Abolition of the 140-year rule of the Qajarid dynasty

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On October 30, 1925 AD, Iran’s parliament, under influence of the British and their agent, Reza Khan, dethroned Ahmad Shah and announced dissolution of the 135-year old Qajarid dynasty. Ahmad Shah was in Europe at the time, having been reduced to mere figure-head four years earlier by Reza Khan, an illiterate military officer, who imposed himself, with British help, as the prime minister. A month after the dissolution of the Qajarid dynasty, the British instructed the Iranian parliament to declare Reza Khan as king of the new Pahlavi dynasty, which set the stage for further plunder of the national wealth and suppression of the Iranian people by Britain and the US.
On December 12, 1925 AD, a so-called constitutional assembly was set up in Iran to change clauses of the constitution to enable the British agent, Reza Khan, to abolish the Qajarid monarchy and assume power as the new king. In this manner, the 140-year rule of the Qajarid dynasty ended, and the 53-year rule of the tyrannical Pahlavi regime started. The common features of the Qajarid and Pahlavi rulers were their autocratic and despotic policies; lack of essential qualifications including popular support; and submission to foreign powers.
An illiterate petty officer, Reza Khan, had earlier staged a coup with British backing to impose himself as prime minister on the incompetent Ahmad Shah Qajar. In 1941 during World War 2, the British replaced him by his indolent son, Mohammad Reza, when he dared to build relations with Germany. In 1953, Mohammad Reza fled Iran to escape the people’s wrath but was restored to power the same year through a joint US-British coup. He again fled Iran in January 1979 and in less than a month, following the return to Iran from exile of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), the Pahlavi regime was thrown into the dustbin of history.