The Persian Constitution of 1906 (), was the first

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of the Sublime State of Iran (Persia) and a result of the

Persian Constitutional Revolution The Persian Constitutional Revolution (, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911 during the Qajar Iran, Qajar era. The revolution led to the establishment of a Majl ...

. It was written by

Hassan Pirnia Hassan Pirnia ( ‎; 1871 – 20 November 1935), titled Moshir-od-Dowleh, was a prominent Iranian politician of 20th-century Iran. He held a total of twenty-four posts during his political career, serving four times as Prime Minister of Iran. ...

Hossein Pirnia Hossein Pirnia, also known as Mo'tamen al Molk (; 1875–1948) was an Iranian peoples, Iranian politician. His father, Mirza Nasrullah Khan, and his elder brother, Hassan Pirnia, both served as Prime Minister of Iran. Career He served as speaker ...

, and Esmail Momtaz od-Dowleh, among others. The Constitution was also in effect during

Pahlavi Iran The Imperial State of Iran, officially known as the Imperial State of Persia until 1935, and commonly referred to as Pahlavi Iran, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty. The Pahlavi dynasty was created in 1925 and lasted ...

. It is divided into five chapters with many articles that developed over several years. The

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

was the foundation of the constitution while the

Belgian constitution The Constitution of Belgium (; ; ) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the separation of powers. The most recent majo ...

served as a partial model, which guaranteed each citizen equality before the law, and a safeguarding of personal honour, property and speech.

The electoral and fundamental laws of 1906

The electoral and fundamental laws of 1906 established the

electoral system An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...

and the internal frameworks of the

Majlis (, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...

(Parliament) and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. By the royal proclamation of 5 August 1906,

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (; 23 March 1853 – 3 January 1907) was the fifth Qajar shah of Iran, reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with the creation of the Persian Constitution of 1906, which he approved of in ...

created this first constitution "for the peace and tranquility of all the people of Persia".

Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (‎; 21 June 1872 – 5 April 1925) was the sixth shah of the Qajar dynasty and remained the Shah of Iran from 8 January 1907 until being deposed on 16 July 1909. He was furthermore the grandson of Iran’s early mod ...

is credited with chapters 4 and 5.

The electoral law of 9 September 1906

The electoral law of 9 September 1906 defined the regulations for the Elections to the Majlis.

Disenfranchised

Article 3 of this chapter stated that (1) women, (2) foreigners, (3) those under 25, (4) "persons notorious for mischievous opinions," (5) those with a criminal record, (6) active military personnel, and a few other groups are not permitted to vote.

Election qualifications

Article 4 stated that the elected must be (1) fully literate in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, (2) "they must be Iranian subjects of Iranian extraction," (3) "be locally known," (4) "not be in government employment," (5) be between 30 and 70 years old, and (6) "have some insight into affairs of State." Article 7 asserted, "Each elector has one vote and can only vote in one ocialclass."

The fundamental laws of 30 December 1906

The fundamental laws of 30 December 1906 defined the role of the Majlis in the system and its framework. It further defined a

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...

. Article 1 established the

National Consultative Assembly The National Consultative Assembly (), or simply Majles, was the national legislative body of Iran from 1906 to 1979. It was elected by universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people ...

This became known as the

Islamic Consultative Assembly The Islamic Consultative Assembly (), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the unicameral national legislative body of Iran. The parliament currently consists of 290 representatives, an i ...

after the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Im ...

. based "on justice." Article 43 stated, "There shall be constituted another Assembly, entitled the

Constitutional Amendment of 1907

Among the topics discussed in the amendment, was the declaration of

Twelver Shi'ism Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as ...

as the state religion and establishment of a council of five high ranking Twelver Shia clerics tasked to make sure the laws passed by the parliament are not against the laws of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Also among the topics were articles about the rights of the people and articles describing the

flag of Iran The national flag of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, also known as the ''Tricolour Flag of Iran'' (), is a tricolour (flag), tricolour featuring the Pan-Iranian colors comprising equal horizontal bands of green, white and red with the embl ...

and setting

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

as the capital of the country.

References and notes

External links

Iran's 1906 Constitution and Its Supplement

Constitution of Iran, 1906 (in Persian)

Constitutional Revolution
from ''Iran Chamber Society'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Persian Constitution Of 1906 Persian Constitutional Revolution Defunct constitutions Constitution, 1906 Politics of Qajar Iran 1906 in Iran 1906 in law Constitution, 1906 1906 documents Constitutions of Iran 1900s in Islam