An American in Iran
Author's Note:
Initially, for my second post on PeakD, I intended to write about one of the ancient pre-Islamic heroes of Persia. However, a deeply empathetic comment from
@jacobtothe77on my introduction post last week, along with his valuable insights, made me realize that sharing a more modern—and perhaps less-known to non-Iranians—story might be more meaningful. Before diving in, thank you so much for taking the time to read this article. As a beginner blogger, I sincerely apologize if my style isn't fully polished yet!
Introduction
For over 5,000 years, the political system governing Iran took the form of a monarchy. This centuries-old framework seemingly collapsed with the Islamic Revolution of 1979, though the Shah was ultimately replaced by a clerical leadership (the Supreme Leader).
Before the Pahlavi dynasty—which fell in 1979—another royal house ruled Iran for 136 years (1789–1925): the Qajar Dynasty. It is fair to argue that the most pivotal events in Iran's modern history, which profoundly shaped every pillar of society—politically, socially, culturally, and scientifically—occurred during this era, marking a definitive "before and after" in Iranian history. Furthermore, these transformations cannot be viewed in isolation from global events and the competitive politics of European powers; in many cases, they were directly intertwined with them. Let us first explore the global and domestic landscape of that era.
Part 1: The Qajar Dynasty
Following the collapse of the Safavid dynasty in 1722, Iran saw the rise of the Afsharid and Zand dynasties under powerful founders with largely ineffectual successors. This turbulent period lasted nearly seventy years, leaving the country economically shattered, lawless, and insecure.
In the late 18th century, Agha Mohammad Khan defeated his rivals—including the execution of Lotf Ali Khan Zand, the last Zand king—and established the Qajar Dynasty in 1796. The Qajars were of Turkic tribal origin and lived a nomadic lifestyle. During the Safavid era, they were settled in northern Iran by Shah Abbas the Great to defend the country's borders against Turkmen and Uzbek incursions, which marked the beginning of this tribe's political rise.
A year after his coronation, Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated in the Caucasus, and his nephew, Fath-Ali Shah, succeeded him. During his reign, amidst the height of colonial expansion, Imperial Russia—competing with European powers, particularly Great Britain—sought territorial expansion into the Caucasus. This triggered the Russo-Persian Wars, resulting in humiliating defeats for Iran and the loss of vast northern territories under the Treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828). Meanwhile, Great Britain sought to secure British India, turning Persia into a geopolitical chessboard to keep threats away from its borders. Throughout the Qajar era, this rivalry between Russia and Britain persisted, occasionally joined by the Ottoman Empire, France, and Germany.
Globally, the French Revolution at the dawn of the Qajar era had shaken the foundations of European governance, introducing concepts such as citizenship, equality before the law, national sovereignty, and the limitation of royal power.
During the reigns of the subsequent five monarchs, profound global events left deep marks on Iran:
- The defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo (1815)
- The Anglo-Persian War (1856–1857) and the separation of Herat
- The American Civil War (1861–1865)
- Japan's victory over Russia (1904) and the Russian Revolution (1905)
- The Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905)
- The discovery of oil in Iran and World War I
Despite Iran's official declaration of neutrality in WWI, belligerent powers occupied the country. The confiscation of agricultural goods and livestock triggered a devastating famine. Compounded by the Spanish flu and typhus, historical research by Dr. Mohammad Gholi Majd indicates that this catastrophe claimed the lives of 8 to 10 million Iranians—a death toll matching the total military casualties of all nations directly engaged in the war. However, other researchers consider these figures unrealistic and exaggerated, pointing to a death toll of 1.5 to 2 million. Yet, even if we take their estimate as the baseline, for a country that had no involvement in the conflict between the global powers of that era, this remains a profound human catastrophe and a war crime.
Now, let us turn to the Constitutional Revolution to reach the story of our American hero.
Part 2: The Constitutional Revolution
Among the Qajar monarchs, the fourth king, Naser al-Din Shah, ruled the longest (48 years) until he was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani. His reign witnessed deep transformations driven by growing interactions with Europeans and the gradual introduction of modernity, such as modern education, telegraphs, print media, and photography.
Naser al-Din Shah undertook three trips to Europe, recognizing the developmental gap, but instead of domestic reform, his lavish tours deepened financial deficits. To bridge these gaps, the court resorted to granting expansive commercial monopolies to Europeans—such as the massive concession granted to Baron Julius de Reuter (covering railways, tramways, mines, forests, irrigation facilities, infrastructure projects, and customs operations for seventy years, which was later cancelled due to massive domestic and foreign pressures) and the 1890 tobacco concession granted to the British subject Major Gerald Talbot, which gave his company exclusive rights to buy, sell, and export Iranian tobacco and was eventually cancelled through a nationwide boycott.
Amidst this, we should not overlook that the financial crises of the Qajars stemmed largely from their governance style. For instance, the expenses of the Qajar royal family members—all descendants of the monarchs, who received allowances from the treasury based on their proximity to the throne—created a massive financial burden. To shed light on the matter, it is worth noting that Fath-Ali Shah (the second king) had over 160 wives and nearly 260 children, aside from concubines, and Naser al-Din Shah's wives have also been reported to number up to 200. This caused the number of royal offspring and descendants to swell into the thousands, consuming nearly a quarter of the government budget. Those who attempted to reform these affairs—such as Mirza Taqi Khan Farahani, titled Amir Kabir, the first prime minister and brother-in-law of Naser al-Din Shah—fell victim to court and harem intrigues, ultimately having his wrists slit by an executioner in the Fin Bath of Kashan.
Alongside economic problems, arbitrary behaviors of state agents and princes toward the people (such as bastinading sugar merchants in Tehran by the city governor, unjust customs tariffs levied on merchants by Belgian advisors, and the confiscation of prosperous villages in Fars province by the governor of Fars, who was the son of Mozaffar al-Din Shah) and the lack of legal recourse other than protests and sanctuary-seeking (bast) in religious sites or foreign embassies, turned the demand for establishing a "House of Justice" into one of the people's primary goals. This eventually led to the establishment of the National Parliament and the drafting and ratification of the constitution, culminating in the Constitutional Revolution.
In January 1905, "Bloody Sunday" in St. Petersburg ignited the Russian Revolution. By October of that year, with the Tsar surrendering to revolutionary demands and issuing the October Manifesto—which promised civil liberties and the establishment of the State Duma—Russia became a constitutional monarchy. In Iran, the spark of the revolution was ignited in September 1905 by the humiliating treatment of merchants by state agents, particularly the corporal punishment of sugar merchants in Tehran by the city governor, Ala al-Dawla. Following widespread protests, strikes, and sanctuary-seeking in Tehran and other cities, Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar signed the decree to establish the National Parliament in August 1906, officially recognizing popular representation in state affairs.
The first National Parliament commenced its work in October 1906, and representatives examined the political structure, legislative methods, and the limits of government authority. On December 29 of that year, the Shah signed the initial constitution, which mostly focused on the formation, powers, and operational procedures of the National Parliament. However, the constitution did not yet comprehensively clarify all matters regarding public rights, ministerial responsibilities, and the limits of royal power; thus, drafting the Supplementary Fundamental Law became the next stage of political struggle.
Mozaffar al-Din Shah passed away a few days after signing the constitution, and his son Mohammad Ali Shah ascended the throne. The new Shah held a different view of the constitution and opposed expanding the powers of the National Parliament at the expense of reducing royal authority, which gradually sparked conflicts with parliamentarians and constitutionalists.
Among the clergy, while many supported the Constitutional Revolution, figures like Sheikh Fazlollah Nuri opposed it. For instance, he opposed legislation in this form, arguing that laws must be based on the Sharia and verified by religious jurists (faqihs); he also opposed majority rule, stating that a majority vote cannot legalize a ruling forbidden by the Sharia. He opposed equality of all before the law, claiming Muslims should not be seen as equal to Christians and Jews, and he opposed freedom of expression, secularism, and the influence of European ideas. This ideology seized power in the 1905/1979 Islamic Revolution, and Iran's current ruling clergy are his heirs. To accommodate these clerics, constitutionalists included a committee of religious scholars in the Supplementary Fundamental Law to vet passed laws so they would not contravene religion. This supplementary law was eventually signed by the Shah, but tensions persisted as the Shah intended to maintain his influence over the military and state apparatus.
On the other side, in June 1907, a coup occurred in Russia; Tsar Nicholas II dissolved the Second Duma, severely suppressed revolutionary forces, ended the 1905 revolution in Russia, and temporarily restored royal authority. In August 1907, an agreement was signed between Russia and Great Britain that specified their respective spheres of influence in Iran and Afghanistan and Tibet, which became known as the Triple Entente.
This agreement, reached without Iranian participation, had consequences for the revolution in Iran because Tsarist Russia opposed the success of a constitutional revolution on its border and supported a powerful monarchy, while Britain preferred its own interests over supporting political change in Iran.
These political disputes and rivalries peaked in 1908. Following an assassination attempt on the Shah's carriage using a bomb, the crisis shifted from political rivalry to military confrontation. With the support of loyal forces and the Cossack Brigade (a military force created during Naser al-Din Shah's reign with the assistance and model of the Russian Cossack Brigade, commanded by Russians, under the leadership of Colonel Vladimir Liakhov), the Shah bombarded the National Parliament building. The National Parliament was incapacitated, a number of constitutionalists were arrested and executed, some political activists and journalists fled, and the National Parliament building—which was the symbol of a nation's love for freedom—was reduced to a pile of dust, marking the beginning of the period of Lesser Autocracy.
Amidst all this, there were the people of a city who stood against royal despotism and refused to surrender: Tabriz.
Part 3: Howard Baskerville
Tabriz is one of Iran's ancient cities, estimated to date back to the Parthian and Sasanian empires that ruled Iran before Islam. This city has been destroyed and risen again many times, serving repeatedly as the capital of royal dynasties and local governments, and when it was the capital of the Safavid dynasty in 1500 AD, it was recognized as the fifth most populous city in the world.
During the Qajar era, due to trade with the Caucasus and Russia and ties with the Ottoman Empire and Europe, Tabriz had greater contact with new intellectual and political currents. Moreover, Muslim immigrants from the Caucasus and revolutionary political activists from that region were influential in spreading new ideas, and of course, Tabriz was then the second capital of the Qajars and the residence of the Crown Prince, standing as one of the first places in Iran where Americans established a presence.
The first presence of Americans in Iran occurred during the reign of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar in the years 1830–1831. In that year, the ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) sent two clergymen, Eli Smith and Harrison Dwight, to explore northwestern Iran. In the summer of 1834, Justin Perkins and his wife Charlotte were the first resident missionaries who began their mission for Assyrian Christians in Urmia. The Urmia mission expanded in 1834–1848 with the establishment of a school and printing press and the presence of medical missionaries like Asahel Grant.
On December 13, 1856, a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between Iran and the United States was signed in Istanbul. In 1871, responsibility for the American mission transferred from the ABCFM to the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, and within two years, centers of this church opened in Tehran, Tabriz, and Urmia. In 1881, the Memorial School in Tabriz and in 1882 the Westminster Hospital in Urmia began operations, and in 1883, with the presentation of Samuel Green Wheeler Benjamin's credentials to Naser al-Din Shah Qajar and the establishment of a US diplomatic mission in Tehran, relations between the two countries officially began.
On April 10, 1885, Howard Conklin Baskerville was born in North Platte, Nebraska. The Baskerville family had a strong religious background; both his grandfather and father were Presbyterian ministers, and several of his brothers chose the path of the clergy, making Christian beliefs and religious service an important part of his family life. Having studied religious-related subjects at Princeton University, before graduating he corresponded with the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, expressing his intention to gain experience of another country's language and culture before pursuing further studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. The church offered him a two-year teaching assignment at the Memorial School in Tabriz; he accepted and set off for Tabriz to teach science and English.
He arrived in Tabriz in the autumn of 1907 amidst the struggle between the monarchy and constitutionalists. Muslims, Armenians, and Assyrians studied at the Memorial School, and he gradually developed close relationships with his Iranian students and colleagues. One of these teachers was Mirza Hossein Sharifzadeh, a prominent Tabrizi constitutionalist who introduced Baskerville to other constitutionalists and ultimately involved him in Iran's political and social issues.
In the autumn of 1906, the Azerbaijan Provincial Council (Tabriz Provincial Council), known as the Tabriz Council, began operating with the goal of supporting the National Parliament, advancing the constitution in Azerbaijan, and overseeing state and government apparatuses in Azerbaijan. It played a prominent role during the Constitutional Revolution and especially after the bombardment of the National Parliament. Following the events in Tehran, Tabriz became the scene of a showdown between two factions. Sattar Khan (later titled Sardar-e Melli - National General) and Baqer Khan (titled Salar-e Melli - National Leader) resisted with their forces in parts of the city. On the opposing side, conservative clerics, royalist forces, and Shahsevan tribal forces engaged in conflict with constitutionalists.
At this time, the Tabriz Council became the symbol of constitutional legitimacy in place of the dissolved National Parliament, keeping its torch lit. The administration of the city during the siege was handled by the council, which managed administrative affairs, provisioned food and bread, maintained internal order, and managed communications as much as possible. The council also provided political and financial support to the Fadaian (volunteers), including procuring weapons and ammunition. Furthermore, using the telegraph, the council sent messages to other cities, helping to ignite constitutionalist movements elsewhere.
The killing of Mirza Hossein Sharifzadeh in 1908 and witnessing the suffering of the besieged people led Baskerville to join the constitutionalists. William F. Doty, the US consul in Tabriz, amidst concerns raised in Washington regarding Baskerville's activities, wrote him a letter and then, in a meeting in the presence of Sattar Khan, asked him to distance himself from the constitutionalists. Sattar Khan also expressed gratitude to Baskerville and asked the same of him, but he refused.
Doty visited Baskerville once more during a military training session of his students and volunteers—a group he had formed and was training militarily—and reminded him that an American citizen had no right to interfere in Iran's internal affairs. Baskerville's response, as recounted by his student Sadeq Rezazadeh Shafaq, was that he could not ignore the suffering of people fighting for their rights, and while proud of being an American, he was a human being and could not fail to sympathize. Doty sent his wife to meet Baskerville to ask him to leave Tabriz, and here he gave his famous reply:
"The only difference between me and these people is my birthplace, and that is not a big difference."
He resigned from his teaching position and joined the Fadaian group.
Royalist forces under the command of Ayn al-Dawla completely besieged the city from February 1909, closing the routes for food and supplies, which caused the city to suffer from famine and hunger in the following months, to the extent that people resorted to eating grass and fodder. The urgent need to secure food and supplies led Baskerville to organize an operation to attack the positions of the royalists (whose positions had been identified prior in a reconnaissance operation in which he and his Irish journalist friend William Moore participated) alongside a rescue squad.
On April 19, 1909, Howard Conklin Baskerville, while only 24 years old, lost his life to help people whose only difference with him was his birthplace.
Here I bring the eyewitness accounts of the funeral ceremony:
Following Baskerville's death, his body was transferred to the Wilson family home to be prepared for the burial ceremony. A merchant who brought fabric to adorn Baskerville's coffin told Annie Wilson: "We know he gave his life for us." Thousands of people from Tabriz and Baskerville's comrades participated in the funeral ceremony. Shafaq described the ceremony as follows: The American church was packed to capacity with no room left, and along the funeral route, there was an extraordinary crowd. The casket moved amidst the ranks of the Fadaian, preceding his students and soldiers, toward the Armenian cemetery of Tabriz. Memorial School officials and American figures were also in the line of mourners, and thousands surrounded the perimeter of the cemetery.
An eyewitness to the constitutional era events in Tabriz states regarding this: Because he was considered a guest, everyone was grieved and depressed upon hearing of his death. Therefore, they decided to bury the fallen body with great solemnity and glory. Although hunger had afflicted everyone, they ignored this, wishing to satisfy the soul of the young American... Along the entire path from the city to the cemetery, the Fadaian lined up on both sides, standing with their rifles inverted as a sign of respect. Baskerville's students and his Fadaian detachment, Armenians, Georgians, Americans, and all freedom-lovers, young and old, holding bouquets, surrounded the casket and proceeded... After he was buried and a memorial gathering was held, it was decided that Baskerville's combat rifle, which was in his hand when he was killed, would be sent to his mother as a memento. Sometime later, Sattar Khan sent Baskerville's rifle, with his name and the date of his death engraved on it and wrapped in the Iranian flag, along with a photograph of the members of the rescue force, to his family.
Five days later, Sattar Khan wrote in a telegram to Baskerville's parents:
"Iran mourns the loss of your dear son in the cause of liberty, and we pledge that the future history of Iran will forever honor him like Lafayette, respecting his sacred shrine."
A carpet bearing his portrait was also woven, but with the outbreak of World War I, it never reached his family.
On the day of the funeral, Russian troops crossed the border and entered Tabriz on April 29 and 30, 1909, under the pretext of protecting foreign nationals and interests in support of the monarchy, and constitutional forces were defeated after eleven months of resistance. Of course, this did not mean the victory of Mohammad Ali Shah and his supporting royalists, because Tabriz's resistance both inspired other cities and prevented the government from using all its forces in other parts of the country, resulting in constitutionalist forces winning in Gilan and Isfahan and moving their forces toward Tehran. On July 13, 1909, constitutional forces entered Tehran, and on July 16, Mohammad Ali Shah took refuge in the Russian embassy and was deposed from the throne. After him, his young son Ahmad Shah Qajar, who was also the last Qajar monarch, ascended the throne at the age of 12.
Concluding Remarks
Iran has a history spanning several thousand years, experiencing many ups and downs throughout this long course, and has passed through very important and impactful events—from Alexander's invasion to the Muslim Arabs and the Mongols. Yet, the Constitutional Revolution is one of the most important (if not the most important) of these events and one of the historical turning points of this land. It was an era when a nation's first efforts to achieve freedom—this most important and valuable asset of humanity—began, and many precious lives were sacrificed along this path, which continues to this day.
Iranians have understood the value of freedom under the oppression of tyranny; although their efforts have not yet yielded the desired outcome, along this path there were those who accompanied us, of whom Howard Baskerville was one. We know that gaining freedom is not without a price, and preserving it comes with great difficulty, but friends like Baskerville occasionally remind us that we are not alone, and that there are those who believe birthplace is not a big difference.
Lastly, if you are interested in any topic regarding history, culture, art, or anything related to Iran, please write it in the comments so I can write about it. Once again, thank you for joining me up to this point.
References & Selected Bibliography
- Kasravi, Ahmad. History of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (Tarikh-e Mashrouteh-ye Iran).
- Wright, Denis. The Persians Among the English / The English Among the Persians.
- Mazdany, Reza. Howard C. Baskerville: An American Martyr in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution.
- Majd, Mohammad Gholi. The Great Famine & Genocide in Iran: 1917–1919.
- Wilson, Annie Rhea. Letters from Tabriz: Personal Accounts of the Siege of Tabriz (1909).
- Shafaq, Sadeq Rezazadeh. Memoirs of the Constitutional Revolution.
Omid