How Did The White Revolution Marginalize The Bazaars

Roy Mottahedeh has studied premodern Iran for years as a professor of history at both Princeton and Harvard University. His inspiration for the book comes from an anonymous professor who had lived in Qom during the late 1970’s, where and when the book primarily takes place. Mottahedeh’s source had left the company of mullahs and became a professor at the University of Tehan. In preparation of the book, Mottahedeh spent two years reading the curriculum of mullahs and interviewed numerous Iranian people who experienced the revolution first hand. Before the book begins, the author addresses the reader directly by acknowledging certain criteria that he wishes to make known. Mottahehdeh notes that no character in his story is real, but are based off of real people and a combination of their narratives. Additionally, he addresses the non- Iranian reader by explaining that no presentation of Iranian religious tradition can please all Iranians. He argues that, some Iranians will feel that the account of the mullah in his book is not reverential enough and others will believe he is too respectful. Lastly, Mottahedeh has certain objectives for his reader that he wishes to make known. These consisted of the revival of religion in politics, the emergence of deeply

Iran was now unprotected, and a new power came into being. The Arabs invaded and the quality of life changed. “People fell into poverty as the greedy court imposed ever-increasing taxes. Tyranny tore apart the social contract between ruler and ruled that Zoroastrian doctrine holds to be the basis of organized life” (21). The Iranian people couldn’t survive with a ruler who had no sympathy or respect for them. Their life was being over run by foreigners.

Iran has always, it seems, been the breeding ground for some kind of political upheaval or another. In recent times, back in 1979, there was a major revolution which was, in some ways, similar to the revolution we are seeing today. The people were angry and they were tired of being controlled by the government that was in power. They had concrete ideals and were incredibly passionate about their revolution. The revolution Iran is experiencing today does not appear to be quite as passionate and does not appear to maintain a belief in any real solid political system. They just know they want something different. In the following paper we present an illustration of the current revolution that is taking

The complexity of America’s relationship with Iran increased steadily beginning in 1908, when Iran struck oil. The Shah, the king or emperor of Iran, after taking the place of his young predecessor Reza Shah Pahlavi with the help of the CIA, led Iran into a period of extreme wealth and prosperity, the likes of which the Iranian people had never experienced. However, with the growth of wealth in Iran came the growth of Iranian resentment towards the West, specifically the United States. The Iranian’s resented the uneven distribution of wealth that they felt existed and the United State’s influence in “westernizing” their society. In 1963, this growing hatred led to a conflict with the Islamic clergy. The conflict was quickly settled by the Shah, but he was unaware that this dispute was the beginning

The reformation of the country of Iran toward Islam caused turmoil among the people because the drastic changes forced on the people were not easily accepted. One of the major changes is that

Iran was faced with high unemployment rates and immense property, as workers had low wages and protection, and the country was underdeveloped. Iranians lost hope for a better future, as the promises of a prosperous Iran made by the Shah were not coming true. For example, the Shah believed that developing an industrial base with multiple foreign contractors and corporations would be economically beneficial for the country. Due to these investments made, Iran's oil market was flourishing in the late 1970's. However, an increase in oil profits resulted in problems with absorbing funds, leading to an increase in spending. Iran was therefore hit with effects such as inflation and corruption. Another example is that the Shah hoped for a modernization program for Iran. With this, the hope was to limit the land one could hold, decreasing the financial gap between the wealthy and poor. The result was that wealthy families continued to be as wealthy and the economic status of peasants generally worsened. Modernization also negatively affected religious institutions relying on a network of exchange, as limited land made it harder for trade. A final consequence of land reform was that peasants were forced to move to cities, begging to Westerners in order to feed themselves. These peasants began to see the negative impact western culture had made in society. They found inner peace through

In August of 1978 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini responded to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s declaration that there would be free elections in Iran with, “The people will not rest until the Pahlavi rule has been swept away and all traces of tyranny have disappeared.” Khomeini led the resistance movement against the Shah during the Iranian Revolution despite being in exile. The popular resistance to the Shah begins in January 1978, transforms into a revolution in September of 1978 and eventually leads to the Shah stepping down in January 1979 and Ruhollah Khomeini becoming the Supreme Leader of the new Islamic Republic. This paper argues that the events of Black Friday 1978 are the turning point in the Iranian revolution. Black Friday changed a religious protest movement into a revolution that demanded an Islamic Republic headed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to replace the Shah’s monarchy. To understand how Black Friday came to pass, the background of the event starting with the first protest in January of 1978 will be examined. This will show that Black Friday was the first non-religious demonstration, thereby changing a protest movement into a true revolution. Then the significance of Black Friday will be examined by exploring the fallout of Black Friday, how the revolution changed shape after this historic event. To conclude this paper the importance of Black Friday today will be examined by looking at how it

Furthermore, the Shah purchased billions of dollars worth of weapons of security from the US. In 1979 the realm was overthrown by extreme Islam’s that were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini. The intention of the Iranian students was to display their displeasure against the Shah. Their demand was the return of the Shah for a trial followed by his death. In addition, they asked that the US stay out of their country’s affairs. Carter’s approach required the safeguarding of American hostages but also guaranteed an alliance with Iran. Carter’s tactics on the situation had devastating effects on his run for re-election (Hamilton, 1982).

Bulliet’s work Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History illustrates that the Iranian plateau underwent a major social, economic, and ecological change from the ninth century to the early twelfth century. He claims that Middle Eastern historians do not sufficiently take into the account the economic and ecological factors that contributed to the change that took place. Bulliet forms two main theses to develop his argument. The first is that the Iranian plateau went through a cotton boom during the ninth and tenth centuries and flourished as the most dynamic area during the time. But a cooling of the climate during the eleventh century resulted in the ending of the booming agricultural economy. The second thesis

The emergence of the Islamic Republic in late 1970’s Iran demonstrates how middle class Iranian people purged themselves of the Pahlavi Dynasty in an effort to continue down a more righteous and egalitarian path. As a result, the country underwent a complete social upheaval and in its place grew an overtly oppressive regime based in theoretical omnipotence. In response to this regime, the very structure of political and social life was shaken and fundamentally transformed as religion and politics became inexorable. As a result, gender roles and the battle between public and private life were redrawn. Using various primary and secondary sources I will show how the Revolution shaped secular middle class Iranians. Further, I will show how the

During the Iranian Revolution in 1979 transformed Iran’s political,social,and economic structure. Secular Laws were replaced with Islamic laws creating an outburst. Women were often abused,raped,treated as slaves,and accused of false imprisonment. These tortures things that most women had to face are against the Islamic religion.

What is white power? White power is “the belief, theory, or doctrine that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial groups, especially black people, and are therefore rightfully the dominant group in any society”(Dictionary.com 2015). Some view this as racism and others view white power as just a belief, depending on the upbringing that an individual has had. The question lies do we as a society hold the right to take away a child from a home that is expressing hate or is this going against the Canadian Charter of Rights?

Iranians deeply value their social and cultural traditions. The Persian revolution formed the basis through which the country evolved and foundation upon which its empires were established. The Islamic regime practiced by the country formed the basis through which the country’s sophisticated institutions were built. Shah seemed to champion for secularization and westernization (Axworthy,

This continued to exacerbate the gap between the social classes of Iran. The main reason for the Shah’s confidence in bringing his people prosperity was the mass amount of revenue Iran was generating from Oil. The nationalization of Iran’s oil in the fifties meant increased profits for the nation. Iran’s economy was growing exponentially; its GDP was five times higher in 1976 than it was in 1960 (Clawson, p.15). Islamic modernists, such as Marxist Mujaheddin-e-Khalq, opposed the Shah’s capitalist economic policies (Diller 1991, p.152). There were several other groups that were not pleased with the Shah’s growing focus on economic growth, including the ulemas (councils composed of local Mullahs or respected religious leaders) (Sanders 1990, p.66). These ulemas possessed considerable local influence, as they were in charge of the educational systems and had influence over the urban poor and bazaar merchants (Diller 1991, p.152). In the midst of all that was going on in Iran, Khomeini lived in exile in Paris. The Ayatollah however, was well informed, and managed to sneak tapes into the country to his supporters and the local ulemas. These tapes spread the word of Islamic fundamentalism to these groups that opposed that Shah, and gave them a binding power that eventually would be the revolution of February 1979. Not long, Khomeini had

Within the bazaar, merchants would be organized into groups based on what they specialize in. For example, all weavers in one area, all bakers in another, and all silversmiths in another. Some bazaars are really old and massive. For instance, Tehran’s bazaar is a maze that has more than 6,000 stalls for merchants and 9 miles of walkways for customers. The bazaar is filled with portable charcoal braziers and the scent of foods, perfumes, flavors, and animals. The city of Shiraz’s bazaar is a labyrinth of yellow brick walkways with high, gently arched ceilings that influence the sounds of the bazaar to echo multiple times. In Tehran, there are about 9 million inhabitants that dwell in the city and the population keeps growing at a quick rate. Since Tehran wasn’t very important until it became the Qajar capital in the late 18th century, the city doesn’t have as many old and impressive buildings as other cities. However, Tehran does have the Gulistan Palace, and some mosques and government buildings built by the Pahlavi family. The second largest city, Mashhad, used to be an important trading post on the thriving Silk Road. Mashhad is also the burial place of the 8th Shiite imam, Ali Reza, so the city is holy to Shiite Muslims make pilgrimages there to visit the shrine and pay their respects. A mosque built by Queen Gauhar Shah Khatum, Tamerlane’s daughter-in-law, which is