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| ==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
| Agha Mohammad Khan was born in around 1742 |
Agha Mohammad Khan was born in around 1742 - he was the eldest son of ], and was the grandson of ], a prominent aristocrat, who was executed by the orders of ] (possibly at the urging of Nader Qoli Beg, who would later become known as ]).{{sfn|Perry|1984|pp=602–605}} At the age of six, he was castrated on the orders of Adil Shah, the enemy of his father, to prevent him from becoming a political rival, but this loss did not hinder his career.<ref name=Ghani2001/> Despite being a ], he became the chief of his tribe in 1758. In 1762 he was captured by a rival tribe and sent to ] as a prisoner to ]'s court. Agha Muhammad spent the next 16 years as a hostage, until he escaped in 1779. That same year, the death of Shah ] plunged the country into a series of civil wars and disputes over the succession, with many members of the ] acceding to the ] in the space of only ten years. Agha Muhammad took the opportunity to launch a rebellion which, in 1794, succeeded in capturing ], the last Zand ruler. Two years later he proclaimed himself ''Shahanshah'' (''King of Kings'') on the ], just like Nader Shah had done some sixty years earlier.<ref> Michael Axworthy. Penguin UK, 6 nov. 2008 ISBN 0141903414</ref> | ||
| ] | ] | ||
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| ==Sources== | ==Sources== | ||
| * {{cite encyclopedia | article = | last = Perry | first = J. R. | authorlink = | encyclopedia |
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = | last = Perry | first = J. R. | authorlink = | encyclopedia = ], Vol. I, Fasc. 6 | pages = 602-605 | location = | publisher = | year = 1984 | isbn = |ref=harv}} | ||
| * {{cite book | title = Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power | year = 2001 | publisher = I.B.Tauris | location = | editor-last = | editor-first = | last = Ghani | first = Cyrus | authorlink = Cyrus Ghani | chapter = | pages = 1–434 | isbn = 9781860646294 | url = https://books.google.dk/books?id=VGZItY9kL0AC&hl=false |ref=harv}} | |||
| {{s-start}} | {{s-start}} | ||
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| Mohammad Khan Qajar | |
|---|---|
 Shahanshah of Persia | |
 Portrait of Mohammad Khan Qajar | |
| Reign | 21 March 1794 – 17 June 1797 |
| Predecessor | Lotf Ali Khan |
| Successor | Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar |
| Born | 1742 Astarabad, Persia |
| Died | Saturday, 17 June 1797 Shusha, Karabakh Khanate |
| Burial | Najaf |
| Dynasty | Qajar dynasty |
| Father | Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar |
| Religion | Shia Islam |
| Tughra |  |
Agha Muḥammad Khān Qājār (1742–1797; Template:Lang-fa) was the chief of the Qajar tribe, succeeding his father Mohammad Hassan Khan, who was killed on the orders of Adil Shah. He became the Emperor/Shah of Persia in 1794, crowned formally in 1796, and established the Qajar dynasty. He was succeeded by his nephew, Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar.
His reign is noted for the reemergance of a centrally led and united Iran. Following the death of Nader Shah, many of the Iranian territories in the Caucasus that had been ruled by the various subsequent Iranian dynasties since 1501, comprising nowadays Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia had broken apart into various Caucasian khanates. After 48 years, they were all reconquered by Agha Mohammad Khan. Some of his reconquests were even for that time, exceptionally cruel, such as his resubjugation of Georgia, where he sacked the capital Tblisi and massacred many of its inhabitants, and moving away some 15,000 Georgian captives back to mainland Iran.
Mohammad Khan Qajar is also noted moved for moving the capital to Tehran, where it still stands as of today.
Early life
Agha Mohammad Khan was born in around 1742 - he was the eldest son of Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar, and was the grandson of Fath Ali Khan, a prominent aristocrat, who was executed by the orders of Tahmasp II (possibly at the urging of Nader Qoli Beg, who would later become known as Nader Shah). At the age of six, he was castrated on the orders of Adil Shah, the enemy of his father, to prevent him from becoming a political rival, but this loss did not hinder his career. Despite being a eunuch, he became the chief of his tribe in 1758. In 1762 he was captured by a rival tribe and sent to Shiraz as a prisoner to Karim Khan's court. Agha Muhammad spent the next 16 years as a hostage, until he escaped in 1779. That same year, the death of Shah Karim Khan Zand plunged the country into a series of civil wars and disputes over the succession, with many members of the Zand dynasty acceding to the Sun Throne in the space of only ten years. Agha Muhammad took the opportunity to launch a rebellion which, in 1794, succeeded in capturing Lotf Ali Khan, the last Zand ruler. Two years later he proclaimed himself Shahanshah (King of Kings) on the Mughan plain, just like Nader Shah had done some sixty years earlier.
Reign
Agha Muhammad restored Persia to a unity it had not had since Karim Khan. He was, however, a man of extreme violence who killed almost all who could threaten his hold on power. In 1795 he attacked Georgia, which had been under intermittent Iranian suzerainty since 1555, but had been independent after the disintegrating of the Iranian Afsharid Dynasty. In the same year he also captured Khorasan. Shah Rukh, ruler of Khorasan and grandson of Nadir Shah, was tortured to death because Agha Muhammad thought that he knew of Nadir's legendary treasures.
In 1778, Agha Muhammad moved his capital from Sari in his home province of Mazandaran to Tehran. He was the first Persian ruler to make Tehran — the successor to the great city of Rayy — his capital, although both the Safavids and the Zands had expanded the town and built palaces there. He was crowned in 1796 and founded the Qajar dynasty.
Although the Russians briefly took and occupied Derbent and Baku during the Persian Expedition of 1796, he successfully expanded Persian influence into the Caucasus, reasserting Iranian sovereignty over its former dependencies in the region. He was, however, a notoriously cruel ruler, who reduced Tbilisi to ashes and massacred its Christian population, as he had done with his Muslim subjects. He based his strength on tribal manpower of Genghis Khan, Teimur and Nader Shah.
Assassination
Agha Muhammad was assassinated in 1797 in the city of Shusha, the capital of Karabakh khanate, less than 3 years in power. According to Hasan-e Fasa'i's' Farsnama-ye Naseri, during Agha Muhammad's stay in Shusha, one night "a quarrel arose between a Georgian servant named Sadeq and the valet Khodadad-e Esfahani. They raised their voices to such a pitch that the shah became angry and ordered both to be executed. Sadeq Khan-e Shaghaghi, a prominent emir, interceded on their behalf, but was not listened to. The shah, however, ordered their execution to be postponed until Saturday, as this happened to be the evening of Friday (the Islamic holy day), and ordered them back to their duties in the royal pavilion, unfettered and unchained, awaiting their execution the next day. From experience, however, they knew that the King would keep to what he had ordered, and, having no hope, they turned to boldness. When the shah was sleeping, they were joined by the valet Abbas-e Mazandarani, who was in the plot with them, and the three invaded the royal pavilion and with dagger and knife murdered the shah."
His nephew, crowned as Fath Ali Shah, succeeded him.
References
- Michael Axworthy. Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day Penguin UK, 6 nov. 2008 ISBN 0141903414
- Perry 1984, pp. 602–605.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Ghani2001was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Michael Axworthy. Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day Penguin UK, 6 nov. 2008 ISBN 0141903414
- Michael Axworthy. Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day Penguin UK, 6 nov. 2008 ISBN 0141903414
Sources
- Perry, J. R. (1984). "ĀḠĀ MOḤAMMAD KHAN QĀJĀR ". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 6. pp. 602–605.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: External link in|article=|ref=harv(help) - Ghani, Cyrus (2001). Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–434. ISBN 9781860646294.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
| Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar Qajar DynastyBorn: 1742 Died: 17 June 1797 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded byLotf Ali Khan | Shah of Persia 1794–1797 |
Succeeded byFat′h Ali Shah Qajar |
| Qajar dynasty | |||||
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| Kings |
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