Shahr-e Now Garden (باغ شهرنو)
During the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah (محمدعلی شاه), following the failed attempt to assassinate the Shah in Tehran, he became deeply angered and decided to suppress the Constitutionalists with great severity. He therefore moved the royal family from the Golestan Palace to Bagh-e Shah, outside the Naseri city walls, and ordered Liakhoff (لیاخوف) to use the Cossack forces to crush and disperse their organization.
During this period, many statesmen and members of the Shah’s entourage followed his example, abandoning their houses and residences inside the city and moving to the vicinity of Bagh-e Shah. They settled in the gardens and houses of the area and, where necessary, constructed new buildings and took up residence there. In this way, one of the largest districts of Tehran came into existence.
This district extended from Bagh-e Shah to the vicinity of the Customs Gate and became known as Shahrak-e Now (شهرک نو).
Later, when the government sought to control prostitutes who were dispersed throughout the city and were considered a source of disturbance to the public, it designated gardens south of this district—which had been recreation grounds for some Tehran residents—as places for their residence. The women were gathered there both to make supervision easier and to relieve residents of other Tehran neighborhoods from unwanted association and neighborhood disturbances.
Among the best-known places were the large garden and caravanserai of Haj Abdol-Mahmud Banki (حاج عبدالمحمود بانکی) and Baghcheh-ye Vali Khan (باغچه ولیخان).
Gradually, the people of Tehran began referring to Shahrak-e Now simply as Shahr-e Now (شهرنو). When the gardens occupied by these women and their associates were enclosed in one part of the district, the name Shahr-e Now came to be used specifically for that enclosed area. Thus, in popular usage, Shahr-e Now eventually referred only to the area where prostitutes and their associates lived.
“Shahr-e Now, or Police Station No. 10, was established in the Shahr-e Now district. This district lay outside the Qazvin Gate and appears to have emerged before the demolition of the Safavid-era walls and towers in 1284 AH/1867 CE.”
— Takmil Homayoun, History…, Vol. 2, p. 35.
Because the district was newly developed, it became known as Shahr-e Now. The Qazvin Gate neighborhood was located within this district. Shahr-e Now had large, densely wooded gardens, and its residents consisted largely of migrants from various provinces and surrounding areas of Tehran. (Fami Tafrashi, The Secret Police of Iran, Vol. 1, p. 49)
Shahr-e Now was a pleasant district with a favorable climate and was one of the recreational areas frequented by residents of southern and southwestern Tehran. During the government of Seyyed Zia (سید ضیاء), the city’s prostitutes were rounded up and settled there. (Shahri, Social History…, Vol. 3, p. 175)
In 1301 SH, the population of Shahr-e Now was 2,085. (Takmil Homayoun, Vol. 3, p. 117)
Approximately fifteen years later, on 12 Azar 1307 SH, Tehran was divided into four districts—north, south, east, and west—and nine sections were established within them:
Sections 1 and 2: Baharestan neighborhood
Section 3: Estakhr Street in Hasanabad
Section 4: Farmanfarma Street (Shapur = Vahdat-e Eslami)
Section 5: Balour-Sazi Street
Section 6: Haj Abolfath Street
Section 7: Machine Street
Section 8: Bazaarcheh-ye Kenar-e Khandaq
Section 9: Pamenar neighborhood
Shahr-e Now (Faheshkhaneh) was a district northwest of Gomrok Square designated for the settlement of prostitutes. It has since been transformed into green space and public facilities.
When Mohammad Ali Shah’s opposition to the Constitutionalists became public and intensified, he moved the royal residence from Golestan Palace, which was inside the city, to Bagh-e Shah outside Tehran’s walls, both to protect himself and the royal family and to suppress his opponents more freely.
Following this event, some court officials and ordinary residents also moved to the vicinity of Bagh-e Shah, which until
then had largely been undeveloped land. They built gardens, houses, and shops. As a result, the area south of Bagh-e Shah extending toward the Customs Gate was developed and became known as Shahr-e Now or Shahrak-e Now.
Hasan E’azam Qodsi gives a detailed account of this development in his book My Memoirs:
“…On 4 Jumada al-Awwal 1326 AH, Mohammad Ali Shah established himself at Bagh-e Shah. The statesmen and notables immediately began to think about acquiring gardens and residences around Bagh-e Shah. Development therefore began, and within a short time the area from around Bagh-e Shah to the Customs Gate was being built up, with shops, bathhouses, and everything required by the residents… Since people from different classes of the city moved outside the city walls and established their homes and places of business there after the construction of buildings and opening of shops, they called the place Shahr-e Now. Mohammad Ali Shah ordered and personally ensured that the new residents, particularly shopkeepers, would suffer no interference from the military. He also appointed special inspectors to oversee the matter… The Shah entrusted the governorship of Shahr-e Now to Salar Firouz, the brother of Amir Bahador… One day, a soldier mistreated one of the shopkeepers there… Mohammad Ali Shah summoned him and personally ordered the soldier to be executed by firing squad…”
Shahr-e Now was a recreational area for Tehran residents and had attractive gardens. Among them were the large garden and caravanserai of Haj Abdol-Mahmud Banki and Baghcheh-ye Vali Khan, which was filled with flowers and vegetation.
The Shahrak-e Now district extended eastward to the Qanatabad district. The latter began at Gomrok Square and extended as far as Mohammadieh Square and the area beneath old Sanglaj. Numerous passages and small bazaars were located in this district. (Fami Tafrashi, p. 156)
Baghcheh-ye Vali Khan (باغچه ولیخان) was a flower-filled garden with running water and picturesque garden divisions, occupying several thousand square meters in the Shahr-e Now district. It was regarded as one of the finest places for recreation and leisure in Shahr-e Now. (Shahri, Vol. 3, p. 174)
According to statistics published on Monday, 25 Ordibehesht 1385, the area of the ten neighborhoods of the capital was recorded as follows:
NeighborhoodArea (sq. m.)Arg416,700Dowlat3,300,400Hasanabad3,296,040Sanglaj2,956,030Qanatabad3,135,600Mohammadieh2,875,600Qajariyeh2,074,600Bazaar1,657,920Odlajan1,574,800Shahr-e Now3,170,600
Shahr-e Now was one of the newly established and recently built neighborhoods and lay outside the map of the city.
Male employed and unemployed population in the ten neighborhoods
NeighborhoodEmployedUnemployedArg505286Dowlat4,096775Hasanabad1,383631Sanglaj5,5771,079Qanatabad2,393198Mohammadieh5,089388Qajariyeh2,751324Bazaar6,9351,086Odlajan6,258943Shahr-e Now325692Total35,3126,402
As can be seen, with an area of more than three million square meters, Shahr-e Now was among the largest neighborhoods of Tehran at the time. Its development contributed to the expansion of the city during the first Pahlavi period, when a new wave of migrants arrived in the capital.
The Mozafari Lands (اراضی مظفری), located adjacent to its western side, were increasingly occupied by newcomers, who gradually settled there. This in turn contributed to the westward expansion of Tehran.
In 1311 SH, the gates of Naseri Dar al-Khilafa (دارالخلافه ناصری) were demolished one after another, and the moat surrounding the city was filled. With the construction of four semi-ring roads—Shah Reza (شاهرضا; now Enqelab), Si-Metri (سیمتری; now Kargar), Shush (شوش), and Shahbaz (شهباز; now 17 Shahrivar)—along the northern, western, southern, and eastern boundaries respectively, the former eight-sided city of Tehran was transformed into a square-shaped four-sided city.
This newly expanded area covered approximately 46 square kilometers, nearly eleven times the size of Tehran during the reign of Fath-Ali Shah and two and a half times the size of Tehran duri
ng the reign of Naser al-Din Shah. It consequently accommodated an increasing number of migrants. (Takmil Homayoun, Vol. 2, pp. 81–82; Kariman, Tehran in the Past and Present, Vol. 1, pp. 297–298)
