Iran's First Registered Car

The history of the country's first registered car dates back to 1305 SH (1926), when the first automobiles arrived in Iran. At the time, a set of regulations with 32 articles on vehicle numbering was drafted, but these rules were not finalized until 1308 SH (1929), three years after the cars arrived. Under these regulations, vehicles were required to display five separate plates.

Iran Ambassador Arjan's History Service (Ambassador Arjan) - Anahid Khazeer: The book "First grade; The history of car license plates in Iran from the beginning to the emergence of the national license plate" was published by the Foundation Museums Cultural Institute and with the participation of the Traffic Police Applied Research Center. This book examines the history of vehicle license plates in Iran, from the beginning of the arrival of the car, the formation of the first numbering systems, to the emergence and establishment of national license plates. The content of this work is the result of researching historical documents and using reliable sources, especially the documents available in the Museum of Classic Cars of Iran. Most of the information presented in this book has been collected in an integrated manner for the first time and an attempt has been made to provide an accurate and documented picture of the formation and evolution of plaques by relying on written evidence.

The purpose of compiling and publishing this book is in line with the publication policy of the Cultural Institute of Information Publishing Foundation, to collect, record and publish specialized knowledge in fields that have received little attention from independent research. This work tries to be a reference source for researchers interested in automobile history, museum activists, collectors, and all those who are interested in the history of urban developments and transportation in Iran by providing documented and reliable information.

The vehicle license plate, at first glance, seems to be only a set of numbers, letters or signs that is responsible for identifying the car or vehicle and is like a fingerprint in vehicles that must be unique, but with a deeper look, the license plate can be seen as a historical document that reflects the technical, administrative, social and even political developments of each period. The evolution of license plates in Iran; It started with the arrival of the first vehicles in the country, and over the course of a century, it has undergone many changes in the structure of identification systems and their appearance. This book is an attempt to reread this historical path and coherently record the knowledge that has so far been presented in a scattered and limited way in various sources.

This book examines the history of land vehicle license plates in Iran, from the beginning of the introduction of automobiles, the formation of the first numbering systems, to the emergence and establishment of national license plates. The content of this work is the result of researching historical documents and using reliable sources, especially the documents available in the Museum of Classic Cars of Iran and the Highway Police. Most of the information presented in this book has been collected in an integrated manner for the first time and an attempt has been made to provide an accurate and documented picture of the formation and evolution of plaques by relying on written evidence.

Hamidreza Soleimani, CEO of the Cultural Institute of Museums, wrote in the foreword of the book: "In this research, first, a brief look at the arrival of the police and the basic traffic control systems in Iran has been taken; Because the formation of license plates cannot be investigated separately from the establishment of institutions responsible for urban order and traffic. Then, the course of physical changes of plates over the years from the first simple samples to the national plates have been examined step by step. In this way, the appearance characteristics of the plates including material, color, dimensions, the way of writing numbers and letters, specific signs, physical and graphic changes have been investigated.

Another main focus of this book is to examine the specifications of license plates in the form of different categories; including the type of license plate; Its use (personal, government, public, military, ceremonial, etc.) and the technical and administrative characteristics of each. These categories not only help to better understand the structure of license plates, but also show how vehicles were organized and managed in different historical periods. In addition to these topics, some of the laws and regulations related to traffic and vehicle numbering have been mentioned to the extent that they are complementary to the main topic of the book, so that the legal and executive context of license plates becomes clearer.

The need to publish this book was felt because so far the history of plaques in Iran has only been examined in a limited way in chapters of some books. This research vacuum provided a serious motivation to compile and compile a comprehensive work in order to provide a clear and documented picture of this less seen part of Iran's contemporary history. It is hoped that this book can be a step, however small, in the path of preserving and transmitting the well-documented heritage with the history of automobiles and vehicle identification systems in Iran. Undoubtedly, knowing the past is the light of the future and recording such details should be considered a part of the historical and cultural identity of the country.

During the chancellery of Wathuq al-Dawlah (1298 A.H.), plates were attached to carts and carts, and each one had a specific number. The municipal administration was in charge of this task, and its purpose was to establish urban order, control the movement of public vehicles, and collect city tolls. At that time, Tehran and some big cities of Iran were expanding rapidly, and the increase in the number of trucks and carts had created many problems in traffic management, compliance with regulations, and handling of public complaints. For this reason, the municipality established a numbering system for city vehicles for the first time, so that it is possible to quickly identify the owner of the traffic route and the amount of tax or duties that can be collected.

The license plates were usually made of metal and the numbers were embossed or embossed in recognizable colors. Also, to ensure the correct implementation of this plan, the municipal officials were required to regularly patrol the main roads and fine vehicles without license plates or with distorted license plates. This action can be considered as one of the first steps in the formation of the official vehicle registration and identification system in Iran A system that later developed with the arrival of cars and found a more complex structure.

The history of the first car with a license plate in the country goes back to 1305, when the first cars arrived in Iran. At that time, a set of regulations including 32 clauses for the numbering of cars was compiled, which, of course, was finalized three years after the introduction of cars, i.e. in 1308. According to these regulations, the cars had to install five separate license plates: the manufacturer's name, the owner's address, the rear license plate, the front license plate, and the tax plate. With the increase in the number of cars, the need to amend the regulations became apparent. Around 1308, when the number of private cars in the city reached 1,522, the shape of the license plates changed and a new model including the city name and four numbers placed above the city name replaced the previous system. This change was the starting point of developments that continued with the expansion of motorized transportation and led to the creation of the modern car numbering system in Iran.

In the first Pahlavi period, with the formalization of the traffic department, efforts were made to change the shape of license plates from scattered and multiple to a specific and recognizable fixed format. In the early years of cars entering Iran, numbering was mostly done locally and temporarily; This means that each municipality or government department issued license plates according to their own needs and judgment, and there was no single and inclusive system. This dispersion caused problems in traffic control, identifying vehicles, handling crimes, preventing theft, and imposing taxes. With the establishment of the administration of order and traffic, the government realized the necessity of creating a standard and coherent system and started planning to design plates with fixed features.

In this regard, the first official numbering standards were presented; The standards included setting specific dimensions for license plates, using metal instead of more durable materials such as wood or cardboard, and inserting legible and recognizable letters and numbers from a suitable distance. This fundamental change can be seen as Iran's punctuation from the initial discontinuous and local numbering period to the period of legal and nationwide mechanized registration of cars; A point that later became the basis for the development of more advanced integrated and national systems.

In the 1330s and 1340s, at the same time as the significant increase in the production and import of foreign cars and the growth of intercity travel, Iran's license plate system entered a new stage, and the system of city and provincial license plates was formed, a system in which each city or province was known by a specific letter, such as "t" for Tehran and "1" for Isfahan, and four or five-digit numbers were assigned to the order of vehicle registration. This geocoding was designed with the goal of easily identifying cars across the country, and quickly found its way into popular culture to the point where license plate letters became a symbol of urban identity. In addition to identifying this system, it played an important role in collecting statistics, applying traffic control taxes, and tracking road violations, and it is one of the most important steps in the evolution of car numbering in Iran.

This book is an attempt to reconstruct a less narrated history; The history of the formation and evolution of the numbering system in Iran as a part of the process of urban renewal and transformation of transportation. By following this path from the end of the Qajar period until today, the Cultural Institute of Museums shows that the car license plate, contrary to its simple appearance, is a mirror of the country's social, administrative and technological changes. The main goal of the book is to record and analyze a process that is usually on the sidelines of history but has played an important role in organizing cities, managing public security traffic, and creating surveillance infrastructure.

Formation of the first official vehicle control unit

With the beginning of the reign of Naser al-Din Shah, especially after his first trip to Europe, the structure of the administration of urban order and security in Iran entered a new phase. Shah Qajar, who was impressed by the discipline, neatness and efficiency of the police in big European cities, decided to organize the country's police system and organize it in a new way when he returned to Iran. For this purpose, on his way back from Europe, he hired an Italian consultant named Count Dumont Forte and brought him to Tehran. After entering the capital, Count immediately started organizing police affairs.

His efforts finally came to fruition on the 16th of Dhul-Qaida 1295 AH, and the first official sign of the Iranian police was installed on the door of the building of the police organization at the beginning of Almasiye Street, which is now called Bab Homayun. On the signboard, the words Jalileh Administration, Dar al-Khilafeh and Accountability were seen; A title that shows that during that period, the duties of the police and the municipality were merged into a single institution and both were administered under the head of the count.

In the years 1290 to 1302 AH, a new phase of police reforms took place in Iran. During this period, a delegation of Swedish advisers headed by General Westdahl served the Iranian government. The late Brigadier General Radser and the late Modbaral Molek worked with this group as translators, and Mr. Moshir Homayoun, the then mayor of Tehran, was also appointed to the position of General Westdahl's deputy.

The presence of the Swedish advisers, which lasted for twelve years, created a new and coherent organization in the organization of the order, although the urban facilities and transportation were very limited at that time and there was still no clear system for traffic control. In 1307 A.H., Tehran was still a city without paved and wide streets, and only a few vehicles such as carts, horse-drawn carts, rowing bicycles, and a few limited cars traveled in the city. These simple devices met the transportation needs of the people of the capital.

But with the beginning of rapid urban transformations and the gradual growth of Tehran's population and size, the arrival of more cars in the city created a new situation and made it clear that Nazmee can no longer leave traffic alone. Therefore, the police department at that time thought of creating a special institution to organize traffic, and thus the first official vehicle control unit was established in Tehran under the name of "Transportation Devices Branch". The unit that was later renamed to the vehicle branch.

According to the official announcement of the formation of this unit, its duties were defined as follows: "Monitoring the movement, stopping and running of vehicles and establishing order in the movement of vehicles." After the establishment of the said branch, 1st Lieutenant Fathullah Khan Behnam (who reached the rank of Brigadier many years later) took over as its head. Together with some chief officers, he managed matters related to motor vehicles, and the issuance of driver's licenses and numbering of vehicles was entrusted to a French expert named Monsieur Carnet. In the following years, with Reza Shah's order to stop dependence on foreign advisers, Monsieur Karneh left Iran, and the responsibility for issuing certificates and numbering affairs was handed over to Naser Khan Ansha. After him, these responsibilities were assigned to Mr. Rabizadeh, Asanlo, Mehrani, Shayan, Jamali, and Davari, respectively, and the process of organizing urban traffic gradually took a more complete form.

Below are the names of the officers who served in the post of traffic director:

From 1307 to 1310, the first dispatcher, Fathullah Khan Behnam, the head of the vehicles branch

From 1310 to 1312, Faraj Elah Khan Homayounfar, head of the transport branch, was the first dispatcher

From 1312 to 1313, assistant to Mansour Waqar, the head of the traffic supply branch

From 1313 to 1314, Sarbahar Fathullah Khan Behnam, the head of the traffic supply branch

From 1314 to 1316, Sarbahr Ahmad Derakhshan, the head of the traffic supply branch

In 1315, the Marbor branch was converted into a driving circle.

From 1316 to 1317, Sarbahr Nasser Amirpour, sponsor of the driving circle

From 1318 to 1320, the second assistant of Toraj Amin, the head of the driving department

From 1320 to 1322, the second assistant of Javad Asefi, the head of the driving department

From 1322 to 1323, the second assistant of Fathullah Khan Behnam, the head of the driving department

Since this date, due to the increase in the number of vehicles, the driving circle has been separated from the Tehran Police Department

became independent and started working under the name of the traffic department.