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The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the
online edition
specifically from the
''Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day''
Penguin UK, 6 November 2008. In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty permanently lost much territory to the
''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''
pp 728–730 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 Despite its territorial losses, Qajar Iran reinvented the Iranian notion of kingship and maintained relative political independence, but faced major challenges to its sovereignty, predominantly from the Russian and
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...
, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power'', I. B. Tauris, 2000, , p. 1William Bayne Fisher. ''Cambridge History of Iran'', Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 344, Dr Parviz Kambin
Parviz Kambin (May 21, 1931 - March 29, 2020) was an American-Iranian medical doctor and orthopaedic surgeon. He was a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and has established an Endowed Chair of Spinal Surgery Research at Drexel University College ...
, ''A History of the Iranian Plateau: Rise and Fall of an Empire'', Universe, 2011, p.36online edition
specifically from the
Qajar tribe
The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...
, from 1789 to 1925. The Qajar family played a pivotal role in the Unification of Iran (1779–1796)
The Unification of Iran (1779–1796), also known as the Reunification of Iran was a series of battles led by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar which led to the reunification of Iran, which was previously divided into several Iranian and non-Iranian stat ...
, deposing Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last Shah
Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
of the Zand dynasty
The Zand dynasty () was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand (1751–1779) that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later expanded to include much of the rest of contemporary Iran (except for the provi ...
, and re-asserted Iranian sovereignty over large parts of the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
. In 1796, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as Shah. Originally a chieftain of the Quwanlu branch of t ...
seized Mashhad
Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...
with ease, putting an end to the Afsharid dynasty
The Afsharid dynasty () was an Iran, Iranian dynasty founded by Nader Shah () of the Qirqlu clan of the Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman Afshar people, Afshar tribe, ruling over the Afsharid Empire.
List of Afsharid monarchs
Family tree
...
. He was formally crowned as Shah after his punitive campaign against Iran's Georgian subjects.Michael Axworthy
Michael George Andrew Axworthy (26 September 1962 – 16 March 2019) was a British academic, author, and commentator. He was the head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office between 1998 and 2000.
Personal life and fami ...
''Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day''
Penguin UK, 6 November 2008. In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty permanently lost much territory to the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
over the course of the 19th century, comprising modern-day eastern Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, and Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
.Timothy C. Dowling''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''
pp 728–730 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 Despite its territorial losses, Qajar Iran reinvented the Iranian notion of kingship and maintained relative political independence, but faced major challenges to its sovereignty, predominantly from the Russian and
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
empires. Foreign advisers became powerbrokers in the court and military. They eventually partitioned Qajar Iran in the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention
The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (), or Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet (; ), was signed on August 31, 1907, in Saint Petersburg. It ended the two powers' longstanding rivalry in Cen ...
, carving out Russian and British influence zones and a neutral zone.
In the early 20th century, the Persian Constitutional Revolution
The Persian Constitutional Revolution (, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911 during the Qajar Iran, Qajar era. The revolution led to the establishment of a Majl ...
created an elected parliament or Majles
(, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...
, and sought the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, deposing Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar
Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (; 21 June 1872 – 5 April 1925) was the sixth shah of the Qajar dynasty and remained the Shah of Iran from 8 January 1907 until being deposed on 16 July 1909. He was furthermore the grandson of Iran’s early mod ...
for Ahmad Shah Qajar
Ahmad Shah Qajar (; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was the List of monarchs of Iran, shah of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the seventh and final ruling member of the Qajar dynasty.
Ahmad Shah ...
, but many of the constitutional reforms were reversed by an intervention led by the Russian Empire. Qajar Iran's territorial integrity was further weakened during the Persian campaign of World War I and the invasion by the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. Four years after the 1921 Persian coup d'état
1921 Persian coup d'état, known in Iran as 3 Esfand 1299 coup d'état ( with the Solar Persian date), refers to several major events in Qajar Persia in 1921, which eventually led to the deposition of the Qajar dynasty and the establishment of ...
, the military officer Reza Shah
Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...
took power in 1925, thus establishing the Pahlavi dynasty
The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...
, the last Iranian royal dynasty.
Name
Since theSafavid
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
era, (Guarded Domains of Iran
The Guarded Domains of Iran (, ''Mamâlek-e Mahruse-ye Irân''), or simply the Domains of Iran (, ''Mamâlek-e Irân'') and the Guarded Domains (, ''Mamâlek-e Mahruse''), was the common and official name of Iran from the Safavid era until the ea ...
) was the common and official name of Iran. The idea of the Guarded Domains illustrated a feeling of territorial and political uniformity in a society where the Persian language, culture, monarchy, and Shia Islam
Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
became integral elements of the developing national identity. The concept presumably had started to form under the Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...
in the late 13th-century, a period in which regional actions, trade, written culture, and partly Shia Islam, contributed to the establishment of the early modern Persianate
A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity.
The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...
world. Its shortened variant was ''mamalik-i Iran'' ("Domains of Iran"), most commonly used in the writings from Qajar Iran.
History
Origins
A late legend holds that the Qajars first came to Iran in the 11th-century along with otherOghuz Turkic
The Oghuz languages are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family, spoken by approximately 108 million people. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmen, which, combined, account for more ...
clans. However, the Qajars neither appear in the Oghuz tribal lists of Mahmud al-Kashgari
Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari; ; , Мәһмуд Қәшқири; , Махмуд Қашғарий was an 11th-century Kara-Khanid scholar and lexicographer of the Turkic languages from Kashgar.
His father, Husayn, was the mayor of ...
nor Rashid al-Din Hamadani
Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (; 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, ) was a statesman, historian, and physician in Ilkhanate Iran.Bayats often considered the most likely tribe from which they later separated. According to the same late legend, the Qajar tribe's namesake ancestor was Qajar Noyan, said to be the son of a
The consequences of these events came a few years later when a strong new Iranian dynasty under the Qajars emerged victorious in the protracted power struggle in Iran. Their head,
''Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia''
Reaktion Books, 15 February. 2013 p 255 Erekle appealed then to his theoretical protector, Empress Catherine II of Russia, asking for at least 3,000 Russian troops, but he was ignored, leaving Georgia to fend off the Iranian threat alone. Lang, David Marshall (1962), ''A Modern History of Georgia'', p. 38. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Nevertheless, Erekle II still rejected Agha Mohammad Khan's
On 12 September 1801, four years after Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's death, the Russian Empire, Russians capitalized on the moment, and annexed Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, Kartli-Kakheti (eastern Georgia). In 1804, the Russians Battle of Ganja (1804), invaded and sacked the Iranian town of Ganja, massacring and expelling thousands of its inhabitants, thereby beginning the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. Under Fath Ali Shah (r. 1797–1834), the Qajars set out to fight against the invading Russian Empire, who were keen to take the Iranian territories in the region. This period marked the first major economic and military encroachments on Iranian interests during the colonial era. The Qajar army suffered a major military defeat in the war, and under the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, Iran was forced to cede most of its Caucasian territories comprising modern-day
File:Battle Between Persians and Russians - State Hermitage Museum.jpg, Battle of Sultanabad, 13 February 1812. State Hermitage Museum.
File:Russian troops storming Lankaran fortress, January 13th, 1813..jpg, Storming of Lankaran, 13 January 1813. Franz Roubaud.
File:%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4_%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BC.jpeg, Battle of Ganja (1826), Battle of Ganja, 1826. Franz Roubaud. Part of the collection of the Museum for History, Baku.
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 Qajar, Mohammad Shah, who fell under the Russian influence and made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Herat, succeeded him in 1834. When Mohammad Shah died in 1848 the succession passed to his son Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Naser al-Din, who proved to be the ablest and most successful of the Qajar sovereigns. He founded the first modern hospital in Iran.
During Naser al-Din Shah's reign, Western science, technology, and educational methods were introduced into Iran and the country's modernization was begun. Naser al-Din Shah tried to exploit the mutual distrust between Great Britain and Russia to preserve Iran's independence, but foreign interference and territorial encroachment increased under his rule. He was not able to prevent United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Russia from encroaching into regions of traditional Iranian influence.
In 1856, during the Anglo-Persian War, Britain prevented Iran from reasserting control over Herat. The city had been part of Iran in Safavid times, but Herat had been under Durrani Empire, Durrani 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 Iranian ties to the cities of Bukhara, Merv and Samarqand. With the conclusion of the Treaty of Akhal on 21 September 1881, Iran ceased any claim to all parts of Turkestan and Transoxiana, setting the Atrek River as the new boundary with Imperial Russia. Hence Merv, Sarahs, Sarakhs, Ashgabat, and the surrounding areas were transferred to Russian control under the command of General Alexander Komarov in 1884. Several trade concessions by the Iranian government put economic affairs largely under British control. By the late 19th century, many Iranians believed that their rulers were beholden to foreign interests.
Mirza Taghi Khan Amir Kabir, 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 Nasser ed-Din succeeded to the throne, Amir Nezam was awarded the position of the prime minister and the title of Amir Kabir, the Great Ruler.
At that time, Iran was nearly bankrupt. During 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. There were Battle of Fort Tabarsi, Bahai revolts and Revolt of Hasan Khan Salar, a revolt in Khorasan at the time but were crushed under Amir Kabir. Foreign interference in Iran'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 (Persia), Dar ol Fonoon in 1851, the first modern university in Iran and the Middle East. Dar-ol-Fonoon was established for training a new cadre of administrators and acquainting them with Western techniques. It marked the beginning of modern education in Iran. 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 Iranians to teach subjects as different as Language, Medicine, Law, Geography, History, Economics, and Engineering, amongst numerous others. 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.
These reforms antagonized various notables who had been excluded from the government. They regarded the Amir Kabir as a social upstart and a threat to their interests, and they formed a coalition against him, in which the queen mother 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. Through his marriage to Ezzat od-Doleh, Amir Kabir had been the brother-in-law of the shah.
Qajar Iran would become a victim of the Great Game between Russia and Britain for influence over central Asia. As the Qajar state's sovereignty was challenged this took the form of military conquests, diplomatic intrigues, and the competition of trade goods between two foreign empires. Ever since the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay, Treaty of Turkmanchay, Russia had received territorial domination in Iran. With the House of Romanov, Romanovs shifting to a policy of 'informal support' for the weakened
When Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani in 1896, the crown passed to his son Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, Mozaffar al-Din. Mozaffar al-Din Shah was a moderate, but relatively ineffective ruler. Royal extravagances coincided with an inadequate ability to secure state revenue which further exacerbated the financial woes of the Qajar. In response, the Shah procured two large loans from Russia (in part to fund personal trips to Europe). Public anger mounted as the Shah sold off concessions – such as road building monopolies, the authority to collect duties on imports, etc. – to European interests in return for generous payments to the Shah and his officials. Popular demand to curb arbitrary royal authority in favor of the rule of law increased as concern regarding growing foreign penetration and influence heightened.
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 30 December 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 the security of life and property. The hopes for the constitutional rule were not realized, however.
Mozaffar al-Din Shah's son Mohammad Ali Shah (reigned 1907–1909), who, through his mother, was also the grandson of Prime-Minister Amir Kabir (see before), with the aid of Russia, Russian involvement in the Persian Constitutional Revolution, attempted to rescind the constitution and abolish parliamentary government. After several disputes with the members of the Majles, in June 1908 he used his Russian-officered Persian Cossack Brigade (almost solely composed of Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians, Caucasian Muhajirs), to 1908 bombardment of the Majlis, bomb the Majlis building, arrest many of the deputies (December 1907), and close down the assembly (June 1908). Resistance to the shah, however, coalesced in
The Qajar (Kadjar) Pages
The International Qajar Studies Association
Dar ol-Qajar
Qajar Family Website
Women's Worlds in Qajar Iran
Digital Archive by Harvard University
Qajar Documentation Fund Collection
at the International Institute of Social History {{DEFAULTSORT:Qajar Iran States and territories established in 1785 States and territories disestablished in 1925 Qajar Iran, Former monarchies of Iran Monarchy in Persia and Iran Modern history of Iran Early modern history of Armenia Early modern history of Azerbaijan Early modern history of Georgia (country) History of Dagestan 1780s in Iran 1790s in Iran 1800s in Iran 19th century in Iran 20th century in Iran 1780s establishments in Iran 1785 establishments in Asia 1925 disestablishments in Iran Former countries of the interwar period Former countries
Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
named Sartuq Noyan, who reportedly served as atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the ti ...
to the Ilkhanate ruler Arghun
Arghun Khan ( Mongolian Cyrillic: Аргун; Traditional Mongolian: ; c. 1258 – 10 March 1291) was the fourth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division, from 1284 to 1291. He was the son of Abaqa Khan, and like his father, was a de ...
(). This legend also claims that the Turco-Mongol
The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these khanates eventually ass ...
ruler Timur
Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...
() was descended from Qajar Noyan. Based on the claims of the legend, Iranologist
Iranian studies ( '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field ...
Gavin R. G. Hambly reconstructed the early history of the Qajars in a hypothetical manner, suggesting that they immigrated towards Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
or Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
following the collapse of the Ilkhanate in 1335. Then, during the late 15th-century, the Qajars resettled in the historical region of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, becoming affiliated with the neighbouring Erivan
Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
, Ganja
''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...
and Karabakh
Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...
. Like the other Oghuz tribes in Azerbaijan and eastern Anatolia during the rule of the Aq Qoyunlu
The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...
, the Qajars likely also converted to Shia Islam
Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
and adopted the teachings of the Safavid order
The Safavid order () also called the Safaviyya () was a Kurds, Kurdish Sufism, Sufi order () founded by theNewman, Andrew J., ''Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire'', (I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2006), 152. ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' Mysticism, ...
.
The Qajar
The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...
tribe first started to gain prominence during the establishment of the Safavids. When Ismail led the 7,000 tribal soldiers on his successful expedition from Erzincan
Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...
to Shirvan
Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...
in 1500/1501, a contingent of Qajars was among them. After this, they emerged as a prominent group within the Qizilbash
Qizilbash or Kizilbash (Latin script: ) ; ; (modern Iranian reading: ); were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman "The Qizilbash, composed mainly of Turkman tribesmen, were the military force introduced by the conquering Safavis to the Irani ...
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 Safavids "left Arran (present-day Republic of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russi ...
) to local Turkic khans",K. M. Röhrborn. Provinzen und Zentralgewalt Persiens im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1966, p. 4 and, "in 1554 Ganja
''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...
was governed by Shahverdi Soltan Ziyadoglu Qajar, whose family came to govern Karabakh
Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...
in southern Arran". 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
Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...
throughout Iran. The great number of them also settled in Astarabad (present-day Gorgan
Gorgan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Gorgan County), Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan province, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It lies approximately to the nor ...
, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
) near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
, and it would be this branch of Qajars that would rise to power. The immediate ancestor of the Qajar dynasty, Shah Qoli Khan of the Quvanlu of Ganja, married into the Quvanlu Qajars of Astarabad. His son, Fath Ali Khan
Fath-Ali Khan Qajar () was the chieftain of the Ashaqa-bash branch of the Qajars (tribe), Qajar tribe at Astarabad during the collapse of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran.
Background
Born in 1685/86, Fath-Ali Khan was the son of Shahq ...
(born –1693) was a renowned military commander during the rule of the Safavid shahs Sultan Husayn
Soltan Hoseyn (; 1668 – 9 September 1727) was the Safavid shah of Iran from 1694 to 1722. He was the son and successor of Shah Suleiman ().
Born and raised in the royal harem, Soltan Hoseyn ascended the throne with limited life experience a ...
and Tahmasp II
Tahmasp II (; 1704? – 11 February 1740) was the penultimate Safavid shah of Iran, ruling from 1722 to 1732.
Name
''Tahmasp'' () is a New Persian name, ultimately derived from Old Iranian ''*'', meaning "having valiant horses." The name is on ...
. He was killed in 1726. Fath Ali Khan's son Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar
Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar (), also spelled Muhammad and Hassan (1715–1759), chief of the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajars (tribe), Qajar tribe of Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkomans in the Caspian coastlands around Astarabad, was the son of Fath Ali Kh ...
(1722–1758) was the father of Mohammad Khan Qajar
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as Shah. Originally a chieftain of the Quwanlu branch of t ...
and Hossein Qoli Khan (Jahansouz Shah), father of "Baba Khan," the future Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...
. Mohammad Hasan Khan was killed on the orders of Karim Khan
Mohammad Karim Khan Zand (; ) was the founder of the Zand dynasty, ruling all of Iran (Persia) except for Khorasan from 1751 to 1779. He also ruled over some of the Caucasian lands and occupied Basra for some years.
While Karim was ruler, Ir ...
of the Zand dynasty
The Zand dynasty () was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand (1751–1779) that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later expanded to include much of the rest of contemporary Iran (except for the provi ...
.
Within 126 years between the demise of the Safavid state and the rise of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...
, the Qajars had evolved from a shepherd-warrior tribe with strongholds in northern Persia into a Persian dynasty with all the trappings of a Perso-Islamic monarchy.
Rise to power
"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 educatedPersians
Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...
in their bureaucracy". Among these Turkic tribes, however, Turkmens of Iran played the most prominent role in bringing Qajars to power. In 1779, following the death of Karim Khan
Mohammad Karim Khan Zand (; ) was the founder of the Zand dynasty, ruling all of Iran (Persia) except for Khorasan from 1751 to 1779. He also ruled over some of the Caucasian lands and occupied Basra for some years.
While Karim was ruler, Ir ...
of the Zand dynasty
The Zand dynasty () was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand (1751–1779) that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later expanded to include much of the rest of contemporary Iran (except for the provi ...
, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as Shah. Originally a chieftain of the Quwanlu branch of t ...
, the leader of the Qajars, set out to reunify Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Agha Mohammad Khan was known as one of the cruelest kings, even by the standards of 18th-century Iran. In his quest for power, he razed cities, massacred entire populations, and blinded some 20,000 men in the city of Kerman
Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district.
History
Kerman was founded as a def ...
because the local populace had chosen to defend the city against his siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
.
The Qajar armies at that time were mostly composed of Turkoman warriors and Georgian slaves. By 1794, Agha Mohammad Khan had eliminated all his rivals, including Lotf Ali Khan
Lotf Ali Khan (; ) was the last Shah of the Iranian Zand dynasty, ruling from 1789 to 1794.
Early life
Lotf Ali Khan Zand came to power after a decade of infighting among a succession of violent and inept Zand chiefs following the death in 177 ...
, the last of the Zand dynasty. He reestablished Iranian control over the territories in the entire Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
. Agha Mohammad established his capital at Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, a town near the ruins of the ancient city of Rayy
Shahre Ray, Shahr-e Ray, Shahre Rey, or Shahr-e Rey (, ) or simply Ray or Rey (), is the capital of Rey County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran as the 20t ...
. In 1796, he was formally crowned as shah
Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
. In 1797, Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated in Shusha
Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...
, the capital of Karabakh Khanate
The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...
, and was succeeded by his nephew, Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...
.
Reconquest of Georgia and the rest of the Caucasus
In 1744,Nader Shah
Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...
had granted the kingship of the Kartli
Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...
and Kakheti
Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta.
Kakhetians speak the ...
to Teimuraz II and his son Erekle II
Heraclius II, also known as Erekle II ( ka, ერეკლე II) and The Little Kakhetian ( ka, პატარა კახი, link=no ; 7 November 1720 or 7 October 1721 Cyril_Toumanoff.html" ;"title="ccording to Cyril Toumanoff">C. Touman ...
(Heraclius II) respectively, as a reward for their loyalty. When Nader Shah died in 1747, they capitalized on the chaos that had erupted in mainland Iran, and declared ''de facto'' independence. After Teimuraz II died in 1762, Erekle II assumed control over Kartli, and united the two kingdoms in a personal union as the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti
The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti ( ka, ქართლ-კახეთის სამეფო, tr) was created in 1762 by the unification of the two eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti. From the early 16th century, according to t ...
, becoming the first Georgian ruler to preside over a politically unified eastern Georgia in three centuries. At about the same time, Karim Khan Zand
Mohammad Karim Khan Zand (; ) was the founder of the Zand dynasty, ruling all of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia) except for Khorasan province, Khorasan from 1751 to 1779. He also ruled over some of the Caucasus, Caucasian lands and occupied Basra f ...
had ascended the Iranian throne; Erekle II quickly tendered his ''de jure'' submission to the new Iranian ruler, however, ''de facto'', he remained autonomous. In 1783, Erekle II placed his kingdom under the protection
Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...
of the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Georgievsk
The Treaty of Georgievsk (; ka, გეორგიევსკის ტრაქტატი, tr) was a bilateral treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and the east Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti on July 24, 1783. The treaty establi ...
. In the last few decades of the 18th century, Georgia had become a more important element in Russo-Iranian relations than some provinces in northern mainland Iran, such as Mazandaran
Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...
or even Gilan
Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...
. Unlike Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
, Catherine the Great
Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...
, the then-ruling monarch of Russia, viewed Georgia as a pivot for her Caucasian policy, as Russia's new aspirations were to use it as a base of operations against both Iran and the Ottoman Empire, both immediate bordering geopolitical rivals of Russia. On top of that, having another port on the Georgian coast of the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
would be ideal. A limited Russian contingent of two infantry battalions with four artillery pieces arrived in Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
in 1784, but was withdrawn in 1787, despite the frantic protests of the Georgians, as a new war against Ottoman Turkey had started on a different front.
The consequences of these events came a few years later when a strong new Iranian dynasty under the Qajars emerged victorious in the protracted power struggle in Iran. Their head, Agha Mohammad Khan
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Qajar Iran, Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as Shah. Originally a chieftain of the Quwanlu ...
, as his first objective, resolved to bring the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
again fully under the Persian orbit. For Agha Mohammad Khan, the resubjugation and reintegration of Georgia into the Iranian empire was part of the same process that had brought Shiraz
Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...
, Isfahan
Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
, and Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
under his rule. He viewed, like the Safavids and Nader Shah before him, the territories no different from the territories in mainland Iran. Georgia was a province of Iran the same way Khorasan
KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and no ...
was. As ''The Cambridge History of Iran
''The Cambridge History of Iran'' is a multi-volume survey of Iranian history published in the United Kingdom by Cambridge University Press. The seven volumes cover "the history and historical geography of the land which is present-day Iran, as w ...
'' states, its permanent secession was inconceivable and had to be resisted in the same way as one would resist an attempt at the separation of Fars or Gilan. It was therefore natural for Agha Mohammad Khan to perform whatever necessary means in the Caucasus in order to subdue and reincorporate the recently lost regions following Nader Shah's death and the demise of the Zands, including putting down what in Iranian eyes was seen as treason on the part of the '' vali'' of Georgia.
Finding an interval of peace amid their own quarrels and with northern, western, and central Iran secure, the Iranians demanded Erekle II to renounce the treaty with Russia and to reaccept Iranian suzerainty, in return for peace and the security of his kingdom. The Ottomans, Iran's neighboring rival, recognized the latter's rights over Kartli and Kakheti for the first time in four centuries.Donald Rayfield''Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia''
Reaktion Books, 15 February. 2013 p 255 Erekle appealed then to his theoretical protector, Empress Catherine II of Russia, asking for at least 3,000 Russian troops, but he was ignored, leaving Georgia to fend off the Iranian threat alone. Lang, David Marshall (1962), ''A Modern History of Georgia'', p. 38. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Nevertheless, Erekle II still rejected Agha Mohammad Khan's
ultimatum
An ; ; : ultimata or ultimatums) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion, threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the ...
. Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', p. 59. Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...
,
In August 1795, Agha Mohammad Khan crossed the Aras River
The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...
, and after a turn of events by which he gathered more support from his subordinate khans of Erivan
Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
and Ganja
''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...
, and having re-secured the territories up to including parts of Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
in the north and up to the westernmost border of modern-day Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
in the west, he sent Erekle the last ultimatum, which he also declined, but, sent couriers to St.Petersburg. Gudovich, who sat in Georgiyevsk
Georgiyevsk () () is a historical city of Russia, historical types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located in the North Caucasus on foothills, submontane tableland on the right bank of the Podkumok River (a tri ...
at the time, instructed Erekle to avoid "expense and fuss", while Erekle, together with Solomon II and some Imeretians headed southwards of Tbilisi to fend off the Iranians.
With half of the troop's Agha Mohammad Khan crossed the Aras river with, he now marched directly upon Tbilisi, where it commenced into a huge battle between the Iranian and Georgian armies. Erekle had managed to mobilize some 5,000 troops, including some 2,000 from neighboring Imereti
Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...
under its King Solomon II. The Georgians, hopelessly outnumbered, were eventually defeated despite stiff resistance. In a few hours, the Iranian king Agha Mohammad Khan was in full control of the Georgian capital. The Iranian army marched back laden with spoil and carrying off many thousands of captives.
By this, after the conquest of Tbilisi and being in effective control of eastern Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, Agha Mohammad was formally crowned Shah
Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
in 1796 in the Mughan plain
Mughan plain (, مغان دوزو; ) is a plain stretching from northwestern Iran to the southern part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The highest density of irrigation canals is in the section of the Mughan plain which lies in the Republic of Aze ...
. As ''The Cambridge History of Iran
''The Cambridge History of Iran'' is a multi-volume survey of Iranian history published in the United Kingdom by Cambridge University Press. The seven volumes cover "the history and historical geography of the land which is present-day Iran, as w ...
'' notes; "Russia's client, Georgia, had been punished, and Russia's prestige, damaged." Erekle II returned to Tbilisi to rebuild the city, but the destruction of his capital was a death blow to his hopes and projects. Upon learning of the fall of Tbilisi General Gudovich put the blame on the Georgians
Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...
themselves. To restore Russian prestige, Catherine II Persian expedition of 1796, declared war on Iran, upon the proposal of Gudovich, and sent an army under Valerian Zubov to the Qajar possessions on April of that year, but the new Tsar of Russia, Tsar Paul I of Russia, Paul I, who succeeded Catherine in November, shortly recalled it.
Agha Mohammad Shah was later assassinated while preparing a second expedition against Georgia in 1797 in Shusha
Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...
. Reassessment of Iranian hegemony over Georgia did not last long; in 1799 the Russians marched into Tbilisi, two years after Agha Mohammad Khan's death. The next two years were a time of muddle and confusion, and the weakened and devastated Georgian kingdom, with its capital half in ruins, was easily Georgia within the Russian Empire, absorbed by Russia in 1801. As Iran could not permit or allow the cession of Transcaucasia and Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
, which had formed part of the concept of Iran for centuries, it would also directly lead up to the wars of even several years later, namely the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) and Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), which would eventually prove for the irrevocable forced cession of aforementioned regions to Imperial Russia per the treaties of Treaty of Gulistan, Gulistan (1813) and Treaty of Turkmenchay, Turkmenchay (1828), as the ancient ties could only be severed by a superior force from outside. It was therefore also inevitable that Agha Mohammad Khan's successor, Fath Ali Shah (under whom Iran would lead the two above-mentioned wars) would follow the same policy of restoring Iranian central authority north of the Aras (river), Aras and Kura (South Caucasus river), Kura rivers.
Wars with Russia and irrevocable loss of territories
On 12 September 1801, four years after Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's death, the Russian Empire, Russians capitalized on the moment, and annexed Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, Kartli-Kakheti (eastern Georgia). In 1804, the Russians Battle of Ganja (1804), invaded and sacked the Iranian town of Ganja, massacring and expelling thousands of its inhabitants, thereby beginning the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. Under Fath Ali Shah (r. 1797–1834), the Qajars set out to fight against the invading Russian Empire, who were keen to take the Iranian territories in the region. This period marked the first major economic and military encroachments on Iranian interests during the colonial era. The Qajar army suffered a major military defeat in the war, and under the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, Iran was forced to cede most of its Caucasian territories comprising modern-day Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
, and most of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
.
About a decade later, in violation of the Gulistan Treaty, the Russians invaded Iran's Erivan Khanate. This sparked the final bout of hostilities between the two; the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828. It ended even more disastrously for Qajar Iran with temporary occupation of Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
and the signing of the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, acknowledging Russian sovereignty over the entire South Caucasus and Dagestan, as well as therefore the ceding of what is nowadays Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
and the remaining part of Republic of Azerbaijan; the new border between neighboring Russia and Iran were set at the Aras River
The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...
. Iran had by these two treaties, in the course of the 19th century, irrevocably lost the territories which had formed part of the concept of Iran for centuries. The area to the North of the river Aras, among which the territory of the contemporary Republic of Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, Dagestan, and Armenia was Iranian territory until they were occupied by Russia in the course of the 19th century.
As a further direct result and consequence of the Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties of 1813 and 1828 respectively, the formerly Iranian territories became part of Russia for around the next 180 years, except Dagestan, which has remained a Russian possession ever since. Out of the greater part of the territory, six separate nations would be formed through the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, namely Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and three generally unrecognized republics Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Artsakh and South Ossetia claimed by Georgia. Lastly and equally important, as a result of Russia's imposing of the two treaties, It also decisively parted the Azerbaijanis and Talysh people, Talysh ever since between two nations.
Migration of Caucasian Muslims
Following the official losing of the aforementioned vast territories in the Caucasus, major demographic shifts were bound to take place. Solidly Persian-speaking territories of Iran were lost, with all its inhabitants in it. Following the 1804–1814 War, but also per the 1826–1828 war which ceded the last territories, large migrations, so-called Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians, Caucasian Muhajirs, set off to migrate to mainland Iran. Some of these groups included the Ayrums, Qarapapaqs, Circassians, Shia Lezgins, and other Transcaucasus, Transcaucasian Muslims. Through the Siege of Ganja (1804), Battle of Ganja of 1804 during the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), many thousands of Ayrums and Qarapapaqs were settled in Tabriz. During the remaining part of the 1804–1813 war, as well as through the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), 1826–1828 war, the absolute bulk of the Ayrums and Qarapapaqs that were still remaining in newly conquered Russian territories were settled in and migrated to Solduz (in modern-day Iran's West Azerbaijan province). As ''The Cambridge History of Iran
''The Cambridge History of Iran'' is a multi-volume survey of Iranian history published in the United Kingdom by Cambridge University Press. The seven volumes cover "the history and historical geography of the land which is present-day Iran, as w ...
'' states; "The steady encroachment of Russian troops along the frontier in the Caucasus, General Aleksey Yermolov (general), Yermolov's brutal punitive expeditions and misgovernment, drove large numbers of Muslims, and even some Georgian Christians, into exile in Iran."
In 1864 until the early 20th century, Circassian genocide, another mass expulsion took place of Caucasian Muslims as a result of the Russian victory in the Caucasian War. Others simply voluntarily refused to live under Christians, Christian Russian rule, and thus disembarked for Turkey or Iran. These migrations once again, towards Iran, included masses of Caucasian Azerbaijanis, other Transcaucasian Muslims, as well as many North Caucasian Muslims, such as Circassians, Shia Lezgins and Lak people (Dagestan), Laks.
Many of these migrants would prove to play a pivotal role in further Iranian history, as they formed most of the ranks of the Persian Cossack Brigade, which was also to be established in the late 19th century. The initial ranks of the brigade would be entirely composed of Circassians and other Caucasian Muhajirs. This brigade would prove decisive in the following decades to come in Qajar history.
Furthermore, the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay included the official rights for the Russian Empire to encourage settling of Armenians from Iran in the newly conquered Russian territories. Until the mid-fourteenth century, Armenians had constituted a majority in Eastern Armenia.
At the close of the fourteenth century, after Timur
Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...
's campaigns, Islam had become the dominant faith, and Armenians became a minority in Eastern Armenia. After centuries of constant warfare on the Armenian Plateau, many Armenians chose to emigrate and settle elsewhere. Following Shah Abbas I's massive relocation of Armenians and Muslims in 1604–05, their numbers dwindled even further.
At the time of the Russian invasion of Iran, some 80% of the population of Erivan Khanate in Iranian Armenia (1502–1828), Iranian Armenia were Muslims (Persian people, Persians, Turkic peoples, Turkics, and Kurds) whereas Christian Armenians constituted a minority of about 20%. As a result of the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828), Iran was forced to cede Iranian Armenia (which also constituted the present-day Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
), to the Russians. After the Russian administration took hold of Iranian Armenia, the ethnic make-up shifted, and thus for the first time in more than four centuries, ethnic Armenians started to form a majority once again in one part of historic Armenia.
Development and decline
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 Qajar, Mohammad Shah, who fell under the Russian influence and made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Herat, succeeded him in 1834. When Mohammad Shah died in 1848 the succession passed to his son Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Naser al-Din, who proved to be the ablest and most successful of the Qajar sovereigns. He founded the first modern hospital in Iran.
During Naser al-Din Shah's reign, Western science, technology, and educational methods were introduced into Iran and the country's modernization was begun. Naser al-Din Shah tried to exploit the mutual distrust between Great Britain and Russia to preserve Iran's independence, but foreign interference and territorial encroachment increased under his rule. He was not able to prevent United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Russia from encroaching into regions of traditional Iranian influence.
In 1856, during the Anglo-Persian War, Britain prevented Iran from reasserting control over Herat. The city had been part of Iran in Safavid times, but Herat had been under Durrani Empire, Durrani 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 Iranian ties to the cities of Bukhara, Merv and Samarqand. With the conclusion of the Treaty of Akhal on 21 September 1881, Iran ceased any claim to all parts of Turkestan and Transoxiana, setting the Atrek River as the new boundary with Imperial Russia. Hence Merv, Sarahs, Sarakhs, Ashgabat, and the surrounding areas were transferred to Russian control under the command of General Alexander Komarov in 1884. Several trade concessions by the Iranian government put economic affairs largely under British control. By the late 19th century, many Iranians believed that their rulers were beholden to foreign interests.
Mirza Taghi Khan Amir Kabir, 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 Nasser ed-Din succeeded to the throne, Amir Nezam was awarded the position of the prime minister and the title of Amir Kabir, the Great Ruler.
At that time, Iran was nearly bankrupt. During 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. There were Battle of Fort Tabarsi, Bahai revolts and Revolt of Hasan Khan Salar, a revolt in Khorasan at the time but were crushed under Amir Kabir. Foreign interference in Iran'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 (Persia), Dar ol Fonoon in 1851, the first modern university in Iran and the Middle East. Dar-ol-Fonoon was established for training a new cadre of administrators and acquainting them with Western techniques. It marked the beginning of modern education in Iran. 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 Iranians to teach subjects as different as Language, Medicine, Law, Geography, History, Economics, and Engineering, amongst numerous others. 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.
These reforms antagonized various notables who had been excluded from the government. They regarded the Amir Kabir as a social upstart and a threat to their interests, and they formed a coalition against him, in which the queen mother 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. Through his marriage to Ezzat od-Doleh, Amir Kabir had been the brother-in-law of the shah.
Qajar Iran would become a victim of the Great Game between Russia and Britain for influence over central Asia. As the Qajar state's sovereignty was challenged this took the form of military conquests, diplomatic intrigues, and the competition of trade goods between two foreign empires. Ever since the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay, Treaty of Turkmanchay, Russia had received territorial domination in Iran. With the House of Romanov, Romanovs shifting to a policy of 'informal support' for the weakened Qajar dynasty
The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...
— continuing to place pressure with advances in the largely nomadic Turkestan, a crucial frontier territory of the Qajars — this Russian domination of Iran continued for nearly a century. The Iranian monarchy became more of a symbolic concept in which Russian diplomats were themselves powerbrokers in Iran and the monarchy was dependent on British and Russian loans for funds.
In 1879, the establishment of the Persian Cossack Brigade, Cossack Brigade by Russian officers gave the Russian Empire influence over the modernization of the Qajar army. This influence was especially pronounced because the Iranian monarchy's legitimacy was predicated on an image of military prowess, first Turkic and then European-influenced. By the 1890s, Russian tutors, doctors and officers were prominent at the Shah's court, influencing policy personally. Russia and Britain had competing investments in the industrialisation of Iran including roads and telegraph lines, as a way to profit and extend their influence. However, until 1907 the Great Game rivalry was so pronounced that mutual British and Russian demands to the Shah to exclude the other, blocked all railroad construction in Iran at the end of the 19th century. In 1907 the British and Russian Empires partitioned Iran into spheres of influence with the Anglo-Russian Convention
The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (), or Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet (; ), was signed on August 31, 1907, in Saint Petersburg. It ended the two powers' longstanding rivalry in Cen ...
.
Constitutional Revolution
When Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani in 1896, the crown passed to his son Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, Mozaffar al-Din. Mozaffar al-Din Shah was a moderate, but relatively ineffective ruler. Royal extravagances coincided with an inadequate ability to secure state revenue which further exacerbated the financial woes of the Qajar. In response, the Shah procured two large loans from Russia (in part to fund personal trips to Europe). Public anger mounted as the Shah sold off concessions – such as road building monopolies, the authority to collect duties on imports, etc. – to European interests in return for generous payments to the Shah and his officials. Popular demand to curb arbitrary royal authority in favor of the rule of law increased as concern regarding growing foreign penetration and influence heightened.
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 30 December 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 the security of life and property. The hopes for the constitutional rule were not realized, however.
Mozaffar al-Din Shah's son Mohammad Ali Shah (reigned 1907–1909), who, through his mother, was also the grandson of Prime-Minister Amir Kabir (see before), with the aid of Russia, Russian involvement in the Persian Constitutional Revolution, attempted to rescind the constitution and abolish parliamentary government. After several disputes with the members of the Majles, in June 1908 he used his Russian-officered Persian Cossack Brigade (almost solely composed of Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians, Caucasian Muhajirs), to 1908 bombardment of the Majlis, bomb the Majlis building, arrest many of the deputies (December 1907), and close down the assembly (June 1908). Resistance to the shah, however, coalesced in Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
, Isfahan
Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
, Rasht, and elsewhere. In July 1909, constitutional forces marched from Rasht to Tehran led by Mohammad Vali Khan Khalatbari Tonekaboni, deposed the Shah, and re-established the constitution. The ex-shah went into exile in Russia. Shah died in San Remo, Italy, in April 1925. Every future Shah of Iran would also die in exile.
On 16 July 1909, the Majles voted to place Mohammad Ali Shah's 11-year-old son, Ahmad Shah Qajar, 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 Entente of 1907, Britain and Russia agreed to divide Iran 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 20 December, 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.
British and Russian officials coordinated as the Russian army, still present in Iran, invaded the capital again and suspended the parliament. The Tsar ordered the troops in Tabriz "to act harshly and quickly", while purges were ordered, leading to many executions of prominent revolutionaries. The British Ambassador, George Head Barclay reported disapproval of this "reign of terror", though would soon pressure Persian ministers to officialize the Anglo-Russian partition of Iran. By June 1914, Russia established near-total control over its northern zone, while Britain had established influence over Baloch people, Baluch and Bakhtiari people, Bakhtiari autonomous tribal leaders in the southeastern zone. Qajar Iran would become a battleground between Russian, Ottoman, and British forces in the Persian campaign of World War I.
World War I and related events
Though Qajar Iran had announced strict neutrality on the first day of November 1914 (which was reiterated by each successive government thereafter), the neighboringOttoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
invaded it relatively shortly after, in the same year. At that time, large parts of Iran were under tight Russian influence and control, and since 1910 Russian forces were present inside the country, while many of its cities possessed Russian garrisons. Due to the latter reason, as Prof. Dr. Touraj Atabaki states, declaring neutrality was useless, especially as Iran had no force to implement this policy.
At the beginning of the war, the Ottomans invaded Iranian Azerbaijan. Numerous clashes would take place there between the Caucasus Army (Russian Empire, 1914–1917), Russians, who were further aided by the Assyrian people, Assyrians under Agha Petros as well as Armenian volunteer units and battalions, and the Ottomans on the other side. However, with the advent of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent withdrawal of most of the Russian troops, the Ottomans gained the upper hand in Iran, occupying significant portions of the country until the end of the war. Between 1914 and 1918, the Ottoman Army, Ottoman troops massacred many thousands of Iran's Assyrian and Armenian population, as part of the Assyrian genocide, Assyrian and Armenian genocides, respectively.
The front in Iran would last up to the Armistice of Mudros in 1918.
Battle of Robat Karim
In late 1915, due to pro-CP actions by Iranian gendarmerie (encouraged by Ahmad Shah Qajar and the Majlis), Russian forces in northwest Iran marched toward Tehran. Russian occupation of Tehran would mean complete Russian control of Iran.Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Bahar, Mohammad Taghi (1992). ''A brief history of political parties in Iran: the extinction of the Qajar dynasty''. J. First. Amir Kabir Publications. Local irregular forces under Heydar Latifiyan blocked the Russian advance at Robat Karim. The Russian force won the Battle of Robat Karim on 27 December, and Heydar Latifiyan was killed, but the Russian advance was delayed, long enough for the Majlis to dissolve and the Shah and his court to escape to Qom. This preserved the independence of Iran.Fall of the dynasty
Ahmad Shah Qajar
Ahmad Shah Qajar (; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was the List of monarchs of Iran, shah of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the seventh and final ruling member of the Qajar dynasty.
Ahmad Shah ...
was born 21 January 1898 in Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
, and succeeded to the throne at age 11. However, the occupation of Persia during World War I by Russian Empire, Russian, British, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman troops was a blow from which Ahmad Shah never effectively recovered.
In February 1921, Reza Shah, Reza Khan, commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade, staged a 1921 Persian coup d'état, 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 exclude the Qajar dynasty permanently. Reza Khan was subsequently proclaimed monarch as ''Reza Shah Pahlavi'', reigning from 1925 to 1941.Abrahamian, ''History of Modern Iran'', (2008), p.91
Ahmad Shah died on February 21, 1930, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
Government and administration
Iran was divided into five large provinces and a large number of smaller ones at the beginning of Fath Ali Shah's reign, about 20 provinces in 1847, 39 in 1886, but 18 in 1906. In 1868, most province governors were Qajar princes.Foreign influence and economic concessions
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Qajar dynasty granted extensive concessions to foreign powers, particularly the British Empire andRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, in exchange for loans, technical expertise, or diplomatic support. The dire economic conditions of the Qajar government forced it to give preferential treatment to foreign powers and allow them to access profitable industries, such as the Iranian oil and tobacco industries.
The Reuters Concession was the first major concession between foreign powers and the Qajar state. The concession was established between the Qajar state and British entrepreneur Baron Julius de Reuter.
The oil concession, established between Nasr el-Din Shah and Englishman William Knox D'arcy allowed Britain to explore for oil in the southern part of Iran.
These agreements eroded Iran's sovereignty and became a focal point of nationalist resistance, most notably during the Tobacco Protest (1891–1892) and the Persian Constitutional Revolution
The Persian Constitutional Revolution (, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911 during the Qajar Iran, Qajar era. The revolution led to the establishment of a Majl ...
(1905–1911).
Major concessions
Political repercussions
Foreign concessions intensified the Great Game rivalry between Britain and Russia, culminating in the 1907Anglo-Russian Convention
The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 (), or Convention between the United Kingdom and Russia relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet (; ), was signed on August 31, 1907, in Saint Petersburg. It ended the two powers' longstanding rivalry in Cen ...
, which partitioned Iran into:
* A **Russian sphere** in the north (including Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
and Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
).
* A **British sphere** in the southeast (protecting approaches to British India).
* A neutral "buffer zone" in central Iran.
The concessions also fueled the Persian Constitutional Revolution
The Persian Constitutional Revolution (, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911 during the Qajar Iran, Qajar era. The revolution led to the establishment of a Majl ...
(1905–1911), as intellectuals and merchants demanded an end to Qajar corruption and foreign domination. The 1906 Constitution of Iran, Constitution established the Majlis (parliament), which attempted to annul the D'Arcy oil concession in 1908 but was suppressed by Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, Mohammad Ali Shah.
Legacy
Historian Nikki Keddie argues:Military
The Qajar military was one of the dynasty's largest conventional sources of legitimacy, albeit was increasingly influenced by foreign powers over the course of the dynasty. Irregular forces, such as tribal cavalry, were a major element until the late nineteenth century, and irregular forces long remained a significant part of the Qajar army. At the time of Agha Mohammad Khan's death in 1797, his military was at its apex and counted 60,000 men, consisting of 50,000 tribal cavalry (''savar'') and 10,000 infantry (''tofangchi'') recruited from the sedentary population. The army of his nephew and successor Fath-Ali Shah was much larger and from 1805 onwards incorporated European-trained units. According to the French general Claude Matthieu, Count Gardane, Gardane, who was stationed in Iran, the army under Fath-Ali Shah numbered 180,000 men in 1808, thus far surpassing the army of Agha Mohammad Khan in size. The modern historian Maziar Behrooz explains that there are other estimates which roughly match Gardane's estimate, however, Gardane was the first to complete a full outline of the Qajar army as he and his men were tasked with training the Qajar army. According to Gardane's report of Fath-Ali Shah's contemporaneous army, some 144,000 were tribal cavalry, 40,000 were infantry (which included those trained on European lines), whilst 2,500 were part of the artillery units (which included the zamburakchis). Some half of the total amount of cavalrymen, that is 70,000–75,000, were so-called ''rekabi''. This meant that they received their salaries from the shah's personal funds during periods of supposed mobilization. All others were so-called ''velayati'', that is, they were paid for and were under the command of provincial Iranian rulers and governors. They were mobilized to join the royal army when the call required to do so. Also, as was custom, tribes were supposed to provide troops for the army depending on their size. Thus, larger tribes were supposed to provide larger numbers, whilst smaller tribes provided smaller numbers. After receiving payment, the central government expected military men to (for the greater part) to pay for their own supplies. During the era of wars with Russia, with crown prince Abbas Mirza's command of the army of the Azerbaijan Province, his segment of the army was the main force that defended Iran against the Russian invaders. Hence, the quality and organization of his units were superior to that of the rest of the Iranian army. Soldiers of Abbas Mirza's units were furnished from the villages of Azerbaijan and according to quotas in line with the rent each village was responsible for. Abbas Mirza provided for the payment of his troops' outfits and armaments. James Justinian Morier estimated the force under Abbas Mirza's command at 40,000 men, consisting of 22,000 cavalry, 12,000 infantry which included an artillery force, as well as 6,000 ''Nezam'' infantry. Russia established the Persian Cossack Brigade in 1879, a force which was led by Russian officers and served as a vehicle for Russian influence in Iran. By the 1910s, the Qajar Iran was decentralised to the extent that foreign powers sought to bolster the central authority of the Qajars by providing military aid. It was viewed as a process of defensive modernisation; however, this also led to Internal colonialism, internal colonisation. The Iranian Gendarmerie was founded in 1911 with the assistance of Sweden. The involvement of a neutral country was seen to avoid "Great Game" rivalry between Russia and Britain, as well as avoid siding with any particular alliance (in the prelude to World War I). Iranian administrators thought the reforms could strengthen the country against foreign influences. The Swedish-influenced police had some success in building up Persian police in centralizing the country. After 1915, Russia and Britain demanded the recall of the Swedish advisers. Some Swedish officers left, while others sided with the Germans and Ottomans in their intervention in Persia. The remainder of the Gendarmerie was named ''amniya'' after a patrol unit that existed in the early Qajar dynasty. The number of Russian officers in the Cossack Brigade would increase over time. Britain also sent sepoys to reinforce the Brigade. After the start of the Russian Revolution, many White movement, tsarist supporters remained in Iran as members of the Cossack Brigade rather than fighting for or against the Soviet Union. The British formed the South Persia Rifles in 1916, which was initially separate from the Persian army until 1921. In 1921, the Russian-officered Persian Cossack Brigade was merged with the gendarmerie and other forces, and would become supported by the British. At the end of the Qajar dynasty in 1925, Reza Shah's Pahlavi army would include members of the gendarmerie, Cossacks, and former members of the South Persia Rifles.Art
Demographics
In the late 18th century, during the final period ofShah
Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, Agha Mohammad Khan's reign, Iran (including the Khanates of the Caucasus) numbered some five to six million inhabitants.
In 1800, three years into Fath-Ali Shah's reign, Iran numbered an estimated six million people. A few years later, in 1812, the population numbered an estimated nine million. At the time, the country numbered some 70,000 Iranian Jews, Jews, 170,000 Iranian Armenians, Armenian Christians, and 20,000 Zoroastrianism in Iran, Zoroastrians. The city of Shiraz
Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...
in the south numbered circa 50,000, while Isfahan
Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
was the largest city at the time, with a population of about 200,000 inhabitants. More to the north, Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, which became the capital of Iran under the Qajars in 1786 under Agha Mohammad Khan, resembled more-so a garrison rather than a town prior to becoming the capital. At the time, as a developing city, it held some 40,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, but only when the Iranian royal court was in residence. During summer, the royal court moved to a cooler area of pasture such as at Soltaniyeh, near Khamseh (i.e. Zanjan, Iran, Zanjan), or at Ujan near Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
in the Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
Province. Other Tehrani residents moved to Shemiran in Tehran's north during summer, which was located at a higher altitude and thus had a more cool climate. These seasonal movements used to reduce Tehran's population to a few thousand seasonally.
In Iran's east, in Mashhad
Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...
, holding the Imam Reza Shrine and being Iran's former capital during the Afsharid Iran, Afsharid era, held a population of less than 20,000 by 1800. Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
, the largest city of the Azerbaijan Province, as well as the seat of the Qajar ''vali ahd'' ("crown prince"), used to be a prosperous city, but the 1780 Tabriz earthquake, 1780 earthquake had devastated the city and reversed its fortunes. In 1809, the population of Tabriz was estimated at 50,000 including 200 Armenian families who lived in their own quarter. The Azerbaijan province's total population, as per a 1806 estimate, was somewhere between 500,000 and 550,000 souls. The towns of Khoy and Marand, which at the time were no more than an amalgam of villages, were estimated to hold 25,000 and 10,000 inhabitants respectively.
In Iran's domains in the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, the town of Nakhchivan (city), Nakhchivan (Nakhjavan) held a total population of some 5,000 in the year 1807, whereas the total population of the Erivan Khanate was some 100,000 in 1811. However, the latter figure does not account for the Kurdish tribes that had migrated into the province. A Russian estimate asserted that the Pambak region of the northern part of the Erivan Khanate, which had been occupied by the Russians Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), after 1804, held a total population of 2,832, consisting of 1,529 Muslims and 1,303 Christian Armenians. According to the Russian demographic survey of 1823 of the Karabakh Khanate
The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...
, its largest city, Shusha
Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...
, held 371 households, who were divided in four quarters or parishes (''mahallah, mahaleh''). The province itself consisted of 21 districts, in which nine large domains were located that belonged to Muslims and Armenians, 21 Armenian villages, ninety Muslim villages (both settled and nomadic), with Armenians constituting an estimated minority. In the Ganja Khanate, the city of Ganja
''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...
held 10,425 inhabitants in 1804 at the time of Siege of Ganja (1804), the Russian conquest and occupation.
In 1868, Jews were the most significant minority in Tehran, numbering 1,578 people. By 1884, this figure had risen to 5,571.
See also
*Qajar (tribe) *Qajar dynasty
The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...
*Selected Collection of Qajar Era Maps of Iran
*Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), Russo-Iranian War 1804–1813
*Ottoman–Persian War (1821–1823), Ottoman–Iranian War 1821–1823
*Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), Russo-Iranian War 1826–1828
*Anglo-Persian War, Anglo-Iranian War 1856–1857
*Treaty of Paris (1857), Treaty of Paris 1857
*Treaty of Gulistan
*Treaty of Turkmenchay, Treaty of Turkmanchay
*Persian famine of 1870–1872, Iranian famine of 1870–1872
*Persian famine of 1917–1919, Iranian famine of 1917–1919
*Amir Kabir
*Dar ul-Funun (Persia), Dar ul-Funun
*Constitutionalization attempts in Iran
*Persian Constitutional Revolution, Iranian Constitutional Revolution
*1st Iranian Majlis
*Morteza Gholi Khan Hedayat (1st List of speakers of the Parliament of Iran, Speaker of the Majlis of Iran)
*Mirza Nasrullah Khan (1st List of prime ministers of Iran, Prime Minister of Iran)
*Persian Constitution of 1906, Iranian Constitution of 1906
*Anglo-Russian Convention, Treaty of Saint Petersburg 1907
*1908 bombardment of the Majlis
*Minor Tyranny
*Persian campaign (World War I), Occupation of Iran In World War I
*British occupation of Bushehr
*1921 Persian coup d'état, Iranian coup d'état 1921
Notes
References
Sources
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Gvosdev, Nikolas K.: ''Imperial policies and perspectives towards Georgia: 1760–1819'', Macmillan, Basingstoke 2000, * Lang, David M.: ''The last years of the Georgian Monarchy: 1658–1832'', Columbia University Press, New York 1957 * * * * *Further reading
* * * * * * * * *External links
The Qajar (Kadjar) Pages
The International Qajar Studies Association
Dar ol-Qajar
Qajar Family Website
Women's Worlds in Qajar Iran
Digital Archive by Harvard University
Qajar Documentation Fund Collection
at the International Institute of Social History {{DEFAULTSORT:Qajar Iran States and territories established in 1785 States and territories disestablished in 1925 Qajar Iran, Former monarchies of Iran Monarchy in Persia and Iran Modern history of Iran Early modern history of Armenia Early modern history of Azerbaijan Early modern history of Georgia (country) History of Dagestan 1780s in Iran 1790s in Iran 1800s in Iran 19th century in Iran 20th century in Iran 1780s establishments in Iran 1785 establishments in Asia 1925 disestablishments in Iran Former countries of the interwar period Former countries