 A 19th century photo ofDarab Mirza Qajar, a Qajar tribesman. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Over 35,000[1] (1994) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Iran | |
| Languages | |
| Persian Azerbaijani[2] | |
| Religion | |
| Twelver Shia Islam[3] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Oghuz Turks |
TheQajars (Persian:ایل قاجار,romanized: Ile Ǧâjâr;Azerbaijani:قاجارلار,romanized: Qacarlar)[a] are a clan of theBayat tribe of theOghuz Turks who lived variously, with other tribes, in the area that is nowArmenia,Azerbaijan and northwesternIran.
By the end of theSafavid era, the Qajars had split into several factions.[4] These included theZiyādoghlu (Ziādlu), associated with the area ofGanja andYerevan, as well as the Qoyunlu (Qāvānlu), and Davālu (Devehlu) the latter two associated with the northern areas of contemporary Iran.[4]
The Qajars were one of the originalTurkomanQizilbash tribes that emerged and spread inAsia Minor around 10th and 11th centuries.[5] They later supplied power to theSafavids since this dynasty's earliest days.[5] Numerous members of the Qajar tribe held prominent ranks in the Safavid state. In 1794, a Qajar chieftain,Agha Mohammad Khan, a member of the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajars, founded theQajar dynasty which replaced theZand dynasty in Iran. He launched his campaign from his power base south of theCaspian Sea, capturing its capitalIsfahan in 1785.[6] A year later,Tehran accepted Mohammed's authority.[6]
According toOlson et al., which was published in 1994 and specifically deals with the ethnography of theRussian Empire andSoviet Union, the Qajars were historically a Turkic tribe that lived in Armenia. They resettled in the region of Azerbaijan during the 17th and 18th centuries. Olson considers them to be a tribal subgroup ofIranian Azerbaijanis.[1] American anthropologist Richard Weeks also notes that the Azerbaijanis of Iran, depending on their place of residence, use the designation Qajar.[7]
Olson et al. adds that in the 1980s the Qajar population exceeded 35,000 people, most of whom lived in Iran.[1]