Moẓaffar od-Dīn Shāh's reign was defined by fiscal collapse and foreign dependency — it was he who twice accepted ruinous loans from Russia, in 1900 and 1902, pledging Iranian customs revenues as collateral. The gold coinage of this period was itself partly a function of that pressure, as monetary reforms were attempted to stabilize a treasury already effectively mortgaged to St. Petersburg. He would sign the Constitutional decree in 1906, just months before his death, under circumstances that remain disputed.
Moẓaffar od-Dīn Shāh's reign was defined by fiscal collapse and foreign dependency — it was he who twice accepted ruinous loans from Russia, in 1900 and 1902, pledging Iranian customs revenues as collateral. The gold coinage of this period was itself partly a function of that pressure, as monetary reforms were attempted to stabilize a treasury already effectively mortgaged to St. Petersburg. He would sign the Constitutional decree in 1906, just months before his death, under circumstances that remain disputed.