Iran between Islamic Nationalism and Secularism: The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 (British Institute of Persian Studies)

With the ratification of a new constitution in December 1906, Iran embarked on a great movement of systemic and institutional change which, along with the introduction of new ideas, was to be one of the most abiding legacies of the first Iranian revolution – known as the Constitutional Revolution. This uprising was significant not only for introducing secular understandings of government, but also Islamic visions of what could constitute a national assembly. The events of the Constitutional Revolution in Tehran have been much discussed, but the provinces, despite their crucial role in the revolution, have received less attention. Here, Vanessa Martin seeks to redress this imbalance. She does so firstly by analyzing the role of the Islamic debate in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and its relationship with secular ideas, and secondly by examining the ramifications of this debate in the main cities of Tabriz, Shiraz, Isfahan and Bushehr. By exploring the interaction between Islam and secularism during this tumultuous time, Iran between Islamic Nationalism and Secularism concludes that in each province, the Constitutional Revolution took on a character of its own.