said to have been approximately 20,000; the number of printed copies of this newspaper has been as high as 24,000. It was during this period that he overtly attacked the deposed Mohammad Ali Shah, a fact that did not pass unnoticed either by the latter or by his own devoted following, making him by equal measures both hated and loved. One of the most celebrated literary figures of the time who contributed to Sur-e Esrāfil was Ali-Akbar Dehkhodā. His satirical political column, named Charand o Parand (Balderdash and Piffle) and signed by such imaginary figures as Dakhoo, Dakhoo-Ali, Khar-Magas (Gad-fly), Ruz-Numeh-Chi (Journalist) Gholām-Gedā Āzād Khān-e Ali-Allāhi, Khādem ol-Foqarā Dakhoo-Ali Shāh, Nokhod-e Hameh Āsh (Busy-Body), Be'rah'neh-ye Khosh'hāl (The Happy Destitute), proved both popular and controversial. Further, Sur-e Esrāfil "played an important role in the political scene by supporting the Constitutional Movement and the paper ran many articles which were aimed at exposing the despotism, dependency, and corruption of the monarchy and the traditional views of the reactionary clergy. The paper was among the first to use ordinary language of the common people in place of the traditional didactic and flowery literary approach popular at the time among the literary circles and men of erudition. It identified with the masses and it could be understood by them and in this sense, it did not only play an important political role but also one of literary significance by establishing a new modern style of writing and journalism in Iran. Sur Esrafil [Sur-e Esrāfil] was popular newspaper among the people and was the first of its kind to be sold in busy street corners by children and petty city vendors and peddlers." During the coup d'état of Mohammad-Ali Shah, the Russian-led Cossack Brigade, commanded by Colonel Vladimir Liakhov, shelled and subsequently laid siege to the seat of Majles. Mirzā Jahāngir Khān, together with some deputies who had taken refuge inside the Majles compound, escaped through an opening in the siege and took refuge to the house of Mirzā Mohsen Khān Amin ad-Dauleh. Amin ad-Dauleh gave refuge to [Sayyed Abdollah] Behbahāni (later, in 1910, to be assassinated for his pro-British activities), [Sayyed Mohammad] Tabataba'i and some others, however declined to give sanctuary to Mirzā Jahāngir Khān, Malek al-Motakallemin and two or three of other escapees. It is not known why Amin ad-Dauleh should have withheld vital support from these men, however both Mirzā Jahāngir Khān