Dowlatshahi
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[edit] Dowlatshahi
The Persian prince, Mohammad Ali Mirza, Qavam ol-Khelafa (aka Dowlatshah) (1789-1821), Fath Ali Shah’s eldest son (seven months older than Abbas Mirza Nayeb-Saltaneh), born of a Georgian woman, Ziba-Chehr Khanoum, of a Qajar origin. Governor of Kermanshah, he was second in line to the crown after the crown prince, Abbas Mirza.
Dowlatshah carried the last, and initially very successful, attack on the Ottoman Iraq in 1821. Persia/Iran was resentful of the inability of the Ottoman government to protect the Shia population of Iraq against the Wahhabi/Saudi attacks that had started in 1801. Many of the Shias killed in the raids were Iranians, some of whom closely related to the ruling Qajar dynasty of Persia/Iran.
His forces quickly occupied Shahrazur and Kirkuk, and laid siege to Baghdad. However, despite this he was forced to retreat due an outbreak of cholera. He died a few weeks later from cholera.
His skills and ambitions mirrored those of his younger brother. He was a great military leader and a patron of the arts, poetry and philosophy. The origin of family name "Dowlatshah" and "Dowlatshahi" is from this ancestor's title.
His children that now carry the royal family name “Dowlatshahi” have roots in Kermanshah Province (A beautiful province in the west of Iran). Nowadays most of his children live in United States and they are well educated. Many Iranians still respect this old royal family and known them as Shazdeh (Shazdeh is an acronym for Shah Zadeh, which means the son of the king). Now the population of Dowlatshahi family members estimated to be more then 100,000 out of which more than 75% hold a university degree.
