The Goharshad Mosque rebellion ( fa, شورش مسجد گوهرشاد) took place in August 1935, when a backlash against the westernizing and secularist policies of

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi ( fa, رضا شاه پهلوی; ; originally Reza Khan (); 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian Officer (armed forces), military officer, politician (who served as Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), ...

of the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

erupted in the Imam Reza Shrine in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

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 ...

. The incident is described as a "bloody event".

Background

The Shah's violent Westernization campaign against

Shiite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

society saw a spike in hostilities with the regime in the summer of 1935 when Reza Shah banned traditional Islamic clothing and ordered all men be forced to wear European-style

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

s.Milani, Farzaneh (1992). ''Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers'', Syracuse, New York:

Syracuse University Press Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. History SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley prom ...

, pp. 19, 34–37, Majd, Mohammad Gholi (2001). ''Great Britain and Reza Shah: The Plunder of Iran, 1921–1941'', Gainesville:

University Press of Florida The University Press of Florida (UPF) is the scholarly publishing arm of the State University System of Florida, representing Florida's twelve state universities. It is located in Gainesville near the University of Florida, one of the state's maj ...

, pp. 209–213, 217–218, Katouzian, Homa (2003). "2. Riza Shah's Political Legitimacy and Social Base, 1921–1941" in Cronin, Stephanie: ''The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society under Riza Shah, 1921–1941'', pp. 15–37, London; New York:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

;

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, Katouzian, Homa (2004). "1. State and Society under Reza Shah" in Atabaki, Touraj; Zürcher, Erik-Jan: ''Men of Order: Authoritarian Modernisation in Turkey and Iran, 1918–1942'', pp. 13–43, London; New York:

I.B. Tauris I.B. Tauris is an educational publishing house and imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. It was an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York City until its purchase in May 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing. It specialises in non ...

, Katouzian, Homa (2006). ''State and Society in Iran: The Eclipse of the Qajars and the Emergence of the Pahlavis'', 2nd ed, Library of modern Middle East studies, Vol. 28, London; New York:

, pp. 33–34, 335–336, Beeman, William Orman (2008). ''The Great Satan vs. the Mad Mullahs: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other'', 2nd ed, Chicago:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

, pp. 108, 152,

Event

The event occurred in response to the de-Islamization activities by Reza Shah in 1935. Responding to a cleric, who denounced the Shah's "

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

" innovations, westernizing, corruption and heavy consumer taxes, many merchants and locals took refuge in the shrine, chanted slogans such as "The Shah is a new Yazid," likening him to the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

caliph. For four full days local police and army refused to violate the shrine and the standoff was ended when troops from

Iranian Azerbaijan Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan ( fa, آذربایجان, ''Āzarbāijān'' ; az-Arab, آذربایجان, ''Āzerbāyjān'' ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq, Turkey, the Nakhchivan ...

region arrived and broke into the shrine, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, and marking a final rupture between Shia clergy and the Shah.Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs : Iran and the Islamic Revolution'' by Shaul, Bakhash, Basic Books, c1984, p.22

Toll

According to a report of the Research Institute of Baqir al-'Ulum, which may have deliberately exaggerated the numbers, the number of killed by Reza Shah's forces were between 2000-5000. According to a British report, which may have deliberately underplayed the numbers, the outcome of the event resulted in 2 Army officers and 18 soldiers killed; 2 soldiers executed on the spot for disobedience; 1 soldier committed suicide; there were 800-1200 dead among the villagers, 100-500 wounded and 800 arrested.

References

{{coord missing, Razavi Khorasan Province Conflicts in 1935 1935 in Iran Battles involving Iran Massacres in religious buildings and structures Massacres in Iran Mass murder in 1935 1935 murders in Iran

Background

Event

Toll

See also

References