| Sublime State of Persia دولت علیّه ایران Dowlat-e Eliyye-ye Irân |
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| Anthem Salâmati-ye Shâh (Well-being of the King) |
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| Map of Iran under the Qajar dynasty in the 19th century. | |||||
| Capital | Tehran | ||||
| Language(s) | Persian (court literature, administrative, cultural, official)[1][2] Turkish (principal language of the court)[3] |
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| Government | Absolute Monarchy until 1906
Constitutional Monarchy until 1925 |
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| Shah | |||||
| - 1794-1797 | Mohammad Khan Qajar (first) | ||||
| - 1909-1925 | Ahmad Shah Qajar (last) | ||||
| Prime Minister | |||||
| - 1906 | Mirza Nasrullah Khan (first) | ||||
| - 1923-1925 | Reza Pahlavi (last) | ||||
| History | |||||
| - Qajar dynasty begins | 1785 | ||||
| - Treaty of Gulistan | 1813 | ||||
| - Treaty of Turkmenchay | 1828 | ||||
| - Constitutional Revolution | 1906 | ||||
| - Pahlavi dynasty begins | 1925 | ||||
| Currency | Toman | ||||
| Today part of | Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Iran Pakistan Turkmenistan Turkey |
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The Qajar dynasty (Qajar from Turkish meaning: escapes) () (Persian: سلسله قاجاریه - or دودمان قاجار, also anglicized as Ghajar or Kadjar) was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent[4][5] who ruled Persia (Iran) from 1785 to 1925.[6][7] The Qajar family took full control of Iran in 1794, deposing Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty, and re-asserted Persian sovereignty over parts of the Caucasus. In 1796 Mohammad Khan Qajar was formally crowned as shah.[8]
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The Qajar (or Ghajar) rulers were members of the Karagoz of the Qajars, originally themselves members of the Qarapapaqs of the larger Turkic peoples.[9][10][11] Qajars first settled during the Mongol period in the vicinity of Armenia and were among the seven Qizilbash tribes that supported the Safavids.[12] The Safavids "left Arran (present-day Republic of Azerbaijan) to local Turkic speaking khans",[13] and, "in 1554 Ganja was governed by Shahverdi Soltan Ziyadoglu Qajar, whose family came to govern Karabakh in southern Arran".[14]
Qajars filled a number of diplomatic missions and governorships in the 16-17th centuries for the Safavids. The Qajars were resettled by Shah Abbas I throughout Persia. The great number of them also settled in Astarabad (present-day Gorgan, Iran) near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian Sea,[10] and it would be this branch of Qajars that would rise to power. The immediate ancestor of Qajars, Shah Qoli Khan Qajar Ghovanloo (also spelled Quvanlu) of the Ghovanloo of Ganja, married into the Ghovanloo Qajars of Astarabad. His son, Fath Ali Khan Qajar, born circa 1685-1693, was a renowned military commander during the rule of the Safavid shahs Husayn and Tahmasp II. He was killed on the orders of Tahmasp Qoli Khan Afshar (Nader Shah) in 1726. Fath Ali Khan's son Mohammad Hassan Khan Qajar (1722–1758) was killed at the behest of Karim Khan Zand, and was the father of Agha Mohammad Khan and Hossein Qoli Khan (Jahansouz Shah) Qajar (father of "Baba Khan," the future Fath Ali Shah Qajar).
Within 126 years between the demise of the Safavid state and the rise of Nasir al-Din Shah, the Qajars evolved from a Turkic shepherd-warrior tribe with strongholds in northern Persia into a Persian dynasty with all the trappings of a Persian monarchy.[6]
According to scholar Nikki R. Keddie, "Like virtually every dynasty that ruled Persia since the 11th century, the Qajars came to power with the backing of Turkic tribal forces, while using educated Persians in their bureaucracy".[15] In 1779, after brutally murdering Lotf Ali Khan, of the Zand dynasty, ruler of southern Persia, Agha Mohammad Khan, the leader of the Qajar tribe, set out to reunify Iran. In his quest for power, he razed cities, massacred entire populations, and blinded some 20,000 men in the city of Kerman because the local populace had chosen to defend the city against his siege.[10]
The Qajar armies were composed of a small Turkoman bodyguard and Georgian slaves.[16] By 1794, Agha Mohammad Khan had eliminated all his rivals, including Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty. He reestablished Persian control over the territories in the Caucasus. Agha Mohammad established his capital at Tehran, a village near the ruins of the ancient city of Rayy. In 1796 he was formally crowned as shah. In 1797 Agha Mohammad was assassinated in Shusha, the capital of Karabakh khanate, and was succeeded by his nephew, Fath Ali Shah Qajar.
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In 1803, under Fath Ali Shah, Qajars set out to fight against the Russian Empire, in what was known as Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813, due to concerns about the Russian expansion into Caucasus which was an Iranian domain, although some of the Khanates of the Caucasus were considered independent or semi-independent by the time of Russian expansion in 19th century,[17] this period marked the first major economic and military encroachments on Iranian interests during the colonial era. Qajar army suffered a major military defeat in the war and under the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, Persia recognized Russian annexation of Georgia and most of the Caucasus region. The second Russo-Persian War of the late 1820s ended even more disastrously for Qajar Iran with temporary occupation of Tabriz and the signing of Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, acknowledging Russian sovereignty over the entire South Caucasus, the area north of the Aras River.
Fath Ali Shah's reign saw increased diplomatic contacts with the West and the beginning of intense European diplomatic rivalries over Iran. His grandson Mohammad Shah, under Russian influence, made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Herat, succeeded him in 1834.[18] When Mohammad Shah died in 1848 the succession passed to his son Nasser-e-Din, who proved to be one of the ablest and most successful of the Qajar sovereigns.
The defeat of Persia by the emerging Great Power that was Russia, and the humiliating terms imposed by the Treaty of Gulistan, was indicative of the way in which the empire had fallen behind the rest of the world.[19] Naser al-Din Shah Qajar thus began to institute a kind of "defensive mondernization", aimed at introducing Western science, technology, and educational methods, while maintaining traditional cultural and religious norms.[19] The Shah tried to exploit the mutual competition between Britain and Russia over the Persian resources and sphere of influence, while educating the nobility and emerging middle-class after the manner of France and Belgium - including a fully Francophone Polytechnique educational model.[20]
Nevertheless, as Abrahamian notes, "the Qajar attempts at “defensive modernization” did not amount to much – and that little was confined to a few showpieces in the capital. The Cossack Brigade, the most visible example, could muster no more than 2,000 men. Nazmieh, the Tehran police force, had fewer than 4,600 men."[21] Foreign concessions and territorial encroachment increased under his rule, and he contracted foreign loans to finance unpopular and expensive trips to Europe.
In 1856, during the Anglo-Persian War, Britain prevented Persia from reasserting control over Herat. The city had been part of Persia in Safavid times, but Herat had been under non-Persian rule since the mid-18th century. Britain also extended its control to other areas of the Persian Gulf during the 19th century. Meanwhile, by 1881, Russia had completed its conquest of present-day Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, bringing Russia's frontier to Persia's northeastern borders and severing historic Persian ties to the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. Several trade concessions by the Persian government put economic affairs largely under British and Russian control.
Mirza Taqi Khan was the young prince Naser al-Din's advisor and constable. With the death of Mohammad Shah in 1848, Mirza Taqi was largely responsible for ensuring the crown prince's succession to the throne. When Naser al-Din succeeded to the throne, he was awarded the position of prime minister and the title of Amir Kabir "Great Ruler".
At that time, Persia was nearly bankrupt. Over the next two and a half years, Amir Kabir initiated important reforms in virtually all sectors of society. Government expenditure was slashed, and a distinction was made between the private and public purses. The instruments of central administration were overhauled and Amir Kabir assumed responsibility for all areas of the bureaucracy. Foreign interference in Persia's domestic affairs was curtailed and foreign trade was encouraged. Public works such as the bazaar in Tehran were undertaken. Amir Kabir issued an edict banning ornate and excessively formal writing in government documents; the beginning of a modern Persian prose style dates from this time.
One of the greatest achievements of Amir Kabir was the building of Dar ul-Funun, the first modern university in Persia and the Middle East. Daru l-Funun was established for training a new cadre of administrators and acquainting them with Western techniques. Amir Kabir ordered the school to be built on the edge of the city so it could be expanded as needed. He hired French and Russian instructors as well as Persians to teach subjects as different as language, medicine, law, geography, history, economics and engineering. Unfortunately, Amir Kabir did not live long enough to see his greatest monument completed, but it still stands in Tehran as a sign of a great man's ideas for the future of his country.
Through his marriage to Princess Ezzatoddowleh, Amir Kabir had been the brother-in-law of the Shah. His reforms antagonized various notables who had been excluded from the government and view him as a social upstart and a threat to their interests. They formed a coalition against Amir Kabir in which Queen Mother Malakeh Jahan was active. She convinced the young Shah that Amir Kabir wanted to usurp the throne. In October 1851 the Shah dismissed him and exiled him to Kashan, where he was murdered on the Shah's orders.
When Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani in 1896, the crown passed to his son Mozaffar-e-din. Mozaffar-e-din Shah was a moderate and kind, but also not a very effective ruler. Royal extravagance and the absence of incoming revenues exacerbated financial problems. The shah quickly spent two large loans from Russia, partly on trips to Europe. Public anger fed on the shah's propensity for granting concessions to Europeans in return for generous payments to him and his officials. People began to demand a curb on royal authority and the establishment of the rule of law as their concern over foreign, and especially Russian, influence grew.
The shah's failure to respond to protests by the religious establishment, the merchants, and other classes led the merchants and clerical leaders in January 1906 to take sanctuary from probable arrest in mosques in Tehran and outside the capital. When the shah reneged on a promise to permit the establishment of a "house of justice", or consultative assembly, 10,000 people, led by the merchants, took sanctuary in June in the compound of the British legation in Tehran. In August the shah, through the issue of a decree promised a constitution. In October an elected assembly convened and drew up a constitution that provided for strict limitations on royal power, an elected parliament, or Majles, with wide powers to represent the people, and a government with a cabinet subject to confirmation by the Majles. The shah signed the constitution on December 30, 1906, but refusing to forfeit all of his power to the Majles, attached a caveat that made his signature on all laws required for their enactment. He died five days later. The Supplementary Fundamental Laws approved in 1907 provided, within limits, for freedom of press, speech, and association, and for security of life and property. The hopes for constitutional rule were not realized, however.
Mozaffar-e-din Shah's son Mohammad Ali Shah (reigned 1907–09), who, through his mother, was also the grandson of Prime-Minister Amir Kabir (see before), with the aid of Russia, attempted to rescind the constitution and abolish parliamentary government. After several disputes with the members of the Majlis, in June 1908 he used his Russian-officered Persian Cossacks Brigade to bomb the Majlis building, arrest many of the deputies, and close down the assembly. Resistance to the shah, however, coalesced in Tabriz, Isfahan, Rasht, and elsewhere. In July 1909, constitutional forces marched from Rasht to Tehran led by Mohammad Vali Khan Sepahsalar Khalatbari Tonekaboni, deposed the Shah, and re-established the constitution. The ex-shah went into exile in Russia. Mohammad Ali Shah died in San Remo, Italy in April 1925 . As fate would have it, every future Shah of Iran would also die in exile.
On July 16, 1909, the Majles voted to place Mohammad Ali Shah's 11 year old son, Ahmad Shah on the throne. Although the constitutional forces had triumphed, they faced serious difficulties. The upheavals of the Constitutional Revolution and civil war had undermined stability and trade. In addition, the ex-shah, with Russian support, attempted to regain his throne, landing troops in July 1910. Most serious of all, the hope that the Constitutional Revolution would inaugurate a new era of independence from the great powers ended when, under the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907, Britain and Russia agreed to divide Persia into spheres of influence. The Russians were to enjoy exclusive right to pursue their interests in the northern sphere, the British in the south and east; both powers would be free to compete for economic and political advantage in a neutral sphere in the center. Matters came to a head when Morgan Shuster, a United States administrator hired as treasurer general by the Persian government to reform its finances, sought to collect taxes from powerful officials who were Russian protégés and to send members of the treasury gendarmerie, a tax department police force, into the Russian zone. When in December 1911 the Majlis unanimously refused a Russian ultimatum demanding Shuster's dismissal, Russian troops, already in the country, moved to occupy the capital. To prevent this, on December 20 Bakhtiari chiefs and their troops surrounded the Majles building, forced acceptance of the Russian ultimatum, and shut down the assembly, once again suspending the constitution.
Soltan Ahmad Shah was born 21 January 1898 in Tabriz, and succeeded to the throne at age 11. However, the occupation of Persia during World War I by Russian, British, and Ottoman troops was a blow from which Ahmad Shah never effectively recovered.
In February 1921, Reza Khan, commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade, staged a coup d'état, becoming the effective ruler of Iran. In 1923, Ahmad Shah went into exile in Europe. Reza Khan induced the Majles to depose Ahmad Shah in October 1925, and to exile the Qajar dynasty permanently. Reza Khan was subsequently proclaimed Shah as Reza Shah Pahlavi, reigning from 1925 to 1941.
Ahmad Shah died on 21 February 1930 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
| Name | Portrait | Family Relations | Born-Died | Entered office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohammad Khan Qajar | Son of Mohammad-Hassan Khan | 1742–1797 | 20 March 1794 | 17 June 1797 | |
| 2 | Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar | Nephew of Mohammad Khan Qajar | 1772–1834 | 17 June 1797 | 23 October 1834 | |
| 3 | Mohammad Shah Qajar | Grandson of Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar | 1808–1848 | 23 October 1834 | 5 September 1848 | |
| _ | Mahd-e Olia (Regent) | Wife of Mohammad Shah Qajar | 1805-1873 | 5 September 1848 | 5 October 1848 | |
| 4 | Naser al-Din Shah Qajar | Son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Mahd-e Olia | 1831–1896 | 5 October 1848 | 1 May 1896 | |
| 5 | Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar | Son of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar | 1853–1907 | 1 May 1896 | 3 January 1907 | |
| 6 | Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar | Son of Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar | 1872–1925 | 3 January 1907 | 16 July 1909 | |
| 7 | Ahmad Shah Qajar | Son of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar | 1898–1930 | 16 July 1909 | 15 December 1925 | |
The Qajar Imperial Family in exile is currently headed by the eldest descendant of Mohammad Ali Shah, Soltan Ali Mirza Qajar, while the Heir Presumptive to the Qajar throne is Mohammad Hassan Mirza II, the grandson of Mohammad Hassan Mirza, Soltan Ahmad Shah's brother and heir. Mohammad Hassan Mirza died in England in 1943, having proclaimed himself shah in exile in 1930 after the death of his brother in France.
Today, the descendants of the Qajars often identify themselves as such and hold reunions to stay socially acquainted through the Qajar (Kadjar) Family Association.[22]
The headship of the Imperial Family is inherited by the eldest male descendant of Mohammad Ali Shah.
The Heir Presumptive is the Qajar heir to the Persian throne.
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"Even when rulers on the plateau lacked the means to effect suzerainty beyond the Aras, the neighboring Khanates were still regarded as Iranian dependencies. Naturally, it was those Khanates located closes to the province of Azarbaijan which most frequently experienced attempts to re-impose Iranian suzerainty: the Khanates of Erivan, Nakhchivan and Qarabagh across the Aras, and the cis-Aras Khanate of Talish, with its administrative headquarters located at Lankaran and therefore very vulnerable to pressure, either from the direction of Tabriz or Rasht. Beyond the Khanate of Qarabagh, the Khan of Ganja and the Vali of Gurjistan (ruler of the Kartli-Kakheti kingdom of south-east Georgia), although less accessible for purposes of coercion, were also regarded as the Shah's vassals, as were the Khans of Shakki and Shirvan, north of the Kura river. The contacts between Iran and the Khanates of Baku and Qubba, however, were more tenuous and consisted mainly of maritime commercial links with Anzali and Rasht. The effectiveness of these somewhat haphazard assertions of suzeiranty dependend on the ability of a particular Shah to make his will felt, and the determination of the local khans to evade obligations they regarded as onerous." The Cambridge history of Iran, by William Bayne Fisher, Published by Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 145-146
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— Royal house —
House of Qâjâr
Founding year: 1794
Deposition: 1925
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| Preceded by House of Zand |
Ruling house of Iran 1794-1925 |
Succeeded by House of Pahlavi |
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