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| Mohammad Vali Mirza | |
|---|---|
 Illustration of Mohammad Vali Mirza, from the Nezamiyeh Hall in the Golestan Palace, Tehran | |
| Born | 1789 Nava, Mazandaran, Iran |
| Died | 1864 |
| Dynasty | Qajar |
| Father | Fath-Ali Shah Qajar |
| Mother | Bibi Kuchak Khanum |
| Religion | Twelver Shia Islam |
Mohammad Vali Mirza (Persian: محمدولی میرزا) was a Qajar prince, governor and military officer in 19th-century Iran. He was one of the eldest sons of Fath-Ali Shah (r. 1797–1834).
Biography
Background and early career
Mohammad Vali Mirza was born in 1789 in the village of Nava in Mazandaran, northern Iran. He was the third or fourth son of Fath-Ali Shah (r. 1797–1834), the second Qajar ruler of Iran. His mother was a Bakhtiari named Bibi Kuchak Khanum. Three of his brothers were also in the same year; Abbas Mirza, the heir apparent and future governor of the Azerbaijan province; Mohammad-Ali Mirza Dowlatshah, who was the eldest and future governor of the Kermanshah, Lorestan and Khuzestan provinces; Hossein Ali Mirza, a persistent schemer and future governor of the Fars province. Intense competition would emerge between these brothers. During his childhood, Mohammad Vali Mirza helped escort Dowlatshah to safety after the latter had made a rude remark to Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (r. 1789–1797). In 1799, Mohammad Vali Mirza was appointed as the governor of the towns of Semnan and Damghan.
Term as governor of Khorasan
In the autumn of 1802, Mohammad Vali Mirza was appointed as the governor of Khorasan by Fath-Ali Shah, who was at the time besieging Mashhad, the provincial capital of the province. The city had been captured by Nader Mirza Afshar, the son of the last Afsharid ruler, Shahrokh Shah (r. 1748–1796). Fath-Ali Shah returned to Tehran and assigned the task of recapturing Mashhad to Mohammad Vali Mirza, who succeeded in early 1803. Mohammad Vali Mirza's passion for hunting and outdoor activities, along with his previous tenure as governor, were highlighted by Qajar chroniclers as evidence of his readiness for the position. According to the Iranian historian Assef Ashraf; "How hunting and effective governing are linked is not entirely clear, but a clue lies in the fact that the prince would take khans and notables (khwānīn va aʿyān) with him on hunting expeditions, perhaps as an effort to draw closer ties with them."
Legacy and assessment
The British Iranologist Gavin R.G. Hambly described Mohammad Vali Mirza as "violent and intemperate."
References
- ^ Farmanfarmaian 2011, p. 221.
- ^ Farmanfarmaian 2011, p. 221 (note 12).
- Amanat 1999, pp. 407–421.
- Hambly 1991, pp. 149–151.
- ^ Ashraf 2024, p. 280.
- ^ Hambly 1991, p. 165.
- Amanat 1997, p. 114.
- Hambly 1991, p. 150.
Sources
- Amanat, Abbas (1997). Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1845118280.
- Amanat, Abbas (1999). "Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah Qājār". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. IX/4: Fārs II–Fauna III. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 407–421. ISBN 978-0-933273-32-0.
- Ashraf, Assef (2024). Making and Remaking Empire in Early Qajar Iran. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1009361552.
- Farmanfarmaian, Fatema Soudavar (2011). "An Iranian Perspective of J. B. Fraser's Trip to Khorasan in the 1820s". Iranian Studies. 44 (2): 217–242. doi:10.1080/00210862.2011.541692. S2CID 162041391.
- Hambly, Gavin R. G. (1991). Avery, Peter; Hambly, Gavin R. G.; Melville, Charles Peter (eds.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 7: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 104–173. ISBN 0-521-20095-4.
- Noelle-Karimi, Christine (2014). The Pearl in its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries). Austrian Academy of Sciences. ISBN 978-3700172024.