ABSTRACT
The essay of Sergo Gamdlishvili (1882–1910), a Georgian participant in the Gilan resistance, was published in Tbilisi in February–March 1910. The source focuses on the Gilan resistance and provides insights and interesting details regarding the political attitudes, strategies, and collaboration of the Transcaucasian and Iranian revolutionaries from the end of 1908 through the summer of 1909. The source is also interesting material for studying how the Iranian Constitutional Revolution was seen by its Caucasian participants, what they deemed to be the major peculiarities of the Constitutional Movement in different regions of Iran, and how they saw their role in these events. Vlasa Mgeladze, a Georgian member of the Tabriz constitutional resistance, wrote in 1910 that the Iranian Revolution had brought together people of various nationalities and religions – Iranians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Armenians, and Jews – and united them in a struggle for a common goal: the victory of constitutionalism in Iran. 1 One of the striking characteristics of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution was, indeed, the multinational and ideologically diverse composition of its forces. Particularly close was the collaboration between the Iranian resisters and the revolutionaries of neighboring Transcaucasia. An article published in the Iranian newspaper Musavat aimed at demonstrating the profound effect that the Iranian Constitutional Movement had on the people of Tbilisi. 2 Describing his encounter with the locals in Tbilisi, the author of the article emphasizes that both men and women he met in Tbilisi were inspired and affected by the slogans of the Tabrizi constitutionalists. 3 There were indeed many in Georgia, especially those involved in revolutionary activities, who deeply and sincerely sympathized with the constitutionalists in Iran.
