Caricature and Cartoon in Iran- Part 1
Content Code: 1000022 Visits: 1524 Published On: 19,Apr 2015 @ 05:10
Print
Suggest
Caricature and Cartoon in Iran

تبریز تونز

Caricature and Cartoon in Iran

PART 1

By: Masoud Shojai Tabatabai

At the beginning of the 19th century the British and Russian colonialists were attempting to plunder the Iranian natural resources and were doing everything possible to make this country their colony. The Russian Empire occupied a vast part of the wealthiest and fertile territories of Iran, and the historical fate of the people of those territories was gradually separated from that of the rest of Iranians. The Tsarist government of Russia which for long had cast covetous eyes on these affluent regions of Iran began to expand its establishments into the occupied territories, to the extent that by the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century. Important cities of these territories came to form one of the prosperous regions of Russia. The people of these regions who had lost all hope of getting help from the traitorous Qajar kings had no other choice but to surrender to Russian Pristaves and Nachlinks who were more perfidious and cunning than the Qajar Bakes and Daroghehs.

During the period of the Tsarist government’s domination over the Azerbaijani lands very harsh conditions prevailed over the political and cultural life of the people. This government biased towards these people and held them in contempt. By adopting a program of racist teachings and inculcation’s. It managed to create disdain in the minds of the Russian people against non-Russian nations and to persuade them to have officially consider them as strangers. As a result of such policies from the very beginning there were rebellions and uprisings of the people of Azerbaijan and other places against the Tsarist government in different ways.

Beacause of its colonialist aims and to exploit the national and human resources of the land, the Russian government expanded its industries in to the different cities of Azerbaijan especially Baku. This move caused an influx large groups of people into the cities from the villages in different parts Caucasia in order to find jobs. Groups of Iranians especially from the province of Azerbaijan in Iran also joined the influx. With the arrival of great masses of Iranian people into these cities and taking into account the fact that they took with themselves that, own cultural and political ideas ,the people of these cities were gradually given a new level of awareness. The consequences of this increased awareness induced movements against the despotic Tsarist regime which had been formed over many centuries.

 

Although the 1905 Revolution against the Tsarist system in Russia was defeated, it still forced the regime to grant some concessions in regard. To the people’s new-found awareness As a result, an atmosphere was created in which certain groups setup organizations and began organizing the people and establishing political party offices. The constitutional movement in Iran, which had its roots in all sections of Iranian society, affected the continuation of the Russian revolution because of the direct conflict between Iranian citizens in the north of Iran and Tsarist forces.

Different newspapers were published for propaganda purposes and to invite the people to join the different parties and groups, which mainly gathered beneath the banner of Russian social democratic organizations under the leadership of Stalin, and these continuously reflected situations and events occurring at home and abroad especially in Iran.

The Mulla Nassrulldin Weekly

The history of the press in Azerbaijan an area, which is now Republic of Azerbaijan and a great part of Northern Iran, began in the 1870’s and in a short period of time, became one of the most important socio-political and literary organs. The Tsarist government, especially after the effects of the 1905 Revolution, was obliged upon the publication of a hypocritical declaration on March 18, 1906, to show a certain extent of tolerance and to exercise for béarnaise towards the press It was after this publication that newspapers and other printed matter related to different factions were introdused.

At this time, different groups related to the social democratic party the occasion to publish their newspapers and documents freely,items, which up until then had been underground. Among the newspapers of this period, "Hemat","Daavat" "Fuzat" "Hayat", "Ershad" can be cited to name but a few. All these were published in Azerbaijan. in the Azeri Ianguage. Satirical newspapers too were also published, and in order to prom-date their views they used a certain style which adopted a humorous and ridiculing language which had ifs roots the culture of the people, of this land. Consequently the circulation of such publications was very high. PubIcations like "Mulla Nassrulldin, "Zanbour", "Touti ‘Lak-Lak’ "Babaye Amir" "Mashal", "Bohloul" and other were published. Mulla Nassrulldin led them all in style, the rest merely copied in one way or another.

The name of the magazine was taken from the mythical story of the honest and humorous Mulla Nassrulldin a very famous and familiar name amongst the people. The magazine adopted the same style as that used in the mythical story of Mulla Nassrulldin and portrayed daily events to the people through caricatures and humourous texts.

 

The first issue of Mulla Nassrulldin was published in Tbilisi the center of Georgia under the editorship of Mohammed Gholizadeh on April, 7, 1906. According to some reports, Jalil Mohammad Gholizadeh was born in Nakhjavan, and according to others his birthplace was Caucasia. He was proficient in the Persian, Azeri, and Russian languages. When he was 14 years old he entered Darollmoalemin in the city of Qouri in Georgia, and after finishing his studies there he spent some years teaching in the local schools. In 1904 he went to Tbilisi and began work as a writer for the newspaper "Shargeh Rous". In 1905, after the newspaper had been banned the young writer assumed responsibility of its printing-house and changed its name to "Matba‘eh Ghairaf". Because of the censorship laws laid down by the Tsarist government he did not have the opportunity, to continue his activities. It was not until 1906, after the constitutional Revolution had provided a suitable juncture, that Gholizadeh along with Faegh Afandi Ma‘amanzadeh, began to publish a weekly edition of Mulla Nassrulldin under the supervision of the "Houkrat" organ. Muhammad Gholizadeh gathered many of the outstanding cartoonists and writers of that time around himself, and by using the works of cartoonists like, "Roter" "O.I. Shelling, Azim Azimzadeh, Behzad, Mousayef, Yousef Vazir Ginosky, lbrahim zadeh and others, he selected cartoons as a realistic and critical form of illustration of the kind that was popular in Europe at that time. Although Gholizadeh ‘s weekly was greatly influenced by Turkish and Caucasian publications, still, because of the services granted by the great masters like "Rotor" and "Shelling" and the famous writers like Mirza Ali Akbar Taherzadeh (better known as "Saber",) Abdulrahim Haghverdious, Mohammad Saeed Ordubari ,etc …it became the vanguard of the critical, humorous and political publications, at that time how ever, it must be accepted that this weekly provided a turning point in the development of caricature and humorous literature in the Azeri and Turkish languages.

Sorce :http://www.iranchamber.com

Published: 0 | Not Checked: 0 | Rejected: 0
There is no sent/published comment for the content above.
Your comment will be published after approval by site administrator but your e-mail address will never be published.

Name:   Ant-Spam Code
»»»»»  
E-mail:  
Message: 
Advertisement
Latest News
Links

All rights reserved by «TabrizToon» and republish of the contents above are only permitted with a link to us included.
Support by AltayHost.com © Admin Tel: +98.9141156534