Tabriz rises for the Constitution

Culture of origin: Azerbaijani · Historical

Holiday sources: Azerbaijani

On 23 June 1908 Mohammad Ali Shah's Cossack Brigade, under Colonel Vladimir Liakhov, shelled the parliament in Tehran, and the same day resistance began in Tabriz. As white flags of surrender appeared on rooftops across the city, only the Amirkhiz quarter under Sattar Khan held out; in mid-July his fighters tore down the white flags at the Ark fortress. After fighting from 10 October the royalist commander withdrew and the whole city came under constitutionalist control. Royalist forces encircled Tabriz from 16 January 1909 and had closed the siege by 4 February; food ran so short that people ate grass, and many died of starvation. The American teacher Howard Baskerville was killed during the siege. On 29 April 1909 a Russian force of 4,000 under General Znarski reached the outskirts of the city.