The Soleymaniyeh Palace (
Persian: کاخ سلیمانیه) is a
Qajar era royal residence in
Karaj
Karaj (; ) is a List of cities in Iran by province, city in the Central District (Karaj County), Central District of Karaj County, Alborz province, Alborz province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Earl ...
, Iran. It is notable for the paintings inside that show
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's brothers and
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 ...
and his sons.
History
The palace, designed by the architect
Hajji Mohammad Hossein Isfahani, was constructed by the order of Fath-Ali Shah in a large garden near the Karaj river.
There are two stories regarding the name of the building. The more probable one states that the palace was built on the occasion of the birth of the Shah's 34th son named Soleiman Mirza. Soleiman Miza is shown as a child near the throne in one of the paintings.
However, Gaspard Drouville, a Frenchman who was in Iran at the time, reports that a son of Fath-Ali Shah,
Mohammad-Ali Mirza Dowlatshah, was unhappy of
Abbas Mirza
Abbas Mirza (; 26 August 1789 – 25 October 1833) was the Qajar dynasty, Qajar crown prince of Qajar Iran, Iran during the reign of his father Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (). As governor of the vulnerable Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan province, he played ...
's designation as the crown prince, and to prove his worth engaged in warfare with the
Ottoman governor of Iraq,
Suleiman Pasha, defeated him and took a hefty loot. He then sent the loot to the capital, and the Shah made the palace with that money and named it Soleymaniyeh to forever commemorate the victory over the Ottomans.
[دروویل، گاسپار. ''سفرنامه دروویل''. ترجمه جواد محبی، گوتنبرگ: ۱۳۸۴، تهران. ص۱۶۸]
There are two paintings by
Abdallah Khan in the building, one showing the brothers of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, and the other showing Fath-Ali Shah Qajar and his courtiers.
The ruins of the first floor of a five-story
Safavid tower remain near the palace.
It was listed in
the national heritage sites of Iran with the number 370 on 21 February, 1949.
References
{{coord missing, Iran
Palaces in Iran
Buildings and structures on the Iran National Heritage List
Qajar houses
19th-century establishments in Iran
Karaj