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| 1890 Mar |
Násiri'd-Dín Sháh entered into contract of 50 years duration with British interests that would provide him with an annual payment plus 25% of the profits for the production and sale of tobacco. Prior to this, in the 1870s and 1880s the country's telegraph and mail systems, its fisheries, and many of its mines were sold to Western, mostly British, interests.
Opposition, fomented by Britain's rival Russia, came from merchants and shopkeepers who anticipated higher prices and feared being marginalized if the tobacco trade were to pass into the hands of foreigners. Many of the ulama supported the resistance, in part from fear of foreign influence and some because they owned land, either privately of on religious property, that grew tobacco. Articulated as a struggle in defense of Islam against foreign intrusion, the movement quickly became a popular one. At that time about one third of the population of 8 million used tobacco.
The movement first flared up in Shiraz, the centre of Iran's main tobacco-growing region and then Tabriz in the north of the country that was under heavy Russian influence. Isfahan and Mashhad soon followed in popular clergy-led agitation. The protest movement culminated when the ulama declared tobacco itself unclean and smoking religiously impermissible. Ordinary Iranians, frustrated at the mismanagement and misery prevalent in the country, massively heeded the call. People throughout the country gave up smoking.
In January 1892 the Shah rescinded the concession and was forced to compensate the tobacco company for its losses. The Qajar government had to take out a £500,000 loan to cover the cost.
The Tobacco Revolt is considered a landmark event in Iran's modern history. It is often seen as the first episode in which common people showed an awareness of a collective identity and were successful in mobilizing disparate groups around a common cause.
[Encyclopedia]
[Wikipedia]
See 'Abdu'l-Bahá's comments on the insurrection that saw the clergy's involvement in the affairs of state in His Treatise on Politics. |
Iran |
Tobacco Revolt; Nasirid-Din Shah; Iran, General history; History (General); Smoking; Risaliy-i-Siyasiyyih (Treatise on Leadership) |
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from the main catalogue
- Apparent Contradictions in the Bahá'í Writings, Reconciliation of, by Universal House of Justice (2002). On apparent contradictions, regarding Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl on Abraham and Zoroaster; 'Abdu'l-Bahá and a Baby Naming Ceremony; Minimum Age of Marriage; Smoking and Firmness in the Covenant; Corporal Punishment; Táhirih as "Woman Suffragette." [about]
- In A Blue Haze: Smoking and Baha'i Ethics, by Udo Schaefer (1997). Smoking as a focus of this first attempt to define certain aspects of Bahá'í ethics. [about]
- Notes on Words of the Guardian, by Virginia Orbison (1956). Ten pages of notes, preserved as an appendix to Orbison's lengthy manuscript "Diary of a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Made by Virginia Orbison, January 15 to February 11". [about]
- Substance Abuse: A Bahá'í Perspective, by Abdu'l-Missagh Ghadirian (2000). Up-to-date information about diverse addictive substances that are widely abused worldwide, including alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. Written for both the general public, the health professional, and government policy-makers. [about]
- Unrestrained as the Wind: A Life Dedicated to Bahá'u'lláh (1985). Compilation of quotations on topics of especial interest to Bahá'í youth. [about]
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