Cultural program to highlight conquest of Tehran by constitutional revolutionaries

 

The unveiling of a book entitled “The Conquest of Tehran” is part of a program that will begin at the Niavaran Cultural and Historical Complex at 5 p.m., author Ardeshir Salehpur said in a press conference on Sunday.

 

The program also includes a naqqali performance, during which two naqqals will narrate the story of the conquest of Tehran.

 

In addition, a painting entitled “The Conquest of Tehran”, which is on display at the Sahebqaranieh Palace of the Niavaran complex will be reintroduced during the program.

 

The painting, which had been created by an unknown artist in 1909, shows the revolutionaries and two of their leaders, Sardar As’ad Bakhtiari and Mirza Mohammad-Vali Khan Tonekaboni, in front of the National Majlis in Tehran.

 

Scenes from the revolutionaries’ battles in other Iranian cities have also been illustrated in the painting.

 

Other parts of the program include a film screening and a musical performance.

 

“The conquest of Tehran was the climax of the Constitutional Revolution, and Niavaran is the best place to host the program about this historical event because the Niavaran Palace was the royal court of the Qajar king Ahmad Shah, the first king who ruled Iran following the victory of the Constitutional Revolution,” Salehpur said.

 

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah (reigned 1896–1907), a weak and incompetent Qajar king, was forced in 1906 to grant a constitution that called for some curtailment of monarchial power. With the aid of Russia, his son Mohammad-Ali Shah (reigned 1907–09) attempted to rescind the constitution and abolish parliamentary government.

 

The attempt provoked uprisings in Tabriz, Rasht and several other Iranian cities. The constitutional revolutionaries headed for Tehran to conquer it. Consequently, Mohammad-Ali Shah was deposed in 1909, and the throne was taken by his son Ahmad Shah. 

 

MMS/YAW

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