ʿADL-E MOẒAFFAR “Moẓaffar’s justice.”
The phrase ʿadl-e Moẓaffar is connected with the events of the constitutional revolution (1905-11). Because of the pressure of religious leaders and the steadfastness of merchants and other opponents who had taken bast “sanctuary” in the grounds of the British legation in Tehran, Moẓaffar-al-dīn Shah (r. 1313-24/1896-1907) had to grant a form of constitution which provided for the election of a Majlis or national consultative assembly (the initial demand had been for a “house of justice” ʿadālat-ḵāna-ye dawlatī). The farmān was issued on 14 Jomādā II 1324/5 August 1906. According to the ḥesāb-e ǰommal (reckoning of the alphabet by the abīad system), ʿadl-e Moẓaffar gives the year 1324. It also happens that Moẓaffar-al-dīn Shah was born on 14 Asad or Mordād of the solar year (see ʿAbdallāh Mostawfī, Šarḥ-e zendaḡanī-e man, Tehran, 1343 Š./1964, II, p. 64).
The words ʿadl-e Moẓaffar were written as a reminder on the door of the Majlis to show that Moẓaffar-al-dīn was the first shah who granted a constitution in Iran (Dehḵodā, s.v. ʿadl-e moẓaffar).
Bibliography: Given in the text.
(J. Calmard)
The weekly newspaper ʿAdl-e Moẓaffar was published in Hamadān in 1906 by Dr. Ḥasan Khan Ṭabīb-ʿAlī with the support of the local governor, Ẓahīr-al-dawla. Only thirteen issues appeared (at first polycopied, later printed); it was replaced by Ekbātān.
Bibliography:
Browne, Press and Poetry, p. 118.
M. Ṣ. Ḥāšemī, Tārīḵ-eǰarāyed va maǰallāt-e Īrān, Isfahan, 1327-32 Š./1948-53, IV, p. 10.
(J. Calmard, L. P. Elwell-Sutton)
Originally Published: December 15, 1983
Last Updated: July 22, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 5, pp. 461-462
Multiple Authors, “ʿADL-E MOẒAFFAR,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/5, pp. 461-462; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/adl-e-mozaffar-mozaffars-justice (accessed on 8 February 2014).
