Tobacco Protest

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Tobacco Protest, a Shi'a clerical-led revolt against tobacco concessions granted to Western nations, occurred in Persia (Iran) in 1891.

In 1890 Nasir al-Din Shah granted a tobacco concession to a British company. This concession gave the company exclusive rights to produce, sell, and export all of Iran's large tobacco crop in exchange for a loan. The shah was badly in need of money and had granted many such concessions to European governments before. Tobacco, however, was widely consumed in Iran and a thriving domestic industry was threatened by the shah's actions. At the time the Persian tobacco industry employed over 200,000 people. Mass protests against the concession were held, many of them organized by Shi'a ulama, the most prominent being that organised by Grand Ayatollah Mirza Shirazi, who issued the famous fatwa against the usage of tobacco. The clerics had a strong independent power base to attack the shah's position. Theological arguments were made that the shah was violating the rules of Islam and was selling the nation to the western Christians. The merchants of tobacco, in a show of solidarity, responded by shutting down the main bazaars throughout the country.

It was one of the first times the Iranian religious elite had used their power to influence secular decisions and it was a great success. In 1892 the shah was forced to repeal the concession. It is argued that this was one of the issues that resulted in the buildup towards the Persian Constitutional Revolution.