• Source: Goharshad Mosque rebellion

The Goharshad Mosque rebellion (Persian: واقعه مسجد گوهرشاد) took place in August 1935, when a backlash against the westernizing and secularist policies of Reza Shah of the Pahlavi regime erupted in the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran.
The incident is described as a "genocide". Reza Shah Pahlavi stated later in exile his regret in violating the sanctity of God's house.




Background


The Shah's violent Westernization campaign against Shiite 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 hats.




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" 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 caliph.
For four full days, local police and the army refused to violate the shrine. The standoff was ended when reinforcements from Iranian Azerbaijan region arrived and broke into the shrine, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, and marking a final rupture between Shia clergy and the Shah.




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 was 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.




See also


Grand Mosque seizure
Kashf-e hijab
Abadan Crisis
White Revolution
Iranian Revolution
List of modern conflicts in the Middle East




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Goharshad Mosque rebellion
• Goharshad Mosque
• Mashhad
• Imam Reza shrine
• Sheikh Said rebellion
• Kurdish–Turkish conflict
• List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
• Iran–Israel proxy conflict
• Unification of Saudi Arabia
• Dersim massacre