Shahrbani

Shahrbani ( ; ), formerly called Nazmiyeh ( ; ), was a law enforcement force in Iran with police duties inside cities. Founded during the Qajar era, it was eventually merged in 1991 with the Iranian Gendarmerie and the Islamic Revolution Committees to form the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Faraja).

==History== The institutional foundations of the Shahrbani were established in the early twentieth century, when Iran’s urban police were reorganized from locally based Nazmiyeh units into a more centralized national system. Between 1911 and 1935, spanning the late Qajar (1789-1925) and early Pahlavi (1925-1979) periods, successive governments sought to professionalize law enforcement using European models while promoting Iranian control and nationalization. Early reforms were introduced by foreign officers, including Count Monteforte of Austria-Hungary and later Swedish police advisers, whose role ended once Reza Shah expelled foreign instructors as part of his program of centralization. During this period, police academies and new investigative units were created, and the professional journal Nazmiyeh began publication, serving as a medium for technical instruction and moral training. These reforms transformed policing from a local, mediatory institution into a hierarchical, state-run national service that came to be known as the Shahrbani-ye koll-e keshvar (National Police).