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Qajar dynasty

Iranian royal dynasty of Turkic origin (1789–1925)

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Coat of arms of the Shahanshah of Iran from the presentation album (folio 2a) to Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar, St. Petersburg (Russia), 1865. Designed and painted by Alexander Fadeyev (Faddeyev), member of
Alexander Fadeyev (Faddeyev) · Public domain

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The Russian branch of the Qajar dynasty belonged to the Russian Nobility and were given the titles Prince Persidskii and Princess Persidskaya by the Tsar in the 19th century, of which many members had held high functions in the Imperial Russian Army, such as Alexander Petrovich Reza Qoli Mirza Qajar.

The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's Majlis, convening as a constituent assembly on 12 December 1925, declared Reza Shah, a former brigadier-general of the Persian Cossack Brigade, as the new shah of Iran, beginning the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty.

Head of the Qajar tribe

The Qajar dynasty, as the ruling lineage, held prominent positions as tribal heads long before establishing imperial rule, leveraging their military prowess and tribal alliances to unify the country amid post-Safavid chaos.

During the establishment of the Safavids Empire, when Ismail led the 7,000 tribal soldiers on his successful expedition from Erzincan to Shirvan in 1500/01, a contingent of Qajars was among them. After this, they emerged as a prominent group within the Qizilbash confederacy, who were made up of Turkoman warriors and served as the main force of the Safavid military. Despite being smaller than other tribes, the Qajars continued to play a major role in important events during the 16th century.

The immediate ancestor of the Qajar monarchs, Shah Qoli Khan of the Quvanlu of Ganja, married into the Quvanlu Qajars of Astarabad. His son, Fath-Ali Khan (born c. 1685–1693) was a renowned military commander during the rule of the Safavid shahs Soltan Hoseyn and Tahmasp II. He was killed in 1726. Fath Ali Khan's son Mohammad Hasan Khan (1722–1758) was the father of Agha Mohammad Khan and Hossein Qoli Khan (Jahansouz Shah), father of "Baba Khan," the future Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Mohammad Hasan Khan was killed on the orders of Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty.

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