Tobacco merchants mobilize in Shiraz

Under the treaty, Iran agreed to evacuate Herat and renounce claims over the city and Afghanistan; Britain agreed to withdraw its forces. The settlement privileged British strategic objectives and...

Nasir al-Din Shah granted Baron Julius de Reuter sweeping privileges involving railways, mines, irrigation, forests, and other resources. The concession was exceptional in scope and provoked...

The Qajar government withdrew the Reuter concession amid domestic opposition, Russian pressure, and concern about its extraordinary reach. Iranica and British parliamentary records describe its...

During Nasir al-Din Shah’s third European tour, the government granted Major G. F. Talbot a monopoly over Iran’s tobacco production, sale, and export; it was ratified in 1890. The concession...

A new concession authorized a British-backed Imperial Bank of Persia, which received note-issuing privileges and became a major foreign financial institution in Iran. The deal illustrates how...

After criticizing the tobacco monopoly, cleric Fal-Asiri was exiled by provincial authorities. Thousands gathered at the Shah Cheragh shrine in response. The episode shows how local religious...

A fatwa attributed to Mirza Hasan Shirazi circulated in Iran, forbidding tobacco consumption while the concession remained in force. The boycott linked religious authority with merchants, consumers,...

The government formally cancelled the tobacco concession after months of protest and boycott. The success of the campaign demonstrated the political force of coordinated action across bazaars,...

Mirza Hasan Shirazi issued a follow-up communication after the concession’s withdrawal, ending the prohibition on tobacco use and closing the immediate boycott. The campaign became a precedent for...

Mozaffar al-Din Shah’s government granted British subject William Knox D’Arcy a 60-year oil concession covering most of Iran except five northern provinces. It gave a private concessionaire broad...