Anjoman-e Saʿādat | Iranians in Constantinople

Mavi Boncuk |
ANJOMAN-E SAʿĀDAT (The Association of Felicity), an organization of Iranians resident in Istanbul, devoted to furthering the cause of the Iranian constitution between 1908 and 1912. It appears to have begun its activity after the absolutist coup of Jomādā I, 1326/June, 1908 by transmitting to Europe information collected from various anǰomans about events in Iran. For example, on 24 October 1908, it dispatched a telegram to L. G. Browne informing him that foreign subjects were not being harassed by the constitutionalists in Tabrīz, despite Russian-instigated rumors to that effect (E. G. Browne, The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909, Cambridge, 1910, pp. 252-53). Since many of the Iranians living in the Ottoman capital came from Tabrīz, much of the information the Anǰoman-e Saʿādat relayed came from there as well: one of the anǰoman’s most active members was in fact Shaikh Salīm Tabrīzī, a leading constitutionalist who had fled Tabrīz in 1908 (he was one of the founders of the Anǰoman-e Eslāmīya of Tabrīz; see Kasravī, Mašrūṭa, p. 152, and letter of S. H. Taqīzāda to E. G. Browne in Nāmanhā-ī az Tabrīz, ed. and tr. Ḥ. Javādī, Tehran, 1353 Š./1974, p. 216). The Anǰoman-e Saʿādat was also in close contact with the constitutionalist moǰtaheds of Naǰaf, notably Shaikh ʿAbdallāh Māzandārānī and Mollā Moḥammad Kāẓem Ḵorāsānī; it printed and distributed the numerous fatwās they issued in favor of the constitutionalist cause. Liaison between the Anǰoman and Naǰaf was assured by Asadallāh Mamaqānī, the Istanbul representative of the moǰtaheds (M. Malekzāda, Tārīḵ-e enqelāb-e mašrūṭīyat-e Īrān, Tehran, 1330 Š./1951, V, p. 105; Y. Dawlatābādī, Tārīḵ-e moʿāṣer yā ḥayāt-e Yaḥyā, Tehran, 1331 Š./1952, II, pp. 369-70). Renewed Russian intervention in Iran caused the Anǰoman-e Saʿādat to intensify its activity in late 1911: Between 21 December 1911 and 3 January 1912, it sent five telegrams to E. G. Browne describing the Russian atrocities in Tabrīz that culminated in the hanging of eight leading constitutionalists, including Shaikh Salīm, who had returned to Tabrīz on 1 January 1912 (see E. G. Browne, Nāmahā-ī, pp. 81-83).

Bibliography:

See also S. Jāvīd, Nahżat-e mašrūṭīyat-e Īrān wa naqš-e āzādīḵᵛāhān-e ǰahān, Tehran, 1347 Š./1968, p. 51, for list of founding members.

(H. Algar)

Originally Published: December 15, 1985

Last Updated: August 5, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 1, p. 89

Cite this entry:
H. Algar, “ANJOMAN-E SAʿĀDAT,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/1, p. 89, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/anjoman-e-saadat (accessed on 30 December 2012).