Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.30465/cps.2023.46806.3271
Abstract
The exclusive right to exploit oil was granted to a British subject named William Knox D'Arcy by Mozaffardin shah under special circumstances in 1901. This treaty was composed in 18 articles and based on the article 8, the excavations began in West Kermanshah, near the border with the Ottomans. The field under excavation did not have enough oil to be economically worthwhile. The person given the right to excavation moved his area of activity to Khuzestan based on the recommendation by the experts. Knowing the Iran’s conditions in 1905, the British made an agreement with the Bakhtiari lords in 6 articles that was in contradiction with the article 14 of the Grant of the Privileges. At first the lords were the de facto power in the region and the relations were necessary and friendly. With the discovery of oil the relationship became complicated and confusing. Finally in 1930 all their privileges were terminated. The search addresses the question: how was the relationship between the British and the Bakhtiari lords in relation to the excavation of oil? The basic hypothesis is that the British were aware of the necessity of having a relationship with the Bakhtiari lord taking the regional situation into the consideration; then taking advantage of the centralization policy advanced by Reza shah terminated all privileges given the Bakhtiari lords.
)