 Weight of history
... would seem to reflect that any
good from Qajar rule was in spite of them, not because of them
By James M. Nugent
December 4, 2003
The Iranian
If Ferydoun Barjesteh van Waalwijk
van Doorn [Missed
facts] is interested in an objective
evaluation of the damage wrought by the Qajars in Iranian history,
I would
recommend Nikki R. Keddie's Modern
Iran: Roots And Results Of Revolution.
The book has recently been updated and re-released
in paperback. Dr. Keddie
is a recognized historian of Iran and professor of history
at the
University of California. Her objectivity would seem to be
well validated by
her peers.
From Prof. Keddie's book we can cull the following
facts about the Qajars:
"A Qajar leader castrated in boyhood, Agha
Mohammad Khan, was captured and
kept under house in Shiraz, but on the death of a Zand ruler
he escaped and
returned to lead his tribal forces in battle, taking over much
of Iran by
1790. His cruelty, especially in plucking a reported 20,000 eyes
from men of
Kerman, was long remembered." p. 36.
"Neither Fath Ali Shah nor his grandson Mohammad
Shah made real attempts at
modernization or centralization [my note: Iran was deeply fractured
due to
tribalization and a lack of consistent authority and policy from
the central
government, a problem that persisted through to Reza Shah], and
both
governed in old ways, with the minimum of unavoidable adjustments.
Fath Ali
Shah was known more for his long beard, tiny waist, and huge
harem than for
any positive achievements. Because of his hundreds of progeny,
an
unflattering phrase, alliterative in Persian, became common:
'Camels, lice,
and princes are to be found everywhere'". p. 44.
"Fath Ali Shah died ... in 1834.
Peaceful accession of the crown prince,
Mohammad Mirza, was assured thanks to diplomatic and military
support
displayed by the British, with the consent of the Russians. Subsequent
peaceful accessions were similarly guaranteed by a show of support
and force
by these two powers, both of whom had an interest in keeping
on the throne
and immune from civil war a dynasty from which they had obtained
major
treaty concessions. Knowledge that the British and the Russians
were behind
the dynasty and would back each accession of a crown prince helped
forestall
revolts and rebellions against a dynasty that was widely considered
incompetent and rapacious." p. 44.
[My note: a consistent
theme in this
history, and I would think any other besides, possibly, what
might be found
in Ferydoun Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn's Qajar Studies,
is how the
Qajars were largely responsible for giving over their country
to foreign
powers and influences, but largely that of the British and Russians,
to the
degree that Iranians didn't own their nation in any substantive
way.]
"Mohammad Shah died in 1848 and British and
Russian protected assured the
throne to the crown prince, the teen-aged Naser ad-Din, who was
to reign for
forty-eight years (1848-96)." p. 47
"
... Naser ad-Din came to fear the upsetting effects of modern
education and
to discourage both its diffusion in Iran and travel abroad for
study. (The
effects of these and other policies by this long-lived ruler
have scarcely
been assessed. [My note: this would tend to support Ferydoun
Barjesteh van
Waalwijk van Doorn.] In general, Iran would have been better
off if "
modernization" could have been more gradual and indigenous
before 1925
instead of imposed from the top in a brief fifth-year period
thereafter.)" p. 49.
"
... the Qajars were also unwilling and possibly unable to carry
through
financial reforms that would have been a necessary concomitant
of economic
and political changes. Increasingly during the nineteenth century,
governorships and subordinate positions were sold to the highest
bidder at a
kind of annual auction. This led many winners to try to get the
most revenue
from their lands in the shortest time, as they did not know whether
they had
any interest in the long-term productivity of the region, which
would have
required more moderate taxation; but they did want enough cash
to win the
next auction for a profitable territory ... Peasants were taxed
more heavily
than any other part of the population; most of their taxes supported
various
levels of local or provincial tax collectors and little reached
the central
government." p. 51.
"
The long reign of Naser ad-Din Shah was characterized by far
fewer
self-strengthening measures or steps to promote economic and
social
development than were to be found in nineteenth-century Egypt,
the Ottoman
Empire, or Tunisia, and though this was partly due to the strength
of
decentralizing, traditional forces in Iran, it was also part
due to the
character of the Qajar rulers. (The difference cannot be blamed
on European
pressures, which were at least as great elsewhere.)" p.
56.
The Qajars up to Reza Shah continued selling off
the country to foreign
powers, and focusing on their own pleasure vice the advancement
and
modernization of Iran. It would also appear that the were booted
from the
country not due to any sense of nobility, rather it was made
clear to them
that there wasn't a place for them in Iran any longer. However
bad Reza Shah
may have been for the nation, he was significantly better for
the nation as
a whole than that which he replaced, and he had no need for
the Qajars.
Ferydoun Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn informs
us of many of the good
things that occurred under the Qajars, but the weight of history
would seem
to reflect that any good from their rule was in spite of them,
not because
of them. They were rapacious rulers, did much to fractionalize
the country
by virtue of taxation and indulging tribal leaders, and they
served at the
whim of the British and the Russians, both of whom indulged
their own
negative desires on the nation of Iran. It would appear to
be abundantly
clear that the Qajars did not serve from or for the love of
the Iranian
people.
Had genuinely enlightened Qajar rulers ruled Iran
it would be
reasonable to assume that it would be a much different, and
likely better
off, nation today. Instead Iranians have had to waste time,
riches and
enormous energy shucking off the damage done to them by the
Qajar leeches
and their self-serving rule. Author
James Nugent is not a professional historian,
nor does he serve as publisher
or editor-in-chief of obscure revisionist historical journals;
but he's
interested in Iranian history and has wonderful Iranian friends
(especially
Feri!).
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Weight of history