At the beginning of the XXth century, South Azerbaijan under the rule of the Kadjar dynasty (1796-1925),  experienced a severe socio-economic crisis. The conversion of Iran into a semi-colony of Russia and England, the tyranny of the shah and his officials, regular famines and bureaucratic corruption deteriorated the situation of the broad masses of the population. To replenish the devastated state treasury, taxes levied on merchants, artisans and peasants were illegally increased. This revenues were used for the needs of shah and his relatives. All segments of the population were dissatisfied with the government. Impoverished peasants, suffering from feudal exploitation, were looking for earnings in neighboring countries.

The awakening of national political consciousness, the intensification of the struggle against foreign imperialism and local feudal oppression had a great impact on the dissemination of democratic thought in Southern Azerbaijan. Thus a strike of Baku workers in December 1904, the Russian bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1905-1907 influenced the political situation in Iran, especially in South Azerbaijan, stimulated the beginning of a revolutionary movement there, intensified agitation and speeches. All these riots and protests turned into a revolutional explosion in Iran. The reason for the beginning of the revolution was the events in Tehran, when on December 12, 1905, Prime Minister Einuddowle issued an order to arrest and beat 17 merchants who allegedly violating his order, raised sugar prices, their shops also were deistructed and looted at his comand.  Along with Tehran, bazaars in Tabriz, Ardabil, Khoy, Zanjan and other cities of South Azerbaijan were closed in protest. Hundreds of people have settled in holy places in best (sitting in the best is a sedentary form of protest, in which the population takes refuge in inviolable places (holy places, embassies of foreign states)).

The protesters ' demands were: 1. The adoption of the Constitution (Meshrute); 2. Convocation of the Mejlis (Parliament); 3. Exile of foreign officials from the country.

As a result of the ongoing protests of the people, the shah was forced to accept the demands of the people. On August 5, 1906, Mozafereddin shah issued a decree on the adoption of the constitution and announced elections to the Majlis. In Tabriz, were created engumens (elected authorities). Engumens were legislative organs that issued decrees and orders. To consider the applications and complaints of the people - the Department of Justice, to ensure observation of the order - an organ named Nazmie, for the collection of taxes - the Department of Finance were established by decision of the Council. The municipal administration restored destroyed houses, streets, bazaars and caravanserais. A special commission was established to create a bread stock, reduce the price of bread and replenish grain stocks in case of an expected attack. The commission sealed the grain barns in the city and organized the delivery of wheat and barley from the villages. Bread was sold to the people at a reduced price set by the Counsil-endjumen every day. To raise funds for the defense of the city - a tax of "Military expenses" was levied from wealthy citizens.

After Tabriz, endjumens were created in Urmia, Ardebil, Maragha, Salmas, Maku, Zandjan, Khalkhal and other cities of Souths Azerbaijan. On December 30, 1906, Muzaffaruddin shah, already on the verge of death, signed the prepared first part of the Constitution. However, Muhammad Ali shah, who ascended to  the throne in January 1907, refused to recognize the Constitution signed by his father. He strove to suppress the revolution and punish all its participants. This news caused the rise of the revolutionary movement in Tabriz and other cities of Iran, where economic strikes and political struggle continued.

In February 1907, demonstrators, including school teachers, workers and employees, gathered near the central telegraph building. The shah was forced to recede and signed the Constitution with amendments. At the beginning of 1908, the shah, considering the movement finished, tried to begin the counteratack. Many people who actively participated in the movement were arrested. In June, on the orders of the shakh, a troop of Russian officer led by V. P. Lyakhov destroyed the assembly and the building of the Azerbaijani representative office in Tehran. In reaction to this, an armed uprising began in Tabriz under the leadership of Sattar Khan.
He created an army of 20,000 volunteers - Fedayeen and organized a Military Council.

The people affectionately nicknamed Sattarkhan -"Sardare milli", and his combat assistant Bagirkhan - "Salari milli". The rebels have cleared Tabriz of counterrevolutionaries. Order was established in the city. Detested shah officials, including Ali Samad Khan, were expelled from the city. One of the reasons for the increase in secret aid to the Iranian revolutionaries was that many statesmen of the shah's government who were abroad sympathized with the revolutionaries and were enlisted as members of the endjumens. As an example, consuls in Elizavetpol, Baku, Ashgabat and Tbilisi can be cited. Material and moral support for the rebels came from all over the world. The first assistance to the revolution was provided by Iranian citizens who went to temporary work in neighboring countries. They mainly consisted of laborers, most of them from Southern Azerbaijan, who worked in the industrial centers of the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Volga region, in ports, in various transport jobs, as well as in the field of agriculture. The comprehensive assistance of the most prominent representatives of the national bourgeoisie of Azerbaijan to the Iranian revolutionaries, especially the famous philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev, should be emphasized. The newspapers Irshad, Taza Hayat and Molla Nasreddin published at that time provided moral support to the Iranian revolution and published articles about Sattarkhan, Bagirkhan and Huseynkhan. The expansion of the rebellion worried the imperialist powers, especially Russia and Britain. The attack of the troops of czarist Russia on Tabriz on December 20, 1911 and the capture of the city on December 28 led to the failure of the revolution. The uprising was submerged in the blood.

Thus, the movement, which played an important and critical role in the most tense moments of the Iranian bourgeois revolution of 1905-1911 and rendered powerless in the face of reactionary forces, was suppressed by the army of foreign invaders.

Recommended literature:

1. Atabəyi, Turac. Azərbaycan : etnik mənsubiyyəti və İranda qüdrət uğrunda mübarizəsi / T. Atabəyi ; tərc. N. E. Mədətli ; elmi red. Y. M. Mahmudlu. - Bakı : Təhsil, 2002. - 248 s.
2. "Məşrutə inqilabı-100": beynəlxalq elmi konfrans: 8-9 iyun 2005: məqalələr toplusu / AMEA ak. Z.M. Bünyadov adına Şərqşünaslıq İnstitutu. - Bakı : Günəş, 2005. - 246 s.
3. Çingizoğlu, Ənvər. Məşrutə hərəkatında ruhanilərin rolu / Ə. Çingizoğlu ; elmi red. B. Məmmədli ; red. M. İ. Qacarlı. - Bakı : Mütərcim, 2018. - 160 s.
4. Rəhimli, Əkrəm Rəhim oğlu. Cənubi Azərbaycan : düşüncələr, problemlər: [məqalələr] / Ə. R. Rəhimli ; elmi red. S. Z. Bayramzadə ; red. İ. Qəribli. - Bakı : Nurlar NPM, 2017. - 400 s.
5. Mədətli, Eynulla Yadulla oğlu. Tarix və tarixşünaslıq məsələləri : [məqalələr toplusu] / E. Y. Mədətli ; elmi red. Y. M. Mahmudov. - Bakı : Turxan NPB, 2022. - 468 s.