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Shah of Iran from 1789 to 1797

Agha Mohammad Shah Qajar
آقا محمد شاه قاجار
Shahanshah
Contemporary portrait dated 1795
Shah of Iran
Reign1794 – 17 June 1797
CoronationMarch 1796
Predecessor
SuccessorFath-Ali Shah Qajar
VizierHajji Ebrahim Shirazi
Born(1742-03-14)14 March 1742
Astarabad, Afsharid Iran
Died17 June 1797(1797-06-17) (aged 55)
Shusha, Qajar Iran
Burial
Imam Ali Mosque
SpouseGolbakht Khanom
Maryam Khanom
Asiya Khanom
Names
Agha Mohammad Shah Qajar
Regnal name
Agha Mohammad Shah
DynastyQajar
FatherMohammad Hasan Khan Qajar
MotherJeeran Khanum
ReligionTwelver Shia Islam
Tughra

Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (Persian: آقا محمد خان قاجار, romanized: Âqâ Mohammad Xân-e Qâjâr; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (آقامحمد شاه),[1] was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling as Shah from 1789 to 1797, after reunifying the country and establishing Tehran as its capital.[2][3]

He was the son of Mohammad Hasan Khan, a chieftain of the Quwanlu branch of the Qajar tribe who vied for the throne of Iran after the death of Nader Shah. As a child, he was captured by Nader's successor Adel Shah and castrated. His father was killed in 1759, and in 1763 he was captured by Karim Khan Zand, Iran's new overlord. He spent the next sixteen years as a hostage at Karim Khan's court in Shiraz; after the latter's death, he escaped to northern Iran, where he spent nearly a decade campaigning to consolidate his rule, struggling with his brothers and several Zand pretenders. He took control of all northern Iran and in 1786 made Tehran his capital; it has since remained the country's capital.

Agha Mohammad Khan was enthroned as the king of Iran in 1789 (but not yet crowned), and in 1794 he defeated his last major competitor, the Zand prince Lotf Ali Khan, inflicting immense destruction on the city of Kerman after taking it. In 1796, he campaigned to reassert Iranian rule north of the Aras River, where he forced the local khanates into submission and brutally sacked the Georgian city of Tiflis (Tbilisi). He was then crowned shāhanshāh (King of Kings) in 1796. On 17 June 1797, during a second campaign in the South Caucasus, he was assassinated by two of his servants whom he had condemned to death. He was succeeded by his nephew and designated heir, Fath-Ali, whose descendants ruled Iran until 1925.

Agha Mohammad Khan's reign is noted for the return of a centralized and unified Iran and for relocating the capital to Tehran. He is noted for his cruel and rapacious behavior, particularly during his Georgia and Kerman campaigns. However, he has also been described as a "pragmatic, calculating, and shrewd military and political leader."[4]

Early life (1742–1779)

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Family and youth

[edit]
The landscape of Astarabad, the birthplace of Agha Mohammad Khan.

Agha Mohammad Khan was born in Astarabad around 1742. He belonged to the Quwanlu (also spelled Qawanlu) branch of the Qajar tribe. The Qajars were one of the original Turkoman Qizilbash tribes that emerged and spread in Asia Minor around the tenth and eleventh centuries.[5] They later supplied power to the Safavids since the dynasty's earliest days.[5] The tribe had several other branches, one of the most prominent ones being the Develu, which often fought against the Quwanlu.[6] Agha Mohammad Khan was the eldest son of the chieftain of the Quwanlu clan, Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar, and the grandson of Fath-Ali Khan Qajar, a prominent aristocrat executed by the orders of Shah Tahmasp II (possibly compelled by Nader Qoli Beg, who came to be known as Nader Shah after usurping the throne of Iran in 1736, marking the foundation of the Afsharid dynasty).[6] Agha Mohammad Khan had several half-brothers and full-brothers: Hossein Qoli Khan, Morteza Qoli Khan, Mostafa Qoli Khan, Reza Qoli Khan, Jafar Qoli Khan, Mehdi Qoli Khan, Abbas Qoli Khan and Ali Qoli Khan.[7]

When Nader Shah died in 1747, the Afsharid rule of Iran fell apart, which gave Mohammad Hasan an opportunity to seize Astarabad for himself, leading Nader Shah's nephew Adel Shah to march from Mashhad to the city in order to capture him. Although he failed to capture Hasan, Adel Shah managed to capture Agha Mohammad Khan, whom he had castrated and thereafter freed.[6]

According to some sources, the title Agha in Agha Mohammad Khan's name was a reference to the fact that he was a eunuch.[6][8][9] Agha (spelled آغا, with the letter ghayn) is a respectful term of Turkic origin for a woman; it was also used to refer to eunuchs employed at the royal court. Aqa (spelled آقا, with the letter qaf), also of Turkic origin, means 'master, elder, older brother, etc.'[a] According to Maziar Behrooz, the use of the spelling Agha as in 'eunuch' in Agha Mohammad's name began only in the Pahlavi period as "a means of humiliating [Agha Mohammad] and his dynasty". Agha Mohammad's enemies did, however, use many insulting terms which referred to his condition,[10] such as Akhta Khan ('the castrated khan').[11]

[edit]

Main article: Battle of Astarabad (1759)

During the following ten years, Afsharid rule in Khorasan suffered heavily from war among rival chieftains and from invasions by the Durrani ruler of Qandahar, Ahmad Shah Durrani. During this period, Mohammad Hasan fought against the Pashtun military leader Azad Khan Afghan and the Zand ruler Karim Khan for suzerainty over the western part of Nader Shah's former empire. He was, however, defeated in 1759 by a Zand army. He was betrayed by his own followers and thereafter, killed by his old rival, Mohammad Khan of Savadkuh.[6][7] Due to Agha Mohammad Khan's castration, his brother Hossein Qoli Khan was appointed as the new chieftain of the Quwanlu instead.[12] Shortly thereafter Astarabad fell under the control of Karim Khan, who appointed a Develu named Hossein Khan Develu as its governor. Meanwhile, Agha Mohammad Khan and his brother Hossein Qoli Khan fled to the steppe. One year later, Agha Mohammad Khan made an incursion against Astarabad, but was forced to flee, chased by the city's governor.[6] Agha Mohammad Khan managed to reach Ashraf, but was at last seized and sent as a hostage to Tehran, ruled by Karim Khan. Hossein Qoli Khan was also soon captured and sent to Karim Khan.

Life at court

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Picture of the Arg of Karim Khan, the royal residence of the Zand dynasty, where Agha Mohammad Khan spent most of his time during his "captivity".

During his stay, Agha Mohammad Khan was treated kindly and honorably by Karim Khan, who made him convince his kinsmen to lay down their arms, which they did. Karim Khan then settled them in Damghan. In 1763, Agha Mohammad Khan and Hossein Qoli Khan were sent to the Zand capital, Shiraz, where their paternal aunt Khadija Begum, who was part of Karim Khan's harem, lived.[6][7] Agha Mohammad Khan's half-brothers Morteza Qoli Khan and Mostafa Qoli Khan were granted permission to live in Astarabad, due to their mother being the sister of the governor of the city. His remaining brothers were sent to Qazvin, where they were treated honorably.[7]

Agha Mohammad Khan was looked upon more as a respected guest in Karim Khan's court than a captive. Furthermore, Karim Khan also acknowledged Agha Mohammad Khan's political knowledge and sought his advice on interests of the state. He called Agha Mohammad Khan his "Piran-e Viseh", referring to an intelligent counselor of the mythical Turanian king Afrasiab in the Shahnameh epic.[6] Two of Agha Mohammad Khan's brothers who were at Qazvin were also sent to Shiraz during this period.[7] In February 1769, Karim Khan appointed Hossein Qoli Khan as the governor of Damghan. When Hossein Qoli Khan reached Damghan, he immediately began a fierce conflict with the Develu and other tribes to avenge his father's death. He was, however, killed c. 1777 near Findarisk by some Turks from the Yamut tribe with whom he had clashed.[12] On 1 March 1779, while Agha Mohammad Khan was hunting, he was informed by Khadija Begum that Karim Khan had died after six months of illness.[6][13][12]

Rise to power and unification of Iran (1779–1789)

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Conquest of Mazandaran and Gilan

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Northern Iran

Agha Mohammad Khan took with him a group of loyal followers and left for Tehran. Meanwhile, in Shiraz, people were fighting among themselves. In Tehran, Agha Mohammad Khan met the main chieftains of the Develu clan, with whom he made peace. He visited Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine, where his father's skull was kept. He then travelled to the Mazandaran province, where his first task was to set up his suzerainty among his Quwanlu brothers. This resulted in a clash with his brothers Reza Qoli and Morteza Qoli, whom he defeated on 2 April, conquering Mazandaran.[14] Meanwhile, Morteza Qoli fled to Astarabad, where he fortified himself. Agha Mohammad Khan could not simply storm the city, since starting a war with Morteza Qoli would mean that his frail alliance with the Develu could fall apart—Morteza Qoli's mother was a Develu.[14] At the same time, the Zand prince Ali-Morad Khan Zand sent an army of Zand and Afghan troops under Azad Khan Afghan's son Mahmud Khan to Mazandaran, which Agha Mohammad Khan's brother Jafar Qoli Khan managed to repel. Agha Mohammad Khan, together with Hossein Qoli Khan's sons Fath-Ali Qoli and Hosayn Qoli, was now in a firm position in Babol, the capital of Mazandaran.[14]

In Autumn 1780 Reza Qoli invaded Babol with an army of men from Larijan, where he encircled Agha Mohammad Khan's house and captured him after a fight lasting several hours.[15] When Morteza Qoli learned of this, he marched to Babol on 1 January 1781 with an army of Turkmens and released Agha Mohammad Khan. Agha Mohammad Khan and Reza Qoli were initially reconciled, but the latter was still discontented and fled to Ali-Morad Khan in Isfahan, and then to Sadeq Khan Zand in Shiraz. He died in Khorasan, and his former supporters went over to Agha Mohammad's side and fought with him against Morteza Qoli, who sought to take Mazandaran. Agha Mohammad defeated his brother but agreed to let him rule Astarabad and collect revenue from several districts in Mazandaran[16]

Peace did not last long. Ali-Morad Khan soon invaded Mazandaran, which led Agha Mohammad Khan to march from Babol with an army of Mazandaranis and Qajars and attack Ali-Morad Khan, whom he managed to repel from the province. Agha Mohammad Khan then seized Qumis, Semnan, Damghan, Shahrud and Bastam.[16] Furthermore, he also made Hedayat-Allah Khan, the ruler of Gilan, his vassal. He thereafter granted land in Semnan to his brother Ali Qoli as a reward for his help in the conquest of the cities.

First conflict with the Russians, dispute with Gilan, and the invasion of northern Persian Iraq

[edit]

In 1781, the Russian Empire, which was interested in building a trade route with Iran in order to be able to trade with regions deep into Asia, sent an emissary under Marko Ivanovich Voinovich to the coast of Gorgan, where he arrived on 10 August[17] and sought approval to build a trading-post at Ashraf. When Agha Mohammad Khan refused, Voinovich ignored his refusal and went on to establish an interim settlement on Ashurada island. With no ships, Agha Mohammad Khan was unable to retake the island. Instead, he tricked Voinovich and some of his men into meeting him at Astarabad for a banquet on 26 December, where they were held as captives until Voinovich agreed to order his men to leave Ashurada on 13 January 1782.[17][18]

A year later Agha Mohammad Khan invaded Gilan, because its ruler Hedayat-Allah had changed his allegiance to the Zand dynasty. Hedayat-Allah then sent two diplomats, Mirza Sadeq and Agha Sadeq Lahiji, to Agha Mohammad to make peace. As a precaution he went to Shirvan. The diplomats were unable to come to favorable terms with Agha Mohammad Khan, who raided Gilan's capital Rasht and seized its riches. Rejoicing in his victory, he sent his brother Jafar Qoli Khan to conquer the northern part of Persian Iraq. He defeated a Zand army in Ray (or Karaj), and thereafter seized Qazvin. He then marched to Zanjan, which he also seized.[19]In autumn they returned to Mazandaran. In the spring of 1783, Agha Mohammad Khan besieged Tehran, a town under Zand control which had proved troublesome. During the siege, plague started spreading in the town, and thereafter to Agha Mohammad Khan's army camp outside the city, which forced him to lift the siege.[20] He marched back to Ali Bolagh, a summer house near Damghan. Agha Mohammad Khan then returned to Mazandaran and spent the winter there.[15]

Mazandaran's brief submission to the Zand dynasty

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The next year Ali-Morad Khan, in retaliation for Agha Mohammad Khan's attack on Tehran the previous year sent a huge army reportedly numbering 60,000[21] to Mazandaran in June 1784,[22] aiming to crush the Qajars once and for all. His 15-year-old son Sheikh Veis Khan was put in command of the army, with Ali Morad staying behind in Tehran.[15] When the army arrived in Mazandaran, its people quickly surrendered to the Zands and the nobles defected. Agha Mohammad Khan and a few of his supporters fled to Astarabad, where he tried to fortify the city as much as possible. Meanwhile, Morteza Qoli changed his allegiance and began serving the Zand dynasty. Ali-Morad Khan then sent an army numbering 8,000 under his relative Mohammad Zahir Khan to Astarabad, and laid siege to the city.[20] Agha Mohammad Khan had already stocked provisions in case of a siege. Every day his troops would try to lay waste to the countryside to limit the besiegers' provisions. This in the end made the besiegers' situation unsustainable, and allowed Agha Mohammad Khan to leave the city to attack them. Mohammad Zahir Khan fled towards the Karakum Desert, but was captured by Agha Mohammad Khan's Yomut allies and was brutally killed. Only a few of his men managed to survive. On 14 November Agha Mohammad marched from Astarabad into Mazandaran and defeated a Zand force at Ashraf. The Zands were unable to defend Sari and Sheikh Veis Khan fled to Tehran on 23 November.[15][20]

First war with Jafar Khan Zand

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Portrait of Jafar Khan Zand

Meanwhile, Ali-Morad Khan had raised another group of Zand troops, which he sent to Mazandaran under the command of his cousin Rustam Khan Zand, only to be defeated by Agha Mohammad Khan. Ali-Morad Khan died on 11 February 1785. When Agha Mohammad Khan heard of his death, he went to Tehran to try to capture it.[20] When he reached the city, the inhabitants quickly closed the gates, and told him that they would open the gate only for the king of Iran, who according to them was Jafar Khan Zand, who had succeeded Ali-Morad Khan.[23] Thus Agha Mohammad Khan had to defeat Jafar Khan to be recognized as the king of Iran. He thereafter quickly marched towards Isfahan. Jafar Khan sent men to stop his advance towards the city, but they withdrew at Qom without putting up any resistance. Jafar Khan then sent an even larger Zand army towards Agha Mohammad Khan, who defeated the army near Kashan. Jafar Khan then fled to Shiraz. Agha Mohammad arrived at Isfahan on 2 May,[21] where he discovered what was left of the Zand treasure and Jafar Khan's harem.[23] The Qajar troops then looted the city.

During the summer of 1785, Agha Mohammad Khan made the city his headquarters for his expeditions in Persian Iraq. He left Isfahan on 7 July on a campaign in which he managed to bring the Bakhtiari chieftains under his suzerainty. He then left for Tehran on 2 September, appointing a former Zand commander to govern. When he arrived at Tehran, the town finally submitted to him. At the same time, his men captured Hamadan and forced many Kurdish and Turkic chieftains to submit to Qajar rule. On 12 March 1786, Agha Mohammad Khan made Tehran his capital.[23] By then the city had a population of 15,000–30,000 people.[24] It appears that during this period, Agha Mohammad Khan saw himself as the king of Iran, although he avoided using the title "shah".[23]

Some time later, while Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar was campaigning against the Bakhtiaris, Jafar Khan quickly marched towards Isfahan and re-captured it (although the citadel of Tabrak held out for four months). He then sent troops towards Kashan and Qom, while he marched towards Hamadan in early January 1786.[21] He was, however, defeated by local tribal chieftains, among them Khosrow Khan and Mohammad Hosayn Khan Qaragozlu.[25] Jafar Khan then withdrew to Isfahan to deal with a rebellion by the chiefs of Jandaq, who marched towards the city. The chiefs were defeated and submitted to Jafar Khan.[21] When Agha Mohammad Khan heard about the Zand invasion of Isfahan and its surroundings, he quickly moved towards the city, which made Jafar Khan retreat to Shiraz once again. Agha Mohammad Khan then appointed Jafar Qoli Khan as the city's governor. However, the governor of Zanjan revolted shortly afterward, which forced Agha Mohammad Khan to go back north, where he suppressed the latter's revolt and pardoned him.

Second invasion of Gilan

[edit]

Agha Mohammad Khan now had to focus on Gilan because Hedayat-Allah Khan had returned to the province (allegedly with Russian help) since the Qajar invasion of the province in 1782.[25] In Agha Mohammad Khan's eyes, the whole Caspian coast was under threat by Hedayat-Allah and the Russians. Agha Mohammad Khan and his men easily managed to enter Gilan. While he was marching towards Rasht, he was joined by a local ruler named Mehdi Beg Khalatbari and other people. Furthermore, the Russian consul in Gilan betrayed Hedayat-Allah by providing weapons to Agha Mohammad Khan.[26] Hedayat-Allah once again tried to flee to Shirvan, but was captured by men sent by a local ruler named Agha Ali Shafti (or another local ruler according to some sources), who killed him to avenge the slaughter of his family a few years earlier. Gilan was now completely under Qajar rule. Besides the conquest of Gilan, the second most valuable thing for Agha Mohammad Khan was Hedayat-Allah's treasure.[26]

Second war with Jafar Khan Zand and enthronement

[edit]
Painting of Agha Mohammad Khan with his men

Some time later a local ruler named Amir Mohammad Khan, who with another local ruler named Taqi Khan (the ruler of Yazd), had recently defeated Jafar Khan and seized many riches, invaded Qajar territory, and marched towards Isfahan. Jafar Qoli Khan, who was still the governor of Isfahan, left the city before Taqi Khan could reach it and defeated the latter. Agha Mohammad Khan then went southwards once again. He met Jafar Qoli Khan at Isfahan in 1788, and after some time, made Taqi Khan accept Qajar suzerainty, and thereafter punished some Qashqai tribes, who fled into the mountains.[27] Agha Mohammad Khan then approached Shiraz, where he hoped to bait Jafar Khan out of the city, which was strongly fortified, making it very hard to besiege. Unfortunately for him, Jafar Khan remained in the city. Agha Mohammad Khan returned to Isfahan, where he appointed his brother Ali Qoli as its governor, succeeding Jafar Qoli Khan. He then left for Tehran.

With Agha Mohammad Khan once again in the north, in autumn Jafar Khan began raising an army to prepare another attack against Isfahan and its surroundings. Jafar left Shiraz on 20 September and marched towards Isfahan.[21] When Ali Qoli learned of it he sent a group of tribesmen to Qumishah, a city south of Isfahan. However, Jafar Khan easily defeated them. Ali Qoli thereafter retreated to Kashan. Jafar Khan was then able to occupy Isfahan on 20 October. Agha Mohammad Khan, learning of this, marched rapidly towards Isfahan, which led Jafar Khan withdraw to Shiraz once again and reached the city on 30 November. Agha Mohammad Khan returned to Tehran rather than attacking Shiraz again. Jafar Khan was murdered on 23 January 1789, which started a four-month civil war between several Zand princes who fought for succession to the throne. In May Jafar Khan's son Lotf Ali Khan emerged the victor in this civil war.[27] Lotf Ali Khan fled to Bushehr and managed to recruit the local chiefs of Dashestan to his side. Lotf Ali was able to march against Seyd Morad Khan on 22 April and enter Shiraz on 8 May.[15]

It was also during this period that Agha Mohammad Khan was enthroned (however still not crowned) and named his nephew Baba Khan (who would later be known as Fath-Ali Shah Qajar) as his heir.[6] Thus 1789 is marked as the start of his reign.

Personality, appearance, and evaluation

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Agha Mohammad Khan's castration at the age of six left him permanently damaged, both physically and mentally. His body was sick and weak, although he attempted to hide his frailty. He had epilepsy and fell unconscious for three days in 1790/91 due to a stroke. Due to his small stature, he could be mistaken for a young boy from a far enough distance. This seemingly annoyed him to a great extent, especially if a person kept looking at him.[11] He also had a high-pitched voice and deep facial wrinkles.[58] He was interested in hunting and literature. He would have the Shahnameh read aloud to him while in bed.[11]

Agha Mohammad Khan is remembered for his cruelty and vindictiveness. The violence he suffered as a child, the violent deaths of his father and grandfather in the struggle for power, and the violence that characterized 18th-century Iran have been cited as possible explanations for his behavior.[58] Gavin Hambly writes that before the killing of his loyal brother Jafar Qoli there was "little in Āghā Muḥammad Khān's career to suggest that he was more ferocious or brutal than his contemporaries" and suggests that the incident "may have determined Āghā Muḥammad Khān's later attitudes to those around him."[29] After the murder of Jafar Qoli and the blinding of another brother, Mostafa Qoli, Agha Mohammad reportedly said, "I have shed all this blood, that the boy Baba Khan [future Fath Ali Shah] may reign in peace."[59] According to John R. Perry, his acts of cruelty "can usually be interpreted as politic or exemplary, to terrorize the disaffected (as at Kermān), or to ensure unquestioning obedience". However, he was often "gratuitously vindictive",[60] and his acts of violence were sometimes irrational.[61] For example, on one occasion he became drunk and shot his secretary for no reason,[60] and on another occasion he ordered the castration of one of Lotf Ali Khan's sons immediately after seeing a coin struck in the latter's name.[61]

Agha Mohammad Khan has also been described as a resolute, energetic, ambitious and intelligent ruler. Perry writes that he "usually directed even his least praiseworthy qualities towards the achievement of his aims"; unlike some of his near-contemporaries like Zaki Khan Zand or Nader Shah, he was "able to harness—and where necessary subordinate—his passions to long-term dynastic interests. This is evident in his conciliation of his Yūḵārībāš enemies, his careful provision for the succession, and his concern for administrative detail."[60] According to Maziar Behrooz, he was not an especially outstanding military leader like Nader Shah or Timur, but his "ability to combine the use of force alongside diplomacy and co-optation" is evidence of his leadership.[62] He is credited with finally uniting Iran, in its modern borders, under a single ruler, allowing it to survive the turmoil of the 19th and early 20th centuries.[60]

Government

[edit]

The bureaucracy

[edit]

The bureaucracy remained small during the reign of Agha Mohammad Shah—apart from the grand vizier, the leading figures of the administration were the chief revenue officer (mustaufī) and the muster-master (lashkarnevīs) of the army.[63] Only one person occupied each post during Agha Mohammad Shah's reign; Hajji Ebrahim, who served as grand vizier; Mirza Ismail, who served as the chief revenue officer, and Mirza Asad-Allah Nuri, who served as muster-master.[64] Since Agha Mohammad Shah was primarily busy with his military expeditions, his court was constantly his camp, and Hajji Ebrahim, along with other officials, usually participated in his campaigns.[64]

[edit]
Flag of Iran during the reign of Agha Mohammad Shah.

During Agha Mohammad Shah's reign, provincial administration followed the same model of the Safavid one; beglerbegis were appointed to govern provinces. A city was under the rule of a kalantar and darugha, while its quarters was under the rule of the kadkhuda.[65] Governorship of provinces went for the most part to tribal chieftains—this was later changed by Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, who appointed many of his relatives as governors.[63]

Military

[edit]

Agha Mohammad Shah was more of a military leader than politician, and was known for his determined sovereignty, instead of a charismatic one. His military prowess was highly noticeable—Malcolm's evaluation, which was written some years after his death, says the following: "His army was inured to fatigue, and regularly paid; he had introduced excellent arrangement into all its Departments, and his known severity occasioned the utmost alacrity and promptness in the execution of orders, and had he lived a few more years, it is difficult to conjecture the progress of his arms."

The Scottish traveller James Baillie Fraser also says the following thing about him: "Agha Mohammad had likewise the talent of forming good and brave troops. His active and ambitious disposition kept his army constantly engaged; and they acquired a veteran hardihood and expertness, that rendered them superior to any other Asiatic troops."[66]

Construction

[edit]

Agha Mohammad Shah did not construct or repair much during his reign, due to the campaigns and battles which occupied his time. In Tehran, he ordered the creation of a mosque named the Masjed-e Shah (meaning "the Shah's mosque"), while in Mashhad he ordered the reparation of the Imam Reza shrine. In Astarabad, he repaired (or fortified) the walls, emptied the ditch, built several buildings, one of them being a palace for the governor. Furthermore, he also improved the overall condition of the city.[67] He did something similar in Babol, Ashraf, and Sari. Of all these constructions and reparations, his best and most lasting achievement is debatably making Tehran his capital, which to this day is the country's capital and largest city.

Family

[edit]

Agha Mohammad had three wives:

  • Golbakht Khanom, a Turkoman from Yamut; married Fath-Ali Shah Qajar afterwards[68]
  • Maryam Khanom, a Jew from Mazandaran; married Fath-Ali Shah Qajar after his death[69]
  • Asiya Khanom, daughter of Mohammad Khan Ezzeddinlu Qajar, former wife of Hossein Qoli Khan Qajar, and mother of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar[70]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ In contemporary Persian, aqa is a regular term of address for men, equivalent to English mister. Maziar Behrooz rejects Saeed Nafisi's assertion that the two terms were not distinguished in spelling in the original Turkic.[10]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "پاسخ به یک سؤال تاریخی آقامحمدخان یا آغامحمدخان؟". www.cgie.org.ir (in Persian). Archived from the original on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "The Reunification of Iran and the Reign of Aqa Muhammad Shah Qajar | British Institute of Persian Studies". Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  3. ↑ "Āghā Moḥammad Khān | Qajar Dynasty, Persian Empire, Reformer | Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 May 2025. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  4. ↑ Behrooz 2023, pp. 24–25.
  5. 1 2 Fukasawa, Katsumi; Kaplan, Benjamin J.; Beaurepaire, Pierre-Yves (2017). Religious Interactions in Europe and the Mediterranean World: Coexistence and Dialogue from the 12th to the 20th Centuries. Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 280. ISBN 9781138743205.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Perry 1984, pp. 602–605.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Hambly 1991, p. 112.
  8. ↑ Ghani 2001, p. 1.
  9. ↑ Hambly 1991, pp. 110–111.
  10. 1 2 Behrooz 2023, pp. 11–12, 176.
  11. 1 2 3 Negahban 2008.
  12. 1 2 3 Hambly 1991, pp. 112–113.
  13. ↑ Perry 2011, pp. 561–564.
  14. 1 2 3 Hambly 1991, p. 114.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fasāʹī, Ḥasan ibn Ḥasan (1972). History of Persia under Qajar rule. Internet Archive. New York, Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-03197-4.
  16. 1 2 Hambly 1991, p. 115.
  17. 1 2 Bournoutian 2021, pp. 14–15.
  18. ↑ Hambly 1991, pp. 115–116.
  19. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 116.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Hambly 1991, p. 117.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Shahnavaz, Parinaz (1982). Struggle for supremacy between the Zands and the Qajars, 1193-1209 A.H. / 1779-1794 A.D. : a society in transition (PhD). University of Edinburgh.
  22. ↑ Walcher, Heidi (15 December 2006). "ISFAHAN viii. QAJAR PERIOD". Encyclopedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Hambly 1991, p. 118.
  24. ↑ Daryaee 2012, p. 320.
  25. 1 2 Hambly 1991, p. 119.
  26. 1 2 Hambly 1991, p. 120.
  27. 1 2 3 Hambly 1991, p. 121.
  28. ↑ Daryaee 2012, p. 397.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 Hambly 1991, p. 122.
  30. ↑ Amanat 1997a, pp. 66–71.
  31. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 123.
  32. 1 2 Floor, Willem (2007). The Persian Gulf: Rise of the Gulf Arabs, The Politics of Trade on the Persian Littoral 1747-1792. Mage Publishers. pp. 308–309. ISBN 978-1933823188.
  33. 1 2 3 4 Hambly 1991, p. 124.
  34. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 126.
  35. ↑ Bournoutian 2016, pp. 107–108.
  36. ↑ Hambly 1992, p. 126. sfn error: no target: CITEREFHambly1992 (help)
  37. ↑ Fisher 1991, pp. 95–96.
  38. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 127.
  39. ↑ Fisher 1991, pp. 328–329.
  40. ↑ Hambly 1991, pp. 126–127.
  41. 1 2 Tapper 1997, p. 122.
  42. 1 2 3 4 Donald Rayfield (2013).Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia Reaktion Books, ISBN 1780230702 p. 255
  43. ↑ Ḥasan-e Fasāʼi, Fārsnāma-ye Nāṣeri, tr. Busse, p. 66
  44. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 128.
  45. ↑ Kalistrat Salia. History of the Georgian nation N. Salia, 1983. University of Wisconsin – Madison p. 351
  46. ↑ Lang, David Marshall (1962), A Modern History of Georgia, p. 38. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
  47. ↑ Malcolm, Sir John (1829), The History of Persia from the Most Early Period to the Present Time, pp. 189–191. London: John Murray.
  48. ↑ Hambly, p. 128. sfn error: no target: CITEREFHambly (help)
  49. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 129.
  50. 1 2 3 4 Hambly 1991, p. 130.
  51. ↑ Noelle-Karimi, Christine (2014). The Pearl in Its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries). Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. ISBN 978-3-7001-7202-4.
  52. ↑ Axworthy 2008, p. 144.
  53. ↑ Dalrymple, William; Anand, Anita (2017). Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63557-077-9.
  54. 1 2 Fisher 1991, p. 329.
  55. ↑ Amanat 1997b, p. 12.
  56. 1 2 3 Cyrus Ghani (2001). Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power. I.B. Tauris. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-86064-629-4.
  57. ↑ Axworthy 2008.
  58. 1 2 Behrooz 2023, pp. 9–10.
  59. ↑ Behrooz 2023, p. 10.
  60. 1 2 3 4 Perry 1984.
  61. 1 2 Hambly 1991, p. 125.
  62. ↑ Behrooz 2023, p. 9.
  63. 1 2 Bakhash 1983, pp. 462–466.
  64. 1 2 Hambly 1991, p. 139.
  65. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 140.
  66. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 135.
  67. ↑ Hambly 1991, p. 142.
  68. ↑ Ashraf, Assef (2024). Making and Remaking Empire in Early Qajar Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-009-36155-2.
  69. ↑ Beck, Lois; Nashat, Guity (2004). Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republic. University of Illinois Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-252-02937-0.
  70. ↑ "Asiyah Khanum". Women's World in Qajar Iran. Retrieved 9 August 2025.

Sources

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