Documents and Photos in Niavaran Commemorate 1906 Constitution

Celebrating the 112th anniversary of Iranian Constitution, Niavaran Historical Cultural Complex in north Tehran has organized an exhibition of photos and documents on the historical movement that led to the establishment of parliament in Iran.

Titled “Constitution in the Frame of Niavaran” the exhibit features photos and documents collected in collaboration with the Majlis Library, Museum and Document Center; City Photo House Museum; Qasr Garden Museum; Yadegar Imam branch of Azad University; and the Iranian National Committee of International Council of Museums, ILNA reported on its Persian website.

The 1906 document was the first constitution of Iran which was born out of the Constitutional Movement (1905-1911). Its charter was signed by Qajar king Mozaffar al-Din Shah (1897-1907) on August 6, 1906.

The charter of the Constitution was written by a group of politicians and reformists including four-time Prime Minister of Iran Hassan Pirnia (1872-1935), his younger brother Hossein Pirnia (1875-1948) who later served as speaker of Parliament for two terms, as well as statesman Ismail Mumtaz (1880-1933) who actually wrote the Constitution as he was fluent in French and able to reproduce laws from the Belgian Constitution.

The exhibition will be held at the Blue Hall of Niavaran Historical Complex. It opens Monday and will run through August 12. The photos are a pictorial account of the historical movement that emerged to spread public awareness about the backwardness of the country until the first Parliament convened on October 7, 1906.

  Demanding Rule of Law

Iran’s Constitutional Movement sought to liberalize government practices and align its performance to the rule of law rather than royal decree. Some half measures were taken at irregular intervals during the reign of Nasser-al-Din Shah who ruled from 1848-1896, but they did not meet reformist demands and standards.

The event elaborates on the origins of the Constitutional Movement. It highlights some of the publications that formed the ideological basis of the movement. Journals published overseas and unofficially distributed in Iran, such as Qanun of London and Habl al-Matin from Calcutta, served as sources of inspiration for curbing arbitrary rule of the Qajar dynasty. Writers such as Fat’h-Ali Akhundzada (1812-1878), Jamal al-Din Afghani (1838-1897), Aqa Khan Kermani (1854-1896) and Mirza Malkam Khan (1833-1908) kept fueling the zeal and enthusiasm for a “just” and responsive government.

Concurrent with “Constitution in the Frame of Niavaran,” Jahan-Nama Museum of the complex will host a parallel event on the historical movement. It is called “Humor in Constitutional Literature” scheduled on August 5-12. It features examples of satire, drawings and caricatures published in the periodicals of the time.