User:Amir Ghandi/Mohammad Shah Qajar
Shahanshah / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mohammad Shah (Persian: محمد شاه; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar shah of Iran from 1834 to 1848. He succeeded his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah, as the king of Iran.
Mohammad Shah Qajar | |
---|---|
Shahanshah[1] Ghazi[2] | |
Shah of Iran | |
Reign | 23 October 1834 – 5 September 1848 |
Coronation | 14 January 1835 |
Predecessor | Fath-Ali Shah Qajar |
Successor | Naser al-Din Shah |
Born | (1808-01-05)5 January 1808 Tabriz, Qajar Iran |
Died | 5 September 1848(1848-09-05) (aged 40) Tehran, Qajar Iran |
Burial | |
Consort | Malek Jahan Khanom |
Wives | Among them, Malek Jahan Khanom |
Issue Detail | See Blow |
Dynasty | Qajar |
Father | Abbas Mirza |
Mother | Glin Khanum |
Religion | Shia Islam |
Tughra |
From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutelage of Haji Mirza Aqasi a local dervish of Tabriz. His teachings influenced the young prince to become a Sufi-King later in his life. With the death of Abbas Mirza in 1833, Mohammad Mirza became the crown prince to Fath-Ali Shah and was conferred the title of Governor of Azarbaijan. Not long after, Fath-Ali Shah died on his way to Shiraz. The death of Fath Ali Shah led to the revolt of a number of his sons, such as Ali Shah Mirza and Hossein Ali Mirza, but Mohammad Shah, under the tact of his grand vizier, Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam, suppressed the rebellions and asserted his authority.
Mohammad Shah ordered the removal, imprisonment and eventual execution of Qa'em-Maqam which led the way for appointment of Aqasi as the grand vizier. Primitively in his reign, Mohammad Shah's primary goal was to annex Herat to the Iranian mainland. Therefore, in 1837, he marched to the city. He laid a futile siege on Herat and was foreced to retreat and withdraw when the British government threatened military action. In return to Iran, he suppressed a revolt in Isfahan by Mohammad Bagher Shafti, a major clergy figure. In 1837, the governor of Baghdad sacked the city of Khorramshahr. Mohammad Shah intended to declare a war with the Ottoman empire, but the British-Russian mediation prevented escalation of tensions and war, and instead led to the signing of the Second Treaty of Erzurum.
Mohammad Shah, under British pressure, abolished the slave trade through the Persian Gulf, however it was still allowed to have slaves and trade them through land. The Shah initially opposed the abolition based on the Islamic tradition, but eventually accepted. Another important event of his time was the rise of the Báb and Bábism, in which Mohammad Shah and his grand vizier refused to eliminate his followers despite the fatwa by Shiite clerics. France–Iran relations resumed during his reign. Mohammad Shah suffered from gout and this overshadowed his rule. In the final years of his reign, his physical condition deteriorated, and he died from a combination of gout and erysipelas on 4 Septamber 1848, at the age of 40, after fourteen years reign. He was buried in Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom and was succeded by his son, Naser al-Din Shah.
As a ruler, Mohammad Shah did not receive praise. He would be labeled as a figurehead king for Aqasi, who he was highly depended on. The shah was devoted to both Aqasi and his teachings on Sufism. So much that over time he became the willing sustainer of sufis, and sought spiritual guidance in mystical rituals instead of the marji'i taqlīd. Wherefore, the ulama grew as Mhis firmest rivals who challenged his legitimecy and authority throughout his short reign. He enlarged the Qajar bureaucracy and filled positions with Aqasi's sufi friends and companions, thus, allowing for a corrupt administration that saw its peak during his son's reign. Mohammad Shah was the last Qajar shah who personally attended the battlefield in a foreign war, and also the last one to carry the title Ghazi, warrior of Islam, for his presence in the Iran-Russia war and after suppressing the rebellion in Isfahan.