Reza Shah the Great

Reza Shah the Great (1878 - 1945)

Devider had spotted and pointed to look towards some Iranians when we visited him at the university compass in Tuebingen.

I saw that they were in a group consisting of male and female students, joyfully mingling and enjoying themselves.

There was no other person to be seen except them at that time.

I was curious and asked Devinder, "Why Iranians were so popular with German girls?"

He paused for a while and said, "As you know, Nazi ideology had adopted the concept of Aryans as the master race for Germany. And the word Iran in Persian means land of the Aryans. "

Devinder believed this was a factor enough to trigger affinity among Iranians and Germans.

The term Aryan originates from the Sanskrit word Arya, meaning "honourable, respectable, noble".

Persia and Iran were the names used interchangeably prior to 1935. After that Reza Shah, considered as one of the greatest kings historically, decided to select Iran as the official name of the country.

Recognizing the need for higher education, he established the University of Tehran and started sending Iranian students to Europe in pursuit of modern technology.

Born as Reza Khan in a small isolated village he had started his military career at a young age in 1893, and was promoted to the rank equivalent of First Lieutenant in 1911.

Bravery and brilliant performance in successive campaigns led to his rapid rise in ranks. Captain in 1912, Colonel in 1915, and Brigadier General in 1918.

In 1921, Reza Khan occupied Tehran and became war minister after heading a British orchestrated coup .

He negotiated the evacuation of the Russian troops the same year.

Reza became prime minister in 1923, and negotiated the evacuation of the British forces stationed in Iran since World War I.

In 1925, he succeeded in deposing Ahmad Mirza, the last shah of Qajar Dynasty and was proclaimed shah of Iran. He changed his name to Reza Shah Pahlevi, the founder of Pahlevi dynasty.

However, his dictatorial style of rule caused dissatisfaction in his kingdom by the mid 1930's.

When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, it had a major impact on Iran which had declared neutrality in the conflict.

Allies protested Reza Shah's rapprochement with the Germans, and British and Russian forces invaded to occupy Iran during the same year.

And to make it a major corridor for British and American aid to USSR, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlevi.

He was exiled to South Africa, where he died in Johannesburg in 1945.

During my stay in Iran I became awe of the many social reforms and singular achievements pioneered by him.

Teja Singh
Canada