Qajar Iran

This article is about the country. For the royal dynasty that ruled it, see Qajar dynasty.

"Qajar" redirects here. For the modern-day country on the other side of the Persian Gulf, see Qatar. For other uses, see Qajar (disambiguation).

Guarded Domains of Iran ممالک محروسه ایران Mamâlek-e Mahruse-ye Irân
1789–1925
Top: Civil flag (1907–1933) Bottom: Imperial standard (1834–1906) Coat of arms
Anthem: (1873–1909) Salâm-e Shâh (Royal salute) (1909–1925) Salamati-ye Dowlat-e 'Aliyye-ye Iran (Salute of the Sublime State of Iran)
Map of Iran under the Qajar dynasty in the 19th century
Capital	Tehran
Official languages	Persian
Common languages	Persian (official, court literature/language, administrative, cultural) Azerbaijani (court language)
Religion	Shia Islam (official) minority religions: Sunni Islam, Sufism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Baháʼí Faith, Mandaeism
Government	Absolute monarchy (1789–1906; 1907–1909) Parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1906–1907; 1909–1925)
Shah
• 1789–1797 (first)	Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
• 1909–1925 (last)	Ahmad Shah Qajar
Regent/President of the Provisional Government
• 1848	Malek Jahan Khanom
• 1909–1910	Ali Reza Khan Azod-ol-Molk
• 1911–1914	Abolqasem Naser ol-Molk
• 1924–1925	Mohammad Hassan Mirza
• 1925	Reza Khan
Grand vizier/Prime minister
• 1795–1801 (first)	Hajji Ebrahim Shirazi
• 1923–1925 (last)	Reza Khan
Legislature	None (until 1906; 1907–1909) National Consultative Assembly (1906–1907; from 1909)
History
• Establishment	1789
• Annexation of Georgia	11 September 1795
• Treaty of Turkmenchay	10 February 1828
• Annexation of Herat	26 October 1856
• Treaty of Paris	4 March 1857
• Treaty of Akhal	21 September 1881
• Persian Constitutional Revolution	5 August 1906
• Persian campaign	December 1914
• Deposed by Constituent Assembly	31 October 1925
Area
1873	1,300,000 km2 (500,000 sq mi)
Currency	Toman (1789–1825) Qiran (1825–1925)
Preceded by Succeeded by Zand Iran Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti Afsharid Iran Khanate of Kalat Tabriz Khanate Sarab Khanate Ardabil Khanate Marand Khanate Karadagh Khanate Khalkhal Khanate Maku Khanate Pahlavi Iran

The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly known as Qajar Iran, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which lasted from 1789 to 1925. It was founded by Agha Mohammad Khan, a chieftain of the Qajar tribe, a Turkic tribe based in northern Iran. In the power struggle following the death of Karim Khan Zand in 1779, Agha Mohammad defeated all competitors from the preceding Zand and Afsharid dynasties, unifying Iran. He re-asserted Iranian sovereignty over large parts of the Caucasus and was formally crowned as Shah in 1796. Although he was murdered the next year, he was succeeded by his nephew Fath-Ali Shah, and the Qajars maintained control over the country until their deposal in 1925.

In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty lost much of its conquered territory to the Russian Empire in the first decades of the 19th century, comprising modern-day eastern Georgia, Russia (Dagestan), Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Despite its territorial losses, Qajar Iran reinvented the Iranian notion of kingship and maintained relative political independence, but faced major challenges to its sovereignty, predominantly from the Russian and British empires in the Great Game. Qajar Iran's early foreign policy also focused heavily on reclaiming Afghanistan, which led to the First and Second Herat War in the Herat Question. Foreign advisers became powerbrokers in the court and military. They eventually partitioned Qajar Iran in the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention, carving out Russian and British influence zones and a neutral zone.

In the early 20th century, the Persian Constitutional Revolution created an elected parliament or Majles, and sought the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, deposing Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar for Ahmad Shah Qajar, but many of the constitutional reforms were reversed by an intervention led by the Russian Empire. Qajar Iran's territorial integrity was further weakened during the Persian campaign of World War I and the invasion by the Ottoman Empire. Four years after the 1921 Persian coup d'état, the military officer Reza Shah took power in 1925, thus establishing the Pahlavi dynasty, the last Iranian royal dynasty.