Tobacco Protest

The Tobacco Protest occurred in Iran in 1891. It was a revolt against concessions to westerners led by the Shi'ite clergy.

In 1890 Shah Nasir al-Din granted a tobacco concession to a British company. This concession gave the company exclusive rights to produce, sell, and export all of Iran's large tobacco crop. The shah was badly in need of money and had granted many such concessions to Europeans before. Tobacco, however, was widely consumed in Iran and a thriving domestic industry was going to be destroyed by the shah's actions. Mass protests against the concession were held, many of the organized by Shi'ite ulama. The clerics had a strong independent power base to attack the shah's position. Theological arguments were made that the shah was violating the rules of Islam and was selling the nation to the western Christians. It was one of the first times the Iranian religious elite had used their power to influence secular decisions and it was a great success. In 1892 the shah was forced to repeal the concession.