Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (Persian: سلسله قاجار, Selsele-ye Qājār), was an Persian dynasty[Note 1] that originated from Turkmen[2] Qajar tribe. Ruled Iran from 1789 to 1925.
Sublime State of Iran دولت علیّه ایران Dowlat-e 'Aliyye-ye Irân | |
|---|---|
| 1789–1925 | |
.svg) Flag of Sublime State of Iran
(1907–1925) .svg) Coat of Arms of Sublime State of Iran
(1907–1925) | |
.svg) Qajar Iran at its greatest extent (c. 1797) | |
| Capital | Tehran |
| Religion | Islam |
| Government | Absolute monarchy |
| Shahanshah | |
• 1789–1797 (first) | Mohammad Khan Qajar |
• 1909–1925 (last) | Ahmad Shah Qajar |
| History | |
• Established | 1789 |
• Disestablished | 1925 |
The Qajars were descended from a Turkmen[3] tribe but were Persianized,[4][5][6] in language[7][8] and culture so historians refer to the Qajars as the Persian dynasty.[9][10]
History[change | change source]
The Qajar family took full control of Iran in 1794, deposing Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last Shah of the Zand dynasty, and re-asserted Iranian sovereignty over large parts of the Caucasus. In 1796, Mohammad Khan Qajar seized Mashhad with ease,[11] putting an end to the Afsharid dynasty. He was formally crowned as Shah after his punitive campaign against Iran's Georgian subjects.[12]
In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty permanently lost many of Iran's integral areas[13] to the Russian Empire over the course of the 19th century, comprising modern-day Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan and Armenia.[14] Despite its territorial losses, Qajar Iran maintained its political independence and reinvented the Iranian notion of kingship. Pahlavi dynasty replaced Qajars.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Amanat 1997, p. 2: "In the 126 years between the fall of the Safavid state in 1722 and the accession of Nasir al-Din Shah, the Qajars evolved from a shepherd-warrior tribe with strongholds in northern Iran into a Persian dynasty with all the trappings of a Perso-Islamic monarchy."
- ↑ Ehsan Yarshater (2004). IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (2) Islamic period. Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XIII, Fasc. 3, pp. 238–241, "The Qajar were a Turkmen tribe who first settled during the Mongol period in the vicinity of Armenia and were among the seven Qezelbāš tribes that supported the Safavids."
- ↑ Ehsan Yarshater (2004). IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (2) Islamic period. Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XIII, Fasc. 3, pp. 238–241, "The Qajar were a Turkmen tribe who first settled during the Mongol period in the vicinity of Armenia and were among the seven Qezelbāš tribes that supported the Safavids."
- ↑ Dabashi, Hamid (2022). The End of Two Illusions: Islam after the West. University of California Press. p. 242, "Qajars [...] Persianate empires of Turkic descent (...)"
- ↑ Abdo, Geneive (2017). The New Sectarianism: The Arab Uprisings and the Rebirth of the Shi'a-Sunni Divide. Oxford University Press. p. 41, "Qajars, Persianized Turks who ruled Iran from 1785 to 1925."
- ↑ Amanat, Abbas (1997). Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896. University of California Press. p. 2, "In the 126 years between the fall of the Safavid state in 1722 and the accession of Nasir al-Din Shah, the Qajars evolved from a shepherd-warrior tribe with strongholds in northern Iran into a Persian dynasty."
- ↑ Homa Katouzian (2003). Iranian history and politics. Routledge. p. 128, "Indeed, since the formation of the Ghaznavids state in the tenth century until the fall of Qajars at the beginning of the twentieth century [...] At the same time, the official language was Persian, the court literature was in Persian, and most of the chancellors, ministers, and mandarins were Persian speakers of the highest learning and ability."
- ↑ H. E. Chehabi (1997). Ardabil Becomes a Province: Center-Periphery Relations in Iran. International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2. p. 235, "...Mozaffareddin Shah (r. 1896-1907) spoke Persian with an Azeri Turkish accent."
- ↑ Amanat, Abbas (1997). Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-08321-9. p. 2, "In the 126 years between the fall of the Safavid state in 1722 and the accession of Nasir al-Din Shah, the Qajars evolved from a shepherd-warrior tribe with strongholds in northern Iran into a Persian dynasty."
- ↑ Aydın, Cemil (2017). The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-05037-2. p. 144, "In 1923, for instance, Reza Shah, the general who deposed the Persian Qajar dynasty (...)"
- ↑ H. Scheel; Jaschke, Gerhard; H. Braun; Spuler, Bertold; T Koszinowski; Bagley, Frank (1981). Muslim World. Brill. pp. 65–370.
- ↑ Michael Axworthy. Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day, Penguin UK, 6 November 2008.
- ↑ Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, P.; Hambly, G. R. G; Melville, C. (1991). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 7. Cambridge.
- ↑ Timothy C. Dowling. Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond, pp 728–730 ABC-CLIO.
Sources[change | change source]
- Amanat, Abbas (1997). Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896. University of California Press. pp. 2. ISBN 978-0-520-08321-9.
In the 126 years between the fall of the Safavid state in 1722 and the accession of Nasir al-Din Shah, the Qajars evolved from a shepherd-warrior tribe with strongholds in northern Iran into a Persian dynasty with all the trappings of a Perso-Islamic monarchy.