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How did the White Revolution change land ownership in Iran?
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Tehran
Mosque with cupola in the bazaar, Tehran.
The White Revolution, initiated by the land reform law of 1962, fundamentally restructured land ownership in Iran by forcing the landed minority to surrender vast tracts of property for redistribution to small-scale cultivators.12
Key aspects of this transformation included:
- Redistribution: The program eventually redistributed land to approximately 2.5 million families.12
- Compensation: Former landlords were compensated for their lost holdings through shares in state-owned industries.12
- Institutional Shift: Cooperatives were established to replace large landowners as the primary source of capital for irrigation and agricultural development.12
- Clerical Impact: The reforms included the breakup of vast lands held under charitable trusts (vaqf), which had previously served as a significant revenue source for the ulama (clerical class).12
Despite these goals, the government failed to provide adequate infrastructure to replace the support systems formerly provided by landlords. This led to high failure rates for new farms and triggered a mass migration of agricultural workers to major urban centers, particularly Tehran, in search of employment.12