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Reza Shah Pahlavi (Persian: رضا پهلوی) (b. March 16, 1878 in Alasht, Mazandaran–d. July 26, 1944 in Johannesburg, South Africa), later Reza Shah the Great (Reza Shah-e Kabir), was Shahanshah of Iran (Persia) from 1925 until 1941. He was the first monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty, and is credited with greatly modernizing his nation.

Early years

Reza Khan was born in the village of Alasht in the province of Mazandaran in 1878. His father, Colonel Abbas Ali, had been a member of the provincial army. When he was fifteen years old he joined the Cossack Brigade, where he eventually became a commander.

Reza Khan was a gunnery sergeant in the army under Qajar Prince Abol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarmaian's command. He was also one of the last individuals to become an Officer of the Nishan-e-Aqdas prior to the collapse of the Qajar dynasty in 1925.

Rise to power

On February 21, 1921, Reza Khan Mirpanj (رضا خان میرپنج), as was then his name and rank (General), staged a coup d'état together with Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee.

He was a military commander who had risen from the ranks to command the Russian trained Cossack Brigade. Marching his troops from Qazvin, 150 kilometres to the west of Tehran, General Reza seized key parts of the capital city almost without opposition and forced the government to resign.

With the success of the coup, Tabatabaee became the prime minister. Reza's first role in the new government was as commander of the army, which, in April 1921, he combined with the post of Minister of War. At the same time he took the title Reza Khan Sardar Sepah (رضا خان سردار سپه).

Accension to the Peacock Throne

Ahmad Shah Qajar finally named him Prime Minister on October 26, 1923, and left for Europe. The National Assembly (Majlis) deposed the Qajar dynasty in 1925. On December 12, 1925, the Majlis, convening as a constituent assembly, voted to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.

He took his imperial oath on December 15, 1925 and so became the first Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty. On April 25, 1926, a new era began when Reza Shah placed the Imperial Crown on his own head. At the same time, his son Mohammad Reza was proclaimed Crown Prince of Persia.

Family

Out of his marriage with Tadj ol-Molouk (1896–1982) his son and successor Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was born. His son had three wives, including Princess Fawzia of Egypt, Princess Soraya, and the first Iranian Empress, Farah Diba.

In 1922 Reza Khan married a third time, Turan (Qamar al Molk) Amir Soleimani (1904 – 1995). From this marriage a son was born (Gholam Reza), and Reza Khan divorced her soon after, in 1923.

Modernization

During Reza Shah's sixteen years of rule, major roads and the Trans-Iranian Railway were built, modern education was introduced and the University of Tehran was established. The government sponsored European educations for many Iranian students. Reza Shah backed a strong policy of industrialization, to ensure that the country was not dependent solely on oil and agricultural revenues.

On March 21, 1935, he formally requested that the international community stop using the name Persia, which had been in use in the West since ancient times, and to henceforth use Iran (the native name of the country) as the official name.

His achievements were great, but by the mid-1930s Reza Shah's dictatorial style of rule had caused intense dissatisfaction throughout Iran.

Deposition

During World War I, Britain had ignored protests from the Qajar rulers and stationed troops in the province of Khuzestan. During World War II, Britain again wished to station troops in Khuzestan.

Reza Shah protested against this challenge to central government authority. Britain interpreted this refusal as favouring Nazi Germany. Fearing that Reza Shah was about to align his petroleum-rich country with Nazi Germany during World War II, the United Kingdom and the USSR occupied Iran and forced Reza Shah to abdicate in favour of his son (see also Persian Corridor). The reality was Reza Shah despised the Nazis, and declared Iran neutral so it could reconstruct Iran as a modern state without having to deal with the Soviets and British, who tyrannically dominated Iran in the past and had plans to carve it up amongst themselves again.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi replaced his father on the throne on September 16, 1941.

The Shah went into exile, first to Mauritius, then to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he died in 1944, aged 67.

His son later designated the title "the Great" to be added to his name.

See also

• Amir Abdollah Tahmasebi
• Mohammad Hosein Airom
• Teymour Tash
• Sar Lashgar Buzarjomehri
• Mahmud Khan Puladeen
• Amanullah Jahanbani
• Colonel Pesian
• Khaz'al Khan
• Sepahbod Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi
• General Fazlollah Zahedi

References

1. Blood & Oil : A Prince's Memoir of Iran, from the Shah to the Ayatollah by Manucher Farmanfarmaian, Roxane Farmanfarmaian ISBN 0812975081

External links

• A Genealogy of the Pahlavi Dynasty he founded

• 1877 births
• 1944 deaths
• Monarchs of Persia
• Prime Ministers of Iran