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Riza Shah, the Fall of Sardar Asad, and the “Bakhtiyari Plot”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Stephanie Cronin
Stephanie Cronin*
Affiliation:
University College, Northampton
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Iranian Studies , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 211 - 245
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Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2005

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References

1 For a discussion of the ideological context, see Katouzian, Homa, State and Society in Iran: The Eclipse of the Qajars and the Emergence of the Pahlavis (London and New York, 2000)Google Scholar and Katouzian, Homa, The Political Economy of Modern Iran: Despotism and Pseudo-Modernism, 1926–1979 (London, 1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 Bahadur, Ja‘afar Quli Khan Amir, ed., Khatirat-i Sardar As‘ad Bakhtiyari (Tehran, 1372), 6–7Google Scholar.

3 Annual Report, 1923, Loraine to MacDonald, 4 March 1924, FO371/10153/E3362/2635/34.; Bahar, Muhammad Taqi, al-Shu‘ara’, Malik, Tarikh-i Mukhtasar-i Ahzab-i Siyasi-yi Iran (Tehran, 1323) 1:71Google Scholar.

4 For the Bakhtiyari in the nineteenth century, see Garthwaite, Gene, Khans and Shahs: A Documentary Analysis of the Bakhtiyari in Iran (Cambridge, 1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 See Cronin, Stephanie, “Riza Shah and the Disintegration of Bakhtiyari Power in Iran, 1921–1934,” in The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society under Riza Shah, 1921–1941, ed. Cronin, Stephanie, (London and New York, 2003), 241–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 See Cronin, “Riza Shah and the Disintegration of Bakhtiyari Power,” 249–251.

7 Bristow, Isfahan, to Clive, 11 July 1929, FO371/13781/E3668/95/34; Cronin, Stephanie, “Modernity, Change and Dictatorship in Iran: The New Order and Its Opponents, 1927–1929,” Middle Eastern Studies, 39 (2003): 1–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the tribal uprisings, see Bayat, Kaveh, Shurish-i ‘Asha'ir-i Fars (Tehran, 1365)Google Scholar.

8 Trott, acting Consul-General, Isfahan, to Minister, Tehran, 5 September 1930, FO371/14551/E5310/3025/34.

9 Trott, acting Consul-General, Isfahan, to Minister, Tehran, 5 September 1930, FO371/14551/E5310/3025/34.

10 Annual Report, 1930, Clive to Henderson, 22 May 1931, FO371/15356/E3067/3067/34.

11 Trott, acting Consul-General, Isfahan, to Minister, Tehran, 5 September 1930, FO371/14551/E5310/3025/34.

12 Bayat, Kaveh, “Riza Shah and the Tribes: An Overview,” in The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society under Riza Shah, 1921–1941, ed. Cronin, Stephanie, (London and New York, 2003), 213–219Google Scholar.

13 For an analysis of the changing character of the shah's rule, see Katouzian, State and Society in Iran, ch. 11.

14 Hoare to Simon, 24 May 1932, FO 371/16077/E2780/2780/34.

15 For a discussion of the general significance of this legislation and the context within which it was introduced, see Cronin, Stephanie, “Resisting the New State: Peasants and Pastoralists in Iran, 1921–1941,” The Journal of Peasant Studies 32 (2005): 1–47CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16 For a discussion of the methods employed by the shah and his officials, see Majd, Mohammad Gholi, Resistance to the Shah: Landowners and the Ulama in Iran (Gainesville, FL, 2001)Google Scholar, ch. 3; Darakhshani, ‘Ali Akbar, Khatirat-i Sartip-i‘Ali Akbar Darakhshani (Bethesda, 1994)Google Scholar.

17 Hoare to Simon, 24 May 1932, FO 371/16077/E2780/2780/34.

18 Majd, Resistance to the Shah.

19 Acting Consul, Shiraz, Summary of Events and Conditions in Fars in 1932, Hoare to Simon, 3 February 1933, FO371/16953/E1101/1101/34.

20 Cronin, Stephanie, “The Politics of Debt: The Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Bakhtiyari Khans,” Middle Eastern Studies 40 (2004): 131CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 10 January 1929, BP 71680.

22 Bayat, “Riza Shah and the Tribes,” 217.

23 Memorandum respecting the Bakhtiari Tribes, A. E. Watkinson, Consul, Ahwaz, October 1933, Mallet to Simon, 20 October 1933, FO371/16970/E6755/5362/34.

24 Memorandum respecting the Bakhtiari Tribes, A. E. Watkinson, Consul, Ahwaz, October 1933, Mallet to Simon, 20 October 1933, FO371/16970/E6755/5362/34.

25 Memorandum respecting the Bakhtiari Tribes, A. E. Watkinson, Consul, Ahwaz, October 1933, Mallet to Simon, 20 October 1933, FO371/16970/E6755/5362/34.

26 Letter to Trott from a Persian friend in Isfahan, Isfahan, 14 August 1933, FO371/16970/E5362/5362/34.

27 In its early years, conscription was imposed most energetically on those least able to offer resistance, rural rather then urban populations, the settled rather than the nomadic, and the poorest rather than the better-off. Cronin, Stephanie, “Conscription and Popular Resistance in Iran, 1925–1941,” in Arming the State: Military Conscription in the Middle East and Central Asia, ed. Zurcher, E. J. (London and New York, 1999), 145–67Google Scholar.

28 Letter to Trott from a Persian friend in Isfahan, Isfahan, 14 August 1933, FO371/16970/E5362/5362/34.

29 Letter to Trott from a Persian friend in Isfahan, Isfahan, 14 August 1933, FO371/16970/E5362/5362/34.

30 Memorandum respecting the Bakhtiari Tribes, A. E. Watkinson, Consul, Ahwaz, October 1933, Mallet to Simon, 20 October 1933, FO371/16970/E6755/5362/34.

31 Annual Report, 1933, Hoare to Simon, 24 February 1934, FO371/17909/E1620/1620/34.

32 Annual Report, 1933, Hoare to Simon, 24 February 1934, FO371/17909/E1620/1620/34.

33 For details of Sardar Asad's unwitting role in Taymurtash's attempts to make money at the expense of the national bank, see Cronin, “The Politics of Debt.”

34 Rezun, Miron, “Reza Shah's Court Minister: Teymourtash,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 12 (1980): 119–137CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

35 Annual Report, 1928, Clive to Henderson, 14 July 1929, FO371/13799/E3676/3676/34.

36 Cronin, The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 184; 154.

37 Cronin, The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 170.

38 Cronin, The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 157.

39 Clive to Chamberlain, 23 February 1928, FO371/13064/E1295/688/34.

40 For the assassination of Ishqi, see Stephanie Cronin, “Popular Protest, Disorder and Riot in Iran: The Tehran Crowd and the Rise of Riza Khan, 1921–1925,” International Review of Social History, (forthcoming); Qa'id, M., Ishqi (Tehran, 1998)Google Scholar.

41 Mallet to Simon, 14 July 1933, FO371/16970/E4225/47/34; Mu‘tazid, Kh., Pulis-i Siyasi (Tehran, 1366)Google Scholar.

42 Cronin, Stephanie, “The Politics of Radicalism within the Iranian Army: The Jahansuz Group of 1939,” Iranian Studies 32 (1999): 5–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 Mukhtar was the first police officer actually to head the police and his appointment was perhaps a sign of the shah's increasing distrust of the army.

44 See, most notably, the police role in the episodes involving Qavam al-Saltanah in 1923, Puladin in 1926, and Jahansuz in 1939. Stephanie Cronin, The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 153–57; Cronin, Stephanie, “The Politics of Radicalism within the Iranian Army: The Jahansuz Group of 1939,” Iranian Studies 32 (1999): 5–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45 Annual Report, 1931, Hoare to Simon, 12 June 1921, FO371/16077/E3354/3354/34.

46 Annual Report 1932, Hoare to Simon, 22 April 1933, FO371/16967/E2439/2439/34.

47 Annual Report 1932, Hoare to Simon, 22 April 1933, FO371/16967/E2439/2439/34.

48 Annual Report 1932, Hoare to Simon, 22 April 1933, FO371/16967/E2439/2439/34.

49 Annual Report 1932, Hoare to Simon, 22 April 1933, FO371/16967/E2439/2439/34.

50 Annual Report, 1933, Hoare to Simon, 24 February 1934, FO371/17909/E1620/1620/34.

51 For a discussion of this point, see G. F. Magee, Shiraz, FO371/52700/E12025/85/34.

52 This was certainly the view of, for example, the U.S. Minister in Tehran. Majd, Gholi, Great Britain and Reza Shah: The Plunder of Iran, 1921–1941 (Gainesville, FL, 2001)Google Scholar, 185.

53 See, for example, Beck, Lois, The Qashqa'i of Iran (New Haven, 1986), 137Google Scholar.

54 The prison doctor, the notorious Dr Ahmadi, had no training in modern medicine but was a pizishk-i mujaz, a traditional physician with a license to practice.

55 See, for example, the case of General Amirahmadi's execution of the Lur chiefs to whom he had offered a pardon, Stephanie Cronin, The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 210–211.

56 Annual Report 1932, Hoare to Simon, 22 April 1933, FO371/16967/E2439/2439/34.

57 Annual Report 1932, Hoare to Simon, 22 April 1933, FO371/16967/E2439/2439/34.

58 For the Imperial Bank of Persia, see Jones, Geoffrey, Banking and Empire in Iran: The History of the British Bank of the Middle East (Cambridge, 1986), 226–227Google Scholar.

59 Ibid., 226–227.

60 Annual Report, 1932, Hoare to Simon, 22 April 1933, FO371/16967/E2439/2439/34.

61 Annual Report, 1933, Hoare to Simon, 24 February 1934, FO371/17909/E1620/1620/34.

62 Annual Report, 1933, Hoare to Simon, 24 February 1934, FO371/17909/E1620/1620/34.

63 Letter to Eldrid, 21 March 1933, British Bank of the Middle East 666. The riyal replaced the qiran in March 1932, with one riyal equivalent to one tuman.

64 U.S. Minister, Hart, quoted by Majd, Great Britain and Reza Shah, 183.

65 See Cronin, “The Politics of Debt.” For the wider political context of Taymurtash's arrest and trial, see Rezun, Miron, The Soviet Union and Iran: Soviet Policy in Iran from the Beginnings of the Pahlavi Dynasty until the Soviet Invasion in 1941 (Boulder and London, 1988)Google Scholar.

66 The Iranian elite was well aware of the power of this belief. Qavam al-Mulk for example, after his release in 1934, made an impassioned plea to the British legation that nothing favorable about himself should appear in the British press.

67 Majd, Great Britain and Reza Shah, 190.

68 Until 1934, the tribes were allowed specific representation in the Majlis. In that year, Riza Shah abolished the special position of tribal deputies, arguing that the tribal population of Iran was an integral part of the larger population and should participate in the election of Majlis deputies together with and in the same way as the general population. See Majd, Great Britain and Reza Shah, 190.

69 Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

70 Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

71 For Khan Baba Khan, see Rawshanak Bakhtiyar, “Zindigi va Marg-i Khan Baba Khan As‘ad,” Kitab-i Anzan, Vizhah-i Farhang, Hunar, Tarikh va Tamaddun-i Bakhtiyari (n.d.)1: 76-98.

72 Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

73 Hoare to Simon, 3 November 1934, FO371/17889/E6966/40/34.

74 See, for example, the remarks of the foreign minister to the German ambassador, Hoare to Simon, 10 February 1934, FO371/17889/E1297/40/34.

75 13 December 1933, FO371/16942/E7695/47/34.

76 13 December 1933, FO371/16942/E7695/47/34. Legation officials, however, expressed some qualms about the arrests. See Hoare's remarks, FO371/16942/E7648/47/34.

77 Hoare to FO, 15 December 1933, FO371/16942/E7813/47/34.

78 Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

79 Annual Report 1933, Hoare to Simon, 24 February 1934, FO371/17909/E1620/1620/34.

80 Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

81 Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

82 Watkinson, Ahwaz, to Hoare, 5 March 1934, FO371/17889/E2249/40/34.

83 Watkinson, Ahwaz, to Hoare, 5 March 1934, FO371/17889/E2249/40/34.

84 The British certainly held such suspicions. See, for example, Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

85 Watkinson, Ahwaz, to Hoare, 8 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34. Kalantars were middle-ranking tribal chiefs, and kadkhudas headmen of villages or tribal sections.

86 Hoare to Simon, 10 February 1934, FO371/17889/E1297/40/34.

87 Hoare to Simon, 10 February 1934, FO371/17889/E1297/40/34.

88 Hoare to Simon, 10 February 1934, FO371/17889/E1297/40/34.

89 Hoare to Simon, 16 December 1933, FO371/17889/E41/40/34.

90 Hoare to Simon, 3 November 1934, FO371/17889/E6966/40/34.

91 Hoare to Simon, 7 April 1934, FO371/17889/E2581/40/34. See also Dalvand, Hamid Riza, Majarayi-yi Qatl-i Sardar As‘ad Bakhtiyari (Tehran, 1379)Google Scholar.

92 Knatchbull-Hugesssen to Simon, 1 December 1934, FO371/17889/E7530/40/34.

93 Rapurt, Vizarat-Jang, I Azar, 1313 (22 November 1934), M111, 300/863, Markaz-i Asnad-i Inqilab-i Islami.

94 While in prison, the activities of Dr Ahmadi apart, the khans were not in general ill-treated. The interrogations were not accompanied by any physical maltreatment, and one informant even paid tribute to the personal kindness shown to him by General Ayrum, the chief of police. Conditions, however, were primitive, the cells were dark and damp and swarming with vermin, and there were no bathing facilities, but food was regular and they had cigarettes. Hoare to Simon, 3 November 1934, FO371/17889/E6966/40/34. This absence of torture or any physical coercion is in marked contrast to the experiences of political prisoners in later periods. See Abrahamian, Ervand, Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran (California, 1999)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

95 See, for example, Seymour to Eden, 4 December 1937, FO371/20835/E7454/904/34.

96 R. F. G. Sarell, acting Vice-Consul, to Watkinson, Consul, Shiraz, 14 July 1937, FO371/20835/E6271/904/34. See also de Planhol, X, “Geography of Settlement,” Cambridge History of Iran (Cambridge, 1968-1991)1: 409–467.Google Scholar

97 R. F. G. Sarell, acting Vice-Consul, to Watkinson, Consul, Shiraz, 14 July 1937, FO371/20835/E6271/904/34.

98 R. F. G. Sarell, acting Vice-Consul, to Watkinson, Consul, Shiraz, 14 July 1937, FO371/20835/E6271/904/34.

99 See Cronin, “The Politics of Debt.”

100 The Bakhtiari Tribe, C. A. Gault, Consul, Isfahan, 1944, L/P&S/12/3546.

101 After Riza Shah's abdication, relatives of victims of the secret police initiated legal proceedings, and trials of police officers and other government officials took place. General Mukhtar was arrested, and after mounting a defense based largely on the culpability of the ex-shah, was sentenced to six years in prison. Dr. Ahmadi, however, held responsible by the court for the murders of dozens of prisoners, was hanged. For the trials, see the account by Jalal Abduh, the public prosecutor. ‘Abduh, Jalal, Chihil Sal dar Sahnah-i Qaza'i, Siyasi, Diplumasi-yi Iran va Jahan (Tehran, 1368)Google Scholar.

102 Annual Report, 1931, Hoare to Simon, 12 June 1932, FO371/16077/E3354/3354/34.

103 Sattareh Farman Farmaian with Munker, Dona, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem through the Islamic Revolution (London, 1992), 96Google Scholar.