The Council for the Investigation of Grievances: A Case Study of Nineteenth Century Iranian Social History

Abstract

Among the demands formulated by the ˓ulamā and the tujjār (merchants) who took bast in the shrine of Shah ˓Abd al Azim in December of 1905 was the establishment of an ‘Edālat Khāneh (House of Justice).The significance of the House of Justice was that it proved to be the prototype for what later became the Majles-e Shūrā-ye Mellī (National Assembly). Paradoxically, this also proved to be obstructive to its becoming a focus for scholarly attention, in the sense that it was soon superseded by the Majles itself, which began to function in the summer of 1906. The role of addressing public grievances was in fact the basic function of the Edalat Khaneh. However, the basic engraving on the society that the Majles was a substitute for the Edalat Khaneh is well illustrated by the fact that during the early period of the Majles over 1000 petitions and complaints were addressed to it.