'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎40r] (84/610)

hekrboti, PARA. 5.—Separate Histories of the Principal Provinces of this
The provinces of Gilan, Mahal-i-Salas and Mazandaran,
lin : 1 w which, with the exception perhaps of the Urumieh basin prior
, a , a J . to 1916, are the richest and most populous districts of Persia,
e ° s;a? have felt severely the disturbing effects of the revolution of
’ lUse r 1906 and the resultant weakening of authority of the Central
.jj Tehran Government. Gilan was the chief centre of the revolu-
alK n0 j tionary movement and gathering point of Tartar and Caucasian
(hemcrt ^ firebrands, and Sipah Salar and Yeprim started their march on
°* ? eu j Tehran for the deposition of Muhammad Ali Shah in 1909 from
s Rasht, but owing to the geographical position of the province
l( l ull 7 ^ in the heart of the Russian sphere of influence in Persia and
tis aggK astride the main artery of Russian commerce into the interior of
to31 al P the country, Russian troops and influence prevented it from
. 0 'r becoming independent of Tehran and preserved a measure of
yaI1 ’law and order. The inception of the socialistic Jangali move-
sfcr h?' ment in 1915-6, fostered by Turko-German intrigue, marks the
part) in check on disorder but drew upon it the Bolshevik invasion.
Mazandaran, and in a lesser degree Mahal-i-Salas, have
been in a state of unrest and sporadic disorder and independence
olteaM of the Tehran Government ever since 1906, due not to any revolu-
e adi# 6 ' tionary spirit among the populace but to the machinations of the
great * landlords and other * chiefs freed from governmental
u- and hi 8 control.
UB > . in 1 m o J _ 1 ;+^ Q rlc. Tin+.li TR,n«sia,. on
asterous to their welfare.
Mazandaran.
In 1907 and 1908 Mazandaran was little affected by the 1907.190&-
revolutionary movement. “ Anjumans ” were established in Bar-
farush, Nur, and other parts of the province, but they served as
popular debating societies and safety valves and interfered little
iis book with the Governor of Mazandaran who carried on the adminis-
i f 0 calh c ' tration on the old lines, until after the bombardment of the
• i • • m i — T jl. „ 1\ T-,, 1^ -vv\ -yio o All Sn 11 q Tl 1YI .Til TI
Majlis in Tehran by the order of Muhammad AH Shah in June
1908 when they passed out of existence.
* Their biographies are sketched in Chapter IX, Personalities, and should
he read first in order to make the history intelligible. (Numbers in brackets
after names refer to that chapter.)