1771 - 1834
Second monarch of Persia's Qajar dynasty, 1797 - 1834.
Born Baba Khan, Fath Ali Shah Qajar took the name Fath Ali Shah upon his accession to the throne. He was the nephew of the first shah, Agha Mohammad Qajar, and had been designated heir apparent. In 1796, when Agha Mohammad was on his second military campaign to Georgia, Baba Khan was governor of Isfahan; news reached him that his uncle had been assassinated. His right to the throne was immediately challenged by several pretenders who had to be eliminated before he could be crowned in 1797. Fath Ali Shah's reign was marked by wars with Russia - attacks on the Caucasus principalities that had passed out of Persian suzerainty during the several years of turmoil and civil war.
The war with Russia began in 1804 and drew Persia into the European rivalries that are called the Napoleonic Wars. On one side was Britain, nervous of Russian and French designs on India; on the other was France's Napoléon Bonaparte, who was at war with Britain and Russia. The Persian forces were led by Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, who was then also governor of Azerbaijan.
Fath Ali Shah needed European aid in his war against Russia, so first he allied himself with the French, then with the British - but each time was abandoned when they changed their policies. Persia suffered a disastrous defeat in 1813 and signed the Treaty of Golestan. This treaty did not prove final, since the borders between Persia and Russia were not well defined and neither country was satisfied. War resumed in 1824, despite the unwillingness of the shah - who would not send sufficient financial help. Persia was defeated and signed the Treaty of Turkmanchai in 1828. According to this treaty, Persia ceded to Russia all the areas north of the Aras River, paid an indemnity of 5 million tuman, accepted other indemnity and capitulatory conditions that weakened the economy, and gave to Russian consuls judicial powers in disputes involving Russian subjects. The Treaty of Turkmanchai, in spirit if not in actuality, became the model for all the future treaties Persia (or Iran) was to conclude with other European nations.
The first premier (sadr-e azam) of Fath Ali Shah was Mirza Ebrahim Khan Eʿtemad al-Dowleh, who had helped Agha Mohammad Shah gain the throne; he subsequently grew so powerful that he was feared by the shah, who put him and his family to death. The next premier was Mirza Shafi, a man of modest background. During his ministry, the bureaucracy of the Qajar dynasty and the administration of the country were developed. Iran, disrupted after the fall of the Safavids, was once again strongly centralized and expanded. The capital, Tehran, was developed and endowed with new palaces, mosques, and pleasure gardens.
During the reign of Fath Ali Shah, some attempts at modernizing the army were made to meet any foreign challenge, but none was successful. Modernization was attached to European rivalries and lost ground each time policy shifted. Because of the interest of the European nations, the shah's court was visited by many envoys who have left their accounts of its splendor and extravagance. Nevertheless, the reign of Fath Ali Shah left Persia impoverished and with less territory than he had inherited.
Bibliography
Avery, Peter. Modern Iran. New York: Praeger, 1965.
Curzon, George Nathaniel. Persia and the Persian Question. 1892. Reprint, London: Cass, 1966.
Sykes, Percy Molesworth. A History of Persia. 1915. London: Routledge and K. Paul, 1969.
Watson, Robert G. A History of Persia from the Beginning of theNineteenth Century to the Year 1858. London: Smith, Elder, 1866.
— MANSOUREH ETTEHADIEH
