Fath-Ali Shah Qajar

Coronation

On 28 July 1797, Baba Khan ascended the throne of Iran in Shiraz. He ordered minting coins in Shiraz and Tehran initially as Soltan Baba Khan and later as Fath-Ali Shah. Minting coins under the shah's name, which was a precedent away from traditional coins minted with a Shia Imam's name, signified his hold to full sovereignty. His official coronation ceremony was held in Tehran on 19 March 1798, in which three celebration days were coincided, i.e., Nowruz, Fitr, and the shah's coronation. Ebrahim Khan served as his grand minister (grand vizier) with nearly full authority over the army and administration.

Russo-Persian Wars (1804–1828)

Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)

During the early reign of Fath Ali Shah, Imperial Russia took control of Georgia, a territory which Iran had ruled intermittently since 1555 with the Peace of Amasya. Georgia, led by Heraclius II, had forged an alliance with Iran's rival, Russia, following the Treaty of Georgievsk. To punish his Georgian subjects, his uncle, Agha Mohammad Khan, had invaded and sacked 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 in Shusha, following with Russia's act of annexation of those previously-Iranian ruled parts of Georgia in 1801, after many Georgian embassies and a treaty. Also, not only was Georgia annexed, but Dagestan 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 General Pavel Tsitsianov attacked and stormed 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 of Georgia in order to regain it, under pressure from the Shia 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 a Russian one.

Iran had to ask for help from France, sending an ambassador to Napoleon and concluding a Franco-Persian alliance with the signature of the Treaty 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 the war had been stale for many years and was located in various parts of Transcaucasia, the peace with Napoleon enabled the Russians to increase their war efforts in the Caucasus against Iran. In early 1813, under General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, the Russians successfully stormed Lankaran. Russian troops invaded Tabriz in 1813, and Iran was forced to sign the Treaty of Gulistan with Russia.

Siege of Erivan

After the siege of Ganja, the Russians under Pavel Tsitsianov proceeded to Erivan, besieging it. The Iranian forces inside Erivan's citadel prevented the Russians from making a direct attack, while those outside the citadel surrounded the Russians and cut the invaders' supply lines. Commanded by Fath Ali Shah and Abbas Mirza, the Iranians successfully defended the city and defeated the Russian attack.

Treaty of Gulistan

On account of consecutive defeats of Iran and after the fall of Lankaran on 1 January 1813, Fath Ali Shah was forced to sign the disastrous Treaty of Gulistan. The text of the treaty was prepared by a British diplomat, Sir Gore Ouseley, and was signed by Nikolay Rtishchev from the Russian side and Mirza Abolhassan Khan Ilchi from the Iranian side on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gulistan.

By this treaty all of the cities, towns, and villages of Georgia, villages and towns on the coast of the Black Sea, all of the cities, towns and villages of the Khanates in the South Caucasus and North Caucasus, and part of the Talysh Khanate, including Megrelia, Abkhazia, Imeretia, Guria, Baku khanate, Shirvan Khanate, Derbent, Karabakh khanate, Ganja khanate, Shaki Khanate and Quba Khanate became part of Russia. These territories altogether comprise modern-day Georgia, southern Dagestan, and most of the contemporary Azerbaijan Republic. In return, Russia pledged to support Abbas Mirza as heir to the Iranian throne after the death of Fath Ali Shah.

Interlude on a different front

Between 1805 and 1816, Qajar rulers began invading Herat in neighboring Afghanistan with small detachments. The Iranians were attempting to retake control of the city but were forced to abandon it due to Afghan uprisings. In 1818 the Shah sent his son Mohammad Vali Mirza to capture the city but he was defeated at the Battle of Kafir Qala.

Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)

In 1826, 13 years after the Treaty 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 prince Abbas Mirza, head of the armies, invaded the Talysh Khanate and Karabakh 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 of Lenkoran, Quba, and Baku. However, the tide turned after the winter. In May 1827, Ivan Paskevich, Governor of Caucasus, invaded Echmiadzin, Nakhichevan, Abbasabad and on 1 October he captured of Erivan. Fourteen days later, General Georgiy Eristov entered Tabriz. In January 1828, when the Russians reached the shores of Lake Urmia, Abbas Mirza urgently signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay on 2 February 1828.

Treaty of Turkmenchay

The Turkmenchay Treaty was signed on 21 February 1828 by Hajji Mirza Abol Hasan Khan and General Ivan Paskevich. By this treaty the Erivan khanate (most of present-day Armenia, and also a small part of Eastern Anatolia), Nakhchivan khanate (most of the present-day Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan), the Talysh Khanate (southeastern Azerbaijan), and the Ordubad and Mughan came under the rule of Imperial Russia. By this treaty, Iran had lost most of its Caucasian territories, comprising all of Transcaucasia and Derbent to neighboring Imperial Russia. Iran furthermore pledged to pay Russia 10 million in Gold, and in return, Russia pledged to support Abbas 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.

Later life

Fath Ali later hired painters like Mohammad Hasan Afshar, writers and calligraphers such as Fath-Ali Khan Saba to make the Shahanshahnama, a book about his reign and wars with Russia that was commissioned between 1806 and 1810, inspired by the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, it is widely regarded as the most important Persian book written during the Qajar period.

In 1829, Alexander Griboyedov, the Russian diplomat and playwright was killed in the Massacre at the Russian Embassy in Tehran. To apologize, the Shah sent Prince Khosrow Mirza to Tsar Nicholas I to deliver a formal apology, as well as one of the biggest diamonds of his crown jewelry, namely the Shah Diamond.

When his favourite son and crown prince Abbas Mirza died on 25 October 1833, Fath Ali named his grandson Mohammed Mirza as his crown prince. Fath Ali died a year later, on 24 October 1834. He was buried in a tomb in the Fatima Masumeh Shrine of Qom.

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 the University of Oxford. Another one, by the artist, Mihr Ali, is at the Brooklyn Museum.

Besides eulogistic chronicles, the only real sources that allow us to judge his personality are those of British, French, and Russian diplomats . 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. The image of decadence was epitomised by the story that he had a special harem 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."

Titles

Fath-Ali Shah used both the ancient Persian title of shahanshah (King of Kings), i.e., Emperor, and the Turco-Mongol title of khaqan (khan of khans), thus representing himself as both ruler of the country and the tribes.

Appearance

Fath-Ali Shah was the last Qajar shah to dress in the traditional manner, which included a decorated Persian long robe (qaba), crown, high heels, and a long beard. The Scottish statesman and historian John 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." In a portrait from The David Collection dated 1811, Fath-Ali Shah is holding a jeweled sceptre, in his left hand, while his right hand rests on the hilt of a sword or a Persian jambiya dagger tucked into his belt.

Legacy

During his reign, Fath-Ali Shah successfully restructured a mostly Turkic tribal khanship into a centralized and stable monarchy based on the old imperial design. This brought to Iran a relatively calm and prosperous period, secured a mutually beneficial relationship between state and religion, established the foundational principles of state administration, and supported cultural and artistic revival, which remained a distinctive feature of the Qajar dynasty.

Marriage and children

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.

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 numbered five 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."

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 largest number of children born to a man.)

Fatḥ-Ali's first son, Mohammad Ali Mirza Dowlat Shah, was seven months older than the second son Abbas 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 a Georgian woman), and therefore he was passed over in favour of his younger brother.

Consorts

Here, a non-exhaustive list of Fath-Ali Shah's consorts is arranged in an interactive, sortable table.

Children

Here, a non-exhaustive list of Fath-Ali Shah's children is arranged in an interactive sortable table. The table's denotations are:

• S: Son
• D: Daughter