Morteza Gholi Khan Hedayat
# Morteza Gholi Khan Hedayat

Morteza Gholi Khan (Sani-ol Douleh) (Persian: مرتضی‌قلی‌خان صنیع‌الدوله; 1856–1911) was a leader of the Persian Constitutional Revolution and the first Chairman of the first Majlis. A member of the Hedayat family, he served as the Minister of Finance of Iran for seven months.

## Life

At the time, Persia was being plundered of its resources by the British and Russians who had also obtained taxation rights on all significant sources keeping the county and some of the ruling class under effective financial control. Realizing that a country cannot be independent without self sufficiency and monetary independence, he initiated financial reforms and the overhaul of the taxation system, including bringing in the American adviser W. Morgan Shuster. This and his unwillingness to sell out led to his assassination by the Russians on in February 1911 by two Georgian nationals in Tehran.

