The Story of the Daughters of Quchan

Najmabadi presents the event as an example of one of the many acts by both the provincial governments and the national Qajar Regime which led to the Constitutional Revolution.

The poor could not afford to pay this tax, due to a bad harvest, and the only way they could raise the money was to sell their daughters to the elite Turkmen or to nomads.

According to Najmabadi, the incident symbolises how Iranian women were viewed as "objects of traffic" and exemplifies the poverty and social injustice facing people under that government.

According to Najmabadi, the episode also showed how effective newspapers were at relaying information across the country, as many Iranians sympathized for those in Quchan and would join the campaign for a constitutional government.

Asaf al-Dawlah and many of his high-ranking officials were put on trial under the new regime in 1906 and there were multiple efforts made to get the girls back from the Turkmens.

Heads of Turkmen chiefs stuffed with straw and brought to Tehran. These Turkmen, who were both feared and hated by the Iranians, were killed in battle with the Nationalists. They composed Muhammad Ali's principal fighting force in his attempt to regain the throne.