911, Mohammad Ali Shah from Russia across the Caspian begins a campaign against Tehran. The news of the appearance of the former shah caused a new explosion of popular indignation, rallies and demonstrations began. In the fall, the Shah's detachments were defeated by government forces with the support of the fedayis. The Shah fled the country again.
At the third stage of the revolution, an open Anglo-Russian intervention in Iran began. Reason for sending Russian troops served as a conflict related to the confiscation of the property of one of the brothers of the deposed Shah by Shuster. The property was pledged to the Russian Accounting and Loan Bank. In November 1911, Russia, with the support of Britain, presented an ultimatum to Iran demanding Shuster's resignation. It should be noted that the economic activity of the American adviser began to give the first positive results. The ultimatum aroused indignation and protest from all Iranian patriots. A boycott of foreign goods began, and the Tehran bazaar went on strike. The Majlis decided to reject the ultimatum.
The rejection of the ultimatum was the reason for the military demarche of the occupying allies. The revolution was suppressed. The Mejlis ceased to exist. Formally, the country retained its constitution, but its implementation was suspended.
The suppression of the revolution strengthened the positions of England and Russia in Iran. In February 1912, the Iranian government, in which no trace of the liberals remained, recognized the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 on the division of Iran into spheres of influence. Russian and British troops remained on the territory of the country. The strongest weapon colonial policy in Iran became the activity of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
Revolution of 1905-1911 became an important milestone in political history Iran. Its rapid development and the scale of events were unpredictable. The Iranian revolution led to the adoption of a fairly democratic constitution. But its "Western version" was "softened" by the fact that the guarantors of the constitution were Muslim theologians, with their rigid orientation towards Sharia law. Although the movement swept the entire country, after 1907 there was a separation of forces, and some of the liberals left the camp of the revolution. The popular movement did not have clear goals either. The theory of exporting revolution in this region has clearly faltered.
The revolution led to a decline in the prestige of the central government, separatist sentiments were noticeably stronger in the country. A serious danger was posed by the separatism of the khans of the nomadic tribes. During the revolution, part of the khans supported the shah. Bakhtiyars, Kurds united with the constitutional forces. But these alliances were not strong: the tribal leaders often changed their political orientation, only dreamed of plundering foreign territories. Foreign intervention contributed to the suppression of the revolutionary movement. Since in 1911-1913. the troops of Russia and England were not evacuated from the country; on the territory of neutral Iran during the First World War, hostilities were fought between the armies of the Entente and the Triple Alliance.
At the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. in Iran, various movements appeared against the Shah's rule. The religious strata of the population preached the ideas of pan-Islamism and the unification of Muslims under the rule of a strong caliph. At the same time, various secret organizations began to be created. In 1905, the anti-government society "Enjumene Mahfi" ("Secret Enju-men") was formed.
At the beginning of the XX century. the social situation inside Iran has sharply deteriorated. Strikes and popular uprisings against imperialist oppression became more frequent. In December 1905, a mass demonstration and a sit-in in the mosque of Shah Abdul Azim took place in Tehran - best (“sit on the best” - visiting mosques, mazars, graves for sit-down strikes; this type of resistance has survived in Iran since ancient times) ... The protesters demanded the withdrawal of foreign citizens from government service, the building of a “just state” that would deal with people's problems and needs. Frightened by popular pressure, the shah agreed to meet the demands of the protesters. After the dissolution of the rebels, the shah broke his promise and proceeded to a cruel reprisal. In response to this, in June-July 1906, a new wave of protests began. The rebels again demanded from the Shah the expulsion of foreigners from government and the adoption of a new constitution. On October 7, 1906, the first Mejlis (lower house of parliament) was convened in Tehran. This was the first victory of the revolution. However, some time after the coronation, the new shah of Iran, Mohammed Ali, perpetrated reprisals against the revolutionaries. In 1907, the second stage of the revolution began. Democratic groups continued to fight.
In 1908-1909. major center the revolution became the city of Tabriz. Unable to cope with the rebels, the shah asked for help from foreigners. With the help of the English and Russian armies, the uprising in Tabriz was suppressed.
Revolutionary unrest in Iran continued until 1911. As a result of the uprising, the Shah's power weakened, his authority fell. The Shah's government acknowledged its bankruptcy and dependence on foreign military aid. With the help of the troops of foreign powers, the revolution in Iran 1905-1911. was brutally suppressed.
The defeat of the revolution opened the way for the transformation of Iran into a semi-colony of foreign powers. The shah's government was forced to accept any conditions imposed by foreigners. In 1911-1914. Iran received a loan from England in the amount of 2 million pounds sterling, from Russia - 14 million rubles. The British obtained the right to develop oil deposits in Iran. iran revolution telegraph semi-colonial
So, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Iran was a backward semi-colonial country.
1. Droughts, crop failures, the economic crisis, the arbitrariness of officials and the hardships of the war with the Manchus (1618-1644) forced the peasants to take up arms. In 1628, in Shaanxi province, scattered semi-rogue gangs began to create rebel groups and elect leaders. From this moment in northeast China the peasant war began, which lasted almost 19 years (1628-1647). Initially, the rebel forces were rallied, but after the capture of Fengyang, a split occurred between the rebel leaders - Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong (1606-1647), after which the latter led his army to the Yangtze Valley. Gao Yingxiang and other leaders led their troops westward to Shaanxi, where they were defeated after a final break with Zhang Xianzhong's army. After Gao Yingxiang's execution, Li Zicheng was elected the leader of the Chuan troops.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xianzhong's bandit-rebel armies dominated Huguan (present-day Hunan and Hubei) and Sichuan, and in 1643 in Chengdu he himself proclaimed himself "King of the Great West" (Dasi-Wan).
In the 1640s, the peasants were no longer intimidated by the weakened army, which suffered defeat after defeat. The regular troops were caught in a tick between the Manchu troops in the north and the insurgent provinces, and fermentation and desertion intensified in them. The army, deprived of money and food, was defeated by Li Zicheng, who by this time had assumed the title of "Prince Shun". The capital was left practically without a fight (the siege lasted only two days). The traitors opened the gate in front of Li's troops, and they were able to enter without hindrance. In April 1644, Beijing submitted to the rebels; The last Ming emperor Chongzhen (Zhu Yujian) committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the imperial garden at the foot of Mount Jingshan. The last eunuch loyal to him hanged himself next to the emperor. For their part, the Manchus took advantage of the fact that General Wu Sangui (1612-1678) allowed them to pass freely through the Shanghai outposts. According to Chinese chronicles, the military leader was about to compromise with Li Zicheng, but the news he received from his father that new ruler looked after his beloved concubine in the house of Sangui, forced the commander to change his mind - having weighed all the pros and cons, he decided to side with the conquerors. The Manchu army under the leadership of Prince Dorgon (1612-1650), joining with the troops of Wu Sangui, defeated the rebels at Shanhaiguan and then approached the capital. On June 4, Prince Shun, leaving the capital, retreated in confusion. On June 6, the Manchus, together with General Wu, occupied the city and proclaimed young Aixingioro Fulin emperor. The rebel army suffered another defeat from the Manchu army at Xian and was forced to retreat along the Han River up to Wuhan, then along the northern border of Jiangxi province. Here Li Zicheng found his death in the summer of 1645, becoming the first and only emperor of the Shun Dynasty. Sources differ in the assessment of the circumstances of his death: according to one report, he committed suicide, on the other, he was beaten to death by peasants from whom he tried to steal food. Soon the Qing troops arrived in Sichuan. Zhang Xianzhong left Chengdu and tried to use the scorched earth tactics, but in January 1647 he died in one of the battles. Centers of resistance to the Manchus, where the descendants of the Ming emperors still ruled, in particular, the kingdom of Zheng Chenggong in Formosa (Taiwan), existed for a long time. Despite the loss of the capital and the death of the emperor, China (i.e. the Ming Empire) was still not defeated. Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong, Shanxi and Yunnan were still loyal to the overthrown dynasty. However, several princes claimed the vacant throne at once and their forces were fragmented. One by one, these last centers of resistance were subordinated to the Qing rule, and in 1662, with the death of Zhu Yulang, Emperor Yongli, the last hope for the Ming restoration disappeared.
October 19th, 2013
Persia under Nasr-ed-Din-Shah (2)
Misl-Rustem. Persia under Nasr-Edin-Shah from 1882 to 1888 - St. Petersburg, 1897. (Misl-Rustem is a pseudonym Menyayeva, one of the instructors of the Persian Cossack Brigade).
Sketch I.
SKETCH II
Capital of Persia Tehran
City position. - Description of the parts of the city. - Water supply. - People-population. - Occupations of residents. - They did. - Beggars. - Street types. - Bazaars.
Tehran. Meydan-i Mashk (training ground). Ice cream seller.
Here and below the photo of A. Sevryugin.
The capital of the “Center of the World”, Padishah, Shahinshah (ie, the king of kings), “the shadow of Mohammed on earth”, Nasr-Edin, “the famous descendant of Mohammed Shah, Fat Ali Shah” and so on. and so on. (in a word, the entire title of the Shah cannot be recounted) - the city of Tehran lies on a sandy-rocky plain and from a distance, from the mountains, it represents a fairly regular circle, bordered by scallops. These scallops are earthen ramparts, shaped like lunettes, along which a rather deep ditch is dug with 14 bridges thrown across it, going to 14 rampart gates. They say the Persians can dam up the moat with water at will; the shaft itself is not thick and has loopholes on the sides of the gate, but in any case it cannot serve as a reliable guard in war time... In some places, the moat and the rampart are now partly sprinkled, and they are not repaired, they are somewhat supported only from the side from which the shah usually leaves for his summer palaces, that is, they are repaired only to show the shah. From a distance, behind the rampart, the city is almost invisible, since all Persian houses have flat earthen roofs; only protruding mosques and the Shah's palace stand out.
2. Gate of Darvaze-yi Daulat
When you reach one of the bridges that lead across the moat into the city, you are amazed at the picturesque architecture of the city gates, with turrets and columns at the top, with whole paintings lined with Persian colored tiles, and which always have a customs guard.
3. Darvaze-yi Daulat, view from the city side
The circumference of Tehran, together with the moat, reaches 30 versts; the city is divided into three parts: the first - European, lying closer to the north; then - the Asiatic, lying in the center of the city, and, finally, the vacant lots, or the suburban part, lying inside the rampart, to the south. I will try to describe each part separately in order to give a clearer idea of the city.
In the European quarter, the streets are very well planned: they are wide and for the most part have ditches with running water on the sides, are lined with mulberry (silk) trees, which give coolness on hot days, and when berries (mulberries) ripen on them, even food for the poor. The streets are kept very clean, watered in the evenings, and swept in the afternoon by special men hired from the police, dressed in uniforms. The only pity is that even in the European quarter there are no slab sidewalks, but mostly paved with large cobblestones; the streets themselves are almost all highways. These streets make a strange impression on the visitor: although they are very clean, they seem inhospitable. This is due to the fact that a rare house has windows facing the street. The Persians build all houses with windows to the courtyard, so that outside you see only walls with doors that have outside-hung staples, which they knock when they want to enter. These brackets replace their bell. The Persians do not build windows on the street in order to protect their enderun pearls, that is, women (harem) from prying eyes. The walls of the houses facing the street are mostly whitewashed or remain gray from the clay that greases them.
4. Tehran at the beginning of the XX century. (Sign: "Rzayev Brothers / Shemakhintsy")
All diplomatic missions are located in the European quarter, with the exception of the Russian Imperial Mission, which for some reason was built near the most Asian bazaars, in a dirty part of the city; here are also located many rich palaces of various khans and the palace of the police chief, built by him on some dubious financial sources. In the same quarter in my time there were two hotels for Europeans: one of the Frenchman Prevost, kept quite clean, although without any comfort, and the other "Grand-Hotel", kept by an Armenian, very dirty, with a warped billiard. Further, the police department with smelly cellars, a mederse (school) for the military and doctors. Cartridge factory with antediluvian machines brought from France by Kapellmeister Lemer on the orders of the Shah. (Isn't it strange that the bandmaster buys cars for the cartridge factory? But the Persians do not find this strange). A telegraph station of an American company, which gives its branch to the Russians for several hours for negotiations, for which there is also a stupid telegraph operator. The gas plant, which costs a lot and, must be, that is why it often does not work, there is not enough gas even for two and a half streets: sometimes the lights are lit during the day when the shah passes, and it gets a little dark - they are in a hurry to put them out, and the streets remain in darkness ... There are even two Yablochkov lanterns on the square, but due to a malfunction they never shine.
5. Tehran. Gas street. (The horse tram and the Tehran-Shah-Abdul-Azim railway belonged to Lazar Polyakov ,
who bought the bankrupt company from the Belgians)
In the same part there are: the parade ground Meydan-Mashk (for training) and Top-Maidan (artillery), in the middle of which there is a large pool emitting a stench; although there is a lot of water in it, the Persians often wash themselves there and rinse their linen, which makes it dirty. This square has four gates to the streets, on one of which, opposite the palace street, local musicians play the evening dawn every day.
6. Nakkara Khane. Musicians play the dawn
There are also two public baths, very dirty and smelly, but I'll tell you about them separately later. The streets in the European quarter are named Evropeyskaya, Aliazarovskaya, etc., so you can get your bearings soon thanks to this. On many streets of this quarter you will meet stone police guardhouses, at which you will often see a motley-dressed policeman dozing sitting, who will jump up when he sees you, grab a naked saber standing against the wall and pick it in the air, that is, he will salute, and more often, and seeing you, it will not rise and will continue to doze or smoke an inseparable hookah.
7. Darvaze-yi Meidan-i Tuphane - the gate of the Cannon Square
On the border, so to speak, of the European quarter with the Asian one, there is the Shah's palace; it occupies a vast area with its enderun and is surrounded on all sides by a high wall. I will talk about palaces further separately, but for now I turn to the Asian quarter, which lies already behind the palace.
8. Jewish quarter of Tehran
This part of the city is built in the old Asian style and has no street planning at all; the streets, or rather, most of the side streets, are all crooked, dirty, mostly narrow to the point that two horsemen can barely part. Bazaars are concentrated in this part and Persians, Jews and Gebras live - there are no Europeans; even the richest Persians live here and, despite the fact that the inside of their houses is clean, there is dirt in front of the exits on the street, and carrion is often lying around. Bazaars form covered vaulted or covered with mats (a kind of our matting) buildings, which are wide galleries with small benches open in front. There are mosques among the bazaars. There are open pits right in the streets leading to underground water pipelines, so you can easily get there; but don’t worry, it’s not deep there and they’ll drag you out right now — it's an ordinary thing; once even the police master himself, Count M., fell into such a hole and got off only by dislocating his foot: on this occasion, the Persians calmly say: "Ayb-nadere" (nothing). The orderlies in these streets are, apparently, dogs, prowling through them in mass and not touching anyone during the day, but in the evenings or at night, as soon as you step on a dog or touch one of them, whole flocks will start chasing you.
9. Meydan-i Mashk (training ground)
Immediately, surrounded by this filth, the customs and the post office are located. At one of the bazaars, there is Sabz-Maidan (Green Square), around which there are stalls with fodder. On the same square, there is a permanent scaffold with a long pole on which the heads of the executed are hung. In general, there is little interesting in this quarter - dirt and stench, stench and dirt.
The third part of the city is located behind the Asian quarter. There, among the fields, there are brick factories with a mass of the deepest holes, where they take clay; there are also caravanserais (inns) for caravans and vegetable gardens. This part of the city is adorned only by the European-style railway station, the path from which, for only 11 miles, goes to the holy place, revered by the Persians of the monastery called Shah-Abdul-Azim, that is, the Shelter of Shah-Abdul.
10. Over time, other railways appeared. directions: Khorasan gate of Tehran. End of XIX v.
Describing in particular each part of appearance, I will try to describe in general the street life of the capital, water supply, etc., in a word, everything that may be of some interest.
There are no lakes or rivers near the city, and it is supplied with water by means of canals from springs lying in the mountains 70-80 miles from the city. These channels partly run along the surface of the earth, but for the most part under the earth; to refresh the water and purify it, at a distance of every 20-30 steps, holes are made above the underground channels; up to 70 such canals go from the mountains to the city, two of them are called shah canals, and the water is better in them. Such canals run throughout the city and water is taken from them through the available openings; water "saki" (water carriers) in leather bags is delivered to homes, and for this they charge 1½ - 2 rubles a month.
11. Water carrier
The Persians generally know how to perfectly navigate the canals, but they look poorly behind them: without a ceremony, five steps from the place where people take water for drinking, they often wash all their body parts, which is required for them before prayer. I myself saw how in the shah's wonderful palace pool, although very neglected, the guard sarbazes (soldiers) performed the usual ablution and drank right there. Persians love water, and in a rare courtyard there is no stone pool (full of stinking water) for household use, watering the courtyard, washing dishes and linen, etc. mud and mud at the bottom.
There is no way to determine exactly how many people live in Tehran; ask any Persian, and he will answer your question: "Allah is midunet", that is, God knows; many even say that it is a sin to count people. There has never been a population census, and it would hardly have been possible to make it, since many fanatics will not show the correct number of “pearls” (wives and concubines) in their enderuns. But approximately in the city, the population is considered to be up to 100 tons, which disintegrates as follows: 70% of Shiite Muslims-Persians, 18% of Sunni Muslims, Turks and Jews, 10% of Christians and 2% of idolatrous Hebras, Afghans and others. Most of these people are engaged in trade. Almost everyone trades in Persia, from "sartip" (general) to "sarbaz" (soldier), and this does not seem strange there. On the street you will often see a soldier in uniform, with shoulder straps, in short pants and not wearing a uniform hat, squatting against the wall in front of a dirty rag on which copper money is lying - this is a street exchanger for silver for copper and vice versa; or you will see the same soldier trading on the "donkey" (donkey) boiled beets(the favorite food of the poor). Due to the heat on the streets during the day, people are hardly noticeable, but if you go to the covered bazaars or go outside during sunset, at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, you will see a lot of people scurrying about, as if in an anthill.
12. Beet trader
You can see a lot of interesting things in the clothes and customs of the country. I often went out only to admire all the originality of oriental life. What tourists and newspaper correspondents from eastern countries, namely, as if on the streets you see the luxury of costumes everywhere - I have not seen it, although I lived in the East (in Persia and Turkey) for 8 years; I say bluntly, the luxury of costumes on the streets of Persia is nowhere to be found; rather, poverty and dirt are striking all around, presenting, at the same time, much that is original for a European.
No sooner did you show your nose to the street, as you meet at the entrance of your apartment "did", with a sweet face, offering you anything you want. These "dealers" are a kind of commissioners-merchants; over their shoulders, they always hang several carpets, in their hands the hatchets and hammers of the times, according to their assurance, almost Adam, and in their pockets pearls and turquoise. If they don't have what you need, just name it, and tomorrow whatever you want it will be delivered to you. They themselves are not rich, but they have full credit in the bazaar, where everything is lent to them, even without a receipt, on a commission. This people for the most part sticks out at the doors of Europeans, always eager to get something ancient in Persia. He knew who to make money from and who to cheat, and therefore you have to bargain with him as with a Jew, and in the end he will still deceive by selling you turquoise, a rug rug or some old knightly fittings, times Tamerlane, with the hallmark of a Belgian factory last years, which is sent out on purpose to Persia to cheat a stupid "frengi" - a European, and which, to make it seem old, rusty, is kept for a month in damp earth. Or he would immediately give you coins from the times of Iskander, ie, Alexander the Great, minted a few weeks ago in Isfahan (where there is a whole factory of counterfeit coins). They made the people intrusive, and if you allow them to come to your place whenever they want, they will bother you at night. From everything sold to you, they give a certain percentage (about 5%) to your servants, so that the next day they will be admitted to you again - this is already customary.
13. "Fagirs" - beggars, keyfiruyut (smoke opium)
No sooner had you moved away from your house a few steps, as you will be attacked by beggars - "fagirs" (do not mix with "fakir"); they also love to huddle near the houses of Europeans and wait for them to come out for hours on end.
14. Tehran beggar
There are plenty of beggars in Tehran; most of them are crippled, without arms and legs - this is, of course, in the form of memories of the imposing edifications given to them by the former masters-khans for any offenses.
15. Beggar
But there are also professional beggars. I knew a couple. He is a healthy, naked Negro to the waist, she is a pretty Persian; they refused any job offered to them and had, as they say, a street romance among themselves. It is very difficult to get rid of beggars; you need to drive them straight away from yourself; if you gave to one, then you will be surrounded by 5-10 and everyone will already demand. I knew a beggar who always asked: "I have guests tonight, I have nothing to buy fire with, please give." Isn't that the original way of asking for alms - on guests?
16. Dervish (in hand kashkul - begging bowl)
As soon as you got rid of the beggars, you will certainly stumble upon dervish(a clan of the sect of itinerant monks). He will directly block your way and will shout: “I-hack! I am Ali! ”, That is, he calls on the name of God and Ali, their prophet. Dervishes do not ask, they only appeal to God, but often their appearance is so impressive and outright robber that you involuntarily throw a coin into their coconut cup hanging on your hand. Dervishes are dressed in various ways, for the most part - without a headdress, with disheveled hair and beard; their faces look quite ferocious. Dervishes are black and white; they walk barefoot, in wide, dirty white trousers, but above the waist they are mostly completely naked or only with a goat's skin thrown over their shoulders; in their hands, in addition to a hammered coconut on a chain for alms, they always have a huge gnarled club, or an iron hatchet, or an iron stick with the image of a bull's head on the upper end. Occasionally you will meet a dervish on a nag given to him, or on a bull: this is a dervish riding a pilgrim.
17.
Having got rid of the dervish, you continue on your way; but you do not have to look around, but look not only forward, but also backward, otherwise the constantly walking line of camels and donkeys will certainly knock you off your feet into the ditch. The drivers are very unceremonious people, like their cattle.
There are a lot of curious things on the street: here you see a Persian sitting by a ditch, holding out with a smile his bare arm to the shoulder, from which blood gushes out like a fountain, and next to another, also with a smile, - a satisfied professor who has performed a successful operation. This is the barber who opened the blood to a patient suffering from some kind of ailment. Persia accepted to be treated bloodletting. Further, next to you, you see a Persian squatting, holding an apple-sized mirror in his hands, and above his head trying to cut through the middle of his head - "mouth", that is, a shaving master; this is a street hairdresser who spits on a razor without ceremony and sharpens it on a belt that hangs on his belt. Then suddenly you hear a terrible cry and see a bunch of people; out of curiosity you come up - and what then? The dental master, "dandun-usta," with huge forceps pulls a tooth from his compatriot, who is squatting and roaring at the top of his lungs, who is still being pulled to the ground by other people. At some wall you will see hanging fathoms painted with bright colors of paintings depicting some kind of battles and snakes, always something incomprehensible and fantastic; coming up, indeed, you sometimes see something that we have not seen in Europe. Some eloquent Persian, pacing in front of the picture, summons the people in a loud voice and tells them the exploits of the fantastic Persian heroes. When a lot of people gather around him and he sees that there is hope to collect something for the show, he takes a pipe and begins to play, squatting. Then from the folds of his "aba", that is, his wide robe, snakes begin to crawl out, circling and wriggling in front of him; he takes them in his hands, wraps them around his neck, etc., and the snakes do not touch him; they say that their poison is burned out, but I don't believe it. I myself saw a similar snake sting a chicken, which immediately, after suffering a little, died, and a dog that rushed away with a terrible squeal, having received an injection from the snake. At the suggestion of a fakir, I took a snake in my hands in front of my family, and it suddenly tensed like a stick. Another time, the same fakir, having poured into a basin up to fifty of the local yellow and gray scorpions, then, taking one at a time, blows on him or puts in his mouth - and the scorpion is dead; having put it down, the fakir allows you to touch; in conclusion, blowing on him again (in another way - three times) and uttering incantations, he revives and then vividly collects them in his box with his hands.
18. Snake charmer. The beginning of the XX century.
On the street you can also meet Persian gypsies with ugly monkeys making all kinds of jumps to the sound of a tambourine, or Persian Jews selling various rags; or, finally, "hookah", that is, a person with a Persian hookah offering you for 1 kopeck. smoke disgusting dust instead of the wonderful Persian "Shiraz" tobacco.
19. Hookahs
Sometimes you will meet 2-4 Persians leading a lioness on a chain - she belongs to the Shah, is tame, she can be stroked. They take her through the streets to show some khans, for which the leaders are paid.
20.
All the time you walk, the noise from the shouts of various merchants is in your ears. One shouts out "fruit"; other "sweets" (the Persians are great hunters before candy); the third - a soldier, dressed in a uniform, but in everything else not uniform, standing next to a donkey, shouting "boiled beets" or "watermelons"; or a sorbet merchant offers water from a ditch, adding a little syrup to it; or "sabmensab", that is, an officer hurrying on a donkey, under an umbrella from the rain, to the "villages" of the shah.
21. Street Peddler
But loud voices are heard behind you: "Khabarda", that is, beware; you give way, and some people walk past you in pairs, at a brisk pace, with sticks in their hands, and behind them, swaying in the saddle, rides some khan, an important person - without these people he does not leave, and this called "tashakhus"; and if the khan has few servants of his own for the "tashakhus", then when he leaves he hires others to go ahead; by the number of accompanying persons, the greatness of the traveling Persian is also determined. Often walking, and sometimes driving in front of the people "tashakhus" swoop down on you and demand that you turn your face to the wall and close your eyes, which the oncoming Persians are doing, otherwise they will be beaten. For Europeans, this is not necessary, although insolent Persians sometimes demand the same from them. This means that important ladies are coming. The streets are noisy; but quietly follow you either the seids, the descendants of the prophet, or women, peeping out from under their robes, "chader", with some kind of mummies; but if the Persian is pretty and, moreover, is not visible near the Muslims, then often she will open to show her always blackened eyes.
22. Grocers
After huddling through the streets, of course, out of curiosity, you will drop into the bazaars. There is also a lot of original here. Bazaars, as I said earlier, are covered corridors, illuminated from above from openings, with open benches on the sides. In these corridors, trade is conducted, so to speak, according to the homogeneity of the goods sold. Here is a long corridor for you, all with shops of copper products: from it to the right goes a corridor with shops of silver, gold and bone products; there is a corridor of shoemakers; further there is a corridor with Persian fabrics, carpets, etc. But the most interesting part of the bazaar is a corridor with benches in which food is cooked; this is, so to speak, a gluttonous row. The Persians come up to the shop and, without entering it, shove money to the seller; they are put in a cup or on "lavash" - bread - the required food, which they immediately eat, standing or squatting at the bench. At the same time, I must say that the Persians eat everything with their hands, without knives and forks, they take even liquid food with a bent piece of lavash, that is, Persian bread, which is baked with a thin pancake of one to one and a half arsh. length.
23.
All these bazaars are even more crowded than on the street, because caravans with camels and hinnies pass through them. The female sex, wrapped in veils, pushes more where there are fabrics and silver items - here and the merchants are more respectable. In every shop you can see an important Persian sitting on his heels, smoking a hookah; at your approach, he will only ask: "Is Chi Saab winking?" - "What does the master want?" - and only after your demand will it rise. There is also an interesting bazaar where cotton wool, quilts and pillows are knocked down and sold. The breaking of the cotton wool is made with a string stretched on a rather clumsy instrument, which is beaten with a wooden mallet, which makes the string make a sad sound and breaks the cotton wool with its trembling.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Persia embarked on the path of modernization, which turned out to be very difficult for the country. In 1905-1911. Persia is engulfed in revolution. The revolutionaries tried to introduce the Constitution in the country and give power to the Mezhdlis (parliament). Formally, Iran has always remained independent. However, Russia and England competed for influence on him for a long time. In 1907, they divided Iran into spheres of influence. Russia dominated in the north, England in the south. Iran has actually turned into a semi-colony of these countries.
Although Iran tried to maintain neutrality in World War I, battles between the Turks and the Russians and the British unfolded in its western regions. After the October Revolution, as you know, Russia withdraws from the war. Russian troops are withdrawn and the British take their place. From northern Iran, the British tried to help the white armies and anti-Bolshevik movements of Transcaucasia and Central Asia(for example, the Kokand autonomy).
Rice. 1. One of the last shahs of the Qajar dynasty - Mozafferedin.
Rice. 2. Reza Shah Pahlavi.
As you know, the Bolsheviks tried to foment a world revolution not only in Europe, but also in the East. The Bolsheviks helped the Turk Ataturk, now they took over Iran. In 1920-1921. in northwestern Iran, there was the Soviet Gilan Republic, created with the help Soviet Russia... Mirza Kuchek Khan became the head of the republic. However, the experiment with communism in Iran naturally failed.
Iran is a multinational country. There are Persians here a little more than half of the population. In the northwest, Kurds and Turkic-speaking Azerbaijanis live here (Fig. 4). The Kurds are a divided people living at the junction of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Iranian Azerbaijanis have played a huge role in the history of Iran. Moreover, there are much more Azerbaijanis in Iran than in Azerbaijan itself. About a third of the population were nomads.
Change of the ruling dynasty
Iran has been ruled by the Qajar dynasty for over a hundred years (Fig. 1). She is Turkic in origin, but by the end she almost completely adopted the Persian language, culture, and customs. The Qajars, like the Ottomans, failed to adapt to the new realities and trends of the 20th century.
In 1921 General Reza Khan carried out a coup d'etat. After some time, he will become prime minister, and expel the last monarch of the Qajar dynasty to Europe. And in 1925 the obedient mezhdlis proclaimed the former Cossack chieftain a shahinshah (“king of kings”) of Persia (Fig. 2). The Qajar dynasty was deposed, Reza Shah founded a new dynasty - Pahlavi (from the Parthian language - "brave, noble"). This name emphasized its ancient, Iranian origin.
Reforms
Reza Shah Pahlavi began to carry out rather radical reforms. Under him, Persia experienced a broad national revival. The Shah visited Ankara on several occasions. He admired Ataturk's reforms and imitated him. He even considered the option of introducing a republic in order to become its president like Ataturk. Reza Shah began industrialization, large investments were made in industry. Tax incentives were created for private investors. Railways and highways, seaports and airfields were built. Oil in Iran was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. Now the British were actively developing it. Replacing Sharia Courts, Legal Proceedings Introduced
Rice. 3. Persian Cossack brigade
European type. The Iranian army was created on the basis of the Cossack brigade. The authorities force the nomads to settle.
In 1935, Persia returned the ancient self-name "Iran" ("the land of the Aryans"). The pre-Islamic past was diligently revived. The cities were renamed, pre-Islamic monuments were restored. The calendar was transferred from the lunar Islamic calendar to the solar calendar, the names of the ancient Iranian months were introduced. The non-Islamic holiday Navruz was celebrated. Following the example of Ataturk, Reza ordered the Iranian academy to purge Arabisms. Then, however, it turned out that this would affect half of the vocabulary... There was a project to translate the written language into the Latin alphabet. Feudal titles have been withdrawn from use. Surnames and names are translated in the European manner.
Rice. 4.Iran and Afghanistan
A system of free, universal and compulsory primary and secondary education was created. Even the Boy Scouts have sprung up. Secular schools and women's education appeared. A university was opened in Tehran.
Instead of Muslim clothes and hats, European ones are being introduced. An attempt was made to emancipate women and equalize them in rights with men. Women could take off the veil. Women appeared in government offices. The parades of female athletes in sports uniforms have become surprising for the Islamic country. Novels and comedies appeared in literature. They began to write for the first time about female emancipation.
Results and consequences of reforms
The reforms turned out to be quite painful for the society. Reza Shah did not follow the example of the Turks in the sphere of religion, but, nevertheless, he forbade the Hajj and the holiday of Ashura (ritual self-torture). The Islamic Shiite (Iran is the only Shiite country), the clergy accused the Shah of disrespect for religion, servility to alien (Western) culture and called for boycotting secular courts and schools. In 1935, soldiers fired at a crowd in the holy city of Mashhad who protested the wearing of European clothing. The soldiers tore off the veil from the women, tearing it apart with bayonets. The clergy incited backward nomadic tribes against the "godless" government. In response, the authorities poison the wells of the nomads, dooming them to death. One mullah, who criticized Reza Shah, he beat during prayer, the other was kept in prison for years. In 1937, the Ayatollah, one of the country's spiritual leaders, was assassinated. After that, the clergy were afraid to argue with the Shah. Nevertheless, the protest potential was accumulating. After 40 years, the Islamic clergy became the main opposition to the Shah's regime.
Reza's reforms were not as radical and effective as in Turkey. The government did not have so much will to carry out reforms. And the Iranian people showed less understanding of reforms than ordinary Turks who lived next to Europe and experienced its influence for centuries. Iran lagged behind Turkey in reforms, although the Arab peoples lagged even further behind.
Often these days we can hear a story about a country in the southwestern part of Asia called Persia. Which country has replaced it now? Since 1935, Persia has been officially called Iran.
In ancient times, this state was the center of a huge empire, the territory of which stretched from Egypt itself to the Indus River.
Geography
It is worth saying that at one time the state of Persia did not have clear boundaries. It is rather problematic to determine which country is on these lands now. Even modern Iran is only approximately located on the territory of Ancient Persia. The fact is that in some periods this empire was located in most of the world known at that time. But there were also the worst years when the territory of Persia was divided among themselves by local rulers, hostile to each other.
The relief of most of the territory of present-day Persia is a high (1200 m) highland, which is crossed by a chain of stone ridges and individual peaks, rising up to 5500 m. In the northern and western parts of this area are the Elbrus and Zagros mountain ranges. They are arranged in the form of the letter "V", framing the highlands.
Mesopotamia was located west of Persia. This is the homeland of the most ancient civilizations on Earth. At one time, the states of this empire greatly influenced the culture of the still nascent country of Persia.
History
Persia (Iran) is a country with the greatest past. Its history includes predatory and defensive wars, uprisings and revolutions, as well as the brutal suppression of all political action. But at the same time, Ancient Iran is the homeland of the great people of that time, who led to the flourishing of the art and culture of the country, and also built amazingly beautiful buildings, the architecture of which still amazes us with its splendor. Persian history counts a large number of ruling dynasties. It is simply impossible to count them. Each of these dynasties enacted its own laws and rules, which no one simply dared to break.
Historical periods
Persia went through a lot on the way of its formation. But the main milestones of its development are considered to be two periods. One of them is pre-Muslim, and the second is Muslim. The Islamization of Ancient Iran was the cause of fundamental changes in its political, social and cultural sphere. However, this does not at all mean the disappearance of the former spiritual values. They were not only not lost, but also significantly influenced the new culture that arose in the country at the turn of two historical periods. In addition, many pre-Muslim rituals and traditions have survived in Iran to this day.
Achaemenid rule
As a state, Ancient Iran began its existence with Cyrus II. This ruler became the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, which ruled from 550 to 330 BC. BC NS. Under Cyrus II, the two largest Indo-Asian tribes, the Persians and the Medes, were united for the first time. This was the period of the greatest power of Persia. Its territory extended to the Central and the Indus Valley and Egypt. The most important archaeological and historical monument of the Achaemenid era is the ruins of the capital of Persia - Persepolis.
Here is the tomb of Cyrus II, as well as an inscription carved by Darius I on the Behistun rock. At one time, Persepolis was burned by Alexander the Great during his campaign to conquer Iran. This conqueror put an end to the great Achaemenid empire. Unfortunately, no written evidence of this era has survived. They were destroyed by order of Alexander the Great.
Hellenistic period
From 330 BC to 224 BC NS. Persia was in a state of decline. Together with the country, its culture also degraded. During this period, Ancient Iran was under the rule of the Greek dynasty of the Seleucids, which was ruling at that time, being part of the state of the same name. The culture and language of Persia has changed. They were influenced by the Greeks. At the same time, Iranian culture has not died. She influenced the settlers from Hellas. But this happened only in those areas where there were no self-sufficient and large Greek communities.
Parthian Kingdom
Years passed, the power of the Greeks in Persia came to an end. The history of Ancient Iran entered its new stage... The country became part of the Parthian kingdom. The Arshakid dynasty ruled here, considering itself the descendants of the Achaemenids. These rulers freed Persia from Greek rule, and also protected it from the invasion of the Romans and the raids of the nomads.
During this period, the Iranian folk epic was created, a large number of plots with heroic characters appeared. One of them was Rustema. This Iranian hero is in many ways similar to Hercules.
In the Parthian period, the feudal system was strengthened. This weakened Persia. As a result, it was conquered by the Sassanids. A new stage began in the history of Ancient Iran.
Sassanid state
Between 224 and 226 A.D. NS. the last Parthian king Artaban V was overthrown from the throne. Power was seized by the Sassanid dynasty. During this period, the borders of Ancient Iran were not only restored, but also expanded to western regions China, including Punjab and Transcaucasia. The dynasty waged a constant struggle with the Romans, and one of its representatives, Shapur I, even managed to capture their emperor Valerian. The Sassanid dynasty also waged constant wars with Byzantium.
During this period, cities developed in Persia, and the central government was strengthened. At the same time, Zoroastrianism arose, which became the official religion of the country. During the Sassanid era, a four-stage system of the existing administrative division and stratification of all strata of society into 4 estates.
During the Sassanid era, Christianity penetrated into Persia, which was negatively greeted by the Zoroastrian priests. At the same time, some other oppositional religious movements appeared. Among them are Mazdakism and Manichaeism.
The most famous representative of the Sassanid dynasty was Shah Khosrov I Anushirvan. The literal translation of his name means "with an immortal soul." His reign lasted from 531 to 579. Khosrov I was so famous that his fame remained for many centuries after the fall of the Sassanid dynasty. This ruler remained in the memory of posterity as a great reformer. Khosrov I showed great interest in philosophy and science. In some Iranian sources, there is even a comparison with Plato's "king-philosopher."
The Sassanids were significantly weakened by the constant wars with Rome. In 641, the country lost a major battle to the Arabs. The Sassanian stage in the history of Iran ended with the death of the last representative of this dynasty - Yazdegerd III. Persia entered the Islamic period of its development.
Rule of local dynasties
The Arab Caliphate gradually expanded eastward. At the same time, his central government in Baghdad and Damascus could no longer maintain strict control over all provinces. This led to the emergence of local dynasties in Iran. The first of them is the Tahirids. Its representatives ruled from 821 to 873. in Khorasan. This dynasty was replaced by the Saffarids. Their domination in the territory of Khorasan, southern Iran and Herat lasted throughout the second half of the ninth century. Further, the throne was seized by the Samanids. This dynasty proclaimed itself the descendants of the Parthian military commander Bahram Chubin. The Samanids held the throne for more than fifty years, extending their power over large territories. The country of Iran during the years of their reign ran from the eastern outskirts of the highlands to The aral sea and the Zagros ridge. Bukhara was the center of the state.
Somewhat later, two more clans ruled on the territory of Persia. In the second half of the tenth century, these were the Ziyarids. They controlled the territory of the Caspian Sea coast. The Ziyarids became famous for their patronage of art and literature. During the same period, the Bund dynasty was in power in central Iran. They conquered Baghdad and Force, Khuzistan and Kerman, Rey and Hamadan.
Local Iranian dynasties sought power in the same way. They seized the throne, raising an armed rebellion.
Dynasties of Ghaznavids and Seljukids
Starting from the eighth century, Turkic nomadic tribes began to penetrate. Gradually, the way of life of this people became sedentary. New settlements arose. Alp-Tegin - one of the Turkic tribal leaders - began to serve the Sassanids. In 962, he came to power and ruled the newly created state, the capital of which was the city of Ghazni. Alp-Tegin founded a new dynasty. The Gaznevites held power for a little over a hundred years. One of its representatives, Mahmoud Ghaznavi, kept the territory from Mesopotamia to India under vigilant control. The same ruler settled in Kharasan a tribe of Oghuz Turks. Subsequently, their leader Seljuk raised an uprising and overthrew the Ghaznavid dynasty. The city of Rey was declared the capital of Iran.
The Seljuk dynasty belonged to the devout Muslims. She subjugated all local rulers, but for her domination she waged constant wars for many years.
During the years of Seljuk power, architecture flourished. During the reign of the dynasty, hundreds of madrasahs, mosques, public buildings and palaces were erected. But at the same time, the reign of the Seljukids was hampered by constant uprisings in the provinces, as well as the invasions of other tribes of the Turks, who were advancing to the western lands. Constant wars weakened the state, and by the end of the first quarter of the twelfth century, it began to disintegrate.
Mongol rule
The invasion of Genghis Khan's troops did not pass Iran either. The history of the country tells us that in 1219 this commander managed to seize Khorezm, and then, moving westward, plundered Bukhara, Balkh, Samarkand, Nashapur and Merv.
His grandson, Hulagu Khan, plunged into Iran again in 1256 and, by storming Baghdad, destroyed the Abbasi Caliphate. The conqueror took the title of Ilkhan, becoming the ancestor of the Hulaguid dynasty. He and his successors adopted the religion, culture and way of life of the Iranian people. Over the years, the position of the Mongols in Persia began to weaken. They were forced to wage constant wars with feudal rulers and representatives of local dynasties.
Between 1380 and 1395 the territory of the Iranian Highlands was captured by Amir Timur (Tamerlane). He conquered all the lands that adjoined the Mediterranean Sea. Descendants up to 1506 kept the Timurid state. Further, it was subordinated to the Uzbek dynasty of Sheibanids.
History of Iran from 15th to 18th centuries
Over the next centuries, wars for power continued in Persia. So, in the 15th century, the Ak-Koyundu and Kara-Aoyundu tribes fought among themselves. In 1502, Ismail I seized power. This monarch was the first representative of the Safavids, an Azerbaijani dynasty. During the reign of Ismail I and his successors, Iran revived its military power and became an economically prosperous country.
The Safavid state remained strong until the death in 1629 of its last ruler Abbas I. In the east, the Uzbeks were expelled from Kharasan, and in the west, the Ottomans were defeated. Iran, whose map pointed to the impressive territories belonging to it, subjugated Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It existed within these boundaries until the nineteenth century.
On the territory of Persia, wars were fought against the Turks and Afghans, who sought to conquer the country. These were the times when the Afsharov dynasty was in power. The southern lands of Iran from 1760 to 1779 were ruled by a dynasty founded by Zendov Kerim Khan. Then she was overthrown by the Turkic tribe of the Kajars. Under the leadership of its leader, it conquered the lands of the entire Iranian plateau.
Qajar dynasty
At the very beginning of the nineteenth century, Iran lost the provinces located on the territory of modern Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. This was the result of the fact that the Qajar dynasty was never able to create a strong state apparatus, national army and a unified tax collection system. The power of its representatives turned out to be too weak and could not resist the imperial desires of Russia and Great Britain. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the lands of Afghanistan and Turkestan were seized under the control of these great powers. At the same time, Iran unwittingly began to serve as an arena for Russian-British confrontation.
The last of the Qajar family was a constitutional monarch. The dynasty was forced to adopt this main law under the pressure of the strikes carried out in the country. The constitutional regime of Iran was opposed by two powers - Russia and Great Britain. In 1907, they signed an agreement to partition Persia. Her Northern part departed to Russia. Great Britain exerted its influence in the southern lands. The central part of the country was left as a neutral zone.
Iran in the early 20th century
The Qajar dynasty was overthrown as a result of a coup d'état. It was headed by General Reza Khan. A new Pahlavi dynasty came to power. This name, which in translation from Parthian means "noble, brave", was intended to emphasize the Iranian origin of the family.
During the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, Persia experienced its national revival. This was facilitated by numerous radical reforms carried out by the government. The beginning of industrialization was laid. Large investments were allocated for the development of industry. Highways and railways were built. The development and production of oil was actively carried out. Sharia courts have been replaced by legal proceedings. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, extensive modernization began in Persia.
In 1935, the state of Persia changed its name. Which country is his successor now? Iran. This is the ancient self-name of Persia, which means "the country of the Aryans" (the highest white race). After 1935, the pre-Islamic past began to revive. Small and large cities of Iran began to be renamed. Pre-Islamic monuments were restored in them.
Overthrow of the royal power
The last Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty came to the throne in 1941. His reign lasted for 38 years. In carrying out its foreign policy the shah was guided by the opinion of the United States. At the same time, he supported the pro-American regimes that existed in Oman, Somalia and Chad. One of the Shah's brightest oppositionists was the Islamic priest Kma Ruhollah Khomeini. He led revolutionary activities against the existing government.
In 1977, the President of the United States forced the Shah to ease the crackdown on the opposition. As a result, numerous parties of critics of the current regime began to appear in Iran. An Islamic revolution was being prepared. The activities carried out by the opposition have exacerbated the protest moods of the Iranian society, which opposed the country's internal political course, oppression of the church and foreign pro-American policy.
The Islamic revolution began after the events of January 1978. It was then that a demonstration of students who opposed a slanderous article about Khomeini published in a state newspaper was shot by the police. The unrest continued throughout the year. The Shah was forced to introduce martial law in the country. However, it was no longer possible to keep the situation under control. In January 1979, the Shah left Iran.
After his escape, a referendum was held in the country. As a result, on April 1, 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran was established. In December of the same year, the country's updated constitution was released. This document approved supreme authority Imam Khomeini, which after his death was to be handed over to his successor. The President of Iran, according to the constitution, stood at the head of political and civil power. Together with him, the country was governed by the prime minister and an advisory council - mendzhlis. The President of Iran was legally the guarantor of the adopted constitution.
Iran today
Persia, known since time immemorial, is a very colorful state. What country today can so closely match the saying "The East is a delicate matter"? This is confirmed by the entire existence and development of the state in question.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is undoubtedly unique in its identity. And this makes it stand out among others. The capital of the Republic is the city of Tehran. It is a huge metropolis, one of the largest in the world.
Iran is a unique country with a large number of attractions, cultural monuments and its own peculiarities of life style. The republic possesses 10% of the world's black gold reserves. It is thanks to its oil fields that it is in the top ten exporters of this natural resource.
Persia - what country is it now? Highly religious. More copies of the Holy Quran are published in its printing houses than in all other Muslim countries.
After the Islamic Revolution, the republic took a course towards universal literacy. The development of education here is proceeding at an accelerated pace.
It's no secret that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Persia was an unusual mixture of old and new traditions that found their embodiment in everyday life. Despite the introduction of the latest Western advances, harems, slaves and strange traditions could still be seen here. We invite you to look at the photographs of that time, which are not at all similar to everything that you could imagine.
The last shahs of the Qajar dynasty struggled to modernize the country. Engineers from Russia built a telegraph, the French trained the army, airplanes appeared in Tehran - at that moment the last word of technology. The pilots, of course, were daredevils, but the girl in the burqa and dirty shoes, leaning proprietarily on the plane in this picture, looks no less dashing.
Shah Nasser al-Din, who ruled Persia in the second half of the 19th century, was fond of photography from his youth. He set up his own photo studio in the palace and appointed Anton Sevryugin from Russia as the first court photographer, who had a photo studio in Tehran. Sevryughin filmed the shah and the courtiers, but the path to the female half of the palace was closed. Nasser ad-Din personally photographed his harem.
In Persia of those years, the telegraph, airplanes and cameras got along with the medieval order. Numerous wives and concubines of the nobility were served by eunuchs and slaves from Africa and the Caucasus. Slavery was banned only in 1929, after the overthrow of the Qajar dynasty.
The harem of Mozafereddin Shah, the son and successor of Nasser al-Din, has nothing to do with the fantasies of Europeans who have read oriental tales. This is not "A Thousand and One Nights" - no half-naked girls and belly dancing. It looks more like a peaceful family portrait: women decorously look into the lens, mischievous children climbed under the table.
The daughter of Shah Nasser ad-Din, the chubby beauty Akhtar ad-Daula, poses with the maids. In the second half of the 19th century, Persian ideas about beauty, both female and male, differed markedly from European ones. Noble girls did not seek to lose weight and sported lush eyebrows, and sometimes light facial hair.
A group of women with a goat in the andaruni (inner chambers) of the shah's palace. The covers on their heads were surprisingly combined with miniskirts that would have caused a scandal in any European capital of the time.
The beloved concubine often appears in the photographs taken by Nasser ad-Din, and each time in a new outfit - either in a Persian skirt, or in a European dress, or in a Japanese kimono. The girl was a Circassian beauty and, most likely, a slave.
Shah's granddaughter Ismat al-Mulyuk and her relatives make faces in front of the camera. You won't see anything like that on Instagram, but in the 19th century, they didn't joke with the photo. For the picture to be successful, people had to sit motionless in front of the camera with a lean face for several minutes. But the law is not written to the princesses, especially in those cases when their own grandfather is hiding under the veil of the camera.
Another photograph of Ismat is also not quite serious. She stands next to her sister Fakhr al-Taj, while their father, the Shah's son-in-law, is lying under a chair.
Next to the granddaughter of Shah Fakhr al-Taj, her mother, the daughter of Shah Nasser al-Din, Ismat al-Daul, took a nap on the bench.
Another granddaughter of the shah is Ismat al-Mulyuk with a goat in her arms next to her husband.
Musicians and dancers in the town of Selmas.
Despite the traditional clothes and veils on the head, the girls in the girls' school study the most advanced science of the time, and the class is equipped with microscopes - an expensive pleasure.
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