1908 bombardment of the Majlis

The 1908 bombardment of the Majlis of Iran took place on 23 June 1908 in Tehran, during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, when the Persian Cossack forces, commanded by Vladimir Liakhov and the other Russian officers, bombarded and by that suppressed the Iranian parliament, the Majles.

Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, the Shah of Persia, who ascended the throne in January 1907 was against the constitution of 1906 ratified during regime of his father Mozzafar-al-Din Shah.After his ascension, in August 1907 an Anglo-Russian agreement divided Iran into a Russian zone in the North, a British zone in the South, and a neutral zone in the center. The British switched their support to Shah, abandoning the Constitutionalists. The Shah later tried to subdue and eliminate the Majles with the military and political support of Russia and Britain.

As the constitutional revolution was going on in Persia, the Shah kept himself confined to his residence at Bagh-e Shah fort in west of Tehran. He took help of Cossack Brigade to control the revolution and left the city of Tehran at their mercy. The loyalty of the Cossack Brigade was fully guaranteerd, not only by the purge done by commander Vladimir Liakhov earlier, but also by the king's distribution of a special bonus earlier in 1908.

Russian colonel Vladimir Liakhov who was the commander of the Cossack Brigade, lead the force in shelling the Majles and executing several leaders of the Constitutional Movement on June 23, 1908. His forces then also plundered the parliament and damaged the building. This event lead to start of a period known as Minor Tyranny. Liakhov was subsequently made Military Governor of Tehran by the Shah, turning the city into a military garrison.

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