Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

Founder of the Qajar Dynasty

The end of the Eighteenth century was a dark and gloomy period for Iran. Unending civil wars and a total anarchy had brought our homeland down to its knees. Centrifugal forces, always beneath the surface were in full violent motion, scattering the land among tribal chieftains and feudal lords. Then appeared as it often does in our long history a man who, personifying the will of the nation to survive, brought back both unity and prosperity. With sword in hand and by fire, he reconstituted the Empire. It is thanks to his achievements that ancient Iran, about to disappear into nothingness, recovered. In the nation reborn, both heart and national soul were regained. A descendent of Gengis Khan, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, a merciless warrior and visionary King, would thus allow his successors to move feudal Persia into modernity.

What the people feared most were inter-reigns. When the King was absent, so was law and recourse against injustice. There existed only hungry wolves, devouring each-others for momentary profits or grouped around an adventurer warlord with little concern for the future. No one can deny the founder of the Qajar dynasty an all-important place in the history of Iranian rebirths. His ambitions had greatness for they went beyond personal interests, including those of his family.

He reconstituted what was about to fall into dust. The above writings were extracts from the work of Emineh Pakravan "Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar," which was published at the Nouvelles Editions Debresse, Paris 1963. An expert on the Qajar Dynasty, she also authored the "Prince Sans Histoire"  (A Prince without History) which won the Rivarol Prize in 1951 and a book on "Abbas Mirza," the valorous son of Fath Ali Shah Qajar. Above,  is a 1995 book on the Qajar Dynasty published in Paris by Prince Ali Qajar a direct descendent of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last King of the Qajar Dynasty.

On the cover of the book, observe King Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar proudly carrying the Lion and Sun banner of Iran to Georgia, a distant Iranian province of the Caucasus. The image on the book is from a painting now adorning Prince Ali's home in Paris.

BACK