The Qajar dynasty (Persian: دودمان قاجار, romanized:Dudemân-e Ǧâjâr) is a formerly aristocratic (and from 1789–1925, royal) Iranian dynasty that gained prominence with the rise of Shahverdi Sultan in the early 16th century as heads of the Turkoman Qajar tribe of the Qizilbash confederacy. The dynasty ruled Iran from 1789 until 1925, beginning with the Unification of Iran (1779–1796) by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (r. 1789–1797).

The Russian branch of the Qajar dynasty belonged to the Russian Nobility and were given the titles Prince Persidskii and Princess Persidskaya by the Tsar in the 19th century, of which many members had held high functions in the Imperial Russian Army, such as Alexander Petrovich Reza Qoli Mirza Qajar.

The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's Majlis, convening as a constituent assembly on 12 December 1925, declared Reza Shah, a former brigadier-general of the Persian Cossack Brigade, as the new shah of Iran, beginning the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty.

Head of the Qajar tribe

The Qajar dynasty, as the ruling lineage, held prominent positions as tribal heads long before establishing imperial rule, leveraging their military prowess and tribal alliances to unify the country amid post-Safavid chaos.

During the establishment of the Safavids Empire, when Ismail led the 7,000 tribal soldiers on his successful expedition from Erzincan to Shirvan in 1500/01, a contingent of Qajars was among them. After this, they emerged as a prominent group within the Qizilbash confederacy, who were made up of Turkoman warriors and served as the main force of the Safavid military. Despite being smaller than other tribes, the Qajars continued to play a major role in important events during the 16th century.

The immediate ancestor of the Qajar monarchs, Shah Qoli Khan of the Quvanlu of Ganja, married into the Quvanlu Qajars of Astarabad. His son, Fath-Ali Khan (born c. 1685–1693) was a renowned military commander during the rule of the Safavid shahs Soltan Hoseyn and Tahmasp II. He was killed in 1726. Fath Ali Khan's son Mohammad Hasan Khan (1722–1758) was the father of Agha Mohammad Khan and Hossein Qoli Khan (Jahansouz Shah), father of "Baba Khan," the future Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Mohammad Hasan Khan was killed on the orders of Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty.

List of Qajar monarchs

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1896–1907), the first constitutional monarch of Iran
No.ShahPortraitReigned fromReigned untilReign durationTughra
1Mohammad Khan Qajar178917 June 17978 years
2Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar17 June 179723 October 183437 years
3Mohammad Shah Qajar23 October 18345 September 184813 years
4Naser al-Din Shah Qajar5 September 18481 May 189647 years
5Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar1 May 18963 January 190710 years
6Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar3 January 190716 July 19092 years
7Ahmad Shah Qajar16 July 190931 October 192516 years
Qajar dynasty178931 October 1925136 years

Lifespan and reign of Qajar monarchs

Qajar imperial family

Hamid Mirza, heir presumptive and head of the Qajar dynasty from 1975 till 1988

The Qajar Imperial Family in exile is currently headed by the eldest descendant of Mohammad Ali Shah, Sultan Mohammad Ali Mirza Qajar, while the Heir Presumptive to the Qajar throne is Mohammad Hassan Mirza II, the grandson of Mohammad Hassan Mirza, Sultan 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 Kadjar (Qajar) Family Association, often coinciding with the annual conferences and meetings of the International Qajar Studies Association (IQSA). The Kadjar (Qajar) Family Association was founded for a third time in 2000. Two earlier family associations were stopped because of political pressure. The offices and archives of IQSA are housed at the International Museum for Family History in Eijsden.

Qajar dynasty since 1925

Heads of the Qajar imperial family

The headship of the Imperial Family is inherited by the eldest male descendant of Mohammad Ali Shah.

Extended Family

Titles and styles

Naser al-Din Shah, the fourth Qajar shah, notably used the title "Pivot of the Universe" (Qebleh-ye Alam)

The shah and his consort were styled Imperial Majesty. Their children were addressed as Imperial Highness, while male-line grandchildren were entitled to the lower style of Highness; all of them bore the title of Shahzadeh or Shahzadeh Khanoum.

The Qajar Shahs also adopted grandiose titles that reflected their perceived divine authority and centrality in the Persian monarchy.[page needed] These titles were not merely honorific but served to legitimize their rule amidst internal and external challenges, blending pre-Islamic, Islamic-Shi’i, and nomadic elements of Persian governance. Among these titles were;

Notable members

Politics

Abdol Majid Mirza (1845–1927), 14th and 20th prime minister of Iran
Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma, prime minister of Iran prime minister of Iran from 25 December 1915 till 1 March 1916

Military

Religion

Aga Khan IV, The titles of Prince and Princess are used by the Aga Khans and their children by virtue of their descent from Shah Fath Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty. The title was officially recognised by the British government in 1938.

Women's rights

  • Princess Tadj al-Saltaneh, daughter of Naser-din-Shah, co-founder of the first Iranian women's rights movement Anjoman Naswan, author of a memoir, painter
  • Princess Mohtaram Eskandari, intellectual and pioneering figures in Iranian women's movement.
  • Iran Teymourtash (Légion d'honneur), journalist, editor and publisher of the newspaper Rastakhiz, founder of an association for helping destitute women. Daughter of court minister Abdolhossein Teymourtash and through both her maternal grandparents a Qajar.

Literature

Princess Taj-al-Saltaneh Qajar, daughter of Naser-din-Shah, First Iranian woman to write a memoir, co-founder of the first Iranian women's rights movement Anjoman Naswan, author of a memoir, painter

Entertainment

Former residences

The last Qajar monarch's Pavilion in the Niavaran Complex, Tehran.

The Qajar dynasty is particularly noted for its extensive construction of royal residences across Iran, which served as the principal seats of power, diplomatic reception, and court life. The most prominent of these were the Golestan and Niavaran Palace Complexes in Tehran.

Family tree

Mothers of the Qajar shahs

See also

Notes

Citations

Sources

  • Atabaki, Touraj (2006). Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1860649646.
  • Bournoutian, George A. (1980). The Population of Persian Armenia Prior to and Immediately Following its Annexation to the Russian Empire: 1826–1832. Nationalism and social change in Transcaucasi. The Wilson Center, Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies.
  • Bournoutian, George A. (2002). (2 ed.). Mazda Publishers. ISBN 978-1568591414.
  • Caton, M. (1988). . Encyclopaedia Iranica.
  • Dowling, Timothy C. (2014). Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1598849486.
  • Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, P.; Hambly, G. R. G; Melville, C. (1991). . Vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521200950.
  • Hitchins, Keith (1998). "EREKLE II". . Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. VIII, Fasc. 5. pp. 541–542.
  • Holt, P.M.; Lambton, Ann K.S.; Lewis, Bernard (1977). . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521291361.
  • Kettenhofen, Erich; Bournoutian, George A.; Hewsen, Robert H. (1998). "EREVAN". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. VIII, Fasc. 5. pp. 542–551.
  • Kohn, George C. (2006). Dictionary of Wars. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1438129167.
  • Mikaberidze, Alexander (2011). Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1598843361.
  • Mikaberidze, Alexander (2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442241466.
  • Gvosdev, Nikolas K.: Imperial policies and perspectives towards Georgia: 1760–1819, Macmillan, Basingstoke 2000, ISBN 0-312-22990-9
  • Lang, David M.: The last years of the Georgian Monarchy: 1658–1832, Columbia University Press, New York 1957
  • Paidar, Parvin (1997). Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521595728.
  • Perry, John (1991). . The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 7: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 63–104. ISBN 9780521200950.
  • Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253209153.
  • Sümer, Faruk (1978). . In van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume IV:Iran–Kha. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 387. OCLC .
  • Amanat, Abbas (1997). . University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-08321-9.

External links

— Royal house —Qajar dynasty
Preceded byHouse of Afsharid House of ZandRuling house of Iran 1796–1925Succeeded byHouse of Pahlavi