Mokhadarat Vatan Association ( fa, انجمن مخدرات وطن) was a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

society that was formed in 1910 during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the national movements happening in the 1900s. The aim of this association was to organize various activities for Iranian

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

from the sovereignty of foreign countries. The members of the association were active in the meetings and demonstrations of the constitutional movement. They also wrote protest letters to the

Russian Government The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russia ...

about their

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

actions. Eliz Sanasarian pages. 62-63

History

During the Constitutional Revolution, many secret and semi-congressional associations in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

were established. Many women's associations were also secretly formed in the constitutional movement. (Later, in the years following the governmental assembly and in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, associations were set up that focused on

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

).آفاری، ژانت Mokhadarat Vatan Association and similar organizations held massive meetings on the role of women in the 1911 National Movement to banish British Empire and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

from Iran. They opposed the 1907 treaty, which imposed Iran under the influence of Britain and Russia, incite imports of imported goods, and went to cafes to reduce sugar imports. They even tried to stop them from using foreign sugar, and asked the cafes to shut down in order to reduce consumption. The members of the ''Mokhadarat Vatan Association'' considered exploitation of foreign countries as the main cause of the underlying position of women in Iran at that time. Their main goal was not to only emphasize on women's rights, but also dominate Iran's independence from other countries. For example, in one of the meetings between women's associations and the Russian delegation, the panel was trying to persuade women that they should not try to protect the independence of Iran since they did not the

Persian Constitution of 1906 The Persian Constitution of 1906 ( fa, قانون اساسی مشروطه, Qanun-e Asasi-ye Mishirutâh), was the first constitution of the Sublime State of Persia (Qajar Iran), resulting from the Persian Constitutional Revolution and it was w ...

of women's rights in Iran. But, the response of the women's groups was that they themselves were dissatisfied with their own circumstances, but the main culprit was the political complexity of the presence of foreign powers. This attitude was later seen in women's political activists of the

1979 Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. Eliz Sanasarian، Pages. 39-41

Members

At the first meeting, the board of directors of this association was elected: Agha Bigam Najmabadi, daughter of Agha Sheikh Hadi Najmabadi as the chairman, Agha Shahzadeh Amin as the treasurer, and Sediqeh Dowlatabadi as the secretary. Eliz Sanasarian، Page. 43 Other prominent members that we can refer to were: Mirza Suleiman Khan Mikdah’s wife, Dr. Mehdikhan Mikdah’s mother, spouse of Malik Al-Mutkelimen (Senator Dr. Malikzadeh's mother), Nehzat Jahangir, Efat Al-Muluk Khaje Noori, Nazam Al-Muluk Khaje Noori, Mr. Sayed Kazem Rashti’s wife, Zinat Aldoleh, Gulshan Al-Muluk Ghahramani, Iran Khanoom (Etela Al-Malek's wife, daughter of Mashhār Al-Saltanah Ghadimi), Mirza Kazem Khoshnevis's wife, Sedigh Al-Saltanah’s wife, Sardar Afgham’s daughter, Sepahsalar Tonekaboni’s daughter, Mofakham Al-Mamalek’s wife, Mirza Hassan Roshdieh’s wife (Alavieh khanoom), Notagh Al-Nesvan (Sheikh Al Mamalek Orang’s sister), Dorat Al Ma'ali (Founder of Dorat School), Homa Mahmoudi, Mahrokh Goharshenas (Sister of the Industrial Director), and Amirsahi Mahsoltan (Women's rights activists).بامداد، Pages. 13-22

Notes

References

* Eliz Sanasarian. ''The Women's Rights Movements in Iran''. Praeger, New York: 1982, . (Original from the University of Michigan) * Bamdad Badramaulk. Iranian woman from Constitutional Revolution to White Revolution. Second volume. Tehran: Ebnasina Publishing House, 1969. * * Eliz Sanasarian. ''The Women's Rights Movements in Iran''.(Revolt, decline, and repression from 1901 to 1979 revolution). Translation by Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani. First print, Tehran: Published by Akhtaran, 2005.,.

External links

*Reza Jamāli in conversation wit
Dr Abbās Amānat
Professor of History and International and Area Studies at

University of Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in Persian, Radio Zamaneh, August 7, 2008Audio recording

Shokā Sahrāi, ''Photographs of the Constitutional Revolution of Iran'', in Persian, Jadid Online, 2007
br />''Slide Show, narrated by Dr Bāqer Āqeli'', Jadid Online, 2007
Constitutional Revolution of Iran
{{Persian Constitutional Revolution Persions Persian Constitutional Revolution Feminist organisations in Iran Women's rights movement in Iran Iran–Russia relations Qajar Iran 1910 in Iran

History

Members

See also

Notes

References

External links