Ayatollah Behbahani
The two powerful leaders of the revolt did not just win the conflict; they introduced the power of clergy to Iranian politics.
This violation of the sanctity of the mosque created an even larger movement which sought refuge in a shrine outside Tehran. On January 1906, the Shah gave in and agreed to surrender power to a new "house of justice."
In early 1906 a clergyman was killed by Government forces which led to riots in which Cossack soldiers killed 22 protesters and injured 100. The clergy went on strike again. A large number of the high level clergymen took sanctuary in the holy city of Qom. Many merchants went to the gardens adjacent to British embassy which agreed to offer protection to the rebels in their grounds.
Creation of the constitution of 1906
12,000 men camped out in the gardens of British embassy. They demanded formation of a parliament. They wanted to put a limit on the power of the Shah. In August 1906, Mozafareldin Shah agreed to allow a parliament, and in the fall, the first elections were held. In all, 156 members were elected, with an overwhelming majority coming from Tehran and the merchant class.
The First Session of the Parliament (Majlis): the only one ever without cheating
The first meeting of parliament was held soon after and the members of the new congress immediately gave themselves the right to make a constitution, raising their organization to a Constitutional Assembly. The Shah was getting old, sick and more superstitious, and after much consultation with exorcists, fortune tellers, and even the fish in the castle pool, he attended the inauguration of the parliament, which was his last act as a king. Mozafareldin Shah's son Muhammad Ali, however, was heavily influenced by Russians and did not like the idea of constitutionalism. The new constitution was modeled after the Belgian Constitution. According to the new document signed by Mozafareldin Shah, the Shah was from there on "under the rule of law, and the crown became a divine gift given to the Shah by the people."
Mohammad Ali Shah
Following Mozafareldin Shah's death, his successor, Mohammad Ali Mirza pledged to respect the fundamentals of the Constitution and the Nation's Rights. But he broke his word from the very beginning, which caused the Constitutionalists to react. The dissatisfaction caused Mohammad Mirza to summon the cabinet members under the pretense of soliciting advice. He broke his word and detained all of them. A new cabinet was formed but a bomb was thrown at Shah's Coach, making him highly suspicious. The bomb was probably built by Heydar Almighty, a famous, successful revolutionary for years to come.
Heidar Amoghly
Two days later, Shah invited the leaders of the constitutional movement to the Imperial Gardens outside Tehran, where he imprisoned all and placed the parliament under siege and ordered its bombardment by artillery fire. Colonel Liakhov, the leader of Persian Cossacks, destroyed the new parliament and killed their leaders.
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