From Qajar to Pahlavi: Iran, 1919-1930 - Softcover

Mohammad Gholi Majd

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076184029X ISBN 13: 9780761840299

Publisher: University Press of America, 2008

Synopsis

The 1920s saw the creation of numerous new monarchies and regimes in the Middle East. This book gives a detailed history of the new regime change in Iran in the 1920s. Using U.S. State Department archives, Mohammad Gholi Majd first describes the overthrow of the Qajar dynasty, which ruled Iran since the 1790s, and its replacement by the Pahlavi monarchy in 1925. He then describes the consolidation of the new regime and suppression of the opposition between 1926 and 1930. By 1931, resistance to the Pahlavi regime and the harsh response thereto set the stage for a long struggle between the Pahlavi monarchy and the Ulama that ended with the Islamic Revolution in 1979. This book is the first detailed and documented history of Iran during 1919-1930 in the English language.

About this title

About the Author:

Mohammad Gholi Majd holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. He is the author of The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia, 1917-1919 and Iraq in World War I, both from University Press of America.

Review:

In his recent book, Majd undertakes the task of retelling the fundamental political changes in Iran during the 1920s, beginning with the Anglo-Persian Convention in 1919 and ending with Reḍā Šāh’s 'expanded reign of terror'. The slightly larger first part of the book (chapters two to ten) recounts the events leading to the overthrow of the Qājār monarchy and the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty. The last five chapters focus on the consolidation of Reḍā Šāh’s rule and its increasingly dictatorial character, evident e.g. in his attacks on the Shi‘i clergy and the tribal population. The book follows Majd’s previous publications in strongly emphasizing British influence on the events in Persia and making extensive use of American archival material . . . [H]e fills the pages with long quotations from records of the US State Department. . . .[T]he author makes a valuable source accessible through his extensive verbatim citations. Since the cited correspondence often goes beyond a mere account of events, it also sheds light on social and cultural changes during the early Pahlavī period. Furthermore, the almost exclusively chronological order of the documents allows the reader to closely follow the course of events which were reported in a very detailed way from the perspective of diplomats representing American interests in the region. And finally, the appendant index is a helpful tool to directly consult the material for specific aspects. (Abstracta Iranica)

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of America
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 076184029X
• ISBN 13: 9780761840299
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 466