History of Iran - Kajar Dynasty

[Neal Robbins]

In 1747 Nadir Shah was assassinated. He was the reigning king of the Afshar dynasty. Nadir Shah had founded the Afshar dynasty by overthrowing the Safavis.
Nadir Shah's nephew Adil Shah became king. His first act as ruler was to execute Nadir's sons. That was to prevent them from attempting to take power.
Adil Shah inherited a messy situation when he became king of Iran. Two groups, the Zand (They were Kurdish.) and the Kajars (a Turkish group) were fighting for control of Iran.
The Zand had sided with Nadir in his wars with the Ottoman Turks. But he had not repaid them with kindness. By 1732 most of them had been relocated to Khorasan in northwest Iran. The Zand chief Karim Beg (later called Karim Khan) and his soldiers defected from the army after Adil Shah was made king of Iran. The Zand returned to their homeland and formed ties with the Bakhtiaris, who were another tribal group. In 1751 they were bold enough to install a boy named Ismail as king in Isfahan. Ismail was of the Safavi family whose rule had been ended by Nadir Shah. The boy was proclaimed as Shah Ismail II. Karim broke ties with Ali Mardan, the Bakhtiari chief and defeated him in battle. He made himself regent.
The Kajars, who were an ethnic Turkish group in Iran, also had ambitions to take power. There were two main branches of the Kajars:

Develu clan - Muhammad Hosayn Khan was its leader. He was not a trustworthy person. Muhammad Hosayn Khan had encouraged Nadir's son Reza-Qoli to execute Tahmasp (the last Safavi king) and his sons. Muhammad Hosayn Khan had carried out these grisly deeds himself. This had enabled Nadir to establish the Afshar dynasty. Yet when Nadir Shah was assassinated, Muhammad Hosayn Khan was one of the conspirators.

Qoyunlu clan - Muhammad Hasan Khan was the leader of this branch. He had engaged in a blood feud with Nadir and was also an enemy of the Develu clan. Muhammad Hasan Khan allied himself with various Turcoman tribes and gained control of much of northern Iran.

After 1752 the Zand and the Kajars were in an all-out war with each other. By 1763 the Zand had won. They ruled all of Iran, except for Khorasan. Karim (He was now called Karim Khan.) let Adil Shah have Khorasan. Karim Khan made Shiraz his capital. He ruled there until his death in 1779.

Neal Robbins

P.S. Nadir Shah was assassinated by his own officers while on a campaign against some rebellious Kurds. Nadir had become very paranoid and executed many people whom he suspected (often without evidence) of plotting against him.

[Neal Robbins]

Karim Khan ruled Iran from 1763 to 779. So long as he was in power, things went well for Iran. The economy prospered for several reasons. One was that Karim Khan allowed the English East India Company to establish a trading post at the port city of Bushire. The taxation system was reorganized in a way that taxes were levied fairly. The judicial systen was fair and generally humane. Capital punishment was rarely implemented. But after Karim Khan died, problems developed.
Karim Khan's sons, Abdul Fath Khan (the elder) and Muhammad Ali Khan, ruled jointly in 1779. Karim's brother Sadek Khan took power in the late part of that year. He ruled until 1781 and had a well earned reputation for corruption and mischief. In 1781 Ali Morad Khan raided the capital of Shiraz and killed Sadek. Ali Morad Khan ruled until 1785. Then Jafar Khan (son of Sadek Khan) proclaimed himself king and ruled until his death in 1789. His son Loft Ali came to power in that year. He ascended the throne at a bad time. Dark clouds were on the horizon for Iran.
The Kajars had not given up the idea of ruling Iran. Agha Muhammad Khan and his brother Hussein Gholi Khan were Kajar men who had been held as hostages by the Zands. Agha Muhammad Khan and his brother escaped and made their way north to where their tribe lived. They gathered a large force and began a military campaign. Agha Muhammad Khan captured Mazandaran. He moved south and took Qazvin. His brother took Gilan and decided that he should be the Kajar chief. Agha Muhammad Khan slew his rebellious brother and then fought a major war with the Zands. Loft Ali met him in battle outside the city of Shiraz. Things went badly for Loft Ali in the fight. Ebrahim Khan Kalantar (whom Loft Ali had left in charge of the troops inside) refused to open the gates to Loft Ali. Loft Ali and his followers fled to Kirman, but the Kajars took the city. They slaughtered many of the residents and captured Loft Ali. Loft Ali was tortured and eventually executed.
Thus the Zand dynasty fell. It was the only Kurdish dynasty to rule Iran. The Kajar rule was established with Agha Muhammad Khan as the first ruler of that notorious dynasty. During the period of Kajar rule, things generally went badly for Iran. Most of the Kajar kings (except for Fath Ali Shah) were cruel, corrupt, or inept.
The Kajars ruled Iran until 1925. In that year Reza Shah Pahlavi (father of the late Shah) had Ahmet Shah deposed. That ended the rule of the Kajars and began the rule of the Pahlavis.

Neal Robbins

P.S. Karim Khan conducted military campaigns against the Ottoman Turks in Iraq and gained control of Basra. He also fought a war with Azad Khan in Azerbaijan. As a result, Karim Khan brought Azerbaijan under Iranian rule.
Many architectural achievements were made during Karim Khan's rule. He had the Vakil fortress and several mosques built in Shiraz. In addition, Karim Khan had a palace constructed in Tehran.

[Neal Robbins]

In a previous message I discussed the fall of the Zand dynasty. After killing Luft Ali in 1794, Agha Muhammed Khan had effectively established the Kajar dynasty. He made Tehran the capital of Iran. In 1796 Agha Muhammed Khan occupied all of Khorasan. The Zands had let the Afshars (whom they had overthrown) have Khorasan, but Agha Muhammed Khan had no feelings of benevolence toward the Afshars. In 1796 he had himself crowned king of Iran.
The Caucasus country of Georgia was a place that Agha Muhammed Khan thought should be under Iranian rule. In 1797 he led a campaign to take Georgia, but was killed. Agha met his death in a strange way. He was taking a nap and three of his servants were quarreling. The noise awakened him and he was angry at the men. Agha decided that they should be executed, but could not do it on that particular day, since it was Juma (Friday, the Muslim holy day). He told the servants that they would be executed the next day. After he went back to bed, the servants decided to kill him. They went and stabbed him to death while he was sleeping.
Agha Muhammed Khan had a short and very unpopular reign. His son Fath Ali Shah became king and had a much longer period of rule. Fath Ali Shah is generally regarded as having been the best of the Kajar kings of Iran. He was more fair and competent as a ruler.

Neal Robbins

[Neal Robbins]

As I mentioned in a previous posting, Agha Muhammed Khan, the first Kajar king of Iran, was killed by his servants. This was because he had promised to execute them for disturbing his sleep.
Agha's nephew Fath Ali Shah became king of Iran in 1797. Fath Ali had been born in 1762. He had some difficulties to contend with in terms of foreign affairs. Two wars with the Russians cost Iran a considerable amount of territory. The first war began in 1804 and ended in 1813. Fath Ali tried to get help from the French, but Napoleon signed the treaty of Tilsit with Russia in 1807. The treaty of Gulistan (signed in a village called Gulistan in northwest Azerbaijan) ceded Georgia, Daghestan, and the Khanates of Azerbaijan to Russia. However, the treaty worked to Iran's advantage in some ways. In ruling Georgia and Daghestan, Iran had often had to deal with troublesome rebellions. The Russians would find out that ruling Daghestan and Georgia was not so pleasant.
The second war with Iran began in 1825 and ended in 1828. Iran signed the treaty of Turkmanchai (at the village of Turkmanchai in Azerbaijan) in 1828. Iran had to give up most of Armenia to Russia.
Fath Ali Shah was very much a patron of the arts. He collected numerous paintings and had them put in his palace. Many artists were hired to paint portraits of Fath Ali and other members of the royal family. Fath Ali had an appreciation for Western as well as Middle Eastern art.
Fath Ali Shah had a great fascination with the culture of ancient Iran. He greatly admired Khosroe I, a king of the ancient Sassanian dynasty. In fact, Fath Ali had some relief sculptures carved of himself dressed like a Sassanian king and riding a horse. The carvings were done in a style that imitated the art of the Sassanians. They were done in several places, including Chashma-i-Ali and Taq-i-Bustan. At one point Fath Ali became involved with events to the east in Afghanistan. At that time Afghanistan was ruled by the Durrani dynasty. A Durrani ruler named Zaman (He had come to the throne in 1793.) had imperialistic ambitions. He intended to annex a considerable amount of territory in India. The British, who already had colonial holdings in India, did not like that. Zaman led an army into India, but the British pulled a trick that Zaman had not anticipated. They convinced Fath Ali Shah to put pressure on Zaman to back off. Fath Ali did more than what the British expected of him. He provided money and troops to Mahmud, the governor of the Afghan city of Herat. Mahmud was a brother of Zaman, but also a rival for power in Afghanistan.
Aided by Iranian as well as Afghan troops, Mahmud took Kandahar and marched on Kabul. Zaman heard about it and hurried back to Afghanistan. He was captured by Mahmud and imprisoned. As a result Mahmud became ruler of Afghanistan.
Helping the British was not the primary motive of Fath Ali Shah. He knew that if Zaman managed to increase the size of his domain (for example, by taking a portion of India) he might eventually decide to invade Iran. Therefore Fath Ali Shah did not want Afghanistan to become too powerful.
Fath Ali Shah was prone to lavish spending at times. However, he did not commit terrible atrocities against his people. His uncle and predecessor Agha Muhammed Khan had committed terrible atrocities. From an overall perspective Fath Ali Shah was a better ruler than Agha Muhammed Khan.

Neal Robbins

[Neal Robbins]

Muhammed Shah was the third ruler of the Kajar dynasty. He came to power after the death of Fath Ali Shah. The reign of Muhammed Shah was during the years 1834-1848. During his reign, Iran became involved in a major war with Afghanistan. Muhammed Shah led an invasion of Afghanistan, which resulted in much bloodshed.
Before invading Afghanistan, Muhammed Shah had to put down some revolts in the province of Khorasan. Muhammed Shah had several motives in going to war with Afghanistan. One of them had to do with Khorasan. Rebels in Khorasan had received support from Herat (the capital of Afghanistan at the time) and Muhammed Shah wanted to put a stop to it.[Note- Muhammed Shah had made an unsuccessful attempt to take Herat in 1833.] He also felt that capturing Herat would secure the eastern border of Iran. The Turcumen would be hesitant to attack Iran. Khiva and Bokhara would not be so likely to threaten Iran's northeast. At least that was what Muhammed Shah thought.
The British were opposed to such an invasion. If Iran were to take Herat and dominate Afghanistan, British ruled India might be threatened. The British minister tried to talk Muhammed Shah out of invading Afghanistan. However, Muhammed Shah did not listen to him. One reason was that the Russian minister, Count Ivan Simonich, made it clear that Russia was supportive of the idea of invading Afghanistan. He even promised aid and it is possible that the Russians gave some financial assistance.
In June of 1836 Muhammed Shah announced that he was going to invade Afghanistan. A year later, on June 23, 1837, he rode out of Tehran with a small number of troops. They linked up with other Iranian army units on the road which led to Afghanistan. When the troops were consolidated, the force numbered about 30,000 men.
The march was a long one; by October 28, the Iranian army had reached Torbat-i-Jam, which was on the eastern frontier of Iran. The troops of Muhammed Shah crossed the border and entered Afghanistan. They finally came to Herat on November 23. The leader in Herat, Yar Muhammed Khan made it clear that he had no intention of surrendering. Muhammed Shah would have to take Herat by force.
Problems had arisen by now. There was a shortage of food for the Iranian troops and discipline was not very good. Muhammed Shah's officers were arguing over what to do. Some wanted to delay attacking Herat until they go the help that the Russians had promised.
Muhammed Shah began the siege of Herat. He soon found that the Afghans were determined to defend their city. One thing that may have helped the morale of the Afghans was the arrival of a British officer, Lieutenant Eldred Pottinger. Lieutenant Pottinger was supposedly there on a fact finding mission. Pottinger may have told the Afghans that they would receive help from the British.
Muhammed Shah's army had many problems. Lack of food was one; the Afghans had harvested their crops before the arrival of the Iranian troops. The bitter cold winter was another factor that made things difficult for the Muhammed Shah's force.
Things went from bad to worse for Muhammed Shah. The Russians decided not to send troops to aid him. The British sent word to Muhammed Shah that they would go to war with him if he did not withdraw from Afghanistan. An officer named Colonel Stoddart delivered the message on August 11, 1838.
At this point Muhammed Shah knew that he had to withdraw from Afghanistan. He had to wait until September 9th to do so; a major reason was that he had a shortage of pack animals to carry baggage.
The people of Herat had suffered from the siege. By the time Muhammed Shah's army left, there was very little food in the city. Yar Muhammed sold some of his own people as slaves to the Turcumen to raise revenue.
Muhammed Shah died in 1848. He was succeeded by Nasir Uddin Shah, who was the fourth ruler of the Kajar dynasty of Iran.

Neal Robbins

[Neal Robbins]

Nasir uddin Shah ascended the throne of Iran in 1848. His reign would last until 1896. It was a long period of rule, but not a popular one. Nasir uddin Shah did many things to worsen the condition of Iran.
During the first four years of Nasir uddin Shah's reign, some positive things happened. He had a capable prime minister named Amir Kabir. Amir Kabir founded the Dar al-Funun. It was an institute for training military officers, doctors, engineers, and scientists. Amir Kabir also laid the groundwork for some important military and administrative reforms. But in 1852 Nasir uddin Shah had Amir Kabir executed. It was a serious mistake.
Problems arose on the religious front. A man formed a sect known as the Babists and gave himself the title of "Bab". [Note - Bab is an Arabic word that means gate or door.] The preaching of the Bab was controversial, for he deemed himself a prophet. [Note - The Bab's name was Sayyid Mirza Ali Muhammed.] Nasir uddin Shah had the Bab executed in 1850.
However, that did not end the movement. In 1863 a man who called himself Baha'ullah proclaimed himself to be a prophet. His name was Mirza Hussein Ali. The Babist movement became the Bahai faith. Nasir uddin Shah exiled Baha'ullah to Turkey.
There were some good points to Nasir uddin Shah's reign. He commissioned artists to do portraits and landscape scenes. Some of them made illustrations for the state newspaper, which was called the Ruznama-i-Vaqayi Ittigaqia. Sani al-Mulk completed a manuscript of the classic anthology called A Thousand and One Nights.
In 1856-1857 Nasir uddin Shah's army invaded Afghanistan. He took the city of Herat, but had to withdraw. British warships appeared in the Persian Gulf and Nasir uddin-Shah did not want a major war with the British.
Nasir uddin Shah made himself very unpopular by granting concessions to foreign investors. Many Iranians believed that the acts would bring Iran under the control of European nations. For example, Nasir uddin Shah gave Baron Julius Reuter concessions for mining, railroad, and banking companies. Revolts and riots occurred; these events caused Nasir uddin Shah to repeal the concessions.
In 1872 some Russian military personnel were brought into Iran to train a Cossack regiment for the army of Nasir uddin Shah. He sought to have better relations with Russia.
In 1889 the Imperial Bank of Persia opened. It was British controlled and printed Iran's first bank notes. Nasir uddin Shah granted a concession to a British tobacco company called Regie in 1890. This gave Regie the exclusive rights to sell and export any tobacco raised in Iran. The Shiite Muslim clergy raised strong opposition to this concession. Nasir uddin Shah was forced to repeal the concession in 1892. One of the most outspoken members of the movement against the tobacco concession was a man named Al-Afghani.
In 1896 Nasir uddin Shah was assassinated at the instigation of Al-Afghanin. Muzaffar uddin Shah came to the throne.

Neal Robbins

[Neal Robbins]

Muzaffar al-din Shah was born in 1853. He came to power after his father Nasir uddin Shah was assassinated. Muzaffar al-din Shah had several men executed in Tehran for being involved in the plot to kill his father. They included Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani, Shaikh Ahmad Ruhi, and Mirza Hasan Khabir al-Mulk.
Muzaffar al-din Shah was not a very competent ruler; he relied on his chancellor to do much of the administration. Iran continued to fall under foreign domination. In 1901 oil concessions were granted to Willian d'Archy. Muzaffar al-din Shah made three visits to Europe and had to borrow money from Russia.
One interesting thing which happened during Muzaffar's reign was the introduction of cinema into Iran. Muzaffar al-din visited France in 1900 and saw a movie. He was impressed by it and decided that it would be a good idea for Iran to have movies.
The Iranian people began to clamor for governmental reform. They demanded a constitution and a parliament. Muzaffar al-din Shah was not a strong ruler, but he was intelligent enough to see the light. He granted a constitution and guaranteed a parliament. It was on August 5th, 1906 that he made the edict and thus authorized these changes. The Majlis (parliament) opened on October 7, 1906. Muzaffar al-din died on January 4, 1907. Muhammed Ali Shah became the next king.

Neal Robbins

[Neal Robbins]

Muhammad Ali Shah came to the throne in 1907. His reign was a short one. He opposed the Majlis, i.e. the parliament and was ousted from power in 1909. His son Ahmet Shah became the new king on July 16, 1909. Ahmet Shah was the last ruler of the Kajar dynasty.
Ahmet Shah has been referred to as an inept ruler. But in all fairness, a certain point should be made. Ahmet Shah inherited a huge mess that his predecessors had created. Iran was weak and under foreign domination when Ahmet Shah became king.
In 1917 British troops invaded Iran. They intended to use Iranian territory as a springboard for an attack on Russia. This was because the British opposed the communist government in Russia. Iran was in a very bad condition and Ahmet Shah was not able to do much about it.
In 1921 a man named Reza Pahlavi led a coup which put Ahmet Shah out of power. Ahmet Shah and his family went into exile in 1923; they knew that it would not be safe for them to remain in Iran. They did not want to suffer the same fate as the Romanov royal family of Russia.
On October 31, 1925 the Founders Assembly formally declared Reza Pahlavi to be the new shah. Iran now had a new dynasty, i.e. the Pahlavis. But there would be problems with them. That dynasty ended in 1979 when the Iranian revolution (led by the Ayatollah Khomeini) forced Muhammed Reza Pahlavi (the son of Reza Pahlavi) to step down from power and leave Iran. Thus the monarchy ended in Iran.

Neal Robbins

P.S. Ahmet Shah died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France in 1930.