Naser al-Din or Naseroddin Shah Qajar (Persian: ناصرالدینشاه قاجار, romanized: Nâseroddin Shâh Qâjâr, pronounced [nɒːˈseɹ odˈdiːn ˈʃɒːhe qɒːˈdʒɒːɹ]; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. Initially seeking to modernise Iran, his style of governance became more dictatorial over the course of his reign. His reign saw the Second Herat War (1856), the subsequent Anglo-Persian War (1857) and internal unrest, Tobacco Protest (1890-1891).
He allowed the establishment of newspapers in the country and made use of modern forms of technology such as telegraph, photography and also planned concessions for railways and irrigation works. Despite his modernising reforms on education, his tax reforms were abused by people in power, and the government was viewed as corrupt and unable to protect commoners from abuse by the upper classes which led to increasing anti-governmental sentiments. He was assassinated at Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine in Rey near Tehran. He was the first modern Iranian monarch who formally visited Europe and wrote of his travels in his memoirs.
He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek Jahan Khanom and the third longest reigning monarch in Iranian history after Shapur II of the Sasanian dynasty and Tahmasp I of the Safavid dynasty. Naser al-Din Shah had sovereign power for close to 48 years.
Effectiveness of his early rule
The state under Naser was the recognized government of Iran, but its authority was undermined by local tribal leaders due to the lack of a standing army. The army was weakened by wars with Russia in the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) The religious and tribal chieftains held quite a bit of autonomy over their communities. Naser was not effective in implementing his sovereignty over his people. Local groups had their own militias and oftentimes did not obey laws passed by the monarchy, since it did not have the power to enforce them. The people followed the ulama's fatwas instead of state-issued laws. When Naser took power, his army barely had 3,000 men which was significantly smaller than the armies under various tribal leaders. When the state needed a proper army, he would hire the local militias. Prior to his reforms, Naser's government had very little power over their subjects and even during the reforms, they faced more scrutiny over their ability to implement those reforms successfully.
Naser was in Tabriz when he heard of his father's death in 1848, and he ascended to the Sun Throne with the help of Amir Kabir. During his reign he would have to deal with the Revolt of Hassan Khan Salar, as well as insurrections by Babis.
Naser had early reformist tendencies, but was dictatorial in his style of government. With his sanction, thousands of Bábis were killed, this was in reaction to an assassination attempt from a small group of Bábis. This treatment continued under his prime minister Amir Kabir, who even ordered the execution of the Báb – regarded as a manifestation of God to Bábí's and Baháʼís, and to historians as the founder of the Bábí religion.
In 1856, Naser ad-Din Shah launched the Second Herat War to reassert Qajar suzerainty over Herat, a strategically vital city state in western Afghanistan that Iran had long claimed as part of its historic sphere. Persian forces under Naser's uncle, Hesam o-Saltaneh captured Herat in October 1856 after a nine-month siege, deposing the local ruler and installing a pro-Iranian governor. This success alarmed Britain, which considered Herat the “gate of India” and feared Persian (and potentially Russian) expansion toward its Indian empire. Britain declared war on Iran in November 1856 (the Anglo-Persian War), but the Persian occupation of Herat itself represented a clear military and political victory for Naser ad-Din Shah, temporarily restoring Iranian control over a region lost since the mid-1700s.
On 2 November 1856, at four in the afternoon, the Shah was sitting in the Mirror Hall of the outer court of the Golestan Palace, next to the Crystal Fountain. His servant in waiting, Yadullah Khan, brought news of the successful conquest in Herat, for which he was gifted with a thousand tomans. In the margin of a Persian translation of Louis de Bourrienne's Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Shah wrote:Thanks to Murtaza 'Ali's blessings, peace be upon him, this was a praiseworthy victory and the eyes of the enemy, particularly the British, turned blind [with jealousy]. Hundred and ten gun salutes were fired in honor of his holiness 'Ali.— Naser al-Din Shah
The Qajar court announced a public levee in honor of the occasion, during which the court chronicler recited the official records of the conquest as ascribed to Hesam o-Saltaneh. The document lists the administrative decisions taken in the aftermath of Herat's capture. In a symbolic move, the Shah's name was mentioned in the Friday sermon and the Shia adhan became the call to prayer. Similarly, the mint struck coins in Naser ad-Din Shah's name. A public holiday was soon declared and a national booklet outlining the conquest was disseminated.Naser al-Din was the first modern Iranian monarch to visit Europe in 1873 and then again in 1878 (when he saw a Royal Navy Fleet Review), and finally in 1889 and was reportedly amazed with the technology he saw. During his visit to the United Kingdom in 1873, Naser ad-Din Shah was appointed by Queen Victoria a Knight of the Order of the Garter, the highest English order of chivalry. He was the first Iranian monarch to be honoured as such. His travel diary of his 1873 trip has been published in several languages, including Persian, German, French, and Dutch.
In 1890, Naser met British major Gerald F. Talbot and signed a contract with him giving him the ownership of the Iranian tobacco industry, but he later was forced to cancel the contract after Ayatollah Mirza al-Shirazi issued a fatwa that made farming, trading, and consuming tobacco haram (forbidden). Consuming tobacco from the newly monopolized 'Talbet' company represented foreign exploitation and, therefore, was deemed immoral. It even affected the Shah's personal life as his wives did not allow him to smoke.
This was not the end of Naser's attempts to give concessions to Europeans; he later gave the ownership of Iranian customs incomes to Paul Julius Reuter.
He defeated various rebels in the Iranian provinces, most notably in Khorasan, balanced the budget by introducing reforms to the tax system, curbed the power of the clergy in the judiciary, built several military factories, improved relations with other powers to curb British and Russian influence, opened the first newspaper called Vaqaye-e Ettefaqiyeh, embellished and modernized cities (for example by building the Tehran Bazaar) and most importantly opened the first Iranian school for upper education called the Dar al-Fonun where many Iranian intellectuals received their education.
The Shah gradually lost interest in reform. However, he took some important measures such as introducing telegraphy and postal services and building roads.
He also increased the size of the state's military and created a new group called the Persian Cossack Brigade which was trained and armed by the Russians. He was the first Iranian to be photographed and was a patron of photography who had himself photographed hundreds of times. His final prime minister was Ali Asghar Khan, who after the shah's assassination aided in securing the transfer of the throne to Mozaffar al-Din. Although he was successful in introducing those western-based reforms, he was not successful in gaining complete sovereignty over his people or getting them to accept these reforms.
The school he opened, Dar al-Funun, had very small enrollment numbers. The restrictions defined by Shia Islam on the shah's collection of the zakat led to those funds going straight into the coffers of the ulama. Therefore, the financial autonomy given to the ulama enabled them to remain structurally independent, keeping madrasahs open and supporting the students therein. The ulama also maintained their authority to challenge state law.