| Tâdj ol-Molouk | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Tadj ol-Mulouk,c. 1926–1941 | |
| Queen consort of Iran | |
| Tenure | 15 December 1925 – 16 September 1941 |
| Born | Nimtaj Ayromlou[1] (1896-03-17)17 March 1896 Baku,Russian Empire (now inAzerbaijan) |
| Died | 10 March 1982(1982-03-10) (aged 85) Acapulco, Mexico |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | Princess Shams Mohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza |
| House | Pahlavi (by marriage) |
| Father | Teymur Khan Ayromlou |
| Mother | Malek os-Soltan[2] |
Tâdj ol-Molouk (Persian:تاجالملوک; 17 March 1896 – 10 March 1982) wasQueen of Iran as the second wife ofReza Shah, founder of thePahlavi dynasty andShah of Iran between 1925 and 1941. The title she was given after becoming queen means "Crown of the Kings" in thePersian language. She was the first queen in Iran after theMuslim conquest in the seventh century to have participated in public royal representation, and she played a major role in thekashf-e hijab (ban of the veil) in 1936.
She was the daughter ofBrigadier GeneralTeymūr Khan Ayromlou,[3] of the TurkicAyrum tribe, and wife Malek os-Soltan.
Her marriage with Reza Khan took place in 1916. It was arranged and proved an advantage in the military career of Reza Khan at the time, due to the connections of her father, enabling him to advance in the Cossack hierarchy. Together, they had four children:Shams,Mohammad Reza, the last Shah of Iran, and his twin sisterAshraf, andAli Reza.[4]
On 23 February 1921, Reza Khan took power in acoup in Tehran.
On 15 December 1925, her spouse declared himselfShahanshah (King of Kings), and she was granted the titleMaleke (Queen).
Privately, Tadj ol-Molouk did not live with Reza Shah at this point, as he reportedly devoted his time to his other wives,Turan Amirsoleimani, and, from 1923,Esmat Dowlatshahi. Neither did she involve herself in politics on her own initiative. However, it was she who was given the position of Queen during his reign, which signified an important role in his policy on women. She was the first Queen of Iran to have played a public role, and to have performed an official position out in public society.
Her role as a queen participating in public representational duties had a great importance within the new policy of women's role in Iran, as it was the policy of her husband to increase women's participation in society as a method of modernization, in accordance with the example of Turkey.[5]
In 1928, the queen attended the Fatima Masumeh Shrine during her pilgrimage in Qom wearing a veil which did not cover her completely as well as showing her face, for which she was harshly criticised by a cleric. As a response, Reza Shah publicly beat the cleric who had criticised the queen the next day.[6] The reform to allow female teachers and students not to veil, as well as allowing female students to study alongside men, were all reforms opposed and criticised by the Shia clergy.[7]
During the reign of her husband she played an important role in the abolition of the veil in Iran: theKashf-e hijab. The unveiling of women had a huge symbolic importance to achieve women's participation in society, and the shah introduced the reform gradually so as not to cause unrest: while women teachers were encouraged to unveil in 1933 and schoolgirls and female students in 1935, the official declaration of unveiling were made on 8 January 1936, and the queen and her daughters were given an important role in this event.[5] That day, Reza Shah attended the graduation ceremony of the Tehran Teacher's College with the queen and their two daughters unveiled and dressed in modern clothes, without veils.[5] The queen handed out diplomas, while the shah spoke about half the population being disregarded, and told women that the future was now in their hands.[5] This was the first time an Iranian queen showed herself in public. Afterwards, the Shah had pictures of his wife and daughters published, and unveiling enforced throughout Iran.[5]
Tadj ol-Molouk continued to participate in public representation in this fashion when obliged to by her husband and thus played an indirect role in his policy, but she never made any initiatives of her own and stayed out of political involvement. In 1939, she attended the wedding of her son toFawzia of Egypt. The relationship to Fawzia was not, however, described as a good one.
On 16 September 1941, Reza Shah was deposed and exiled. She did not follow him to his exile inMauritius, and later South Africa, instead choosing to remain at the court of her son in Iran. A year after Reza Shah's death, she marriedGholamhossein Saheb Divani, the son of a prominent family fromShiraz who was her junior.[3] He was later elected to theNational Consultative Assembly.[3]
She held significant influence over her son and reportedly dominated the royal household.[3] The conflict between Tadj ol-Molouk and her daughter-in-lawQueen Fawzia attracted attention at the time, and reportedly participated in the factors which lead to the departure of Fawzia to Egypt and the dissolution of the royal marriage in 1948. She was acknowledged to have had a deeply devoted relationship toPrincess Shahnaz.
In 1950, Tadj ol-Molouk participated in arranging the marriage between her son the Shah andSoraya Esfandiari-Bakhtiari. She left Iran with most of the royal household during the premiership ofMossadegh when the latter asked the Shah to expel them from Iran.[8] They returned to Iran after thefall of Mossadegh in 1953.
During her son's reign, Tadj ol-Molouk did not normally participate in royal representation, in contrast to her daughters and daughter-in-law, nor did she participate much in charity. She did not fully attend the coronation of the shah on 26 October 1967, attending only the reception following it rather than the coronation itself. She did arrange two receptions in her palace annually: one to celebrate the birthday of her eldest grandson, and one to celebrate the fall of Mossadegh. When the health of the shah was beginning to deteriorate in 1971, this was not admitted, and the official reason for physicians to visit the palace was for the sake of the elderly Tadj ol-Molouk.
Beforethe 1979 revolution, Tadj ol-Molouk was sent by Mohammad Reza Shah to Princess Shams Pahlavi's house inBeverly Hills.[9] She arrived inLos Angeles on 30 December 1978 aboard anImperial Iranian Air Force Boeing 747.[10] Soon after her arrival, on 2 January 1979, Iranian students in the city attacked the house and attempted to burn it.[9][11] Then she and her daughter took refuge at theSunnylands estate inPalm Springs owned byWalter Annenberg, former US ambassador to the United Kingdom.[9]
She died inAcapulco, Mexico, on 10 March 1982, seven days before her 86th birthday.[12]
Media related toTadj ol-Molouk at Wikimedia Commons| Iranian royalty | ||
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| Preceded by | Queen consort of Iran 1925–1941 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
