'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎17v] (39/610)

22
Shah’s second
coup d’fetat,
June 1908, and
abolition of
eonstitution.
Popular opposi'
tion in the
provinces.
failed to consolidate his advantage, and the guilds and political
clubs gained time to rally to the defence of the Assembly.
The bazaars were closed, and the people flocked to the Baharis-
tan, the Assembly’s meeting place. Expressions of indig
nation received from the provinces against the Shah’s perfidy
encouraged the Constitutionalists to discuss his deposition.
The Shah found himself deserted and was frightened into
submission. He promised to exile the leading 1 reactionaries
and sent a sealed Quran to the Assembly with an oath to
obey the Constitution. The Shah was temporarily worsted,
but after his perfidy no reliance could be placed in his promises
and in February an attempt was made to assassinate him.
The disorganization of the Government and tension increased.
The Assembly demanded the expulsion of reactionaries, and
the Shah the cessation of attacks upon himself by newspapers
and orators.
On 4th June the Shah suddenly left the city and went to
Bagh-i-Shah, where he collected Cossacks and irregulars, while
the ‘ Constitutionalists ’ rallied round the Baharistan and the
masjid of Sipah Salar adjacent to it. On the 23rd of June
they were attacked by Colonel Liakhoff, the Russian officer in
command of the Persian Cossack Division, and after a shrapnel
bombardment both buildings were cleared. The casualties
totalled about 600. The city was for a few days placed under
martial law administered by Colonel Liakhoff, and the principal
opponents of the Shah were arrested 2 and their houses looted.
On the 27th June the Shah proclaimed a general amnesty and
dissolution of the Assembly.
The Shah’s triumph in Tehran was complete. Simul
taneously, however, with this coup d’etat fighting broke out
in Tabriz, which had become the principal centre of the popu
lar cause, and the “Royalists” were expelled. The Shah
despatched the ’Ain-ud-Dauleh and Sipahdar (Valx Khan,
afterwards Sipah Salar) against Tabriz, where they arrived
in August. They were opposed by Sattar Khan and other
'‘Constitutionalists’ with the assistance of Messrs. Moore, an
English newspaper Correspondent, and Baskerville, an American
Missionary. Tabriz set an example of resistance to the Shah to
the rest 3 of Persia, and its defence lasted until April 1909,
1 The most' conspicuous reactionary throughout this period was the late
Amir Bahadur Jang.
2 . Taqizadeh and about 50 others took ‘ bast (Per.) A Persian custom allowing an individual to seek asylum at a designated location. ’ afthe British Legation.
3 e.g., Anti-Royalist disturbances occurred at Meshed and Astarabad in De
cember 1908.