Shah of Shahs

Shah of Shahs (1982), a non-fiction book by Polish political journalist Ryszard Kapuściński, recounts Iran’s 20th-century history, leading up to the 1979 revolution in which Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was deposed in favor of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

The book’s short opening section describes the atmosphere in Tehran as Ayatollah Khomeini makes his triumphal entrance to the capital. Kapuściński is one of the last Western journalists left in the city, staying in an otherwise vacant hotel. The hotel’s employees gossip, play cards, or try to find ways to render Kapuściński some chargeable service. Meanwhile, Kapuściński watches Khomeini on television and sets about trying to organize his notes and photographs and the cassette tapes on which he has recorded interviews with ordinary Iranians.

The next section of the book—and the longest—is a collage of what Kapuściński calls “Daguerreotypes.” These are short essays, each based on one of Kapuściński photographs, notes, or cassette tapes. The photographs are described in detail and contextualized. In the “cassette” section, Kapuściński transcribes an interview with an ordinary Iranian about the life and career of former Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh.



Each note is an essay on a single topic, examining Iran’s recent history through a particular lens, for example, the role of oil, Shi’ism, or the Shah’s secret police.

Throughout, Kapuściński seeks to answer a specific question: What induced the Iranians to revolt? He reasons that it couldn’t be oppression alone since the people of Iran had been oppressed for decades. What extra ingredient or ingredients finally destabilized the country?

Kapuściński “Daguerreotypes” set out a history of modern Iran, beginning with the grandfather of the last Shah, an ordinary soldier most notable for escorting the assassin of a previous Shah to his public execution. Pahlavi’s father, Shah Reza Khan, was the country’s prime minister before he became Shah with the backing of a coup. A huge, imposing man with lusty appetites, Shah Reza Khan was forced from the throne by the Allies in World War II for refusing to allow Allied forces use of the Trans-Iranian railroad.



The Allies allowed Khan to save face by abdicating in favor of his son, but the 22-year-old Mohammed Reza Pahlavi quickly proved himself an unreliable and unpopular ruler. In 1951 a popular revolt forced him to flee.

A liberal politician, Mohammed Mossadegh, was elected Prime Minister and ruled Iran in the Shah’s stead. Mossadegh incurred the wrath of the Western powers when he set about nationalizing Iran’s oil industry. A CIA-backed coup forced Mossadegh from power, and the Shah was brought back, his rule propped up by American and British military might. He was widely seen by his own people as a mere puppet of Western power.

The Shah established a violently oppressive regime. His secret police, SAVAK, abducted, tortured and killed the Shah’s opponents.



The charismatic Shi’ite preacher Ayatollah Khomeini began calling for the Shah to be deposed. He was a powerful figure, regarded by many as the prophesied Twelfth Imam, who would lead mankind into a new, more faithful era.

Kapuściński argues that the mosques effectively incubated the Revolution, by providing a place where the regime’s opponents could safely congregate. The Shah attempted to outlaw public expressions of Muslim faith, but this only served to harden the association between the Shia devout and the political opponents of the Shah. Nevertheless, Kapuściński concludes that revolution might not have broken out had it not been for the Shah’s last ill-advised assault on his people’s patience.
In December 1973, the Shah announced to the world at large that he was increasing the price of Iranian oil. The revenue would fund a massive investment project he called “The Great Civilization.” He pledged to his people that Iran would soon be the America of the Middle East.

Instead, billions of dollars were wasted on plans that could not be implemented because Iran lacked the skilled technicians and other resources necessary to carry them out. The Shah brought in foreign companies to carry out the work, with the result that ordinary Iranians saw government money being handed out to foreigners, with little benefit accruing for themselves. Billions more were wasted in corruption and incompetence.



On January 8, 1978, the Shah’s official newspaper printed an attack on Ayatollah Khomeini. In Khomeini’s hometown of Qom, rioting broke out, and 500 were killed by police forces. This encouraged the rioting to spread, eventually reaching Tehran.

The Shah continued to respond violently, exacerbating the rebels’ anger. Mass strikes broke out, and in February 1979, the Shah was deposed. Khomeini was brought back from exile to take over the leadership of the country.

In a short epilogue, Kapuściński reflects on the fact that the revolutionary regime has proved every bit as violent and incompetent as the despotic monarchy it has replaced. In the book’s final scene, he discusses the character of the Iranian people with a Tehran carpet-seller, who tells him that carpets define the “Persian” character. “You spread a carpet on a wretched, parched desert, lie down on it, and…you are near paradise, you are a poet.”