MohammadVali Asadi

Farzaneh Babaei

Khan Asadi, son of Mirza Ali Akbar Birjandi (Asadi) was born in Birjand in 12781. After his education in Birjand Masoumiyeh School and using haj Sheikh Mohammad Bagher Mojtahed’s companionship, he moved to Tehran with Mohammad Ibrahim Alam and Mohammad Ismael Shokat-al-Molk in 1903. After Mohammad Ismael Khan’s death in 1904, his title was passed down to his brother Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and he returned to Qayen with governorship order. At this time, Khan became state court administrator, provincial exchequer of Qaeyenat and also entitled Mesbah Divan.
Mohammad Ibrahim Khan shokat-al-Molk, appointed Asadi as his foreman and manager of his properties and sent him to Tehran as Birjand’s representative in the fourth national parliament. In Tehran he was entitled Mesbah-al-Saltaneh and started acting against the Qajar dynasty with Teimour Tash. During the 5th and 6th parliaments, in 1926 he was assigned the custodianship of the holy shrine of Imam Reza with the aid of Teimour Tash and on behalf of Reza Shah and he remained there until 1935. During his service, Asadi provided valuable services such as the development of Mashhad and building the Koohsangi Street.
In 1935 the order of unveiling the women and change of Pahlavi hat to chapeau was issued by Reza Shah. The people of Khorasan resisted this order and gathered in Goharshad Mosque. With Sheikh Bohloul’s speech an uproar was created in the mosque which led to barrage and killing of many people. The report of the incident was sent to Tehran and Asadi was found guilty. A committee to investigate the state and trial and sentence of Asadi was sent to Mashhad from Tehran. The head of the committee was brigadier Abbas Alborz and the interrogator, Colonel Aqakhan Khal¢atbari. After the trial Asadi was sentenced to death and the result of the investigation was sent to Tehran. The appeal court, headed by Fazl-Allah Zahedi, approved the sentence.
Finally on December 21st 1935, the death sentence was carried out (despite Reza Shah’s telegraph ordering otherwise) and Asadi was executed by a firing squad and his corpse was buried in a public graveyard. After Asadi’s execution his family was sent to exile and their properties confiscated.
After September 1941 and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s reign, Asadi’s children proved their father’s innocence through a retrial and transferred their father’s corpse from the graveyard to an exclusive tomb in Imam Reza’s holy shrine. After that Asadi’s children were cared for by Mohammad Reza Shah and reached high ranks.

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1. Dr. Seif-Allah Vahidnia states Asadi’s birth year to be 1878 in the book Zire Tigh.
https://iichs.ir/vdcc.pqsa2bqmey-82.html