The Qajar Kings 

A brief History

Agha Mohammad Khan 1794-1797

Originally a Turkmen tribe, the Qajar kings had ancestral lands in present-day Azerbaijan, which then was part of Persia. In 1779, following the death of Mohammad Karim Khan Zand, Agha Mohammad Khan, a leader of the Qajar tribe, set out to reunify the country. He defeated numerous rivals and establishing the Qajar dynasty. By 1794 he had eliminated all his rivals, including Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty, and had reasserted Iranian sovereignty over the former Iranian territories in Georgia and the Caucasus. Agha Mohammad established his new capital in Tehran, a village near the ruins of the ancient city of Ray (now Shahr-e Rey). In 1796 he was formally crowned as shah and subsequently assassinated in 1797 to be succeeded by his nephew, Fath Ali Shah.

Fath Ali Shah 1797 - 1834

Russia started to expand from the north into the Caucasus Mountains, an area of historic Iranian interest and influence. Thus, Iran went to war under Fath Ali Shah and suffered major military defeats. In 1813, under the Treaty of Golestan, the country had to recognize Russia's annexation of Georgia and gave up control over the north Caucasus region. A follow up war in the 1820s resulted in the Treaty of Turkmanchai, giving up further control to Russia over the area north of the Aras River (present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan). Fath Ali Shah was succeeded by his grandson Mohammad Shah in 1834, who then died in 1848. His Naser-e Din, followed him as the most capable Qajar leader to date.

Naser o-Din Shah, 1848 - 1896

Naser o-Din Shah was one of the first rulers to modernize and introduce Western science, technology, and education into the country. He tried to play the British against the Russians and contracted foreign loans to finance expensive personal trips to Europe. In 1856 Britain prevented Iran from gaining control over Herat, which had been part of Iran in Safavid times. Britain supported the city's incorporation into Afghanistan; a country Britain helped create in order to extend a buffer between its Indian territories and Russia. By 1881 Russia had expanded south to present-day Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, sharing a border with Iran to the northeast borders and severing historic Iranian ties to the cities of Bukhara and Samarqand. Several trade concessions by the Iranian government put economic affairs largely under British control, making many Iranians believe that the king was beholden to foreign interests.

Mirza Taghi Khan Amir Kabir, the young advisor to the ruler became Prime Minister and was given the title of Amir Kabir, the Great Ruler. By now, Iran was virtually bankrupt, and the Kabir spent the next two and a half years introducing reforms in most industries. He reduced government spending, created public and private lines of expenditure and centralized administration. In addition, foreign influence was reduced but trade was encouraged. Amir Kabir also banned elaborate, formal writing in government documents, contributing to the modern Persian prose style. Perhaps his greatest achievments was the building of Dar-ol-Fonoon, the first modern university in Iran. Ultimately his various reforms created many enemies who regarded him as a social upstart and a threat. The queen mother lent a hand and in October of 1851 had the shah exile and murder him in Kashan.

Mozaffar to the Constitution

After the assassination of Naser o-Din Shah by Mirza Reza Kermani in 1896, the throne was given to the son Mozaffar o-Din. This new ruler turned out to be ineffective and weak and spent extravangtly, exacerbating the country’s financial problems.
The public became angry quickly and demanded a constitution. Finally in October 1906 an assembly convened and drew up a constitution to restrict royal power, give the public a voice through the elected parliament, or Majles. In December of the same year, the shah signed the constitution and died five days later. Among others, the Majles approved, with some restrictions, freedom of press, speech, and association, and for security of life and property. The shah’s son Mohammad Ali Shah ruled for the next two years, forming tight bonds with the Russians. In order to limit the power of the people, in June of 1908 he used the Russian-run Persian Cossacks Brigade to bomb parliament and arrest several deputies. In the next 12 months, people from cities such as Tabriz, Esfahan, Rasht, and Tehran united and deposed the shah to re-established the constitution.
The Shah went into exile in Russia and within a year marched on the coutnry to regain the throne with the help of Russians. Because of the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907, which had Britain and Russia divide Iran into spheres of influence, the Russians helped the King in his attempt. In December 1911 the Majles unanimously refused a Russian influence and the Russian retaliated by moving their troops to occupy Tehran. Bakhtiari chiefs and their troops surrounded the Majles building, forced acceptance of the Russian ultimatum, and once again suspending the constitution.
The next Shah, Ahmad Shah, succeeded to the throne at age 11, and proved to be as incompetent as the former shah. To his dismay, Iran was occupied during World War I (1914-18) by Russian, British, and Ottoman troops. In February 1921, the shah was deposed by Majles and thus ushered in the Pahlavi dynasty.

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A VISUAL MAP OF QAJAR KINGS

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