Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (Persian:فتحعلىشاه قاجار,romanized: Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the secondShah ofQajar 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 theCaucasus, comprising what is nowadaysGeorgia,Dagestan,Azerbaijan, andArmenia, to theRussian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars of1804–1813 and1826–1828 and the resulting treaties ofGulistan andTurkmenchay.[5] These two treaties are closely tied to Fath-Ali Shah's legacy amongst Iranians, who often view him as a weak ruler.[6]
Fath-Ali Shah successfully revamped his realm from a mostly Turkic tribal khanship into a centralized and stable monarchy based on the old imperial design.[5] At the end of his reign, his difficult economic problems and military and technological liabilities took Iran to the verge of governmental disintegration, which was quickened by a consequent struggle for the throne after his death.[7]
Under Fath-Ali Shah, many visual portrayals of himself and his court were created in an effort to commend the crown. The notable ones includerock reliefs next to the ones erected under the pre-IslamicSasanian Empire (224–651) inRay,Fars andKermanshah. This was done so that he could represent himself as heir to the ancient Persian empire to his countryfolk and the generations that followed.[7]
He was born in May 1769 in the city ofDamghan, then under the governorship of his father. He was called Fath-Ali, a name borne by his prominent great-grandfather,Fath-Ali Khan Qajar. But he was mainly known by his second name of Baba Khan until his coronation in 1797. However, the Russians still called him Baba Khan until 1813, as they refused to recognize his rule.[8] He was the eldest son of Hossein Qoli Khan Qajar (the brother ofAgha Mohammad Khan Qajar) and the daughter of the Mohammad Agha Ezz al-Dinlu of the Ashaqa-bash branch of theQajar tribe. Due to Hossein Qoli Khan being suspected of plotting to rebel against theZand dynasty, Baba Khan (then aged five) was sent as a hostage to the court of the Zand rulerKarim Khan Zand (r. 1751–1779) inShiraz. There Baba Khan joined his uncle Agha Mohammad Khan, who was also a hostage at the court.[7]
Baba Khan later returned to Damghan (according to the 19th-century Iranian writerReza-Qoli Khan Hedayat, this took place in 1775), where he was witness to the conflict amongst the Davallu Qajar chiefs ofAstarabad, which ultimately led to the murder of his father by the Kuklan Turkmens in 1777. Baba Khan sought shelter with his uncleMorteza Qoli Khan Qajar in the village of Anzan (near Astarabad), where he stayed for two years. Following the death of Karim Khan in 1779, Baba Khan shifted his allegiance to Agha Mohammad Khan, who had returned toMazandaran and overpowered Morteza Qoli and two other brothers inBarforush. Albeit Agha Mohammad Khan had been castrated at a young age, he married Baba Khan's mother inSari and practically became his stepfather and guardian.[7]
In 1780, Baba Khan and Agha Mohammad Khan were captured in Baforush by the latter's brother Rezaqoli Khan Qajar, who was displeased of the favour that Baba Khan received by Agha Mohammad Khan. They were eventually released, and in 1781 Baba Khan seized Damghan from Qader Khan Arab Bestami, thus recovering his father's former domain. Baba Khan also captured and married Qader Khan's daughterBadr Jahan. In 1783, Baba Khan married his first Qajar wife,Asiya Khanom Devellu in Sari. The marriage was a political union organized by Agha Mohammad Khan to make peace with the Yokhari-bash branch of the Qajars, the clan of Asiya Khanom. Following Agha Mohammad Khan's accession to the throne atTehran on 21 March 1786, Baba Khan was designated as his heir and vice-regent.[7]
Baba Khan took part in his uncle's war with the Zands in southern Iran, where he in 1787 narrowly succeeded in defeating the governor ofYazd, Mohammad-Taqi Bafqi, who acknowledged Qajar suzerainty. Baba Khan then went toGilan to protect it against Qajar chiefs whose loyalty was questionable.[7]
Baba Khan was governor ofFars when his uncle was assassinated in 1797. Baba Khan then ascended the throne and used the name of Fath Ali Shah (with the word "shah" added to his name). He became suspicious of his chancellorEbrahim Khan Kalantar and ordered his execution. Hajji Ebrahim Khan had been chancellor to Zand andQajar rulers for some fifteen years.[citation needed] Much of his reign was marked by the resurgence of Persian arts and painting, as well as a deeply elaborate court culture with extremely rigid etiquette. In particular during his reign, portraiture and large-scale oil painting reached a height previously unknown under any other Islamic dynasty, largely due to his personal patronage.
Fath Ali also ordered the creation of much royal regalia, including coronation chairs; the "Takht-e Khurshīd" orSun Throne; the "Takht-e Nāderi" orNaderi Throne, which was also used by later kings; and the "Tāj-e Kiyāni" orKiani Crown, a modification of the crown of the same name created by his uncleAgha Mohammad Khan. The latter, like most of his regalia, was studded with a large number of pearls and gems.
In 1797, Fath Ali was given a complete set of theBritannica's 3rd edition, which he read completely; after this feat, he extended his royal title to include "Most Formidable Lord and Master of theEncyclopædia Britannica."[9] In 1803, Fath-Ali Shah appointed his cousinEbrahim Khan as the governor of theKerman province, which had been devastated during the reign of Agha Mohammad Khan.
In Khorasan, there would be a growing revolt led byNader Mirza, who would restore the Afsharid dynasty. The Shah's control was so limited in fact that an 1800–1801 tax register listed only Sabzevar and Neyshabur as paying taxes to the government, while the rest of the local Khorasani leaders paid no taxes to the state at all.[10]
During the early reign of Fath Ali Shah,Imperial Russia took control ofGeorgia, a territory whichIran had ruled intermittently since 1555 with thePeace of Amasya. Georgia, led byHeraclius II, had forged an alliance with Iran's rival, Russia, following theTreaty of Georgievsk. To punish his Georgian subjects, his uncle, Agha Mohammad Khan, had invaded andsacked Tbilisi, seeking to reestablish full Iranian suzerainty over Georgia, in which he succeeded. Even though the Russian garrisons in the city had to retreat, Iran did not manage to put back all of its needed garrisons over the country as Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated soon afterwards inShusha, following with Russia's act of annexation of those priorly-Iranian ruled parts of Georgia in 1801, after many Georgian embassies and a treaty. Also, not only was Georgia annexed butDagestan was also invaded, which had also been under Iranian rule since the early Safavid era. As it was seen as a direct intrusion into Iranian territory, Fath Ali Shah, determined to reassert Iranian hegemony over the whole region, declared war on Russia after GeneralPavel Tsitsianov attacked andstormed the city of Ganja, massacring many of its inhabitants and forcing many thousands to flee deeper within the Iranian domains. In 1804, Fath Ali Shah ordered the invasion ofGeorgia in order to regain it, under pressure from theShia clergy, who were urging a war against Russia. The war began with notable victories for the Iranians, but Russia shipped in advanced weaponry and cannons that disadvantaged the technologically inferior Qajar forces, who did not have the artillery to match. Russia continued with a major campaign against Iran; Iran asked for help from Britain on the grounds of a military agreement with that country (the military agreement was signed after the rise of Napoleon in France). However, Britain refused to assist Iran claiming that the military agreement concerned a French attack not Russian.
General Gardane, with colleaguesJaubert and Joanin, at the court of Fath-Ali Shah in 1808.
Iran had to ask for help from France, sending an ambassador toNapoleon and concluding aFranco-Persian alliance with the signature of theTreaty of Finkenstein. However, just when the French were ready to help Iran, Napoleon made peace with Russia. At this time,John Malcolm arrived in Iran and promised support but Britain later changed its mind and asked Iran to retreat. Though many years the war had been stale and located in various parts ofTranscaucasia, the peace with Napoleon enabled the Russians to increase their war efforts in the Caucasus against Iran. In early 1813, under GeneralPyotr Kotlyarevsky, the Russians successfullystormed Lankaran. Russian troops invaded Tabriz in 1813 and Iran was forced to sign theTreaty of Gulistan with Russia.
On account of consecutive defeats ofIran and after the fall ofLankaran on 1 January 1813, Fath Ali Shah, was forced to sign the disastrousTreaty of Gulistan. The text of treaty was prepared by a British diplomat;Sir Gore Ouseley; and was signed by Nikolai Fyodorovich Rtischev from the Russian side and Hajji Mirza Abol Hasan Khan from the Iranian side on 24 October 1813 in the village ofGulistan.
Between 1805 and 1816, Qajar rulers began invadingHerat in neighboringAfghanistan with small detachments. The Iranians were attempting to retake control of the city but were forced to abandon it due to Afghan uprisings.[12] In 1818 the Shah sent his sonMohammad Vali Mirza to capture the city but he was defeated at theBattle of Kafir Qala.
In 1826, 13 years after theTreaty of Gulistan, the Shah, on the advice of British agents and the utter dissatisfaction with the outcome of the previous war, decided to occupy the lost territories. Crown princeAbbas Mirza, head of the armies, invaded theTalysh Khanate andKarabakh khanate with an army of 35,000 on 16 July 1826. The first year of the war was very successful, and the Iranians managed to regain most of their lost territories of the 1804–1813 war, including the principal cities ofLenkoran,Quba, andBaku.[13] However the tide turned after the winter. In May 1827,Ivan Paskevich, Governor ofCaucasus, invadedEchmiadzin,Nakhichevan,Abbasabad and on 1 OctoberErivan. Fourteen days later, GeneralEristov enteredTabriz. In January 1828, when the Russians reached the shores ofLake Urmia,Abbas Mirza urgently signed theTreaty of Turkmenchay on 2 February 1828.
The Turkmenchay Treaty was signed on 21 February 1828 byHajji Mirza Abol Hasan Khan and GeneralIvan Paskevich. By this treaty theErivan khanate (most of present-dayArmenia, and also a small part ofEastern Anatolia),Nakhchivan khanate (most of the present-dayNakhchivan Autonomous Republic ofAzerbaijan), theTalysh Khanate (southeastern Azerbaijan), and theOrdubad andMughan came under the rule ofImperial Russia. By this treaty, Iran had lost all of its Caucasian territories comprising all ofTranscaucasia andDagestan to neighboring Imperial Russia. Iran furthermore pledged to pay Russia 10 Million in Gold, and in return Russia pledged to supportAbbas Mirza as heir to the Iranian throne after the death of Fath Ali Shah. The treaty also stipulated the resettlement of Armenians from Iran to the Caucasus, which also included an outright liberation of Armenian captives who were brought and had lived in Iran since 1804 or as far back as 1795.
Fath Ali later employed writers and painters[who?] to make a book about his wars with Russia, inspired by theShahnameh ofFerdowsi. This book, considered by many to be the most importantPersian book written in the Qajar period, is called theShahanshahnama.
When his favourite son and crown princeAbbas Mirza died on 25 October 1833, Fath Ali named his grandsonMohammed Mirza as his crown prince. Fath Ali died a year later, on 24 October 1834. He was buried in a tomb in theFatima Masumeh Shrine ofQom.[7]
He is instantly recognizable in all 25 known portraits – mainly due to his immense, deeply black beard, which reached well beneath his narrow waist. One of these portraits is being exhibited in the collection of theUniversity of Oxford.[14] Another one, by the artist,Mihr Ali, is atthe Brooklyn Museum.[15]
Besides eulogistic chronicles, the only real sources that allow us to judge his personality are those of British, French and Russian diplomats[citation needed]. These vary greatly: earlier in his reign they tend to portray him as vigorous, manly and highly intelligent. Later they begin to point out his extreme indolence and avarice.[16] The image of decadence was epitomised by the story that he had a specialharem slide of marble constructed. Every day he would lie on his back naked "as, one by one, naked harem beauties swooped down a slide, specially made for the sport, into the arms of their lord and master before being playfully dunked in a pool."[17][18]
Fath-Ali Shah used both the ancient Persian title ofshahanshah (King of Kings), i.e., Emperor, and theTurco-Mongol title ofkhaqan (khan ofkhans), thus representing himself as both ruler of the country and the tribes.[1]
Fath-Ali Shah was the last Qajar shah to dress in the traditional manner, which included a decorated Persian long robe, high heels, and a long beard.[19] TheScottish statesman and historianJohn Malcolm, who met Fath-Ali Shah in 1800, described him as "above the middle size, his age little more than thirty, his complexion rather fair, his features regular and fine, with an expression denoting quickness and intelligence."[7]
During his reign, Fath-Ali Shah successfully revamped his realm from a mostly Turkic tribal khanship into a centralized and stable monarchy based on the old imperial design.[7]
Muhammad Hasan (Iranian, active 1808–1840). Prince Yahya, ca. the 1830s. Prince Yahya, born in 1817, was the forty-third son of the Qajar ruler Fath Ali Shah (r. 1798–1834).Brooklyn Museum
Fath-Ali Shah is reported to have had more than 1,000 spouses. He was survived by fifty-seven sons and forty-six daughters, along with 296 grandsons and 292 granddaughters.[16]
A book published in England in 1874 provided different numbers:
"It is believed that Fetteh Ali had the largest number of children ever born to a man. Like a pious Mohammedan, he had only four wives, but his harem generally contained from 800 to 1,000 ladies. By these he had 130 sons and 150 daughters, and it is believed that at the time of his death his descendants numberedfive thousand souls. The three grandsons who merit notice were the sons of Hussein Ali, the governor of Fars, who aspired to the throne. The princes, Riza Kuli Mirza, Nejeff Kuli Mirza, and Timour Mirza, were at Shiraz when their father attempted to seize the throne. They were able to make their escape from the city."[20]
While this is a large number of children, the claim that Fatḥ-ʻAli holds the record is not true. (Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif, who lived a hundred years earlier in Morocco, is said to hold the record for the most number of children born to a man.)
Fatḥ-Ali's first son,Mohammad Ali Mirza Dowlat Shah, was seven months older than the second sonAbbas Mirza. Yet it was the latter who was named "Wali-ahd" or crown prince. This was because Dowlat Shah's mother, Ziba Chehreh Khanoum, was of non-Qajar origin (she was aGeorgian woman), and therefore he was passed over in favour of his younger brother.
Her mother, Ms. Khazimeh, was a daughter of Ismail Khan Khazimeh, governor ofQaenat; Her father was the governor ofBastam; died a few years after 1801.[21][22][23]
Ebrahim Khan was a son of Haji Mohammad Hossein Khan Sadr-e Esfahani. They had one daughter and three sons: Sadr ed-Dowleh, Assef ed-Dowleh and Mohammad Bagher Khan
^William Edward David Allen and Paul Muratoff.Caucasian Battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco–Caucasian Border 1828–1921. (Cambridge University Press, 2010). 20.
^abJoseph M. Upton,The History of Modern Iran: An Interpretation. Contributors: – Author. Publisher: Harvard University Press. Place of publication: Cambridge, 1960, p.4
^John H. Waller,Beyond the Khyber Pass: the road to British disaster in the First Afghan War, Random House, 1990, p. 59.
^The Literary World. 1882. p. 85. Retrieved1 December 2012. Wording also availablehere under "The Shah's Palaces"
^abcdefBeck, Lois; Nashat, Guity (2004).Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republuc. University of Illinois Press. pp. 51–3, 82–3 n. 35.ISBN978-0-252-07189-8.
^Kondo, Nobuaki (31 March 2017).Islamic Law and Society in Iran: A Social History of Qajar Tehran. Taylor and Francis. pp. 58, 71 n. 3.ISBN978-1-351-78319-4.
^Trollope, Anthony (1873).Saint Pauls [afterw.] The Saint Pauls magazine, ed. by A. Trollope, Volume 12. p. 715.
^Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian (2011): "An Iranian Perspective of J. B. Fraser's Trip to Khorasan in the 1820s",Iranian Studies, 44:2. (p. 225)
^Aradāknī, Hosayn Mahbūbī."'ABDALLĀH MĪRZĀ DĀRĀ".Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved18 November 2017.
^abKupferschmidt, Uri M. (1987).The Supreme Muslim Council: Islam Under the British Mandate for Palestine. BRILL. p. 484.ISBN978-9-004-07929-8.
^Werner, Christoph (2000).An Iranian Town in Transition: A Social and Economic History of the Elites of Tabriz, 1747–1848. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 52 n. 77.ISBN978-3-447-04309-0.
^Moazzi, Fatemeh (Spring 1387). "Mahd-e Olias of the Qajar Era."Contemporary History of Iran, 12 (45): 157-182.
^L.A. Ferydoun Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn and Bahman Bayani, 'The Fath Ali Shah Project', in Qajar Studies IV (2004), Journal of the International Qajar Studies Association, Rotterdam, Santa Barbara and Tehran 2004
^abcEjtehadi, Mostafa (2003).Encyclopedia of Iranian Women (Volume 1). Vol. 1 (1 ed.). Center for Women's Participation in the Presidential Office.
Bournoutian, George (2020).From the Kur to the Aras: A Military History of Russia's Move into the South Caucasus and the First Russo-Iranian War, 1801–1813. Leiden:Brill.ISBN978-90-04-44515-4.
Khavari, Mirza Fazlollah Shirazi (1845).Tarikh Zol Qarnein (تاریخ ذوالقرنین) (in Persian). Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran.