Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari
#WomensHistoryMonth
Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari (1874-1937) was an Iranian military commander who supported the constitutional reform in her country.
Born in 1874, Bibi Maryam was the daughter of Hossein Qoli Khan, the headsman of the Bakhtiari clan.
Bibi Maryam was just 40 days old when her father betrothed her to marry Ali Qoli Khan Chahar Lang. After her father’s death, her brothers tried to break the bond, but their efforts failed. At 15, Maryam had to stop her primary education and began to live with her husband and his tribe.
Soon, however, her husband passed away and left her with small children. After his death, Bibi Maryam moved into her brother’s house for a time before ultimately marrying her cousin, Fatollah Khan Zaim ol-Saltaneh.
Because of her nomadic background, Bibi Maryam was skilled in horse riding and shooting. Her name began to gain prominence in 1906, after King Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signed the new Persian Constitution. Her Bakhtiari tribe and her own brother had been among the most vocal proponents of the Constitutional Movement.
After the death of King Mozaffar, his successor, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, abolished the constitution in 1907. The Bakhtiaris, including Bibi Maryam, were among the first to call for restoring the constitution.
She convinced her brother, Sardar Asad Bakhtiari, to invade Tehran. “If all the brave Bakhtiari men are killed, I will gather all the Bakhtiari women and we will put them in coffins, pick up rifles, and move to defeat the enemy by storming this camp of despotism,” she wrote to her brother. “I hope you will eradicate the rotten roots of despotism with your high intelligence and the forces of the brave Iranian youth.”
Bibi Maryam’s house in Isfahan was the place where combatants gathered. She personally sent letters and telegrams to the heads of different tribes, and delivered speeches before Iran’s tribal people, calling on them to fight against tyranny.
In 1909, as part of the constitutionalists’ strategy to take over Tehran, she secretly entered the city with a group of riders and stayed in a house near the parliament building. As soon as Sardar Asad attacked Tehran, she picked up a rifle, sat on a horse and fought alongside the Bakhtiari male riders to attack pro-government forces from behind.
Because of her role in conquering Tehran, her tribe gave her the honorary rank of Sardar (high commander).
Bibi Maryam also stood up for women’s rights in the patriarchal society. She tried to change some prevalent traditions, including the betrothal of newborn girls, forced marriage, inequality in inheritance laws, women not having the right to divorce, and naturally — having experienced her own education cut off prematurely — not having the right to education.
In her memoirs, Bibi Maryam wrote that in her view, ignorance is the main cause of women’s relegated status. “If we too knew why we were created, we would fight,” she said. “Today European women occupy high ranks in all states and national institutions. They can become members of parliament, while we Iranian women are totally outside the human world.”
Bibi Maryam’s son, Ali-Mardan Bakhtiari, was executed by Reza Pahlavi in 1934. It seems she never got over her griefs. Three years later in 1937, she died and was buried in the famous Isfahan cemetery, Takht-e Foulad.
Sources:
Iranian Women You Should Know: Sardar Maryam Bakhtiari
Wikipedia: Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari
Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari, First Iranian Female Military Commander
