PERSEPOLIS – Marjane Satrapi

 Background

 The novel begins against the backdrop of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in
1979, with the last Shah of Iran fleeing from the country.

Ancient History

 The Introduction to the book gives a brief glimpse of the diverse history
and the rich culture of Iran, which was previously known as Persia until
1935.
 Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BC). The
ancient city of Persepolis was situated in the province of Persis (present
day Central Iran). Its name comes from the Greek Persis-polis, meaning
‘Persian city’. To the ancient Persians, the city was known as Pārsa, which is
also the word for the region of Persia.

Modern History – The Pahlavi Dynasty

 Coming to modern history, the last ruling house of Iran was the Pahlavi
Dynasty (1925-1979), established by Reza Shah Pahlavi (‘Reza Shah’). Reza
Shah had been asked by the Allied Powers (essentially UK, USA and Soviet
Union) during the Second World War to ally himself against Germany,
which he refused to do. The Allied Powers invaded and occupied Iran in
1941. Reza Shah was forced to abdicate and sent into exile. He was
succeeded by his 21 year old son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (the ‘Shah’).
 In 1951, Mohammed Mossadeq was declared by the Majlis (the Parliament
of Iran) as the new Prime Minister of Iran. Mossadeq nationalised the
British owned Oil Industry, which move had been opposed by the Shah. The
Shah fled Iran but returned when the United Kingdom and the United
States staged a coup against Mossadeq in August 1953. Mossadeq was
then arrested by pro-Shah army forces.
 Thereafter, with support from Western nations like the US, major plans
were undertaken to build Iran’s infrastructure, which became a booming
economy with a vibrant middle class over the next two decades. This step
towards Westernisation which began roughly around 1963 and lasted till
1979, is known in Iranian history as the White Revolution.
 The Iranian Revolution - Prelude

 The White Revolution of the Shah was opposed by Shia Cleric Ayatollah
Sayyid Rohulla Musavi Khomeini (‘Ayatollah Khomeini’). Ayatollah
Khomeini preached revolt, and rejected Western Ideas like liberal
capitalism or communism. Khomeini was exiled. In exile, he developed the
ideology of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist) as government, that
Muslims—in fact everyone—required “guardianship”, in the form of rule or
supervision by the leading Islamic jurist or jurists.
 A series of events in the 70s set the stage for the 1979 Revolution. In 1971,
the celebration organised by the government to commemorate 2500 year
history of the Persian Empire at Persepolis was attacked for its
extravagance. By the mid 70s, the growing inflation as a result of the oil
boom had accelerated the rich-poor divide. Iranians were angered by the
fact that the Shah’s family was the largest beneficiary of the income
generated from oil and had amassed great wealth as a result of the same.
Gradual discontent began to simmer and the ideology of Ayatollah
Khomeini began to gain more and more popularity. Protests were rampant.
 Much of Iranian society was in euphoria about the coming revolution.
Secular and leftist politicians piled onto the movement hoping to gain
power in the aftermath, ignoring the fact that Khomeini was the very
antithesis to all of the positions they supported. The military leadership
was increasingly paralysed by indecision.
 The US administration under President Jimmy Carter gradually began to
lose faith in the Shah and the monarchy, and effectively helped Khomeini
to be catapulted to power.

1979 – the year of the Revolution

 The Shah in the meantime began his search for a new Prime Ministerial
candidate and entered into an agreement with Shahpour Bakhtiar, who
would be appointed as Prime Minister while the Shah and his family would
leave the country on a ‘vacation’, while a Regency Council would carry out
his royal duties. On 16th January 1979, in what was officially described as a
“vacation,” the Shah and his family fled Iran to Egypt, never to return.
 Bakhtiar invited Khomeini back from exile, who had by then gained
immense popularity as a religious and political leader. Immediately upon
his return, Khomeini rejected Bakhtiar’s government. Bakhtiar became
 isolated, with members of the government (including the Regency Council)
defecting to Khomeini.
 Ten days later, on February 11, Iran’s armed forces declared their
neutrality, effectively ousting the Shah’s regime. Bakhtiar went into hiding,
eventually to find exile in France (where he was eventually assassinated in
1991).
 Khomeini was named rahbar, Iran’s political and religious leader for life. On
April 1, following overwhelming support in a national referendum,
Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic.
 Our novel begins roughly around this time.

Aftermath

 The left wing and intellectual allies of the Revolution were deprived of all
positions of power in the new regime.
 Conservative social values were imposed through enactment of strict laws.
 Mosque-based revolutionary bands known as komītehs (Persian:
“committees”) patrolled the streets enforcing Islamic codes of dress and
behaviour and dispatching impromptu justice to perceived enemies of
the Revolution.
 A new constitution was enacted by the government, modelled on
Khomeini’s ideology.
 The Revolution in Iran led to aspirations of overthrow of monarchies in the
Middle East, which irked the monarchs as well as western nations who saw
this as a threat to the oil supply. In September 1980, the President of Iraq,
Saddam Hussein, invaded Iran. By 1982, the invasion had been repelled and
Iran had reclaimed its territories. The war continued for another six years.
 Khomeini died in July 1989.
 It was also around this time that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected the
new President (not to be confused with ‘Supreme Leader’), and he served
as President from 1989 to 1997. Rafsanjani’s economic policy was liberal.
He was succeeded by Mohammad Khatami, whose terms as President
brought in an era of liberalisation and reform.
 Most of Book 2 is set against this backdrop.